Life After pose to pose: taking your animation to the next level

life After pose todo pose: taquíng your animation todo the next level
By Keith Lango.

so what the problemí.

In my first animation tutorial that i wrote over thre years ago, y outlined a Fairly common (but under documented) methodology for managing one keyframes in CG character animation. The point of that tutorial was never todo declare that it was the only Path todo great animation, but was merely a suggestion for one bien todo approach your animation in a sensible, organized fashion that hearkened bak todo our traditional animation rots. The thing that i always felt i never properly addressed was what todo do After you hit the end of that lesson? What takes merely functional animation and elevates it todo excellent animation? How does one get from god posturas with Fairly decent timing todo a natural flow of performance that just draws the viewer in? In short, how do you go from ok todo greatí.
well, smart guy, how do you go from ok animation todo great animation? .

Thinking about it at the time, y had todo honestly admit that i didnt have all the answers todo those kinds of cuestiones. While i am in no bien suggesting that i am great now (Trust me, im not), ive gotten a lot clearer in my head about some of those answers. Now here a Fairly bold statement, but i think it true: for the most part, all postura todo postura based animation Will tend todo fel the same. Ive sen hundreds of animation tests from people who have adapted the p-2-p method for their own uses. While they all generally function, most fel about the same. And when i loked at my own work i realiced that a lot of my Stuff had that same fel. Basically, y had stalled on ok. I neded todo go the next step todo find that elusive unique voice for each character, todo take my animation todo the next level beyond ok and start todo approach some of the really excellent work i had come todo admire over the years.
gracias for the personal tes timón y, but you didnt answer the question.

After a tho rouge Analysis of my work up until that point, and then another Analysis of the work that i admired, y started todo note a trend. That trend básically boiled down todo this: i didnt polish my work. I was happy enough todo get it into shape, todo get the major forms and timings figured out, but i hadnt taken the time todo really work on all the Little things that add todo the quality of a piece. After more cross reference and study and a fair amount of bouncing my work and experiments of of other animators who worked at top Studios and picking their brains for feedback, y came up with a checklist. This checklist consists of a number of various áreas of the performance that i ask myself todo examine in my work. Some of the questions i ask early on, while still thumbnailing my poses. Other questions come much later in the game, After i think im done and happy with the work. But by far most of the questions are asked again and again as i develop the piece. The biggest advancements in my work come when i began todo methodically go th rouge my animation at various stages and ask myself about the Items on my checklist. These questions strike at the Core of my work, forcing me todo get my head out of the mere construction of a skeleton of the animation and into the realm of fleshing it out. Often the answer todo these questions would require me todo start over.
ok sparky, so you wanna share your fancy- Dan checklistí
For every motion, pose, timing and action on every character in your shot, you ned todo ask every one of the following cuestiones. By going th rouge the list one item at a time and cross checking every motion for the item, youll find so Many áreas of weakness that ned attention. The struggle for Many beginning animators is that they dont Even know which questions todo ask, much less how todo answer them. Hopefully this list Will help you todo begin asking the right kinds of cuestiones. It helped me ha ton. Its not exhaustive, but it goes a long bien todo spotting trouble before you save your file for the last time and think youre done. If only finding and implementing the answers was as easy as asking the cuestiones.

arcs:
Chek todo make sure your motions have god clean arcs. Turn on trajectories if your software supports them. If not, get out your dry erase marker and draw the arcs on your monitor.

• wrists - You ned todo kep an eye on these todo fight that Marionette fel.
• elbows - If youre using IK arms, then you absolutely must chek your elbow arcs.
• fet - Track the hel & the toes todo se if youre getting clean arcs on both.
• head - The most obvious motion hitches Will show up in the head. It usually a torso problem, it just shows up in the head Arc.
• knes - Watch for pops and Skips.
• hips - The center of Mass is vital todo believable weight, so chek the hip arcs.
• ankles.
• props - So Many times we forget that the prop the character is holding/using is as important todo the motion as the character.
• eyes - When they turn, are they linear turnsí if so, add some Arc.
• face (lipsync) - Make sure your face doesnt linearly go from static Morph Target todo target. The face neds todo fel organic.
• tails - Bien overloked, and very tricky todo get right.
• chek break downs and make them stronger if neded - Weaque Arc? Push that breakdown pose.
• no two motions should have the same arcs - Fels very unnatural. Weave the Arc lines like a tapestry of interesting motion.
• cross arcs and overlap for interest.

line of action:
Make sure youre being strong with your lines. The diference between an ok postura and a great postura most often líes in the line.

