Sunday, May 18, 2008

Animating Emotion: An 11 Week Animation Course

This blog features an animation acting curriculum geared towards the intermediate and advanced level animator. It is part of a thesis project in partial fulfillment of the MFA in Computer Animation Degree for Miami International University of Art and Design.

This curriculum is still under construction. I plan to add more examples and a few video tutorials so that the information is clearer and easy to understand.

The project also features an animation called "60 fps", that demonstrates the application of many of the concepts presented in this curriculum. It can be viewed below and is still in the works. I plan on refining the phoneme mouth shapes in the next couple of weeks.

The curriculum featured on this blog is made of 11 exercises to help the intermediate to advanced level animator achieve emotion in characters. They must be taken consecutively as each exercise builds on the next. It also will feature a series of lectures and tutorials to help you along.
Thanks to my instructors, my classmates, fellow animators, students, family and fellow colleagues for supporting and encouraging me to the completion of this project. A big shot out to all of the animators who made their character rigs available on the internet. They will be listed here once the project is complete. It would not have been possible without your help.
Thanks everyone! Completion and graduation is set for Summer 2008 (hopefully). As they say, full steam ahead.
Fire it up!
Randolf


Exercise 1 : Ball Conflict




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. 

Animation Process:

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.

Exercise 2 : Animated Flour Sac or Drink Box



Introduction:

Congratulations on animating the bouncing balls. Now, we are going to move up the animation hierarchy, by animating a drink box. You will be applying many of the same principles as the bouncing ball, such as squash and stretch, ease in and ease out, timing, but now add to this, anticipation and emotion. Emotion is achieved in the drinkbox through timing (how fast the box moves) and gesture (how the box is shaped). Trying to apply this to a simple drink box is ideal before moving on to more complex character rigs. 



Anticipation refers to the action before the main action. Sometimes its characterized as the windup before the pitch, or the pull of a rubber band before it snaps. The fact that these actions occur, such as the pulling of a rubber band, or a baseball pitch windup, suggests to the viewer that an action is about to happen, preparing the viewer for what is to come next, making the animation easy to follow and see. In the drink box, see if you can apply an “anticipation” movement before the drink box gets into an animation pose. 



In this assignment, you will also practice giving this animate drink box emotion. How do you say is this achieved? Simple, since it has no face, arms or legs, you will be creating emotion through timing and gesture. Remember that emotion is energy, and through the combination of timing and gesture, you are going to convey a particular emotion by matching that energy. For example a happy excited drink box, would not be slouching, the gesture would be upright, it would look confident. If it was sad, it gesture be slouchy, curving downward and the energy would be slow, and maybe even lifeless.

Assignment Description:

Use the drink box and animate it expressing two emotions. To begin, you may choose between the following emotions: Happy, sad, anger, fear, surprise, proud and or thinking. These emotions are the most common, they are easy to recognize, but each animator will treat each differently. If you are new, I would suggest you begin with the emotions happy and sad. Be sure each emotion is between 24 and 48 frames in length.
 
Good luck and have fun!



Competencies:

By the end of this exercise, the student should be able to: 
  • Demonstrate the animation principles: anticipation.
  • Demonstrate how to achieve two simple emotions through the use of timing and gesture. 
  • Demonstrate the animation principle “anticipation”, applied before each emotion.
  • Practice and implement proper staging and camera placement.
  • Practice using the graph editor to create and adjust movement. 


Animation Process:

1) Pre-Planning:

Decide which emotions you want to animate. For presentation purposes, its best if you choose two different emotions, so that its clear to the viewer which ones you are animating, this will be apparent especially in the shift between the two emotions. 

Sketch out what these emotions would like in the drink box. This will serve as your guide and it’ll make posing easier.

2) Camera and Adding Frame Count:

Add your resolution gate and framerate count so you can adjust your animation faster.

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

3) Blockin Process:


To animate the drinkbox, find the locator at the bottom of the drink box. It looks like a cross or little tail under the drink box. Click this to view the channels box. This is where you will find the controls to control the drink box’s forward and side roll, waste and head movement. 

We will begin animating pose to pose style. 
  • Pose your drink box in the first emotion. 
  • Copy the keyframes corresponding to each control on the rig and paste them on frame 24. You want to hold the same pose for 24 frames. 
  • Afterwards, give yourself a 12 frame cushion before posing the second emotion. 
  • Set your first keyframe to hold this emotion, copy these and paste the exact keyframes another 24 frames down the timeline. Your second pose should now be held for 24 frames.

4) Add and Adjust Timing:

At this point, within the 24 frames available for each emotion, see if you can add movement that represents and or adds to that particular emotion. 
Convert to “linear” animation and see how things are looking. Adjust your timing, squash and stretch, and arcs once you feel you are satisfied. 



5) : Feedback
This would also be a good time to get feedback on your work.
Create a playblast and get feedback on your work. Getting feedback is the single most effective way to improve your animation. If no one is available however, ask yourself these questions:
  • Are the emotions clear in this drinkbox?
  • Does the movement look realistic?
  • Do the two emotions look different from one another.
  • Does my camera angle show these emotions clearly?
  • If my character is walking, do I have sliding. Sliding is when the character moves without any movement in the feet or any body part that touches the floor?



