Reflection for Project 2

My animation has many flaws and I would say that it is 70% successful. I failed to do my slow-in and out at the part where the robot spins smoothly and the result was not smooth and a different effect from what I wanted. I think I did not apply many animation principles to make it a good animation clip like anticipation and my stretch for the robot magnet when the robot was spinning was not visible as the robot was spinning too fast and the effect is easily missed when watching the video. I also failed to hide the arm control even though I break connection for the visibility as if I hide it the cargo box I parent to it will be invisible all the time. I am able to get mainly what I wanted except for the slow-in and out mentioned earlier.

Robot and Storyboard

Name
The robot's name is Cranbo.

Cranbo's thoughts
Ahh, life is easy. Just stacking the same box over and over again. No need to think so much. Such a straightforward job. And I'm doing what I am made for! Fulfilling my purpose brings such a rewarding feeling! This is the life!

Storyboard

Week 13

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

1)  Apart from their different sizes, it is obvious from Luxo Jr. that the big lamp is “older” and that the small lamp is “younger”.

How is this communicated by the animation? Give at least THREE examples.

Do NOT say because the small lamp is playing with a ball, or that its name is Luxo Jr. – you should be looking at the animation, how the lamps move and emote (emote means to express emotions).

The big lamp did not move as much as the small lamp, showing that the small lamp is more active and has more energy like a younger person has over an older person. The big lamp's movement when it hits the ball is slower compared to the small lamp and the small lamp is mischievous as it jumped on the ball and burst it while the big lamp just watch the small lamp play. The big lamp shakes its head when the small lamp got a bigger ball to play with, showing both lamps' maturity level.

2)  Give an example from Luxo Jr of how timing is used for comic effect. Explain how the timing decisions contribute to the humour.

     The small lamp wiggles its body before hopping, this shows the excitement and the lamp preparing to hop and the timing to put this wiggling of the body gives it a comic effect. The small lamp jumped on the ball and is rolling on it. When the ball deflates, the small lamp becomes rigid, then the ball deflates. The timing for that particular scene gives a sense of humor as the ball did not deflate while rolling but when the lamp stops rolling.

3) When you create a joint chain, these form a hierarchy, with the first joint at the top and the last joint at the bottom. Explain why this is necessary for the joints to work properly.

   If the joints do not work properly, the whole thing will look disoriented, unstable and unrealistic in a negative way.

Squash & Stretch

I created a sphere. Then, I grouped it twice. The first group is to handle rotation and the other group to handle translates. I create a deformer and parent it to the group that handle translates. Next, I lock the unused attributes for each group and the deformer.

I followed the table below.

Keyframe No.	Translate X	Translate Y
1	-12	5
12	-9	0.5 (ground)
25	-6.1	3.9
37	-3	0.5
50	-0.2	2.8
62	2.7	0.5
75	6	1.6
87	8.8	0.5
100	12	0.5

Next I open the graph editor and flattened the top tangents and broke the bottom tangents to make the curve steeper for a more realistic feel.

Next I set stretches 1 frame before the ball touches the ground, set squashes at the frame where the ball touches the ground and normalise the ball 2 frames after the ball touches the ground.

Lastly, I set the keyframe at frame 0 for 0 rotation and then another at frame 100 for -1200 Z-rotation.

I learned to use the deformer to squash and stretch the ball by changing the factor value. I learned to lock attributes to narrow down the points i am required to edit to make animating the ball a much easier task. Creating different groups can be used to edit a certain factor of the object which is certainly a method to make animation easier than having all the factors lumping into one.

Week 12

1)  Do you need to be able to draw well to create good 2D animation? Explain your view.

    In my viewpoint, a certain standard of drawing will create good 2D animation. However, the main point of a good 2D animation is the proper application of the 12 animation principles.

2) Do you need to be able to draw well to create good 3D animation? Explain your view.

    As the previous question, a certain standard of drawing will impact but the proper use of animation principles is still the most important factor to create a good 2D/3D animation.

3) What do you think would separate a piece of poor animation from a piece of good animation? In other words, how would you go about deciding if a piece of animation is good or bad?

