Week 1.
Introduction to the model & initial concepts.
Week 2.
Basic introduction to Max key framing animation. Download the tutorial sheet.
Sphere Animation tutorial sheet.doc
Sphere Animation tutorial sheet .pdf
You should produce a animation like this:
After completing this try the to make a bouncing ball animation. Click here for a help sheet.
Example animation:
The Look At Constraint tutorial. Click here for the help sheet. Click here for the Max file.
The Follow Path Constraint tutorial. Click here for the help sheet.
Week 3.
For an Introduction to the Biped click here. You may find it easier to position the bones using an image as a reference click here for a wolf example. There are plenty of other animal skeletons available on google images.
Please work on one of the following biped tutorials.
Wolf.
Click here for the tutorial sheet.
Click here for the max file.
Mouse.
Click here for the tutorial sheet.
Click here for the max file.
When you have fitted the biped to the mesh try adding a Skin modifier and you should be able to try some basic animation like the videos below!
Week 4.
This week we will be working with reactor, more advanced materials and a variety of objects to create three scenes.
You may not have time to complete all three, so pick the most relevant to your animation requirements.
Fire Scene.
- Creating a starry nighttime back ground.
- Cloning materials.
- Animating a light source.
- Creating a terrain.
- Animating a bonfire!
Terrain JPEG image. Click here.
Stick JPEG image. Click here.
Water Scene.
- Creating water and a water material.
- Using Reactor.
- Moving a sphere through the water.
If you enjoyed the water tutorial why not try to make the sphere follow a path through the water. Click here for a guide.
Wave Scene.
- Creating gentle waves using materials and animating them.
- Animating the sun.
- Using video post to create the rays of the sunlight to cascade over the sea as it sets.
Sunset JPG. Click here.
Week 5.
This week we will be focusing on facial expressions and lip syncing.
You can either use your own model or download one of the two from my blog.
The tutorial has been written for the fatboy model.
Please complete the expression tutorial before attempting the lip syncing.
Facial Expression:
Example video below...
Download the expression tutorial here.
For the Fatboy model click here.
For the skull model click here.
Lip Syncing:
You can either continue with your model from the previous tutorial or choose another.
Download the tutorial below, and a sound sample as well. There are also a couple of example videos for you to view.
Download the tutorial here.
Download a sound sample.
Sound 1 - "Game Over"
Sound 2 - "Hi there!"
Sound 3 - " Well Hello"
Sound 4 - "Jolly tosh old chap"
Sound 5 - "Your battery power is now critical"
Sound 6 - "Hmm I like that"
Week 6.
This week I have 3 tutorials for you to choose from.
The first tutorial is another night scene. It will teach you how to animate reflective water, create rainfall, create a lightning effect to sound and animate light as if it is coming from a buildings interior.
The second and third tutorial are linked. They teach you how to make your biped interact with objects. Part one demonstrates the biped using a two handed object. Part two demonstrates a one handed object.
Here are the videos.
Night Scene:
Tutorial sheet - click here
Material - click here
House - click here
House mat 1 - click here
House mat 2 - click here
House mat 3 - click here
Biped/Object:
Tutorial sheet - click here
Two handed object model - click here
One handed object model - click here
Week 7.
This week we are going to spend some more time learning how to manipulate the biped. You will learn how to:
- Create a walk cycle, including running and jumping.
- Learn different techniques to increase the height of a jump.
- Position, scale, bend footsteps.
- Create multiple and single footsteps.
- Convert footsteps to freeform keyframes.
- Stop and start the biped during a walk.
- Work with Motion Flow mode.
- Work with Mixer mode.
- Work with layers.
There are 22 pages to this tutorial. All of it will be relevant to you at some point. It starts off easy and gets progressively more complex. I have tried to split it up into sections if you wish to study only part of it.
Here is a basic video of what you should (at least) be able to achieve after this.
Click here to download the tutorial sheet.
Week 8.
This week we are going to learn to animate a four legged animal using manual keyframe techniques.
If you are going to produce a walk sequence for your animal I suggest following the tutorial to learn how to set planted keys and free keys.
Making the walk look realistic is all about trying to mimic the motions of a real four legged animal. Click here for an example of a walk sequence you can use as a template.
Click here for the tutorial sheet.
Click here for the biped.
Here is a basic video of the walk sequence.
Week 9.