6) : Add Anticipation:

Below is a recommended framecount for basic anticipation. Add “anticipation” before each emotion displayed by the drink box. 
  • Anticipation Movement: 5 - 8 frames
  • Anticipation Hold: 2 frames

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.
  • If the drink box jumps, be sure to include rotation while up in the air.
  • Follow through and overlapping action in the drink box.
  • Exaggerate the contrast of the emotions so that the ideas are clear.
  • Have strong posing to avoid "floaty" or "swimmy" movement.
  • Reverse pose C curves in animation add to contrast. (Illustration Needed)
  • Remember contrast in timing. Add pauses to break up the timing of the animation, this gives the illusion the character is thinking, it also gives us the viewer a chance to understand what's happening.
  • Apply drag = approximately 6 frames. This is also called overlapping action. 

Exercise 3 : Posing & Life Drawing

Introduction:

In the last assignment, you animated a drink box having emotion through its display of emotion and timing. It’s now time to move to complex characters and build upon what you had learned in the last exercise. Before we animate these characters, we have to spend some time “Pre-Planning”. In the development of this curriculum, I interviewed many animators in the industry and the most common piece of advice that all of them gave you (the upcoming animator) was to spend time planning what you are about to animate. 

This next exercise is to help you with the “pre-planning” needed to create a successful animation in the next two upcoming assignments and it will require a little bit of life drawing.

 

In the above illustration, what emotion is being displayed. What is the model doing? The fact that you can recognize what the model in the drawing is doing is what we want. In this assignment, you will be creating lifedrawings that convey an emotion. After they are completed, we will transfer them to our CG character.
 
Assignment Description:
Create 6 – 8 loose gestural lifedrawings where it is clear what emotions and actions are being displayed. You may work from a life model, photos of lifedrawing model, scour images on the internet (be sure the emotion is clear in these), or research old movies starring Charlie Chaplain, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, or newer movies starring Johnny Depp and pause the movie to see a particular frame and pose. Draw this pose in this fashion.


Save these drawings for you next assignment, good luck and have fun!



Competencies:

By the end of this exercise, the student should be able to:
  • Demonstrate how lifedrawing can portray specific emotions and poses.
  • Demonstrate gesture drawing.
  • Demonstrate line of action.

Gesture Lifedrawing Process:
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.
Don’t make up the drawing out of your head. It will be easier and you will draw faster if you have photo reference.
  • Exaggerate, see how far you can push the pose. This takes some imagination and some risk taking, but the drawing inevitably turns out to be more interesting this way.
  • Exaggerate the emotions so that the idea of the emotion is clear.
  • Work fast.
  • Do many drawings. I’m only recommending you complete 6 – 8 good drawings. 
  • Sometimes you may have a drawing that is not strong, or is unclear. Keep drawing until you have 6 – 8 solid drawings that convey emotion.
  • Clear silhouettes : Be sure your pose drawing is clear in silhouette form. 
  • Keep your drawings small so you can do more of them. They should be roughly the size of your hand. The larger the drawing, the more paper you need to cover, which in turn may slow you down. 

Exercise 4 : CG Posing

Introduction:
If you completed the last animation exercise, you should a 6 – 8 drawings of a figure in poses that express certain emotions. Now, let’s bring these images into a CG program (the program we are using in this course is Maya). By creating the drawings first in the last exercise, you were forced to think about how emotion was expressed in the figure, and not the computer. Now that you are familiar with the emotion in your figures, we can now begin to integrate the computer in all of this. 



In this exercise, you will be taking your drawings from the last assignment, and you will pose your CG models to match your drawings. This will not only give you practice in posing your CG characters on the computer by manipulating the controls of the rig, but you will see the importance of these poses in their ability to express effective emotions. Once this exercise is completed, save it as we will add to it to improve your emotion animation skills in the next exercise. 



Before we begin, be sure to download and explore a few free character rigs found on the internet. You can start from my blog entry below, I’ve reviewed and tested a few character rigs posted on Highend3D site. Do this before proceeding with the assignment. Good luck and have fun! 




Free Character Rigs


Assignment Description:
Use the drawings you created in the last assignment (Emotion Animation Ex. 4) and on the computer, pose your character rig to match the poses in your lifedrawings. Do as many as you wish, but strive to do a minimum of 6 – 8 poses. Or, if you wish, an alternative would be to model a CG character in the way I have shown you up above. This is fine, but as part of your training, use a drawing that you've created in order to get the full benefit of the lesson.







Posing Assignment I from randolfd on Vimeo.


Competencies:

By the end of this exercise, the student should be able to
  • Explore general controls found in free character rigs.
  • Pose CG characters in emotive poses.
  • Become familiar with the posing process by using reference.
  • Generate poses by using proper keyframing techniques.

CG Posing Process:
Below is a link to a video tutorial that walks you through a process on how to pose a character by "bookending" the keyframes. It also covers how to use the Maya script editor.

http://www.randolfdimalanta.com/tutorials/bookending/index.html


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.
Be sure you draw your poses first. From my experience, students who plan and draw out poses by hand usually get better results. This is probably because of the thinking and mental exploration involved in analyzing the pose.
  • Exaggerate the emotions so that the idea of the emotion is clear.
  • Clear silhouettes : Be sure your pose drawing is clear in silhouette form. For example, in silhouette form, arms and hands in front of the body, will not be seen. Keep these in the outside of the figure’s form so that the arms and hands remain visible.
  • Hold your poses for at least 24 frames, with 10 frames between each pose.
  • Follow a procedure in creating these poses and work from the center of the body outwards. I go in this order: Main control, root control, feet positioning, spine, head, arms, hands and lastly facial features.

