Week 11 Lab 1

Exercise 1

Aligned the ball on the plane and pressed the shortcut 'S' to set a key frame at frame 0.

Aligned the ball on the other side of the plane and pressed the shortcut 'S' to set another key frame at frame 72.

Aligned the ball to be sitting right on top of the fence and pressed the shortcut 'S' to set another key frame at frame 33.

Aligned the ball on the plane at a different position and pressed the shortcut 'S' to set another key frame at frame 50.

Aligned the ball to be slightly of the ground and pressed the shortcut 'S' to set another key frame at frame 60.

Accessed the 'Graph Editor' and viewing the translate Y tangent of the ball.

Did a few minor tweaks here and there to make the ball travel in a more realistic manner.

This tutorial was very straightforward and simple to understand, however I did learn a few things on the topic of animation in maya. For example, I finally understood what the graph editor was for and I also learnt how to  delete static channels to allow maya to process faster. I also found the 'Playblast' tool to be very useful in uploading my animations online.

Here is the result for Exercise 1:

Exercise 2

Aligned the ball to be sitting right at the top and pressed the shortcut 'S' to set a key frame at frame 1.

Aligned the ball to be sitting right at the bottom and pressed the shortcut 'S' to set a key frame at frame 12.

Aligned the ball to be sitting at the top again, but a bit lower this time and pressed the shortcut 'S' to set a key frame at frame 16.

Aligned the ball to be sitting right at the bottom once again and pressed the shortcut 'S' to set a key frame at frame 22.

Aligned the ball to be sitting at the top again, but a bit lower this time and pressed the shortcut 'S' to set a key frame at frame 27.

Aligned the ball to be sitting right at the bottom once again and pressed the shortcut 'S' to set a key frame at frame 33.

Aligned the ball to be sitting at the top again, but a bit lower this time and pressed the shortcut 'S' to set a key frame at frame 36.

Aligned the ball to be sitting right at the bottom once again and pressed the shortcut 'S' to set a key frame at frame 40.

Opened the 'Graph Editor', and selected translate Y.

Used the 'Linear Tool' on the three curves at the bottom. This is to animate the ball to have a sharp drop when it is coming downwards.

Use the 'Break Tangents Tool' on the three curves at the bottom, this is to allow more detailed/specific adjustments to the curves.

Here is the end result of the graph, this is to allow the ball to travel in a more realistic manner.

Here is the result for Exercise 2:

For this exercise, I learnt the importance of the 'Timing Principle' in my animation. When the Timing Principle is considered, it causes the animation to look more realistic, as there seems to be a gravity factor implemented into the animation. Overall, this exercise was pretty simple and easy to understand and I encountered no difficulties in completing this exercise.