rhaoosh_butterfly_kick.zip (626.6 KB, 289 views)
"Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there...with open arms, and open eyes" - Incubus
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2
18-07-2004
, 03:30 AM
Technical Director
Join Date: Feb 2004
Looks cool mate! Check out a free motion capture page to see some examples of the do's and dont's :p https://cade.scope.edu/mocap/index.html
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
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3
18-07-2004
, 03:50 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Toronto
Thanks for the link Peltra. Mo-cap looks perfectly real but I prefer to do things by hand to give the movements more style.
Hopefully mocap can stay on the sidelines for specific purposes only so that we all have jobs. 
Rock on.
"Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there...with open arms, and open eyes" - Incubus
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4
18-07-2004
, 04:35 AM
Technical Director
Join Date: Feb 2004
Yes. Thats cool.
P.S. Koda is really cute
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
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5
18-07-2004
, 09:03 AM
Subscriber
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Denmark
Whoa that's awesome!
Animating a scene like the fight between Neo and Morpheus in the first Matrix would be a dream come true for me
Liter is French for 'Gimme some ****ing cola before I break vous ****ing lips!"
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6
18-07-2004
, 10:49 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2004
Nice Animation...It looks very realistic how the character moves...
 .
I'm looking forward on seeing the whole fight...keep it up !
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7
18-07-2004
, 03:57 PM
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Johannesburg
Yeah, nice movement!! Good work!
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8
20-07-2004
, 01:19 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Toronto
Thanks guys,
Let me know if you find anything unnatural.
"Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there...with open arms, and open eyes" - Incubus
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9
20-07-2004
, 06:07 AM
Subscriber
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Germany/Canada
hi rhaoosh - well the movement seems to hit the right poses but the timing is really off. The anticipation isn't big enough for the height of the jump. The jump is way too slow making the landing seem improbable and the character's weight unclear.
Also, while the character does his back check and block in the step up to the kick there is no intention: it looks like someone just going thru the motions.
My advice is to go extreme on the timing - huge anticipation for the jump, snap the kick out hard and fast and work the curves in the graph editor so that the landing shows the weight. Also offsetting the animation is important: the feet stretch out to meet the floor and then take the impact, the abdomen hits and the extremities lag a hair and then they react. Once these dynamic forces 'read' (ie are visible) you can always fine-tune and pull back.
Check out the subsurfacescattering on my tongue...
<a href="https://www.reitzmachine.com">www.reitzmachine.com</a>
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10
20-07-2004
, 09:53 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Toronto
Thanks ereitz,
That was very helpful. You're right. That first pass was quite conservative.
The biggest problem I've had was to show power in the kick while keeping it clear and readable. Seems like 24 frames / sec is not enough.
I will update after some tweaking.
"Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there...with open arms, and open eyes" - Incubus
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11
20-07-2004
, 09:48 PM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: London
The leg should be straight when he kicks. Body should also be tilted more to the side.
Yeah, but no but yeah but no....
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12
21-07-2004
, 07:25 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Toronto
update: v2
K, so the kick now is hopefully close to real time. Also added more weight to the landing and tweaked the anticipation.
I'm trying not to fall off the edge into cartoon land here so comments are welcome.
different angle, divx.
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rhaoosh_butterfly_kick2.zip (531.6 KB, 202 views)
"Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there...with open arms, and open eyes" - Incubus
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13
22-07-2004
, 02:47 AM
Subscriber
Join Date: Oct 2003
Very stylish. I like it so far.
From a (technical) martial arts aspect, the first 2 blocks, left arm, then right arm are too high and far out to the side unless someone's attacking his head from the side, which I may not be aware of. It depends on your intent and the context of the move. Your move may look better but most martial artists try to achieve an "economy of motion." Only move or block as much as you need to in order to accomplish your goal.
The other thing I noticed was the spinning kick. After impacting the target in the face with the kick, the most momentum and spin anyone could achieve would be to finish perpendicular to the target. Your kicker wouldn't be able to keep spinning in the air another 270 degrees before landing. That's just not right even for an animated cartoon battle.
I hope it helps some from a technical aspect. I like the work and can appreciate all the hard work doing these animations by hand!
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14
22-07-2004
, 03:57 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Toronto
Thanks Mrmitch.
I totally agree with you. Not very practical for modern fighters, but this character is performing a section of a form from a very exagerated and flowing style of kung fu called Choy Li fut (with shoalin origins).
The theory behind the practice of the forms is to make it as exaggerated and flowing as much possible so that one can understand the mechanics of how to use the hips to initiate momentum and the arms and legs should be like a whip.
This way in a real fight where everyone naturally tenses up and be conservative, the trained practioner can use this flowing idea to generate long combinations of strikes and blocks with each one being faster and more powerful.
At my kung fu club, we train for san shou tournaments which is just like kickboxing with throws. To the untrained eye it looks nothing like our traditional training but the best fighters we have are the best at the forms. Amazingly, all the exageration helps to conserve energy since the first strike's momentum adds to the last strike of the combination. And it's all about combos..
Of course, you'd have to be as trained as a shaolin monk to actually fight just like the forms and be effective. Unfortunately no one this day and age has the time nor devotion to spend 50 years 16 hours a day training. Most of the wushu or kung fu you see are only for artistic value and not effective against a kickboxer or grappler.
I have a black belt in chito-ryu karate which is a hard and tense style with empasis on the shortest simplest strikes which is very effective on the streets and in general. Kung fu on the other hand takes decades to master just the stances and how to transition through them.
needless to say, it's hard to master the movements in real life and harder to do in the computer. But I'm glad the focus is on the martial arts and not how unbelievable it looks.
I actually made some minor flaws (against kung fu theories) in his movements to make it more natural and believeable...if that makes any sense.
If you made it this far thanks, for reading...this is fun!
"Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there...with open arms, and open eyes" - Incubus
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15
22-07-2004
, 06:11 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Toronto
model
Hey!
Here's a model I'm doing in houdini that I'll use for the kung fu fight in maya.
I need to think of what pants he should wear and what his face should look like.
"Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there...with open arms, and open eyes" - Incubus
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