Creating a Skeleton for a Body

To enable a body to move a skeleton must be insetted into the body, this process is called physicing. To create a skeleton you must select a 'byped' from the systems section of the tool bar, you then drag the the skeleton to the inside of your exsisting body. It is easier to freeze the exsisting body and make it see through, this way it will not move and you will be only be able to see the skeleton.

 

Rolling Movement

I decided I wanted to create a rolling effect on a tube shape, I would do this by making a simple animation that moves forward and back. I then used the curve editor to make the movement smoother. The final result is on a CD that i have handed in.

The Curve Editor

We were taught how to use the curve editor on an animations, the curve editor determines how fast or slow you want an animation to go. To access the curve editor you simply click on button on the toolbar. A window will appear with your animation on it, you change each point by dragging it in a direction.

Circling a Model with a Camera

For my final animation I want to get the parachute to look as if it is floating across the town of Da Vinci, to do this is will use the 'path contsraint' tool which enables the camera to circle a model, 360 degrees. The camera acts as the viewer of the model and shows exactly what will be seen when rendered.

To do this you must create a path around the model which will be seen, ie. a circle or rectangle. The camera must then be selected, go to 'animation' and select the 'path constraint' tool. A line will then appear which must be joined from the camera to the edge of the 'path'.

Playing the animation as you usually would do allows you to see around the entire model.

Cameras

There are two types of cameras valible for use in 3D animation, target and free. To view what the camera is capturing you have to change the view point on the bottom left hand side view point. By doing this you are able to see everything that is being done to the model. You can also move the camera up, down, left and right to focus in on a particular scetion.

Basic Animation

The animation process is the part I was particularly looking forward to, I had no experience of 3D animation so any knowledge gained was a bonus. During the first class we learnt a few basic terms including 'Time Configuration' and 'Set and Auto Key'.

After practising the techniques I managed to to produce a multicoloured ball that moved horizontilly across the screen.

I then created a secong ball which I added a lepoard print material to, I wanted to create the effect of a bouncing ball, to do this I moved the ball up as well as along in each frame. 

The Final Building

The Final Body

The Final Parachute

The Reason Behind Choosing the Parachute

At the start of this module I was slightly nervous about choosing an invention to recreate, after a while of playing around with with the programme I decided I wanted to create something that would fly once animated. The options were then the flying machine and the parachute. As I was still not totally confident about making the model I decided to go with the parachute which I thought might be slightly easier to recreate. I am very pleased with the way the parachute has turned out.

Changes to the Building

After looking back over the 3 models I had created I decided I want not happy with the building, I decided to redesign the shape. I particularly liked the material I had used on the original model so wanted to keep it the same.

To keep the changes as simple as possible I copied the original building 5 times and resized it, I also deleted the roof of a couple of them and rotated them to create curtain walls for the castle. The changes were small yet make the model look ten times better. I am now very pleased with the final product.