Hey Everyone!
I'm excited to share my first CA project for this year--the Silhouette Test using the Artie rig! Feel free to check out the final below, as well as some of the process work if you're interested (I found this project to be really fun, so I decided to compile some of my stuff for others to check out). If you want to ask any questions about it/ want to critique, feel free to do so! C:
Artie Silhouette Project from
Rachel Doda on
Vimeo.
Process Work:
With the start of this project, I was torn between doing something simple vs. something complex. I struggled with the idea of trying to do something simple, when I came to a sudden realization...I should just do something fun! Thus, after watching some old Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons, I got the idea of doing the classic rocket scenario. I knew in the end I would have to rig a rocket, but thanks to wonderful non-linear deformers rigging turned out to be very simple.
Of course, though, it did take up some time--something I had lost starting off on the first day of school! I ended up getting really sick two days before the pose test, so I was worried I wasn't going to be able to do my idea. Luckily though, I ended up feeling better enough to do the reference in time and execute with my idea.
Unfortunately, the reference video isn't the greatest of quality--however, I do have the drawovers I did with my reference, and I'll be happy to show and explain those. Forgive me for the chicken scratch that is my handwriting.
First pose needed to read clearly; made some space between my arms and my torso.
Originally only had two elbows out (which was pushed in this drawover, too). But I decided to go with only one arm in order to simplify the pose.
Extended arm out more to really separate it from the body.
Exaggerated the reach down (unfortunately, I never ended up using this pose...someone mentioned during a crit., that if a character was holding a match/lighter, the flame would be searing their thumb.) I ended up correcting it by keeping the elbow down.
Breaking joints!
Look back (taken out in the final).
I am on a chair going nowhere...
Break symmetry on hands
Keep arms seperate (though in the final, this ended up being changed).
One hand goes down before the other.
Keep arms out.
Place hand on hip in order to clarify pose (and make it more interesting).
Exaggerate the kick more (bring it back further).
Bend over slightly more when kicking.
Exaggerate push back (this is when the rocket hits).
I couldn't quite get into this pose, but I definitely wanted to exaggerate the force.
As a last note, I will also say for this animation that sound was incredibly important. The timing, the animation...a good amount of my ideas relied on sound for this project (i.e. rumbling the rocket, the sound of the lighter, the rocket fuze igniting). It's not hard to convey those things without sound, but in the end I believe good sound really does add more to an animation.
Welp, that's it for now. More posts to come soon!
