1、注:下划线为要重点理解的地方,棕色带括号注释为根据我们遇到的教学情况做出更通俗的解释。Mike Walling (前 Bluesky 工作室资深动画师,现为 Sony Imageworks 资深动画师)这是一个简单的步骤,我用它来分解一个镜头,从概念到最终完成。这是一种基于梯级曲线(step curve)的方法(摆出大的 pose,动画曲线为 step 方式,做 playblast 预览) ,我认为这种方法是你在 3d 里面能够应用上的最接近 2d 的方法了。 (step 方式看到的预览效果和原画师做最初的铅笔稿测试一样、都省略了中间画、看到了整个镜头的核心的大概内容)1开始!把握好方向,并考
2、虑连贯性当导演向所有动画师讲解剧情和每个镜头的内容的时候,就已经算开始了。这时,你应该抓住机会考察镜头的连贯性(镜头剪辑、动作的连续性) ,并且向导演提出任何你关于剧情和镜头的问题。2准备工作a 反复听声音文件一百遍,主要听重音和音调的变化(带出情绪、肢体等变化) 。我喜欢把对话写在纸上或者 dope sheet 上,并且画一些小箭头以获得一个声音变化的可视化印象。b 画一些讲述故事的 pose 或者拍摄参考的缩略图。我发现对于复杂的表演或动作镜头来说,参考是唯一可行的方法(不能凭空想象或记忆来完成一个复杂的动作,参考是必需的,但又不能照搬参考,我们需要观察、分析并重新设计。很多动画师的习惯是
3、:一屁股坐在电脑前面,开工,边做边像 ) 。没有它的话,你不可能获得这种行为的动态。 缩略图还是一种很好的方法让你开始考虑你可能要用到的 pose。我总是被告知,动画是 90的准备和 10的执行;虽然我不得不承认我在大多数的情况下是 40的准备和 60的执行,因为惧怕迫在眉睫的最终期限而在赶活儿。3时间管理这 对我来说可是个大事儿。作为一个在主流工作室工作的动画师,你有两个主要的责任。第一个是生成优质的动画。毕竟那是你之所以被雇用的原因,对不对?另一个 则是把工作按时完成。这就是我所称之为“走钢丝”或者“ 管理性创造性两全其美 ”。动画师能够有稳固的时间来完成任务的情况通常不会持续很久,因为他
4、们往往 不能适应来自导演的不断的改动(必须打心底里喜欢改,只有这样才能越做越好,越来越被人认同、喜欢。是导演倚靠的搭档而不是绊脚石)并且以动画总监期望的品质去按时完成工作,更不要说和你一起工作的是一个充满竞争的团队,每个人都想要那些“好的镜头”。这 导致我。 。 。 (我们这一行要坚持的两点:优质动画、按时完成)4工作流程你采取何种步骤来完成你的镜头呢?其实我们已经涵盖了一些。像我们刚才提及的听音轨,拍摄参考确定长度,还有画缩略图。现在还有什么?Blocking(Blocking 名词解释:blocking 简要就是 blocking animation。是做出 key pose 和break
5、down pose,规划好合适的时间间隔,就是 timing,再把动画曲线打成 stepped 的形式并做预览的这个过程。这样做便于动画师修改 pose 和 timing,集中精力注意关键地方而忽略中间画,快速地展现动画师的想法。以及让导演清楚动画师的意图,确定是否沿着正确的方向前进。如果彻底做完了再让导演看,再有改动,那就完了)!现当我开始 blocking我的镜头时,我只关心讲述故事的 pose(Key Pose) 。我们会把所有的细节在以后再加入进去。现在我们的兴趣点只是在于使我们的 pose 在播放 playblast 的时候感觉正确。把你想要的一切都放在表演(一切运动:pose 都是
6、为了表达一些东西,而不是 pose 的本身)上。不要犹豫,只管做就是了,因为你不能确定怎样从 Pose 到 Pose。Key 整个角色!(所有可动的属性,整个角色组)为什么呢?因为稍后当你开始 splining你的动画曲线时,你可能会错过一些游离的帧,争执把它们放在哪里是件痛苦的事情,而你本可以把每个 数值在每个 pose 固定下来的。而且,这样做也使得随意搬移帧调整Timing 的工作变得更加容易。另一个原因是当到了使镜头进入 spline 的阶段时, 我只需要给划分好的段落做 spline 就好了,而不是一下子给整个动画添加 spline。 (分段转曲线,事实上我们很难一次控制几百帧,特别
7、是复杂的动作)你的 blocking 应该包括手指的 pose 和好的面部表情(有助于清晰地传达 pose 的含义) 。不要担心口型同步,这个应该在几乎最后做的。 既然你已经 block 好了一些 pose,现在该翻动你的动画来看看你有了什么。现在该调节你的 Timing 了,既然你在各个帧上都有了 pose。现在你 已经对你的 blocking 满意了(有前途!) ,现在该来考虑一下过渡 key(中间帧 breakdown) 。别让你的计算机替你做太多这样的工作,对于角 色在 pose to pose 播放时将会看起来怎样心里要有想法。请记住我们仍然处在 step 的模式,先别 splini
8、ng!(随着 breakdown 的加多,你可能有点头大了,因为关键帧太多,事实上是任何动画师都头大了,关键在于仍要保持最初的清晰的想法,即要传达的核心)把 breakdown 放在需要的地方。我通常把它们放在需要描述一个运动的地方,放在pose 或是滑稽动作之间。我从我的朋友 Mike Thurmeier(Bluesky 工作室的动画总监,译者注)那里学到了要放置一个预备的 key 和一个拉伸的 key。开始考虑你的慢入和慢出。比如:如果我的 pose 是在第 120 帧,并且我想要我的 pose 改变在 8 帧内完成,那么我会在第 116 和 124 帧处 key 整个身体,然后我再回到第
9、 120 帧处key,这样就会形成一个从 120 到 124 帧的慢入。Splining! 对我来说,这是最难的部分了,因为你现在有了美妙整洁严谨的一包 pose,现在你却要把它们撕掉,形成流畅的运动。我觉得关键是要把事情分成小块然后逐一解决掉。我觉得最好的方法是首先给角色整体的动作做 spline。通常是躯干、颈及头。我喜欢在Maya 中分出层显示(layers) ,这样我可以把四肢先藏起来。 (躯干、颈头优先,他们 ok 后,开始四肢。新手很容易被手脚迷惑。 )通过这样我可以只看到我正在动画的部分。一旦我觉得躯干已经足够严谨了,我就会打开四肢的层显示,然后开始动画它们。你的动画也许看起来有
