Zbrush Mesh update 2 18th Dec

Following with what I said last week, this week I have been focusing on the proportions of my characters anatomy, as well as getting a start on sculpting the hands and feet properly. Currently the proportions are slowly forming for the athletic body type I wish to produce for my model.

Here is the model currently:

While the shape is slowly getting there, I would still like to proceed further with this and define the shape more so I can achieve the perfect athletic figure. With this being said my next process will be minor iterations to all areas of the body, tiny changes that will effect the entire shape and outcome, giving the model a clearer figure, I will also start to add muscle depth, adding tiny amounts of mass around the chest, arms and neck area to show the flow of muscle around these areas.

With all this being said it is also Christmas in a weeks time, as such I do not feel I will be able to keep an accurate weekly update over the holidays, therefore this will be my last post of this year. I will upload a new post in the start of January with all the changes I have done to my model over the 3 weeks of X-mas break.

I will upload the new post on or before the 8th of January.

Merry Christmas!

-J.W

Zbrush mesh update

This week I have been continuing with adding detail to the head and chest area of my model, I am very pleased with how the head is shaping up, it has a much more profound shape and is starting to look how I imagined it.

Renders of the head and chest area in its current state:

At this time I am happy with the state of the head and chest, therefore I am going to move on to the rest of the body, I need to focus on proportioning the different body parts first of all as the arms, as of right now, are too long and the legs are too flat.

So my plan for next week is to proportion the anatomy correctly and add the first layers of muscle mass to the legs and arms. If I get that done fairly quickly I will then move on to add detail to the hands.

-J.W

Transferring the mesh to Zbrush

This week I have been using Zbrush to sculpt the low poly mesh into a high poly and really get to grips with what brushes are best for what I want to do. I have been refining the shape of my characters arms and head as well as adding detail around the neck and face.

The images below is what my characters current state is:

The chest area will not be visible to the player at all, the detail i have added to the chest was me getting to grips with what each brush does and how it is used to add detail, the neck area however will be visible so that detail will be kept in the final project.

I have been watching a lot of the pixologic Zbrush presentations where a character designer from industry makes a character on stage while talking about what they are doing and how they are doing it. These presentation videos have been incredible in helping me understand how Zbrush works and realising the full potential of the software.

I found this presentation incredibly helpful when I first jumped into Zbrush.

That's it for this week, next week I plan to continue with my Zbrush sculpting, specifically I want the head completed by the end of next week so i can then touch up the torso and legs on the following week which will then allow me to begin sculpting clothing.

-J.W

Starting Work On The Base Mesh

Low Poly Base Mesh

So this week I have been creating a low poly base mesh for my character, the model its self has the bare minimum features that will be in the final product, currently the model has a full body with hands and feet and a head. The feet contain no toes as the feet will be hidden by boots, the hands contain fingers as the character will be wearing gloves so this will help me model gloves around the fingers, and finally the head as of right now is just a head shaped poly, there are no facial features on the head as of this moment as I am planning to create these features in Zbrush as I believe I can get a higher quality finish using that software over 3dsMax.

See below images of the current state of the 3D model:

As you can see by these very initial pictures the model is lacking an intense amount of detail which I will be adding up over the coming weeks using Zbrush. Next week I will be focusing my attention on the head, creating the nose, eyes, ears, mouth, and just generally defining all the general shape and structure of my characters head.

-J.W

Designing My Character

This week I will be designing my character, using mood boards and research of the game I am basing my character in.

I plan to make my character based off the main character in the Uncharted video games series, Nathan Drake.

Drakes outfit is very simple and has stayed simple throughout the video game series, it consists of a T-shirt and jeans combo with walking shoes. Throughout the course of the series Drake often has various accessories such as gun holsters, scarf's, belts, pockets, over-shirts and various different bandoliers. 

I plan to create my character with the same emphasis on clothing, staying true to the "adventurers" outfit style, below is a mood board of what outfit I plan to create my character with.

As in my previous posts, I still plan to create a male character with an athletic body type, however I have decided I would like to attempt to create hair, however if this proves too difficult or lowers the overall quality of the model because I am putting too much time into making the hair right, I will remove the hair, and keep my character bald. 

Next week I am going to begin progress on the base mesh of my model and upload the progress in another blog post.

-J.W

Monday 9th Meeting

Today, Monday 9th of November, I had a meeting with my work specific tutor to discuss the work I will be undertaking in my final project.

