WEEK 10 – Advanced Body Mechanic Blocking

Autodesk Maya

During the critiques, George suggested slightly changing the animation to enhance its impact. He recommended having the character jump in fright when opening the door, which would add an element of surprise and make the scene more dynamic. Taking his advice to heart, I revisited my initial reference materials to better understand how to implement this adjustment. After careful consideration and analysis, I sketched a new thumbnail to visualise the proposed change. This new approach allowed me to better capture the character’s reaction and integrate it seamlessly into the animation, ensuring a more compelling and engaging sequence.

In the lesson, George emphasised the importance of blocking everything before animating in spline. He explained that it is crucial to begin with the key poses or storytelling beats, which form the bare bones of the shot. Additionally, he recommended posing the character from the perspective view rather than the shot camera view to ensure it looks good from multiple angles.

A quick and efficient way to complete blocking, especially when the animation includes similar poses, is to copy those poses and make slight adjustments to their translation and rotation so they aren’t identical.

Ensure you include the hands and fingers in your key poses during blocking. While they don’t need to be perfect, a rough pose can greatly enhance the overall pose and will be very helpful later during the spline and polish stages.