Session 1, Week5 -- Anticipation, and Squash & Stretch

Well, I have dawned my trusty pencil again.  I believe that my drawing is getting "easier" -- note, I did not say better -- and feel good that I'm not taking up to an hour per stick-figure now. :)  I definitely need to learn the proportions of the human body better.

This weeks assignment has two parts.  First part is the animation of a ball going through an obstacle course.  This ball must have the feel of a basketball, or soccer ball.  In addition, the second part is a pose in the theme of "devastation".  So, I must sketch several poses, and then pick one to pose Stu in.

Warning, I'm about to show you my drawings.  I will not be held responsible for any decrease in your taste in art due to viewing them...you have been warned:

Here is the planning for this weeks assignment.  The problem with the planning is ensuring that you adhere to the KISS principal -- yes, Keep It Simple Stupid.  When you're given a lot to play with in animation, you become like a kid in a candy store.  You basically eat everything, get a belly ache, and have your parents say "I told you so".  Well, we are allowed to pick any obstacle course we want from a short list, arrange to how we see fit, but we must stay within 60 - 120 frames.  And, that's where trouble begins.  You have so much fun planning the crazy stunts the ball is going to be terrorized with, that you end up at 120 frames (5secs) in the blink of an eye realizing you still have to bring it to a stop.  Yes, this kid ate the whole candy store several times, got a bellyache, and realized there needed to be a simpler approach.  So, here's my attempt at a simpler approach...

Here's the Animation:

Well, had to give up the quarterpipe landing from the planning.  Turns out it's really frame expensive to do both a half-pipe, a quarter-pipe, and employ some degree of friction for slowdown.

Here's my pose of Stu for the theme "devastation":

Since I'm quite often in the doghouse with my wife for some idiotic comment I made, I decided Stu should be "devastated" in jail.  Rendering done through Maya's Mental Ray.  Handles shadow and reflection very well.