Animate an Anime Inspired Run Animation in Maya

Name: Animate an Anime Inspired Run Animation in Maya
Rating: 5.0 (4 reviews)

Professional 3D animation workflows applied to an anime inspired female run!

Created byAmedeo Beretta

Last updated 7/2021

English

What you'll learn

Animate an anime inspired female run in Autodesk Maya
Work based on references
Manipulate reference sequences in Maya
Splining and polishing workflows for professional animation
Mirror poses quickly and effortlessly
Timing for locomotion
Animation on twos VS animation on ones

Course content

1 section • 38 lectures • 2h 11m total length

Intro & Preview: Animate an anime inspired, stylized female run animation in Au1:18
Finding references for animation1:46
Decide the run type to animate in Maya, collect references from live-action sources and YouTube, and study Toshiyuki’s Millennium Actress Run (one drawing every two frames) at 24 fps.
002_The story of a run.mp41:20
003_Identifying the essential poses of a run.mp45:11
Setting Up the Project and Finding a Rig2:52
Working With Video References5:42
Setting Up Maya for Animation1:22
Setting Up the Rig5:35
Designing the Run Contact Pose8:00
Learn to set up a Maya rig for run animation by building a clean contact pose, using a counterpose, axis orientation, and natural chest-pelvis and limb motion.
Mirroring Poses With Red9 Studio3:32
Mirroring the Contact Pose2:23
Improving the Contact Pose3:19
Improve the contact pose by bringing the elbow closer and twisting the shoulder and wrist for a feminine, defensive look; mirror frame eight to frame one to create locomotion loop.
Giving the Face a Bit of Emotion1:11
Adjust the facial rig to convey sadness by lifting the eyebrow center, rotating slightly, straightening the line with mild asymmetry, and closing eyelids while lowering the jaw and mouth corners.
Setting the Viewport Evaluation Mode to DG0:40
Blocking With Stepped Tangents? Not Exactly.3:12
Blocking Strategy: the Tangents0:39
Tracking the Reference Video2:38
Track the reference video in Maya by stabilizing the image plane with offset adjustments, keeping the body centered in the viewport for accurate post-production analysis.
Devising the Kickoff Pose7:02
Why It Is Important To Set a Key on All Controls for a Pose During Blocking1:46
Designing the Up Pose7:37
Designing the Down Pose9:29
Writing Animation Notes to Yourself.mp42:26
Record precise notes on head-body delay, increased down motion between eight and nine, and left arm arc from eight to eleven to guide quick fixes and demonstrate progress to stakeholders.
Addressing Our Own Notes.mp47:11
Evaluating the Run Animation So Far.mp40:35
Troubleshooting From the Front View1:29
Reducing the Head Ups and Downs2:18
Introducing Back and Forth Body Motion1:35
Master back and forth body motion in Maya by adjusting tangents, pushing the kickoff pose forward, and duplicating and mirroring poses to create a natural run cycle.
Troubleshooting the Face Animation0:24
Watching the Animation on Twos0:21
Make the Character Run Through Space2:52
Splining the Body Animation13:01
Isolate body parts, build selection sets, and layer the rig to create a clean run animation in Maya, then refine hip, chest, and limb curves for smooth looping.
Restoring Some of the Heads Ups and Down6:10
Learn to adjust head counter motion in a Maya run animation by using the graph editor to scale translation curves, preview results at distance, and reduce movement by targeted percentages.
Splining the Feet5:20
Copying the Foot Animation to the Opposite Side4:15
Splining the Arms1:53
Tweaking the Splining2:50
Cleaning IK Pops1:17
Conclusion and Outro0:58
Apply techniques from the course by animating runs from references, practice walk cycles, and master transitions between runs and walks to deepen your understanding of body mechanics in Maya.

Requirements

Be able to navigate Maya's viewport
Be able to set keys on the timeline
Understand the basics of Maya's Graph Editor
To know that animation layers exist in Maya

Description

Learn efficient 3D animation workflows by delivering a professional looking, anime inspired, stylized female run animation in Autodesk Maya.

I always wanted to study one of those cute female runs from animes. It's tough to match the 2D pencil approach, in my opinion (and also animation made on twos has its own particular charme), but let's see how to get as close as we can to it in 3D!

Together we will go through the whole process, from analyzing references and setting the project in Maya, to the delivery of the polished animation.

This course is designed for beginner animators who understand the basics of the workflow but struggle to give their animation that level of quality and believability typical of professional products.

At the end of this course you will be able to confidently animate a stylized run, interpret reference footage for animation, and adopt the same techniques professionals employ to produce industry standard animations.

You will learn about:

Working with video references
Identifying and designing the key poses of a run
Troubleshooting posing
Mirroring poses using Red Studio 9
Setting up priorities for splining
Animation splining and polishing workflows

The course will employ industry standard software Autodesk Maya, but the same workflows can be applied to any 3D package.

Check out the course preview!

You can find more tutorials on my Youtube channel and you can Join my Discord server, check the links in my profile.

Who this course is for:

Beginners who struggle to deliver convincing locomotion animations
Beginners who want to learn efficient workflows to animate human characters
Beginners who want to animate professionally
Anyone who wants to have some fun animating a nice character!