Week #3 - Planning and Blocking Methods. Introduction to MAYA
Tutor: Lou Kneath
ACTION, CHARACTER & PERFORMANCE
Drew Campbell
10/10/20242 min read


Introduction to Maya
Autodesk Maya is powerful 3D animation, modeling, simulation, and rendering software widely used in the film and gaming industries. With its vast array of tools and features, Maya enables users to create complex animations and models, making it a favorite among animators and designers. Learning Maya has been a significant learning curve for me, as it requires thousands of hours to master. Early days.
Animating a Bouncing Ball
One of the fundamental exercises in animation is creating a simple yet effective bouncing ball. In Maya, this assignment involved making a ball bounce with the weight and realism of a basketball or football, in this case, a football. To begin, I needed to employ the principles of animation, such as timing and spacing, to give the ball its characteristic motion. Adjusting the curves in the Graph Editor and using keyframes can achieve a smooth bounce that conveys the ball's weight. I had to study the physics of real-life bounces to ground my animation in realism, or as close as I could.
Creating Excitement Poses with Bony Rig
After mastering the bouncing ball, the next step was to pose my favorite excitement pose using the Bony Rig in Maya. This rig appropriately mimics the human skeletal structure, allowing you to position the limbs effectively. Started by brainstorming poses that communicate excitement, such as jumping for joy or raising hands in victory. I focused on the arc and orientation of my character's limbs to capture dynamic motion. It took me a long time to get used to posing the Bony Rig and using both IK and FK switches.
Exploring Human Character Poses: Devastation
In addition to animating excitement, another essential aspect of character animation is conveying emotions, such as devastation. As part of your sketchbook assignment, I created a series of sketches showcasing different human poses that communicated this feeling. This exercise was quite challenging for me as I had to be loose with my sketching as I normally pay too much attention to detail.
In conclusion, Maya presented me with a challenge. Through exercises like animating a bouncing ball, creating exciting poses with Bony Rig, and sketching emotional poses, I will develop a strong foundation in animation principles. With practice, I will get better.




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