This week, I focused on improving the animation by addressing feedback I received during my weekly sessions with George. Showing him my work regularly was incredibly helpful to ensure everything was progressing smoothly. Although I used mocap for the base animation, cleaning up the movements was a significant part of the process.
Fixing the Establishing Shot
One of the first things George pointed out was a strange zoom-in motion in the establishing shot. It felt unnatural and disrupted the flow of the scene, so I removed it and adjusted the framing to make the shot feel more grounded. Another important suggestion was adding a shot of a picture frame to show the robot thinking about its family. This new shot added emotional depth and helped clarify the robot’s motivation.
Challenging Scenes to Clean Up
Cleaning up the mocap data was a challenge, especially in three specific scenes:
- The Robot Turning Around
In this scene, the robot stands up and turns, but my first attempt was extremely rough. The motion looked unnatural it stood, slid awkwardly, and lacked balance. George advised me to rotate the hips properly and fix the weight shift. The robot had to transition smoothly without wobbling or sliding unnaturally. After several adjustments, I managed to create a more balanced and realistic motion. - The Hunched Robot
In another scene, the robot is trying to save everything, but its pose was overly hunched with the knees bent too much. George helped me adjust the posture to make the robot look more determined and less awkward. Small fixes to the angles and overall silhouette made a huge difference. - Picking Up the Blower
This was one of the most difficult shots to clean up. Initially, the motion was too stiff, with the robot’s hand moving in a straight line to grab the blower. George suggested adding a curved motion for the arm and bending the hand slightly to make it look more natural. He also recommended adding anticipation by having the fingers open just before grabbing the blower. Tilting the blower slightly as it was picked up gave the shot a more realistic feel, improving its overall impact.