"Character is believeable and shows convincing behaviour"/Research into facial and body language: Videos
For this module, we have to match our character's movements and expressions to real life to ensure accurate motion. Below I will cover the "inspiration" videos and images, and compare them to Ernie's movements in the animation:
***Facial Expressions***
Fear:
As can be seen above, the Bear's expression matches the human expression (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDnzwBmsNJs) in that the eyebrows raise and the mouth widens. Obviously Ernie's expressions are exaggerated because he's a cartoon bear. His eyes differ slightly from the human as I have tried to add some "I'm not sure about this" expression to Ernie, as if he is considering turning round and going home.
Shock:
The human expression above is very exaggerated but this suits the Bear perfectly and is why I have tried to match it. In the animation, notice the wide eyes, the raised nose and the way the jaw drops wide open.
Head scratching puzzlement
Using this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u94PPAoKVU&feature=related) of human head scratching, it's pretty clear my initial attempt at making the Bear scratch is inaccurate and a bit robotic (above). For the final version, Ernie tilts his head slightly down and forwards as if he is looking away, then scratch the side of his head in a more natural motion. This is far more accurate and shows the importance of matching movement to video.
Puzzled face:
As can be seen from this comparison of a puzzled human and my puzzled Bear, I have matched the mouth expression but the eyebrows and eyes still needed work. In the final video, Ernie looks to the corner and his eyebrows are furrowed. His ears also move in a "Huh?" gesture.
Dejected:
Looking at this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwr5yGblj3Q) of a dejected human, I believe I've matched the Bear pretty closely to it. The way his head looks down, the heavy eyelids, and the staring straight ahead at the ground all comes through in the animation of Ernie.
Contented
The guy on the left in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vBnJyOUWdM) looks pretty contented, so it is the image I have tried to copy for the Bear's default expression. Both images feature reasonably happy mouth shapes and the eyes arch upwards. These are not "super happy" expressions, but that's not what I was aiming for here.
Panting/Exhausted:
For the panting clip, I have taken inspiration from animals as, well, it's quite hard to find videos of people panting like dogs. In the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj2glEJwDRk&feature=related), the cat's mouth is moving up and down, in an O shape then a flatter shape. I have tried to match this with Ernie's behaviour. The cat doesn't blink, but I have added this to Ernie to give him some more facial movement as just moving the mouth would not really work.
***Body Movement***
Catching a hat:
When Ernie goes to catch his hat, I made him dive for it like a goalkeeper. This slow motion clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiWhIbp7dvQ&feature=related) was a great help. The animation was created in slow motion then sped up.
The initial animation of Ernie trying to catch his hat when I was experimenting with the Biped features didn't look so great as it was pretty simple head and arm rotation:
Peering over desk:
When Ernie arrives in the office and nobody is there, he leans over one of the desks to see if, for some reason, someone is hiding beneath it. I have taken some inspiration from a snooker player leaning over the desk for this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7qS0GKdLlI), however the movement of the left arm is not as extreme in my animation.
The initial experimentation of making the Bear lean over the desk did not look good as, again, it was very simple arm rotation:
Receiving a present:
When Ernie Bear receives his birthday present, I acted the scene myself to get an idea of movement and recreated it from memory in 3DS Max as a challenge to see if it was necessary to reference a video frame by frame to achieve a good result.
***Overall***
I believe I have created a character with realistic movement and expression based on inspiration videos and images :)
***Facial Expressions***
Fear:
As can be seen above, the Bear's expression matches the human expression (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDnzwBmsNJs) in that the eyebrows raise and the mouth widens. Obviously Ernie's expressions are exaggerated because he's a cartoon bear. His eyes differ slightly from the human as I have tried to add some "I'm not sure about this" expression to Ernie, as if he is considering turning round and going home.
Shock:
The human expression above is very exaggerated but this suits the Bear perfectly and is why I have tried to match it. In the animation, notice the wide eyes, the raised nose and the way the jaw drops wide open.
Head scratching puzzlement
Using this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u94PPAoKVU&feature=related) of human head scratching, it's pretty clear my initial attempt at making the Bear scratch is inaccurate and a bit robotic (above). For the final version, Ernie tilts his head slightly down and forwards as if he is looking away, then scratch the side of his head in a more natural motion. This is far more accurate and shows the importance of matching movement to video.
Puzzled face:
As can be seen from this comparison of a puzzled human and my puzzled Bear, I have matched the mouth expression but the eyebrows and eyes still needed work. In the final video, Ernie looks to the corner and his eyebrows are furrowed. His ears also move in a "Huh?" gesture.
Dejected:
Looking at this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwr5yGblj3Q) of a dejected human, I believe I've matched the Bear pretty closely to it. The way his head looks down, the heavy eyelids, and the staring straight ahead at the ground all comes through in the animation of Ernie.
Contented
The guy on the left in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vBnJyOUWdM) looks pretty contented, so it is the image I have tried to copy for the Bear's default expression. Both images feature reasonably happy mouth shapes and the eyes arch upwards. These are not "super happy" expressions, but that's not what I was aiming for here.
Panting/Exhausted:
For the panting clip, I have taken inspiration from animals as, well, it's quite hard to find videos of people panting like dogs. In the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj2glEJwDRk&feature=related), the cat's mouth is moving up and down, in an O shape then a flatter shape. I have tried to match this with Ernie's behaviour. The cat doesn't blink, but I have added this to Ernie to give him some more facial movement as just moving the mouth would not really work.
***Body Movement***
Catching a hat:
When Ernie goes to catch his hat, I made him dive for it like a goalkeeper. This slow motion clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiWhIbp7dvQ&feature=related) was a great help. The animation was created in slow motion then sped up.
The initial animation of Ernie trying to catch his hat when I was experimenting with the Biped features didn't look so great as it was pretty simple head and arm rotation:
Peering over desk:
When Ernie arrives in the office and nobody is there, he leans over one of the desks to see if, for some reason, someone is hiding beneath it. I have taken some inspiration from a snooker player leaning over the desk for this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7qS0GKdLlI), however the movement of the left arm is not as extreme in my animation.
The initial experimentation of making the Bear lean over the desk did not look good as, again, it was very simple arm rotation:
Receiving a present:
When Ernie Bear receives his birthday present, I acted the scene myself to get an idea of movement and recreated it from memory in 3DS Max as a challenge to see if it was necessary to reference a video frame by frame to achieve a good result.
***Overall***
I believe I have created a character with realistic movement and expression based on inspiration videos and images :)
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