Before beginning to attempt to animate my suitcase I've decided to go back a couple of units to study the principles of animation. In Unit 5: Animation, I had a bit of a rough time, skillwise and timewise and I really didn't learn enough about the basics.

I'm going to watch the following DVD very closely, while sketching out the movements for my animation. I want to really figure out how a suitcase would move, especially if it was in a hurry. I'd rather have a small amount of well-made animation than to finish my storyboard fully with some very dodgy movement.





This DVD goes over all the basic principles as seen in our Unit 5 Bible - 'Richard William's Animatior's Survivial Guide'. Starting with Timing, Weight and Posing and then moving on to the more advanced stuff like exaggeration and squash and stretch. The DVD also is Maya specific, which should be a huge help. I'm going to attempt to knuckle down and pick as much as this up as possible.

I'm hoping to have some character boards, sillouhettes and movement sketches by the end of the week for my character.

I've been drawing some quick guides to help me with the animating. After watching the first few chapters of the DVD I've realised how helpful it will be to have a quick list of poses and where the suitcase needs to be at certain times.