MECHANIC ARM
During this lab, i've learned alot of things that are related in animating this mechanic arm. Before this lab, i've been taught that i can animate the primitives shapes frame by frame. However, through this lab, we've learn how to make a parent constrain as well as how to connect the primitives shape together and control it to make an animation. By making a parent constrain to another, we can control it together without keep selecting on the individual. Besides, this make it an easier job for the animator as it is not tedious as what the frame by frame animation can do.
When or How do you use parent constrain?
We can use parent constrain to control an object when we have a character interacting with an object like pushing, pulling or lifting. It is an advantage to use parenting as a way of locking the character to the object. Parenting can work well if the character is in constant contact with the object. However, it can fail if the object is shared between two characters or even if the character were to walk away from the object because parenting is permanent. It cannot be animated on and off. However, in Maya, there is a tool that allow us to animate the parenting on and off and even animate the switching of parents, if we want to.
I've also done a research on how to create a parenting object
LINK: http://download.novedge.com/Brands/Alias/Helps/Maya6.5/en_US/CharSetup/createaparentconstraint.html
Exercise 4:
1) Apart from their different sizes, it is
obvious from Luxo Jr. that the big lamp is “older” and that the small lamp is
“younger”.
How is this communicated by the animation? Give at least THREE examples.
As from the video, i can recognize the big lamp is the older and the small lamp is younger because:
First, the animator make the bigger lamp's standing position firmly and not bending it exaggeratedly like the small lamp does. Besides, the movement of the older lamp is slowed down, while the smaller lamp's movement is more energetic. The animator also make the younger lamp's jump higher and more exaggerated and the older lamp's didn't jump at all.
Secondly, when the ball rolled towards the older lamp, the lamp doesn't have much reaction to it. It just simply rolled it back with his head and remained relax and gave a "i don't care" reaction to it. Besides, the older lamp didn't pay much attention to the ball. However, the younger lamp came in jumping excitedly to play with the ball. The younger lamp was really energetic and it seems to be very excited to play with the ball.
Thirdly, the small lamp is the younger lamp as it jumps on the ball and when the ball is flatten by the smaller lamp, it when to flip the ball over and over curiously. This shows that the smaller lamp is the younger one as many young kids show their curiosity by this kind of actions.
All of these points above convinced me that the smaller lamp is the younger lamp while the bigger lamp is the older lamp.
2) Give an example from Luxo Jr of how timing is used for comic effect. Explain how the timing decisions contribute to the humour.
The timing is a crucial part in making the animation that creates the comic effects. To create comic effects, we need to have the exact timing. To find out the exact timing, we need to use the trial and error method. Besides, the movement of the big lamp is slow and with calm reaction, since the movement is slow and firm, i can conclude that more scenes is needed in order to make this effect. While the smaller lamp has faster reactions, the scenes are lesser. The timing also help in the acting of a character to establish mood, emotion and reaction to another character or to a situation.
Secondly, when the ball rolled towards the older lamp, the lamp doesn't have much reaction to it. It just simply rolled it back with his head and remained relax and gave a "i don't care" reaction to it. Besides, the older lamp didn't pay much attention to the ball. However, the younger lamp came in jumping excitedly to play with the ball. The younger lamp was really energetic and it seems to be very excited to play with the ball.
Thirdly, the small lamp is the younger lamp as it jumps on the ball and when the ball is flatten by the smaller lamp, it when to flip the ball over and over curiously. This shows that the smaller lamp is the younger one as many young kids show their curiosity by this kind of actions.
All of these points above convinced me that the smaller lamp is the younger lamp while the bigger lamp is the older lamp.
2) Give an example from Luxo Jr of how timing is used for comic effect. Explain how the timing decisions contribute to the humour.
The timing is a crucial part in making the animation that creates the comic effects. To create comic effects, we need to have the exact timing. To find out the exact timing, we need to use the trial and error method. Besides, the movement of the big lamp is slow and with calm reaction, since the movement is slow and firm, i can conclude that more scenes is needed in order to make this effect. While the smaller lamp has faster reactions, the scenes are lesser. The timing also help in the acting of a character to establish mood, emotion and reaction to another character or to a situation.
3) When you create a joint chain, these form a
hierarchy, with the first joint at the top and the last joint at the bottom.
Explain why this is necessary for the joints to work properly.
The joint must be connected properly in order to make the animation smoothly, and also to make the animation a more realistic one. Besides, the connection must be there to make the object to move naturally.