We discussed how I wanted to model and rig a 3D character in 3ds Max as my final project, however during the discussion I was told how hard rigging a model is, and that my lecturer believed that it would be a final project of its own. We also discussed how a lot of companies nowadays use sculpting software to add finer detail to the meshes of their models and that it would be a good idea if I were to use this same software when making my model.

Due to this conversation I have decided to change my final project somewhat, Now instead of modelling a character and rigging it I am going to remove the rigging aspect from the project. I am also going to model my character inside 3ds Max and add finer detail, such as muscle formations and bone structure in Z-brush.

I aim to make my final project all about the model itself, I would like to achieve a high quality model using a range of textures ranging from diffuse to specular, showcasing many different textures, such as leather, various types of metal and glass. The model itself will still be modelled with the intention of it being used for animation therefore I will still need to create the model with the knowledge of clean topology and implement that knowledge while creating said model.

Over the rest of this week I will be adjusting my project proposal to reflect these new iterations to my final project and be sending them off for review, then if all is in order I shall be handing my proposal in for submission.

-J.W

Refined Job search - Junior 3D Artist

So this week I feel that I should update my job searches as before they were too vague and didn't go into as much depth as I would have liked.

Below are a list of junior jobs with their relative information, I will be comparing my skills with that of what the jobs require and colour code what I have, what I don't and what i need to improve upon.

Skills I have
Skills I need to improve upon
Skills I do not have

3D Modeller / Artist (Job link)

Skills2Learn, a Babcock International Group Company, is a dynamic company based in Milton Keynes specialising in cutting edge e-learning and games-based ('Serious Games') learning solutions.

Requirements:

• Ability to create realistic based assets via photographic reference with correct Scales/dimensions.
Technically minded individual with interest in Engineering based design.
• Understanding of Hard surface modelling techniques,with an interest in vehicles and Mechanical based assets.
• Accuracy and attention to detail.
Problem solving abilities.
• Be creative and have an eye for detail. 
• Show initiative and be able to develop ideas. 
• Work effectively as part of a team or individually. 
• Good communication skills.

3D Artist - 3D Studio Max / Zbrush (Job link)

We are currently recruiting on behalf of an international games company based in Birmingham for a talented 3D Artist (3D Studio Max / Zbrush ). This entertainment giant now operates in over 30 countries and this figure is increasing every month.

Skills
*3D Studio Max
*Zbrush or Mudbox
*Photoshop
*Experience in 3D modelling, texturing and lighting

It is essential that you have experience in turning 2D art concepts in to 3D characters. We are looking for a 3D Artist (3D Studio Max / Zbrush ) who comes from a similar background, ideally you will already be working in a 3D role and will be creating animations and characters.

Junior 3D Artist (Job link)

Amiqus are partnering with this fabulous indie developr to help them find a superstare 3D artist, They are based in Nottingham and are curretnly designing and developing a wide variety of games across multiple platforms.

Essential Skills:

• Extensive knowledge of modelling, shading, texturing in Maya
• BA in Animation/Art, related field or equivalent experience
• Excellent game-focused portfolio
• 1+ years of professional character modelling experience
• Character/Environment/Prop creation (Modelling/texturing)

• Adept with 2d painting / drawing packages (Photoshop)
• Adept with high-detail sculpting packages (Z-brush preferred) & the baking-down to in-game process
• Understanding of technical art constraints, tools, and best practices
• Excellent artistic skills with good understanding of form, composition, color and lighting.
• Ability to adapt to different art styles

Major Pluses:
• Experience developing using Unity
• Scripting in any language is a bonus
• The ability to rig and animate
• Proficient in Illustrator and After Effects
• Technical understanding of digital art pipelines with solid knowledge of the technical aspects of level building, and have constructed levels from start to completion

After researching through junior jobs it is clear to me that I do have knowledge of most of the skills that they require, however it is clear that I still need to improve in all aspects of my work. It might also be of benefit to me to begin to learn Mudbox or Zbrush in my spare time as it would seem a lot of companies nowadays would like their artists to have this experience as well.

-J.W
 

Project Proposal

With my project proposal due in a matter of weeks, I want to use this post as a way of summarising what I have decided to do in my final project. I will then use next week to complete a draft of my project proposal and send it off for feedback.

Project

The project that I wish to undertake is to create a 3D character model that is suitable for animation purposes, created in 3DS Max. I will also rig this model so that it can be picked up by any animator and used straight away.

