Anatomy

Here you will find research that i conducted on the anatomy for people, cats and dogs as this will help enhance my animation as it will teach me where the joints in the body are making my animations more realistic and of better quality.

To gather information i will look at an array of different sources like books , sketches of the human skeleton and muscles , Medical images of the the human and animals Skelton's. I will also look at videos of people and animals doing movements .

The main aim of this research was to enhance my knowledge on anatomy of dogs , cats and humans which will help me when it comes to rigging the models and knowing where to put the joints and bends in the animations I do .

All links to secondary research sources can be found in the bibliography

First i will look of pictures and diagrams of the human and animal skeleton including animals like dogs and cats to give me the best idea on how the animal skeleton system works.

Here is an example of a human skeleton with lables of the different bones.

To the right is a picture of the human Skelton this helps me visualize where the bones should be in the body giving me rough idea in where the joints should be.

The joints in the body can only move in specific ways these and all have different functions.

An example of this is the elbow joint that can only move 180 degrees this is similar to the knee joint which is the same as the joint in the leg that can also only move 180 degrees whereas the wrist joint can almost move in a 360 degree motion similar to how the ankle can move. Some other joints that can only move 180 degrees are the neck joint. Yet some examples of different joints are the hip and shoulder joints that can move in a sphere of movement

It is important to research these joints and bone of people as it will allow my animations to look more natural and also so I know what movements the human can make this will mainly help with the walk cycles I gave to do and also the attack animations as well because it can give me insights into how different weights can affect joints.

To the left is a picture of a skeleton that highlights the joints in the body and where they are located. The main joint in the body are:

-Elbows

-Shoulder

-Wrists

-Finger joints

-Toe joints

-Hip joint

-Knee joint

-Ankle joint

- Jaw joint

All these move and effect the body in different ways for example moving the shoulder would also effect the whole arms movements. The hip is commonly called the root bone as most of the movements go through it.

Here is skeleton of a cat and dogs that showcase all the bones in that are in a cats and dogs body. The joints in a cats and dogs body are similar to a human and can move in similar ways but there bodies are of a different shape.

This will make a different in the productions of my rigs as i will have to implement bones in an a different assortment as they have a different layout in there body and the layout is crucial in making the animations of animals life like and accurate.

On the left are two diagrams of dogs and cats bones that have highlights on the joins of the body. The joints of theses skeletons have very similar properties to the ones in humans as some can only move 180 or 360 degrees or on a ball point an can move in a cone shape movment.

Reflection on bones research

Overall , the research i have conducted on the bones and skeletons was effective as it gave me insights into where joints would be in the body's of the animals and humans this would help with the walk and attack animations of the enemies and characters in the game. Knowing where the joints are in the body helps make my animations make sense and have realistic movements based on the how the joints movements in real life. Another way it helped is because due to the the nature of dog and cat bones i wanted to study the bone structure of these animals to then get reference for what other animals like look like and use there basic movements for other animals. The main aim of this research was to give me knowledge on the skeleton of humans dogs and cats and how the joints move , i believe that i was effective in reaching my aim and can use this newly gained knowledge to enhance my final animations.

Below you will find research into muscles and how they are affected in motion:

The aim of this research is to make sure that i understand the different movements of the muscles in the human and animal body to help develop my animation skills.

To do this i will look at medical works / documents ,images and videos to gather and enhance my knowledge on my area.

Here are some of Da Vinci works these works show the pronation and supination of the hand.Pronation is when the the palm is downward and supination is when the pal is upwards.

This helps me understand how the arm muscles would move and look when moving the palm of the hand this will help my animations look life like and also how the palm would affect the look and movement of the hand.

This diagram also shows how the shoulder muscle will look when moving the arm. Which can help me get the correct positions in my animations.

Here is a diagram that shows the major muscles used during movement providing me insight into where they are located and what the names of them are on the body from the from and the back.

Different parts of the body are effected when walking and this effects what the muscles do an look like.

Some examples are when you walk not only your legs move but due to the nature of muscles and there function of creating motion your hips would also move due to the joint that connect your left to your hip. These are not the only the muscles that move when you walk as it also affects your clavicle and moves as your walk.

Some of the main fundamentals of anatomy is :

contraction is when the a muscle is in a movement action for example when the arm is curled and that is when the bicep is contracting, relaxation is when a muscle is in its relax period for example when the arm is down the bi-cep is relaxing , levers (how much effort it requires for a load of weight)

Below is the muscles layout in dogs and cats. To further study this i will look at videos of cats and dogs movements to more effectively see these movement.

These images help me gain knowledge on where the muscles are in the dog and cats body and help get an idea on how they move and where the muscles are in the body which will help me animate the creatures of the game and make them more realistic.

Below are some videos that i have watched to help me understand what the muscles look like in the body during movement.

From these videos i have learnt how the shoulders, hips and legs muscles move during a walk. This will also help me as if i understand how the muscles move in a walk and help improve the walks of my characters in the game and make them of higher quality also i can adapt these finding to the other animations i have to make like the attack animations as these videos give me information on how the muslces move.

