Recreating Cameras and Lights in Maya

Here is my attempt at recreating an image using Maya. It was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be.

Here is the original photograph.

Here is my Maya Render.

Here is the render at a different angle.

Bonus Points: Lighting a Scene in Maya

Here is the image of my initials with default lighting.

Here are my initials lit with one-point lighting.

Here are my initials lit with two-point lighting.

And finally, here are my initials lit with three-point lighting.

Opting Out of Third Term Paper

My first two term paper scores were both above 80; I will not be writing a third term paper.

Outline for the Third Term Paper

Fireballs

1.     Introduction

a.      Fire is often used as a dazzle element in storytelling. It’s dangerous it’s unpredictable. Reflects those who can control it

b.     Characters who can control fire in Avatar the Last Airbender and X Men the Last Stand

                                                    i.     Avatar – 2D hand drawn animated TV series

                                                  ii.     X Men 2 – Live action film

2.     Avatar the Last Airbender - Animated TV series

a.      Season 1 Episode 8: rock coated with flammable liquid is set on fire

                                                    i.     Fire effect was painted over finished rock animation

                                                  ii.     The fire is not very believable in this shot. It looks like the fire is on its own flat layer and not wrapping around the rock

b.     Season 1 Episode 17: Fireballs shot from tanks

                                                    i.     Hand drawn animated and painted

                                                  ii.     The fire is pretty believable in this scene

3.     X Men the Last Stand

a.      Pyro “holds” a fireball in hand

                                                    i.     done entirely using computer graphics

                                                  ii.     Not very realistic – the flame looks like a large fire that was shrunk to palm size, the timing is off

b.     Cars on fire thrown at heroes

                                                    i.     Cars on wires were used in filming. The fire was added later using computer graphics

                                                  ii.     This fire is pretty believable in this shot

4.     Conclusion

a.      Fire is an often used effect for dramatic purposes, especially when a character is controlling it

b.      Fire effects, even when fantastical, can be believable when laws of physics are abide by.

Character Animation

For this animation, I used paper to animated my characters. The bird seed is uncooked quinoa stuck to tape. I planned out my animatic in flash and then I cut out each non-repeated pose that I needed for the animation. I had my camera mounted on a tripod shooting down at my scene, where I moved and placed the poses I needed for each shot. I then used Photoshop to clean up any images that needed it. Finally, I assembled all the images together in Flash, timed them out accordingly, and exported.

Here are some example of a few poses laid out together.

This is my workstation.

 

Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction

          Balance is an important component to creating a convincing animation. It makes the audience believe that what they’re seeing is actually plausible. If the balance of a character or object is too far off, than the suspension-of-disbelief is ruined for the viewer. An object is balanced when an object’s center of gravity is at the lowest point it can be and the line of gravity falls within the object’s base of support. Most of the time, things seem to be in balance for animated films, but there are many instances where things portrayed would not be in balance in the real world. Usually it is done for story purposes, either for comedic or dramatic effect. It can also be done to give a whimsical feel to the overall film. Some films where this happens are The Emperor’s New Groove, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Chicken Little. They are three very different films that occasionally have things out of balance.

          The Emperor’s New Groove is a hand drawn animated film that tells the story of a self-centered emperor who gets turned into a llama and taken far away from home. Balance is often altered in the film for comedic affect or to show that someone is strong.

             In one example where balance is off for comedic effect is when Yzma is smashing busts of Kuzco. A bust is placed on the pedestal precariously off the edge. The point of pressure would be just at the very edge of the pedestal if not beyond it. If this was hypothetically balanced, there would most likely be a wobble. This sets up the joke that interrupts Yzma’s rant to tell Kronk to move the bust “a little to the left.”

          Another example of off balance being used for story is when Kronk is carrying Kuzco, who has been turned into a llama, in a bag. Kronk is a character who is exceptionally strong. Not only is he visually designed to look this way, but balance is often off to emphasize his strength. A full grown llama weighs roughly 290 to 440 lbs. Assuming Kronk is strong enough to easily move so much mass, he would need to shift his own body to stay in balance due to the new location of the center of gravity. However, this is not shown at all as Knronk carries a full grown llama in a sack. This enhances the idea of Kronk being big a strong.

