Animation Test

Animation Test from Rohini Metharam on Vimeo.

This was the first animation test after I first rigged my character using the setup machine and the face machine (two maya plugins used to help setup character rigs).  

I setup key poses using the reference footage I took with an actress who did some possible character moves for me. After I set up the key poses using the frame number from after effects, and then did the in-betweens. This also helped me with the timing to get the movements on the right beats.

These were some of the realizations I had:

- I need to remodel the legs because they are too thick

- I need to remodel the hands because the fingers are too thin

- I will need to fix the weight painting using the new and more efficient techniques we are being taught in the character rigging lab.

- The face machine does not work well when the character mesh is one as the file becomes too big and my computer slows down tremendously.

- I will need to figure out how to optimize the mesh so that the face machine can still be used to set up the controls for the face.

The successful parts of the test were that I know the body rig works well and I can synchronize my animation to the sound of drum beats.