An animator is me!

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#1

I would just like

to say that, after a week of slaving away over my computer…

I HAVE A WALK CYCLE!

Walk cycles

are freaking hard, and one of the most important parts of animation. I’ve never done one before, so this has

been a real stretch for me. And it took me a while to get it so that, when it looped around, the legs didn’t

get all funky and strange. I was so excited that I ran out of the computer science lab and headbanged all the

way up and down the hallways of the building. I think there might’ve been some classes, but meh, they had their

doors closed, so I could be joyful without fear.

Yaaaay. I can effectively use Clips, the Trax editor, I

know how to bake my keys to a golden brown, and after I do all that, I can do a little dance.

Sorry, I’m

just so excited. I feel the need to spew the joy. :smiley:

Also, for our computer graphics final exam, we’re

going to have a study party with chinese food and a sing-a-long. That’s right, we’re going to sing songs about

concepts/algorithms in computer graphics. I’ve gotta work on finishing the radiosity song. It’s

happy.

Now, if only I could finish my raytracer…

#2

Haha – congratulations to you,

sir! Yes, those pain-staking walking cycles are, indeed, quite hard to complete. Just wait 'til you get to the

running part… :wink:

Have a great party! “Radiosity song” – heheh. :laughing:

#3

Oooh, well done! You

kinda lost me with all of that technological terminology, but well done nonetheless! :laughing:

#4

Same here. I got lost in all

that, as lizardgirl puts it, “technological terminology”, but cool anyways.

#5

That part comes after all my programming is done… maybe I should just bash my head

into a wall now, while I’m still ahead.

And, minor bit of pedantry, I’m technically not a ‘sir,’

rather, I’m a ‘madam.’ In spite of being a programmer and a complete nerd, I am, in fact, a girl. :slight_smile:

#6

Our first project in

animation was two walk cycles (they had to be male and female) and a run that we had to animate in perspective

and using straight ahead technique (no key frames, basically, you start at one, then do the next and the next).

It’s really hard when you’re first starting (and remembering how to do it, also a pain…) Congrats! :smiley:

#7

DWH - Ahh…don’t press yourself on it too hard. Just take your time and go slow

and steady. Having a blast while doing it is an important aspect, as well. :smiley:

Oh my goodness – my

apologies, Ma’am! I didn’t realize your were a girl. Me and my quick responses… :blush:

#8

Well done!

It must be so awsome to finish your

walk cycle. My class have had one quick lecture on all that stuff and when we go back next year we’re going to

have to do our own cycles too, I’m kind of excited :smiley:

#9

Yeah… I must confess, part of me really wishes I had gone to art school because I

would have had much more exposure to the software a lot earlier than I did. But, as it stands, I know how ray

tracing works, and I even have half a working one. Maybe someday I’ll even finish coding the silly thing.

Because what I always get the most compliments on is, “Ooooh, purdy reflections.” Which is actually

just pushing a button. But now I can say I’ve at least partly written one myself, which is nifty. And I can

build NURBS by hand. So I guess I get hardcore points.

#10

Well, I must say, I am not the best person with software nor art. So I feel bad.

#11

DWH -

Although I have no idea what you are talking about, I’m glad that you are, at least, getting into the world of

animation. It’s a wonderful field, and walking cycles are just the beginning…so be prepared. As for the whole

“art school” thing, well…you can always take it in college (or go back to college and learn it if you

are already out of college :stuck_out_tongue: ).

The Star Swordsman - Hey, don’t be too

hard on yourself. We all have our special talents. I’m sure you can do something that none of us can do. :wink:

#12

meep! oops on my part…

#13

Well, if I ever decide to go to grad school, it’s going to be an art school. And

it’s too late for me to be an art double major now, seeing as I only have one semester left.

The thing

about animation at my school is that it was a course introduced… last year. It’s taught by a computer science

professor who’s really good with programming, and does not have the vast knowledge of the inner workings of Maya

that would be useful to have as a resource. There are a lot of things I’ve just had to teach myself (like the

graph and trax editors, creating 3D text, writing a Bash script to automatically start the program…). So yeah,

I’m at a pretty vast disadvantage on that front. But I have programming skillz, which means I should be able to

develop mad scripting skillz fairly easily. And that’s what’s going to make me

marketable. I hope.

This is where we run into the problem of being a "jack of all trades, master of

none." My liberal arts education comes to bite me. But… I know equations! And linear algebra! And

3-dimensional projections on to a two-dimensional plane! And the radiosity equation, which is freakin’ awesome!

Yes, I’m grasping at straws here, but let’s face it- I’m walking out of this school in five months with a

computer science degree, not an art degree. Big difference. But I’m still a graphic designer deep down.

:slight_smile:

The Star Swordsman- Don’t sweat it. Believe me, not everyone can or

should be as much of a computer nerd as some of us. And art people can occasionally be scary. And there are

lots of things that I can’t do, like politics or psychology. I can’t stand the social sciences. Plus, I’ve

failed intro algorithms twice because I can’t type for very long at a go. We all have our strengths. :slight_smile:

#14

Thanks I feel

much better now.