Introduction

 

 

Aim

 

This unit aims to develop your understanding of and skills in character animation for computer games to the standard required to work in the computer games industry.

 

Unit abstract

 

3D animators are responsible for the portrayal of movement and behaviour. Most often this is applied to give life to characters and creatures, but sometimes animations are applied to other elements such as objects, scenery, vegetation and environmental effects.

 

3D character animation is a specific skill that requires a good level of understanding and technical knowledge of anatomy and animation to produce the high standard needed for a successful game and, as computer games become more character-based, animation has had to improve.

 

Specialist software packages are used to create the animations and animators will portray movement and behaviour (as well as such aspects as the personality, role, social standing and moods of the character being animated) in an efficient and effective way which makes best use of this technology. Depending on the platform for which the animation is designed they will maximise the opportunities for interactivity.

3D animators should have the ability to develop, produce and reflect upon their own work as this will give them the professional skills needed for a career in the computer games industry.

​

​

​

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit a learner will:

 

1 Understand the characteristics and anatomy of human and animal forms

2 Be able to plan 3D animated characters for computer games

3 Be able to create 3D animated characters for computer games

4 Be able to reflect on own 3D character animation work.

​

1 Understand theory and applications of 3D animation​

2 Be able to devise 3D animations to a given specification​

3 Be able to create 3D animations to a given specification​

4 Be able to reflect upon own animation work.​

​

​

As you can see from the learning outcomes, the units, 73 and 71 are almost identical. Because of the similarities, I've decided to combine both into this one Project. 

 

For this Project I am using Maya. After some research it seems as though Maya is the industry standard, as a bonus, I also have a small amount of experience in Maya biped animation. Specifically I am using a free fully rigged character made as an animation learning tool ("Malcolm" from Animschool)

​

When looking at making a biped animation