Author: Veronika Butkevich

In this exercise we created a model of a simple arm, that throws a ball. We learned how to create basic rigs and to use locators to create the correct path for a ball. We also learned about parent constrain to attached the desired shapes to each other.

Then we animated the arm to throw a ball. Using locators and parent constrain we were able to create a path for the ball. At first the hand had to pick it up and then release it, so the ball will follow the path into the basket.

The final animation with textures, lights and camera movement, that aimed the ball:

This lesson helped us to understand again how important are the principles of animation. On a pendulum example, we mainly understood the timing and spacing/arcs.

After feedback, the animation improved the sense of timing and arcs.

The final render I added colourful backgrounds as well as camera movement.

To create a shark animation, we explored the Content Browser, that has different models that can help to stat off any animation. To make a shark’s flow motion, we learned how deformation, squash and twist work. At first, we created a motion path and then attached a shark to it in order to create a movement.

To give the shark a character, we changed the look of it, added a few details like eyes and teeth and created a texture. I used UV mapping that I painted in ProCreate.

We also set up a camera for a more “cinematic” look.

This lesson was our first introduction to Maya. We learnt how to navigate the interface, the most important hotkeys, how to edit timeline and use the graph editor.

This lesson was also our first introduction to modelling. Any model we can make is made from basic polygon primitives such as Cube, Sphere etc. The model consists of faces, edges and vertices that with the help of different tools can modify it.

My abstract shape was created with the help of the various sculpting tools, like grab and smooth surface as an example. It was put in the HDRI background, the texture was taken from the website Polyheaven.com.

The goal of this exercise was to make a render as if an object is a part of the scene. We used a SkyDome light to create a shadow that helps the object to seem more real (or in my case surreal considering it’s abstract shape).

We also touched the basics of animation. With the help of the graph editor, we animated “slugs” which we previously modelled.

This blog post is about an animation exercise that helps to understand the basis of important principles such as timing, spacing, archs, squashing and weight.

We used a pre-made rig of a ball to focus one on the movement. The goal was to make the bouncing look as real as possible. At first, we had to make a sketch of a ball that helped us to understand the movement:

Then, we created a key points of the animation, as it was referenced in the sketch. The key points helped to understand the movement. The first version of the animation:

The second version after the feedback:

In conclusion, this exercise made me realise that the easiest movement as a simple bouncing ball can be actually very complicated. The second thought that this assignment led me to is to never underestimate the main principles of animation.