Dynamic Bodies

Hi All,

I was thinking today how people approach a something alive. The first mistake that most animators make when approaching something that has a skeletal structure is they treat it like a exoskeleton which makes no sense at all. Rigidity is the enemy of animation or an artist, thinking because it has a skeleton it does not move   this way ("because I think it doesn't") is the first thing that will kill animation.

Let me explain to you, we are not made out of boxes even in something like armour we still able to flex and move (yes, restricted movement.. but still movement). So if I pushed the person wearing armour flat to the floor they will struggle to get up but they will still be able to try and get up. Amazing is the skeletal structure, let me say that it is a wire frame it just gives us the ability to use the elastic bands (muscle) and hinge or swivel system that has been built into the wire frame. This means that we use the force of gravity for our own gain, in that we are always using the musculoskeletal system in this way.

Walking is controlled falling, actually all of our activity has something to deal with conterracting or been assisted by gravity. One side of the bone the muscle contracts and the other it it extends to keep us balanced and so we do not fall. That means extreme movement for any of living skeletal organism, that means other than the bones making sure that muscles stay in place and that we don't get crushed by our mass by gravity this is true. That muscles deform around the structure making sure that it protects and gets the most out of movement.

 Believing that "rigidity" is only there because you believe it to be true and trying to counteract the feeling that "I can't do this because the 3D model is not designed better" well, that is just excuse. Animators in the industry if they don't get what they want out of a rig, they don't go and see the people that made it to blame them for their animation. They save the scene and then try to break the rig into what they want. Only in some of the best studios will you get a fully animatable rig with bones for every part of their face so don't dream that it is a standard. Or that people can't do that, well unless you prove it to me with reference not going to believe you it's only in your head, because you feel that you cant do that does not mean that people can't do it or that they do all the time. Or that your scared of what the 3D program might think of you, well if your scared of a program that is just there to inbetween your keys then your are very timid person.

That means also is that you can push things, your an animator right? other than stuff that looks unnatural because you have forgot hinges or swivels and how they react. The rest of it fair game make things move the way that you style them to be, animation is an artistic form and that does not mean that you can't push something to the extreme artistically with only the realism to make things work.

Believing that something is there to be a lazy animator, to turn off the "what happens if" and not expanding the understanding and comprehension of how or why things move or why something looks so pleasing to you. Then please just understand that your not a bad animator, but you have not given yourself the chance to become a good one.

Thankyou for reading, until next time. Happy animating!