          A third example of balance being used for story is when Kuzco and Pacha push on each other’s backs to walk up a cliff and escape from crocodiles. The idea here is that Kuzco and Pahca are working with each other to get out of a bad situation. They both apply a force to each other and their respective rocks to walk up the cliff. They reach a point where they can’t go any higher and so stay in one place for a while to figure out a new way to get out. The forces they evenly apply to each other and the rocks keep them stable and balanced to walk up. However, the position they end up staying in when they stop is far too horizontal and stretched out to be stable. The forces that they can apply with their outstretched legs through their toes to stay balanced wouldn’t be enough to overcome the force of gravity in real life.  

          Another film where things are often off balanced is the Nightmare before Christmas.The Nightmare before Christmas is a stop motion film using puppets and sets for the animations. It it is a story about different holiday worlds and how the king of Halloween Town discovers Christmas Town. In this film, the off balance feel is created to give the film an overall magical and whimsical feel.

          There are several characters the film that just seem to defy gravity. Even when their center of gravity is so far off from their base of support, they can still balance. Such is the case for a nameless bat character who lives in Halloween Town. In one scene this little bat can be seen balancing on one of its wings without shifting its weight. Because of this its center of gravity is far from its base of support. This makes the character feel light weight and magical for being able to do such a thing.

  

          Another character who is able to balance in a most unrealistic way is Jack Skellington, the main character of the story. Jack is a living skeleton made up only of bones and wears a tight fitting suit. Jack is very top heavy which helps sell the idea that he can balance on such thin legs. Since objects or characters with higher centers of gravity take longer to fall, it is much easy and faster to regain balance and stability. However, in positions where Jack leans far over, it seems very unfeasible for Jack to maintain balance. Since the film was created using stop motion a device called a rig or an arm is attached externally to the puppet so that it stays upright and balanced for positions where it wouldn’t be otherwise. The Jack’s puppets are made up of light weight steel and foam to also help with the balance. If these were real positions of actual bone, Jack would have to constantly reposition himself and regain balance.

         It is not just the characters that appear off balance in the world of Halloween Town. Even the buildings themselves appear to be magically balanced in ways that would not be possible in the real world. Jack Skellington’s house has a tower that protrudes from the roof. The tower is curved and juts out from the rest of the building. We can estimate that the center of gravity would be closer to the top of the tower since that is where furniture, books and the larger and heavier space overall is located. However, the tower doesn’t fall. In reality the model that is used has reinforcements at the bottom and the top is lighter than it would actually be in real life. This effect, just like with the characters, creates a sense of magic in the world of The Nightmare Before Christmas.

         A third film that has things unbalanced is Chicken Little. Chicken Little is a 3D animated film that features anthropomorphic animals as the characters of this world. It is a story of Chicken who sets out to save the town from aliens when no one believed his claim that the sky is falling. In this film, many of the characters that appear out of balance are that way for comedic effect.

          In one case, there is unbalance in the motion more so than in the stagnant position. It is a scene where Runt of the Litter, a pig, bends down to pick up his pencil. He bends forward to pick it up, but ends up falling back. This is a funny scene because when bent forward, Runt’s center of gravity is shifted forward. It is an unstable pose to begin with and on that would logically end with Runt falling. The humor comes from that fact that Runt ends up falling in the opposite direction. It is an outcome that is not very feasible and is unexpected, making it funny.

          Another example of a character off balance is when Fish out of Water dances to avoid getting hit during a dodge ball game. At one point Fish leans very far to screen right and manages to maintain balance. It can be estimated that the center of gravity for Fish is at or near the head since he is wearing a scuba helmet full of water, making him very top heavy. Even if assuming that Fish is strong enough to carry all this weight on his head, bending as far over as he does would be impossible for maintaining balance.