Exercise 5 : Moving Holds



Posing Assignment II: Moving Holds from randolfd on Vimeo.



Introduction:

In what is considered to be the animation bible The Illusion of Life, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, when first developing the process for animation, found that when a character was in a pose that he had to hold for long time, that it was essential to add “moving holds” (Thomas, Johnston). These were considered to be small movements in the eyes, brows, joints, jaw, spine and if the character was an animal, movement in the tail, ears or clothing. This was necessary in order to emulate real life.

In reality, things are in constant motion, atoms keep moving, cells keep dividing, air and wind moves things around, and when things move, there is always some kind of secondary or overlapping action. In an animal, when it jumps and lands, the body stops while the tail and ears keep moving and slow to a complete halt. The action of the tail slowing to a halt, or if the tail is flowing because its affected by a slight breeze, is a moving hold.

Other moving holds are eyes and clothes. In the eyes, important moving holds are eye darts, and eye blinks, just think about how we see in reality. Our eyes are constantly moving, focusing on different things every moment. When eyes don’t move, they seem to have no life and may seem robotic. Think about how much your eye moves while you are reading this document. You’re probably sitting still in a chair or at table, but your eyes keep moving. Your eyes are moving because they are gathering information. Your animated character could improve if you apply the same principle to his eyes as well.

(Link to Example Here)



Assignment Description:
Using the CG posing assignment from Exercise 4, add moving holds, in either of the following or a combination of movements between the eyes, brows, mouth, spine shoulders, hands, arms and legs to each of your poses in order to make it seem the character is alive.

Competencies:
By the end of this exercise, the student should be able to:
  • Apply subtle movement to a pose to create a moving hold.
  • Apply the moving hold in eyeblinks.
  • Apply moving holds to eye darts.

PrePlanning:

Before you begin, view your poses and ask yourself what moving hold could be added to each pose. Make a list and then apply them. In all of your characters there should be subtle movement in the joints, spine and eyes. 


VIDEO REFERENCE:

Look at an existing animation, and step the animation (slow motion) and see how many frames it takes for various moving holds to occur. Below is the video reference that lead to the animation featured above.



Posing Assignment: Video Reference from randolfd on Vimeo.

ANIMATION PROCESS:
Below is a link to a video tutorial that walks you through a process on how to pose a character by "bookending" the keyframes. It also covers how to use the Maya script editor.

http://www.randolfdimalanta.com/tutorials/bookending/index.html



EVALUATION:
Here are some questions to consider asking yourself to make sure you are on target with this assignment.
  • Do the moving holds add to the life of the character?
  • Is there anything that is not moving that needs to be moving in this pose?
  • Do the moving holds interfere with the readability of the main pose?
Moving holds are essential for keeping an illusion of life within a character especially in CG computer animation. The computer helps us in the animation process in many ways, but it does not know how to integrate the moving holds. The computer will also hold the pose perfectly, so much so that it will seem to be a robot. Its our job as the animator to add those subtle movements and to prevent that robotic look, to make our characters seem like they are alive, in constant motion like all things living.

Exercise 6 : Waiting for a Bus?

illustration needed 6/08

Introduction:
By this point, you should be getting familiar with the posing process, holding the posing and transitioning from one pose to another. In this assignment, you will implement all that you have learned thus far, by animating a character waiting for a bus. Why a bus? Because of the versatility of the situation. When we wait for a bus, , you can either stand, sit (if you there is a bench) and once in awhile, we’ll display random movements such as checking our watch, looking down the street for the bus, reading the paper, checking out the person next you, whatever you are doing, you must be aware of the bus. This assignment is also a exercise in subtle animation. The moving holds you had a chance to animate in the previous exercise are going to come in handy, as they will be needed to carry your character during those times he is waiting. 



Assignment Description:
Animate a rigged character waiting for a bus. While he is waiting, animate him executing a casual movement. Research possible casual movements people display while waiting for a bus like, reading the paper, checking the time, looking at the weather wondering if its going to rain, drinking a water bottle, saying hello to an acquaintance. Be sure both movements are clear, and that the main action of waiting for the bus clear. 

Competencies:
By the end of this exercise, the student should be able to
  • Apply subtle movement to a pose to create a moving hold.
  • Analyze and perform a series of poses to execute an idea.
  • Execute a story in a short animation without the use of dialogue.
Pre-Planning:
Before you begin, record yourself or a friend waiting for a bus. Before filming, establish the situation. Ask yourself these questions: Why is the person waiting for the bus? Where is he going? Where is he coming from? What is happening at the bus stop that might change the situation? How long is this animation? Be sure you rehearse before filming, as it may take a few takes to get it right.

After you have captured your footage, establish the poses needed to create the feeling and to make the animation readable. Be mindful of gesture and body language. Once you are familiar with the poses and movements, you may begin animating.

