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Week 5 (GAED1)
Unit 1: Introduction to media processes and technical skills
Unit 2: Introduction to design and research skills in creative media production
Unit 3: Introduction to professional practice in creative media production
Unit 4: Critical and contextual awareness in creative media production
What we're doing, how we're doing it and why we're doing it
What we're doing, how we're doing it and why we're doing it
Intent: Introduce you to philosophy behind video game animation and how we can apply it to our own work
Implementation: Through discussion, study and practical tasks
Impact: Knowledge and skills necessary for roles in video game animation
Soft skills: Problem solving, time management, communication
Industry: It is hard to find a video game with no animation. This is a core part of game design and a huge part of both the animation and game design industries!
SMSC: Spiritual: Consideration of how movement in games can evoke different feelings. Ethical considerations in animation design, including the portrayal of characters and how animation can influence player behaviour. Respect for diverse perspectives.
Context
Context
Context:
What is video game animation?
What do you think the key differences are between this type of animation and others?
What mediums have been used to produce animation in video games?
On your google sites:
Context questions answered IN YOUR OWN WORDS
Evidence of research conducted - What type of research is this? Why?
Research
Research
What do I do?
Choose a game you feel has effective/interesting animations
Analyse it! Focus on one or two animations in the game.
On your google sites:
Footage of game. If you record it yourself or find a video on YouTube. Which one is primary research and which one is secondary?
Your analysis. Think about timing and clarity. If you've played the game you're expected to talk about how it feels to play.
Going further:
Pick another game to analyse!
Tip! This will be a software agnostic session. Choose the software that will allow you produce the work easiest for you.
The Task - Video Game Animation Intro
The Task - Video Game Animation Intro
We're going to be animating movement of a video game character. Choose an action (attack, defeat, jump*, etc). It can be for the player character, NPC or enemy that's up to you!
*The programmer on your team will be making the character jump, so your character should stay in the same area. It's the code that will move it!
Part 1 - The Move
Part 1 - The Move
What do I do?
Choose the movement your character is going to do
Find examples of this movement from elsewhere (you do not/should not feel you're limited to games for this)
Create a rough of the animation. Focus just on the keyframes and remember the importance of silhouettes!
On your google sites:
Examples of movement, analysed
Development
Your rough animation, exported as a gif or video
Reflection
Part 2 - Anticipation
Part 2 - Anticipation
What do I do?
Look at the animation principle anticipation
Take your animation and add at least one frame of anticipation
Review it
On your google sites:
Anticipation explained with supporting research
Development
Your rough animation with anticipation added
Reflection
Going further:
Get a peer review
Gather reference footage to support your animation
A note about anticipation
Player characters generally need to move quicker than enemies to be responsive, so you might not have time for that much anticipation
(That being said, you should always have time for some)Enemy characters generally need to give the player time to react, so they need more anticipation
Tip! Favouring your keyframes
Tip! Favouring your keyframes
Keyframes are so important! Take a look at your animation and review your keyframes. Can they communicate to a player what's happening on their own? If not, now is a good time to adjust and review it!
Part 3 - Follow Through
Part 3 - Follow Through
What do I do?
Look at the animation principle Follow Through
Take your animation and add some follow through, clothes and hair is good for this but don't feel limited!
Review it
On your google sites:
Follow Through explained with supporting research
Development
Your rough animation with follow through added
Reflection
Going further:
Get a peer review
Gather reference footage to support your animation
Part 4 - Smears/Overshoot
Part 4 - Smears/Overshoot
Choose your own adventure time! Pick overshoot or smears for part 4
Smears
Smears
Overshoot
Overshoot
What do I do?
Research smears
Add smears to your animation!
Review it!
What do I do?
Research overshoot
Add overshoot to your animation
Review it
On your google sites:
Smears explained with supporting research
Development
Your rough animation with smears added
Reflection
On your google sites:
Overshoot explained with supporting research
Development
Your rough animation with overshoot added
Reflection
Going further - Breaking the body
Going further - Breaking the body
Breaking the body is a really interesting tool in your animator belt and when used well can create some amazing effects. Experiment with it!
Remember, you're animating!
Remember, you're animating!
Animation is the impression of creating a motion
Remember your foundations, but push, exaggerate, and break a few bones to make your animation look awesome
You're creating movement, not individual pieces of art
Focus on your keys and use followthrough to fill in the gaps
The core parts of a move: anticipation, smear, attack, return to idle
Animation can and should work with game design
Part 5 - Review
Part 5 - Review
What do I do?
Compare your animation now to the rough you started with
How do you feel about the techniques you've used?
What has gone well? What could be improved?
On your google sites:
First rough and final animation
Reflection
Part 6 - Peer Reflection:
Part 6 - Peer Reflection:
On your google sites:
Explanation of what type of research this is
Evidence of peer feedback (video, audio, etc)
Constructive criticism received
Constructive criticism given
Going further:
Can you gather more feedback from other sources?
Reflection:
Reflection:
- What happened?
- How did you feel?
- What were you thinking?
- How did things go?
- What might have helped?
- What might have hindered?
- What else could you have done?
- What have you learned?
- What can you change in the future?
- If the situation arose again what would you do?
- Anything you need to know or improve?
Extended task:
Extended task:
What do I do?
A lot of what we've done this week comes straight from Mariel Cartwright's GDC talk. Give it a watch and continue developing your animations.
On your google sites:
Embedded video
Your thoughts and feelings on the talk
Animation made with the same philosophy
What do I do?
Learn more about the career of a video game animator and the path it takes to get there.
On your google sites:
Show your research
Your thoughts and feelings on animation, particularly in video games as a career path
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