Month: November 2024

Animating Nothing | Create Moving Holds

How do you animate a character that isn’t doing much? Using moving holds! Moving holds are crucial in animation – they provide the breathing space between high energy motions as well as making the characters look alive when they are in the background. AnimSchool instructor and professional animator Scott McWhinnie explains how he handles moving holds, and shows an example from his own shots to illustrate his methodology.

McWhinnie breaks down moving holds into four categories: momentum, breathing, eye darts, and head support, all of which are crucial to consider when animating a moving hold.

Momentum

A common pitfall when animating moving holds is disregarding or neglecting the previous movement and the momentum that leads from that. To avoid this, it’s important to keep in mind the “drift” follows the direction of the most recent momentum shift – it needs to work with physics. Try to keep things simple as a directional and rotational shift, and find a balance between the two to avoid overcomplicating the movements. Be careful not to start the drifting too early into the next movement.

Breathing

Even in stillness, small movements like chest or shoulder shifts suggest breathing. These tiny details make the character feel more grounded and dynamic, helping with transitions between holds and actions. Breathing also impacts the pacing of the animation, and can lead to a buildup of momentum that carries into the next action.

Eye Darts

Small, quick movements of the character’s eyes play a huge role in adding life to a seemingly inactive moment. These subtle shifts of attention can convey a character’s inner world, whether it’s curiosity, tension, or anticipation. Eye darts often signal that the character is aware of their surroundings or preparing to engage with something in the near future, and can help keep the audience engaged in what might otherwise feel like a stagnant moment.

Head Support

Ensure that the head moves in a way that supports the body’s direction – the character’s head should follow the same momentum as the rest of the body to maintain consistency. If a character is holding a pose and their head moves in a different direction without context, it can break the illusion of weight and consistency.

McWhinnie uses a scene he worked on from Ferdinand (2017) to demonstrate how he approaches a moving hold.

Watch the full clip from an AnimSchool lecture here: 

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/

How to Spline Your Shot

As you take your shot from stepped to spline animation, you begin to refine the timing and spacing of each movement – these are critical in ensuring that the character’s actions feel natural and engaging. In this snippet from an AnimSchool lecture, instructor and professional animator Jason Behr works directly on a student’s file to demonstrate his process with the transition to spline animation.

Start by tightening up the timeline and addressing any inconsistent movements. Shift keys to refine the timing and spacing of frames. Pay attention to where the spacing starts to feel “drifty” or “swimmy” and make adjustments to avoid that. Additionally, if a movement feels too even or stiff, play around with the spacing and cushioning between poses. Stretching certain frames can make for smoother transitions and help the overall animation feel more dynamic – avoid robotic and uniform timing.

Next, add in some anticipation and overlap. Pay attention to where small movements can help prepare the audience for an upcoming action and allowing different parts of the character’s body to move at slightly different times or drag behind. For instance, consider adding small shifts or pauses in the character’s spine to allow time for other body parts, such as the head or arms, to react or move. This can help avoid stiff and mechanical motions.

As you adjust the movements of specific body parts, consider how all of the movements are balanced across the body. Pay attention to how each body part moves in relation to the entire character. Leading with the core can establish a strong base for the motion, allowing limbs to follow and creates more organic and fluid movement.

Finally, polish your animation. Begin refining details, such as overlap and arcs. Start with the most important elements, such as the head or spine, and gradually move outward to ensure that the primary movements are clear and defined before adding more layers of complexity. Work to ensure that the movements between each key pose and spacing are as smooth as possible to achieve a polished and professional look.

Watch the full clip from an AnimSchool lecture here: 

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/

Breathing Life Into Your Animation

A key component of bringing animated characters to life is believable breathing. In this demo by AnimSchool instructor and professional animator Neave Lifschits breaks down the process of creating a breathing animation, step-by-step, and focuses on making it look natural by adjusting for character design limitations and fine-tuning various parts for realism.

Step 1: Start with the Basics – Breathing Movement

To create a believable breathing animation, begin by animating the chest rising and falling. For a character standing still, exaggerate the chest’s motion to show heavy breathing. Set keyframes to create a smooth cycle, with the inhale being slower and the exhale faster. Adjust timing for realism by fine-tuning the easing on both actions.

Step 2: Refining Tangents

Use weighted tangents to smooth the transition between keyframes. Modify the “ease in” and “ease out” of the chest’s movement, making the breathing feel fluid. Adjust the timing for the inhale and exhale to balance out the rhythm.

Step 3: Translation & Rotation

Offset translation (moving the chest outward) and rotation (slight torso twisting) to create a natural flow. You can experiment with having either rotation or translation lead, but slight offsets in timing between these actions will add realism.

Step 4: Animating the Upper Body

Shoulders move in relation to the chest. Offset their rotation slightly, making them follow the chest’s expansion and contraction. The shoulders should react after the chest’s movement, not at the same time, for more realistic timing.

Step 5: Arm Movement

Have the arms “drag behind” the chest, reacting more slowly to breathing. Keyframe subtle arm movement so that the arms follow the chest’s rise and fall, but with a slight delay to avoid making them feel stiff or over-exaggerated.

Step 6: Head and Neck Movement

Keep head and neck movement subtle to avoid distraction. Use world space translation for the head and slight rotations for the neck, ensuring they follow the torso without overreacting. This keeps the breathing grounded and stable.

Step 7: Final Adjustments

Smooth the breathing loop by adjusting the first and last keyframes to ensure they match. Scale down any exaggerated movements for a more natural feel. Test the animation, making sure everything flows seamlessly.

Creating realistic breathing in 3D animation is about understanding how the body responds to inhalation and exhalation, and then adjusting the timing, translation, and rotation of different body parts accordingly. By starting with the chest’s basic movement and then refining the translation, rotation, and timing of the shoulders, arms, neck, and head, you can create a breathing animation that feels natural and immersive. The key is to experiment with different timing offsets and to make subtle adjustments for each part of the body, ensuring they work in harmony.

Watch the full clip from an AnimSchool lecture here: 

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/

Student Spotlight: Leticia Lozano

AnimSchool student Leticia Lozano offers insight into how she created an animated shot using audio from the 2023 Netflix film, We Have a Ghost. Her shot was featured in the 2024 AnimSchool Student Showcase.

Leticia explains that she received a recommendation to jump into splined animation right away in order to help see the timing of the slower and more subtle actions, such as in the face and shoulders. While she did complete a blocking pass of her animation, most of the smaller movements are much better seen after a splining pass.

Leticia mentions that she focused greatly on the facial animation, which proved to be a bit difficult as she was trying to keep the entire animation alive with breathing, eye darts, and other supporting actions for her scene. With so many subtle movements and incredible facial performance, Leticia’s scene was a success and ended up as the cover of the 2024 AnimSchool Student Showcase.

Watch her featured clip below:

Watch the full AnimSchool Student Showcase Livestream here:

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/