When animating establish the poses with your CG character and be sure these are held. Refer to your video reference to give you an idea of how long to hold a particular movement. Worked in “stepped” animation fashion, switching to “linear” and finally to “spline”. 


EVALUATION:
Here are some questions to consider asking yourself to make sure you are on target with this assignment.
  • Is it clear that the character is waiting for a bus?
  • Is there intention and personality in his other actions, are these actions clear?
  • Is the animation smooth?
  • Are the poses held long enough for the viewer to see?

Exercise 7 : The Gear Change I



Introduction:
During an Animation Podcast interview, directing animator James Baxter, who has worked on Belle for Beauty and the Beast, Rafiki in the Lion King, and Quasimodo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, mentioned that in interviewing for an animation job, that he likes to see an emotion shift (Caytin, Baxter). This animated emotion shift, where a character changes very quickly from one emotion to another, is a called a “Gear Change”. Similar to changing gears on bike or an automatic car, a rider shifts to a higher or lower gear to achieve a different speed.

Earlier in the curriculum, we’ve learned in Assignment 2 (The Drink Box/Flour Sac), that emotion can be achieved through speed and the shape of the flow of action. In this assignment, you’ll have a chance to animate a gear change. Your character is displaying one emotion, will react to an event off screen, and will settle into a new emotion. This is one of the most interesting animation assignments, not only is your character going to appear to have life, but you are also creating a small storyline or scene, as this animation has a beginning, middle and an end.

Assignment Description:
Use a free character rig and animate it experiencing two emotions, with a reaction to an off screen even in between the two emotions. This reaction is a “take” or a “pop” and will be an emotion that is between your two main emotions. 



Competencies:
By the end of this exercise, the student should be able to:
  • Pose CG characters in emotive poses.
  • Link these poses through an off screen event by animating a trigger rection.
  • Create a smooth transition between the two poses.
  • Incorporate animation principles of overlapping action and anticipation.
  • Incorporate subtle movements in the animation called moving holds. 


PrePlanning:
Before you begin, it is important that you identify your two emotions. Keep it simple. To start begin with your character being happy, have him wave to someone off screen, and from here, show a contrasting emotion. Emotions that would contrast happy would be sad, happy or angry. It would then appear that the character is happy to see someone and waves, but then realizes that perhaps it’s the wrong person. Below is very important tip suggested from my intereviews 


VIDEO REFERENCE:

An essential habit to get into before animating, especially if you are a beginner, is to shoot video reference for your shot. This is an important pleplanning concept that enables many things to happen to make you better. 
  1. You will have reference to create an emotive pose, it enhances your power of observation, as the camera will record things you might have missed in the portrayal of the emotion.
  2. You’ll be able to see the timing required to animate each pose. 



SKETCH IT OUT:
Once your video reference is created, sketch out the main emotions, and see what you can exaggerate in order to achieve a clear presentation of the emotion. The main purpose of this is to nail the exact pose, gesture, hand and eye positions that make up that particular emotion. This is perhaps the most important part of this assignment, so that you can see and analyze what it is that exists in the character that makes the emotion happen.

CG Process :

Bookending Keyframes:
Once you have done the proper preplanning and you have the exact poses for the scene, you can now begin posing your character on the computer, and you will follow the method explained in the last assignment of bookending your keyframes. Which means that you will set keyframes for a particular pose that are exactly the same, that are placed many frames apart. This is essential because it gives the audience a chance to see the pose that you have studied and analyzed earlier. Refer to your video reference for how long each pose is held.


Adding Moving Holds:
Once your character is holding the emotions, add moving holds to keep the character from staying perfectly still. Things to add that prevent this are eyeblinks, subtle spine and joint rotations. The goal here is to add subtle movement to make the figure less robotic. One could also add overlapping action and anticipation during and after the event trigger.

Let’s say that your character is happy, waves to someone off screen, and then becomes embarrassed, at which point, he sits down and appears to hide in a closed posture. When he gets into this closed posture, you could add overlapping action in the arms and wrist and spine as he gets into the embarrassed position.

The Trigger:
There is another emotion in the assignment that is hidden and that must be addressed. We will use the example of happy to embarrassed scenario we’ve been discussing in this assignment. The “Trigger”, is the emotion that the character expresses at the moment he finds out that the person he is waving to is not who he expected. What could this emotion be? This could be a concerned look, or the character could seem surprised or worried. This happens very quickly and it occurs prior to displaying the second emotion of being embarrassed. In the above animation example, featuring Magritte, the trigger is the actual karate chop to the wooden block. After the trigger occurs here, he switches to a different state of mind. I would too if I had to break a piece of wood 4 feet thick. 

Your scenario should now play like this: The character is happy and waves to someone off screen, when he sees this person, he is surprised that its not who he thinks it is, and then looks embarrassed. So there is actually three emotions that you are going to animate in this assignment. 



Here's an example of an emotion, trigger and secondary emotion.




EVALUATION:
Here are some questions to consider asking yourself to make sure you are on target with this assignment.
  • Are the 3 emotions clear? If not what could we do to make them clear. Consider also the silhouette of the pose. 
  • Are the transitions from the three poses clear?
  • Is each pose held long enough for the viewer to see the emotions and poses?
  • Does the character appear to be reacting to what is happening off screen.
  • Show this animation to someone and see what they think? Can they understand the situation? 
This Gearchange assignment, although seemingly simple, can display so many of your animation skills. It shows off your attention to detail, your preplanning methodologies, your interpretation of video reference, understanding of the pose, gesture, hand positioning, eyes, eyebrows, anticipation, overlapping action and timing. 

