Research On 3D Animation. - UNIT 6

Other Animators Work;

I have learned a lot on models and animation in a 3D application, I follow the developers of a game called The Isle in which the game is about surviving as humans or dinosaurs in a land of unknown time. Its an early access game and much is still to be done, but I follow closely on the blogs and posts they make on the working in progress.

They show designs of models and real life creatures they used for its over all finished idea.

Model from The Isle

Model from The Isle

These are two dinosaurs from the many they have created and are still in the progress of making. They use a special and professional site to create the models and animations of these creatures and living organisms.
They show how they use rendering and how they use polygons and particles to complete the work with a smooth animation. They show the timelines and what runs along it at certain points to help them predict when to edit certain parts of the model and make it look as realistic as possible. They often show the design templates first that they have roughly sketched out and what real life influences and references they used.

They also make it clear they use informational sites on dinosaurs and prehistoric history with the proof that it is valid and came from an expert of the research. They take as much influence and inspiration they can from the truth in history about the creatures and mix it with some of their original and creative ideas to either create specially made (fictional) dinosaurs in which they call Hypos and then realistic outcomes (non-fictional).

Here are some examples of the non-fictional dinosaurs they made on 3D modelling sites when they had enough influence and references.

Model by The Isle

Model by The Isle

Model by The Isle

A lot of the ideas and references they used came from images and watching Emus and Ostriches walk around and do their average day thing as they are believed to be the closest relatives to dinosaurs. This helped me understand that its very important to look up references and information to help broaden your knowledge and understanding on the creature/item/object you are planning to model.

And here is an example of their first fictional creature.

Model by The Isle

They use certain textures and colouring to make the creature feel alive and believable and also scale and render with accuracy to make it seem the most proportionally correct as they can.

They post small videos on animations they have worked on or are working on to let the community that support their game get more of an insight on how difficult it really is to make a fully fledged game.

By The Isle

Concept for The Isle

Concept for The Isle

Concept for The Isle

They had to start with 2D concepts first, 2D drawings are the first step and very important step of animating as it lets you get the details through first, its almost like your creating the guide and instructions to get the finalised product at the end.

They often asked for the community to send their ideas in to see if it would be good help and reference for their own creations, these are some of the concepts the developers of  The Isle decided to use.

My Work on 3D Models And Animation;

All these posts by these developers have helped me get a better understanding on animation and animating on a 3D application, in which in my case I used Maya. I animated a small ball with legs hopping from the ground onto a small box. I used the application to see how I could cope. I understood about the timing and scaling of items and parts. I understood the different layers to help make it easier to animate in total. I used the graph editor to help bend and turn body parts of the model to make the movement more realistic, I also used different views from prospective to grid views to line up objects to stop collision and unnecessary clashing of textures.

Using Maya I realised how hard it is as I struggled to use the tools to bend the legs in the right places and make it look as smooth and accurate as possible. I had to use the rotation tool to turn the feet and face it in the right directions at the right times using the timeline to see where and when to move it, I used the scale tool to help make the box large enough so that the character jumps onto it and have it make sense that it could carry the characters weight and balance him properly. I also had to move him so that the jump would look realistic and not too small or far, the jump had to believable. I made sure I lifted him high enough so it didn't look silly seeing him almost 'fly' up in the air, I made the height of the jump and the distance accurate and believable.

I now understand the process of turning something from real life into a model on an 3D modelling site.

In comparison to the developers of The Isle and my small animation its very clear I need more time and more understanding to become more able to suit the more complicated tasks of animating and more in-depth features I can use. 

I believe if I had been given more time I could have perfected the animation better and get further with my product. 

Horse Running Cycle (Small Animation Test) - UNIT 1,4,5 AND 7

Here is a simple horse running animation i did to try and practice on consistency and smoothness. I feel i did a good job and i am very proud with it, specially since horses have always been something i have struggled with.

I think the placing is good at it looks very straight and does not jolt around everywhere, however i went for an impression of it running and slowly moving right and left (in the horses view) so if it moves up and down very slightly i hope it can be seen its trying to move left and right.

Credit goes to Lucy Burgess for helping me make the horse template when i was struggling in some places. 

Here is a reference to a video i watched to help get an idea of a running horse: https://youtu.be/zQDAUv6d_KY