Below are some videos of a dog and cat walking that not only show how they walk but also insights into how their muscles and bones during there walks.

From these videos i learnt the basis on the walk cycles of dogs and cats have and how i can implement this information into my animations for the array of animals in our game as i can adapt the knowledge on the muscles and bones for these animals and use it on other animals to help create more high quality and believable animations.

Below you will find a video that i took of my friend walking with the aim of helping me visually see how the human body moves.

Above is a video that i took of one of my friends doing a basic walk and some arm and leg movements. The aim of this as to help me visually see how the human body would move during these movement and give me information on how the bones and muscles in the body would let you move.

I will now look at the rest of the animals iam going to rig and animate these include snakes , Tigers , Lions , Elephants and rats. for these I will mainly look at how the muscles move and there layout in these animals body’s as I have already done research into the joints.

Elephant

Above is a diagram of an elephants skeleton ,muscle layout and a video of them walking. These diagrams and the video will help me understand more effectively how these animals walk to help improve my animations . For example in the video you can see the weight of their movement and how as there legs move the stomach almost follows and moves with them. Elephant also have an interesting walk as both left legs move together and so do the right legs instead of them moving one at a time they move simultaneously which is important for me to know as to make the elephants animation as realistic as possible.

Lion and tiger

Above are diagrams of a lions and tigers skeleton and muscle layout and a video showcasing them walking. These diagrams and video will effectively help make my animations high quality and reflect how the animals would walk in real life. For example in the videos you can see as they walk with every front step you see almost recoil from this step as there backs go up as they then take a step with there back feet which also contributes to this. As lions and tigers are often named ‘big cats ‘ which is why they have similar bone and muscle structure and characteristics to a cat that I have previously researched also meaning that they have similar movements to a cat too

It was important that i look at these videos to make sure i can accurately portray these animations through my animations by making sure i include how there muscles move during there walk.

Snake

Above is a diagram of an snakes skeleton ,muscle layout and a video of them slithering. These diagrams and the video will help me understand more effectively how these animals walk to help improve my animations. The snakes 'walk cycle' is rather simple as from my interpretation i can see it as a tail in the wind the only important thing to note is how the movements start from the back and then almost vibrate up the snakes spine , this is important to note for when i make the snake animation.

Rats

Above is a diagram of an rats skeleton ,muscle layout and a video of them walking. These diagrams and the video will help me understand more effectively how these animals walk to help improve my animations.This video tells me how when the rat moves its back muscles goes up with it as they almost bounce up and down when they walk another interesting thing in noticed is how unlike a elephant and more like a tiger and lion each foot move individually from each other and all have there own step instead of one leg/foot following the other. This is anather important thing to help me effectivlety make my animations.

Above are some videos and stances of people attacking and posing with a scythe. I wanted to look at these videos and images as it will help me with my attack animations and the poses for the main character. I also traced of the poses with more basic shapes further help me visualise how these poses would look for when i pose my model.These will help me as i can see how the body moves and looks when wielding a scythe and help me replicate similar movements in my animations this will allow me to show the right amount of weight in my animation to make it look like my character is realistically using a scythe and attacking with it.

In this video there is an elephant attacking and their style is very much brute force and power as they often charge at thee victims swinging there head around.

Here is a video of a lion and tiger attacks and their style looks to be quite methodical and vicious as they almost weigh up there prey and think about what they are going to do before they attack their prey.

IN this video is a snake attacking it prey and their style is a very bouncy and jumpy attack as they often slither slowly to their target to then pounce and most likely strangle their prey.

In this video there is a rat attacking it prey and their style was quite scratty and jumpy as they are seen in the video often bouncing around the place in pursuit of their target.

Above are some videos of snakes , elephants , lions and rats attacking other creature. this was important for me too look at as it will help me with there attack animations to make them look like the movements that an each respective animal would do when attacking.This also helps me visualize where the muscles are in the body in the movement of attacking which will also help me with making my animations better reflect these movements and also gives me insight into the the characteristics and personality of these animals for example , the lion and tiger look to be almost methodical in there attacks whereas the snakes attack seems more spontaneous and violent .

Reflection On anatomy

The aim of research on anatomy was to enhance my knowledge on the bone structure and the muscles in the human , cat , dog and the other animals bodys (lion , tiger , rats , elephant and snake) body to gain a better understanding of these themes would help with my animations and make them of better quality. Overall , i believe i was successful and effective in achieving this aim and in doing this research i have gained valuable knowledge on the area of anatomy which will improve my animations and make them better as i know understand how certain muscles and bones like the hips should look during movement and when using a weapon and attacking (biting / lunging).I also now understand that the muscles are the part of the body that create the movement with the bones being there for support so you don't collapse and some ot the fundamentals of anatomy which are contraction relaxation and levers which will all help with improving my animations.

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