Class 2 Week 8: Animating is HEAVY business

Hello friends and friends of animation,

Last week was a pretty rough week, and this week it seems I thrive in that kind of pressure.

In this Blog (Index):

- Last weeks E-critique

- This weeks Distractions

- Revision of Dance Shot

- Last minute Panic

- Getting Organized

- New Planning Sketches

- 1st Blocking pass

- 2nd Blocking Pass

- What I learned this week

- New Maya Layout

In my ecritique I was given the advice to focus on reversing curves in this shot. since last week my planning was all very one note:

See.

This is what Scott Lemmer suggested. Like it? I do. : )

So what do I do with this information?...

I sat on it all week and let myself get swept up in other priorities:

1) Directing a scene from Farragut North for school

2) Rehearsals for Footloose the Musical

3) Making time for friends

and

4) Revising my shot from last week.

Scotts notes:

- Tone down the head bobs

- Make the last jump higher.

Course I waited till Saturday to get organized on my new shot, and I realized what was in my way.

I needed to redo my planning.

Now I think "duh!", but before, I felt I could simply change a few poses around. So I go back to my video reference and my keys that I selected (there's like 24 of them), and it also dawns on me how intricate my shot is (five little steps+ hand positioning) It looked super simple but to include every high, and low, of the hips, and each foot, and the head would take me more time and organization then I had given myself. 

So I made a list:

4:30-5:30: redraw Planning

5:31-6:30: Block Poses

6:31-7:30: Timing Pass

7:31-8:30: Dinner

8:31-9:30: Refine/ Fill in Poses and Timing

-After this I will always make a schedule before diving into work-

Here is my new Planning sketches:

That's it; one page, seven poses. 

Much more efficient and appealing then the 3 page- 24 pose- same curve planning from last week. 

What's more, I like the results.

Here's my Shot after an hour of Posing, and an hour for Timing: 

After dinner I was able to go back with fresh eyes, and refined by adding a few anticipation poses (and changing the background to a warm olive green):

This week I learned:

- It's okay to back track

- Good planning makes a good shot

- Schedule your time to get the most out of it.

- Always draw over planning sketches in dark pen if you want it to show in the picture.

- Variation is appealing

- Sometimes in Planning and Blocking "less is more."

- For me, putting aside 2-3 solid hours for work is better than 6 days of scattered work time.

I also found a layout that worked for me:

Left Camera:

-"Shot camera"

- Locked

- Curves are hidden

- Grey Frame

-Info Bar

Right Camera:

- "Work Camera"

- Movable

- Visible curve.

- Where I make all the pose adjustments.

When I get into animation I'll open up a third panel on the bottom for the graph editor.

Thanks for reading,

Looking forward to next week,

--Max