The ‘Bezier’ Curve…What is up (down) with that?

In my last post, I somewhat ‘bashed’ Soft Image’s XSI program. This is not an apology, I still feel the same way, however I thought it would be only fair to point out some personal ‘pet peeves’ with the almighty Maya. This quirk also applies to Discreet’s Combustion, as well as XSI (as far as I know. I haven’t used XSI enough to really know). This annoying little default is what is known as the Bezier curve.

Now how to explain this. As written before, animating involves revolves around reading graphs. Now if I wanted to move an object up in space, then down in space, and then up again, I would set (otherwise known as keying) three separate frames and the length of the action would depend on how far apart I spread the keys. Now, if I were to look at my Y-axis curve, I should see this:    /\/   . Except with the lines coming to a point at the very top and very bottom. This signifies the transform up and down in space. This would be called a Linear curve, because the angles pinch at each frame. This means that as soon as my object reaches the height i’ve set as maximum, it will start moving to the next point (or key frame) down. This linear curve is what most animation students dream of seeing in their animation graphs.

Unfortunately for us, this linear idea is not set as the default in any of the above programs. What IS set as the default is this Bezier curve. Take the same scenario (the object moving up, down, and then up again) and instead of seeing exactly what you ‘keyed’ the -now rounded- curve goes past your minimum and maximum point and looks like a sideways ‘S’. This effect was put in play in order to make animation look more lifelike and…bouncy even.

This effect is great, and if not, at least manageable in a simple animation like a bouncing ball (although sometimes it causes your ball to go through your floor and up past your ceiling…). However when attempting to animate or composite a piece with more than five components that need to do exactly what you ask them to, Bezier curves make life (or just animating) extremely frustrating. Why Autodesk, Why!?

Seeing up and down, thinking side to side

I’m not sure what the ratio is between Maya users and XSI users, but using my class as a sample study, I would have to say that approximately 90% of people would choose Maya.

I am one of those people.

Now perhaps if I had started out in XSI I would not share their position, but after having learned the Maya manipulation controls in highschool, anything else seems extremely counter-productive. The ‘alt’ system is intuitive, basic, and overall easy to work with. In fact, it is SO natural that I just unconsciously tried to zoom out of this post by holding down the alt button and scrolling the middle mouse button.
Don’t get me wrong, Soft Image has clearly recognized this problem and had tried hard to compensate by making ‘Maya controls’ available in XSI, but this option limits XSI’s users from accessing several unique features.

Anyway, this blog was actually not supposed to be a comparison of the two software programs. My original point refers more to the process of animation in Maya through graphs (a completely different topic actually). So on to that.
Coming into this program, I was under the impression that animation and math  were  like the moon and the sun. One would never be seen while dealing with the other. Imagine the surprise I got the first time my animation instructor pressed the ‘graph’ view on his screen. I doubt even ‘ZOMFG’ even covers the shock and devastation I was feeling.
Luckily for me (not so luckily for others), I’ve always been a competent math student…hated it, but was able to fake my way through it.
Now i’m not saying that logarithms and probability are at all involved in the animation process, but being able to read graphs and understand tangents, has been a big help.
Take it down to a simpler level. The more logical you are, the easier it becomes to manipulate your animation.

Animating on the ‘Y’ axis is a breeze. When the graph goes up, the animated object goes up, and same with the opposite direction. Even a monkey at a typewriter can handle that concept.
Where logic comes into play is when we begin to animate on the X and Z axis. When that red little line on your graph goes up… where does the object go? Right. When it takes a dip? Left. Ok, simple. Putting that knowledge into practice, however, hurts your brain more than you would think. Lets take a look at the ‘Z’ axis. You see a mountain on your graph? The object moves forward, you see a valley, it moves back.

Now each of these three axis, on their own, are simple enough to understand and process. Where it becomes difficult, though, is when you see all three colors interacting with each other (unless your colorblind of course, then you just guess).

If you are up to the task, animation can be great fun. If looking at graphs reminds you of the cute boy in highschool you had to cheat off of in order to pass, however, you may want to stick with modeling.

Demo Reelz

So, twelve months of working your ass off, and what are we supposed to come out with? One 2 minute piece that summarizes countless hours of work, computer manipulation, anger, hatred, stress, frustration and the allout devastation of our lives. Well if it was that simple, i’m sure many many more people would be doing it! Unfortunately, those twelve simple months are not dedicated strictley to the perfection of this piece we call a demo reel. Instead, we are constantly thrown difficult, complex assignments to test our knowledge of the information taught. So if our hours at home are spent tirelessly perfecting our teachers’ assignments, how could we possibly be expected to come up with something decent and original for our final reel.

Now, keep in mind, that for most students, their demo reels will be comprised of their class assignments. Modellers, both character and environmental, will be more than able, and are expected to put their past work into their demo reels. It is only us animators, however, that are expected to come up with an original, crisp, preferrably funny concept/story that should not only impress our future employers, but also entertain them. So how should I do this?

Well, in between school, work, homework, seeing friends, sleeping, acting, having sex, World of Warcraft and anything else that our day may be comprised of, we must think. I know, its asking a lot to ask gamers to sit, think, and have original thoughts, but hey, i’m determined. Luckily, thinking can happen during any and all of the above activities. I’m not sure how my fellow classmates do it, but I do know that 24 hours a day, the main strain of thought going through my mind is…’what is funny? what could I animate? what makes me laugh?’. It is 9:36 on saturday night, and even now, my desire to see my boyfriend, play world of warcraft, and even to finish off this blog, have all been put on the backburner. This is probably why half this blog doesn’t make sense. So what is funny? Cats are. Getting hurt is. Humiliation is. Unfortunately cats breaking their legs when kids throw them off buildings and laugh…isn’t funny. So the combination doesn’t work. -sigh- Looks like it is going to be a long night, better go play WoW.

Work versus School

The Digital Animation program at BCIT is a fully packed course load that easily keeps its students working into the long hours of the night and into the morning. I was mostly aware of this before I started in October. At the same time, I was even more aware of my ever shrinking bank account. Now don’t get me wrong, I have it pretty good: The parents pay for tuition and I live at home. Clearly though, that simply is not enough for an average twenty-something female living in the Greater Vancouver Area. Being the ‘prepare for tomorrow, while living in the moment’ type of girl I am, it soon became very evident to me that I was not going to be able to survive these twelve months without some form of compensation. Enter Starbucks. In term one, I was working a good twelve to fifteen hours a week (some shifts starting at 4:45 am and others ending at 11:15pm). Did I burn out? You fricken’ bet I did. I quickly let go of that extra shift a week and was then better able to cope with the increasing work load. For anyone thinking of applying to this program, take my advice and have some form of financial cushion before starting out. A boyfriend for instance.  Don’t get me wrong, I have definitely learned from this experience, (and the consequences that came with my lack of commitment to school and overall energy level) and in the first half of second term, my shifts will be restricted to one night a week (mostly Sundays). Second half of second term, that’s it – time to buckle down and live, breathe, and bleed my demo reel. The point of this blog is to warn any Digital Animation potentials…a little extra money is nice..really nice, but prioritizing is 100 times more important. Spend your time..and your money, wisely.

Bloggin

This must be the only class with a blogging ‘requirement’! At least i’ll now understand what the fuss is about! 1 Update a week minimum. Happy Reading