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INSIDE & UNMISSABLE: DISNEY’S 12 RULES OF ANIMATION

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004 | Ultimate Guide To 3D Animation | www.3dworldmag.com

CONTENTS

ContentsDiscover the secrets of cutting-edge animationwith the world’s leading 3D experts

1024 25 animation tips

031 Disney’s 12 principles of animation

044 Character design secrets

106

Pro tips

106

044

031

CBZ91.contents.indd 4 7/11/13 9:58 AM

| Ultimate Guide To 3D Animation | 005www.3dworldmag.com

CONTENTS

052 Rigging a rat in Blender

058 Animation rigs in Cinema 4D

064 20 character rigging tips

068 Skinning a game character

074 Rig tank tracks in Maya

080 Create a versatile character rig

088 Animation shortcuts – top tips

090 Animating a spacewalk cycle

096 10 steps to better walk cycles

100 15 ways to be a better animator

104 Master the illusion of movement

110 Create an action-packed animation

116 Better animation sequences

120 Lip-sync a cartoon character

124 Facial animation in Blender

130 Animate the Hollywood way

136 Animate the Hollywood way – part 2

142 Animation tips for game artists

146 Automate secondary animation

152 Create light in an animated world

Setting up Animating2 3136146



CONTENTS

Contents

195

158 Cloth simulation at Pixar

168 Working with Maya’s nCloth

174 Dynamics in Cinema 4D

Dynamics4

CONTENTS

174

168

Contents

174

168



CONTENTS

5182 Kickstart your fi lm!

188 Animation funding secrets

190 Profi le: Hillary Yeo’s Godaizer

008 Azureus Rising

014 The best animated shorts

008

Business advice

190 014

Turn over for...

Features



PRO TIPS 25 animation tips

eveloped over decades in the foundry of Walt

Disney’s animation studios, the 12 principles of

animation given here were first presented in this

form in The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation, the classic

guide by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. As applicable to

digital 3D as they are to the hand-drawn 2D for which they

were conceived, checking that you’ve considered each of

these guiding principles in any animation sequence helps

you generate character and movement in your work.

DD

25TOP TIPS ON ANIMATION

eveloped over decades in the foundry of Walt

Disney’s animation studios, the 12 principles of

animation given here were first presented in this

form in The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation, the classic

guide by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. As applicable to

digital 3D as they are to the hand-drawn 2D for which they

were conceived, checking that you’ve considered each of

these guiding principles in any animation sequence helps

you generate character and movement in your work.

25TOP TIPS ON ANIMATION

Want to take your animation to the next level?

Want to take your animation to the next level?

Improve your techniques with these insider

Improve your techniques with these insider

tips and guiding principles from leading

tips and guiding principles from leading

animation professionals…

animation professionals…

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25 animation tips PRO TIPS

SQUASH AND STRETCHYour animated objects should compress and stretch as they move. As a simple example, think of a rubber ball that flattens slightly as it hits the ground; but the principle applies equally to muscles in the body, for example. Squash and stretch is most obvious in exaggerated or cartoony animation, but applies to realistic styles too. In realistic animation, the volume of the object should remain constant as it stretches.

01

025

INSIDER TIP

“One tip that has stuck with

me was made by Terry Gilliam

in 1974: ‘The whole point of

animation to me is to tell

a story, make a joke, express

an idea. The technique itself

doesn’t really matter. Whatever

works is the thing to use’.”

Adam Sharp,

freelance CG artist

25 animation tips PRO TIPS

ANTICIPATIONPrepare the audience for a major movement or change. As a simple example, think of a golf swing where you would show the club going backwards first. But you could equally show a character’s head turning towards a door before someone enters the room, or an object becoming the focal point in the camera frame before someone picks it up.

