Basic body mechanics for animators.

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In this video I demonstrate some very simple physical principles, showing how forces act on our bodies and how we can animate them

In dynamic movement the body is aligned so that forces are applied in the most effective direction ( like a sprinter on a starting block ).

Our legs are the biggest muscles in our bodies. But we know that it’s hard work to change direction quickly ( unless you run into something ). With big changes in speed the body needs to be co-ordinated, its structure aligned properly and its movement synchronized (like a karate punch, or a cartwheel). If this alignment or synchronization is off then we simply fall over (like a gymnast teetering off balance at the end of a difficult move).

Animating to the beat

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I’m working on an animated music video.  I thought I’d share a bit of simple maths to help get footsteps on the beat.

bpm / 60 = beats per second
FPS / beats per second = frames per Beat

So if the song is at 150 bpm this would would be

150 / 60 = 2.5 beats per second

PAL is 25 fps so…

25 / 2.5 = 10 frames per Beat

Bear in mind that whilst most dance tunes have a computerized fixed tempo. Folk and jazz will mostly likely vary in tempo.

I have a tap tempo app for my iPhone that I’m using to calculate Bpm. I just tap along to the song and watch the bpm display. For the tune I’m working on there is a slow but steady increase from 150 bpm at the start to 160 bpm at the end.

3dsMAX motion capture utility

For more complex interactions or changes in tempo you might try and use the motion capture utility. This allows you to wire MIDI inputs to a Motion Capture animation controller.

Sci-fi London 48-hour film challenge 2013:matte painting

The short film ‘Creep’ was our entry into the Sci-fi London 48-hour film challenge 2013.

Before

This was the unpainted frame from the Sony fs700 camera

creep_before After

Then, after 15 hours matte painting, our destroyed London shrouded in radioactive fog.
creep_after

With this kinda of thing there’s so much detail to add I’ll just keep working until some-one pulls the plug. It would have been nice to add larger broken features to the foreground but there simply wasn’t enough time.