Do your best and have fun, and see if you can animate it in a way that not only hits the points I mentioned above, but that amuses you too. Does it make you laugh. When I do this assignment, I make it a point to make it so that it makes me laugh. The project turns out much better that way.

Exercise 8 : Gear Change II




Introduction:

Now we are getting into the point where the animations we are making are going to be a little more complex. In this assignment, you will be animating your character experiencing not two, but a shift of four emotions. This will take some time, and the key will be planning out your movements so that your animation is clear. Planning ahead for this assignment will make a better animation because it provides clear direction and a focal point. 



This assignment is very similar to the first Gear Change exercise you completed earlier, and the process for creating this assignment is very similar. In the first gear change exercise, the character expressed an emotion, experienced an event, and afterwards, displayed a different emotion. In this exercises, you will create an entirely new scenerio, but after the second emotion is displayed, the another related event occurs, creating another gear change, totaling four emotions.


(Link to Example Here)

Assignment Description:
Using a rigged character, animate your character experiencing four emotions.

Competencies:
By the end of this exercise, the student should be able to:
  • Pose CG characters in emotive poses.
  • Link these poses through an off screen event by animating a trigger reaction.
  • Create a smooth transition between the two poses.
  • Incorporate animation principles of overlapping action and anticipation.
  • Incorporate subtle movements in the animation called moving holds.
  • Incorporate another related event to trigger another set of reactions.
  • Be familiar with connecting a series of emotions to convey a story. 


PrePlanning:
This preplanning advice is similar to the advice given in the previous section. It is placed here as a reminder. Before you begin, it is important that you are familiar with your concept and identify your four emotions. Keep it simple. You will be begin in a similar fashion as the previous gear change assignment. 


VIDEO REFERENCE:
An essential habit to get into before animating, especially if you are a beginner, is to shoot video reference for your shot. This is an important pleplanning concept that enables many things to happen to make you better. The more complex your shot, the more planning you are going to need. This exercise is complex, so shoot reference so the assignment is easier.

You will have reference to create an emotive pose, it enhances your power of observation, as the camera will record things you might have missed in the portrayal of the emotion.

You’ll be able to see the timing required to animate each pose.

SKETCH IT OUT:
Once your video reference is created, sketch out the main emotions, and see what you can exaggerate in order to achieve a clear presentation of the emotion. The main purpose of this is to nail the exact pose, gesture, hand and eye positions that make up that particular emotion. This is perhaps the most important part of this assignment, so that you can see and analyze what it is that exists in the character that makes the emotion happen.

CG Process :

Bookending Keyframes:
Once you have done the proper preplanning and you have the exact poses for the scene, you can now begin posing your character on the computer, and you will follow the method explained in the last assignment of bookending your keyframes. Which means that you will set keyframes for a particular pose that are exactly the same, that are placed many frames apart. This is essential because it gives the audience a chance to see the pose that you have studied and analyzed earlier. Refer to your video reference for how long each pose is held.

(Link to Book Ending Demo)

Adding Moving Holds:
Once your character is holding the emotions, add moving holds to keep the character from staying perfectly still. Things to add that prevent this are eyeblinks, subtle spine and joint rotations. The goal here is to add subtle movement to make the figure less robotic. One could also add overlapping action and anticipation during and after the event trigger.

Let’s say that your character is happy, waves to someone off screen, and then becomes embarrassed, at which point, he sits down and appears to hide in a closed posture. When he gets into this closed posture, you could add overlapping action in the arms and wrist and spine as he gets into the embarrassed position.

The Trigger:
Unlike the previous Gearchange assignment, you will have two or more trigger events.

The scenario now plays like this: The character is happy and waves to someone off screen, when he sees this person, he is surprised that its not who he thinks it is, and then looks embarrassed. So there is actually three emotions that you are going to be animating in this assignment.

EVALUATION:
Here are some questions to consider asking yourself to make sure you are on target with this assignment.
  • Are the emotions clear? If not what could we do to make them clear. Consider also the silhouette of the pose.
  • Are the transitions clear?
  • Is each pose held long enough for the viewer to see the emotions and poses?
  • Does the character appear to be reacting to what is happening off screen.
  • Show this animation to someone and see what they think? Can they understand the situation? 
This Gearchange II assignment shows off your attention to detail, your preplanning methodologies, your interpretation of video reference, understanding of the pose, gesture, hand positioning, eyes, eyebrows, anticipation, overlapping action, timing and your understanding of narrative.

Exercise 9: Character Monologue I



Introduction:
 In the majority of your animations, you will be animating a character speaking to an existing vocal track. Voice actors will be recorded in a studio and during these sessions, in order to make the animation process easier for you, video reference must be recorded at the same time the dialogue is being recorded. The process for animating dialogue is the same as the previous “Gear Change” assignment. Instead of two poses, you have many that are strung together, with the character holding the pose for as long as he is reciting the line of dialogue. After you strung together your poses, you can then break down your animation by adding moving holds, overlapping action and finally phoneme mouth shapes.