02

Drown to Life shows

great use of squash and

stretch in its faces

You know just what’s

going to happen in this

frame from Will & the Wheel

» xxxx

xxxx

Lui

s A

riza

ga

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FORCinema 4D R12

TIME TAKENOne hour

TOPICS COVERED• Inverse kinematics• Forward kinematics• IK/FK blending• Setting up a rig• Controller types

About the authorSteven Maguire is animation supervisor at SparkleVFX, specialising in

modelling, rigging and animation worksparklevfx.com

T

Step-by-stepCinema 4DCharacteranimation

058 | Ultimate Guide To 3D Animation

SETTING UP Animation rigs in Cinema 4D

TT

3D Animation |

Animation rigs in Cinema 4D

Beneath every great animated character is a great rig. Blending IK and FK gives you more options for animating

his tutorial will explore the difference between IK (inverse kinematics) and FK (forward kinematics) animation, their

benefi ts and how and when to use them. IK and FK are both terms used in 3D animation to describe the process of how joints move and their effect on connecting bones. This is best explained using an arm as an example.

In FK animation, the position and rotation of the forearm and hand are calculated and controlled by the rotation of the shoulder, which is the parent of them both. In short, FK animation is the control and rotation of child nodes through the movement and rotation of the parent joint.

IK animation works in a similar way, but instead of controlling the parent joint, you control the child node; in this case, the hand or wrist joint. As you move and rotate the child node, it will affect its parent joints – the elbow and shoulder – which will move in a more natural and fl uid way than with FK.

Deciding when to use IK or FK is largely down to personal preference and animation style. There are those who swear by using FK for creating a smooth and perfect arc movement for a walk cycle, and there are those who prefer the subtle and sometimes accidental nuances offered by IK animation. In either case, most animators will tell you that you need access to both systems – and using both has been made much easier. There was a time when mixing IK and FK animation meant creating your own IK/FK switch or slider – daunting if you were new to rigging – but most 3D packages now only require you to create an IK chain, from which there will be an FK slider ready-made within its modifi ers.

A blend of twoSo what are the differences when it comes to animating with IK and FK? IK is considered a much more fl uid or organic way in which to animate. It may not always be as precise as FK, but it does offer the ability to pose and re-pose characters very quickly, which will always help towards a more realistic movement. IK can also be extremely benefi cial when animating awkward movements or gestures like jumping, climbing or raising a hand.

These type of movements can be achieved using FK, but would require the movement and rotation of each individual joint, whereas in IK you’re able to simply select the IK goal (which on an arm is the hand) and pull the arm into the position you require.

However, one downside of IK being so quick to manipulate is that the animator must be careful not to get lazy. It’s easy to push and pull an IK’d arm into position – and it’s just as easy not to notice you haven’t correctly manipulated the elbow, leaving your character with an inverted arm halfway through the movement. This is where mixing IK and FK becomes useful. For example, a fairly complex movement such as picking upa cup or having a character snatch something from a table can be best achieved by initially using FK then blending in IK animation.

In the fi rst stages of the movement, it’s easy to raise the arm and reach out toward the object – a case of rotating

Steven Maguire introduces the principles behind inverse and forward kinematics, and guides you through some simple techniques for building your fi rst character rig

Take control of your animation rigs in Cinema 4D

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»

Ultimate Guide To 3D Animation | 059

Animation rigs in Cinema 4D SETTING UP

»

| Ultimate Guide To www.3dworldmag.com

Animation rigs in Cinema 4D SETTING UP

the shoulder and extending the arm in a relatively straight position – using only FK. IK would be used for the second stage of the movement as the fi ngers, hand and elbow all rotate back toward the chest or face of the character. The elbow would return to the waist but would also rotate the forearm slightly, just as the hand would raise and the wrist would rotate. This is all achievable using FK animation, but blending the two together yields a more fl uid and realistic movement more quickly.

The same solution can be applied to a walk cycle. The main arc movement of the leg would be controlled by the FK slider, as it’s a simple motion: forwards and back rotating on only one axis. At the point where the leg is fully extended, you could use IK to slightly fl are and rotate the foot outward. The trailing leg could then be rotated inward at the knee and the foot made to point upward, giving the walk more of a ‘skating’ feel.

Rig a legIn the following walkthrough, in which I’ll show you how to rig a leg and a foot, I’ll be using Cinema 4D R12. Before beginning to rig a character, it’s always important to make sure its mesh is modelled in the correct position or pose.

For biped models, this is the T-pose, in which your character is standing in its most natural position, with its arms outstretched, knees slightly bent and head looking forward. The hands should have the palms facing down, with the fi ngers straight out and slightly bent at the knuckles.

