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More from =apocalypsebunny

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:icontheanimators: #theAnimators
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May 17, 2011
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Comments: 27
Favourites: 25 [who?]


Views: 961 (0 today)
Downloads: 18 (0 today)
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:iconponygirl4:
~PONYGIRL4 Nov 17, 2012  Student Traditional Artist
@00:07i think the first is a cat and the second is a dog, am i right?
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:iconsparkleburst:
*sparkleburst Aug 28, 2012  Hobbyist General Artist
@00:20perfect!!
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:icondragondog2233:
~Dragondog2233 Jun 18, 2012  Hobbyist Traditional Artist
@00:34No problem...It's really well animated!
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:iconapocalypsebunny:
=apocalypsebunny May 27, 2011
Oh, absolutely, I always do that. xD So satisfying to put old stuff next to new stuff. >3>
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:iconapocalypsebunny:
This is my innovations project from NCCA's BACVA Y3 - using only a generic rig and model to portray two different animals by animation alone - a domestic cat and a dog.

Partly it came out of a practical laziness that has served me well over the years - if I'm only testing one thing, why complicate the issue by having to work on others? But mostly I wanted to actually work on my animation skills. I hadn't animated anything from scratch since first year (motion ref in second year didn't count) and one of the things I'd really like to go into is animal animation. You see so many good animations that are let down by a bad rig or uncanny model, so I figured I'd remove those from the equation as much as possible. The rig was made with Digital Tutors' quadruped (horse) rig tutorial, modified a little, and the block model referenced from the generic animal model in Animal Anatomy for Artists by Eliot Goldfinger (which is a most fantastic book for artists and anyone interested in how animals actually work). I was pretty pleased with the outcome of those - it's generic without going completely random. The neck is a little too long for either animal, and I would have rigged the head and neck differently, but you live and learn. Best rig I ever made, anyway. xDDDD

Animation was referenced from a whooooole bunch of sources. I bought Muybridge's complete locomotion photographs book (and good god was that worth it; SO MUCH MATERIAL) and reffed the hell out of his cats and dogs. I walked the dogs with *jinxhellbent and filmed them with ~Pspynett's camera. I watched THE MOST ADORABLE PROFESSIONAL KITTEN VIDEO EVER IN THE WORLD and then again and again and again...and referenced it. xD I also filmed some friends' cat, but she mostly just sat in a box or raced out of sight. >3>

I am now very experienced in the art of animating feet pushing off from the ground. |:

So yes, obviously I am far from perfecting my animation, but I am pretty damn pleased with how this came out. The report was...surprisingly unbullshitty and involved me telling the world about the differences between plantigrade, digitigrade and unguligrade, which I enjoy doing anyway. xDD

Made in Maya 2011.
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:iconraven-girl14:
~raven-girl14 Feb 19, 2013  Student General Artist
WOW! I LOVE THIS!
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:iconponygirl4:
~PONYGIRL4 Nov 17, 2012  Student Traditional Artist
@00:07i think the first is a cat and the second is a dog, am i right?
Reply
:iconsparkleburst:
*sparkleburst Aug 28, 2012  Hobbyist General Artist
@00:20perfect!!
Reply
:icondragondog2233:
~Dragondog2233 Feb 15, 2012  Hobbyist Traditional Artist
@00:34The first one was a cat and the last one was a dog. Am I right?
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:iconapocalypsebunny:
=apocalypsebunny Jun 18, 2012
@00:34Indeed you are! And I am late. Thank you for taking the time to look at this! ♥
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:icondragondog2233:
~Dragondog2233 Jun 18, 2012  Hobbyist Traditional Artist
@00:34No problem...It's really well animated!
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:iconhairyskeleton:
~hairyskeleton Sep 17, 2011  Hobbyist Digital Artist
@00:35Phenomenal. I can see no fault with the frames at all. All my interest is in the dog...there is something inherent about the way K9s move that is recognizable to humans, and you have indeed captured the biology. Animating animals is not easy. I guess books do pay off. Bravo. Favorited.
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:iconapocalypsebunny:
=apocalypsebunny Sep 18, 2011
Thank you very much! I'm glad you find it to be accurate; I imagine a fair portion of the success can be attributed to observing and taking reference footage of the two wonderful dogs I lived with at the time :)

Thanks again!
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:iconfyrisvellir:
~Fyrisvellir May 19, 2011
@00:34That is super-awesome! :la:

Very nice work! It's a bit hard to tell, what with it being made of blocks, but I think the cat maybe seems a tad heavy. When I see my cats run, they're kinda a bit more light and springy. Not by much, but it's still noticeable.
Anyway, not a big deal. It's fantastic work! :D
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:iconapocalypsebunny:
=apocalypsebunny May 27, 2011
@00:34Okie dokie, I'll see if I can refine that a little more before I do anything with it. Thanks for the feedback, good to have a cat owner about :3
Thanks, Rob!
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