From my experience in teaching phoneme shapes, due to the complexity of this assignment, we will break this assignment down into two sections. The first assignment, this one you are reading at the moment, you will be focusing on the body language, posing, gesture, timing and positioning. After you have done this, you will proceed to the second animation assignment, where you will integrate phoneme shapes. 
 



Follow the posing tutorial in the last assignment to help you along.


Adding Sound to the Maya Timeline Video Tutorial

The video tutorial below covers how to import a .wav file into the Maya timeline so you can animate this monologue track.
http://www.randolfdimalanta.com/tutorials/mayasound/index.html



Assignment Description:
Due to its complexity, this assignment will be broken down into two parts. Secure a soundclip with one character speaking that is about 5 – 10 seconds long. Use a free character rig and pose your character’s body as if he is reciting the lines. Its best if you have video reference to work from, if not, you may have to act out the scene and record yourself, or you may have to locate the actual footage to help you along. This is a pantomime exercise, so your character must look as if he is expressing the monologue without any lip movement, it should be done with body language, hand, head an eye movement. 




Competencies:
By the end of this exercise, the student should be able to:
  • Pose CG characters in emotive poses.
  • Link these poses together so the character pantomimes the dialogue.
  • Create a smooth transition between the poses.
  • Incorporate animation principles of overlapping action and anticipation.
  • Incorporate subtle movements in the animation called moving holds.
  • Convey the speech into a believable pantomime performance.

PrePlanning:
Before you begin, just as the beginning animation exercises suggest, sketch out and identify the poses you may need. Try to keep this as simple as possible, but try not make your character stand perfectly still. Its best if you can locate video reference to help you pose the character to match the shot, and to help you include the details needed to create subtle expressions in the eyes, or hands. For simplicity, you may choose to animate the character from the waste up.

Before you begin, load your sound file on to your time slider so you can see the wave forms. You will need this so you know where to hit your keyframes. Keep things simple and hold your poses just as you did in the previous assignments. Break these down once you are comfortable. 



Simple Movements:
Since this is the first time you are animating dialogue, its important to keep things simple. This means keeping your body movement minimum. There will times where you will be animating a lot of body movement. A common pitfall, is that students add too much movement, that we lose focus of what is being said, this is called overacting.


Keep your keyframes simple, neat and organized, but be sure you capture the emotion being expressed in the dialogue. Unlike the gear change, the poses you are creating for this exercise will number between 7 – 10. Anymore, I would consider to be too much and I would encourage you to simplify.


Below are a few tips before you begin posing.
  • Memorize your lines.
  • Do 48 frames at a time.
  • Use the bookend method to pose and hold your keyframes.
  • Refer to your video reference and see how many frames it takes to hold a pose. You will interpret and adjust this later, but it will serve as a start.
  • Refer to your last assignments to see how blocked in the pantomime.
  • Do playblasts often to check to see if you are on target.

EVALUATION:
Here are some questions to consider asking yourself to make sure you are on target with this assignment.
  • Is the emotion correct in these poses?
  • Does it look like your character is saying the words believably (without words)?
  • Is the character holding the pose long enough?
  • Is there enough exaggeration? Can I exaggerate the pose more to enhance the emotion?
  • Is this pantomime clear, or is he moving too fast for his voice?
  • Compare your animation to actual footage, is the timing similar, if not, why?
I consider for this assignment to be advanced, because not only are you acting and focusing on gesture, and body language, but you are also working on hitting correct phoneme shapes, and this, depending on the dialogue, can be a complex exercise on its own. Therefore, since we are first beginning, focus on the gesture and posing first, utilizing the bookend method of hold in your keyframes and break it down as you have learned in the previous exercises. Once you are happy with the character’s performance, proceed to add phonemes in the next exercise.

Exercise 10 : Character Monologue II



Introduction:
This is the second part of Character Monologue assignment. In the previous assignment, you should have animated a character pantomiming a monologue track, now you will be adding phoneme mouth shapes to make your character look as if he’s talking.

Assignment Description:
This is part two of the monologue animation assignment. Using a free character rig (the assignment from the previous exercise), animate the character reciting a monologue track. Again, its best if you have video reference to work from, if not, you may have to act out the scene and record yourself, or you may have to locate the actual footage to help you along. 



Competencies:
By the end of this exercise, the student should be able to:
Link these poses together so the character pantomimes the dialogue.
Incorporate subtle movements in the animation called moving holds.
Incorporate phoneme mouth shapes.
Create synchronized mouth movement. 


PrePlanning:
This assignment is simple and straightforward, but it will require concentration. Therefore, break the frames you would like work on in manageable chunks. I recommend looking at 48 frames at a time. Also, do your best to internalize and memorize the lines, this will help in some cases where the wave forms are not clear, you can help yourself by acting the lines in front of a mirror if needed.


Phoneme (Mouth) Shapes :
Phonemes are the shapes that the mouth makes when speaking. This is crucial when animating dialogue, you don’t want the voice to be heard while the character’s mouth is not moving, and you don’t want his mouth to move with no sound. A consistent and accurate synchronization of mouth movement and voice is desired, but depending on the type of character, you may have room tp not be as accurate. A good example of this, are the Muppet characters whose mouths simply move up and down, with no details in the mouth, yet their dialogue is believable.