For other types of models, such as quadrupeds, you should ensure that they’re standing on all fours with the head aligned perfectly with the spine. If your model has a tail, it should also be aligned horizontally with the spine. If a character has wings then they should be treated as arms and be outstretched as in the T-pose.

Jargon busterAim constraint Much like the up vector, the aim constraint makes the object or bone at a specifi ed point or object point along the desired axis.

Gimbal lock This occurs in 3D animation when two of the world’s axes become aligned and lock, meaning two of the axes have the same rotational properties on an object.

Hierarchy A hierarchy consists of one or more objects or bones that are linked together in a top-down construction. The top bone would be the parent of the bone connected beneath it. The bones beneath are referred to as children.

Null object This is an object with no or ‘null’ behaviour or mass in 3D space. If the null object is a copy or conversion of something that has attributes or constraints, the null object will take these on but will not appear in render. They’re normally used as targets for aim or up vector constraints.

Tweening Short for in-betweening, this is the process of adding intermediate frames between two poses on a timeline to create a smooth, animated image.

Up vector The up vector constraint makes the Y axis of an object or bone point to a specifi ed point or object.

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ANIMATING Master the illusion of movement Master the illusion of movement ANIMATING

FORMaya

TIME TAKEN12-15 hours

TOPICS COVERED• Props• Constraints• Blocking out• Spline animation• Curve editing• Polish

ON THE WEBView videos and download source fi les from: 3dworldmag.com/animation-guide Password: 3dwa

Video GuideMayaAnimation

Create a production-quality piece of character animation with this video masterclass, recorded especially for 3D World by Framestore New York’s Seth Gollub

About the authorSeth Gollub isa senior animator at Framestore New York. He graduated from

the School of Visual Arts in New York, where he’s now teaching a junior-year animation courseframestore.com/ny

Create a production-quality piece of character animation

Includes 2 hoursof workfl ow video clips

Master the illusion of movement in Maya

CBZ91.3_illusion.indd 104 7/11/13 9:20 AM


ANIMATING Master the illusion of movement Master the illusion of movement ANIMATING

nimating a character can be difficult enough. Having your character interact with its environment and additional props

adds a degree of complexity to the animation process, but can really sell the shot if done properly. In this tutorial, I’ll guide you through the process of animating a shot in which a character is interacting with several props of different scales. It will bea good animation challenge: you’ll have to show tension in dealing with objects that are small and light, and then with something that is quite large and heavy.

One pitfall that new animators sometimes fall into is simply parenting objects to the character’s

hands and leaving it at that. The result is that the props tend to feel stiff and disconnected from the character. I’ll explore some techniques here to help sell the interaction between character and prop, which will make the overall animation feel much more cohesive and solid in turn.

This tutorial is an overview of one scene from start to finish. I’ll cover the basics of each step in the process and discuss some of my techniques and methods for animating with props and dealing with tension and weight. The first stage is about gathering reference and planning out the scene; an important step that’s often overlooked in favour of immediately diving right into animation. From there,

I’ll block out the animation, focusing on solid posing and pinning down the timing, after which I’ll spline out the animation before adding final layers of polish and detail on top.

The goal is to create a production-quality piece of animation. The desired result is for your character to feel not just like he is holding props, but interacting and performing with them.

Thanks to Shayne Ryan from Framestore New York for assisting with lighting and rendering the final animation. The tutorial uses the Andy rig, created by John Doublestein for the Savannah college of Art and Design (creativecrash.com)

A

»

Seth Gollub’s animation shows how to get characters interacting with their environment

CBZ91.3_illusion.indd 105 7/11/13 9:20 AM

152 | Ultimate Guide To 3D Animation |

ANIMATING Lighting tips

www.3dworldmag.com

Expert TipsAny softwareAnimation

About the authorDanielle Feinberg is a director of photography for lighting at Pixar Animation

Studios. She is currently sinking her teeth into the look of her next fi lm, Disney Pixar’s The Bear and the Bowpixar.com

All

imag

es ©

20

07

Dis

ney/

Pix

ar

FORAny software

TOPICS COVERED• Vignetting• Fill lights• Solid base lighting• Global illumination

Pixar Animation’s Danielle Feinberg reveals how to create cinematic lighting using real-world techniques as employed in the production of WALL•E

How to create light in an animated world

Lighting in computer-animated fi lms has progressed by leaps and

bounds over the years. Technology has played a big role, giving us great new tools, things like ambient occlusion and global illumination. The ease with which you can get decent looking images with these techniques makes it tempting to rely on them for the majority of your lighting. This is a common problem we see with student work, where there hasn’t been time or access to learn the more cinematographic approach to lighting.

