Category: Ting Class

Previs

Previs Reflection

This week, I focused on developing my previs and story. Although the story is not yet fully finalized, I established the opening scene and the overall three act structure, and completed the storyboards for Act 1 and Act 2. I also created an initial previs for Act 1.

Since the story is still evolving, I plan to spend the summer break refining and strengthening the narrative. My goal is to improve it through an iterative process: creating storyboards, producing a previs, revising the storyboard based on what I learn, updating the previs, and repeating this cycle until the story becomes as polished as possible.

One of the key pieces of advice I received from my tutor was to share my story with a wide range of people and actively seek feedback. Following this advice, I intend to reach out to professional artists and story artists through platforms such as Discord, LinkedIn, and Facebook. By gathering feedback from people with industry experience, I hope to gain valuable insights that will help me further improve both the story and its visual storytelling.

FMP Proposal Presentation

Final Polish Advanced Animation Shot

This week, I worked on polishing my advanced shot. Based on feedback from my teacher, I focused especially on the position of the COG (center of gravity), the line of action, and the timing and spacing of the movement. To improve this, I downloaded reference image and analysed them frame by frame. I marked points for the hips and arms in each frame to understand how the body moves in space. This helped me clearly understand the timing, spacing, and lines of motion. As a result, I was able to polish my animation more accurately. However, I still found some problems. For example, small head movements are still not very smooth, and the motion sometimes stops too suddenly at the end of the arm movement. I need to keep improving these details.

In the future, I want to study more references and observe real-life movements more carefully. My teacher also advised me to observe everyday motion, so I will try to develop my observation skills more. This jumping animation was also made as a basic exercise for my future work. During the summer break, I plan to create more difficult shots, such as a character jumping and climbing a cliff, or parkour-style movements.

Thanks to this exercise, I feel more confident about making more complex animation in the future. I will continue to use the feedback from Unit 2 and Unit 3 to improve my portfolio.

Workshop: Studio Library, Anim Layer, AnimBot

This week, I took part in a workshop where I created a shot using different plugins, such as Studio Library, Anibot, and animation layers in Maya.

I was particularly surprised by how useful Studio Library is. It makes it very easy to combine different animation shots and assets into a single Maya file. In this exercise, I created a scene involving a Pakkunflower attacking to Mario. Through this practice, I realised that I really enjoy creating action based scenes, especially like game animations, and I also like working with characters such as Mario.

In the last unit, I learned how to use Studio Library to copy key poses and combine them into a single Maya file. In this workshop, however, I learned how to combine full animation keyframes into one shot. This workflow is very convenient and efficient, and I understand that it is also used in the animation industry, according to my tutor. Because of this, I would like to practise it more and improve my workflow in future projects. The tutor provided us with three different files: a Pakkunflower model, a Pakkunflower attack animation file, and an environment file. I combined these assets into one scene and created a simple narrative. In my version, the Pakkunflower jumps, attacks, and Mario tries to escape from the attack. I also used animation layers in Maya. On the first layer, I added breathing motion, similar to the snake breathing workshop I did previously. On the second layer, I added the escape action for Mario, adjusting position, timing, and spacing to make the movement more dynamic.

Overall, this workshop was very exciting and helpful for me. However, because the workshop period is limited, I would like to continue refining and polishing this work during the summer holiday.

Advanced Animation Shot Polish

This week, I continued polishing the timing and spacing of my advanced animation shot. In addition, I added a new first section that includes a weight shift motion to make the beginning of the performance feel more natural and grounded.

Through this process, I realised that I still need to push the animation further by adding more characteristic movement principles, such as anticipation and exaggeration. These elements are important for making the performance more appealing and expressive, rather than just mechanically correct.

I also received valuable feedback from Mariana, who recommended a YouTube channel created by professional animators for learning body mechanics. This is very helpful for my development, as it gives me access to high quality references and industry level insights that I can study and apply to my own work.

Overall, this week helped me understand that polishing animation is not only about fixing timing and spacing, but also about strengthening the performance through clearer acting choices and animation principles. In the future, I would like to continue improving this shot by focusing on more expressive body mechanics and studying professional references more deeply.

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.