Build your
3D gameplay animation by following your plans carefully using NewTek Modeler
and Layout. You will need to review which assets are available to you and which
you want to create for yourself or adapt. This is usually the most challenging
part of the project management life cycle, because unexpected things crop up,
new problems arise and perhaps even new goals become necessary. Remember to
chart your progress carefully within your production log and monitor your time
via the schedule. Use screenshots to explain your use of the software –
animation techniques, camera, lighting, texturing and rendering.
---Preparation
That's the pose I chosen to be default for both beginning and end of each animation. I just simply used [Y] in order to rotate each arm bone to look like it's resting. It was a bit tricky because each of these bones is only parented to the main body (I mentioned it at the end of the task 5). Because there is 5 of them and not 4 for each end of axis it makes the rotation default to the main axis which is only good for rotating the blue arm by 3 axis wheels (exactly heading, bank and pitch) and not others.
That's the scene template the model is placed in. The default save file has both the arm resting position as well as the base one with all the bones perfectly straight in case I will need them that way. I also saved it with selected 60 frames on the graph below because that's how much (more or less) I want every animation to take.
That's the scene template the model is placed in. The default save file has both the arm resting position as well as the base one with all the bones perfectly straight in case I will need them that way. I also saved it with selected 60 frames on the graph below because that's how much (more or less) I want every animation to take.
Walking
I began the process with rotating the legs out with a small help of this video. Since the puppet has odd number of legs I rotated 2 in one frame and 3 in another. Then I created 2 mid-frames where the legs that are about to stretch out bend slightly. Once I was happy I copied the frames using [ENTER]. I didn't use the repeat post behaviour from the graph editor because I only wanted it to animate for 60 frames and because I forgot.
That's how the legs look in each of 4 frames for them. In every mid frame I used [T] to move the body down in order to give more sense of movement. I also rotated the arms slightly out every time the body tilts down.
At last I made the pink arm bend differently from others in order to add more interest to otherwise repetitive animation. For this animation I didn't use the same staring position as with others, since walking animations have to animate infinitely without end.
Running
After finishing the walk cycle I copied the file and renamed it. Then rotated the main body with [Y] and moved it slightly forward with [T]. Next, I slightly extended the legs and turned them slightly more forward or backward. I also made the puppet 'bounce' every mid frame and once I was happy with the outcome I began to rotate the arms like seen in the picture.
At last I made the arms swing backwards and forwards every mid frame with the blue one swinging sideways.
Jumping
After making another separate copy I started rotating bones. At first I animated legs to bend then straighten (while in the air), bend again when hitting the ground and go to the default position again. Once I was happy with positioning and after previewing the animation I moved to arms.
Those are two main parts of the animation, the bottom one's leg action repeats (by duplicating frame for selected body parts), but second time it appears the arms are up to balance out. At the beginning and end there is the default frame so the animation can repeat smoothly infinite amount of times.
Before rendering I copied and repositioned the second camera in order to see the jump from above. The camera was mysteriously lost.
Before rendering I copied and repositioned the second camera in order to see the jump from above. The camera was mysteriously lost.
Lunging
I began with rotating the main white bone of the skeleton with [Y] and then moving it slightly forward with [T] so it won't seem to rotate but lean forward. Then I lowered it on Y axis and rotated legs so they bend (except for the blue one).
I moved the main body forward again and started to rotate arms. First I just made sure that they won't go into the ground while tilting and then I made them in a 'threatening' position which is kind of an attack. Then I copied 1st and 2nd main transition and placed them in a reverse order and just slightly altered the arms.
Spinning
For spinning animation I began with rotating the model for a total of 1080 degrees since that number divides perfectly by 360 and I needed full 360 rotations in order to return the puppet to starting position. However, I didn't rotate it evenly because that would be boring. I tried to make it seem like it accelerates: speeding up then going slower until it stops.
At the 30th frame I copied the arms positioning to upright, so they basically start to be 'pulled' by forces and then they fall down into the resting position.
Final Touches
I used this preset on each surface of the puppet. From settings I only changed the colour to very light grey and blue from the ready colour palette under the colour wheel.
That's how it looks after it's fully rendered using either [F9] or [F10] shortcut command. It's the closest surface that resembles the uneven silver coating on a real life version of this puppet. Unfortunately, since I changed the surface in the layout not modeller the surface always resets to the default plain one, even when I press save.