Character Animation in 3D (Focal Press Visual Effects and Animation Series)

260 Pages·2004·7.04 MB·English

by  Steve Roberts

Character Animation in 3D
Focal Press Visual Effects and Animation
Debra Kaufman, Series Editor
A Guide to Computer Animation: for tv, games, multimedia and web
Marcia Kuperberg
Animation in the Home Digital Studio
Steven Subotnick
Character Animation in 3D: Use traditional drawing techniques to produce stunning
CGI animation
Steve Roberts
Digital Compositing for Film and Video
Steve Wright
Essential CG Lighting Techniques
Darren Brooker
Producing Animation
Catherine Winder and Zahra Dowlatabadi
Producing Independent 2D Character Animation: Making & Selling a Short Film
Mark Simon
Stop Motion: Craft skills for model animation
Susannah Shaw
Character Animation in 3D
Use traditional drawing techniques
to produce stunning
CGI animation
Steve Roberts
AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD
PARIS • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO
Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier
Focal Press
An imprint of Elsevier
Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP
200 Wheeler Road, Burlington MA 01803
First published 2004
Copyright © 2004, Steve Roberts. All rights reserved
The right of Steve Roberts to be identified as the author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 0 240 51665 6
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Typeset by Charon Tec Pvt. Ltd, Chennai, India
Printed and bound in Great Britain
contents
preface xi
acknowledgements xiii
chapter 1
introduction to 2D-animation working practice 1
how animation works 2
frames per second 2
what you need for your studio 3
let’s get animating 11
flipping, flicking and rolling 13
how to use a line tester to help your animation 18
how this book works 19
exercises 19
ball bouncing 19
how to relate your 2D animation to your 3D animation 22
overview of the ‘ball drop’ exercise in 3D 23
drawing! 25
chapter 2
matter and the animation of inanimate objects 28
inanimate objects 29
how to animate inanimate objects 30
the animation of solids 31
the animation of liquids 34
exercises 36
the bouncy ball in 2D 36
animating a 2D bowling ball 37
animating a 2D soccer ball 40
animating a 2D beach ball 42
animating a 2D ping-pong ball 43
animating a 2D water-filled balloon 43
the bouncy ball in 3D 44
chapter 3
the construction of a simple character, its articulation
and balance 47
basic human anatomy 48
vi contents
joints 51
moving in arcs 53
designing a basic human character 53
planning a scene 58
animating your characters 59
exercises 60
the lift in 2D 60
the lift in 3D 65
the push in 2D 68
the push in 3D 72
the pull in 2D 74
the pull in 3D 76
chapter 4
timing, anticipation, overshoot, follow-through and
overlapping action with an animated character 78
timing 79
anticipation 81
follow-through 87
overlapping action or overshoot 92
vibration 94
exercises 94
the string and stick in 2D 94
the string and stick in 3D 96
the dive in 2D 96
the dive in 3D 100
chapter 5
human walks and runs 104
walk cycles! 105
walking 105
walking mechanics 106
walk cycles displaying different moods 111
external influences 114
two people walking together 115
running 115
exercises 117
walk or run cycle in 2D 117
walk or run cycle in 3D 117
changing the pace and mood in a walk in 2D 118
changing the pace and mood in a walk in 3D 119
chapter 6
animal walks and runs 121
the four types of animal locomotion 122
contents vii
construction of an animal 122
animal leg and foot construction 125
animals with paws 125
a dog walk 126
a cat walk 128
animals with cloven feet 129
animals with hooves 129
flat feet 130
animal runs 130
exercises 133
dog walk cycle in 2D 133
dog walk cycle in 3D 134
dog walk or run cycle in 3D 135
chapter 7
animation of fish and snakes 139
fish 139
snakes 143
exercises 145
animation of a fish in 2D 145
animation of a fish in 3D 146
animation of a snake in 2D 149
animation of a snake in 3D 150
chapter 8
animation of birds 151
flying 151
wings – insects and humming bird 153
exercises 154
animation of a bird in 2D 154
animation of a bird in 3D 155
chapter 9
animation of acting – body language 159
acting 160
consequence 161
emotions 162
general body language 162
basic body postures 163
responsive 165
reflective 167
fugitive 167
combative 168
palm, hand, arm and leg gestures 169
acting out a scene in animation 173
the different sorts of animation acting 175
viii contents
analysis of a character 178
exercises 178
animation of acting in 2D 178
animation of acting in 3D 182
chapter 10
animation of acting – facial expressions 184
emotions 185
the eyes 187
facial expressions 189
head angle 196
hand-to-face gestures 196
extreme close-ups 198
how to animate a piece of facial acting 198
exercises 202
the facial expression in 2D 202
the facial expression in 3D 203
animating the mouth with Blend Shapes in Maya 206
animating the mouth with Morpher in 3D Studio Max 206
animating the mouth with Animation Mixer in SoftImage XSI 207
animating with Morph Targets in Lightwave 208
chapter 11
animation of acting – two or more characters 209
two characters on screen together 209
personal space 210
mirroring 211
how characters look at each other 212
two characters acting with each other while talking 213
two characters alternating from one shot to another 214
a large group of characters on screen at the same time 215
exercises 216
double acting in 2D 216
double acting in 3D 219
how to load two identical characters into the same scene 220
chapter 12
lip-sync 222
recording and breaking down a dialogue track 223
how we speak 224
acting with dialogue 226
quick from pose to pose 227
slow from pose to pose 227
erratically from pose to pose 227
mouth shapes 228
contents ix
exercises 232
lip-sync in 2D 232
lip-sync in 3D 234
mouth shut consonants 235
the vowels 235
the quieter vowels and consonants 236
animating the mouths 236
animation equipment suppliers 237
index 239