    If the animation principles are not used correctly, the animation will turn out bad. Proper use of the animation principles will separate a good piece of animation from a bad one.

4) In 2D animation, you need to be very aware of timing at a frame by frame level, using timing charts and other techniques - but for 3D animation, this is handled using the graph editor, which is more concerned with manipulating rates of change over time.

Does this affect how you approach your animation work? Explain.

It makes the job of making the animation smooth and having the wanted outcome much more easier that needing to do it at a frame by frame level, which is tougher.

5) Give a brief critique of Maya as an animation tool. Don't just say Maya makes animation difficult, or easy, or that you need to learn a lot of stuff to use Maya - explain what Maya does well and not so well in terms of creating animation.

   Maya is not user friendly for beginners as the interface is complex and requires a lot of time spent on interacting with it to be familiar with it. However, the tools Maya provides makes animation easier to cope. Tools like snapping and shortcut keys makes certain things easier to handle.

Keyframes and the Graph Editor

Exercise 1

First, I select the ball and set keyframe at frame 1

I shifted the ball to the other end and set keyframe at frame 72

I clicked frame 33, shifted the ball just above the fence and set keyframe at that frame

I clicked frame 50, shifted the ball to sit on the ground and set keyframe at that frame

I clicked frame 60, shifted the ball up to less than half the height of the ball at frame 33 and set keyframe at that frame

I clicked animation preferences and set max playback speed to 24 frames per second

I used the graph editor to make the bounce more lifelike 

I used playblast to record the animation and saved it as a movie file

Exercise 2

Relying on what I have learned in lab 1, I made an animation of a ball bouncing without squash and stretch.

This is my graph for the bouncing ball animation above

I learned about keyframing, pressing s to set keyframe, right click at frame to copy/delete frame and usage of graph editor to enhance my animation by moving the tangents at the points. I also learned about 24 fps being applicable to our country. I also learn to apply animation principle of arc as gravity cause the ball to bounce in the path of an arc and not a straight line.

Animation Principles

Squash and Stretch

In the video, as the ball bounces up and down, the ball squashes when it hits the ground and stretches when it bounces off the ground.

Anticipation

In the video, anticipation is seen when the girl swing her arm backwards before swinging it forward to punch the guy.

Staging
In the video, staging is seen when the girl runs towards the camera as the audience's attention is directed to the girl.

Straight ahead and pose to pose animation
In the video, the guy doing secret agent scene shows bits of straight ahead and pose to pose animation as some parts of that scene is straight ahead animation like running and rolling and pose to pose animation like smelling the shoe and picking up the object.

Follow through and overlapping action
When the girl run and jump, her hair and the bag she is carrying shows follow through and overlapping action.

Slow-out and Slow-in
As the pass is passed between the two guys, the ball slows down and quickens mid-air. This shows slow-out and slow-in.

Arcs
When the ball travels in the air, the path it travels is in the shape of an arc.

Secondary Action
When the girl is running, her arms swinging is showing secondary action.

Timing
As the ball bounce, the timing  between the bounces of the ball is shorter. This shows timing.

Exaggeration
When the guy is doing the secret agent scene, his rolling shows exaggeration as running or crawling is normal but he wanted to express the feel through exaggeration.

Solid Drawing
The ball bouncing shows volume and weight as it bounces with impact.


Appeal
The guy doing the secret agent scene shows appeal as he puts in humor when he overreacted after smelling the shoe and when he roll about unnecessary.

Staging
The first few seconds of the clip shows the two main characters and the audience knows that they will fight each other.


Follow through and overlapping action
As the girl with ponytail turns around, her hair flows along with her head

Slow-out and Slow-in
When the three beasts with four legs jump towards the boy, there is slow-in to invoke a feeling of intensity at a critical moment.

Secondary Action
When the two guys looked at each other, the guy with the long white hair gave a smirk.

Anticipation
When the guy with the big sword crouch to leap towards his enemy.

Straight ahead and pose to pose animation
There is straight ahead when the two main guys are fighting each other and pose to pose when their eyes meet when their swords clashed.