Specifics

• Human male
• Model will be clothed
• 10,000 poly budget
• Model will be rigged and skinned.

Constraints

• One character model
• Character will not be animated
• 8,000 poly budget for mesh
• 2,000 poly budget for clothes
• 1 diffuse colour + 1 normal map for the model
• 1 diffuse colour + 1 normal map for the clothes
• No hair of any kind physically modelled
• Clothes will only be boots, trousers and top
• Rigged using 3DS Max biped skeleton

So with my project clearly shown, in the coming days i will be drafting my actual project proposal and sending it off to my respective tutor, hopefully receiving feedback with how it can be improved or if it is ready to submit.

-J.W

Facial modelling results

So in my last blog post I talked about topology and that I wanted to try out facial modelling for the first time.

In this blog post I will be posting my results of my first ever attempt at facial modelling, as well as my observations throughout the creation process and how using clean topology helped me bring this head to life.

So first things first, the renders:

While making the head I decided that it would be best to leave out all the fiddly bits like eyes, teeth and ears so that I could focus on the general shape of the head and the features such as the nose, mouth and eye sockets.

I had been looking at two ways of starting this model, some modellers recommended starting around the eye sockets and modelling out them first, others recommended starting with a plane and getting a general shape of face sorted. I decided to start with a plane, I felt more comfortable with it and as I had never made a face before I found this to be the best method, working slow but effectively.

Throughout my time modelling I hit a few snags, the most annoying of all would have to be the nose and mouth, to get a decent looking nose took the best part of an hour, the mouth took around the same time.

My research on topology prior to this attempt came in very valuable while attempting this head, keeping clean topology around the eyes. nose and mouth allowed me to modify those areas at will without effecting the rest of the model.

Down to the conclusion, am I happy with this model? Yes and no, for my first ever attempt it does somewhat resemble a human which I'm very happy about, but the quality of the model is just not there yet, there are areas that could use vast improvement, the neck, the mouth/lips and the nose for example.

My plan going on from this is to practise more in my spare time and possibly upload my results, I also want to learn about what makes good topology and good working practises around character modelling.

-J.W

Facial Modelling

In previous posts I have mentioned that I have never rigged a face before, this goes the same for actually modelling a human face. I have never attempted or even researched into what makes a human face until now.

Today I have been researching all about the tips and tricks to modelling a good human face, below I will be writing about my observations of videos, and articles all about facial topology and facial structure.

So, what is topology?

Topology is the structure of your mesh and how that mesh flows around the surface of the model. We, as modellers should aim for clean topology in our models, we can achieve this by distributing polygons in an efficient manner. Many 3D artists also try to stick to having no tri's or as few as possible as this can effect the way the model stretches when it comes down to animating. 

Having clean topology is essential when making any character model for animation as when it comes down to rigging and animating the model, clumsy or rushed topology can cause the animation to show un-realistic movement, and essentially cause errors. 

Tom Parker. (2013). Face Topology examples. Available: http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/FaceTopology. Last accessed 22nd Oct 2015.

Del. (2011). Face Topology [Community Breakdown]. Available: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=80005. Last accessed 22nd Oct 2015.

3 steps to facial character modelling

1. Blocking Topology: This first step is all about defining the characters overall volume and to make the main topological areas ready to add more topology in the next step.
2. Final Topology: In this step you should strive to add all the required topology, doing this will allow you to achieve, fleshy skin as well as wrinkles and folds for the characters future expressions and facial deformations. 
3. Final Modelling: In this final stage it is all about making sure that the model is complete and the topology is correct, well spaces out and works for the animation you are trying to create. 

Sergi Caballer Garcia. (2013). Tips & Tricks related to Facial Modeling for Animated Productions. Available: http://www.cgmeetup.net/home/tips-tricks-related-facial-modeling-animated-productions/. Last accessed 22nd Oct 2015.

With this information at hand, my next blog post will be my own practises of facial modelling, focusing on topology.

Readings-

Del. (2011). Face Topology [Community Breakdown]. Available: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=80005. Last accessed 22nd Oct 2015.

Sergi Caballer Garcia. (2013). Tips & Tricks related to Facial Modeling for Animated Productions. Available: http://www.cgmeetup.net/home/tips-tricks-related-facial-modeling-animated-productions/. Last accessed 22nd Oct 2015.

Tom Parker. (2013). Face Topology examples. Available: http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/FaceTopology. Last accessed 22nd Oct 2015.

