Unit 71 & 73 - Character Animation
Introduction
Character animation is key to bringing a game to life. Without any form of animation, the characters used in the scene would not be able to move realistically (they'd literally glide across the floor, which isn't what we're aiming for when creating an immersive game).
Taking human anatomy into consideration, there are over 200 muscles used in order to walk, which really puts into perspective how important animation is.
The better the animation, the more a player can relate to the character, thus the more they will be able to immerse themselves into the game.
Notes
Unit abstract
3D animators are responsible for the portrayal of movement and behaviour. Most often this is applied to give life to characters and creatures, but sometimes animations are applied to other elements such as objects, scenery, vegetation and environmental effects.
3D character animation is a specific skill that requires a good level of understanding and technical knowledge of anatomy and animation to produce the high standard needed for a successful game and, as computer games become more character-based, animation has had to improve.
Specialist software packages are used to create the animations and animators will portray movement and behaviour (as well as such aspects as the personality, role, social standing and moods of the character being animated) in an efficient and effective way which makes best use of this technology. Depending on the platform for which the animation is designed they will maximise the opportunities for interactivity.
3D animators should have the ability to develop, produce and reflect upon their own work as this will give them the professional skills needed for a career in the computer games industry.
Learning Objectives
1 Understand the characteristics and anatomy of human and animal forms
2 Be able to plan 3D animated characters for computer games
3 Be able to create 3D animated characters for computer games
4 Be able to reflect on own 3D character animation work.
Testing the biped character animation feature in 3ds max. Created a realistic walk cycle with the help of a walk timeline blueprint
Below is a few pictures of some character posing I did with the mannequins that were brought into our course. I found that using every day props really brought the scene, I was trying to make to life.
