Almost the Final Animation...

I believe that below is the final version of my animation:

If it is, then I'm really proud of what I've achieved. If it isn't, then I'm still proud, there are just a few changes to make :P

Final Animation: Draft 8...

I've added a few more close ups and tweaked a few scenes, mostly the cloth scene and the pulling scene:

I like how the pace feels at the moment, I'm going to add a few more shots from different angles in the penultimate scene from behind, but other than that I think it's almost there :)

Final Animation: Draft 7...

I added a couple of close ups here. One in the climbing scene and one as he pushes the pie chart:

Final Animation: Sixth Draft...

Here I've added a few close up shots and tweaked the penultimate and final scene to make them work a little nicer:

Final Animation: Fifth Draft...

Here I've adjusted the spiral scene to add a little more movement and tweaked the pie chart scene to seem as though he's pushing it rather than chasing it:

Final Animation: Fourth Draft...

Here I've added and tweaked a few intercuts. One in the spiral scene and the rest are in the window scene:

Final Animation: Draft 3.5...

Here I've re-added the first intercut and then re-arranged the other two in the spiral scene:

Final Animation: Third Draft...

Here I've adjusted an intercut in the spiral scene and the character now reacts to the pillars falling into darkness:

Final Animation: Draft 2.5...

Here I've added an extra shot into the spiral sequence and tweaked the chasm scene so that the pillars fall at different times:

Final Animation: Second Draft...

I've added the new spiral scene and him falling into the horizontal stripe scene from the previous chasm one:

Spiral Scene Adjustment...

Trying to make the scene feel a little more like a 3D space:

Final Animation: First Draft...

Here's what I've been up to:

It's working pretty nicely so far! There's still a lot of tweaking to be done but it's nice to see it as a rough whole animation now.

I've had a few suggestions and there are a few additions I'd like to make to certain scenes so:

• The scene in which the floor disappears beneath his feet and he falls into the chasm below will have the pillars sink quickly in to the black instead.
• This scene will be linked to the next by the character falling and into the next scene from the previous one.
• The windows may need to slide in instead of having the instant 'light off' animation they have at the moment, allowing the character being squished to feel a little more like it's part of the scene.
• The two sequences before he sits on the cube feel a little off still. This may be an issue with the editing or the camera and I'll find out soon.

I'm still new to animating and although some of it isn't that great I'm quite happy with how jerky it can be, and he's been a pretty cute character to work with so far so that's great. Any more suggestions and feedback is much appreciated and I'm looking forward to getting this animations polished and lovely :D

Progress Update...

I'm currently working on animating the bulk of the scenes in Maya. It's going okay, some of the scenes aren't particularly smooth yet but it's a good starting place, and it allows me time to refine it later. Once I've got them all done I'll post up a new pre-viz to see how it all fits together. For now though, here are a few renders of the scenes I've got at the moment:

Run Cycle Update...

I've adjusted his cog joint to give him more time in the air:

It's definitely better, although I did struggle to make it look like he was going up and down from this view. You can see it from the front but I think it just about works now. :)

Reaction Test: Surprise...

He gets a few nasty surprises in my animation so I thought I'd get a bit of practice going, using some of the reactions in the Animators Survival Kit as a basis:

I had a good go and I think it works quite nicely.  It's not amazing of course, but I think for a quick test it works pretty nicely, and I now have a few more poses for my PoseLibrary! :D

Run Cycle 2...

Below is my second attempt at a run cycle put into a bit more context, the first is at 25fps and the second is at 30fps just to see if it looks a little better:

I've been struggling with this one for days but I do think it's almost there. I've been having trouble loosening him up so he doesn't feel as if everything's moving at the same time, but when I do I seem to come across very random and unpleasant jumping in his arms.

Anyway, I could do with a break from this cycle so it's time to continue with a few of his behaviours. 

Run Cycle Attempt 1 Tweaking...

I tweaked the arms, added foot pressure and trouser movement below:

It's definitely a little tidier and I'm glad with how it's coming along after the little trouble I had earlier. Might have a break from these cycles and have a go at some reactions. After looking in The Animators Survival Kit, I've found a guide to creating surprise that I'd really like to have a go with. Onwards and upwards! :D

Run Cycle Attempt: 1...

It's a bit wobbly but I like how lumbered his run feels though.  It's starting to look like a run too which is good, but I've got my copy of Richard Williams' Animators Survival Kit by my side, so I should get there eventually :)

Current Walk Cycle...

Here's how he's walking at the moment:

I've added more delay and made his heel now hit the ground first.  I like the delay in his arms and his head bob, I think it's almost there. Now to try putting a run cycle together!

@Alan, Walk Cycle Update...

After making a couple of blend shapes and adding some laces to the feet, this is where his cycle is currently at:

The texture's simple, but it works, and the blend shapes are working nicely on the trousers and shoes. They're controlled by a driven key one the foot control, which seems to be doing the trick nicely.

Any pointers about how to improve the cycle are much appreciated though, but he seems to be coming along nicely other than that :)