In this chapter, you began to learn the fundamentals of animating a scene. Starting with a bouncing ball, you learned how to work in the Graph Editor to set up and adjust timing as well as how to add squash and stretch to the animation. The next exercise, throwing an axe, showed you how to set up a scene for animation, expanded on your experience in creating timing in the Graph Editor, and showed you how to add anticipation, follow-through, and secondary motion to your scene. You then learned how to adjust animation using motion trails and how to animate the axe throw using path animation. You went on to learn how to replace a proxy object that is already animated with a different finished model and how to transfer the animation. Going back to the locomotive from Chapter 4, you began to set up the scene for rigging in the next chapter by setting proper pivots and hierarchy. Finally, you used a catapult to animate with deformers and further your experience in the Graph Editor.
Animating a complex system, such as a catapult or a locomotive, involves creating layers of animation based on facets of the mechanics of the system’s movement. With the catapult, you tackled the individual parts separately and then worked to unify the animations. You’ll use rigging concepts in the next chapter to automate some of that process for the locomotive.
The same is true of the Bouncing_Ball and Axe_Throwing exercises. The different needs of the animation were addressed one by one, starting with the gross animation and ending with finishing touches to add weight. Finally, the art of timing brought the entire effort into a cohesive whole.
Even when animation is already applied, it’s simple to change how the animation is accomplished, as you did with path animation, or even to replace the animated object entirely.
Animation is the art of observation, interpretation, and implementation. Learning to see how things move, deciphering why they move as they do, and then applying all that to your Maya scene is what animation is all about.