Month: May 2026

Workshop Anibot

This week, I learned how to use a plugin system called Anibot in Maya. Anibot is very helpful and convenient for adjusting the Graph Editor and controlling animation functions more efficiently.

I used Anibot to create a PakkunFlower character animation as part of a workshop. Through this process, I realised that Anibot helps me save a lot of time, as it is much easier to control animation curves compared to doing everything manually in the Graph Editor. For example, if I want to adjust spacing, I can simply modify a slider in Anibot, and it directly affects the curves in Maya. This workflow felt much more efficient than my previous method. I also found the trail function very useful, as it allows me to visualise motion paths and better understand how each part of the body and joints are moving over time.

The PakkunFlower Character animation was quite challenging because it is not similar to a human body. Since it is a Mario character, I had to imagine how it would move in a believable way. I tried to animate actions such as attacking and opening its mouth to catch objects. Although it was difficult, I also found it very fun and exciting.

In terms of animation principles, I focused on timing and spacing throughout the shot. For example, when the Pakkunflower prepares to attack, I added anticipation to make the movement more appealing. Then, when it attacks, I used trail visualisation and adjusted timing and spacing to emphasise a more dynamic and natural motion.

After the workshop, we reviewed everyone’s work and progress. I was impressed by the quality of my classmates’ animations. It was a valuable opportunity to gain new ideas and insights from both my tutors and peers, and it motivated me to continue practising and improving my skills.

Polish Previs Work

I focused on polishing creature animation in this week. In particular, I fixed leg movement, head movement, ear movement, and shoulder movement. But in my point of view, it has still not smoothed body motion.
Also, I joined animation party that gave me a good opportunities to connect with professional artist and student. Additionally, I could get a feedback from professional animators. They said that I need to observe more carefully, for instance, I have to see in foot movement, and how to move leg, and body structures etc.

From these feedbacks, I gonna polish more for achieving natural creature animation and to make a good showreel for getting a job in 3D animation / game industries!

Advanced Animation Shot (Jump Forward) Blocking

This week, I started working on a jumping animation shot as a more advanced body mechanics exercise.

Last week, I discussed my plans with my tutor. Initially, my tutor advised me to focus on polishing my previous work rather than creating a new shot. To be honest, I was a little confused because I had already planned a new animation idea. My original concept was a character jumping to catch a balloon that had floated away from a child and then returning it. I was quite interested in developing this idea further. However, after discussing it with my tutor, I understood their point of view. Since there were only about two or three weeks remaining, they suggested that I simplify the idea and focus primarily on creating a convincing jumping motion. Therefore, I decided to use this project as an opportunity to practise body mechanics and improve my understanding of jumping animation.

This week, I created the blocking pass in Maya using stepped mode. While working on the blocking, I found timing and spacing particularly challenging. A jump contains many subtle movements and details that need to work together. For example, when a character pushes off the ground, the body stretches upward, and when the character lands, the body compresses or squashes. These principles are important for creating appealing and believable animation, especially in stylised character animation. Although I understand the importance of squash and stretch, I realised that these techniques are still quite advanced for me. Therefore, I decided to focus first on the fundamentals, particularly timing and spacing, before concentrating on more complex animation principles.

After reviewing my blocking, I noticed that the character’s weight shift looked slightly unnatural, especially at the beginning of the shot. The centre of gravity (COG) did not feel stable, which affected the believability of the movement. Next week, I would like to focus on improving this area, as well as refining the timing and spacing throughout the animation. Overall, this exercise helped me recognise the importance of strong fundamentals in body mechanics. By concentrating on the basics first, I hope to build a stronger foundation for more advanced character animation in the future.

Creature Study Locomotion (Polish)

This is a polished version based on the feedback I received from my tutor last week. In particular, I focused on improving the facial movement by adding clearer directional changes, such as looking to the right and left. I also refined the ear movement, foot movement, and foot joint positions. In addition, I corrected the leg rotation, especially in areas where the legs were moving inward unnaturally.

Actually, this creature animation has been very difficult to create because I need to understand the animal’s body structure properly. This type of creature has completely different proportions, movement patterns, and body features compared to the human characters that I usually animate.

For instance, tigers and leopards move using four legs rather than two legs with arms and hands. They also have characteristics as carnivorous animals, which influences how they move and behave. Because of this, I need to carefully observe real animal references in order to create a more believable and natural animation.

Advanced Animation Shot (Planing)

Before I received feedback from my tutor, I intended to create a new animation shot based on this planned idea. However, I realised that it was more important to refine and complete my previous work rather than start another animation. Therefore, I changed my approach and decided to focus on polishing my existing shots to a higher standard so that they could become stronger pieces for my showreel and portfolio.

One of the ideas I had planned was a body mechanics animation focused on a jumping action. In the future, I would like to create realistic body mechanics performances, so I believe it is important to first develop a solid understanding of fundamental movements such as walking, running, and jumping.

For this shot, I wanted to create a convincing jumping motion while also including a simple narrative. My idea was that a small child accidentally loses a balloon, which then floats into the sky. The main character notices this and jumps to catch the balloon in order to help the child. After catching it, the character returns the balloon, creating a simple but heartwarming moment. Through this idea, I hoped to improve not only my understanding of jumping mechanics but also my skills in timing, spacing, dynamic movement, and camera staging. However, after discussing my plans with my tutor, I realised that finishing and polishing my existing animation shots would be more beneficial than starting a completely new project at this stage.

