Rigging Corrections
Following on from last week’s rigging session, in the lesson, Toby went over some rigs and gave constructive feedback which proved very useful in understanding the full implications of how the advanced skeleton plugin works. Some issues that arose when completing the rigging assignment were rotation axis issues in the fingers, so understanding that the rotation axis can be visualised to help directional alignment helped massively when achieving a more realistically moving advanced skeleton.
Animation Assignment: Pose to Pose Blocking
Starting this week’s assignment of creating a pose to pose block out between two key poses, I began to use plug-ins I was not previously hugely familiar with such as the tween machine. The Tween machine takes the key poses and creates an in-between that can be central or more influenced by either the latter or the former pose depending on the level selected.
A key element of the workshop that toby focused on was creating strong silhouettes in which the pose is clear with a good amount and well-controlled negative space. Taking this into consideration I wanted to ensure my beginning and end pose had clear and strong silhouettes in which the gun props were clearly outlined. This process helped me determine the strength of my poses going throughout the shot.
Another key element Toby mentioned was using editable motion trails to clearly track how clean and smooth your motion arcs are. Using these trails helped me understand and process how smooth my overall splined animation may appear. These motion trails can be reminiscent of the golden ratio in art theory that highlights a smooth perfect ‘shell’ shape that draws the viewer’s attention to a certain point. In some aspects, I attempted to recreate this ideal with the left hand and the gun to draw the viewer’s attention to it and the punisher rigs face towards the end of the shot.
Finished Blocking
The overall blocking I feel has some good examples of arcs in the arms and upper body, however, may not have the same effect in the lower body. I also feel it could be retimed as it feels a bit slow and the weight distribution seems a bit off in certain areas. Receiving feedback for next Thursday’s session will help me understand exactly which improvements I could make and expand the shot in quality and overall movement.