12.6.2022 - 3.7.2022 (Week 11 - Week 14)
Chung Yi Ki / 0345014 / BDCM
Advanced
Animation
Project 3: Physical Action Sequence Animation
Lecture
Week 11 / Working in layers
Animation action planning can be worked in layers, that is, animating one part after the other. First part to work on is the hip and legs, the second part is the spine and head, and the third part is the arm. Master lower body first before working on anything else.
Week 12 / Attaching props onto characters
- To attach props to characters, the object constraint property can be used:
- Move props into character's hand
- Select object and go to object constraint, select child off in the object constraint drop down, target should be the character and bone should be the wrist of the hand that's holding the prop
- Sometimes, the prop will go elsewhere when you parented it, but just move it back to the hand and it should be ok
- If you want to take props off of something, you can use influence to control the parenting
- If another hand is holding the object too, you need another child of
Tasks
For this project, we are tasked to create a 5-10 second physical action animation based
on video references, while also including animation for the camera and facial
expression. There should be different shot framings in the animation as well.
We can use either the Snow or Rain character rig from Blender for our
animation, and we are allowed to download any free 3D props and backgrounds to
enhance our animation. Suitable lighting should also be included in the scene
and rendered in 24fps with 1280px x 720px resolution. Final submission includes storyboards and a video compilation of progression from blocking, polishing to final.
Visual references
Fig 1.1 Action reference video
Since I’m planning to use the character Snow for my animation, I thought a
more hand-to-hand combat, or combat with a short weapon will be more suitable
for his confident-looking and muscular design. As I was searching for video
references, I couldn’t find a suitable hand-to-hand combat video, but I did
found one (Fig 1.1) which uses daggers as weapons and has a full body jump
turn. I thought that would be a nice challenge for me to try out, and also
fits Snow, so I went with this video as my animation reference.
Fig 1.2 Screenshots of key poses
Fig 1.3 Rough storyboard animatic of scene planning
I started by analyzing the key poses in the video using Premier Pro, labeling
each pose as contact, passing, down, up or breakdown poses. The side view
shown in the video was also referenced together with the front view when
animating. Then, I then sketched out a rough storyboard animatic to plan out
the camera framings and an additional intro I wanted to put. The intro acts
like an anticipation scene to the action sequence. It shows Snow cracking his
neck and throwing a knife in his hand to get ready, which then would cut to
the action sequence. As for the reference for this intro, I referenced myself
doing those actions in front of a mirror so that I’ll get a better
understanding on what it feels like.
Animation process
Blocking and first pass of animation
|
| Fig 1.4 Blocking the poses in Blender |
|
| Fig 1.5 Premiere Pro window for referencing while blocking, both side and front view |
I first block out each of the poses in Blender according to my reference. As like previous projects, it was blocked out in 1s so that it’s easier to look over the keyframes and edit them. While blocking out the poses, I imported reference image in blender and also opened up premiere pro in another monitor so I can reference two angles (side and front view) easily while also going over the video in more detail while analysing the poses.
Fig 1.6 Blocking animation
Fig 1.7 Timed animation from blocking (First pass)
|
| Fig 1.8 Timed keyframes from blocking stage |
After that, I spaced out the keyframes to add timings to each pose which I also referenced from the video. Though, I exaggerated the timing a bit at the jump part so that it would feel like a slow-motion kind of jump to hold the character pose a little longer for dramatic effect, and then quickly lands on the ground.
Fig 1.9 First pass of animation with camera
|
| Fig 1.9 Keyframes of camera |
I also animated the camera to show how the action would look like in shot
framings. To change camera angle, I keyframed the camera position at 1s so
that it would cut from one angle to another angle immediately.
|
|
Fig 1.10 Original model of combat knife Source: https://blendswap.com/blend/26934 |
|
| Fig 1.11 Edited blue light emitting material of knife |
Fig 1.12 Video showing object constraint influence keyframe changes of
knife throwing action
Second pass of animation
Fig 2.1 Second pass of animation (with lighting and layout)
Fig 2.2 Second pass of animation with camera framings
After receiving feedback from Mr. Kamal, I went on to continue cleaning
up the animation while also changing the poses of some body parts
according to the feedback given. I changed the hand to already started
closing when the knife lands on it, and also added some slight movement
on the hips, chest, opposite arm and leg while the knife is thrown so
that the character feels less rigid. Then, I added more hold when the
character is up in mid air and when he lands on the ground. Because I
wanted to show that the character is breathing heavily, I keyframed the
rotation of the chest to show a breathing motion. I also took note of
the hip shift in each pose so that it wouldn’t shift too much or too
little. The camera speed at the ending scene is also increased to make
sure the subject (character’s face) is in frame in every frame.
|
| Fig 2.3 All keyframes of all controllers |
|
| Fig 2.4 Curve and keyframes of hip |
|
| Fig 2.5 Curve and keyframes of left and right leg |
|
| Fig 2.6 Curve and keyframes of chest |
As for the cleaning process, I removed any unnecessary keyframes in the graph editor and smooth out any uneven curves. I also used the graph editor to get some holds for some poses and some snappy motion by adjusting the handles. I also offset the keyframes for the arms and wrist controller by 2 keyframes to give some drag to the animation. Though at some instances, I had to clean the animation using more keyframes since using curves only resulted in some limbs deformed or not looking right, so some curve ended up not perfectly smooth.
|
| Fig 2.7 Keyframes of head |
For the head, since I found out I had to animate everything at a
continuous value (if the value is 300, I can't reset it to 0 and move the
controller to the position I want since the animation will play the whole
thing as rotating 3 times to the desired position), the neck would
sometimes be over bended because of the head rotation. So, I changed the
head controller from FK to IK and back at certain frames so that the head,
and thus the neck, will follow the body and return to its normal look.
|
| Fig 2.8 Keyframes of some facial controllers |
After cleaning up the poses, I added in the facial expressions. The character
looks determined at the start but towards the end when the character gets up,
he changes to a cocky look as if he is satisfied with what has happened in the
knife slash. A subtle change in the eye position from left to right act as an
anticipation to that expression change. I used the pose library provided in
the Snow character rig file for the expressions, and edited the controllers
again to make it more fitting to the expression that I'm going for.