At Pixar we are always striving for as much control over lights and colour as we can get. Instead of

giving up control to the computer, we always want to drive things, aiming to do something more akin to painting with light. This enables us to use light, composition and colour to help support the story, no matter what the situation. We know that no matter how cool a look is, if it is not an integral part of the story it will do nothing but distract from the movie.

The following is a collection of things I’ve learned over my years of lighting at Pixar and applied to the computer-animated fi lm WALL•E. They are key pieces to the whole spectrum of lighting, laying out how to make good cinematographic choices, to go with all the beautiful techniques technology is giving us.

Follow our expert tips and discover how to light your animated world the Pixar way

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Lighting tips ANIMATING

01 Use advanced vignettes Vignettes are commonly used to frame

a shot and guide the audience’s eye. Many times we see vignetting done with a simple comp operation to add elliptical darkening around the edges of the frame. Consider using more advanced techniques that will give you a vignette-like result without being so heavy handed. If you have walls, floors or large flat surfaces in the background, ramp down the intensity of the light on the surface, darkening it toward the outside edges of the frame. This will give the same result as the composited vignette, but will feel more organic, subtle and successful. Strategic shadows from off-frame buildings or plants can do the same thing, helping you frame the action. If you need to go with a traditional composited vignette, consider doing something more than just an overlay of grey, perhaps using it to effect saturation or colour as well.

01

02 Illuminate the story When beginning the lighting for

a shot, remember to take the time to ask yourself, “Why is this shot in the movie? What story point is it supposed to tell? How can the lighting help support that?” This may seem like an obvious tip, but it is an issue we see over and over again and is absolutely crucial to good moviemaking. It is very easy to get swept up in trying to make an image look good, forgetting all else. Just imagine this scenario: you have a shot in which some small characters are chasing a car. You get excited about the shot and spend all your time getting the fog from the street lights falling just so, adding awesome star filters on the tail lights of the car, and so on. However, when you play back the shot you realise you can’t even see your characters chasing the car any more. The shot might look absolutely fantastic, but you’ve totally blown the story point.

03Finesse with fill lights Fill lights are the unspoken heroes of

any lighting setup. For successful cinematographic lighting, you must not only direct the viewer’s eye, but also use your lights to give objects excellent structure and shaping. The most obvious part of this comes from the key light, but great shaping on your fill lights will get you a subtle but vital level of finesse in your lighting. A fill that is more of an ambient type source or even just a little flat will still function okay, but you won’t achieve dazzling results. Look at your fill a little more closely, adjust its position so it feathers with the key light and also falls off nicely on the off-key side. Add subtle colour shifts as the fill falls across a surface or finesse how quickly the light falls off across surfaces. Mastering this will also make you better at lighting night or low-key setups where you need to have a lot more control over low-level lights in order to make things look good.

03 04 Set your solid base lighting Good fundamentals to your lighting will

provide a solid base upon which everything else functions. Bad positioning of your key, fill or bounce can never be overcome. No amount of fancy extras will ever fix the problem of badly placed lights. Try turning off your key light: do your fills and bounces still look good? Is your key light giving you good shaping, and providing an appealing look to the set and characters?

05 Create your own styleIn order to create your own style and

unique look, try recreating real life first. Create a single shot and try to make it look as real to life as possible. What components do you think are critical for reality? Push these pieces to determine which ones must be accurate and which ones you can exaggerate to create a different style. >>

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TRAINING Physics-based animation

Find all of the resources you need to complete thetutorials collected in this bookazine, including meshes,materials and over 37 hours of walkthrough videos

STEP 02 Type 3dwa (all lower case) into the password fi eld

STEP 03 Click the individual links to download fi les

STEP 01 Visit our download page:www.3dworldmag.com/animation-guide

Download thetutorial project fi les

animationU L T I M A T E G U I D E T O 3 D

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Documents

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animation shortcuts

secondary animation

facial animation

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