  

          Another example involving Fish with regards to balance is when he stands on a tower made solely out of paper taken from a few magazines. The tower sways and bends, but Fish stays on without any signs of falling. This is another comedic scene in where Fish copies the iconic King Kong scene where King Kong is standing on top of the Empire State building. What makes the scene so implausible is the fact that paper does not balance very easily when folded and stacked the way it is shown in the film. It is possible to construct a tower out of paper in this fashion, but it would be very unstable and certainly not stable enough to have Fish swaying back and forth on top. However, the absurdity of the whole situation is what makes the scene amusing. It also adds to the overall feeling of the film that this is a world where the incredible is possible, like aliens invading the earth. 

            Overall, there are many instances in animation where balance is pushed and exaggerated for any number of reasons. It could be either to make a comedic scene or to show the strength of a character. It could also be pushed to create a whimsical and magical world that abides by its own laws of physics. If the rules off balance are consistent in that world and there is a good reason for things to be out of balance, then the audience will accepted the scene for what it is and won’t be taken out of the story. From this perspective, it can be just as important to have things out of balance as it is in balance to create a convincing and entertaining story.

Outline for the Second Term Paper

1.     Introduction

a.      Balance complies with very different laws of physics in many animated films

b.     Describe center of gravity, point of pressure and how things are balanced

c.      Center of gravity and point of pressure are often ignored for storytelling purposes

                                                    i.     Introduce the three films as examples

2.     Emperor’s New Groove

a.      Bust of Kuzco balances on edge of pillar without wobbling or falling off

b.     Kronk is able to carry Kuzco without altering his body position to accommodate the new location of the center of gravity

c.      Tree trunk Pacha and Kuzco are wrapped around is able to balance up as they float down the river

d.     Kuzco and Pacha are able to push against each other shoulders and stand on their toes on the cliff without falling

3.     The Nightmare Before Christmas

a.      A bat is able to balance on the tips of its wings to walk without falling over

b.     Jack can constantly keep balance on stilt legs w/o constantly recovering balance

                                                    i.     All characters have metal armatures in them

c.      Jack’s house balances on a curved cylinder

                                                    i.     There is heavy metal core in center at base to keep it upright

4.     Chicken Little

a.      Runt bends forward, looses balance and falls backward

b.     Fish is able to bend over with scuba helmet on head, without losing balance

c.      Fish is able to stand and balance on a tower of paper

5.     Conclusion

a.      Balance is manipulated to enhance the story, create a certain whimsical feel for the film, and enhance the story.

b.     If there is consistency in how the laws of physics are bent or broken, then the errors won’t be noticeable or bothersome to the audience.

c.      It is also altered to show a character is strong

Reverse Video Reference

Here are the videos based off of the four animations. It was very tricky recreating some of the videos, but I gave it my best shot I think they turned out better than I originally expected they would.

Clip A

Clip B

Clip C

Clip D

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

Here is a stop motion animation of a stuffed chicken jumping and falling.

I did this animation by laying out my scene on my floor, laying down markers of where to position my character, and having a camera mounted on a tripod shooting down at the overall scene. After taking all my needed pictures, I edited out the markers in Photoshop. I then imported all the images into Flash, where I timed out my shots and exported my final animation.

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

The Unique Laws of Physics in Hercules

            Hercules is a hand drawn animated film that was released in 1997 by Disney. It is inspired by the stories of Heracles from Greek mythology. In this version of Hercules, our main character was stripped of his god hood as a baby. When he grows up and learns of his lost god hood, he trains with a satyr to become a true hero and have his god hood restored. The story is filled with action, humor, and numerous mythological creatures. As a result, the world of Hercules has its own unique laws of physics. Force and Inertia are heavily exaggerated, mythological creatures follow their own laws of physics that resembles the real world, but is still noticeably different and unique to this world, and the elements from water to smoke act more on emotion rather than real laws of Physics.

Hercules, the main character, is a god with super strength. To show this strength and exemplify his other worldly characteristics, force and inertia behave very differently compared to the real world. One example of force not behaving normally is when Hercules slips while running to stop pillars from collapsing he slides across the ground and hits a man carrying lots of pottery vases. But while he is sliding there is no noticeable decrease in his speed as would normally happen when something is traveling across a surface due to friction. The inertia of the sliding is greatly exaggerated to emphasize the force Hercules is able exert as he was quickly running before slipping.

