Lesson 04 Animation

Posted on NINJAPosted in Foundation 2008

Preferences

(Reset your interface to its default setings)

  1. Turn on all your menus. Display all your menus.
    • – HotBox [SPACEBAR] || Hotbox Controls > Window Options > Show Main MenuBar [ON]
    •  
  2. Turn on all of the workspace options (Default Maya interface)
    • – MAIN || Display > UI Elements > Show All UI Elements
  3. Change the Attribute Editor setting. Have the Attribute Editor in it’s own window (Does not Apply)
  4. Infinite Undo Option
    • – MAIN || Window > Setting/Preferences > Preferences
    • – [HIGHLIGHT] Categories > [HIGHLIGHT] Undo
    • – Set options to Infinite

Organize Your Scene

(Place objects logically into hierarchy to organize your scene. Ex. Environment Group / House Group / WoodLogs Group / etc.)

  1. Hierarchy
    • – Consists of grouping child nodes under parent nodes. When transforming a parent node, all its children will inherit it’s transformation.
    • – Open the Outliner : MAIN || Window > Outliner
    • – The first 4 items are always your default cameras
  2. Groups. Create a groups in your Outliner Window
    • – [HOLD SHIFT] + Select all your items you want into a group. Here select all your items excluding lights and cameras in your Outliner. MAIN || Edit > Group
    • – Shortcut to Group Items: CTRL + G
    • – DBL CLICK on the group and name it environmentGroup
    • (Note: New Groups have it’s pivot placed at the origin. Origin meaning center of stage XYZ:0,0,0)
  3. Organizing Hierarchy
    • Create groups within the environmentGroup
    • – Select and group all the objects called plank and press CTRL + G
    • – Rename group to houseGroup
    • – Select remaining house objects and Press and hold MMB over selection and drag over houseGroup
  4. Parenting objects
    • – Parent the wood logs in the fireplace to the chimney.
    • – Select the wood logs/woodStack then CTRL + CLICK on the chimney
    • – Parent: Press P. When parenting objects make sure the object being parented to is the last item selected.
  5. Completing the hierarchy
    • – Organize the Outliner hierarchy so it looks like the following:
    • – Expand Hierarchy along with children: SHIFT + CLICK

Understanding Inheritance

  1. Freezing transformations
    • – Select environmentGroup
    • – MAIN || Edit > Select Hierarchy (selects all objects within group)
    • – MAIN || Modify > Freeze Transformations
    • (This resets all the transformations so it’s attributes are at it’s default. This allows for easy animation)
  2. Center Pivots
    • It’s a good idea to center your pivots on all our objects.
    • – Select the environmentGroup
    • – MAIN || Edit > Select Hierarchy (selects all objects within group)
    • – MAIN || Modify > Center Pivot
  3. Child values
    • When you transform a parent object, none of it’s children’s value’s change.
    • – Select the houseGroup.
    • – translate it’s position. Notice how none of it’s children’s values change.
  4. Pivot Placement. Moving the pivot.
    • – Select the move tool.
    • – Press the [INSERT] key to move the pivot point. Press it again to lock it in place.
    • – Move Pivot: Hold D + CLICK and drag pivot to location.
    • Note: How the axis crossbars change appearance when you modify the pivot

Animating the Door

  1. Door Group
    • – Select the wood planks hat are apart of the door.
    • – Group the planks and name it doorGroup.
    • – MAIN || Modify > Center Pivot
    • – Move Pivot: Hold D / Press [INSERT]. Move the pivot point where you think the hinges of the door will be.
    • – Test the door by selecting doorGroup and rotating it on it’s y-axis.
    • – Return it to it’s default position once you are done.
  2. The timeline. Animating the door.
    • Determine how low you want your animation to be.
    • Maya plays animation at 24fps. So if you want your animation to be 1 sec, then you need 24 frames.
  3. Setting keyframes
    • – Move the scrubber to frame 1. Press the first frame button from the playback controls to do so.
    • – Select the doorGroup
    • – make sure all rotation and translation values are a 0.
    • – Change MAIN menu to Animation: Press F2
    • – Set a keyframe on frame 1: ANIMATION || Animate > Set Key or S.
    • – Go to frame 25. Type 25 in the current frame field right of the timeline.
    • – Rotate Y: 125
    • – Deselect the rotateY and set a keyframe at frame 25
  4. Playback Preferences
    • Set Maya to playback animation properly
    • – Click on Animation Preferences
    • – In Settings > Time Slider > PlayBack Speed > Real-time (24fps)
    • Save.
    • – Rewind your animation and press play to see your animation
    • – The red ticks on the timeline specify keyframes for your doorGroup once selected.
  5. Tweak the animation
    • – Make sure doorGroup is selected.
    • – Drag keyframes on the timeline: SHFT + CLICK (on frame with keyframe. it will highlight red) Then CLICK + DRAG (red portion) to frame 15.
    • – Go to frame 35
    • – Rotate Y: 140
    • – RMB +  CLICK over rotateY in the Attribute Editor window.
    • – Select Key Selected.
    • – Key Selected: sets a keyframe on every selected object.
    • – TIP
      • Set Keyframe only to translation: SHFT + w
      • Set Keyframe only to rotation: SHFT + e
      • Set Keyframe only to scale: SHFT + r
    • To Delete keyframes:
      • – select keyframe
      • – RMB + select Delete
  6. The Graph Editor Window
    • Allows you to see every keyframe and edit the curves
    • – Select the doorGroup
    • – ANIMATION || Window > ANimation Editors > Graph Editor
    • – Frame the doorGroup on the stage. Frame Selected Object: Press a.
    • – Graph Editor navigating
      • – Dolly: ALT + RMB CLICK DRAG
      • – Track: ALT + MMB CLICK DRAG
      • – Constrain Dolly: SHFT + ALT + RMB CLICK DRAG
      • – Constrain Track: SHFT + ALT + MMB CLICK DRAG
  7. Selecting keyframes. How to modify and move he curves for animation.
    • – In the graph editor window, select the curve for the rotateY.
    • – Select the move tool and MMB + CLICK DRAG on the curve to a new point in time. Or select just one of the keyframes and MMB + CLICK DRAG on the keyframe to just move that.
    • – Constrain movement: SHFT + MMB DRAG to move keys around the graph editor window.
  8. Modifying keyframes
    • – Select the first and last keyframe
    • – GRAPH EDITOR || Tangents > Flat
    • –
    • – How to modify the Tangents of a curve. Select one side of the keyframe’s handles
    • – MMB + DRAG on the ball end of the handle
  9. Traversing a hierarchy. Navigating through the Outliner menu with arow keys
    • – Select the plank of the door.
    • – Open the Outliner to see the selection process.
    • – Press UP ARROW. This moves your selection to the parent of our selected object which is doorGroup.
    • – Keep pressing UP ARROW and it will select the parent of doorGroup which is wallGroup.
    • Traversing hotkeys
      • – Parent: UP ARROW
      • – First Child: DOWN ARROW
      • – Next Child: RIGHT ARROW
      • – Previous Child: LEFT ARROW