LightWave 3D 8 Character Animation phần 5 docx

191 Chapter 8: Using the Controls Note: Undoing in IK Booster seems to be a bit odd at the time of publication.. It is recommended that youcontrol the head through the standard IK way of

Using IK Booster, you no longer need to rotate an *Elbow or *Kneecontrol to position the elbows and knees of your character You cansimply grab the calf or forearm and physically move the knee orelbow joint where you want it to be (Doing this actually rotates the

*Knee and *Elbow bones to the applicable bank setting.)

To shrug the character’s shoulders, or cave or expand his chest, just

grab the tip of a shoulder bone and drag it around.

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Note:

Undoing in IK Booster seems to be a bit odd at the time of publication When

I hit ^z to undo my last move in IKB, not only is that move undone, but also the last move done using standard controls is also undone I’ve found, how- ever, that by redoing (by pressing <z>) andthen undoing again, the

standard control’s position is restored, and then only the IKB move is undone.

Figure 8.21

By grabbing and moving the base of a shoulder bone, you can tilt

the entire carriage this way and that (Just remember that when you

do so, if you have chosen to have the Head a child of Spine1, theHead will stay mostly in place since Spine3 does most of the movingwhen manipulating the model in this fashion — it’s a minor tweak tomove the head back squarely on top of the shoulders.)

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Figure 8.22

You can swing the hips and the entire carriage about by

drag-ging one of the *Knee bones in 3D space.

193 Chapter 8: Using the Controls

Figure 8.23

You can click and drag on any of the *Spine bones, moving the acter’s carriage with ease (I’ve also repositioned the head in thisillustration.)

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Chapter 8: Using the Controls

Figure 8.24

The Head has its control icon set to Move/Rotate so within IKBooster it is only able to be moved (It is recommended that youcontrol the head through the standard IK way of doing things, but ifyou really need to position the head quickly without exiting IKB,you can use its IKB control to do so.)

195 Chapter 8: Using the Controls

Figure 8.25

You can also click and drag on the handle at the tip of *Hand_Rot to swing the hand up or down.

197 Chapter 8: Using the Controls

Figure 8.27

And, if you pull hard enough on a finger control, you can also getthe hand to swing up or down, following the direction of your pull.

Control Order

I’ve had a lot of people ask me which controls to move first whenI’m posing a character To tell the truth, I don’t think most anima-tors think about it that much — we just move whatever needsmoving

I believe strongly that there is no “right” or “wrong” way to doanything, so long as it works for the person doing the doing, andrespects those who are affected by the doing

But I can completely relate to someone who’s never seen thisplethora of controls and ways of working feeling overwhelmed withthe vast spread of choices, so I’ll walk you through how I’d strike asimple pose

“Start at the beginning, go on until you get to the end, then stop!”

— The Mad Hatter, Alice in Wonderland

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Chapter 8: Using the Controls

Figure 8.29 As with all the other life drawing exercises, I’ll be working from a pose created with the same controls I’ll be using to do the work myself — I know

I can strike this pose if I give myself enough time to do so.

Chapter 8: Using the Controls

Figure 8.30 The first thing I do, of course, is load the setup I’ve just completed, then save it as a file prepped for revisions (*_v001.lws) into a working directory

so I can fiddle with things to my heart’s content.

Chapter 8: Using the Controls

Figure 8.31 Then, I swap out Thinguy_F for MrCool_Facial_F, the model used in the pose I’ll be copying.

Chapter 8: Using the Controls

Figure 8.32 Next, I load in the life drawing model from Extras\Life_Drawing\ Objects\ICanFly.lwo (And make sure I’ve got OpenGL Transparency enabled in

my Display Options.)

Chapter 8: Using the Controls

Figure 8.33 The first thing I’ll do is move the object itself to get my own

character close to the position of the life drawing model.

Note:

When I’m animating, I usually leave the object alone once I’ve got it in its starting position — using only the controls to move the character around the environment.

Chapter 8: Using the Controls

Figure 8.34 Then, moving and rotating Spine1 under standard IK, I line up the waistline, using the belt as my point of reference.

Chapter 8: Using the Controls

Figure 8.35 Next, using Back and Top views, I position the hands with the

*Hand_Trans controls, rotating the hands only on their heading axis at the moment.

Chapter 8: Using the Controls

Figure 8.36 Now, I get the feet into position the same way (At the moment, I’m not concerned with perfection, I’m just getting things “in the ballpark.”)

Chapter 8: Using the Controls

Figure 8.37 Next, I move and rotate the Head so it comes close to matching the model.

Figure 8.38 Then, I start getting more precise with the hands and feet (using

heading and bank on *Hand_Trans and pitch on *Hand_Rotate).

