I didn't quite finish all of the tests, nor have I done as many tests as I would like to have done but what I have done will be put into great practice, and the quality of the animation WILL be surpassed in the final film.
To recap I've posted the very latest versions of each of the tests below.
Run cycle
I feel this test has been accomplished and has been a good way to start getting back into animating, but I will most definitely change the way the character moves in the final animation. This is because I feel after viewing it there's not enough character present, despite changing it a bit compared to a standard run cycle.
The lightness I wanted to achieve is present, but maybe not added as much as I could've done. A thing I do like however is the way the chick propels itself into the air a bit more than a standard run cycle, this is due to the weight of the chick and also because it is somewhat attempting to fly without having the ability to use its wings.
Another way I could've (and may very well do in the final animation) is like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsRfrTJX4mY
It looks manic and I feel in some ways would work better for a run, however there's nothing stopping me from doing two varying styles since both of the chicks each have their own personality.
Walk AND Fall
Despite being pretty happy with the blocking stage for both I encountered numerous problems when splining the animation, this has caused myself to get to this stage later than I had hoped to. One of the issues was the fall which when splined caused a lot of issues with the rig, because of this I had to recreate the fall but I was splining it from the start because I feared running into anymore problems again.
It sadly wasn't until I splined it that I found out this rig has quite a few issues with the feet, which meant I had to go frame by frame for the whole animation and tweak it all. What happened was when I moved the main body the feet would ever so slightly move which caused it to look somewhat jittery.
I feel as if I could spend AT LEAST a few more days on this, but I wish to get on with a few more tests that will aid me in the project. Despite the issues with this test I'm still happy I've given it an attempt, and when I come to the final piece it will have been a huge help at knowing what problems I could potentially come to.
Duck and cover
I'm quite happy with this piece, although I still feel I could work a bit more on certain aspects of it. Considering how quickly this will be on the screen in the final short film I doubt viewers would get too annoyed about potential mistakes, but being a perfectionist I still would like to avoid them when coming to the final piece. This like all of the other tests may be changed when I actually come to animate it, but that was pretty much a given.
Leg hop (unfinished)
I sadly did not get to finish the leg hop in time, this was because I've also been working on the actual thing along with doing all of these tests. However since this piece is key to the film I will be continuing this on since I do not wish to have this scene hold back the whole film.
As theorised the hardest part was the feet, which caused me to take quite some time getting it to the stage its at even now. Despite not getting this finished in time for this unit I will finish it and post it here in the coming days since I feel this is most likely the most important test for the animation.
When I come to actually animating for the film I will have all of the knowledge that has built up over this unit and more, and I'm hoping for my best work yet. Sadly the work I've done here isn't what I'd consider anywhere near "my best" but I had to overcome things along the way. I now know of problems I didn't think I'd encounter, so that alone to me makes these tests a success.
