Kerry Collins 3D animation showcase (Rookies 2022).

Kerry Collins 3D Animation Showcase (Rookies 2022)

Hello. My name is Kerry. I am a recent graduate from Flinders University/ CDW Studios and a junior 3D animator. For my rookies submission I will be showing my showcase of 3D animation work I created during my time at university. These projects are the ones I am most proud of and shows the best of my work.

SHOWCASE

Elephant Walk cycle (Quadruped)

Rig created by Truong CG Artist. 

This was an interesting and challenging project as this was my first time animating a quadruped. To start my process, I began carefully studying elephant anatomy and movement to understand where the weight and balance are supported. A challenge I faced was capturing the elephant's grace and momentum. In order to overcome this, I continuously experimented with the up and down movements of the body controls while also changing the timing. It was great experience for me as it helped build my knowledge in how quadruped animals move.

References from;

Wild Ceylon: Tusker Elephant walking to the water. (YouTube)

BBC Earth's Wild Africa: Elephants in the Namib Desert. (YouTube)

KING KONG (Action Animation)

Rig created by Truong CG Artist.

Here is the mighty KONG! This was a fun and interesting project as I am passionate about monster films. The challenge was to balance the animal and human characteristics that are associated with the character of King Kong. To help make him more appealing, I studied the movement and anatomy of gorillas and recorded reference of myself. The process evolved from this stage through pushing the key poses further as well as the timing to better portray Kong's weight and power. 

Gorilla reference:

Continent5iveFilms: AMBAM the Gorilla that stands & walks like a MAN! (Youtube)

Walk Cycle Exercise

Rig created by maverickmdgmdg (Turbosquid)

This was an enjoyable exercise as I was able to showcase my creative side by conveying personality in each walk cycle I created. My main inspiration for this exercise was Richard Williams' walk cycle from 'The Animator's Survival Kit.' What I enjoyed the most from this project was adding squash and stretch to give each walk a different characteristic. Each are named 'normal, happy and fat, drama queen, boy, and walking but backwards'. The walk cycle lasts 25 frames per second then looped.

Bike Animation (Pantomime)

Rigs created by CG Tarain (Ray), Animation Mentor (Stewart) and Yak33 (Bike).

An entertaining and challenging project where the task was to create a sequence through pantomime acting. My inspiration was a comedic clip from Youtube called 'Did I win?'. What I enjoyed the most was the process of being able to give the characters personality through line of action and arcs. My process was through creating a rough storyboard, collecting reference, and planning out the frames.  The biggest challenge I faced was the interaction between the two characters in the scene and how one of them needed to pass the bike over to the other character. I utilised the parent constraint in Maya which was a great benefit to my process.

YouTube: Did I Win? (MasterFX 2000)