Animation Skillnet and Screen Skills Ireland are delighted to bring you this new online course to give participants the tools and techniques for animating walks for 2 and 4 legged characters in Maya for TV, Film and Games.
Course description:
Animating walks and runs effectively is a key animation skill for games, movies, television and VR/AR animation. Creating both cycled and ‘off the spot’ versions of these animations can be challenging both artistically and technically. This course will take a deep dive into study of reference for 2 and 4 legged characters. Participants will get access to custom Maya tools developed specifically to speed up the technical aspects of creating these kinds of animations so they can focus on delivering a convincing and entertaining performance.
Course Contents:
- The fundamental poses in a walk and run for human characters.
- What to look for in reference when studying motion.
- How to apply those fundamentals to quadrupeds.
- How to work effectively in Maya when creating cycles.
- How to mirror poses using custom tools rather than doing it by eye.
- How to make cycles loop smoothly and translate through a scene without feet sliding.
- How to convincingly show weight in a walk or run.
About the tutor :
Brian Horgan is a freelance animator based in Dublin, Ireland who has worked on games, movies, television, VR and AR for companies around the world. Brian is an alumni of iAnimate where he has studied both feature animation and VFX creature style animation. He is currently part of Autodesk’s Beta team for Maya. As well as being an animator Brian develops tools for Maya. One of the best known of these is bh_pathAnim which has been implemented site-wide in several major visual effects studios. The tools he will be demoing and sharing during this course are part of his personal toolset he’s developed that allow him to animate walks and runs faster and more effectively in Maya. Up until now these tools have not been available to the public. After the course ends participants will retain access to these tools.
Participant Profile: This course is aimed at people who already are proficient in the basics of animation in Maya and want to learn more specifics of dealing with character and creature rigs and tips and tricks for working more efficiently in Maya for animating.
Technical requirements: as this course will be taking place online, we will provide the necessary software licences to all participants, but it is expected that applicants have the equipment necessary to complete the course:
- A working PC or laptop with the minimum system requirements.
- An audio or webcam system to communicate with the tutor (you will be using Zoom).
Date & Times:
6 Monday & Thursday evenings from 7pm-9pm on 20th & 23rd Apr., 27th & 30th Apr., 4th & 7th May, 11th & 14th May, 25th & 28th May 2020.
Cost:
Exceptionally, we will be offering this course at no cost to the participants, as Animation Skillnet has committed to support the Irish Animation, Games and VFX Industries impacted by Coronavirus (COVID-19)​. Please note that places are limited and therefore we will have to go through a preliminary selection process in partnership with Screen Skills Ireland and the Tutor.
Application Procedure:
Due to a high number of applications, the applications for this course are now closed.
Course Information
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