Figure 8.39 Now I start using IK Booster and drag the fingers into their proper positions.

Chapter 8: Using the Controls

Figure 8.40 Working on the spine comes next Switching back and forth between using IKB and standard IK controls (sometimes even actually moving the bones of the spine if I feel it’s necessary to sculpt the pose I want), I begin to get more and more precise with the accuracy.

There are no “right” or “wrong” ways of doing this … so long aswhat you see is what you want This is the way I usually work.The real knack for this will come when you’ve done all the prac-tice exercises in this book, and you know on a gut level what eachcontrol will do and when it is best to use it.

Like my mentor told me when I was working to get a more ished, cleaned-up line to my drawings, your line quality will getbetter when you know enough to not worry about your line

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Chapter 8: Using the Controls

Figure 8.41 Then, it’s just a matter of settling in for the long haul, continuing to refine your “noodling,” working back and forth between standard IK and IK Booster controls until the pose is what you want.

Why does a good animation drawing have the emotional impact itdoes? It has that kind of impact solely because of the poses the char-acters are in Animators are often considered draftsmen; there is nomore precise art form than animation (In a standard-sized animationdrawing, the deviation of a line by even 1/32" can completely changethe emotional read of the drawing.) Yet, at the same time, everythingmust appear effortless and inevitable You achieve this level of profi-ciency by mastering the sets of skills required You master theseskills to the point that they become so much a part of you, you can’t

do anything but execute them perfectly, precisely, and without ing All it takes to get to this level of proficiency in anything

think-(animation being no exception) is simply to practice at least a littleeach and every day, to know where to start and how to proceed —how to get to the “next logical step.”

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Finding the next logical step is all getting anywhere with thing is All of us can move steadily from one step to the next Weall start this path the same way The troublesome thing with thesenext logical steps is that it is only when you begin to achieve mas-tery that you begin to understand what they are Looking back fromthe plateaus of mastery, you can see where all the steps were andwhere you got lost along the way From the plateaus of mastery, youcan also see the next logical steps that will carry you to where youwould like to be (No matter how good others may think you are,

any-you must always, always be looking for that next logical step There

is always something more.) This is why it is so vitally important forteachers of anything to not only care about what they’re teachingand be able to communicate it, but to have achieved a level of mas-tery to be able to see these steps Mastering animation takeshumility, dedication, passion, and time But with these steps, mas-tery should not be painful; you should always be able to see yourpath before you Moving from one simple signpost to another, study-ing and understanding, learning how to see motion, how to

understand the conveyance of feeling Each step builds on the cessful completion of the last Each next logical step has an “Aha!”factor that is often so simple that it could all too easily hide forever

suc-in plasuc-in sight

And so the next logical step from where you are right now is toget to know those controls you labored long to create You need toknow them so well that they become second nature to you (And ifthere is something in the setup you simply cannot work with, goback and change it until it feels right to your way of working.)

If, after going through the life drawing models in this chapter,you still feel you need more life drawing experience before moving

on, flip to Chapter 14 where you’ll be directed to many more models

to “draw” from (Don’t be afraid to go back and revisit these oldmodels It’s always good, throughout your career, to go back andreaffirm the things you know.) Move forward only when you feelcomfortable Doing so will make the whole process of learning ani-mation that much more enjoyable and rewarding

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Chapter 9: Life Drawing — The Next Logical Step

9.1 The Standing Model

Posing a character is the art of translating what you have in yourmind into the 3D coordinates that will make your character fit thatvision

Now, you might be asking, “How do I know where in 3D space

to put these things that I’m seeing on this flat, 2D page?” In veryshort order, you’ll get the hang of being able to translate the subtle-ties of slight differences in angle and size on a page into 3D

coordinates (LW’s grid lines are very helpful; I wish all life drawingclasses had their plinths marked with grid lines.) We’ll be startingwith a technique that will have you well on your way before youknow it

On one project I was given hi-res scans of models I would tually have to animate The project didn’t have the budget forParaform (a program designed to make animatable NURBS modelsfrom hi-res scan data) and we knew the client was going to be astickler for having the models perfect After reducing the poly countsomewhat with qemLOSS2, just to make the scans manageable on a

even-500 MHz PII, we changed the surface of the scanned model to be

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Chapter 9: Life Drawing — The Next Logical Step

Figure 9.1 We’ll be starting with a standing model The pose is interesting enough to keep us from getting bored, but still easy enough to be recreated with relative ease.

partially transparent We then built our subpatch model around thatframework We could see exactly when our subpatch was passingthrough the scanned model’s surface, and it turned out to be arather quick way of not only getting an animatable subpatch model,but also in getting a whole lot better at modeling very quickly (Run-ning my own studio, I’ve had to learn to wear a lot of hats to get jobsout on time I’ll always be a better animator and director than I’llever hope to be a modeler, but every new thing you can add to yourset of skills is an asset.)

