11 Second Club May 2009 ~ Animation Break Down

[oner1983]

hi dear

firstly conguratilations about this animation, i have a question for you. I downloaded the norman character from 11secondclub, but in maya i don't see any controls for legs for arms etc. Can you tell me how to setup norman character in maya, i think there is some *.mel files to copy to scripts folder, but i couldnt do that, my msn is oneroncer@hotmail.com you can reach me from there also... thanks

[MarcusTJL]

@oner1983

Firstly make sure you're able to view Curves in maya (Viewport Show>Nurbs Curves). Then at Norman's feet you'll see some controllers, one is VizGeo(Geometry Visibility) the other would be VizCtrl(Control visibilities). For more info on Norman;

romanim.com/norman_database.ph­p

animationbuffet.blogspot.com/2­008/03/norman.html

[oner1983]

@MarcusTJL yea there is viz ctrl and viz geo and everything is open, but when i choose the foot i can not move foot to forward just i can rotate it, please help me about that... thanks...

[MarcusTJL]

@oner1983

Your foot/legs are probably in FK mode. There's a EX Controller next to the leg, it's green in colour. Then look for IKFK switch to turn it to IK Mode.

[furryfan87243]

The one class I took at my local college about 3d animation sucked. Is there hopefully a free site that explains how the animation process works for 3d programs?

[MarcusTJL]

@furryfan87243

Well to be frank 3d is just a tool like a pencil or brush, if you want to find out more on how to use a 3d animation software there should be a ton of tutorials on youtube itself, if not just google 3d software tutorial animation.

On the other hand if you really want to learn the art of animation itself the artistic side craft and all, Animation Mentor and I Animate would be a great online animation school. 11secondclub is an animation forum with monthly challenges.

[Regna]

nice job, Been thinking of doing a few of these myself, for a reel.

[MarcusTJL]

@Regna

Thanks and why not do some for your reel, its great practice too. This animation was done for a monthly animation competition, you should check it out at 11seconds com



[limbdarkening]

This is great! Are you a professional animator?

[MarcusTJL]

@limbdarkening

I have worked in the industry but currently just working on my own stuff.

[limbdarkening]

@MarcusTJL I'm just starting out and trying to get into the industry. Do you have any advice on how to break in? I've been applying all over but I either get a 'no thank you' or no response at all.

[MarcusTJL]

@limbdarkening

I'm assuming you've done your studies in an animation course and out looking for a job :)

Well take a second look at your demo reel and be very critical of it. Is it up to industry standard, show it to people on animation forums, ask for feedback and start refining it by adding/removing shots which are appropriate or not. This is just a guide for the type of shots which should be included in your demo reel;

1) monologue

2) 2 Person Dialogue

3) Body Mechanics

4) Acting/Pantomime

[limbdarkening]

@MarcusTJL Wow, thanks a ton for the feedback!

[MarcusTJL]

@Tinak00777 ~ "how do u get this on there sight? (just wounderin)"

Sorry for accidentally deleting your comment. But er, I don't really understand your question.

[Tinak00777]

@MarcusTJL how do you post your animations

on there web page thats what i ment

or is there something else you have to do?

[MarcusTJL]

@Tinak00777

If you mean my personal website, its really just finding out QT html embed code and integrate it into the html coding of the page. Hope that helps.

[Tinak00777]

@MarcusTJL not putting it on your own page i ment the 11secondclub page

[MarcusTJL]

@Tinak00777

well you can post video links on the 11sec forum, but if you mean on personal page on 11sec, those are entries for the monthly competition you can't post/add a clip after the competition is over.

[joe5178]

in which tangents you were working while adding in betweens????

[MarcusTJL]

@joe5178

It was my first time working Stepped method thus the crappy floaty feel when I convert the splines to smooth splines(not flat) during Inbetweening phase but I think in order to work in stepped method, you'll have to set key posses all the way down to inbetweening on 2's before you spline out the whole animation, I think that's how Stepped animators work - really old school traditionally like in 2d.

[levipwndHD]

he looks like scout from tf2? for me

[MarcusTJL]

@levipwndHD

Haha, well this is Norman's Default facial features, but it is possible to mod norman to look really close to the scout from TF. Google Norman Mod to find tutorials and stuff.

[bertdutchie]

wow, really nice to see the entire animation from an idea to finished stage

[MarcusTJL]

@bertdutchie

Thanks.

[ericmo38]

Where did you find the model/rig? I'd love to try animating with him. Is this rig floating around the internet? Great animation, by the way.

[MarcusTJL]

google Norman Rig

[margaro78]

nice job =)

[T4wnik]

I see nothing wrong with it, apart from the last lip synch "pose" the mouth looks kind of weird, I know what expresion you were trying to get, but its not working for me :) just something small that I found in your masterpiece =))

[MarcusTJL]

Thanks for the kind words though it's far from my master piece :) Will look into the end lipsync.

[PoliceCadaverDog]

bloody brilliant.

[MarcusTJL]

bloody thanks!

[hytermmma]

how did u get the inbetweens? did u just chande the keys from spline to smooth?

[MarcusTJL]

After getting the Main key poses I key in a few more inbetween posses, usually one every 3 - 4 frames and then smooth it out using the graph editor.

[hytermmma]

how do u smooth it out? do you do each joint at a time or do you just select everything and hit smooth?

[MarcusTJL]

I usually just select everything and smooth it out. Then based on different parts I'll tweak the graph for more snappiness/smoothness/linear etc...

[Pauzi]

Did you film yourself acting before drawing down the thumnails?

[MarcusTJL]

I didn't film myself but I did act it out a few times just to get the feel, then did some rough thumbs and proceeded from there.

[Pauzi]

oh i see. cool. Which process is the most challenging for you? putting in the in between, facial expression or others?

[MarcusTJL]

usually starting off, finding poses acting choices and trying to stick to it and to make it work. once the main poses are roughed in the facial expressions and fingers come in kinda naturally for me.

[pepupooru]

Very good! I'm trying to get into 3D animation... But it's so much harder than it looks! I have no clue where to begin... I mainly just suck at making the character... I haven't even gotten to try poses and things yet.

[MarcusTJL]

3D, 2d, stop motion have a lot in common fundamentally, it's just that they are all in different mediums.

If you're just starting out in animation I highly recommend learning the basic principles in 2d first, that way you aren't limited to software and the rigs and then later bring it into 3d, it's just a medium. Read the animation bible Frank & Ollie's "Illusion of Life" and Richard Williams' "Animation Survival Kit".

As for the rig I'm using it's free, google; Norman Rig.

[robertc009]

nice work, where did you get the rig from? Does it work in Maya?

[MarcusTJL]

The rig I'm using is the "Norman Rig" previously rigged for AAU students and currently open for everyone.

[neoscorpio]

Very helpful. Cheers!

[MarcusTJL]

No prob. I'm still learning myself so some of the things might not be accurate...