Another example of Hercules’s strength being shown through exaggeration is when he is swinging on a rope and is able to change direction while in mid-air during the swing. It is possible for a person to change direction mid swing, but only by little. It is possible for a person to throw their body in a different direction that deviates from their current swing path and have the path be affected. However, a weight shift alone is not enough for a person to significantly deviate from their course as Hercules can. Many people would preserve such a shift as being dependent on strength and so in the world of Hercules it makes sense that being means he can deviate as much as he does while swinging through the obstacle course.  

A last example of the laws of physics being different when relating to Hercules’s strength is him flicking a bend metal sword back to a normal straight shape. The idea here is the same a person that keeps moving when a bus stops. When Hercules stops his sword, the top portion of it keeps moving due to inertia and stops when it has returned to its normal shape. A typical sword in that era was made of bronze a metal that is far too stiff to be affected by a sudden stop like the one in Hercules. This is an example where the physics of this world are rooted in true laws of physics, but have been exaggerated to emphasize the story and strength of the character.

One example other than for Hercules’s strength includes action/reaction involving an explosion from Hades. Out of anger Hades causes an explosion on a mountain cliff. Everything at the base of the cliff jumps up due to the explosion. However, there is no appearance of reaction moving away from the explosion as would happen in real life. In reality, the force of an explosion of that size would cause a push that radiates outwards. It is shown to have affected Pain and Panic in this way by being blown against the wall, but for everything else there was no such radial force.

Another way that the laws of physics are different is the existence of mythical creatures and how the laws of physics apply to them differently than real animals and people. For example, Pegasus, a horse with wings, is able to create enough lift to carry its weight plus two people with wings disproportionally small compared to that of a real bird. In reality, wings of that size would not be able to overcome the force of gravity, especially when taking into account that the average weight of a full grown horse is roughly 800 lbs. to 1200 lbs.

Another example of a horse creature with its own rules of physics is a centaur, which is half man and half horse. In the story, Nesses the centaur is at least double the size of an average horse. Despite this though, he is able to move his limbs at the same speed of a normal horse as shown when he runs towards Hercules. By having Nesses move faster than a creature of that size would in reality, he seems more intimidating, more threating, and more of a challenge for Hercules to overcome. This fast movement for a large creature also applies to a Cyclops that is several stories tall. Once again, despite his height, he is able to move his limbs at the same speed as a normal human. The reason for this is so that Hercules seems even smaller. It is a time when Hercules is weak and helpless. By making the Cyclops have human speed, the audience will identify with the Cyclops and so will make Hercules seem that much smaller and that much weaker as he is being beaten by the Cyclops.

One example that contradicts this observation of larger creatures moving at the same speed as smaller counterparts is the earth titan. The earth titan is the same size as the Cyclops, but moves considerably slower, and closer to what would be expected of a creature that size as seen when the titans are walking towards Mount Olympus. The slower movement was more emphasized for the earth titan because he is made of rock is therefore visually more heavy looking. The audience would then expect the earth titan to move much slower.

The elements of fire, water, air, earth, etc. behave very different in the world of Hercules compared to the real world. Story and emotion act as the main forces governing the elements much of the time. An example of this is one previously mentioned which is the titans. Each of them is made of rock, ice, wind, or lava. They move and feel just as any other living creature. Another instance where the elements are alive is when the rock statue of Zeus comes to life to talk to Hercules, which happens a few times through the film. The stone no longer behaves like a stone, but as a person with how fast it moves and how it reacts with emotion as Zeus talks to Hercules.

The elements don’t just come to life, but also react to the main emotion of a character during that particular part off the story. An example of this is Hades’ hair which is actually fire. The fire on his head either grows or shrinks depending on Hades’ mood. When Hades’ is angry the fire grows and spreads over his body, without any added fuel or air. Another example is smoke drifting around Hades. Rather than reacting to normal pressure differences and currents, smoke will move and react according to the story moment at the time. A scene of this is when smoke surrounds Hades as he plots a new way to kill Hercules.