The Human Body

If I want to create a human model that will be used in animation, I need to understand the human anatomy. I need to understand how the body is defined, how it moves, the way it bends, what it can and cannot do. In this blog post I will be delving into the human body, particularly the male as that is the gender that my model that I will be creating is.

The above image is a great starting point for the male body, the first things that I clearly notice when viewing this image is the proportion between the shoulders, the shoulders are very wide, a key thing to note for the male body, the torso is very long, with the legs being slightly longer in length, I plan to refer to this image and other similar images a lot during my modelling process.


I took the below image from a fashion website for the perfect sunglasses depending on your face shape, but this got me thinking about face shapes in general, especially for men.

Doing a little research has turned up that the male face generally has a much more defined shape than women its more straight, and less rounded than that of a females. Which comes to the point of my model, I want my character to have a brave, almost heroic face.

A good example of a heroic faces structure.

I feel that in this blog post I have only just touched on the surface of the human anatomy and face structure, as I develop my model I am bound to come into problems that will need me to research further, however I feel that this research is a good starting point for the base mesh of my model.

-J.W

3D Modelling & Poly Count

Due to my job research and having meetings with my lecturer I have decided that instead of going all out and creating a model and animating it, I am only going to create a 3d model and rig it so that it is ready for animation, this will allow me to focus in one area and obtain a higher quality piece of work as a result.


The model that I want to create for my final project is a human male with an athletic body size, an example of this kind of body would be -















As well as making the base mesh for the character I also want to model and texture clothes for my model.

With all this being said I also have to think about the poly count of my model, I plan to design this character as if I was creating a main character for a game on last generations consoles (Xbox360).

Here is a list of some characters poly-count from games of the last generation:

Red Dead Redemption

John Marston - 14,980

Velvet Assassin
Violet - 14,219

The Amazing Spiderman
Spiderman - 11,652

Batman: Arkham Asylum
Bane - 25,000
Batman - 21,304
Killer Croc - 20,940

Looking at these statistics it looks as if main characters in games can fluctuate between 14,000 up to 25,000 polys, some games of last generation, for example, Uncharted 3, the main character in that game had 30,000 polygons for his model.

With this in mind I do not think that I should set myself a target polygon count that is close to these, as I just do not think it would be realistic on my part to get that amount of polygons made in the time that I have for this project, however, an ideal amount in my opinion is 10,000 polys, 8,000 for the model and 2,000 for the clothes, I think that this is a good estimate as it will give my character a high quality appearance and it also gives me room to adjust if I were to exceed the count.

-J.W

Job Research

Today I have been looking at jobs openings relating to animation in the game industry, many of the job openings I have reviewed require a hefty amount of experience, some in a triple A industry and some just using the software for a certain number of years.

Take this job for example, they are asking for an animator, however that is not the only thing you need, you need to have the knowledge of the modelling software, and some knowledge of the other departments that will come together to form the game.

Another job that I viewed, this one is asking for an "animator" however what this animator needs to know is not just how to animate but how to use motion capture, how to rig, how to skin, etc, countless more skills that are needed than just animating.

Some job openings are even just for the model being rigged and not actually animated, reading these job openings has swayed my thinking in my dissertation a fair bit, before I really wanted to do animation, just animation. But looking at actual companies that are hiring today you need to be more than just a good animator, you need to be able to model, rig, texture, you need to know the ins and outs of every bit of the process leading up to actually animating the character.

With this said, I am thinking that for my dissertation, I still want to animate a character, but I feel I should make that character, texture and rig them inside a appropriate 3d modelling software (3ds max for example) and be marked more on the actual model and rig than the animation, for example. 70% model+rig 30% animation.

-J.W

The skills I want to learn and develop further through this project.

Throughout this project I would like to expand my skills of 3D modelling and animation, but more importantly what skills do I want to really expand deeply into?

3D modelling

I would like to get better at 3D modelling as a whole, I see two ways of doing this effectively.

1.Research then practise, practise.. practice! 
The only way to get better at something that can be learned is to do ample research in the field you wish to learn and the practise. I want to be able create any and everything into a 3D model, from inanimate objects to gun wielding robot bipods, to do this I will research, I will reference and then I will do.

2. Learn your software.
The second way I see myself getting better at 3D modelling is by learning the software I am using to create 3D models inside and out, every nook and cranny of the software must be learn and understood to be able to make industry standard 3D models. As I learn more about the software the more I know how to create something in an effective way, making my models take less time and become a higher quality as a result.

