Animation with a moustache

The animation with a .... je ne sais quoi!

Tagged: video reference

Run cycle video reference 4

Animation / Education

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Run cycle video reference

Run and walks are the bread and butter of video game animators and unfortunately I hadn’t found a good source of references on that topic in the past.

Until today, I wasn’t bothered and used treadmill references since that’s mainly what they have been doing at Pixar from Monsters Inc to Up so if it is good for them, it should be good for me, but it is said that treadmill runs are actually different from the real thing.

My understanding of physics is so basic that I can’t see why it would be any different (does anyone actually understands inertia or references frames?) so I decided to do some research and was lucky to find two great references of World record marathon runner Haile Gebrselassie. One of him on a treadmill and a second one shot during a marathon. I didn’t spend too much time on walks since everybody’s walk is unique and I am pretty sure the difference would be too subtle.

Before you watch the videos and make up your mind, one thing I should mentioned is that the treadmill run was only a 4 minutes run and he was wiping his face with the towel in front of him few frames before the beginning of the footage. You can find the link to the original footage below. The video on the right is a real marathon race.

Here is a Vimeo version if you prefer

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/11380454[/vimeo]

What can we notice?

The upper body is possibly slightly bent forward on the road race but I don’t think there is a real difference for the back leg to be honest, at least not at 30fps.

For runs, I would suggest people to pay attention to the running style instead and get to learn about the Pose Method.

The Pose method is dramatically different than a regular run since you hit the road with the ball of your foot rather than the heel so your calf muscle plays the role of a shock absorber rather than the sole of your expensive trainers and your knee joint, leading to less joint stress/pain. Hum it looks like I should do an other video showing regular runs compared to Pose ones 😉

[update]
As animators we are having a tough time to understand runs but don’t worry…. so do runners!

This guy found out that depending on the brand of shoes he is wearing, or not wearing, he would hit the ground in a different manner, check out those great references:

http://www.runblogger.com/2009/12/relationship-between-running-footstrike.html

Original references:
Haile Gebrselassie Treadmill Run
Haile running slow motion

Take – video reference 2

Acting / Animation / Education / Reference

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Take – video reference

While doing some research for my Character Design workshop I found that great acting moment in the Hammer’s 1960 adaptation of the 1886 Scottish novel where Dr Jekyll’s doctor friend start realising that the character standing before him is none other than his dear fellow.

Ideally we want to find real life references but those are really difficult to find and we usually don’t have a video camera rolling when we experience those moments so that sequence could be a great one to refer to when animating “takes” or when we try to conveying thought process.

Pay attention to how he relaxes the muscles around the eyes when in shock then contracts them with a subtle shift of the head as if to get closer and focus. Also notice the really interesting things he does with his lips, 10 then 12 seconds into it.

Hit the link for a quicktime version as usual and find the full movie below. It is an interesting take on the original story and it features the great Christoper Lee as the doctor’s wife lover. The featured sequence takes place around 1h26 into the movie.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mkemP1TuCw[/youtube]

Jeff Gabor webcast recording is online 6

Animation / Education

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Jeff Gabor webcast recording is online

Jeff Gabor’s AnimSchool webcast recording is finally online and it is great. It is nice to finally hear him talk about his workflow and explain why his video progression reels regularly get pulled down. Check it out it is really funny and sometimes a bit politically incorrect so that’s very refreshing.

I want to highlight some of the gems he shares with us but make sure you quickly watch the video before AnimSchool removes it from public’s viewing.

Jeff obviously discusses the shot he animated for AnimSchool and goes frame by frame through it explaining his workflow.

He talks about acting in modern feature animation compared to traditional 2d one, the use of video reference versus thumbnailing for subtle acting, overanimation…

Interestingly enough, Jeff is one of those guys who animates exclusively in IK, I wonder if he uses Body Spaces or just regular unparented world IK….

TweenMachine! Yay I agree with version 1 being the simplest and the best, just like Facebook 🙂

Someone asked about Tradigitools… the answer is funny. Come on, Tween Machine, Michael Comet’s AutoTangent, that’s all you need in Maya really, and they are both free.

Here is the link to the AnimSchool blog post, you will need to register to get the link to the actual recording.

Jeff Gabor’s webcast

While you are on the the AnimSchool blog, make sure you also check Garrett Shikuma’s interview. It is pretty long and very interesting.

Garrett Shikuma’s interview

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Jeff Gabor