Month: January 2026

Finishing touches to our project ideas and homework tasks during the whole term. Making first steps for completing our showreels

This week was also focused on polishing our body mechanics animations. Using the feedback from the previous week, I worked on refining the movement and improving the overall clarity and flow. A key focus was making sure that secondary parts, such as the head and hands, followed the main body movement naturally, similar to the follow-through and overlap principles we previously applied to tail motion.

I paid closer attention to subtle details like timing, spacing, and smooth transitions between poses, which helped the animation feel more cohesive and physically believable. This stage highlighted how small adjustments and secondary motion can significantly improve the quality of an animation and bring more life and realism to the final result.

Final animation shot:

This week, we progressed from blocking to a fully working body mechanics animation. The focus was on refining the movement through spline and polishing, applying the principles studied in previous weeks. This stage required resolving technical and timing issues in Maya and ensuring that weight, balance, and motion felt consistent throughout the animation.

During this process, we received feedback that highlighted areas for improvement, particularly in relation to clarity of motion, timing adjustments, and the overall physical believability of the movement. This stage reinforced the importance of refining an animation beyond the blocking phase, as polishing allows the mechanics to become clearer and more natural.

First animation attempt:

My reference:

In week 8, we explored how the animation industry operates and discussed the importance of strong foundational skills in 3D animation. Rather than focusing on a specific career path too early, the session emphasized how developing solid technical and observational skills allows animators to adapt to different roles within the industry.

The main focus of this week was body mechanics, which form the foundation of any animated movement. We studied how motion is governed by physical principles such as gravity, balance, momentum, and weight distribution. Understanding how the body shifts its centre of gravity while moving from one position to another is essential for creating believable animation. These mechanics serve as the first layer of a shot, providing a structural base before any acting or stylistic choices are added.

A key part of the lesson was learning how to plan body mechanics effectively. We covered the importance of using video reference as an analytical tool to study real-world movement, rather than simply copying it. By examining reference frame by frame, it becomes possible to observe how hips rotate, how weight transfers through the body, and how arcs and timing contribute to natural motion. Alongside reference, we learned to plan animations through sketches and 2D tests in order to establish clear poses and timing before working in 3D. This approach reinforces the idea that careful planning and observation are fundamental to successful body mechanics animation.

My planning:

Video reference:

This week we focused on further developing our walk cycles in spline, with an emphasis on polishing the movement while relying more on planning rather than reference. The main goal was to refine the timing, weight, and overall flow of the walk. Although the posing was decent, the movement still felt a bit rigid and lacked a sense of weight. I worked on toe roll mechanics and anticipation, making the feet react naturally to the body’s movement, and started integrating squash and stretch to give more life to the animation.

During this process, I realized the importance of proper blocking. In my first attempt, I misunderstood the assignment and produced the full animation without creating a clear blocking presentation. Then I quickly created one, but it wasn’t very clear. Some frames, especially when the right foot moved, looked unnatural and “floating,” which needed correction. Using Maya’s graph editor and keeping translations in spline tangents mode helped me adjust the timing, flatten keyframes where necessary, and create a solid foundation for the walk. This exercise reinforced how critical blocking and careful planning are for achieving smooth, believable character movement.

Final walking version:

(Front view)

(Side view)

This week we worked on hand references. We used our own hands to take photos and then recreated the poses in Maya. This exercise helped me practice the movement and positioning of hands, fingers, and joints, improving my understanding of how hands behave and how to animate them more accurately.

My hand poses:

This week we continued exploring weight shifts and began working on walk cycles, which are essential for giving a character life. A major focus of this task was blocking, which helps plan and structure the animation before fully animating it. Blocking allows us to visualize key poses, timing, and weight distribution in a clear way, ensuring that the character’s movement feels balanced and believable.

Using a structured pose-based blocking approach, I planned the walk by placing key poses for the hips, legs, and overall posture. This helped me understand how weight shifts from one leg to the other, how subtle hip movements can convey personality, and how timing affects the flow of the animation. Learning to block properly also highlighted the importance of letting the rig move naturally, without forcing actions frame by frame. Initially, I misunderstood blocking, thinking it was simply placing keyframes, but with guidance from the tutor, I learned to use Maya’s tools to flatten timing and create a clear framework for the animation.

Once the blocking was done, I could start animating with a strong plan in place, focusing on follow-through, timing, and realistic weight shifts. This approach made the animation smoother, more controlled, and easier to refine. The exercise reinforced how critical proper blocking is for any complex movement, and how it lays the foundation for a polished, life-like walk cycle.

First blocking version:

(Front view)

(Side view)

In week 5, we focused on the fundamentals of weight shift in animation. The main principles we applied were anticipation and overlapping action, and we began by using blocking techniques to establish key poses and timing. This exercise helped me see how subtle movements, like the preparatory shift of a ball before a step, can make the animation feel much more natural.

