Applied Animation: Maya

In this week's Maya session we looked at a range of ways to use the program to animate 3D objects. I found the tasks given throughout this session quite simple and easy to follow at first, but I must admit they did become a lot more difficult towards the end of the day, as there was a lot more to it than just clicking buttons and assigning key frames to objects. BUT I am determined to give it another shot on my own to complete the tasks I was given and to keep the process of how to use the program in my mind, because Maya can be a difficult one to use if you don't keep practicing.

The first task we did was extremely easy in my opinion and I found the whole process of using Maya to animate very simple and quick. Yes this opinion did change throughout the day, but that is expected when the level of difficulty of the task increases. 

So once we had got the hang of creating a pendulum in Maya it was time to move on to using the software to create more elaborate animation and to begin introducing some of the 12 principles of animation. We started with overlapping action. This task was considerably harder than the first, as there was a lot more to it than just assigning key frames, but I feel that I picked it up quite quickly and was able to follow Matt's instructions quite well. However, I did struggle with the graph editor at first, as I was getting confused about which mouse buttons to click, but after some practice I managed to get the hang of it eventually.

After getting the hang of using the programme for animation, we were given the task of creating a simple bouncing ball sequence that contained two different balls made of different materials. I found this task a lot more difficult than the previous two, as there was a lot more thought and consideration that needed to go into the movement of the objects.

Example of Graph Editor

Again, I struggled with the graph editor and I find it really difficult to use and to get it how I want it to move, but after sticking to it I managed to create a movement I was happy with. I feel that my green 'squishy' ball moves a lot better than my red ball and I feel that the overall animation of the green ball works better overall.

I then moved onto creating motion paths, on which I could make an object move without the need to animate it frame by frame. For this I used the truck I had made in the previous Maya session. I found this task a lot easier than the bouncing ball task, as it was pretty straight forward to get my head around. However, I did really struggle with getting my object to move around the motion path on the correct point and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get my truck to face forwards rather than travel along the motion path on its side. This obviously would have been a lot easier if I could remember what Mat had told us to do but I didn't, which made the task a lot more difficult than it should have been. It was just as simple as fiddling with the up twist on the curve I had previously drawn. The same technique can be used to create moving text too.

Finally I learnt how to create a turntable, which was as simple as pressing two buttons so there isn't really much I can say about it. 

Overall, I feel that I have learnt a lot of useful skills this session that have given me the basic building blocks to use Maya as a programme for animation if I wanted to. I have really enjoyed learning how to use the programme and I am confident that I will be able to develop my skills within the programme if I want to.