Slow in For my 2nd assignment for this semester, I am to create a two biped animation; either a walk/run cycle and body mechanics (the physical expression of motion) in 2D or 3D.
Body Mechanic
Plan:
Thinking through this for my body mechanic, I intend to make the body lift a heavy barbell. I'm interested to create an egotistic character who overestimates her strength as she's not able to handle it and fall back. I just think it will be fun to create this action.
Research:
Weight:
For me to understand how to communicate the weight the body is carrying I came across a great introduction to the fundamentals called, 'Animating Weight' by Alexander Williams and a two-part series called, 'Animation School- AnimSchool: showing weight' by Animschool. Who demonstrates many useful ways to represent the weight of an object.
AnimSchool:
Part one: The heavier the object the more effect on the body e.g. using just your wrist to lift a feather- using your whole arm to lift a kettle.
Part two: Anticipation- the heavier the more anticipation it will have as you need more energy. Counterbalance- as the character reaches to the barbell her back pulls back to balance the body weight; to find the centre of gravity
Other notes & reference:
Heavier: less bounce, more anticipation, more leaned back
Light: opposite of the qualities of a heavyweight e.g. more bounce
I also watch some videos from Cartoons (such as 'Spongebob Squarepants' and 'Tom and Jerry') as there were a lot of clips of the characters struggling to lift weights in an exaggerated form. It illustrates well on what Animschool was talking about; using the whole body when the weight is overpowering e.g. in the first video he used his chest for support also the heaviness reflects on his face. As for the second video where Jerry easily lifts the weight without a slight of extra force. I keep that in mind while animating my animation.
Video: BOB Weight Lifting- Univentath
Video: Tom and Jerry Cartoons Funny Cartoon Going Gym-Kids Go TV
Main video reference-
Rather than just solely on some reference of someone doing the action I actually found some tutorials on how to weight lift which was more beneficial as goes more in-depth on the body position etc. I also tried acting it myself in front of a mirror as well as videoing it, to feel the weight, expression and movement better as the first person.
Below is some of my screenshots on the important key frames and drawing out guide lines:
From my observation, both sides of the body are quite symmetrical. The arms bend into a triangle outline from a straight line as it lifts the weight up.
For reference/guide for the timing and frames, there is a great book called, 'Timing for Animation' by Whitaker and Halas at p.72-73 where it demonstrates each of the moments at each frame. This was very insightful for how long should each frame should last and how the character hovers over the weights as he uses his whole body to support him as he pulls it up. Also in the book states 'timing gives meaning to movement'. p.12, therefore, I will ensure add some anticipation to slow the timing letting the viewer take in the idea of her lifting the weight also taken in consideration not to hold too long as it might suggest the character is unconfident which is not what intend to express. Then after the anticipation, it speeds up as she builds her brief strength before she falls back.
Although lifting a boulder is not directly related to lifting weights it has similar aspects such details on expressing weight which was insightful. I actually followed this timing first but then alter it a lot to suit the pace I wanted.
Process:
For my method, I used the straight on technique also going back and forward fixing minor details. I also use a prop to mimic the bar of the weight to ensure the arm are lined up as well as making the fist closing in the right way.
Getting the lifting action down first:
I also showed a preview to my family who were non-animators to see in the eye of a viewer. One of the feedback I've got was that it was too quick to absorb the information. Therefore I drag the keys in the timeline and space them more. I ended up expanding it from 100 frames (4 secs) to 200 frames (8secs) including the extra poses.
At her maximum speed was in between when she lifts the weight because its where she put most of her temporary power into.
When she begins to lift it up I was to make her back lean back and hover more over the bar but the proportion of the rig was quite awkward to work with as I couldn't seem to get the hands to stay low in the same position without making the legs collide with the upper body. For that reason, I so just tried to enhance the movement of her head-turning upwards to emphasise the lean.
Considering the 12 principles of animation I started with a slow in, added some anticipation, staging in 3 perspectives etc. The model then loses her centre of gravity and falls back. Her right leg tries to hold back but her left leg gives it away.
A lot of videos I've seen they tend to hold the bar then release to get a better grip of it before lifting therefore I tried incorporating that anticipation into this character as you can see.
Below is a video example of what I meant:
Facial expression: below shows how the development of the character goes from overestimating her strength with a relax smirk expression to falling back in surprise.
Final:
I continue fixing some minor details and played around with the graph until I was satisfied.
Self-reflection:
I am pleased with the outcome. I think I did well especially at the anticipation area where the model holds her fist and is like I can do this and also when she grips the bar as she gathers her strength. Furthermore think it displayed my intention well as you can tell the character is all relax and all before realising she's off-balance. However, I do think I should've expressed the arrogance more by the action rather than just the expression of her smiling. Nevertheless, I'm happy with it and the reference material was a great helped to the final outcome. For the future, it will be interesting to approach it in a more cartoony exaggerated style like one of the cartoon reference I'd mentioned.
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