Appeal
The guys with long white hair gives off a confident and proud character while the guy with short hair gives off a serious character which appeals to people.

Assignment PT 2

Self-Critique

I feel that my model have a 70% similarity to the bass guitar as I did not have the ability to produce the details of the model like the strings, the screws, the tuning pegs, bridge and some curves on the body of the guitar. The small parts of the guitar did not have good topology and the shape is not accurate. My lecturer taught me topology and I was able to get the guitar's basic shape with his patience and guidance. I feel that I should think more on how to tackle my model and not ask my lecturer without thinking it through first. I also feel that I should not give up at the slightest obstacle while doing the model. This will affect the quality of my work. I should also practice more and put in more effort in doing 3D.

Research

There is very little on guitars but here is one acceptable link which helped me in modeling my guitar

http://www.3dtotal.com/team/Tutorials_3/makingof_unplugged/page01.php

This is quite a good guide on doing a guitar, especially it gave me ideas on how to progress on the small parts of the guitar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwY8Kn0-rIs

This modeling technique, I thought was wrong. However, I am unsure now but it is really a new way of modeling to me.

My final model

I do not know what I did to make shaded mode bring out this color. My rendering is fail as it does not bring out the feel the real guitar gives.

Assignment PT 1

Story

Story of a rat racing around a track on a mousetrap car.

Rat was racing around the track when he saw something. The long straight track up ahead was not there! It is replaced by a bass guitar and rat have to drive the car on the strings of the guitar. He positioned his car to drive on the two thickest strings to have a higher assurance that his car will not lose balance and endanger his life or worse, lose the match.

Shape

There will be four tuning pegs on the head, the body and neck of the guitar, the bridge, the strap system, four knobs for different controls like volume control, the frets, the pickups, the nut, the input jack and the strings.

The body, neck and head will be formed from a rectangle. The neck and head will be extruded from the body. The bridge, knobs, strap system, input jack and pickups will be extruded from the body and the tuning pegs will be extruded from the head. The frets will be extruded from the neck and cylinders can be used for the strings.

Design

Photo of the front of the guitar

Photo of the back of the guitar

Photo of the side of the guitar

Photo of the top of the guitar

Photo of the bottom of the guitar

3D Mindset

Does multi-tasking give you a real or false sense of having accomplished something?

I am naturally bad at multi-tasking and from my experience, multi-tasking gives me a false sense of accomplishment. I multi-tasked and at the end of it, I felt like I achieved many things in a span of three hours. However, I realized the fact is I did not achieve anything at all when I sat for my test. This made me realize that multi-tasking is not the way when doing stuff and focusing on one thing at a time is still the best way.

Is learning 3D and design different from learning programming, or is all learning the same?Why?

To me, learning is different for different modules as interest in areas vary. For 3D and design, I am naturally bad when it comes to putting what I have conceived in my mind onto paper or Maya, as I am not efficient with the interface and I am bad at drawing. Step by step procedures makes it easy to do 3D but 3D is based on one's own imagination and the possibilities are limitless. For programing, it is more on the logic of the codes and there is a fixed answer like mathematics. This is achieved through knowing codes and having a strong logic. However, these two are similar in a aspect of practice. Both needs practice to be fluent and for me practicing is a form of similar learning. This being said, I somehow prefer 3D compared to programming as I find 3D fun. Interest is what makes learning different.

The article states that “Learning is actually a very complex operation for an individual”. Do you agree with this? Do you feel that you approach your learning in the best way – if yes, how, and if no, how can you change your work style?

I agree that “Learning is actually a very complex operation for an individual”. Every person have their own learning style and personally, I have not found mine yet. My current working style is definitely not the best way as I leave everything to the eleventh hour. The best way is actually doing work consistently everyday and practicing is a key factor to efficient learning. I am easily distracted by any possible thing and I have to be more disciplined in order for me to approach my learning in the best way.

What are your thoughts about the last paragraph in the extract?

