Okay so it has finally been done. After many days I have finally completed the animation of my mechanical arm. This post will mostly be about self critique, more posts on the way.
The assignment specs states that part 1 of the weblog journal entries should be done by week 15, they are over here.
Background
The end result is slightly different from what I have planned as shown in my previous weblog.Grindor is tired and wants to get the job over and done, he finishes stacking the boxes albeit in a lackluster fashion. He examines the boxes…the boxes are out of place…but he is too lazy to re arrange everything.
The boxes are finally arranged in a pyramid, finally! Grindor turns around…and argh! There is another box to be stacked! That means that Grindor has to remove all the boxes he has just completed stacking and restack them again! He cannot disobey his superiors.
Frustrated Grindor loses control of his servos and spins around in anger, his arm smashing into the stacked boxes. The impact sends the boxes flying, out of energy Grindor simply powers down.
3.Self Critique
Discuss the success of your animation
My objective for this animation is to show that the mechanical arm is very tired and fed up of his work( the stacking of boxes.) I think that I have largely achieved this.
To make Grindor(mech arm) look tired, I made his actions at the beginning of the animation slow. It gives the impression of Grindor being a sluggish and demoralized person.
Putting myself into Grindor’s shoes I would be more energized if I knew that my monotonous work was coming to an end. Similarly after the first box Grindor slowly loses the sluggishness and tries to complete his job faster.
When Grindor is curious he swivels around his joints to check on the object of interest. This is to portray curiosity, checking if everything is in place.
Finally he has the “It’s the last box and I don’t care ” attitude when he reaches(what he things is the last box) and drops it instead of stacking it carefully.When he gets angry he shouts and spins around, which is akin to a human being shouting and punching something in frustration.
In the final scenes of the animation, he looks back and forth between the remaining box, and the now destroyed stack of boxes, portraying remorse .
I strongly feel that my animation succeeded in bringing out the emotions of Grindor, and that he is not unlike us normal human beings on an emotional level.
Also discuss how you applied the principles of animation, with examples
Squash and stretch:
Although there is no visible squash and stretch in this animation, the same principle applies on the mechanical arm as it did on the beach ball(previous exercise).The movement of the mechanical has to seem natural, it works like our forearms. When the arm moves it should move in a way that seems as if it is flexing. This is achieved by using the IK handle tools on a set of skeleton that the mechanical arm is parented to.
Timing:
Timing is one of the most used principles, everything from keyframing to where an object should be at a certain frame is determined by timing.For instance the boxes have to move away with force the moment the arm swivels around and hit it. Timing is crucial because an ill timed animation will result in it looking out of sync.
Anticipation:
The mechanical arm anticipates contact with the boxes and therefore gently adjusts the angle of its magnet before picking the boxes up.
Appeal:
I think that the animation should appeal to most people because the mechanical arm portrays emotions that we already have. For example, anger and fatigue.
Slow in and out:
I used this technique in keyframing the camera, there are scenes which I use a slow (zoom)in to focus on an object of interest before slowly zooming out for an establishing shot.
Arcs:
Is utilized in the boxes when they have been sent flying, when the arm smashes into the stack of boxes. The trajectory of the flying boxes is an arc, much like in the real world. The arc of the box’s trajectory simulates the pull of gravity.
Do remember to check out part 1 of my weblog on assignment 2.
Cheers
–
Jasper Phua Kai Wen
Games Entertainment Tech
C260
Temasek Polytechnic