10、一点奇怪,有许多的保持帧和简单的过渡帧,但是这是 OK 的。因为现在你就要加入更多的细节,并开始精雕细琢。开始拖拽 spline curve(样条曲线) ,对你想要做 overlap 的控制器进行移动。插入更多的 breakdown 帧在单个的控制器上,而不是整个身体开始获得流畅的感觉,把 pose to pose 的感觉从动作中逐渐消除掉。现在是绝好的机会,你要开始加入细小的移动和姿势,就是那些你没有加入到 blocking 中的东西。我们正在把讲述故事的 pose 变成流畅的动作。你想让你的表演感觉真实自然,所以不要害怕把旧的key 帧丢掉,制作新的。 (很多人 key 一放下,就不动了一
11、直到完成,不管这个 key 是不是适合,这样很难完美。key pose 到最后也要适应总体的变化,在整体和细节中来回看)听并寻找嗓音中那些最细微的声调变化,并添加一些细小的重音,并且移动它,这会增加表现力。 (我现在还是在忙活躯干、颈和头)在这个点上你应该退回去,一遍遍的查看你的 playblast(movie 文件) ,并问你自己这些问题:1Timing 看起来感觉对吗?2我的慢入和慢出够好吗?3角色的细微之处有没有“死角”,我太懒了导致动画得不足?4动画是否太僵硬或绵软?如果太僵硬,是不是我有太多的地方把身体的 key 放在了同一帧上呢?如果太绵软,是不是我的 Timing 散得太开了呢?
12、现在,该对手臂和腿部做同样的事情了。按照前面说的顺序,你会为手臂和腿部总体上添加更多的 overlap,并且确保你加强了弧线和过渡帧,以使得它们看起来更有趣一点。5面部表情动画在面部和口型同步动画时我几乎遵照和身体其他部分同样的原则。既然你在前面已经对面部进行了 block,现在处理简单的 splines 你就可以很容易的为你的面部过渡修改 timing。当然面部相对要微妙的多,所以你需要对表演和你想要传递的情感非常敏感(来自准确的表情定义,后面阶段会详细描述) 。毕竟这是面部动画的全部意义所在(情感) ,对不对?关于口型同步,你需要从第一帧开始做起,并且为口型控制器的每个小项目都做出 pos
13、e,来综合实现你想要的形态。你这样从 shape 到 shape 的做下去,直到你完成它。然后你要走一遍 playblast。现在你可以多看几遍,寻找有问题的地方去修改。我发现这很容易,但是要花费大部分的时间在修改上。总之,如果我的镜头被计划为 5 天我会花费至少一天或者更多时间在面部和口型同步动画上。Mike Walling 的网站:www.mike-Mike Walling 的动画镜头请到 本地服务器下载Workflow (shot progression)By Mike WallingWelcome to my workflow page. I have recieved so muc
14、h feedback on my work flow doc that I thought it should be easier to view than just having to download it. So I hope you get use out of it and pass it on to others. Thanks, and enjoy! Oh and you can still grab the word doc at the bottom of the page. _This is the simple process I use to break down a
15、shot from concept to finished piece. It is based on the step curve method of animation and is in my opinion the closest to 2d you can get in 3d.1. The kickoff.- Getting direction and thinking about continuity.- The kickoff is where the director discusses the sequence to all of the animators and cove
16、rs the content of each shot. This is your chance to see your shot in continuity and ask the director any questions you may have about your shot or the sequence.2. Preparation.a. listen to the audio track about a hundred times listening for the beats and inflections in the voice. I like to write out
17、the dialog on paper or a dope sheet and then draw little arrows to get a visual of what the voice is doing. b. Thumbnail out some story telling poses or shoot reference. I have found that for complex acting or action shots reference is the only way to go. Without it you will never get the dynamics o
18、f the action. Thunbnails are also a great way to start thinking about poses you might want to use. I was always taught that animation is 90% preparation and 10% execution; although I have to admit that most times for me it is about 40% prep and 60% execution out of fear of the ever looming deadline.
