Unit 66 & 67 - Animation Evaluation

Link to Animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfhaL0TP-GU

Animation Story/What Happens

My animation takes place in a prison cell, where the main character Mike has woken up. It turns out the prison has been taken over by clowns. 

The animation starts in Mikes cell, and the camera moves towards the exit of the prison throughout the animation. Doors fall over and slam shut on their own, and the lights flicker and turn off.

How Did I Create The Animation?

My animation was created in Maya, and is primarily made up of a long camera track. The camera moves from point A to point B and things happen along the way.
To create the basic camera movements, I set a key frame, moved the camera to where I wanted it and then set another key frame. This is used for animating anything, not just the camera. 

I could change the speed of the camera depending on how far apart I put the key frames. For example, 2 seconds into the video the camera moves quickly as it looks at the broken door. They key frames I used there were very close together (Key frames are marked as red lines.)

And at 4 seconds when the camera moves towards the door, the key frames were further apart. 

The movement of the doors was very simple. I set a key frame for the door when it was in an open or closed position, used the rotate and movement tools to change it's position, then set another key frame. Then when the animation is played it shows the door opening or closing in one smooth motion.

The lights work the same as well. Set a key frame when they are on, then set another when they are off, or vice versa.

To animate the clowns head I had to connect it to a skeleton. A skeleton adds all the bones and joints to the model, and allows me to move different limbs by interacting with joints. Below is a picture of the clown with a skeleton inside it, with one of the neck joints selected.

Evaluation

Things I Would Change?

• Fix the problems I had with the skeleton/model. When trying to move most limbs, the body stretches and becomes deformed. You'll notice at the end of the animation when the clown moves his head that the shape of his head changes slightly.
• Animate the clown more, maybe make it walk, run, or grab the camera.
• Add more detail to the environment (footprints, blood stains etc.) One reason why I didn't add more detail is because that wasn't my main concern. The priority was the animation itself.
• Add some ambient sound.

Things I Like

• The environment. I think its quite a creepy setting and looks nice with the lighting.
• The camera movements, such as peeking round the corner at the start and waking up from the bed.