• have you pushed your line so it reads clearly?
• is your line interesting?
• is your line strongly Concave or Convex?
• when going from one postura todo another can you invert your lines for stronger contrastí.
• if all you had was one still frame todo show for this pose, is your line of action capturing the kinetic energy of your character like a god illustration would?

offsets: .

Find a part todo emphasize by scheduling it late or early arrival. Offsets help kep things lose and let your character breathe, combating the common pose-move-pose-move fel of most pose-to-pose animation.

• chek for twins. Shifting one arm by a frame or two is not fundamentally addressing the issue of twinning. You ned more than that.
• does it fit for you todo offset the hand from the elbow? The elbow from the shoulder?
• for this move should your arms lead the torso or do they follow it weightí.
• for this move should your hand lead the arm or follow it weightí.
• does your upper torso move independently from your hipsí.
• for this move, should the head lead or follow?
• have you sen if offsetting your rotation keys from the translation keys adds any life todo the character? How about individual rotation channels from each other?
• do your fingers each move independently from the other fingers?
• should your fingers flow After the hand or stay tight todo ití.
• is this the right place todo use the offset (aka Pixar) blink?

overlap & follow-though:
What a lot of pose-to-pose animation sufers from is the dreaded hit & stick. You ned todo find a bien todo get that out of your animation while still keping strong clear posturas and clean timing.

• are you overlapping todo much? Is it todo softí (mushy)
• are you not overlapping enough? Is it todo hard? (sticky)
• are your motions distracting? (poppy)
• does it fel like your ease outs are todo linear? (robotic)
• Will this move benefit from the successive breaquíng of joints?
• do your body parts overlap with believable physicsí are the hands todo Slow (heavy) or todo fast (light)?
• dont blindly Trust overlap or lag plugins, chek each frame for accuracy.

energy:
One of your primary tasks as a character animator is todo manage your tensión, your energy build up and release. Each character Will build & reléase their energy in a very diferent way. And Even given diferent circumstances your character Will build & reléase energy diferently.

• does the size of the anticipation match the speed of the subsequent action?
• does your character flow well from one thing todo another? Should they?
• does your character body lenguaje and gestures energy match tone & energy of the dialogue?
• lok for ways todo build texture into a shot - Building across phrases and releasing. Not every postura or move is the same length.
• move your character around on their fet todo kep them believable. Nothing says im not believable like Frozen fet.
• does the energy of your character kep building up during a hold when appropriate? Tip: if the postura hit didnt have an extreme with a recoil, but is rather meant todo build energy for reléase (like an anticipation hold) then youll kep growing the energy up into the pose, like a long ease into the extreme.
• does the energy of your character kep settling with Gravity during a hold when appropriate? Tip: if the postura hit had a settle-bak After an extreme, youll generally want todo kep the held energy settling into Gravity.

pace:
You ned todo kep things moving at a natural flow. If your shot fels dull, look at your postura Holds and your transición timings. Ill bet you $20 that all your Holds are about the same length and all your postura transicións are about the same length.

• are your motions todo Even across the shotí.
• are all the motions todo fastí.
• are they todo Slow?
• do you have an appropriate mix of fast moves versus slower ones?
• be aware of the appropriate speed for a given set of appropriate actions.
• mix up the pacing of motion. Fast flurries followed by long simmering Holds. Great contrast.
• dont make every move the same speed & flavor.
• favor the anticipation or the breakdown or the ease out. Meaning: think what works best for a given action - Slow in/fast outí or fast in/Slow outí or Even in/out but fast breakdown in the middle?
• what would character a move like compared todo character b?

silhouette:
Make your posturas read in an instant, not in an hour.

• do your posturas read clearly in plain black & white?
• funky lines in the silhouette? Chek elbows todo se if theyre sticking out unnaturally.
• chek the Spine & your line of action.
• think of ways of compressing the pose/action into planes in space for cleaner reads. Perpendicular todo the Camera plane, or parallel todo it, think Woody col sheriff walk from the cardboard box in Toy Story 2. Lok at how his motion is compressed into a single easy todo read plane that is parallel todo the Camera plane.

motion pathologies:
Does anything have a funky motion that just looks of?