The last paragraph in the extract is really about what is happening today in many different areas. Communication is an essential factor in determining success. Even if someone is talented but does not have the personality and is unable to communicate with others, he/she will be unable to be successful. However, with this said, it is a fact that communication is difficult as people have different mindsets and different personalities. Without allowances, two or more strong personalities will clash and will affect the team's performance. Communication is a difficult but necessary skill to achieve success.

Should your lecturers also focus on your work attitude, or just leave you to sink or swim on your own? Why?

Lecturers should focus on our work attitude to a certain extent. With motivation, there are students who will respond positively and have a positive work attitude. However, when students respond negatively after countless times of motivating, lecturers should leave him/her alone and focus on the students who are responding positively until that student choose to change his work attitude. This is due to making him/her to be responsible for his/her own studies and future. Without their own conviction to do well, no amount of pushing will work on them.

Primitive Breakdown

I choose easy objects as I am naturally bad at drawing and dislike drawing unless I am appreciating drawings. Even easy models present a tough challenge to me but I manage to draw these two models.

Washboard

My washboard. Align tool can sometimes be a burden and difficult to use although it is normally otherwise. Extrude, bevel and alignment. Serve as a practice for me.

Track

This is my track. Using create polygon tool, extrude, insert edge loop tool and bend is simple to follow. I have one problem, the two blue lines. If I delete them, I will lose my curve as the lines are the bendlines. However it is ugly to have the lines and I do not know how to remove them. Other than that, this exercise is pretty easy and reinforcing what is taught in other lessons.

Gear

This is my gear. Just pipe and extrude. I tried to smooth it to see the effect but it does not look very nice with smooth in my opinion.

Cardboard Box

This is my cardboard box. From this I learned that I can set the subdivisions for the number of lines I want which makes it easier than having to draw the lines and worry if the gaps in between are equidistance . I learned that I can scale the vertices easily using the drop down menu so its is precise and neat than manual scaling. Pick-walk process is useful if I want to select points that are very hard to select like vertices that are in the middle of two 'objects' which is much easier than having to zoom in to select it one by one and ensuring the correct vertices are selected. I can change the pivot point for things like moving the pivot point to rotate the object the way I intend to to have the effect i want. Smoothing it gives it a more realistic feel in my point of view.

Bucket

This is my bucket. Revolve is convinent to use provided if I know the optimal settings for what I want to create. For the handle, I used the three point circular arc and create a curve. I drew a 2D cursive H and snap it to one end of the curve. I used extrude in polygon mode and set the extrude face options divisions to 30. This really surprise me and I still do not understand how this method works.

Toy Train

This is my toy train. This is mainly just using the lessons from blocks modelling like difference and bevel. For my back carriage, I used extrude to make the inner compartment for the three squarish blocks to contain. The train is quite simple after doing the blocks and not as complex as I feared

Prison & Toontown

Prison is a place for criminals to reflect on their actions. The square like buildings with sharp corners gives the place a serious, strict and stringent feel. The height and size of the buildings gives a threatening feeling compared to smaller scale buildings. These feelings are meant to be portrayed to instill fear in criminals so they will not repeat their mistakes and turn over a new leaf.

Toontown is mainly made up of round like buildings which provides a sense of comfort and ease. The small size and short height of the building further amplify the feeling of ease and people can relax. Toontown is a place mainly for people to enjoy themselves so the sense of comfort and ease compliments the objective of people going to Toontown.

Blocks

These are my blocks. I made these blocks by learning beveling and difference. I learn how to make the edges look round and cut out the shapes I want using two different shapes. This broadens my ability to make shapes I want and the shape looks nice. I also learned that selecting edges to bevel affects the result.

Robot

Robot: RoboCleanP001

Type: Build for cleaning

This robot is made for cleaning up places. Its hands and feet are vacuum cleaners and the waste is stored in the belly. It has 0 combat ability and 100% safe. It cannot converse with people and just does its job. It is just made up of shapes and piecing it together. No techniques involved except learning basic maya user interface.

Companion robot! A dog with a flashlight at the end of the tail and an LCD screen on its body displaying the date, time and many more like an iPad.