IMM 370 - Final Project (Surfing Animation)

Here is my final project for IMM 370 - Figure Motion/Character Animation.

Proposal 
My final project is a 30-second long surfing animation using the Stewart rig available on Creative Crash. All additional models featured in the animation were NURBS models created during IMM 211 - Animation 1.

Pre-Production
Much of the research that went into this project occurred during its early stages. I am not particularly interested or experienced in organic movements and character animation. For this reason, I found many YouTube videos that showcased specific surfing movements. I used references during the animation of the paddling and walking cycles. During the surfing part of the animation, the character completes a backside snap. I used a video of Dane Reynolds completing this motion as a reference for my final animation. A significant amount of time and research also went into selecting a song to enhance the animation. I chose "What You Know" by Two Door Cinema Club because I felt that it gave off a vibe that complimented the animation.

Production Log
Work on this project began several months ago. After the pre-production and research stages, I began the modeling work in Maya. I began by modeling the surfboard fins using the NURBS modeling techniques covered in class. At the time it was my most complex model, so it was a great way to apply and practice using the many NURBS modeling techniques. I started with photo references for the fins, and using the perspective views I drew corresponding curves and connected them with curved surfaces. After modeling the fins, I started work on the surfboard. I modeled the surfboard in a a similar way. I used some photo references to create the basic curves that made up the surfboard's outline. Again, I connected the curves with multiple curved surfaces to create the shape of the surfboard. I then completed the surfboard and fins by working on materials and texturing.

After the surfboard/fin modeling, I started animating the rig. Aside from the SimpleMan rig, I never controlled/manipulated/animated a rig before. Moving and manipulating the rig was a learning experience, but by the time I reached the final scene it became very intuitive. There is also an image that is mapped to the character's skin. I imported the image into Photoshop and altered it to give the character the appearance of wearing a wetsuit.

After animating the character's basic movements, I began working on the background of each scene. The first four scenes have relatively simple backgrounds, so the majority of the work went into texturing the sand and applying the correct shader to animate the ocean. The final scene is different from the rest because it features a barreling wave. I started with curves to create the basic shape of a barreling wave and then I created curved surfaces which lofted the curves together. The wave itself does not move, so I used the camera to my advantage (to give the illusion of the wave's movement).

From here, the rigs and animations were placed on their corresponding backgrounds. I finished the animation by keying the movement of the camera. The camera angles play a large role in the final animation, so I spent a lot of time animating the position of the cameras. Unlike my IMM 211 project, the rendering itself did not give me any problems. I simply batch-rendered each of the scenes and imported the stills into a video editing program to create the final animation. I then added a soundtrack to the animation ("What You Know" -  Two Door Cinema Club). The final render was then uploaded to YouTube, and the completed animation can be seen above.

Self-Evaluation
I have learned a lot about Maya (and 3D animation as a whole) throughout the course of the semester. I am not particularly interested in modeling characters or creating organic movements, but I found interesting to focus on such an animation style during the course. Due to my limited knowledge of Maya, I did not have enough time to model and rig my own character, so I used the Stewart rig from Creative Crash. It would have been interesting to delve into such details of character animation; however, I do not see myself working on similar projects in the future.

What I found most informative and interesting was all of the NURBS creation and manipulation techniques covered throughout the course. I used these techniques to create the surfboard and fins featured in the final animation. I feel like these skills have many real-world applications and could potentially be used outside of the classroom. I am glad to have learned these skills, as they are very broad and can be applied to modeling just about any type of figure or object. In all, I have learned a great deal about NURBS modeling throughout the semester, and I hope to use these techniques in the future.