Week 12 Lab(3 bouncing balls exercise)

This aim of this exercise is to allow us to learn how to control the speed of three different balls falling, each of different 'weight', as assumed. The heaviest ball is on the left, followed by the middle ball and finally the one on the right. We had to set the extreme key frames of each ball and starting from there, slowly tune the speed of the ball to suit its 'weight'. The heavier ball will land first and followed by the lighter ones. Using the graph editor, I was able to control the falling and rising speed of the ball but seems to be some minor mistakes that I spotted but found it difficult to solve as the correction made to the speed is too insignificant.

This is the video of the final output of the lab exercise.

Week 13 Lab 1

Learning about inverse kinematics. We were learning about some skeleton/joint tool. Also, the IK Handle tool.  The IK handle tool is to connect a 'line' from the first to the last or designated joint so the there will be like a 'movement'. For my case, it is like an arm bending movement. I felt that this part was quite easy for me to do.

Learning about IK handle and turning on and off the layer 'mesh'. This method is to allow easier view of the skeleton and joint instead of viewing the model and the joints/skeleton altogether.

 Adding in a locator and annotation so that it is easier for us to rotate the entire crane. We learnt to use the locator and annotator tool. The locator tool is to allow easier control of selected parts of the model/ skeleton/joints. As a result, when the locator is selected, the entire arm (colored pink in the picture) will move together. The locator increases convenience during the animation process and makes it easier for me to set the key frames when everything is coordinated with each other. On the other hand, the annotator allows the user, me, to see where the locator is as the locator is marked with only a 'X' or '+' shape, which might make the locator hard to find if the grid is switched on.

Ending product. However, I am not really satisfied with the first two seconds when the box canbe seen moving up and down on its own, maybe due to the parenting/ constraints. I will try to rectify this problem and repost and new video if the problem is fixed.

Week 11 Part 2 (E-learning)

For this e-learning, the objective was to make the ball bounce as realistically as possible. There was much usage of the graph editor for this lab exercise. The ball had to bounce as if there was 'gravity' acting on the ball. The bounce rhythm had to be faster and faster because of the reality of the situation. I had to adjust the Translate Y gradient as it was the key point that controlled the falling and rising speed of the ball. The accuracy of the lab exercise had to be precise as possible so that I can gain as much experience.

Week 11 Part 1 (E-learning)

Through this e-learning part 1 lab exercise, I learnt more on how to do animations on Maya. The animation of this bouncing ball became smoother than my previous exercise with the help of the graph editor and tutorial provided. Through controlling the tangents of the key points, I was able to make my ball bounce more realistically in terms of elasticity and the 'gravity' acting on the ball.

At this part, the graph editor and smoothness of the bouncing ball is almost done except for some part where the gradients of the Translate X and Y have to be edited before running the animation. The static channel and others have yet to be deleted to make Maya run the animation run more smoothly.

The final 3 second animation of the lab exercise

Week 10 Lab (Basic Animation)

For this lab, I learnt how to do basic animation, frame by frame. I made a bouncing ball for both lab sessions. However, I encountered some problems while making the animations. Firstly, the physics of a bouncing ball. It was a little tough at first to make the ball drop faster when it is falling onto the 'ground' but after re-doing the frames for a few times, I was able to make a better gravitational effect compared to my first attempt.