A good method, and process for creating phoneme shapes is essential, this will be highlighted below. 

The most common shapes are the ones centered around certain sounds, they are listed below as well as a recommended process, and frame count to achieve believable dialogue. Once you have established and have bookended your poses, begin breaking the animation down by adding overlapping action and secondary motion. Test the animation and evaluate how it looks and feels.

Once you are satisfied, and you have gotten feedback, then proceed to block in your dialogue, notice that similar mouth shapes are grouped together. Create them in the order listed below:
  • Memorize your lines.
  • Work on 48 frames at a time.
  • Move the jaw up and down first, especially for the vowel sounds for general mouth movement.
  • Go back and do the mouth shapes for sounds M, B and P. Hold these for two frames.
  • Do your O, U, Q and W phoneme shapes.
  • Create phoneme shapes for long E and Y sounds. Edges of the mouth will mouth outward in this shape.
  • Check your animation.
  • Move and show the tongue on sounds L, TH, and D. Hold these for two frames.
  • Create the phoneme shapes for F and V. Hold these for two frames. 

Tips :
If this is your first time animating dialogue with phoneme shapes, keep it simple. Don’t animate the full figure yet, as you are still getting used to the phoneme process. There will be time to do this later.

  • Explore and know the facial controls of your rig first. Familiarize yourself with them and see if you can get your character to make the basic phoneme shapes.
  • Work in manageable frame chunks to keep your keyframes organized.
  • Book end your mouth shapes if needed. This means to hold a mouth shape for two frames, with the specific phoneme mouth shape key-framed in between. 
  • Do playblasts often to check to see if you are on target.
  • Set up a separate viewport window where you can see all of the controls in one place, and keep these controls in the same place every time you animate this shot, so you can instinctually go that control to make adjustments. 

EVALUATION:
Here are some questions to consider asking yourself to make sure you are on target with this assignment.
  • Is your lipsync accurate?
  • Does it look as though the character is speaking?
  • Are you hitting the correct phoneme shapes?
  • Are there areas where there are no sounds but his mouth continues moving?
  • Show this animation to someone and see what they think? Does it look believable to them?
  • Compare your animation to actual footage, is the timing similar, if not, why?

As a form of constant improvement, this monologue exercise is one that you could do on your own, aside from other projects that you have to do. For example, apart from doing freelance commercial work, I will find an audio clip from a movie, and will animate it whenever I have free time. I may get to it once a week, everyday, maybe even once a month. The idea is to keep working on something that improves your skills on a regular basis, that contributes to your demonstration reel, and that also helps you establish and become familiar with an animation process. There are many sites that host downloadable sound clips and I recommend that when you choose one, it is from a movie you are familiar with and that it is simple to animate. Most of all, it is meant to be fun and enjoyable, so pick something that makes you laugh, and happy animating.

Exercise 11 : Character Dialogue I




Introduction:
This assignment focuses on perhaps the most complex task in animation, dialogue between two characters. More often than not, your character will not be the lone character, there are a few animations that are like this, but for the most part, they will be interacting with others. This interaction with other characters highlights the effect of the narrative described earlier in the project, because through the narrative, situations and events will create conflict for which the character will need to react and most of the time, it will be reacting with other characters.

By this time, you should already be familiar with the animation process and how to achieve emotion and expression in characters. It is crucial to be familiar with this process, so that you have the mental capacity and concentration needed to tackle the complex interplay that occurs in two characters talking. It’s almost like driving a car (at least for those of you who are old enough to drive), once you are in the car, you don’t worry about how to steer, or press the gas, you just think about your destination and where you want to go.

The barometer for this is your experience in the last monologue assignment. Was it difficult? Do you feel comfortable in animating a single character? If so, then proceed to the next exercise. The process for animating dialogue is the same as animating monologue. Only this time, you will be dealing with two distinct characters. This introduces a different dynamic, that deals with the transfer of energy between characters and focal point. We will discuss this later in the assignment.

Assignment Description:
Locate an audio track about 5 – 10 seconds in length, where two characters are speaking. Using pre-rigged characters, animate the characters reciting a dialogue audio track.

Competencies:
By the end of this exercise, the student should be able to:
  • Pose two characters pantomiming an audio track.
  • Link the poses together to create a smooth pantomime performance.
  • Incorporate subtle movements in the animation called moving holds.
  • Incorporate phoneme mouth shapes.
  • Create synchronized mouth movement.
  • Establish focal points by choosing to have one character move at a time.
  • Incorporate subtle movement in the character that is not speaking in order to make it appear that he is listening. 


PrePlanning:
In interviews of industry professionals I’ve conducted, the most common piece of advice, to achieve success in any animation, was in the pre-planning process. This includes shooting video reference, establishing the key poses, phoneme shapes, character analysis, such as the goal and objective of the character in the story, and scene analysis. In scene analysis, the animator answers questions like what is the purpose of the scene, what happened before the scene and what happens to the characters after the scene.

