I’m going to forego the remaining steps to complete the scene in order to provide some feedback. I’m more concerned with you understanding the process, so walking through the remainder of the poses is unnecessary.

Shots f03 did require a few timing changes. The 12 frames allowed for the character to turn in his chair weren’t sufficient. I needed to add four frames to that section. I selected all the controllers in the scene and used the dope sheet to adjust timings. Additional changes will be necessary, but this animation should serve as an initial pass for the three shots.

Although I’ve answered a few necessary questions about the scene, it doesn’t contain enough information to explain the point of the scene. If you remember the advice that Sean Mullen gave in his interview in Chapter 10, he suggests not showing a piece of animation until you are absolutely certain that it can explain itself. It isn’t in your best interest to show your work if the director or supervisor can’t understand what you are trying to achieve. That is exactly why some additional elements are required to complete the blocking phase.

To learn more about animation blocking and other topics of interest to animators, check out Inspired: 3D Character Animation by Kyle Clark; series edited by Kyle Clark and Michael Ford: Premier Press, 2002. 266 pages with illustrations. ISBN 1-931841-48-9. ($59.99) Read more about all four titles in the Inspired series and check back to VFXWorld frequently to read new excerpts.

Author and series editor, Kyle Clark (left), and series editor Mike Ford (right).

Series editor Kyle Clark is a lead animator at Microsoft’s Digital Anvil Studios and co-founder of Animation Foundation. He majored in film, video and computer animation at USC and has since worked on a number of feature, commercial and game projects. He has also taught at various schools, including San Francisco Academy of Art College, San Francisco State University, UCLA School of Design and Texas A&M University.

Series editor and author Michael Ford is a senior technical animator at Sony Pictures Imageworks and co-founder of Animation Foundation. A graduate of UCLA’s School of Design, he has since worked on numerous feature and commercial projects at ILM, Centropolis FX and Digital Magic. He has lectured at the UCLA School of Design, USC, DeAnza College and San Francisco Academy of Art College.