Thursday 29 June 2023
How To Import Live Action Reference Into Maya
The video above explains how to import live action reference into Maya. There are two basic methods; importing a series of individual frames, and importing a movie file. Both can be fiddly - watch the video to see how it is done. To see more detail on how to use live action reference to create animation in Maya, read this blog post.
Tuesday 20 June 2023
Quadruped Run Tutorial
Monday 19 June 2023
Spider Animation Tutorial
Spider walk tutorial |
A spider's walk looks complex, but is in fact very easy to animate, by following this simple tutorial.
Thursday 15 June 2023
Crow in Flight Tutorial
Our latest animation tutorial shows how to animate a bird in flight - specifically a crow. The tutorial covers how to animate a flap cycle, add refinements, add the animation to a motion path, import a set, and then create an interesting and inventive scene. Birds are one of the many kinds of creatures that animators will be expected to know how to animate; this tutorial demonstrates a simplified approach that gets a strong result in a short amount of time.
Tuesday 13 June 2023
Animate Dialogue with "Monty" - "Smokin!"
In the simple animation tutorial below we show how to animate a character with no mouth saying a line of dialogue (see animation outcome above). But how can you animate dialogue and lipsync - with no lips? The answer is - it's all in the acting and the performance. If the body language is working, then the audience will believe that the character is speaking - even if the character itself has no mouth. In this tutorial we animate "Monty" saying a line of dialogue - "Smokin!" - the line originally delivered by Jim Carrey in the 80s hit movie The Mask.
Sunday 11 June 2023
Animate a Military Walk With "Monty"
One thing every animator needs to learn is how to animate a character walk. In this latest tutorial, we show how to take a basic walk cycle using the "Monty" rig (free for download from highend3d.com) and make Monty march like a goose-stepping soldier on a parade ground.
The video tutorial is recorded in Autodesk Maya, and is aimed at animation beginners.
Saturday 10 June 2023
No Audio in Maya Playblast?
Autodesk Maya Playplast Options - select QT |
If you make a Playblast in Maya and there is no audio, try opening up the Playlist settings and tinkering with the output.
By default, Maya tends to choose a .avi file, but if you go under Format and change the output to QT instead of AVI, you will often be able to get audio playback.
Thursday 8 June 2023
Animate "Monty" Singing "Oh Yeah"
In the simple animation tutorial below we show how to animate a character with no mouth saying a line of dialogue (see animation outcome above). But how can you animate dialogue and lipsync - with no lips? The answer is - it's all in the acting and the performance. If the body language is working, then the audience will believe that the character is speaking - even if the character itself has no mouth. In this tutorial we animate "Monty" saying (well, singing) a line of dialogue - "Ohhh Yeahhh".
Wednesday 7 June 2023
Animate a Run Cycle with "Monty"
"Monty" runs for the bus |
The tutorial uses the excellent "Monty" rig (which you can read about here), and which you can download for free from highend3d.com.
Every animator should know how to animate a basic walk and a run cycle - these are the "scales" of the animator's skillset.
Tuesday 6 June 2023
Animate a Cartoony "Take" with "Mr Buttons"
Reaction shot with "Mr Buttons" |
Reaction shots are the bread-and-butter of junior animators. On a feature film, once an animator has graduated from walk cycles and crowd shots, they get given reaction shots.
In this series of video tutorials, we show how to go about blocking out an animated scene, in this case a reaction shot, or "take", with the cartoony cat rig "Mr Buttons" by Keith Osborn.
Monday 5 June 2023
Animate a "Manly Walk" with "Monty"
Cowboy walk with Monty |
The video tutorial is recorded in Autodesk Maya, and is aimed at animation beginners.
Sunday 4 June 2023
Animate an "Angry Walk" With "Monty"
Angry Walk with the "Monty" rig |
The video tutorial is recorded in Autodesk Maya, and is aimed at animation beginners.
Saturday 3 June 2023
Animate a Slow, Sad Walk with "Monty"
Animate a sad walk with "Monty" |
The video tutorial is recorded in Autodesk Maya, and is aimed at animation beginners.
Friday 2 June 2023
Animate a Basic Walk with "Heavy"
Animate a Basic Walk with the "Heavy" Rig |
The tutorial is designed to be easy to follow, and to use simple thumbnails that show all the main poses in the walk, and can be easily broken down and interpolated.
Thursday 1 June 2023
"Double Bounce Walk" With "Monty"
Monty Double Bounce Walk |
The video tutorial is recorded in Autodesk Maya, and is aimed at animation beginners.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)