Lesson: Think About How Your Animation Is Received

Have you ever asked yourself “What happens to my work once it is approved and submitted to the pipeline?

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As an animator, you should pay attention to the poses you are making and respect anatomy and deformations.

My students at USC used to call me “savage” because I would insist they create poses that are clean and do not break the asset. The reason I insist on this is not only does it create a better animation and poses, but you are respecting the folks who have to fix a broken simulation for cloth because – for example – the pelvis is not following the spine.

 

Your reputation as an animator depends on your polish and respect for anatomy and the rig deformations.  It is disrespectful to expect artists to “fix” your work later for cloth, hair, clothing, etc. Some studios have an entire team working on tech animation support to make these fixes. Not all studios can afford to assign a team to fix your shots.  Sometimes the animators left behind have to do it.

To be clear, I am not about breaking an arm/wrist backward to making it whip passed in a cartoony way or scaling something to create a “blur frame,” these choices are intentional and usually have been discussed with the people who have to deal with that technically, I am talking about:

…rotating a shoulder until it tears or bends in the wrong way

…not aligning the pelvis/groin to the belly button in the spine

…not rotating clavicles with arms

…not rotating the ball of the foot one the knee is at a 45-degree angle to the ankle

…not caring what your poses are doing to the geometry

…penetrations and feet must contact with the ground and objects

…and general poses being off balance

These choices break the pipeline later and tear clothing attached to the rig or any other simulation that follows the puppet.  In other words, you will be creating MORE work for people.

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So, to be clear… I am not being a “hard ass” as your teacher/mentor forcing you to respect balance and torque through the body and create poses that align with anatomy. Instead, I am ensuring you are hired, again. In relation to your reputation, taking pride in polishing your work and making sure clothing is not penetrating by simply adjusting a pose will make YOU look GOOD!

Think about it.  You may get the job through who you know… but you KEEP the job through your work and reputation.

What if your approved shots are perfect and do not need someone to “fix” and “clean up” so the sims work?