Thursday 6 June 2024

Crab Scuttle Animation Tutorial

Animate a crab scuttle underwater
In this new animation tutorial we demonstrate how to create a locomotion cycle in Maya with a crab rig, showing how to take a complex motion, break it down - and make it simple.

A crab's sideways scuttle looks complex, but is in fact very easy to animate, by following this basic tutorial.

We start by animating a single animation curve, and then copy it across the crab rig. 

Crab Scuttle
Below is a two second video to show what we are aiming at.




Crab Scuttle - How It Works

We start by animating a simple 16 frame walk cycle on the first set of the crab's legs. Once this is working, we copy and paste the animation curves onto the second set legs.  Then offset the curves by 8 frames.  Then we copy and paste the same curves onto the third set of legs, and then onto the final set of legs, offsetting the curves so that each leg offsets the one before.  Turn on infinity curves on all the body parts. 

Crab Scuttle Tutorial
You can find the three Crab Scuttle Tutorials below. They are password-protected, but free for all our enrolled students.

Crab Scuttle Pt 1

Crab Scuttle Pt 2 

Crab Scuttle Pt 3

Crab Rig by Truong
Free Crab Rig from Truong
The tutorial uses the free Crab Rig by Truong. The crab rig is free, and can be downloaded here.  The crab is a realistic eight-legged crustacean, perfect for learning creature locomotion.  Like most rigs, the crab has its quirks and foibles.  It has no texture map, but we can make it look good with some underwater lighting.

Underwater Caustics
In the second part of the tutorial we use Maya's Content Browser to add an underwater light effect.
1. Windows/Content Browser/FX/Fluids/Ocean Examples/Underwater Caustics
2. Select the Underwater Camera and Look Through Selected. This is your camera view
3. Scale down the Jelly (Scale to 0.01) and position the crab in front of the Underwater Camera.
4. Render a single frame using the Maya Software Renderer
5. Render a Sequence of Frames so that the crab scuttles in front of the Underwater Camera

Animal and Creature Animation at Animation Apprentice
Gorilla animation by Michael Davies
We have many resources here at Animation Apprentice for students looking to learn how to animate animals and creatures. 

To get started, see the blog posts below:




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1 comment:

  1. Carlos Thompson12 June 2024 at 00:14

    I have been following you from the beginning. 3D animations create lifelike visual experiences by manipulating objects in a three-dimensional space. They are widely used in films, video games, virtual reality, and simulations to bring characters and scenes to life with realistic movement and depth. Advanced software and techniques, such as modeling, texturing, and rendering, contribute to their creation. These animations enhance storytelling and user engagement by providing dynamic and immersive visual content. Unlock the full potential of 3d animations  by clicking here to access our exclusive content, including how-to guides, FAQs, and customer testimonials.

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