Taylor: Need a custom script?

I am in scripting class this semester and am trying to come up with an idea for my final project. If you have needs that can be filled by a script or two, let me know. I'd love to make something that will actually help people out. So far we have done things like create a simple rig builder, and create procedural geometry. I can also do GUI's (graphic menu's). If you have any suggestions or needs, I'd love to hear them.

                                                                                                    --Taylor

Toshihiro N.- Creature pass01

This is my first pass of creature animation. I would like to hear the any feedback. Thanks.

Mike Grabski-Shark Rig that I found

Here is the shark rig that I found on creativecrash.com
http://www.creativecrash.com/maya/downloads/character-rigs/c/shark-rig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmMORpX1iow

Swing Couple _ Mike Oros

Anthony Merola- "Unknown Nodes" error

Hey everyone,

I know that I have run into this a few times, where maya does not allow me to save a scene because it says it contains "unknown nodes" and thus cannot change the file type.

I found this handy mel command which tells maya to parse the scene for any unknown nodes, and subsequently deletes them.

The instructions can be found here.

http://juss-usa.blogspot.com/2010/02/file-contains-unknown-nodes-or-data.html

Enjoy!

Scott Cho: Blocking Pass 1 (AFG)

Here's my character's idle pose(0:00-0:08) and three strike attack(0:09-0:12). I will add a running pose in a week.

"Jack is a hot tempered kid who used to be a victim of bullying since he was little. Normally, he is very quiet and nervously looks around his surrounding while being careful not to lower his guard.

He gets really furious when he sees bullying and never shows any no mercy to his enemies. Although He has a kind personality, many people do not realize it because he does not express it on his face.
Jack is also has pressure due to a fact that he does not have friends."

I need more time to adjust timing(punching, etc) and feel free to share your ideas!

Taylor: Meet Eugine

This is Eugine. Below is my character description, see if it matches your first impression.

Before the war Eugine was a programmer. He was perfectly content to listen to the hum of his computer in his mothers basement, occasionally stopping to feed their 12 cats. Now he spends most of his time cowering in trenches, covering his sensitive ears. Eugine has never been much for exercise, due to his flat feet and acute asthma.  He doesn't like firing guns, and doesn't want to hurt anybodies feelings, let alone kill them.

 I am looking for any general critique. I am particularly interested in the silhouette, and the hand placement. I am debating whether to keep his finger on the trigger, or to have him just grip his right hand just like the left to show how unfamiliar he is with a gun. The face is not top priority but I would like to hear how it makes you feel. I'm going for a panicky pathetic scared type of thing.

Thanks for taking the time to read and hopefully comment!

Mike Grabski - a really cool posing tool

So I had a bit of a heart attack when I found this.  This is only for mac users so PC people sorry but I'm sure there is something similar.  Basically what this is is a plugin for OSX that allows you to keep most windows on top and you can add transparency to the window.  Great tool for posing!  

Here is the link to the download site.   http://infinite-labs.net/afloat/ 

The page describes which programs cant use this plugin, for animation purposes I haven't found any drawbacks yet.

Mike Grabski- posing and twining question

I had a question for the animators that did the Parkour exercise.  Did you find a lot of twinning in your reference?  In my videos it looks like the legs twin  a lot, especially during the jumps.  Can you give any advice on how you broke up that action outside of just frame offsetting.  Maybe its just a matter of making the silhouette read better.  Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Barnett - A Rare Treat

This is a short animated film by Hayao Miyazaki called Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess. You're supposed to only be able to watch this at the Ghibli Studio Museum in Japan but somebody snuck a camera in and posted it on youtube (unlisted). It's about 15 minutes long including the promo stuff.

I can't seem to embed video on this blog.

http://youtu.be/FW-iZqbWgmw

Mary Castaneda - FINAL

This is my final scene. Very different from my first blocking. But I've learn my lesson and like I've said in the comment post I'll be planning and keeping it simple in al lof my animations from now on.

Thoughts and comments are still appreciated, thanks! :)

Scott Cho: Blocking Pass 5

Hi guys. I need more work on characters' facial expressions and I would love to hear some tips regarding to that (eye brows, eye lids, eye directions, etc).

Thanks!

Kelsey Heckenkamp - Lip Sync Pass

Didn't get time to have mine reviewed for class.

Some things I was considering adjusting for the final pass:
-some phonemes need to be fixed, as well as timing
-"big" morph sit down too slow and floaty
-need more side to side movement in "tall" rig
-tall more head reaction at end. maybe tap foot?
-"big" adjust hands and eyes at end
-add set details (if time)
-"big" fix facial expressions/timing
-"big" fix weird hand exchanges at end
-exaggerate facial expressions more (both)

If anyone has other things to add, critique, or counter argue against I would love the feedback. Thanks.

INSTRUCTOR POST - feedback required: what have you learned so far?

