Personal Studies - Graph Editor

 

Fig.1 - Controlling hip (Attack Combo)

I decided to learn more about the graph editor as I did not know what to completely focus on. Watching tutorials from Canvas and YouTube I was able to understand the difference in how they approached the graph. I would normally go to all the controls and perfect them in the graph editor, not knowing I could only focus on the hip and shoulders, thus focusing on the important aspects of the body. Going through the process was tricky as I have him doing many crazy stuns as shown in figure 1. When animating him I understood that IK and FK handle has a major part in feeling confident and having control in animating. 

Some days passed and I started working on the Animation performance project. Again I decided to work on the graph editor and focus on the main parts, as focusing on all parts would be a long process. As shown in figure 2 graph editor, I exaggerated the hips as she has a small waist and saw an opportunity to swing the hips side to side when talking. 

In figure 3, I decided to go with the same routine of controlling the shoulders and the hips to create a nice arc.

In conclusion, I thought the graph editor went well as I was able to create a nice swing with one of the 12 principles of animation. To improve my animation I will be looking at my other controls on the graph and animate the part that needs moving or an arc. 

Fig.2 - Controlling hip (Animation Performance)

Fig.3 - Controlling hip (Walk Cycle)

References: 

Neistadt, W (2018) How to Animate with the Graph Editor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ31vjgJM2c&t=888s [Accessed on 29.03.2022]

Maya Learning Channel (2021) Maya 2022 - Graph Editor filters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhcrHYHLjCc [Accessed on 29.03.2022]