Overlap tests: Week 3

Overlap/ Follow through:

Overlap is when part of an object continues to move after the rest of the object has stopped and then slows down and comes to a stop also. The speed of the action and how long it will take for this part of the object i.e. hair to come to a stop will depend on the weight and how violent the movement was.

This diagram from 'The Animators Survival Kit' by Richard William shows the two of the stages before the coat comes to rest. The middle stage is the overlap: the man has stopped moving but the coat contiunes past him before it settles. The first stage before that is the drag and no overlap can exist without the drag happening first as it helps give the object weight.

Break Down:

At the mid point between the Drag and Overlap the object mustn't become straight as this makes the animation look inaccurate and looses the feeling of follow through. The correct position for the object is one that incorporates both drag and overlap, Richard Williams calls the break down position.  

Reference video:

This video helped me understand the correct break down position for my object: a ball and tail.  Although our rigs were slightly different both had three joints and it gave me a good indication of how to position the tail with that tail particular structure.  

Ball and Tail with Overlap:

The first test, which I have analysed (bellow) is of a the ball moving in one direction. The extreme stages of the overlap and swinging of the tail were key framed in and the graph editor was then used to create the appropriate spacing. doing this simple break down really helped me to understand the shapes the tail needed to take to give it a sense of weight and memento as it traveled behind the ball.

The next test was having the ball go left, right and then left again. There I experimented with two different weights. This first was heavier particular in the lower tail making the rest of the tail swing a lot. The second was lighter with a lighter tail tip resulting in the main part of the tail not moving/swinging as much when it comes to rest. With this particular weight I also experimented moving the tail in the Z-axis as well as the X. This made the tail look a little heavier because as it overlapped it moved around more before coming to a stop.