551310 - 3D Character Animation

:: Production ::

It was tricky finding references for such a specific animation. Ideally, I would act out the animation for reference, however I can’t perform the skill and my body type is very different to the character’s.

Ref.1 – The Kidsplainer (2020). – ‘How to BOTTLE FLIP!! – (Easy for Kids!)’

Instead I found references for specific parts of the animation, and filled in the gaps with original animation.

Ref.2 – Jessica Bogue (2013). – ‘Carrying a Tray’

I wanted to use accessories in this animation. But as the quality of the modelling wasn’t graded I created a very simple serving tray and bottle. There was an issue with the thumb where it would intersect the tray when placed over the hand (Fig.1). This required me to adjust the attribute slider so the thumb could lie flat.

Fig.1
Fig.2
Fig.3

I originally had the character holding the tray with the left hand, however swapped this to the right as at this stage, the weight paints of the right hand were damaged (Fig.2). my paints were fixed during the production of this animation, but by that point I had already set the key-frames with the character being left-handed (Fig.3).

Ref.3 – MBC (2014). ‘Maya 3D Animation – Animating a character to pick up objects(Parent/Constraint)’

This video (Ref.3) showed me how I can parent and unparent an accessory from the character.

I started with he bottle moving through the air (Fig.4). Then I had the character pose once the bottle landed on the tray, to adds charm and flair to my bartender/waitress character (Fig.5).

This pose was supposed to launch the final stage of the animation, which was going to be a pirouette on one foot, However, the character didn’t spin as expected (Fig.6) which made me rethink the final stage of the animation.

Fig.4
Fig.5
Fig.6
Fig.7
Fig.8

In an effort to make the character spin appropriately I again redid my character weights (Fig.7). While this sadly did not make the character spin as intended it did fix the weight paints around the right hand (Fig.8).

I changed it so that she attempts to hop from one foot to the other while holding the tray. To do this, first I keyed the leg movement (Fig.9), focusing on following through movements to show the impact of the hop.

Fig.9
Fig.10
Fig.11
Bottle Toss Animation (gif)

Finally, I added the movement of the bottle once it tumbles off the tray (Fig.10), and added character elements like the shoulders moving forward the character trying to catch the bottle, which then alters the bottle fall path (Fig.11) which I think really helped polish the movement.

:: References ::

Jessica Bogue (2013). ‘Carrying a Tray’. [YouTube Video]. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36RdFEAguMo&ab_channel=JessicaBogue [Accessed 15/06/2022]

MBC (2014). ‘Maya 3D Animation – Animating a character to pick up objects(Parent/Constraint)’. [YouTube Video]. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRETjE5smyo&t=240s&ab_channel=MBC (Accessed 12/06/2022)

The Kidsplainer (2020). ‘How to BOTTLE FLIP!! – (Easy for Kids!).’ [YouTube Video]. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZn9CAstkHU&ab_channel=TheKidsplainer [Accessed 15/06/2022]