Hey there!

I'm also working on the basics and I had the same problem as you, I think most people have it. You do a couple of ball bounces when you first begin and then move on to some really complex shots and after some time you feel you have to start again with the basics.

I've been animating for an year and a half and I'm still working on really basic animations like ball bounces and pendulums and stuff like that. The amount of time it takes really depends on you, I'm still in school so I don't have much time to do animation. I'm working on animations like these: Ball bouncing, ball with tail, pendulums, a real pendulum like those of the clocks swinging and then I figure out different exercises to do with those. Like have an inanimate ball fall down stairs (heavy & light), different weight balls falling, a ball which is alive and can move by itself. Then you have the timing, make a cartoony ball bouncing, a ball bouncing in a way that looks real. The same with pendulums and balls with tails. There are lots you can do with only those.

Don't just do 1 animation of each. Do LOTS! Make 5 animations of a ball falling down the stairs and you will see that each time you will notice new stuff and you will do it quicker. Remember to post them here to get critiques and improve them more each time. Something that is really useful for me is watching how a ball was animated in some movie, for instance,  or you can even check all the Animation Mentor animations that are on youtube and write down everything you see, even the timing. Write how long it takes a heavy ball to fall, a light one. Then try to do your own animation applying everything you have learned.

After moving on with other exercises, I would keep on going to the previous one and doing it a couple of times, like keep on practising ball bounces although you've made 40 and they all look great. And you should specially animate something you feel weak on, for instance if you feel that your pendulums animations aren't that good, don't avoid them, don't be afraid to make a horrible animation. That's the animation you just practice the most. Maybe you don't have that problem but I have it and for me it's a bit hard to go past this "fear" and do the animation. So remember to make lots of tests!! And try to make them short at first, don't make your first ball bounce animation 1 min long. I would start doing those once you feel you are almost done with the basics and make them as a final exercise.

I hope this helps!

Good luck!

Jero

Last edited by Jero 3D (07-27-2010 10:05 pm)

p.s. I know the clip is produced badly, thats why I wanna pace myself and learn properly. It was produced in 3-4 weeks.

exactly, thats what i plan to do. restart completely. just hoping somebody can offer some sort of structure etc.

To begin then, what is 'pure physics'? Also what are the determining factors of a balls rotation?

Also with the above structuce, how long should I be targetting myself. The exercises produced in february were produced excessively fast. Lots of mistakes. Need to pace myself and respect the basics.

any ideas on what determines the rotational values of a ball?

When I make a ball bounce I usually have done this way for example: When it's leaving the ground it rotated 0º, when it's in the highest point I rotate it maybe 170º-190º and when it falls I rotate it 340º-370º. I sometimes change this as I don't want the ball to always land with the same rotation values so maybe I make it leave the ground and it's rotated 100º and then in the last pose I just make it be 460º. I make it rotate 360º in a whole bounce. With the breakdowns favor any pose just so it doesn't look all the same.

I'n really small bounces I might make it rotate just 180º or less. There is probably some scientific explanation to how much it rotates in the air but add some random value and start playing with it until it looks ok.

thank you. Yep, aware of the principles. Starting again so I can learn how to use them properly.

I'm aware I will have bumpy ride along the way, already got few questions for later on, but knowing im starting bouncing balls, the questions can wait. Especially as they do invole the walk cycles.

As for Jero 3D's advice with rotation. Thank you. The guidelines are massive help and breaking it up for smaller bounce, takes care of problem. Just find own feel inbetween.

Lastly, I'm in process of making pendulum. I'm sure i'm going to figure this out.

>Create platform. create three balls. create joints.
>Constrain each ball to joint, constrain top joint to platform.
>Smooth bind the cylinder to the chain of joints.

However, how do I rotate all joints at once. There is a short cut, I watched a tutorial months ago. Just can't remember

There's no need to smooth bind the cylinders, all you need to do is parent them.

thank you.

This thread has answered a lot of questions. I look forward to the next few months where I shall be putting your advice into practice

hello people, I am still hoping to find a quick solution to this problem. Trying to create a pendulum. I been told i don't need a joint chain, but if i just parent, then Im finding trouble keyframing anything.

thelittlepenguin84 wrote:

ok, if im using maya, what is causing my problem. I'm constraining downwards, so the platform is parented to the top sphere, the top sphere is parented to the first cylinder, the first cylinder is parented to the second sph....

but after parenting, it seems to disable keyframing, or more specifically, keyframing breaks the connections

I hope to start the pendulum tonight after work. If the problem continues, I will create using a chain of joints and just turn off the geometry so i can select them easier

My main focus is the animation. But hoping but learning some basic aspects of the other areas, it will provide more
freedom for exercises.

I'm thinking long term, where I wish to be in a year. I'm modelling a landrover at the moment, with all little details. Also, hoping over the year, to pick up basic uv mapping, basic rigging and some lighting.

Now, I'm certainly aware of the pendulum rig on creative crash. However, I love solving little puzzles. It should be pretty basic to rig, so by learning this lesson,  it will provide a foundation for me to build upon.

I can definitely see your point! It's like in my school. We learn everything in Maya. I thinks it's kind of good in the beginning. We can try everything and then later decide what we want to specialise in.