Animation Using Physics in Maya

I wish we spent more time in this course learning about Maya and all the things you can do with it. I understand that Maya wasn't the primary focus of the course (that's what COMP 290 is for (and it's being offered this coming Fall, if anyone's looking for a couple more credits in their schedule (shameless plug))), but I definitely wanted to incorporate it into my third project somehow. I found this really cool tutorial that describes how to use gravity fields and various other variables to create a simulation of a Newton's Cradle, which I used as part of my project. I figured I'd share it here, just to give a small look at Maya's physics engine. This is probably one of the least complicated tutorials for dynamic animation in Maya I've seen. Most of them are 30+ minutes.

Also, the website that made this tutorial, Studiofourmedia, has some other really cool Maya tutorials on their site. Some of them require purchasing to view, but the free ones are still in-depth and very informative.

Always Working

I’ve taken a growing interest lately in “behind the scenes” videos for large budget productions. One animated video that I recently saw was a short promo for McDonalds called Always Working. It was a one minute piece made with 3D printed figures and a background full of miniature plastic trees and hills. The reddit user who posted it also included a “making of” video that I found to be very interesting. It shows all aspects of the production process, including some of the character modeling in Maya and compositing in After Effects. The reddit user was an animator on the project and also held a mini AMA (Ask Me Anything) session in the comments of the post. I think that videos like this one give an interesting glimpse of what it may be like to work as a professional animator.

While I do groan about Maya in class I do think it is an extremely impressive and amazing 3D modeling tool. But what could possibly make it better? How about actually building in 3D? This video is admittedly dated, but I haven't seen it before so I thought it would be worth sharing.

What I find most difficult about Maya, besides it's interface (which has gotten better), is learning to work in Z- Space, something I'm sure others struggle with as well. Using the Oculus rift as a modeling tool makes a lot of sense. This is basically playing with play-doh except it's virtual and you get all the tools literally in your hand. Could it be more efficient then working straight off the screen? I'm not sure, but I definitely think it would be a worthwhile investment for 3D animating houses.

Source Film Maker

So if you're a gamer like me, chances are you're very familiar with Valve's celebrated "Meet the Team" series. For those not in the know, "Meet the Team" is a series of 3D animated short films and biographies built around the characters of the 2006 game TF2.

What's truly incredible about this series is that all of the films are made in the games actual engine, meaning that what we're seeing are the actual characters as they appear in game. Now while this isn't necessarily rare for game developers to do, what IS rare is that Valve actually released that animation software to the general public and then allowing them to do essentially whatever they please with the games in game elements.

While I haven't played around with it too much myself, it seems to be a great tool for learning the very basics of 3D animation. And of course if you're already pretty handy with 3D animation, you can always use it to create content that you wouldn't have made otherwise for fear of wasting to much time on a project that comes across as completely ludicrous.

Silly I know, but in just trying your hand at making something akin to the video above I feel that you can truly learn a lot about the basics, physics, and properties that are needed to seriously pursue a career in animation.

Anyway if you've ever wanted to dip your toes into 3D animation I think that the Source Filmmaker would be a tool well worth your time and effort, and of course because the program is open source there are a wealth of tutorials available on YouTube. If you enjoyed the above film's I'd suggest going on YouTube and searching "SFM FILMS" some people have used these models to create truly gripping films, but then again for every piece of serious content there about a million videos of just unfiltered insanity.

Ready For The Kickoff: The 4chan Autumn Babby Cup

It's that time of year again. The leaves are turning, the days are shortening and the Autumn Babby cup is underway in just a week. What is the Babby Cup you may ask? Well, here's the formula.

It's 4chan. Playing soccer. So before we go further, we need to get some things clear. 4chan gets a bad rep, but so much of the content on the internet that people enjoy originates from there. It's a place of free speech divided up into boards. These boards range in topics from science to tentacle porn and everything in between. So where does the Babby cup come in?

4 times a year there are cups. The summer and winter cups, and the spring and autumn babby cups. The babby cups serve as qualifying cups for the summer and winter cups. Each board has a team, and this team is customized to crazy extents, with custom goal horns, anthems and even player models. Every player is named for something on that board, inside jokes abound.

/vr/'s tactics from the last cup (/vr/ is the retro games board)

The games are played, computer verses computer. Each board's team has a manager, who chooses the players' tactics and positions. Intense rivalries form between boards, and each game is commentated on.

Each player's name is said with utmost seriousness, it's anybody's game. Some boards have more spirit than others, but nobody backs their team like /mlp/. One fan went as far as to create football club scarves for him and his fellow nor/mlp/eople.

The 2014 Autumn Babby Cup is in one week. Plenty of time to get hyped. All info can be found here. I recommend looking at the different boards and their teams. You might find who you'll root for! Until then, I leave you with this.