Tag: game animation

Cinematic Camera Setup for Game Animation

Setting up a cinematic camera for game animation is a key skill. In this video, AnimSchool instructor and pro game animator John Paul “JP” Rhinemiller explains how to set up a camera for a moving character in a cinematic scene. He also demonstrates an exercise that covers a fundamental step in mastering camera setups.

JP explains that, generally, cinematic camera movement involves one main “key” move in either translation or rotation. In the early stages, it is crucial to ensure that the camera’s main movement feels good and works well in the scene. From there, more layers and complexity can be added.

Camera Setup

JP begins by demonstrating how to create a “slide” cinematic camera. He mentions that starting with the render settings is a good idea to ensure that the aspect ratio is correct and helps you understand the framing of your characters as you animate the camera. The settings he chooses are:

  • Presets: HD_720
  • Width: 1280
  • Height: 720
  • Resolution: 72 pixels/inch

He also adjusts the attributes of the camera to change the gate mask opacity in order to control what can be seen offscreen.

Animating a Slide Shot

To begin animating, JP first sets his first and last key frames for the desired camera and then addresses the curves. He notes that, by default, the camera curves will be set to auto tangent with slow out and slow in. Depending on the shot and what the next cut is, that may not be what you want; in this case, you would need to change those curves further.

For JP’s shot, he explains that he wants it to appear as though the camera is catching up to the character. To achieve this, he adds a few more frames at the beginning to first match the pace of the character’s movement and then have the character appear to pull ahead, making it seem like the character is ramping up in speed. He then further adjusts the position of the keys to get a smoother movement.

JP explains some fundamentals of a typical “slide” shot to keep in mind:

  • Ensure that the character is always in frame
  • The character appears to be motivating the camera to move, or slide
  • The character should not get too far into the left/right third of the frame, where it seems like they are “pushing” the camera (unless there is motivation to do so)
  • As the character slows down to a stop, the camera can keep moving for a few frames after
  • The start and end frames should not be on the first/last keys on the shot – there should be continuous motion that goes beyond the shot, especially in a cut with action

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 Idle Animations

How do you keep a character alive, when they aren’t moving? How do you enable a character to feel real and animated when they are stuck in one spot? 

Animschool Game Animation Instructor Seth Kendall breaks down a successful idle animation. The term idle often means to sit still and do nothing, but in animation, to idle means to breathe life and personality into a character in the most minute and delicate manner. To idle successfully is a true test to see if you understand what it means to create the “illusion of life.”

Preparing to Create

  • Get inspired
  • Get reference
  • Have an idea/vision of what you want to do

Creating the Idle

Seth explains that the first thing you should consider is the “base loop.” Generally, this may be some type of breathing cycle with back-and-forth movement, tensing and relaxing, etc. You’ll want something that can loop well to form a “ground texture” for the overall animation.

What to Pay Attention to

Seth breaks down a few examples of idle animations and points out notable details in each, including common elements that make a looping animation successful:

  • Good overlap: hips are driving the motion – overlap occurs as the motion travels up the spine and though the arms
  • Layers of motion: in a simple breathing idle (as seen in the examples), this may be the up/down motion of the body as the base layer, a slight head shake as another layer, accessories jingling as another, etc. Layers can become more complex as you add more specific movement.
    • Try to ensure that the layers complement each other!
  • Use variation in timing and frequency to create contrast  + draw the viewer’s attention
  • Consider adding macro variations that occur over three to six loops
    • Remember not to just repeat the fidget multiple times
  • For a more dynamic loop, blend and overlap the fidgets so that the character is never still; having the character constantly in motion can be a good way to hide the loop
  • Ensure that your base idle animation has life and variation to it

Watch the full clip on the AnimSchool YouTube channel 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/