These are the 4 Principles I will need to follow:
1. Arcs. The ball falls in an elliptical arc through space. Most things move in an arc of some kind. If the ball were to move in a straight line between the high and low points of the bounce, then the action would look very unnatural.
2. Timing. (or Spacing). As the ball falls it is accelerated by gravity, the gap between each frame growing all the time until the ball contacts the ground. As the ball bounces from the ground the opposite happens: as the ball hops up it moves very fast at first, then slows down by gravity into the high point of its bounce. Note that at the high point of the bounce the ball is weightless…perfectly balanced between the force of gravity pulling it down, and its own momentum moving it forward.
3. Squash and Stretch. As the ball falls it stretches. When it impacts the ground it squashes. When it bounces off the ground it stretches again. Note how quickly the ball regains its circular shape. Too much squash and stretch can make an object look “mushy”.
4. Volume. The ball should remain the same mass as it squashes and stretches. If the ball were to squash too much it would seem to be growing physically bigger. This is very eye catching, and looks weird.
Primary Reference
After learning these principles I begun to record some reference videos of different balls. This video is a quick recording I took to show the affects of a variety of weights of balls when they bounce. At the moment I really like the First ball, which is made out of foam material. I also like the Ping Pong ball as it is so lively consisting of lots of bounces which I think will be fun to animate. There is a nice contrast between these two, so I feel they will go well together in an animation
The first image is a quick drawing of the key frames which are needed for a straight vertical bounce, seen in my reference video above. And the second two sketches we were taught in class, they are the key frames needed for a Squashy Cartoon Ball and and regular Lightweight Bouncing Ball.
Secondary Reference
This Tutorial on YouTube takes you through all the steps of animating a ball in a very clear way. I believe this video will be a life saver if you are having problems! It teaches the theory of the bouncing ball, covering principles such as timing and spacing, squash and stretch, and the use of motion arcs.
This is a video I found on YouTube, it is very helpful when you physically see the affect on the balls on impact with the surface in slow motion. However take note the best part of the clip is at 1:30, here you actually see them bounce of a solid surface.
After watching the ‘stuff bouncing off Gelatin in slow motion’ video I am keen to animate a bowling ball as I feel it will look very effective and interesting due to its heavy weight, It will also help teach me about using Key frames to manipulate a heavier object. However I Don’t have a bowling ball myself so I took this reference of YouTube.
Animation Reference
I really like this animation by Mark Barber which again I found on YouTube. I like the way he uses stairs as his prop, this makes a much more interesting scene rather than just a plain old ball bouncing, depending on how I get on with animating, I may try to use stairs as a prop too.
This is a really good bouncing ball test I found on YouTube, I love how fluid the scene is.
I would like to go on and try to mix these last two references into one project.
Test 1: Experimental/ Lesson
This work was completed in class where our tutor took us through step by step of the procedure to creating a bouncing ball. The lesson taught me a lot of important techniques I need to create not only a realistic animation but also how to give the scene a sense of personality through the squash and stretch. How to organise the spline graph was also very useful to learn, because it gave me the chance to experiment, and opened my eyes to just how important the splines can be, you can achieve the same effect as using lots of key frames but advantage saving time and keeping your animation tidy and organised.
01. Key Frames
The first action I took was to key in all of the key frames, At the highest point of the bounce and at the point of impact on the ground. I done this using the AutoKey tool in the side view panel, AutoKey was a quick and easy way to determine the key frames.
02. Graph Editor- Splines
After completing the key frames, we went into the Graph editor to adjust the splines to adapt to the live action reference. I found this to be a much more efficient way to animate, rather than going over nearly every frame and key framing ‘S’. As you can see in comparison to the first video in this the sequence, there seems to a sense of weight, due to the way the ball accelerates down the arc and then back up after the bounce. It brings a more natural feel to the scene.
As you can see from these two graphs there is vast difference between the default spline arcs manually made Maya and my edited version. On the left image you can see they ease in and ease out, which make the animation flat and unrealistic. However the right splines are much sharper and exaggerate the bounce.
03. Squash and Stretch
A squash and stretch has now been placed on the ball, We done this by using the ‘Squash and Stretch’ deformer under the animation sub-heading. I had never used deformers before so it was a good little trick to learn, as before I would manually adjust the scale but would often lose the shape of the ball. I found that the squash and stretch really gave a sense of personality to the ball.
These two layouts show the timing and spacing of a lightweight ball, and a cartoony ball, At the moment I like the Squashy cartoon ball because it is full of life and character, therefore I am going to experiment with this effect first.
Before I start animating my scene, I want to experiment using a Cartoon squashy ball because this will help highlight the key animation principles I will need to use in my further studies. A bouncing ball needs anticipation; in the preparation for the bounce; A squash and stretch to emphasise the weight of the ball; Arcs which give a sense of freedom and life; Ease in and ease out as the ball accelerates in the fall and then slows down after the impact; and last but not least Timing, timing is the key in an animation like this!
After this experiment I can covert these key principles into a more realistic scene, therefore obviously I must tone down the effects like the squash and stretch to achieve a more naturalistic appeal.
