For my animation, I chose scenario 5 whereby the box is stuck when Om Nom wanted to place it on the stack. He tried very hard to shake off the box from his grasp that left him panting. He then accumulated all his energy into a single swing in attempt to shake off that box.
Unfortunately, not only did he not remove the box from his grasp, he knocked over the box on the platform. He was utterly disappointed that he had to re-stack the boxes from scratch.
Process
Before starting on my animation was simply the rigging of the mechanic arm I did during one of the lab exercises. This has to be done first so that I can animate my mechanic arm afterwards. I continued where I left off, where the mechanic arm waits for the box to move to him and then picks it up to put it on the platform. My scenario requires me to grab another box. In order to do this, I would need to import a new box and then add a parent constraint to it.
Firstly to add a constraint, I select the shift-select Arm Control first and then cargo box. I then use the parent function under Constrain > Parent. This is for the picking up animation later on.
I gave the robot 'life" in order to make the animation look more interesting and less dull while picking up the first box. The robot will first look at the box while approaching him and then lift it up. While a real cargo box in real have have weight, I also have to show it while it picks up the box. So instead of just picking up the box monotonously, why not making the joint of the magnet swing a little bit as if there is a really strong force that is making it wobble. I achieved this animation by editing the Graph Editor.
Having a straight curve would not have any movement during the pick-up phase. Therefore, I edited the curves of Translate Y, Z and Rotate Z to give it more variety of movement during that phase. The same method was being used while picking up the second cargo box. However I made the rotation of X steeper this time to create anticipation. The robot turns to look at the box while waiting for it to approach him.
Same here, I also made the box looked heavier as the swing are more obvious during this pick up. The arm then continues to place the second cargo box on the stack, however he found out that the box would not let go from his grasp. In order to do achieve this, I would need to animation him trying to shake off the box. I did this by altering all the Rotation and Translate values. This would be the part whereby he struggles to get rid of the box by shaking the arm in all directions.
This is the graph of Translate Y, Z, Rotate X, Y and Z. Notice that the curves are up and down which makes the robotic arm come to 'life' instead of 'dead'. After all the struggle, the arm has no more energy left which left him panting. I did this by altering the translate Y's curve. Making it a curve and the robot arm moves up and down in a gentle manner to show that he is panting.
There was a part in my animation that requires me to topple the box over. I tweaked the Rotate X while doing so. I also referred to one of the bouncing ball exercises that requires me to make the ball rotate while bouncing.
The last part of my animation was that the robot arm was disappointed and tired as he had to re-stack the boxes all over again after toppling it over. I used the method of making the box pant and apply it here. However I did not just alter the curve of one translate but many of them. This is to make it look more than just panting but also disappointed.
This is what all the Translate and Rotation curves look like during the part where he look disappointed and sad.
He still did not get the box off his arm in the end though.
After all this steps, I then proceed to refine my animation by using the Graph Editor. For example, making the animation look smoother by making a curve rather than just a straight line. This would add a ease-in-ease-out effect rather than a start-stop kind of animation.
Self-Critique
In my opinion, I feel that my animation is successful as I did what I wanted and followed the storyboard quite closely. Except that my ending was quite different to what I had planned. It was intended that both of the box would fly and topple then the arm knock it over. Unfortunately, I'm only able to make one topple over as I have some problems making the second box fly out.
I tried to make the second box fly out too but my box keep warping to it's original position whenever I change the constraint. After several tries I've decided to change the ending a little. Instead of making both of the boxes fly, I had decided to make one topple over.
I had applied the Ease-In-Ease-Out, Anticipation and Timing animation principles in my animation.
This can be seen with the box slowing down and then to a complete rest and the crane picking up the boxes and putting it down. It starts slow and then ends slow. I feel that squash and stretch cannot be applied in my animation because in reality, a solid and rigid cargo box will not be able to squash and stretch.
Anticipation was applied in my animation too. This can be seen when the robotic arm is looking towards the box while its moving towards it. When the box is in front of him the arm lifts up and thus creating anticipation of the next action that he is going to make which is going down and pick up the box. Another part is which when the mechanic arm gather all his strength after panting.
Timing is also applied in my animation. This principle is applied when the mechanic arm topple the boxes over. I slowed down the process to focus on the part whereby the box was being knocked over by the arm. I did this to create a center of attention to make them focus onto whats happening on the screen right now. As the mechanic arm was about to knock over the box, it slows down and then start toppling and rotating.
However, I feel that there was an obvious flaw in my animation on this part. The rotation was not smooth and unnatural. It stopped a little in mid-air, proceed to rotate at a faster pace and then lend. One thing I could have done better to improve this animation is editing the Graph Editor. I could have made the curves smoother.
Overall my animation might not be the best, natural and have all the principles of animation but this is an animation that I had done my best and achieved my desire animation.
Reflection
I feel that this project was harder than the previous exercises so far. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out my problem as my arm was not able to pick up my second box. There was also a problem whereby the box will fly out of position when i rotate the pivot of the yellow magnet. However all these are solved when I consulted my tutor and seek advice from my friends. They provided useful information that helped solved my problems. In conclusion, I would like to say I am proud of this animation and enjoyed myself and had a little laugh while watching the end product!
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