Now that we have gotten through the first assignment, take a moment to think: what would you suggest to your fellow students on this next assignment to ensure a better outcome? Any ideas on workflow that would've made things easier? Share your thoughts on the one thing you've learned so far that you wish you knew at the start of this term. Any must-have tools that sped up your workflow? Share your idea in the comments section of this post.

Barnett_Final Fantasy Thriller

Here's some Michael Jackson animation.

Srisupa Songsiri Pass03

Still need polishing more.

Mary Castaneda - Pass

Still need to add facial expression but any other advice for polishing will help. Thank you. :)

Mike Oros Scene 1/3 coming along.

Scott Cho: Blocking Pass 4

Hey guys. I am still working on adjusting timing smoothing movements. I am concerned about timing for the boy's pose (0:01-0:02, 0:06-0:07).

Can anyone please can give me suggestions how I should change timing with those poses? Thank you!

Update (11:35PM, 3/13): I have added revised one(added some off set, changed timing of the boy grabbing a plate) to compare with the top one.

Angel Liboy - Acting Assignment

Yo, hope everyone's been doing good this week. So this is what I got so far, I made a couple of changes. It's rough still, I know. Had trouble approaching how to do things, still don't have a good animation workflow. :S

Anyhow, any and all suggestions are welcome. Thank you for watching. :)


[=A=]

Scripts for your Workflow

Hi Everyone, i thought I would share these scripts with everyone, as a few of them have become VITAL to my workflow. Because of these tools, I have narrowed down my workflow to about 80% graph editor, 20% posing in my viewport, and 4 hotkeys.

http://www.aaronkoressel.com/

He is a pixar animator, and a former Academy student. I highly suggest looking into ackPushPull.mel, and ackNegateKeys.mel

Ziteng : Pass3

Hi every, this is my 2 Character Animation. Any suggestion is welcome :D

Kelsey Heckenkamp - playback issues

So I'm working on a mac and seem to be having playback choppiness when watching my animation in real time. The playblast plays normally, but I'm having the issue now of some of my animation speeding through waay too quick on playblasts due to my issue with choppiness cutting up the frames. I checked to make sure its playing at 24 fps and tried adjusting a few options, but I haven't found anything that works yet. If anyone has experienced this issue and/or has a solution I would appreciate knowing how you solved this. My audio is also now randomly not working on playblasts. It was for most of the project and still works on Maya work screen.

Mary Castaneda - HELP!

So there I was at the lab, minding my own business when all of a sudden I decided to open the Command Shell so I can make a MEL script. Suddenly, Maya crashes, and immediately I remember that I didn't save it in 30mins. *gulps*

I open the last file, asks me for the path name of my reference rigs, and this happens. The same thing happens to MOST of my previous files. I do have one where I can start off again, and it's not a HUGE loss, but if anyone knows how to get around this problem, I would appreciate it if you let me know. Will give cookies!

Thanks guys!

Mary :)

AlexanderLee_2nd pass

hey guys i just finished adding the lip sync in and there was one thing i'm worried about and that is the pose where he's pushing on the table i'm trying to make it look like he has weight as he hits the table but not sure if i'm really pulling it off alright

Mary Castaneda - First Pass

Hopefully now with a hand constraint the "waltz" moment will be more fluid. Will probably reupload a new pass later this week.

Any thoughts/comments/suggestions will be greatly appreciated! :)

Mike Oros_Blocking

Srisupa (Noii) Pass02

 Here is another pass of assignment. I'm not so sure about the guy knocking the table. I feel something is off. I still need to fix the movement. I'd like to get some feedback.Thank you.

Scott Cho: Blocking Pass 3

Hey guys! I have changed the boy's poses for 0:05-0:11 and right hand shape (holding a dish).

I still need more time to adjust pose timing, add off-sets and fix mouth shapes.

I am stuck with timing and arc of head turning issues. If you guys have suggestions, please feel free to share!

Mike Grabski

So here is another pass at my assignment.  I'm in the process of cleaning up arcs and tightening up the lip-sync.  Everyones projects seem to be coming along great I can wait to see all of the finished work!  Any feedback is more than welcome!

Mike Grabski - Morphy IK/FK question

Hi everyone, I hope all of you have been having a great week so far.  I was wondering if anyone had an IK/FK match and switch script for Morphy.  I'm looking for something similar to the one for Norman.  Or even better if anyone would like to share their workflow for IK/FK switch and match it would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

Anat Yogev 2nd pass

Hey Everyone!
I fixed some stuff and would love to get feedback :)
Thanks and have a great week!

AlexanderLee 2nd pass

Hey guys i redid a bit with my scene and just want a few comments to see if its any better then before.  I'm wondering if this camera angle is fine.  I also want to add the head flick but that would mean extending the audio so wondering if i should leave it is or not.

Toshihiro N.- Parkour pass02

Hi, everyone. This is second pass of Parkour animation. I moved to spline mode and removed the twirl jump at the end. I made simple roiling jump instead. I was trying to make physical action carefully. I'd like to get some feedback. Thanks.