Another example of elements reacting to emotion rather than real world physics is when a tree smacks Phil. While a tree can bend due to the force of wind and will lean in a certain direction to get more sunlight, a tree does not have the capability of moving so quickly without exterior force acting upon it.    

It is clear that the laws of physics are different in the world of Hercules compared to the real world, but since it is consistent through-out the film, the audience doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. The entire world of Hercules is centered on characters and creatures that do not and cannot exist in the real world. So in order for all the mythological beings to appear real, a new must be created with different laws of physics. However, they are based on real laws of physics and so the world is believable. With consistent rules of physics with just enough believability, the audience will accept and enjoy the story being told without being bothered or disturbed by a different world.

Outline of the First Term Paper: Analysis of "Hercules"

1.     Introduction

a.      Hercules (1997, 93min.)

b.     2D animation

c.      There are a lot of exaggerated and broken rules of physics to create a mythological and humorous world

2.     Force and Inertia behave differently/ more exaggerated

a.      Hercules slides into a man with pots without losing any momentum; there is a delay before the pillars fall

b.     Things bounce up instead being pushed away from an explosion from Hades

c.      Hercules is able to change direction while swinging in midair on a rope

d.     Hercules flicks his bent sword back to a perfectly straight sword

e.      A possible contradiction would be the Medusa head that falls off the statue of Perseus. It falls at a normal pace and arc

3.     Mythological creatures have their own unique rules of physics

a.      A horse can fly with bird wings disproportionate to what they would be on a real bird, but still creates enough force to create lift

b.     A half man half horse creature can  move his limbs at the speed of a normal sized horse despite almost being twice the size

c.      The Cyclops has fast movements like a human despite being taller than multistory buildings

d.     Nymphs can turn from humans to trees

4.     The elements behave with emotional like qualities and/or are characters all together

a.      Smoke drifts around Hades when he is plotting

b.     The fire on Hades’ head reacts and changes with Hades’ emotions rather than added fuel or oxygen

c.      Rock, wind, ice, and lava come to life to battle against gods.

d.     Zeus’s rock statue comes to life to talk to Hercules

e.      Tree moves to smack Phil away from itself

5.     Conclusion

a.      The laws of physics are exaggerated and sometimes abandoned to forward the plot. It is also done to accommodate actions motivated by emotion

b.     The laws also have to be exaggerated  to accommodate all the mythical creatures that exist in this world

c.      The laws are also exaggerated to create humor and entertainment.

Video Analysis Path of Action

Here is my video for the five jumps. I have low back pain, so I asked my friend Zan to jump for me. I wave to the camera at the beginning of the video.

Here is the analysis of one of Zan's jumps.

Here is the video for the one jump with the tracker points.

Tracker Video Analysis of Falling

Here is the video of my ball drop reference and the analysis on the Tracker program.

Shooting Video Reference

Here is a video of me throwing a ball.

Here is my analysis of the video showing the "Fourth Down at Half Time" rule.

Mini-Portfolio

Hello! My name is Tara Mueller. I am an animation/illustration major at San Jose State University. I have taken all of my lower division major classes and I am now in the advanced 2D animation course and the third digital illustration course. The last science class I took was Intro to Behavioral Neuroscience, which I took at my community college before transferring. The last natural science I took was AP Chemistry in high school.I am going down the visual development/illustration route of the program, but my mind is still open to options. I gravitate towards painting and designing landscapes and cityscapes, but I also really enjoy 3D animation. At the moment I am letting life take me where it may. 

Last semester, we read Markus Zusak's The Book Thief. We had to design either the Hubermann's basement or the Mayor's library. I choose the Mayor's library. Below are two images I painted based off of my own design for the library.

Below is the final animation from my ANI 51B class, which is beginning 3D animation. It is a personality walk based on music I selected from a given list.

The First Post

Hello! My name is Tara Mueller. This is my 4th year at San Jose State University. I can't wait to meet everyone. I look forward to the many fun activities of this class!