We’ll be using that same technique to get you started in lifedrawing here You’ll know when you have enough angle here,enough distance there to support the character’s weight You’llknow when your character carries the essence of the pose, andyou’ll know when your character is spot-on You’ll be able to turnthe view and explore from every angle You’ll see, right there infront of you, whether your model covers the drawing model or not!

1 Load in your setup scene and then save the scene as thing that will let you know this is life drawing model 01.(Scenes\Work\ch09\LifeDrawing_01_w01.lws works for me.)

some-2 Load in Objects\chapters\Ch_09\LifeDrawingModel_01.lwo

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Chapter 9: Life Drawing — The Next Logical Step

Figure 9.2 Your model and the pose you’ll put him into.

3 Using Chapter 8 as a reference if you need to, start movingcontrols!

If you find yourself in a bind, don’t be afraid to scrap your work andstart over (with a saved revision, of course, just in case you reallywere on the right track) As they say, “Animation is the art of revi-sion.” Also, don’t hesitate to come back to this pose at some time inthe future, using what you’ve learned to see if there are better,faster, more elegant ways of getting him to assume this pose.There are a few things I’d like to point out about the pose itselfbefore moving on If you look at it from any angle — back, front,side, or top — the character looks balanced Even though he’s gothis weight shifted back and to the right, his legs support him in away that he could hold indefinitely without falling over Weight dis-tribution is a very important thing Every stationary pose must read

as balanced from all angles, not just the camera angle The ter’s center of gravity must appear properly supported; he can’t looklike he’s about to fall over

charac-The best way to assess the balance of a pose is to turn yourhead away from the monitor, close your eyes, and turn your headback to the monitor Open your eyes for no more than 1/4 second.The afterimage you have in your mind will have a feeling to it; it’lleither feel comfortable (“Yeah, I’d buy that”) or awkward (“Man …there’s just something not quite right about that”) Do this fromevery angle, even if your final output will be to film or another 2Dmedium Human minds work better than we might sometimesguess, and though your audience might not know exactly whysomething doesn’t look quite right, they’ll feel the difference

between a pose that carries its weight properly and a pose that isoff balance even slightly

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Chapter 9: Life Drawing — The Next Logical Step

Note:

Another thing to watch on the whole weight issue is that when

you have a character moving he has to have the proper weight

distribution for the speed and direction of his movement Walking

is just falling forward and catching ourselves every time we step.

Running means that we’re leaning forward farther to get more

offset for the forward thrust Every pose, whether moving or

sta-tionary, must be balanced or the character must be about to fall

over.

We’ve also got contra-posto, the reversal of angles between thehips and shoulders, going on in this scene The character’s hips are

swung down and back on the right side The character’s shoulders are swung down and back on the left side (though in relationship to

the shoulders’ initial pose their new angle doesn’t appear that ent) This makes the pose read with more life than if the hips andshoulders were parallel

differ-Hands are important with every pose Much of the emotionalread of a pose is carried in the character’s hands This is as impor-tant with wild action as with subtle acting When working with a run

or other vigorous activity, don’t forget the importance of the hands

If you were ever on a track team, do you remember your coach ing you that the way to run faster is to pump your arms harder andfaster? This balance and counterbalance works throughout ourentire bodies Our subconscious minds have ways of picking up on

tell-these non-verbals — cues given by the way someone stands, the

timing with which they do something, and many other subtle cuesthat have nothing to do with spoken words Non-verbals have ways

of translating themselves directly into an emotional read within theviewer Understanding everything you can about what it is yourcharacter is doing, putting yourself into that situation, and letting all

of that wealth of information flood through you as you work is thekey to believable animation

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Chapter 9: Life Drawing — The Next Logical Step

Note:

A properly animated scene should look good from all angles (This

is especially true if you’re doing work for a 3D video game and

you can’t control the camera.) True, there will be angles that look

better than others, but no angle should look unbelievable.

Watching your scene from the worst angle you can find is a trick

you can use to make it read all the better from the intended

angle It is like flipping a drawing over and looking at it on a light table from the other side You disassociate yourself from what

you’ve been thinking for the past hours or days and are able to

look at it from a more objective point of view From that ing angle, make the tweaks you see that need tweaking, then

unflatter-look at the scene from the camera angle; you’ll be surprised at

how much more believably it reads.