THURSDAY
I couldn’t attend class this week, but I caught up with my classmates who shared their insights on control rigs for characters. They demonstrated the process of exporting a character from Quixel Bridge to Unreal and taught me how to set up nodes in the editor. Additionally, I learned the importance of rigging bones while ensuring a correct hierarchy.
Dynamic Poses
During this class, we learned about weight shifts. Our task was to create a simple straight-walking animation in blocking for the following week. George then provided feedback on our side-to-side weight shifts and the three dynamic poses. His input aimed to improve my understanding of weight distribution and exaggeration.
It was my first time using the Bony Rig, and I faced challenges while posing the fingers due to the IK restrictions. Discovering that shifting to FK for arm posing could alleviate stiffness in the poses was enlightening. This transition enabled greater exaggeration and expression, allowing me to infuse more emotion and dynamism into the animations.
Weight Shift
George encouraged us to record ourselves as a beneficial practice before diving into character animation. While filming, I became acutely aware of my movements, striving to meticulously observe and dissect the key gestures. These observations translated into my work, specifically while blocking the animation for the ball with legs, where I aimed to incorporate these nuanced movements for more authentic and realistic animation.
Upon finishing my stepped blocking and reviewing the playblast render, I observed an issue with the knee joint remaining in spline, causing noticeable sliding during the animation. George provided feedback, suggesting ways to enhance the animation by exaggerating the weight shift. He advised me to implement these changes in the spline version of the animation for next week’s review.