Ways to animate,( some advice for newcomers to SFM or those who cannot figure out how to animate)

[Swews]

Hello,
these are some animating tips for SFM. I noticed that there aren't too many for those who are completely new to computer graphics and. Although they will not speed the process of animating, (don't worry, be patient, it takes animators at pixar 24 hours to make 3 minutes of footage :/.) it will help it look better.

DO NOT RUSH YOUR ANIMATIONS. It will make your animations look only worse if you don't know what you are doing.

Timing is very important. Rewatch your animations at least once or twice after you are done, or watch it frame by frame, and sort things out where you see something look unnatural or strange. But remember to not watch your animation like 30 or 40 times in a row, which wastes time and energy (remember you can only stay focused on something for so long), UNLESS you are done with the entire thing and reviewing it.

I use the graoh editor because it is easier to edit previous frames. Remember to bookmark the frames you are editing!!

When animating a human character, (I personally found this to be the most effective) start with animating:

-the Pelvis

-then the legs and torso

-then the arms

-then the hands and fingers

-and finally the head and any extra parts, like clothing.

This is important to know.

When animation you can go in two directions. These are:

Pose-to-Pose
and
"Straight Forward"

Straight forward consists of basically animating as you go along. It is effective because it is easy to keep track of the timing and

Pose-To-Pose is basically like:

Start with the first pose, then a major pose which:
1. showing or changing a character’s expression, action, behavior, feeling, or any other status

2. If it is a big motion, then later fill it with some more detailed frames.

3. If it is when a character stops, then beings to do something else, for example when someone waves, one frame is when they lift their arm, another is going back, next forth, next putting the arm down, etc, etc.

4. If someone is walking or running, do the alternating contacts before anything else instead of just going forward. Or you can just try it out and do so, keep testing!.

When animating, also take note of how the characters move in spline. Spline makes them have a sort of recoil when they move, they will move their arms or legs back before making the animated motion, which can make it look great or make it look really badly if used in an awkward way. Make sure to control this spline effect as well. Be careful of too much or too little of the affect.

Use the rigs when moving the pelvis, legs and torso. You can also try moving the arms but it may not look as good as using the non rig, remember you can go back and forth between rigs as well.

Use reference when animating, watch SFMs made by others in the community or anything you are trying to replicate. Go outside and walk around, watch others behave and move around for reference as well. Also read animation books like The Animator's Survival Kit. They are extremely useful as well, but I know not everyone has 20 or 40 bucks ready at bay to by one.

If you mess something up, simply click ctrl+z to undo these changes.

Hopefully this helps you guys a little and I appriciate feedback and other advice. Thank you and have a nice day :).

[Pte Jack]

Hey Sam. Might want to make a guide... no one reads this stuff here!!!! lol

One other point to add... WATCH THE OFFICIAL TUTORIALS!!!!!!!!

[Swews]

Ok, thanks. Will add that last part too.

[Captain Cronut]

I would add to this:

Use the rigs when moving the pelvis, legs and torso. You can also try moving the arms but it may not look as good as using the non rig, remember you can go back and forth between rigs as well.
===
Use the IK rig on the pelvis and any extremities that are interacting with stationary objects (the ground or a wall). Use FK for natural movement, such as an arm swinging during a walk cycle, and IK when you need fine grain control of position, such as reaching out to touch someone or something.

Little know fact that you can key frame IK/FK constraints and use both in the same scene. Find the relevant sliders for the body part in question (enable hidden controls) and go to town.

Avoid adding and removing your rig. You will lose all existing key frames and make your life so much more difficult. Adjust the rig as mentioned above, instead.

[Swews]

Originally posted by imagitronics:

I would add to this:

Use the rigs when moving the pelvis, legs and torso. You can also try moving the arms but it may not look as good as using the non rig, remember you can go back and forth between rigs as well.
===
Use the IK rig on the pelvis and any extremities that are interacting with stationary objects (the ground or a wall). Use FK for natural movement, such as an arm swinging during a walk cycle, and IK when you need fine grain control of position, such as reaching out to touch someone or something.

Little know fact that you can key frame IK/FK constraints and use both in the same scene. Find the relevant sliders for the body part in question (enable hidden controls) and go to town.

Avoid adding and removing your rig. You will lose all existing key frames and make your life so much more difficult. Adjust the rig as mentioned above, instead.

So you are basically saying that I can have both rigs at the same time? Sorry I'm a little confused

[sonosublime]

Great tips, thanks for that. Something I thought I should mention is that I find it effective to select everything above the pelvis before you move the pelvis. That way, you do not find the arms at weird angles. Instead, they move with the body, like they would in real life.

[Swews]

Originally posted by sonosublime:

Great tips, thanks for that. Something I thought I should mention is that I find it effective to select everything above the pelvis before you move the pelvis. That way, you do not find the arms at weird angles. Instead, they move with the body, like they would in real life.

That's also a good approach. The reason why I suggest moving the pelvis though is that it shows the positon of the body, where they are turned, what kind of movement they are doing, etc. But that is also good especially if you lock the arms to the pelvis first, therefore you can change the pelvis location w/out having to move the arms over and over again.

[weed]

Yea when I'm locking hands/ANYTHING to the pelvis theres just a lock on the pelvis and nothing else. What the hell?

[Somnus]

What I don't understand is how to move a character with lots of joints. Whenever I go to the mode where I edit the characters movement it just goes crazy after grabbing the entire thing and trying to move it. Please help.

[Pte Jack]

Which mode? Graph or Motion Editor? Have you check for a guide? Have you watch the official videos?

[Pt Rhinocharge]

Originally posted by Locatica:

What I don't understand is how to move a character with lots of joints. Whenever I go to the mode where I edit the characters movement it just goes crazy after grabbing the entire thing and trying to move it. Please help.

I think i know what you mean, its almost like the body pulls into itself? I haven't used SFM in a year or so but I came to the same issue. I can't remember how i stopped it doing it but will attempt to replicate when i get home if no one answers first...

[Somnus]

Ok thanks. I'm gonna need it for HomeWork L:L

[SoulSolDieR74]

Very useful guide, thanks!