Game Anim · Video Game Animation Explained by Cooper, Jonathan -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Preface Additional Legal Notices Acknowledgments Author Chapter 1: The Video Game Animator

What It Means to Be a Video Game Animator

Artistry & Creativity Technical Ability Teamwork Design Sense Accepting the Nature of the Medium Life Experience Different Areas of Game Animation Player Character Animation Facial Animation Cinematics & Cutscenes Technical Animation Nonplayer Characters Cameras Environmental & Prop Animation Required Software & Equipment Digital Content Creation (DCC) Software Game Engines Reference Camera Video Playback Software Notepad

Chapter 2: The Game Development Environment

Finding the Right Fit

Studio Culture Team Strengths Game Pillars Team Size Team Dynamics Game Animator Roles Gameplay Animator Cinematic Animator Lead Animator Animation Director Principal Animator Technical Animator Animation Technical Director Other Game Development Disciplines Programming Art Design Audio & Effects Quality Assurance Management Public Relations & Marketing

A Video Game Project Overview

Phase 1: Conception Phase 2: Preproduction Phase 3: Production Phase 4: Shipping Phase 5: Postrelease

Chapter 3: The 12 Animation Principles

Principle 1: Squash & Stretch Principle 2: Staging Principle 3: Anticipation Principle 4: Straight Ahead & Pose to Pose Principle 5: Follow-Through & Overlapping Action Principle 6: Slow In & Slow Out Principle 7: Arcs Principle 8: Secondary Action Principle 9: Appeal Principle 10: Timing Principle 11: Exaggeration Principle 12: Solid Drawings

Chapter 4: The Five Fundamentals of Game Animation

Feel

Response Inertia & Momentum Visual Feedback

Fluidity

Blending and Transitions Seamless Cycles Settling

Readability

Posing for Game Cameras Silhouettes Collision & Center of Mass/Balance

Context

Distinction vs Homogeneity Repetition Onscreen Placement Elegance Simplicity of Design Bang for the Buck Sharing & Standardization

Chapter 5: What You Need to Know

Basic Game Animation Concepts

Common Types of Game Animation

Cycles Linear Actions Transitions

Skeletons, Rigs, & Exporting to Game How Spline Curves Work Collision Movement Forward vs Inverse Kinematics

Intermediate Game Animation Concepts

State Machines Parametric Blending Partial Animations Additive Layers Physics, Dynamics, & Ragdoll

Advanced Game Animation Concepts

Procedural Motion & Systems Full-Body IK Look-Ats Blend Shapes Muscle Simulation Animated Textures/Shaders Artificial Intelligence

Decision-Making Pathfinding

Chapter 6: The Game Animation Workflow

Reference Gathering Don’t Be Precious Animate Pose to Pose over Straight Ahead Rough It In Get It In Game! Iteration Is the Key to Quality Blocking from Inside to Out Pose-Sharing Libraries Keep Your Options Open Use Prefab Scenes Avoiding Data Loss

Set Undo Queue to Max Configure Auto-Save Save Often Version Control

Chapter 7: Our Project: Preproduction

Style References Defining a Style

Comparisons Realism vs Stylized Who Is the Character?

Previz

Gameplay Mock-Ups Target Footage

Prototyping Pitching the Game

Chapter 8: Our Project: Technical Animation

Character Setup

Modeling Considerations Skinning Rigging Animation Sharing

File Management

File-Naming Conventions Folder Organization Referencing

Exporting

Export Data Format Engine Export Rules Animation Memory & Compression Animation Slicing In-Engine Work Event Tags Blend Timing Scripting Test Levels Asset Housekeeping

Digital Content Creation Animation Tools

Chapter 9: Our Project: Gameplay Animation

The Three Cs Gameplay Cameras

Settings & Variables Camera-Shake

Ground Movement

The All-Important Idle Animation Seamlessly Looping Walk/Run Cycles Animating Forward vs In Place Inclines, Turning, & Exponential Growth Strafing Starts, Stops, & Other Transitions Ten Common Walk/Run Cycle Mistakes Jumping Arcs Take-Off Landing Climbing & Mantling Height Variations & Metrics Collision Considerations Cut Points & Key Poses Alignment Attack Animations Anticipation vs Response Visual Feedback Telegraphing Follow-Through & Overlapping Limbs Cutting Up Combos Readability of Swipes over Stabs Damage Animations Directional & Body Part Damage Contact Standardization Synced Damages Recovery Timing & Distances Impact Beyond Animation

Chapter 10: Our Project: Cinematics & Facial

Cinematic Cameras

Field-of-View Depth-of-Field The Virtual Cameraman The Five Cs of Cinematography Cutscene Dos & Don’ts The 180 Rule Cut on an Action Straddle Cuts with Camera Motion Trigger Cutscenes on a Player Action Avoid Player in Opening Shot Use Cuts to Teleport End Cutscenes Facing the Next Goal Avoid Overlapping Game-Critical Information Acting vs Exposition Allow Interaction Whenever Possible Avoid Full-Shot Ease-Ins/Outs Track Subjects Naturally Consider Action Pacing Place Save Points after Cutscenes Planning Cutscenes Cutscene Storyboarding Cutscene Previsualization Cutscene Workload Scene Prioritization Cutscene Creation Stages The Eyes Have It Eyelines IK vs FK Eyes Saccades Eye Vergence Thought Directions Lip-Sync Phonemes Shape Transitions Facial Action Coding System Sharing Facial Animation Creating Quantities of Facial Animation Troubleshooting Lip-Sync

Chapter 11: Our Project: Motion Capture

Do You Even Need Mocap? How Mocap Works

Different Mocap Methods

Optical Marker–Based Accelerometer Suits Depth Cameras Performance Capture

The Typical Mocap Pipeline Mocap Retargeting Mocap Shoot Planning Shot-List Ordering/Grouping Your Shots Rehearsals Mocap Previz Working with Actors Casting Directing Actors Props & Sets Prop Recording Set Building Virtual Cameras

Getting the Best Take Working with Mocap

Retiming Pose Exaggeration Offset Poses Hiding Offset Pose Deltas Blending & Cycling

Chapter 12: Our Project: Animation Team Management

Scheduling

Front-Loading Prioritizing Quality De-Risking Predicting Cuts & Changes Adaptive Schedules Conflicts & Dependencies Milestones

Teamwork

Collaboration Leadership Mentorship Hiring The Animation Critique Outsourcing

Chapter 13: Our Project: Polish & Debug

Closing Stages of a Project

Alpha Beta Release Candidates & Gold Master

Animation Polish Hints & Tips

Foot-sliding Popping Contact Points Momentum Inconsistency Interpenetration Targeted Polishing Memory Management & Compression Debugging Best Practices Test/Modify Elements One by One Version Control Comments Avoid Incrementally Fine-Tuning Troubleshooting

Chapter 14: The Future

Getting a Job

The Game Animation Demo Reel

What to Include Editing Your Reel The Reel Breakdown

Your Résumé Your Web Presence The Animation Test Incoming Technologies Virtual Reality Affordable Motion Capture Runtime Rigs In-Game Workflow Motion Matching Procedural Movement Machine Learning

Index

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