Week 1 - Start with a clear plan
I will be looking at your planning, so if you want to pass this assignment be prepared to show it.
Pick the rig you want to work with and audit the rig carefully. Write down notes of any issues you find with the rig. These lists are use to make repairs or adjustments and are a normal part of an animator's responsibility within a studio. Plan out the sequence in thumbnail sketches, or stick-figure doodles. Keep more complex ideas in the 8 sec range, especially if you have multiple characters. Camera cuts or animated cameras are fine, just be sure to showcase the animation well.
Gather reference of acrobatic movement, gymnastics or parkour that you'd like to use. It may be several different clips or actions that you'd like to string together.
By end of week 1 you should have all your planing and reference finished along with a rough environment to work with: simple primitives, nothing elaborate is needed here. Have a 3d layout with basic *pawn animation.
(*pawn animation = animation on the root only of your character to show it's approximate position and orientation in space and time throughout the scene.)
Week 2 - Work out the mechanics
Use your pawn animation as a guide to position and timing, and sort out the hand/foot placement. Set up any constraint rigs needed for tumbles or swings.
Week 3 - Refine Mechanics and Timing
Based on feedback from class and blog, tighten up your timing and fix core mechanical issues. Improve sense of mass and weight.
Week 4 -
Building offset and overlap.
Week 5 -
Cleaning up Arcs, path of action.
Week 6 -
Adding Noise layer.
Week 7 -
Final polish pass, 'pick the low hanging fruit'.
Final hand in at the end of Week 7 or 15