Furthermore, I learned that I should avoid using slow motion references or references taken from already animated videos. Instead, I should use real life footage, preferably recorded by myself, to ensure that the movement is accurate and believable. This feedback helped me understand the importance of quality over quantity. Rather than producing many unfinished shots, it is more valuable to complete a smaller number of animations to a professional standard. Moving forward, I will focus on refining my current work and paying closer attention to observation, reference gathering, and animation polish in order to improve the overall quality of my work.

Dialogue Shot – Polish

In this week, I continued polishing my audio animation shot at the blocking plus stage. I used spline mode instead of using stepped mode in Maya. The teacher gives me important feedbacks regarding facial animation. I should focus more on how the face transitions from one key pose to another, and to consider which side of the face is open or compressed depending on the head direction.

In particular, I learned that facial difference is very important for creating more appealing and dynamic animation. For example, when the character looks at the right side, the right eyebrow and eye should appear slightly more open and larger, while the left side becomes more compressed. The same principle can be applied to other facial features such as the cheeks and the top of the head to emphasise the form and direction of the face. Based on this feedback, I would like to apply these ideas in my next polishing stage to improve the quality of my facial animation.

After receiving these advices, I realised that I sometimes forget important principles when moving on to new shots or stages of animation. From now on, I want to be more consistent in applying core animation principles across all of my work, even when starting a new shot.

Creature Study Blocking

This week, I started working on a creature locomotion animation shot based on the research I conducted last week. In the previous week, I focused on horse locomotion, but for this project, I decided to create a tiger locomotion instead, as I found it more interesting and suitable for my portfolio development. This was my first time animating a full creature locomotion cycle, as I have mainly worked with human characters and stylised humanoid creatures in the past. Because of this, the process was quite challenging, but at the same time, I found it very exciting to explore something completely new.

During the production, I faced several difficulties, especially in understanding how to animate the movement of four legs in a natural walking cycle. To solve this, I carefully observed tiger reference videos many times and analysed their movement in detail. While creating the blocking stage, my tutor advised me that for creature locomotion, it is more effective to use spline mode rather than stepped mode. I also learned that the blocking stage for this type of animation is usually around 70% complete before moving forward. Based on this advice, I progressed my blocking to about that level and switched to spline mode in Maya.

In my blocking, I focused particularly on the relationship between the hips, shoulders, and head, as these are key areas that drive the overall motion. I also tried to understand how each of the four legs moves and interacts during the walking cycle. Overall, this week was a challenging but very valuable experience. It helped me gain a better understanding of creature animation and gave me new insights that I can apply to future portfolio work.

Dialogue Shot Blocking Plus

This week, I refined my audio animation shot by breaking down the blocking further and adding more keyframes. I added keyframes roughly every five to six frames, which made the animation feel smoother and more natural compared to my previous version. Although I am still working in the blocking stage, I used the stepped mode in the Graph Editor to maintain clear poses while improving the timing and spacing. This week, I focused more on understanding how timing and spacing affect the overall motion when refining the blocking in Maya. I also learned how to import and sync audio files properly within Maya. This is a useful workflow that I plan to use when continuing to develop and polish my audio animation shot at home next week.

During the tutorial, my tutor gave me positive feedback, saying that my blocking stage was good and that I could move on to the next step, such as a more advanced blocking plus. They also advised me to focus more on facial movement, especially the eyebrows, eyes, and lips, to improve the emotional performance. Overall, this week helped me improve both my technical workflow and my understanding of performance animation. I will continue developing these aspects in my next stage of production.

Creature Study

I did a research for creature study with my classmate. We chose a topic that is about Horse Locomotion. And we separate to study about it. And I researched about horse emotion, horse facial expression etc.

This week, I researched creature locomotion, focusing in particular on horse movement and behaviour. I collaborated with Avi and Binbin to study different aspects of horse locomotion, including how it is represented in various references and narrative contexts.

I specifically focused on horse facial expressions and body language in different emotional states, such as anger, happiness, calmness, and sadness. Through this research, I gained a better understanding of how horses communicate emotions without using human language. I realised that animals do not communicate through spoken language, but instead express themselves through body language, facial expressions, and vocal sounds. These elements are essential for conveying emotion and intention. By observing them closely, it is possible to understand their personality and emotional state.

I also learned that horses are very sensitive animals compared to many others. As herbivores, they are often escaped from carnivorous animals such as lions and tigers in the wild. Because of this, they need to stay alert and aware of danger at all times. This affects their behaviour and makes them highly responsive to their environment. For example, when horses feel negative emotions such as fear, anger, or sadness, their eyes become more open and sometimes show more of the white part. Their ears move quickly and react to surrounding sounds, and their tail movement becomes either very fast or tense. Each part of their body reflects their emotional state in a clear way. On the other hand, when they are calm or happy, their movements become slower and more stable, and their body language appears relaxed and rhythmic.

Based on this research, I would like to apply these observations to my future animation work, especially in animal locomotion studies. I also presented this research in front of my classmates and tutors. Although I felt nervous about speaking in English, I did my best and completed the presentation. Overall, this research helped me better understand animal behaviour and movement. In the future, I would like to study tiger locomotion as well and continue developing my understanding of creature animation.