This is a simple path animation of a unicycle going through an obstacle course. For simplicity's (and time's) sake I did not animate the wheel or pedals, as similar animation techniques were used in previous projects. The following is a short storyboard of the animation:
The first principle of animation I used was slow-in, slow-out. This can be seen in the acceleration and deceleration of the unicycle in the beginning and ending frames. The second principle I used was follow through. As the unicycle picks up or loses speed, the seat of the unicycle pulls away or towards the unicycle's center of gravity. For example, when the unicycle picks up speed to ram the barrier, the seat is angled back about 20 degrees. When the unicycle is moving very slow, almost at a stand still, it is angled only 5 degrees. The third principle I used was anticipation when the unicycle slows down as it spots the barrier; unfortunately, I believe the effect is diminished by a lack of good framing and timing.
For my rolling ball animation project, I decided to create an original animation. First, I drew out a storyboard. Essentially, I wanted to depict a ball rolling off a table onto the floor, then bumping into a larger ball, and finally that larger ball knocking a cup of water over. (Sorry for the crappy phone camera quality).
For my principles of animation, I employed squash and stretch, anticipation, and framing. The small red ball squashes and stretches when it bounces on the floor and against the larger, heavier ball. The larger ball does not change form as much to indicate that it weighs more, like a bowling ball. I employ a bit of anticipation when the ball can be seen at the ledge of the table, about to fall but not quite falling. I slowed down the movement there to achieve this. Finally, as you can see in my final video, I created a camera to follow the action so that the audience knows where to focus their attention.
Below are three different angles of the events:
After some adjustments, this is the final animation with camera framing:
I had intended to texture the other ball, the cup, and the floor, but Maya actually started crashing as soon as I opened Hypershade. Going forward, I'll definitely be using a stronger computer that doesn't crash and lose all my saved work every time I go to texture something :( As far as other things that need fixing, I know the red ball's squash and stretch animation looks a little funky, but I wasn't sure where exactly the problem was occurring. The movement could definitely be more realistic though.
