Introduction:
For most animators, the very first exercise one learns is the bouncing ball. The exercise is deceivingly simple, but is very important. The main thing an animator focuses on in this exercise, are the animation principles of squash and stretch, ease in and ease out and timing. Because there are no facial features, arms or legs, the animator can focus his energies into creating smooth fluid movement.
In this exercise, you will animating a ball overcoming a conflict. This conflict can be with another ball, or the conflict is withing the environment. A good example of this is if the ball is confronted with a large chasm, hole in the gound, or tall wall. The flow should look something like this: 1) Introduce the character, 2) Introduce the problem or confict and 3) Show the resolution (Does the character solve or become defeated by the problem).
The exercise will also require that you act out what the ball is going to do in front of the camera. This will give you correct video reference to work from. Be sure you have a helper or friend to help you record yourself acting out the actions of the ball.
Competencies:
By the end of this exercise, the student should be able to
- Demonstrate conflict in a simple animated story.
- Demonstrate the animation principles: squash and stretch.
- Demonstrate correct timing for different weights.
- Demonstrate ease in and ease out for different weights.
- Practice and implement proper staging and camera placement.
- Practice using the graph editor to create and adjust movement.
- Capture and use video reference to help you achieve realistic timing and animation.
Pre-Planning:
With a friend, act out the actions of the ball with your hand, and have your friend help you record/video capture your performance. Use this footage so you have an ide of timing, spacing and proper framecount. Base your animation on the movment that you see.
Planning:
Sketch out what you have in mind and break down what you have in mind for the beginning, middle and end. Decide how you want the animation to flow and be conscious where the edges of the frame are located. Also be aware of extra moving objects in your animation. If two objects are moving, the viewer will not know what to look at. Doing so in the beginning will ensure a better product. It will also help you focus on the most important aspects of the assignment. Below is an example of recorded footage, note how the actress acts out the ball with the hand. Below this example is the animation she created from the footage.
"Bouncing Ball and Conflict" : Video Reference from randolfd on Vimeo.
"Bouncing Ball and Conflict" : Final Animated Example from randolfd on Vimeo.
Camera and Adding Frame Count:
Before beginning any animation project, be sure you know where the edge of the screen is and that you have some way of knowing which frame you are on. Knowing the active area of the frame is essential for knowing where to place your animation as it moves. In Maya, you will do this by turning on the “resolution gate”
In the main viewport click
View > Camera Settings > Resolution Gate.
Also, turn on the current frame counter. This is so that you can pinpoint the exact frame which needs fixing.
Display > UI Elements > Current Frame Rate
Blockin Process:
Animate translation and placement first, by this I mean the general location of your object within the scene. Don’t worry too much about squash and stretch at this point, just get the timing down. Use the “step” feature in your animation tools so that the animation looks like a ticking robot. This feature will enable you to see how the keyframes are being perceived and it’s a fast way to see how things are developing. You will be spending most of your time here.
Watch the objects’ contact to the ground and the height of the arcs. Use the graph editor to create “plateaus” at the top of the movements, and “linear” tangents at the point of contact.
Details and More Refinement: After you’ve animated timing and movement, go ahead and add squash and stretch. Convert to “spline” animation and see how things are looking. Adjust your timing, squash and stretch, and arcs.
Get Feedback:
Create a playblast and get feedback on your work. Getting an objective view of your work will enable you to see things in a different light. Getting feedback is the single most effective way to improve your animation. If no one is available however, ask yourself these questions:
- Is the conflict clear?
- Is the animation of both objects smooth?
- Do my arcs look realistic?
- Do the two objects two distinct weights? If not, why?
- Do they look like two different materials?
- Are the objects in the camera presented clearly?
- Do the objects take turns moving so that the viewer is not confused?
- Are they interacting with the floor or with each other convincingly?
- Do I have a convincing bounce in the small ball?
Tips:
In teaching this exercise and in sitting in classes where this basic exercise is critiqued, I found common mistakes among students, they are listed here so that you can watch out for them.
- Stretch of ball on descent happens too early.
- Incorrect contact with the ground plane.
- Add an extra frame of squash, keep it here at least two and at the most three.
- Punch or Pop occurs after squash. The distance between the stretch and the last frame of the squash should be greater than the distance between the first squash and stretch frames.
- Top of the movement stops too abruptly, it looks like its hitting a wall. Flatten out tangents using the graph editor.
- Put more keyframes at the top of the motion than at the bottom, this gives the illusion of speed.
- Be mindful of the frame count and height. If the height is shallow and there are a lot of frames, the animation will play slow.
- Practice flat and linear keys.
- Keep things simple. Plan your keys (70%). Animation = 30%.
- Check out Richard William's tips on frame count.
- Soft landings. Create linear tangents to create impact.
- When the big ball comes down, sometimes animators will have the small ball react. If you do this, put a delay before the small ball moves. Imagine that when the big ball hits the ground, that it creates a shockwave. This shockwave will take a few moments before it reaches the small ball.
- Be sure that the big heavy ball can be seen within the frame before it drops. Sometimes, the ball appears midway down and it seems to appear out of nowhere.