One important lesson for me was the role of balance and symmetry. In the class presentation, we saw how a character could be split in the middle to check balance on both sides. It made me realize how small, often unnoticed design choices can have a huge impact on the overall feel of an animation. I paid close attention to the hips and legs during the weight shift, making sure the body followed the right motion and timing for each step.

Using a ball with a 2-leg rig, I experimented with anticipation, follow-through, and varying speed between poses. I noticed that planning each frame carefully was essential, as timing mistakes can make the movement look confusing. By keeping the animation simple (K.I.S.S principle), focusing on key poses, and understanding how the weight shifts from one foot to the other, I created a more stable and believable motion. This week helped me grasp the mechanics of walking and how small adjustments in speed, angle, and body movement can create a realistic and dynamic result.

Here is my first version of the weight shift ball task:

Here is the fixed version:

Another focus this week was creating realistic and relaxed poses. We explored how flow and movement lines through the body can make poses feel more dynamic and natural. Our tutor emphasized the importance of exaggeration in curves and tilts to add tension, interest, and personality to a character, something I’m still learning to apply consistently in my own drawings and animations.

In my first attempts, I relied mostly on imagination and my own movement, which made the timing and coordination feel off. I struggled with mechanical adjustments and couldn’t always tell what needed fixing. Feedback from tutors helped improve certain aspects, like the positioning and movement of the limbs, resulting in a more fluid animation.

Also, our tutors emphasized the importance of flow, showing how a line from the head through the torso to the legs can create a more dynamic and interesting pose. I noticed that exaggerating the curves in the arms and tilting the torso adds tension and personality, something I still tend to underplay in my own life drawings, where my figures often look stiff or mannequin-like.

This week we continued working on the same topic, but I focused more on understanding the logic behind the tail movement and how it follows the main action. I paid closer attention to the overall sense of motion, flow, and consistency in the animation. By simplifying the movement and refining the timing, I was able to create a cleaner and more graceful result.

Final result:

Studying about golden poses

Here are my poses:

This week we focused on anticipation and how it helps build force and energy before an action takes place. We learned that all movement is driven by forces, and anticipation is essential for making animation feel strong and believable.

I applied these ideas in a ball and tail exercise, using overlapping action, follow-through, and secondary motion. Building on the bouncing ball from the first week, I aimed to create smooth, lifelike movement by making the tail follow the ball naturally rather than moving at the same time. This exercise helped reinforce how timing and anticipation add clarity and realism to even simple animations. As reference apart form the planning I used lots of squirrel videos I found online.

Here is my first attempt :

After that George’s feedback showed me what i needed to fix, such as tail follow up as mine wasn’t as natural as I wanted it to be and also the main body’s (the ball) position and trajectory

Here is the final result:

This week, we continued polishing the same animation, but the focus was on adding more life and personality. We were asked to animate one of the juice boxes and give it a sense of awareness and emotion.

My idea was for one box to “come alive” — looking around in disbelief, realizing that it is alive, feeling excited, and testing how it can move. After that, it would notice the other box lying still and go over to it, wanting to share the excitement, only to realize that the other box is not alive. The ending idea was for it to give up and lie down next to it. Unfortunately, due to time limitations, I was only able to complete the first part of this idea.

Even so, this process helped me focus more on storytelling through movement. I paid closer attention to timing, pauses, and subtle motion to communicate emotion, rather than relying on complex actions. It made me realize how small movements can already suggest thought, curiosity, and feeling.

Final Juice Box animation:

This week we worked on pendulum animation as an introduction to post-movement and follow-through. I practiced overlapping action by making each part follow the previous one instead of moving at the same time, which helped me understand the importance of timing between connected parts. This task served as preparation for future exercises, and after initially overcomplicating my first attempt, I simplified the animation to achieve a cleaner and more effective result.

First attempt:

Reworked version:

Planning: The overkill try, then for the final result I used only the last middle line:

This week, we also I worked on the juice box falling animation, focusing on showing the difference in weight between boxes. The goal was to make each box feel different when it falls, depending on whether it is empty, half-full, or full.

While working on this task, I faced several new challenges in Maya. One of the main problems was handling the controllers correctly. Since the box had multiple controllers, I often selected the wrong one, which caused the box to separate or suddenly jump between frames. This was frustrating at first and made the animation harder to control.

To better understand the motion, I bought real juice boxes and filmed my own reference videos. This really helped me see how different weights fall in different ways, especially because of the center of gravity. Translating that feeling of weight into animation was quite challenging, but experimenting with timing and movement helped me make the differences more visible on screen.

Overall, this task pushed me to observe real-world physics more carefully and made me more aware of how weight and balance can be communicated through animation.

Reference: