This week we went over the ball and tail animation, exploring the importance of secondary motion to produce more lifelike and realistic movements. Follow through, overlapping action and essentially just the relationship between primary and secondary elements was the main focus here.
Maya’s motion trail function made it a lot easier to see each component and how they moved, creating sets of different curves on the screen. It was a little difficult to make sense of, which I guess will get easier as I put more practice in. By looking at real life references I was able to build on my current understanding of motion, observing curves and other consistencies in movement. George guided us toward achieving fluid movement rather than mechanical precision in our work.
In my initial experiment, I did a simple, non wavy set of movements on the tail, just to see what it would look like. I changed a few things here and there to make it look less mechanical though. It was simple and looked alright but it only made me more excited to see how the application of wave principle will improve everything.
I then created a more natural sequence. Using reference footage helped me understand how the tail should respond to the ball’s movement. The relationship between the two elements became clearer as I worked.
Getting the curves and keyframes right took some trial and error. The tail’s timing needed special attention during follow-through moments, which proved tricky with the rig setup. Still, adjusting the animation curves helped me achieve the movement I was looking for.
Through analyzing reference videos and applying feedback, I refined the final animation. The exercise revealed how timing between moving parts can create complexity in a simple concept. Each adjustment brought more life to the movement. (You can see at the end there the tail doesn’t follow the correct curve, I did not complete this task to a standard I’m completely content with but I will endeavor to keep improving)
Starting with fundamental principles and working through each challenge helped me grasp effective animation techniques. The process of receiving feedback and making improvements showed me the gap between initial attempts and polished animation. These first weeks have helped me develop a stronger approach to animation.