Rigging

Rigging is a part of the modelling and animation process that I have only had very slight hands on experience with, It involves creating a skeleton inside the mesh of a 3D model in order to then move the model effectively for animation.

Rigging is the skill I think I will need to learn the most in the course of this year as I do not know a lot about it.

Facial rigging

Facial rigging is a skill that I would also like to learn and improve upon, this is the one skill that I have not done at all, I have no experience in it whatsoever. I will have to start from square one with facial rigging and research and learn as I go along, which is something I am looking forward to, tackling something that I know very little about.

Animation

I think the main skill that I would need to improve on my animations as a whole is the timing of the animation. Timing in animation means everything, if a model is moving too slow or too fast it can ruin the feel of the entire animation.

When I have made animations in the past they either look like they are in slow motion or are at light speed, which doesn't look great when you are finished.
Timing is the main animation skill that I will be focusing on so that my animations look real and believable.

By learning and improving these skills over the course of the project I feel that I will be able to produce a high quality final project.

-J.W

What is Character Animation?

Today I have been looking at the fundamentals that make up character animation and what things to consider when animating your character.
I have narrowed it down to 11 factors the I believe to be important when you begin to animate your character and to keep consistent throughout the animating process.


1. Squash and Stretch

The change in shape of a character when a part of its body moves. e.g. The characters head stretching and squashing as they eat some food.

2. Anticipation

The positioning of a character before he performs an act.

3. Staging

Positioning of the camera, so that the viewer can see what the character is doing. This may also include selecting the correct background scenery in order to get the message across.

4. Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose

Straight Ahead Action simply involves running one animation sequence after another without any pre-planning of animation sequences. 

Pose to Pose is exactly the opposite. All the animation sequences are planned ahead of time. This allows the camera positions to be planned so that everything is in proportion.

5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action

This involves parts of a character to continue moving from a previous animation sequence while the character starts a new sequence.

6. Slow In and Slow Out

Accelerating and decelerating the motion of a character between animation sequences.

7. Arcs

Modelling the motion of every part of a character's body as he moves. e.g. Making the head bob up and down as the character walks along

8. Secondary Action

Adding other smaller movements to emphasise any animation sequence e.g. A character shaking his head after being hit by a falling object.

9. Exaggeration

Making the motion of a character more dramatic.

10. Timing

The number of frames required to complete a single animation sequence.

11. Appeal

Making a character attract the viewers attention. This includes getting the colours right, avoiding clumsy shapes, awkward motion, and distorting the shape of the character.

Other attributes can include the behaviour of the character and the manner in which he/she speaks.

I have recently purchased a book, The Animators Survival Kit, by Richard Williams. I will be delving into this book in the near future so expect future blog posts to be of this book as well as other animation articles. 

-J.W

Animation research - Step 3: Implementation

This post will be the final post of the research that I have done today, this will cover the last step, Step 3: Implementation.

Implementation consists of:

Exporting
Faux Moves
Vellums
Efficient work hobbies
Set standards for quality

Exporting

When exporting your data to the game you must set yourself strict rules to follow, for example set all key-frames to 10 from intervals, apply only 90 degree joint rotations, etc. Anything can happen in-between exporting and importing the animations into a game engine however if every animator follows the rules that are set this helps to ensure the end product is the same in the game as it is in the animating software.

Faux Moves

A faux move is a pre-determined length and moves through a pre-determined space.
Faux moves are used to make sure that the animation doesn't effect the game-play, they help govern how long an animation is helping it to not slow down the feel of how the game-plays, there's nothing worse than having to wait for an animation to finish for you to continue playing.

Vellums

The use of vellums are mostly used in motion capture, vellum is a type of see through paper which can be drawn on, Hayes explains how this simple paper can be used to save a lot of time and effort when recapturing motion. The vellum was used to capture the actors start and end positions which was kept in order to retake shoots quick and with ease.

Efficient working habits

• Name your files appropriately!
• Use directory structures when saving work, for example - In progress character animations/Game ready character animations.
• Fine what works for you and stick to it!

Set standards for quality

Define your camera before attempting any motion, the motion on a distant character wont require fine motion details that the main character with a close camera will need. 

What is more important to your game control or animation? 

This question can influence how your game turns out as a whole, if you pick control first the game should have precise character movement but it will lose any interesting character defining movement.

