Task:
For the first week, we went back to basics and reviewed the principles of animation. We were then tasked with creating a bouncing ball animation in 2D or 3D. I chose to use Maya for this task as I am well acquainted with the system but Blender was also an option.
Research:
Before starting I did a bit of extra research into the squash and stretch as this would heavily affect the speed and bounciness that the ball has, too much squash and stretch makes the ball look very ‘cartoony’ which isn’t something I want this time around so I’ll be using more real life references when creating my animation with a bit of exaggeration to make it interesting.
*I specifically referenced the football for my animation*
Process:
While animating I used the pose to pose method. I placed the ball where I wanted it to bounce and at the tops of the arcs then added some in-betweens to help with the timing of the ball bouncing. Using the motion path tool in Maya, I added more frames at the top of the arcs so the motion would be slower and the rise and fall of the bounce would be faster. After getting the timing to a place I liked, I moved onto the squash and stretch of the ball. I knew from my research that I didn’t want to over do the squash and stretch as I wanted and more realistic motion for my animation.
Result:
Overall, I’m happy with the outcome of this bouncing ball animation. I think I over emphasised the squash and stretch of the ball a bit but I like the effect and am happy with the timing and spacing of the ball bounces as well as the small roll of the ball at the end.