In week 10, we studied Animating Animals. Animal Animating requires you to think about the animal and their quadruped walking cycle. This cycle can also be interpreted as two biped walk cycles with offset timing. (one pair of legs moving ahead and another moving behind) The main positions of an animal cycle is Contact, Up, Down and Passing. Contact is when a limb is making contact with the surface the animal is walking on, Up is where the pelvis or chest rises when taking a step, Down is when the pelvis or chest lowers when taking a step, and Passing is the moment when limbs cross each other or are located in the same position.
Animal cycles also depend of timing, weight transferral, animal mass, age, speed of action etc. that can make them differ from other animal cycles. For example, a walking dog has each leg moving in different positions, has at least two limbs in contact and either the pelvis and chest is up or down. A running cat pushes themselves from the back legs meaning they pass through the front legs in the middle, while also using the technique of squash and stretch as they leap from the ground, making both the pelvis and chest rise, then contact the ground with their front legs first.
Knowing how to animate animals is important in animation to find realism in creatures we know unless we may not recognise them.
Source: Week 10 – Reflective blog & peer review & animating animals, animating animals.mp4
Prior to last week where we studied animatics, I made use of my time to update my animatic based on the feedback I was given by my tutors. This time I focused a lot more on the background setting, making sure that it felt natural and it connects with Ben’s animatic part before me. It now looks much stronger and can fit the three main focuses of the scene in good space.
Updated Animatic: