3D ANIMATION
Module 1
Fundamentals of 3D
Animation
Computer animation is the process used for digitally
generating animated images. The more general term
computer-generated imagery encompasses both static
scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only
refers to moving images.
The procedure of generating 3D is sequentially categorized
into three main sections and these are modeling, layout and
animation and rendering. Modeling is the phase that
describes the procedure of generating 3D objects within a
certain scene. Layout and animation phase describes the
process followed for positioning and animating the objects
within a certain scene.
The most basic visual entity is the point. The point has no
size, but it has a location. To determine the location of
points, we first establish an arbitrary point in space as the
origin. We can then say a point’s location is so many units
left (or right) of the origin, so many units up (or down) from
the origin, and so many units higher (or lower) than the
origin.
In computer graphics, we don’t really say the point is
“left/right”, “up/down”, or “higher/lower”. Instead we call the
three dimensions the X axis, the Z axis, and the Y axis.
The process of a 3D animation pipeline is complex
and can be a lot more complicated than any other
forms of animation. Depending on what project and
which 3D animation studio is involved, the number of
steps may vary. In this lens, it is identified and
illustrated the 11 most common steps involved in
producing a 3D animation project.
They are namely:
- Concept and Storyboards
- 3D Modelling
- Texturing
- Rigging
- Animation
- Lighting
- Camera Setting
- Rendering
- Compositing and Special VFX
The very first step involved in a 3D production
pipeline is the conceptualization of ideas and the
creation of the storyboards that translate these ideas
into visual form.
A storyboard is a sequence of illustrations that
showcase your digital story in two dimensions.
Rigging is the process to set up a controllable
skeleton for the character that is intended for
animation. Depending on the subject matter, every rig
is unique and so is the corresponding set of controls.
Skinning is the process of attaching the 3D model
(skin) to the rigged skeleton so that the 3D model can
be manipulated by the controls of the rig.
Animation is the process of taking a 3D object and
getting it to move. Animation comes in a few different
flavors. There’s keyframe animation, where the
animator manipulates the objects on a frame-by-
frame basis, similar to old hand-drawn cartoons.
Keyframe animation lets you transform objects or
skeletons over time by setting keyframes. For example,
you can keyframe the joints and IK handles of a
character’s arm to create an animation of its arm waving.
Driven key animation lets you link and drive the
attributes of one object with those of another object by
setting driven keys. For example, you can key a
character’s X and Z translations as Driver attributes and
a door model’s Y rotation as the Driven attribute to
create an animation of a character and a swinging door.
Path animation lets you set a curve as an animation path
for an object. When you attach an object to a motion
path, it follows the curve during its animation. For
example, when you assign a car model to a motion path
that follows a road in your scene, the car follows the
road when you play the animation.
Motion capture animation lets you use imported motion
capture data to apply realistic motion to the characters
in your scene. For example, you can use the captured
motion of a horse to animate the skeleton of a
quadruped model.
Layered animation lets you create and blend animation
on separate layers. You can modify an animation
sequence on layers without permanently altering the
original, or simply organize your keyframe animation
onto layers.
Dynamic animation lets you create realistic motion using
the rules of physics to simulate natural forces. For
example, you can use Maya® Dynamics™ to create
effects such as sparks spraying from a welding torch or
hail falling from the sky.
Expressions are instructions that you can type to
animate attributes. For example, you can write an
expression formula that animates the flapping of a bird’s
wings.
https://www.media-freaks.com/the-process-of-3d-
animation/
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3D ANIMATION
Module 2
Animating Keyframes in
Maya
Computer animation is the process used for digitally
generating animated images. The more general term
computer-generated imagery encompasses both static
scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only
refers to moving images.
Placed directly below the viewport, the timeline is the most
visible animation tool in Maya. Though relatively simple it is
extremely useful. You can think of it as a summary of your
animation. The dark gray bar is called the time slider. Its
position represents the scene's current animation frame,
information also indicated by the value on the right. To
change the slider's position, simply left click anywhere on
the timeline. You can also "scrub" the slider across the
timeline by left clicking and dragging the mouse left and
right.
Below the timeline are the range values. The two outtermost numbers (1.00, 60.00) are
the start and end times of the entire animation, while the inner numbers (1.00, 30.00)
designate the part of our animation that the timeline shows. Essentially, the timeline
is just a window into the overall animation of the scene. To move this window, you
can manipulate the gray bar inbetween the range values. Left click and drag the
center of the bar to move it around, or drag one of the two small boxes to resize it.
You can also just edit the values manually
To the right of the timeline are the playback controls. Click or to play the time slider
either backwards or forwards respectively. You can alter the playback options by right
clicking on the timeline and choosing Playback Speed → Real-time or Play Every
Frame. For now make sure that the playback speed is set to Real-time, as it is the
best approximation of your animation's timing, whereas the timing of Play Every
Frame is variable.
Click or to send the time slider to the beginning or the end of the playback range,
and or to step the time slider back or forward one frame.
Maya uses "keyframes" for animation (we also refer to them in short as "keys"). A
keyframe is basically a marker used to specify an object's position and attributes at a
given point in time. To set a keyframe on the ball at the current frame, select the ball
and go to Animate → Set Key (or just hit s). A red tick mark should appear on the
timeline near the slider, indicating that you have "keyed" the ball on the current
frame. You may also notice that the attributes in the Channel Box have turned pink,
an indication that the object has been keyed. The Channel Box's role in keyframing
will be explained in further detail a little later.
Try setting another keyframe. Move the time slider to a different frame and use the
translate tool to alter the ball's position before keying. After you set the key, scrub the
time slider back and forth across the timeline. The ball should switch between its old
and new positions. Note that the keyframes are probably set to "stepped" mode,
which means that a keyframe will stay in effect until the next key is reached..
To delete a key, move the slider to the offending frame, right click on
the timeline and select Delete. Sometimes you will want to delete or
move a group of keys all at once. To accomplish this, you first need to
select a portion of the timeline. Hold down shift then left click drag over
the keys you want to work with. The selection should look something
like this:
As pointed out before, keying the ball will cause all of its attributes in
the Channel Box to turn pink. However, it is important to note that the
ball itself is not being keyed. Its attributes are. When you hit s to set a
keyframe on an object, you are actually setting a key for each
individual attribute (usually each attribute visible in the Channel Box)
One implication of this is that you can key a
single attribute. Go ahead and delete all of the
ball's keyframes. You can either do this
through the timeline, or you can select all of
the attributes in the Channel Box (left
click Translate X and drag down to Visibility),
call up the right click menu, and choose Delete
Selected. The attributes should turn dark gray,
signifying they no longer have keyframes on
them. Right click on any attribute and
choose Key Selected. Just like the Set Key
operation it will create a key on the current
frame, but now only for the selected attribute:.
Once you have a number of keyframes you will
want to review your motion. Playblasts are
Maya's way of creating a preview of your
animation that runs in real time and is much
faster to create than a render. Go to Window →
Playblast options. Change the Display size to
"Custom" and enter 640 and 480 for the two
values. Change the scale to "1.00", and check
"Save to File" and name it appropriately. If you
do not specify a save path, Maya will output it
to your current project directory.
https://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse459/12au/
exercises/basic_animation_exercise.html
3D ANIMATION
Module 3
Animation using
Motion Paths
The following procedure uses Constrain > Motion
Paths > Set Motion Path Key (in the Animation menu set) to
create a motion path animation by moving the object from
one place to another in the scene. Alternatively, you can
use Constrain > Motion Paths > Attach to Motion Path to
attach the object to an existing path.
To create a path animation
Select the object you want to animate with the motion path
and move it to its starting position.
Set the current time to the start time of your path animation.
Select Constrain > Motion Paths > Set Motion Path Key.
A single-CV curve is created with a position marker at time
specified start time.
Increase current time and move the object to a new position.
Select Constrain > Motion Paths > Set Motion Path
Key again. A single-span curve is drawn from the marker at
the start time to the current position of the object, where a
new marker is placed.
Continue changing the time and position by
selecting Constrain > Motion Paths > Set Motion Path Key for
as long as you wish to animate the object’s position. The
time at which the last motion path key is set is end time of
your motion path animation.
Note that once you have created a path animation using
the Constrain > Motion Paths > Set Motion Path Key, you can
use all of the other path animation tools as described in the
previous sections to refine the basic path animation.
A polygon mesh can also be composed of several disjointed
sets of connected polygons called shells. The outside edges
of a mesh or shell are referred to as border edges.
Similarly, you can select the object that was animated along
a pre-existing path curve, and extend the length of its
animation (and thus the path curve) by
using Constrain > Motion Paths > Set Motion Path Key
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3D ANIMATION
Module 4
Animation using Set
Driven Key
With keyframe animation, you key an attribute value to a time
in the Time Slider. You repeat this process with different
values at different times to animate the object. When you
need to animate multiple objects or attributes that interrelate,
setting keyframes can quickly become a complex task.Non-
Uniform refers to the parameterization of the curve. Non-
Uniform curves allow, among other things, the presence of
multi-knots, which are needed to represent Bezier curves.
Setting driven keys is a technique for driving the animation
of one object or attribute, using another attribute. With
driven keys, you create a dependent link between a pair of
attributes. A change in the driver attribute then alters the
value of the driven attribute. Once you establish this
relationship between attributes, you don't need to animate
the driven attribute separately; it occurs automatically as
you animate the driver object.
This makes setting up some types of animation much more
efficient. For example, you can use driven keys to make a
door open when a character walks in front of it.
It's important to understand that driven keys don't actually
animate the driven object, they only associate the driven
attribute with its driver. The driven object reacts to changes
as you manipulate its driver, but nothing happens if you
playback the scene until you set keyframes on the driver
object. Because driven keys do not link attributes to time,
the Time Slider is not involved in a driven key relationship
and displays no markers for driven keys.
This example illustrates how to use Set Driven Key to link
the attributes of a door object to the attributes of a ball, so
that the movement of the ball drives the movement of the
door.
You can easily set up a similar scene to try the example
yourself:
Create a polygonal cube or plane, and name it Door.(Scale
and position it roughly so that it lies along the X-axis.)
Create a small polygonal sphere and name it Ball.(Scale and
position it just in front of the door, roughly at 0, 1, 10.
To link the door’s movement to the ball’s movement
Select the door, then select Key > Set Driven Key >
Set.The Set Driven Key window appears with the door in
the Driven list.
Select the ball in the scene view, then click Load Driver.The
ball appears in the Driver list.
Select Translate Y in the Driven list (the attribute to be driven
by the ball’s movement), and select Translate Z in
the Driver list (the attribute that will drive the door), then
click Key.
This sets a driven key relationship that
links the current Translate Z value of
the ball to the current Translate Y value
of the door. Whenever the
ball’s Translate Z is at this position, the
door’s Translate Y will be at its current
position.
Use the Move Tool (hotkey W) to
position the ball directly on the door,
then move the door to a position above
the ball.
In the Set Driven Key window,
click Key.
This sets another driven key that links
the current Translate Z value of the ball
to the Translate Y value of the door.
Move the ball past door and then lower
the door to its previous position.
In the Set Driven Key window, click Key.
You’ve set three driven keys that link the attribute values at different
positions. If you drag the ball toward the door from either side, the door
rises smoothly. You can also flip through your driven keys by
selecting Key > Go To Next or Key > Go To Previous in the Set Driven
Key window.
Notice that playing back the animation from the Time Slider doesn’t
move the ball or the door. This is because driven keys link one attribute
to another, they do not link attributes to times in the Time Slider.
However, if you go on to set keyframes and animate the position of the
ball, the door will still move automatically, based on the driven key
relationship.
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3D ANIMATION
Module 5
Blendshapes Animation
You can create a blend shape deformer for an object that you
want to be deformed by a series of shapes. This object is
known as the base object. You can create multiple blend
shape deformers on an object, each with its own set of target
shapes. For example, you could have one deformer for the
mouth and one for the eyes to keep the shape animation
calculations separate for different parts of the face.
For more complex shape deformations, you can also create a
group of objects to be deformed and apply a blend shape
deformer to that group. For example, you could create a
group that includes a character's T-shirt and jeans, and
create a single blend shape deformer for the group. Then
you could edit the target shapes so that the t-shirt overlaps
the jeans.
To create a blend shape deformer
Do any of the following to get set up, depending on your
method of shape animation:
• If you're deforming a group of shapes, create the group (select the objects and
press Ctrl+G), then select the group transform node.
Do any of the following to create the blend shape deformer:
Open the Shape Editor and click the Create Blend Shape
button to use automatic settings.
Choose Create > Blend Shape Deformer in the Shape Editor.
Click the Options icon to first set options.
Right-click in an empty area of the Shape Editor and choose
Add Blend Shape Deformer to use automatic settings.
In the Animation menu set, select Anim Deform > (Create)
Blend Shape > .
In the Rigging or Modeling menu sets, select Deform >
(Create) Blend Shape > .
If you selected the to open the Blend Shape Options, select
the creation options you want, including Advanced options
that let you choose where the Blend Shape node will be
located in the object's history.
Note: If you're working with multiple target objects, select
Check Topology to check that the target objects have the
same number of vertices as the base object. Errors occur
(such as a "No Deformable Objects Selected" message)
when this is not the case.
You can add deformation effects to your characters and
objects to enhance their animations. Deformers are tools
that let you transform or animate objects in ways that simple
manipulation and keyframes cannot. In other software
packages, the terms modifiers and space warps are used to
refer to what Maya calls deformers.
Deformers have two main applications: to model surfaces or
to add extra shape animations to an object.