The idea is to anticipate problems before hand by planning out things in advance. Doing so, ensures a smoother animation process that ensures the delivery of the final animated sequence. This last exercise, animating two characters engaging in dialogue, is no exception. The danger in doing this exercise, is that the characters move similarly, and that the personalities are not distinguishable. In order to prevent this, the pre-planning technique of shooting video reference is essential. Have friends act out and pantomime the scene, or if you are alone, record yourself pantomiming different segments of the dialogue at different times, the information will help. By doing this, many helpful things to occur. By recording this video reference, you will be able to:

  1. See the timing involved between the two characters.
  2. See subtle details in movement that can them be implemented in your character, such as in the eyes and hands.
  3. Use the video reference as a comparison tool for you to compare your animated movement to reality.
  4. See phoneme shapes.

Transfer Of Energy:
One of the unique aspects of animation, is that it takes advantage of human’s attraction to movement on a flat surface. For example, if you were looking at a piece of paper with an image of a character, let’s say Bugs Bunny, and he is not moving, the moment he moves, even in the slightest way, your eye is drawn to that movement. This is good, because the animator has complete control and engage the viewer if he wishes. The difficult part, is what if two or three characters are moving at the same time? The audience would not know where to look and therefore the focal point and storytelling is unclear. To achieve clarity, the animator must make sure that the character take turns moving. This is usually referred to as “transfer of energy”.

When animating a character in your dialogue, it is important that the other nonspeaking character remain still. You can afford some movement, like moving holds and the like, but these movements cannot overpower the movements generated by the speaking character, otherwise the viewer will not look at the speaking character, the viewer will be drawn to the greatest movement. The transfer of energy occurs after the speaking character is finished with his dialogue, upon which the second listening character, will respond and react to the first character. When this second character begins to speak, it is important to keep the first character’s movement to a minimum. This transfer of energy continues until the dialogue is complete.

As part of your training as an expert character animator, I recommend watching your favorite animated film by Pixar, Dreamworks or Blue Sky Studios, and study carefully animated scenes that contain two or more characters. See if you can identify the transfer of energy happening between characters, you will see that these features show a expert handling of this.


“I’m Listening”: A Note on Reflective Listening
One of the most important leadership skills used by counselors, psychiatrists, managers, doctors, basically anyone who has to deal with people on a regular basis, is in the ability to listen effectively to another person. In a session with a psychiatrist, as the patient speaks, the psychiatrist, will give physical signs to the person speaking, in order to let the person know that he is definitely listening. As the patient speaks, he is comforted that the one receiving the information is listening, this gives a sense of validation for the patient. The psychiatrist, to let the patient know that he is listening, will do simple things, like nodding his head in agreement, making eye contact and asking questions for clarification. 

If these don’t occur, let’s say the patient is describing a stressful situation that he needs help with, and while sharing, the psychiatrist is looking away, and asks questions that are unrelated. The psychiatrist will come across as disinterested and unprofessional, resulting in the patient being reluctant to share anything.

Humans are sensing beings, and one of the ways we relate to one another is in our ability to listen to each and to have empathy for each other’s feelings. People are drawn to others who they feel listen to them, and it feels good to have someone listen to us. It gives us humans a sense of value. Think about the people who you admire. There is a good chance that you admire them because they listen to you, and that you listen to them. This establishes good relationships, and its why people are drawn to hairdressers, barbers, bartenders, psychiatrists and doctors. Its their job to listen, and it makes people connect to them easily.

Now that you know this, you can add subtle movements to the listening character to make him appear that he is listening to the speaking charactering. To keep things manageable, a simple slow head nod in agreement will suffice. This however must be used sparingly and must not be exaggerated as it will distract viewer’s focus on the speaking character. Adding this subtle movement enhances the performance of the two characters by giving the scene variety and a lifelike appearance.

Tips :
  • Keep your dialogue sequence simple. If you are new, focus on the dialogue only.
  • Keep in mind transfer of energy, when one character is moving, limit and minimize movement in the other characters.
  • Work in manageable frame chunks to keep your keyframes organized.
  • Work on blocking in one figure at a time and start with the lead character first.
  • Be mindful of the characters’ objectives.
  • Be mindful of what is happening in the scene. What is the energy of the scene? Is it quiet, or is it energetic? 

EVALUATION:
Here are some questions to consider asking yourself to make sure you are on target with this assignment.
  • Is your lipsync accurate? 
  • Does it look as though the characters are speaking to one another?
  • Are you hitting the correct phoneme shapes?
  • Are there areas where there are no sounds but his mouth continues moving? 
  • Does our focus shift from one character to the other?
  • Are there any distracting movements that draw your attention away from the one speaking?
  • Are you capturing the feeling of the scene?

Because of the complexity of these assignments, it may be necessary to break up this animation over a period of two weeks. Since this exercise is the last in the curriculum, I suggest taking your time with this animation, and work on making it your best. If you have gone through the curriculum, you should have the basic knowledge for creating emotion in characters, and you should have examples that would work well in your demonstration reel. I encourage you however, to keep going. The last animation exercises, the monologue and dialogue can be implemented anytime, for as long as you remain interested and as long as you wanted to improve. So keep going, thanks for trying out my curriculum and I hope it helps you out in many ways. As an instructor, I’m always striving to improve the way in which information is presented, so if you have any suggestions in how to make this curriculum better, or if you have general comments, please let me know. Until we meet again….happy animating. Once in awhile, drop a line to let me know how you are doing.  

Fire It Up!
Randolf