After the paper layout, I went on to draw the key Frames in Adobe Flash. Here it is as a video…
This video makes it a lot easier when it comes to taking the work into the 3D world, as it gives you the key reference points you need to set up the animation in Autodesk Maya.!
Test 2: Cartoon Squashy Ball
Now I have composed the bounce in Adobe Flash I took it into Maya and sampled the first bounce to see how it appeared, these are the results….
As you can see from this first test, the bounce looks very unnatural as there is no sense of weight. This is mainly due to the way the animation eases in to the bounce, which slows down the fall where it should really pick up momentum. Therefore I used the Graph Editor to alter the Ease in and Ease out, here’s the result…
This clip is of the same as my first bounce however I used the Graph Editor to ease in to the fall, then pick up momentum and burst into the bounce to achieve a more natural affect.
I have now added a squash to the bounce which gives it a cartoony kinda feel, and just gives a general feeling of life to the clip.
I have now added a Stretch to the ball because I felt the ball lacked character. This principle provides anticipation, the ball is getting ready to hit the ground. There is also a contrast between the squash and stretch which helps exaggerate the bounce, bringing the scene to life.
Now I have the main part of the bounce complete I went on to add a prop which acts as a surface the ball could roll off of. However there are a couple of faults which I am not comfortable with, firstly on the third and fourth bounce, the squash and stretch seem far to prominent, so next I will have to tone this down. Secondly when the ball stops bouncing and begins to roll, you can see the roll is much too fast and seems to pick up speed.
In this clip I edited the third bounce as I found the timing was slightly out so i tried to speed it up to make it more realistic. I also slowed down the momentum of the final roll so it matches the speed of the bounces so all in all it looks smoother and more believable. My Cartoon Squashy Bouncing ball experiment is nearly finished, and I am happy with my first attempt of animating in Maya, I've learnt a lot about timing and key framing, to make a smooth and natural animation. However there is still a lot of room for improvement!
Test 3: Bowling Ball
After my experimental work with the Squashy Cartoon Ball, I feel I have learnt some valuable lessons which I can include in my final project. From now on I am going to develop my ideas to my final bouncing ball animation.
This is a very quick plan I drew up to help myself think of what kind of bounce I want to have in my scene. At the moment I would rather have a horizontal bounce going across the scene rather than just a straight vertical bounce as I feel that could be quite bland and boring. I have also been thinking of what props I would like to see in my scene, currently I am thinking about using a large cube to act as a surface the to set the ball rolling.
I have now begun to storyboard the animation, thinking about how I can integrate the two different balls into the same scene. I am thinking about having a Heavier Ball (Like a bowling ball) fall of my first prop, and then collide with the second prop to knock it over which in effect will cause the second ball to fall and start bouncing. I want the second ball to be very light (maybe a Ping Pong Ball) so I get a nice contrast between the Large and Heavy Bowling ball and the Small and Light Ping Pong Ball.
Bowling Ball Animation
01. Start
This is the start of the bowling ball bounce sequence animated in Maya. So far I like the sense of weight which has bee achieved.
02. Roll
I have now added in the roll after the bounces have stopped to show the ball losing its momentum.
Now I have inserted the first prop, It is the surface that initiates the drop, I feel that it is needed to make the scene appear complete rather than just a plain ball bouncing.
04. Drop
A side view of the Ball falling however I need to fix the drop as it seems very slow and eases in to the bounce, where naturally it should pick up speed.
05. Fall Fixed
In this Video I fixed the slow drop in the graph editor to achieve a more realistic fall.
06: Bowling Ball- Back Spin
Before:
After:
After watching back Camera Two there was something I noticed which I felt needed changing, and that was after the bowling ball struck the second prop, it just stopped and that felt very unnatural, so I added in a slight backspin after the impact, so it doesn’t just come to a complete stop and looks a lot more realistic!
05. Stairs
The first thing I done was sculpting my first prop; the stairs. Once I had done that I then went on to animate the first ball of the scene. The bowling ball starts at the top of the stairs and slowly rolls towards the edge until it drops, falling and hitting off each step all the way to the bottom.
02. Both Balls in Sequence
This is a clip of both of the balls bouncing in sequence, however after watching this playbast, I noticed that it was quite a boring composition as it feels very flat. I also felt the way the balls were timed, it was difficult to be able to concentrate on both balls at once.
03. New Composition
I have now changed the composition so we can see both the balls in a more appealing shot. I have also changed the timing of the balls so it is easier for the viewer to follow. Before I had both of them falling at the same time and it wasn't very easy on the eye as you were unsure what to concentrate on, however in this playblast you can see how I let the bowling ball drop all the way down the stairs till the tennis ball begun its fall. I am much happier with this more dynamic composition.
04: Introduction of Beach Ball
When I finished the first two bouncing balls I felt there was something missing, So I thought I’d add in a third ball into the scene. At first it was just a test to see how it fits in into the clip, so I decided to go for a different weight of ball, one which I haven’t used before, so I went for a beach ball. I really liked how it came out as there is a nice contrast between each ball. I have a heavy ball, a small bouncy ball and a big lightweight ball. One thing which i done to try to bring the animation to life was keeping each bounce different, I have one going down stairs, one going horizontally across the screen and one plain vertical bounce.