Character Animation and Video Reference

Video reference is fundamental to the planning phase of your animation and good reference is your road map. If your reference is poorly executed then your animation will be as well. In this workshop, Sarah Arduini, Senior Character Animator and Key Artist, will share the tools and process she uses during her daily workflow when creating video reference for films with a focus on the theory behind the practice. It’s really important not to rush into the animation.

Planning allows you to save a lot of time in the long run since you’ll have a detailed guide of all your thoughts about the project. In this lesson, an in-depth analysis will be done on the video reference highlighting the main poses, studying the timing, weight shifts, and stripping away all the unnecessary elements and preserving just those moments that count. Sarah thoughtfully explains all the important reasons behind every choice made and each process taken going from blocking to spline/polishing. You will learn the importance of video reference and the difference between the training and work approach.

Sarah covers tips on how to act in front of a camera in order to create a believable performance and demonstrates how to shoot your own video reference when none is available while choosing the right technical aspects of cameras, fps, lights, props, and so on. Using a wide variety of editing software, you’ll improve the quality of your video reference outside and inside Maya and have a full understanding of the emotional wave of the sequence/story before shooting the video reference while thinking about the subtext. At the end of this workshop you will be able to make and use video reference as professionals do and have the ability to break down the reference to better understand the body mechanics & subtle nuances and craft a quick-yet-well done video reference that will speed up your workflow.