You can use deformers as animation tools. You can create a
deformer, tweak the target object with the deformer, and then
key the deformer’s attributes over time to produce an
animation. For example, you can create a blend shape
deformer for a model of a face. Then over time, you can
manipulate and key the weights of target shapes of the blend
shape deformer in the Shape Editor to create facial
animation.
Types of Deformers
Bend deformer
Flare deformer
Sine deformer
Squash deformer
Twist deformer
Wave deformer
When creating bend deformers, you can first set creation
options and then create a deformer, or you can immediately
create a deformer with the current creation options. If you’re
not sure what the current creation options are, checking
them before you create a deformer can save you some time
adjusting the deformer’s attributes afterwards.
Attention: Avoid changing the number of a deformable
object’s points (for example, CVs, vertices, or lattice points)
after you create a deformer. Changing the number of points
can lead to unexpected deformation effects. Try to set the
object’s topology before you begin using deformers, and
save a copy of the object in case you want to do further
modeling later.
When creating flare deformers, you can first set creation
options and then create a deformer, or you can immediately
create a deformer with the current creation options. If you’re
not sure what the current creation options are, checking
them before you create a deformer can save you some time
adjusting the deformer’s attributes afterwards.
Attention: You should avoid changing the number of a
deformable object’s points (for example, CVs, vertices, or
lattice points) after you create a deformer. Changing the
number of points can lead to unexpected deformation
effects. Try to be sure you are happy with the deformable
object’s topology before you begin using deformers. Save a
copy of the object in case you want to do further modeling
later.
Sine deformers let you manipulate any
deformable object along a sine wave.
Sine deformers are useful both for
character setup and modeling. Sine
deformers include handles that you can
use to control the extent, amplitude,
and wavelength of the sine wave
effects in an intuitive manner.
The sine deformer changes the shape
of an object along a sine wave.
Squash deformers let you squash and
stretch any deformable object along an
axis. They are useful both for character
setup (classic squash and stretch
effects) and modeling. Squash
deformers include handles that let you
control the extent and magnitude of the
squash or stretch effects in an intuitive
manner.
The squash deformer squashes and
stretches objects.
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3D ANIMATION
Module 6
Introduction to
Character Animation
Before you animate the characters and objects in your
scene, set up the scene by rigging all your characters and by
applying the appropriate constraints and deformers to all the
objects you want to animate.
Rigging a character, also known as character setup, involves
creating skeletons and IK handles for your characters,
binding skins to the skeletons, and setting up deformers and
constraints. You can also create deformers for your
character and animate them to produce effects; for example,
the jiggling belly (jiggle deformer), furrowing brow (wire
deformer), and flexing biceps (lattice deformer) of a sumo
wrestler model.
Non-character objects are also very important to bringing
your scene to life. You can limit and control the
transformations of objects by constraining them to
characters or other models in your scene. You can also
create deformers for objects to create complex deformation
effects. For example, you can apply a squash deformer to the
model of a ball and then parent constrain the ball to the
hands of a character. With this setup, you can key the
weights of the character’s hands and the squash deformer’s
attributes to create an animation of the character bouncing
the ball from hand to hand while the ball squashes on the
ground and stretches as it rises back into the air.
In addition to setting up characters and objects for
animation, you can set up Maya® Dynamics™ for animation.
You can constrain dynamic objects such as particle emitters,
fields, and fluids to objects or characters in your scene.
When creating animations, especially complex character
animations, you may have a lot of motion happening across many
different channels. The character will be moving up and down,
side to side, rotating in different axes, and different parts of the
body will be moving in different ways and at different times. With
all of this going on, it can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint and
deal with issues. By isolating specific channels, you can
temporarily mute any motion not directly related to the motion
you’re trying to troubleshoot.
When creating animations, especially complex character
animations, you may have a lot of motion happening across many
different channels. The character will be moving up and down,
side to side, rotating in different axes, and different parts of the
body will be moving in different ways and at different times. With
all of this going on, it can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint and
deal with issues. By isolating specific channels, you can
temporarily mute any motion not directly related to the motion
you’re trying to troubleshoot.
For instance, let’s say we want to isolate this character’s side-to-
side motion in his run cycle. We can select the control we want to
view and open the Graph Editor. The motion we want to isolate in
this case is the X translation. So we can select all of the other
channels and choose Curves>Mute Channel. With those
channels muted, you will only see the character’s side-to-side
motion, the X translation, allowing you to tweak the curve and
timing as needed. Once you’re done, simply select the muted
channels and choose Curves>Unmute Channels and you’re back
to viewing your entire animation. This can be a great way to drill
into problem areas without affecting any of your other animation
curves.
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