The other side of this question is valuing animation equal to player movement, this allows the animator to be able to utilise their animation frames more, adding personality to the character while having the movement still be responsive and precise. 

Conclusion

That about covers what Jeff Hayes has to say about the three steps, what I have gained from this is the knowledge to really take my time and analyse each part of the animating steps, always prepare and research for the work I am about to produce.

All information that was produced in this blog post was obtained from here.

-J.W

Animation research - Step 2: Create

In this post I will be continuing the research I was carrying out about character animation with Step 2: Create.

(http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131796/creating_character_animation_assets.php?page=2)

Model

When starting to create that actual model for game, in an ideal world the animator would create the model as well as animate it however if that is not possible the animator and modeller should meet up regularly  to be able to work out what the how the model will be designed and then the animator will know what will work and what wont.

Jeff Hayes also states that the animator should view the model inside of the game environment as soon as possible as this will help ensure the quality of the model and is a way for the modellers to be able to keep the model from affecting the performance of the game, it will also help to avoid further problems down the line into production.

Skeletonise

The number one rule that Hayes can tell you about rigging a skeleton to a model is.. DON'T DO IT... unless the model has been approved by the appropriate people, there is no point starting the next step if the model comes back with "this needs to be changed" you are just creating extra work for yourself.

Test your production pipeline

Keep your production pipeline clean, you are bound to run into some issues like choosing from motion capture or key-frame animation, or setting file naming conventions and converting data intensive animation files into economic game ready data.

Keeping your production pipeline clean and simple is a blessing for you and all others that work with you.

I will be uploading the final animation research, again later today. That will be Step 3: Implementation.

-J.W

Animation research - Step 1: Design

Today I have been researching all about animation, more specifically, character animation.

In the article written by Jeff Hayes he talks about how "there are 3 steps to creating game ready animation assets."

(http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131796/creating_character_animation_assets.php)

Step 1: Design 

This step involves:

Motion Archetyping

Camera positioning

Character design

Flow charting

Motion Archetyping

At the start of the design process you should really start thinking about the fundamentals of your characters movement and how they interact with the world around them.

Jeff Hayes brings up some very important questions that you should challenge yourself to answer that will help to shape your character even before you have begun bringing them to life physically through modelling. 

How does your character stand?

What posture defines your characters view on the world the inhabit?

How does your character carry their weight?

How dose your character move from place to place? Do they run or do they walk bow-legged.

These are just an example of many of the questions Hayes goes on to ask

Once you have answered these questions Hayes talks about how you must be able to communicate your character to your team, the most effective way is to stand up and act out yourself they way you in-vision your characters behaviour and movement. Another way would be to compare your characters movement to that of an actor or a person, something that other people will be able to research themselves instead of them having to imagine it. 

Camera Positioning

Camera positioning is a big part of character animations in games, depending on what type of camera is used could effect the quality of your animations, or even effect how they are viewed. 

Hayes talks about how first and third person can effect how you animate your character, if your game camera is in first person you can cut down a lot of the animating requirements as things like walking cycles won't be viewed as often as in a third person game. Hayes goes on to say how a third person camera can allow the animator to show off "your animating muscle". 

There are a few questions you must ask yourself before beginning your animation as the answers could effect how your animation is viewed.

"Is the camera close or far away?"

"Is the camera at a fixed angle?"

"Does the camera run against a rail or are the X,Y,Z positions pre set based on the position of the character?"

Hayes explains a unfortunate circumstance where the camera he was using in a game effected a certain animations outcome. "...we frequently used a rail-cam. Since our animation testing software didn't let us use an in-game camera, we had no idea that, when our outfielder stood in the warning track facing away from the camera in his relaxed pose, it looked like he was relieving himself against the outfield wall..."

Flow Charting 

Flow charting is a very important part of animation preparation, flow charts offer the animator to mark out every movement that the character will make in the game and how these animations happen.

There are 3 types of flow charts that are favoured among animators.

The linear flow chart.

Radial flow chart

And the most popular, the descending flow chart.

My next post will be continuing with this research with Step 2:Create.

-J.W

What is this blog?

Hello,

My name is Jonathan Willetts, I am a third year undergrad currently studying Games Design at UCS in Ipswich.

The main purpose for this blog will be to document my journey throughout my last year of University and provide a steady flow of information to you, the reader, of what I will be working towards for my final project (Dissertation).

I hope you all enjoy your time viewing this blog that will soon be filling up with research and practises over the next couple of weeks.

-J.W