Class:
PIE 1 Art- Animation

Assignment:
Take five actions from our motion capture shoots, apply them to our models, and edit them so that they could be used in a game (shorten them, make them visually accurate, exaggerate movement, etc.). Each animation should begin and end in the same idle pose so that the animations can be seamlessly strung together both with themselves and each other. Take the mocap data from Motion Builder, and apply/edit the animations in Maya. Each animation should be exported as a clip. In addition to each animation as a separate clip, the clips should be strung together using Maya’s Trax Editor. The animation containing all five clips should NOT be stationary. For example, if the character walks forward in the first clip, the second clip should start from that location, not back at the origin.

Complete the autorigging script we’ve been working on and make it “smarter” (more concise, more dynamic, etc.). If necessary, continue working on your rig.

Create a shelf in Maya that recreates the autorigging pipeline. Include any buttons that you made to make the process easier while you were working. One of the buttons must run the autorigging script.

You may use any model that you like for this assignment (including the one you’ve been working on for the previous assignments). However, we encourage you to use the model from your final modeling assignment.

Description:
These are six separate animations I made for this assignment. Rather than using the Ganondorf model I had been using for the previous assignments, I used my redesigned Samus model (from my final modeling assignment). This required me to make a skeleton, skin and weight the model, and make a new set of controllers. Aside from our teacher encouraging us to use our final modeling character, I wanted to use a different model (than Ganondorf) because it would force me to make my autorigging script more dynamic (allow the use of different models) and still work correctly.

For the running jump animation, I pictured it as more of a cinematic animation than a gameplay animation which is why it’s so long. The intention is that Samus is jumping out of a spaceship or something onto another spaceship (or something :P). The area in the middle has much less gravity (or perhaps no gravity) than the starting and ending areas, so the motion in the middle is slowed a little to simulate that. The sliding at the end is an intentional way of showing her slowing from the momentum of the jump (or at least an attempt to do so :P).

All animations start and end in the idle position.

Fun fact: I was the mocap actor for these 😀