Animating a Jump [Locomotion and Mechanics for Animation - Unit 07]

Animating a Jump

25/10/24

Introduction

Building on other core locomotion animation exercises like walks and runs, this blog post explores the animation development of a simple jump. This animation exercise will explroe a standard jump to explore core theory, however, this could be combine with runs or walks to create a longer animation sequence that follows the same core theory. An animation like this would also need effective reference to study the transition between different locomotive states. In order to perfect the core theory this blog post will explore the animation development of a standing jump to settle.

Theory Analysis

Animation theory was studied to pick out key aspects the influence a jump animation. 

Firstly, The Animator's Survival Kit (Williams, 2009) was studied.

(Williams, 2009, pp. 212 - 213) 

The key observations from these pages (Williams, 2009, pp. 212 - 213) were:
  • Generally a person starts with a run as the anticipation.
  • You can get away with some real extremes in the stretch and squash poses.
  • Adding delay to the legs will create overlap and allow it to feel more natural and give it more weight.
(Williams, 2009, pp. 214 - 215) 

The key observations from these pages (Williams, 2009, pp. 214 - 215) were:
  • Shows a regular jump from standing and an alternative version that is more loose and cartoony.

(Williams, 2009, p. 216) 

The book (Williams, 2009, p. 216) also featured photographic reference from Eadweard Muybridge showing a great breakdown of a real person jumping using stop motion photography.

Next, Cartoon Animation with Preston Blair (Blair, 2020, p.75) was studied. It featured these thumbnails showing jumping thumbnails and particularly focussed on the smooth line of action that follows the head across a jump.

(Blair, 2020, p. 75)

Reference

To ground the animation in reality, reference from real life was taken to further support the development of this animation. The video below (Jumping Forward Reference, 2020) was used as it suited a fairly simple jump animation from standing to jumping across the ground with a settle at the end. The side on camera angle was good and the settle at the end was particularly good reference to study how the character responds to the force of a jump and settles to a neutral pose.

Animation

This section details the practical animation development in Maya.

Blocking :


Refinement :

Final Outcome

Perspective View :


Side View :

Conclusion

Overall this animation was successful in achieving the core locomotion of this action. The legs in particular are good as they land on the ground in an offset order showing overlapping action. There is good drag in the legs to show that the character is leaping through the air. The arms are good but feel a little stiff when they reach the peak - this is an area that still needs some refinement to make it feel more natural and less rigid. Timing is good to create some good force in the animation, however, it is possible that the character could have reached a little higher with the force that was put in. The character could have also remained in the down pose after the jump for a few frame more so that it felt even more impactful before recoiling. This animation shows a good base for a jump and could be further stylised if incorporated into a scene that contextualised it further.

The learning outcomes, listed below, have been achieved because :

  1. The mechanics of a jump have been studied through analysing theory lectures from the module; analysing animation theory books and looking at live action reference.
  2. A jump cycle has been animated as shown in the videos across this blog. A loop has been integrated so that the animation seamlessly cycles.
  3. The Body Mechanics (Daniels, 2014) have been used instead of the suggested rigs due to personal preference. However, the rigs are comparable to the rigs referenced in the module guide.
  4. IK techniques have been used on the legs and FK on the arms. In the assignment for this module an IK/FK switch will be used on the arms to make effective use of each method. IK is stronger when you need a body part to stay in one place, e.g. the feet on the ground, but FK is more beneficial for more fluid motions. IK adopts a translation centric approach whereas FK takes a rotation centric approach.
  5. A complex jump animation has been created as shown in the video and explained in the conclusion! 

Learning Outcomes

  1. Understand the mechanics of a jump
  2. Animate a jump cycle
  3. Use the "Monty" and "Morpheus" rigs for animation
  4. Apply IK and FK techniques
  5. Create complex jump animations

Reference List

  1. Blair, P. (2020) Cartoon Animation with Preston Blair. Mission Viejo, CA: Walter Foster Publishing.
  2. Daniels, J. (2014) Anim rigs, art of Joe Daniels. Available at: https://artofjoe.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html (Accessed: 03 January 2025).
  3. Jumping Forward Reference (2020) YouTube video, added by BugBilly [Online]. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgZ-63H_Gz8 (Accessed: 03 January 2025).
  4. Williams, R. (2009) The animator’s survival kit. London: Faber and Faber.

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