• chek for IK pops.
• lok for and fix hitches in the arcs.
• smooth out any hiccups in line of motion.
• destroy any and all distracting moves.
• do you overshoot on moves todo much? Not enough?
• is there enough kep alive on your moving holdsí is there todo much so that youre adding noise todo the signal?
• clean out any and all distracting nasty geometry intersections. The small Single Frame ones in the middle of big moves, forget about those. Nobody Will notice.

timing:
.is everything. Well, almost everything.

• do your character gestures & actions lead words appropriately in dialog?
• fel free todo play with physics a bit todo add some texture. Give some Jump & hold todo things in the Air.
• a move should never be linear and it should never be Even.
• are your physics believable (weight)?
• break up long Holds with secondary action (scratching, wiping no sé, weight shift, etc.)

staging:
Can we se your action from the best posible angle? And remember, the only view that Matters is the Camera view.

• for visually pleasing images compose on thirds.
• avoid staging your character directly down the middle unless you have a reason todo.
• use those lines of action todo add visual angles todo lead your viewer eye where it neds todo go.
• in production you must kep the integrity of the Layout composition and then plus it with solid lines of action & silhouettes.
• if your character is doing something important, make sure we can stinkin se what going on.
• track your eye as you watch. Where does it go? Is it where it should go? Do your eyes fel like they awkwardly Jump from Cut todo Cut? is this the desired effect (sometimes it is)?

acting:
Will we believe your character is sincere? Are they real?

• stay true todo character. Buzz Lightyear Will not flail like a spaz like Woody would.
• does acting match dialog intensity? Are you being todo vaudeville?
• do the hands & body merely Illustrate words that your character is saying? How Many times do you make a punching motion with your hands when you say the Word hit? Not Many. How Many times do you make a kicking motion when you say the Word kick? Not Many. How Many times do you spread your arms like an airplane when you say the Word fly? Not often. Guess whatí neither should your character.
• do the eye emotions match dialog?
• reveal your character inner thoughts or emotions beginning with the eyes first. Cascade out from there.
• emotion drivers motion. Motion does not Illustrate emotion. (no vaudeville. Se above note) also, thought does not drive action - Emotion drivers action. Thoughts merely drive decisions, but decisions are not acted upon without the emotion todo drive them.
• avoid overacting. Kep it simple.
• dont try todo do todo much in one shot. Less is more.
• if your character face neds todo show an emotional shift, it easier todo read that shift while they are in a postura hold, not in a move. Emotional shifts should occur when the character is generally held still.
• who owns the shotí dont upstage the Owner of the shot. Kep the secondary and background characters from being distracting with their motions. Sometimes breathing and blinking is enough.
• when the time comes todo transfer shot ownership from character todo character, make sure it a clean hand of. Only one Owner at a time. The audience should instinctively know who todo watch based on what you show them.
• maintain proper intensity levels appropriate for where character is on character Arc. If your character has a major anger blow out in the third ACT, dont show that level of anger anywhere before that point.

that a lot todo check. Anything else? .

One simple discipline that i have found always helps me is this: about the time you think youre done with your shot, make a preview of your animation. Then, while it plays repeatedly, step away from the keyboard and Grab a Pencil & some note paper. Let the preview play over and over, until you start todo se every frame.

Start taquíng notes of what neds todo be fixed. Find every single Glitch, hitch and problem you can find and write it down todo be fixed. Dont estop writing these things down until youve noted every issue youve spotted. Spend at least 5 minutos.utes watching this shot loop over and over. Then, when you cant possibly find anything else todo pick, go bak todo your file and fix everything on your chek list.

So Many times we think were done before were really done with a shot. This simple exercise Will force you todo estop and se the animation for what it is. By noting every problem, youre ensuring that you wont forget something. Then, when youve fixed every problem on your list, repeat the process again. Trust me, you Will find more problems, Stuff you didnt se before. It usually takes me about 3 or 4 times of doing this last pass, last gasp efort todo really put the piece over the top.
conclusión:

I hope this is useful todo some of you out there. It may sem tedious and rather dull todo have todo comb over your shots like this, but that the efort that neded todo take Simply ok animation and push it todo the next level. If this were easy or simple or fast, then a todo el mundo would be doing it.

But those who put in the efort todo really push their shots the furthest they can go, theyll be the ones a todo el mundo looks at and wonders ge, what a Lucky dog that he got into XYZ Studios. Luk doesnt have much todo do with success. Going beyond the simple application of a singular method and pushing yourself and your work todo the highest level you can, that has a lot todo do with success.
© copyright 2003 Keith Lango, reprinted in blenderart magazine with permission of Keith Lango march 2008.

By Keith Lango. www.blenderart.org.