Animation layout
|
| Fig 3.1 Full top angle view of lighting layout |
|
| Fig 3.2 Closer view of lighting layout |
I then created a simple black studio backdrop as like my previous projects,
and adjusted the lightings to suit the animation. I focused on a
backlighting to give a more action film dramatic effect, and as the
character moves forward, the key light will be brighter so that his face
when he’s slashing his knife can be seen more clearly. There’s also a purple
light at the ending scene to give some variation in the animation, and also
as a way to add an additional interest to the story. The bright light at the
side is used to add some visual interest in the scene.
Further refinement of animation
Fig 4.1 Third pass of animation
|
| Fig 4.2 Keyframes and curves of torso |
|
| Fig 4.3 Keyframes and curves of chest |
After receiving feedback from Mr. Kamal, I added more hold when the hand
swings back after grabbing the knife and changed the moving hold to be led by
the torso instead of the chest when the character lands on the ground. I
keyframed the up and down position of the torso to give it a bit of springy
motion, and only kept the chest rotation right when the character lands and
when he is getting up, there are no keyframes in between those to avoid the
motion looking awkward. Other than that, I also keyframed the toe roll to give some flexibility throughout the animation.
|
| Fig 4.5 Keyframes on 1s to fix some poses issues caused by cleaning up in curve |
I also fixed some issues on the foot clipping into the ground when it rotates
in the y-axis by reducing the x-axis rotation, and also fixed some issues of
the leg getting too close to the body during in-betweens by adding more
position keyframes.
|
| Fig 4.6 Camera framing of last shot |
After that I adjusted the camera framing again so that the subject of a
certain shot will always be in frame, and also position the character’s eye to
be on the intersection point of the rule of third to get a better focal point
in the composition.
Further refine on animation layout
|
|
Fig 5.1 Underground garage environment Source: https://www.artstation.com/marketplace/p/qVyRv/free-underground-garage-scene-3d-blender-file-textured-fbx-obj-mtl-files |
Since Mr. Kamal suggested us to include a good background in our scene, I went
to search for a suitable free 3d modeled environment. I wanted the scene to
have a kind of an urban street but indoor look, and I finally found an
underground garage environment model that fits the look that I’m going
for.
|
| Fig 5.2 Appended environment Blender model rendering in Cycles |
I appended the 3D environment model Blender file into my animation file, and then rendered the scene as is with all the lights visible in the background. Though I had to remove some graffiti on the walls because they weren’t showing up in my Blender window.
Fig 5.3 Rendered animation with background lights
Fig 5.4 Rendered animation without background lights
|
| Fig 5.5 Camera keyframes with ongoing depth of field value |
But then I felt like the lights were too distracting, so I took them out and rendered again, which produces a cleaner background where the character is in focus more. I used Cycles to render so that the lighting will look better, and I also keyframed the focal length of the camera at different shots to give a depth of field to the background.
Fig 5.6 Lumetri colour settings in Premiere Pro
After that, I imported the rendered PNG sequence into Adobe Premiere Pro to do
some colour correcting on the video, so that there is more contrast and have
that urban look with bright lighting and high contrast.
Fig 5.7 Compiling progressions in Premiere Pro
After finalising the final animation output, I compiled all my progression in
Premiere Pro for submission.
Final Physical Action Sequence Animation
Fig 6.1 Storyboard and key poses compilation
Fig 6.2 Final Physical Action Sequence Animation
Feedback
Week 13
When the knife is thrown, move the hips and shoulders a bit, because when you move one part of your body, the other parts would move a bit as well. The hip should shift more at the end when snow is changing to final pose. The butt rotation can be reduced when he is getting up. The slow-mo when he's mid-air after the twist, it needs to be slower, probably more snappy curves (but given the camera angle, doesn't need to be slower). The hand should be already grabbing the knife when the knife lands in it. There should be more of a hold when the character is in its down recovery pose after the twist jump. When panning the camera, it's better to always show the character's head, or point of interest.
Week 14
Position the character's eye on the right third of the rules of third composition and make sure the camera moves smoothly diagonally from the previous keyframe to the next. For the moving hold when the character lands, the chest movement makes it look weird. Keyframe the up and down position of the hips or torso instead of the chest. More hold after he grabs the knife when it falls down. Overall looks good.
Reflection
This project was fun for me to do although the timeframe is quite packed since other modules are also going into final projects. I think part of the fun is that I chose an action that I'm interested in animating, the other part is sometimes filled with frustration when I felt tired when animating, or when I can't solve a problem. But even then, I learnt a lot from my trials and errors and I've gotten more familiar with using Blender and character rigs to animate from this project. Attaching props to character is a new thing for me, and trying to think of a way to make the character let go of the prop but also grabs it after a while took some time, but it felt satisfying being able to figure out how.
I think the most frustrating part is just making sure the poses are good based on the reference, and the cleaning up process where I had to have multiple keyframes at different timings which made the whole timeline a bit confusing to look at. But it still works in the end, I'll need to find a better way to organise my workflow. The most interesting thing about this project for me is when I included a background in the scene, which really brought the animation more to life. There are additional things that I want to try in this project, such as adding motion trails to the knives, but sadly time doesn't permit that since I have other modules and exam to worry about, so I just focused on making the animation polished, which I'm glad that I managed to complete it.
Comments
Post a Comment