19、3. Time management.- This is a pretty big one to me. As an animator at a major studio you have two major responsibilities. The first one is to produce quality animation. After all that is what you were hired to do right? The other is to get the work done on time. This is what I call “walking the lin
20、e“ or “pleasing administrative and creative“. Animators that have a hard time with this dont usually last long in a feature production because they just cant adjust to the constant changes from the director and getting the work done on time with the quality that is expected from the supervising anim
21、ators, not to mention that the team you work with is a competitive team and everybody wants the good shots“. This leads me to 4. Workflow- What steps do you take to get your shot done? Well we have covered some of them already. We already talked about listening to the audio track and shooting refere
22、nce footage and drawing thumbnails. Now what? - Blocking! When I start blocking my shot Im only concerned with the story telling poses. We will put all of the details in later. For now we are just interested in making the poses feel right when we run a playblast. - Put everything you want in the act
23、ing. Dont hold back because youre not sure how to get from pose to pose. Just go for it! - Key the whole character! Why? Because later when you start splining you might miss stray keys and its a pain to wrangle them when you could just lock everything down on each pose. It also makes it easy to shif
24、t timing around on the fly. One other reason is when it comes time to spline the shot it is easy for me to spline sections of the shot instead of the whole thing at once. - Your blocking should include finger poses and good facial. Dont worry about lip sync; this should be done almost last!Now that
25、you have blocked out some poses its time to flip your animation and see what you have. This is the time to adjust your timing since you have all of your poses on one frame each. Now that you are happy (hopefully) with your blocking it is time to start thinking about the transitional keys (breakdowns
26、). Dont let the computer do too much of the work for you and have an idea of what the character will look like going from pose to pose. Remember we are still in step curve mode. No splining yet!- Put breakdowns where needed. I usually put them in to describe a move between poses or an antic. I learn
27、ed from my friend Mike Thurmeier to put in the anticipation key and the stretch key to make the move look more dynamic in the blocking. All your doing is showing how your going from point A to point B. - Start thinking about your slo-ins and slo-outs. For example if my pose is on frame 120 and I wan
28、t my pose change to take place over 8 frames then Ill key the whole body at 116 and at 124. Then Ill back off the pose on frame 120 which will cause a slow-in from frame 120 to 124.- Splining! To me this is the hardest part because you have this nice neat tight package of poses and now you have to t
29、ear it all down into fluid motion. I think the key is to take things in small chunks and work through it. - I think the best way to go is to spline the gross movement of the Character first. Usually the torso, neck and head. I like to make layers in Maya so I can hide the limbs. This way I can see o
30、nly the parts that Im animating. Once I feel like the torso is tight I will turn on the limbs and start working through them.- Your animation might look a little strange now, with lots of holds and simple transitions but thats ok because now your going to go into more detail and start breaking thing
31、s up big time. - Start to drag spline curves of movers that you want to overlap. - Insert more breakdown keys on individual movers (not on the whole body) - Start to get the fluidity in the motion breading away from the pose to pose feel. - This is a great time to start to add little moves and gestu
32、res that you didnt put into the blocking. We are moving past the story telling poses to fluid movement. You want you acting to feel natural and human so dont be afraid to tear down the old keys to make new ones. - Listen for the littlest of inflections in the voice and add little accents and moves t
33、hat will add to the performance. ( Im still only working on the torso, neck and head.)At this point you should step back, watch your playblast (movie file) over and over and ask your self these questions.1. Is the timing feeling right?2. Do I have good slow-ins and slow-outs?3. Are there “dead zones
34、“ where Ive gotten lazy and under-animated my characters nuances.4. Is the animation stiff or fluid? If it is stiff, do I have the keys of the body all landing on the same frame too often? Is it floaty, is my timing too spread out?Now its time to do the same thing for the arms and legs.- Follow the
35、same procedure outlined previously. You will put more overlap in the arms and legs in general and make sure you beef up the arcs and transitions to make them look a little more interesting.5. Facial animation. - I follow pretty much the same principles for the face and lip sync as I do for the rest
36、of the body. - Since you have the face blocked in from earlier and is now simple splines you can easily go in and tweak the timing for your facial transitions. Of course the face will be much more subtle so you will have to be sensitive to the acting and emotion you are trying to convey, after all t
37、his is what it is all about right? - As far as lip sync is concerned you will have to start at frame one and set a pose on all of the mouth movers for the shape you want. Work your way down shape by shape until you are done and then run a playblast. Now you can look at it a few times looking for problem areas you can tweak. I find this to be fairly easy but spend them most time tweaki ng. Over all if my shot is scheduled for 5 days I will try to spend at least one day or more on the face and lip sync.