What. The. Hell Week 5

So remember my last post when I said this week would be full of win ? That was a lie. It was a tough week ... a really tough week in fact.  The Stu pose came out superbly (I liked it very much!) but the obstacle course is a whole other story.  Besides having to figure out the mechanics of squash and stretch, there was also rotation and bounces.  I'll post the couple of animations I made, none of them all too thrilling (at least for me). It was rough but thanks to friends and family giving encouragement, I think I came out okay :) I'm ready for week 6 !

Poor Stu. It was a rough week for him too

Sketching inspired from "Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America"

And now for the not so awesome animations :/ The first is the one I ultimately had to turn in, the bottom being the one I was trying to make work ...and failed miserably lol

Need To Find A Sad Place ... ?

This week is going to be full of WIN, I have decided ....except for the "devastation" pose we have to do with Stu this week :/ I will be going to a sad, dark place now ...wish me luck

Two Balls, One Assignment

This weeks assignment is a fun contrast between a heavy ball and a light ball.  I had this idea for this assignment for awhile, not gonna lie.  I haven't decided yet if I want heavy ball to squish the light ball or hit it at such an angle that it kinda shoots off (which also makes the heavy ball roll a bit).  I think the deciding factor on that is whether or not I can figure out how to make the dang ball roll naturally!! Either way ....here's (already!) a couple of versions/revisions :)

 

First Attempt

                                         

Revision 1

 

Revision 2

 

Revision 3

The Dreaded Bouncing Ball

Every animation class has it ...the assignment to end all assignments ...the very foundation on which nearly every principle of animation is explored ...I am of course talking of : THE BOUNCING BALL.  I've done at least three variations of the bouncing ball: one in high school, one in community college, and now one for Animation Mentor.  The ball, on paper, is fairly simple (or at least I thought so).  Make it bounce with weight and believability.  Check. So I go onto Maya to take on this bouncing ball challenge and was immediately humbled.  It was indeed harder than it seemed. Through much critiquing and tweaking, I think (THINK) I've got the right balance in the ball bounce ...now to just add some rotation! Enjoy the bouncing ball ...let it teach you of its mysterious ways ...let it humble you and yet comfort you in knowing that it isn't as easy as it seems :)

 

First Attempt

 

Revision 2

There's Something In The Water

Not sure what it is about tonight but I am psyched to be going into week 3 !! We've got quite the workload ahead of us and for once my procrastinating hasn't kicked in yet :D I watched the Lecture video on Planning and Blocking (good stuff!! I'll have to post some pointers later on), took some good notes and am ready to tackle the ball bounce! ....tomorrow! The second half of this weeks assignment is to sketch some EXCITEMENT poses and then pose Stu as such. I think I took this assignment to heart as I made a 40 second video of me "being excited" to which I already sketched out some ideas :D Bad news is I can't submit my sketch work until tomorrow! Boooo :( But I feel good knowing I've got a little something done already!! Enjoy the sketches below :D

 

 Edit: Here is also the Excited Stu pose :D

Tis A Start

The first official assignment for Class 1 has been complete!! It is turned in and submitted (will have to do some tweaking before the final FINAL turn in I'm sure!).  I quite enjoyed being a creeper and sketching people except for the fact that it was ridiculously hot today :/ Ugh! But either way, I think I got a few good sketches in there! I'm a little rusty I found out .... which just means I will have to people watch a little more often now :) Below is a jpeg of my sketchbook (quick sketches) and the first official Stu pose :D Enjoy! Comment! Critique! **UPDATE** After getting some feedback, it has come to my attention that the Stu rig is sitting in a most uncomfortable position :/ feet flat? I think not! The last picture is of the updated feet position :) **UPDATE 2**After MORE feedback (always welcome!), I adjusted Stu's giant noggin, straightened the right arm a bit, rotated the left arm elbow out a bit and flexed the right foot! whew!!

Messin' With Stu

Our first assignment for Class 1 is to do some people watching and sketch! sketch! sketch! Once we find a pose we are particularly fond of, we then proceed to pose Stu in the same manner. Now, like all kids and kids at heart, the first thing "we" do when "we" get a new toy is to of course play with the new toy, even if we have no idea how it works.  Well that's what I've done with little Stu-ee :) A couple of just super random poses to help me get the feel for his controls ....nothing fancy so far! Hope to have the sketchbook thumbnails plus a posed Stu by the end of the week! Have fun animators!!