Challenge 10 (Part 3 & 4): Performance & Pre-Viz
In this stage, I began animating stepped and flat animation in order to shape good key poses. I chose IK handle on arms so I focus on the arc of the arm swing. I want to make sure my character’s arms swing naturally. And finally, I adjusted a little bit on lips according to the blocking body movement result.
Then I used Tween Machine to further breakdown the poses. And I smooth the bumps in graph editor as well as adjusting dope sheet to get a more proper timing. I found that some facial movement like brows movement will seem less noticeable when body movement plays its role. So, I readjusted the brows to give it a more obvious movement. I keep polishing the poses and timing according to the audio in order to get a decent result. Finally, I used three-point lighting to light my scene. And here is my final outcome.
What’s more, I feel the characteristic of the animation I did is flexible and vivid. Because I believe when I’m animating a living being, every frame on every parts of it need to have some changes. So, I made a more detailed head waving animation and a slight shoulder tilt when my character is talking. Also, when he opens his hand, the movement is not stationary. It’s based on his shoulders. It’s same on the movement when the character saying ‘Driving’.