Push

After looking at reference videos, I have started to have my own go at animating a push and pull - starting with the push. To get a good feel for what is involved in a push, I have began by skimming the reference videos and quickly sketching out the key frames which show the strain on the body. I have done this for both of the reference videos as I felt that the first sketch didn't really indicate a successful push. It didn't really communicate a sense of weight which after all is the point of the exercise.

The second sketch is a lot more effective push. I really shows the effort my stickman has to put into pushing the heavy object. Although he sketches are a good guide for my animation, I mustn't forget to add in a sense of anticipation to make the weight of the object the man is pushing convincing

Push And Pull

Moving on walk/run cycles, I have begun looking at other aspects of locmotion - this time looking at weight in animation. This week I have been working on the push and pull. Pushing and pulling are very good examples of weight and how we react when trying to move heavy objects. The body undergoes great strength when trying to push and pull something with a heavy mass. The whole body has to be used in order to successfully move a heavy weight and the strain on the body is very apparent to see by the shaking of limbs.

Before I begin animating I have again looked at reference videos to aid me. Most of the reference videos I could find were already animated so it gave me a good reference of how my finished animation should look. There were loads of videos to choose from but these videos (posted below) were the best for a clear and good looking push/pull. sequence.

 

 

 

Cat Run 3

This is my third run cycle. I have made it look more like the cat from my walk cycle so that I can seamlessly go from the walk cycle to the run cycle in one QuickTime movie. This cycle isn't as perfected as the previous one as it clicks again and doesn't have as much squash and stretch. However, that can be sorted out.

Walk Cycle 6

Now that I am happy with my run cycle, I have gone back to the walk cycle. I am determined to create a convincing walk cycle. Learning from my previous failures, I have taken the best bits and avoided the many mistakes to finally create a cycle where the cat actually walks. Yeah the cycle clicks when its looped but the legs make a convincing cycle. The tail is a bit wild but I think that gives him personality. If I can just fix that click then I would have finally created a walk which I can be happy with.

Run Cycle #2

I've taken a break from trying to create the perfect walk cycle by going back and perfecting my run cycle. This 2nd attempt is a lot better than the first and I think that it works well enough for a convincing cat run cycle. It cycles well and is quite fluid. It has good squash and stretch but this could be further enhanced for a move convincing run. There is still a slight click but is so minor that I think I can get away with it. There are a few other things that I could do to further improve my cycle (there always is). I think it is a bit slow for run but that can be altered during editing. I would also like to make my run cycle look more like the cat from my walk cycle. This will make it a lot smoother when I make the transition from the walk to the run.

However, I am very proud with how the run turned out - especially seeing the trouble I've been having with my walk cycle

5th Walk Cycle

I'm still trying to perfect my walk cycle - without success. Below is the video of my 5th attempt and in my opinion the worst. This can barely be called a walk cycle.

The legs (both front and back) don't complete full cycles. It looks as if at one point the 2 front legs instantly switch places and so a hop occurs as in the previous cycle. The worst thing is is that the front legs are the success of this cycle; I don't even know how to describe the mechanics of the back legs. The fore-back leg starts to make a full cycle but then again it looks like a switch occurs. The back leg furthest from the camera swings back but then clicks back to the beginning without cycling and as this happens, the other back leg sort of loops but with a strange hop mid cycle. It feels as if the more I work on the walk cycle, the worse it gets.

Cat Run Cycle 1st Attempt

Before I committed to animation paper, I did a quick thumbnail animation using the reference video of the slow motion cat. This animation was a lot more successful than I thought it would be as I was drawing it. The movement is clearly a run and although the body stretches a bit too much and the images again don't match up, I am happy with the finish.

 

After a promising start, I began another cycle on animation paper. This cycle is a lot more fluid although it is a bit too slow for a run. Again there is a jump between the first and last frames and the legs slip again. I think one of the problems is that the lines are just too far apart which makes it difficult for me to keep the feet to the lines. To help improve the fluidity of the loop, I am going to try and re-arrange the frame order by starting the sequence halfway through (e.g 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), This should help me get a better inbetween between the first and last frame.