animation: horse study

[jimcoldt]

very impressive!


I could be wrong, but it seems that the horse would sort of slide, or at least need a few extra little steps before it rears up on its hind legs... think about what kind of surface it would be running on... dirt? asphalt? grass?


looking good either way...

:applause:

-jim

[jimcoldt]

I was just thinking, you might check out the boat/horse scene in "The Ring"... I seem to recall the horse changing directions/rearing up... just a thought. :shrug:

[elastic]

Holy Crap!
That's some pretty slick-looking horse animation... I'm quite impressed. Have to agree with the jimcoldt's comment tho - he might need a bit more slide or settling steps before he rears up.

This is one pretty convincing horse, dude. Show us more!



oh ya - how was that rendered? Hardware render buffer with a lil' bit o motion blur?

[chepe297]

GREAT WORK!

Some feedback...

In the first part, when the horse stands up... I think his head needs some more motion in it, like side to side or something, etc. Just a suggestion.

In the second part, the feet are animated very well, but I think the upper body, especially the head should move more violently. Especially the head part where it goes back and forth.

Overall, I am very impressed with your horse animation! :scream:

[invisible]

great to be getting feedback

updated the clip - looking a little better same link (http://miketrujillo.com/horsestudy.mov)

the only ref I had has a lot of sliding on grass but there isnt nearly as much forward momentum in my clip which would be on more like just hard dirt i guess

ref also has no movement in the head while up, which was counter to what i would have thought and chepe says but i put a little more in - looks better

still working on it... also trying some stuff where he changes gaits from walk to trot to gallop and maybe back again... will add it eventually

[starla30]

nice. it feels like his body kind of freezes when he rears though. i feel like he would still have some momentum from his body to try to keep himself balanced in the air.

i actually did a short film with a horse in it last summer. i never really finished or refined the animation but this clip shows my attempt at a rearing horse with the body motion i'm talking about. his legs are actually working to maintain that upright push to stay in the air. hope this helps and doesn't hinder. ;) there's a gallop also but i have been told by a horse expert that it gallops more like a deer than a horse because it's hind legs go too high.

http://www.cristinmckee.com/horse.avi

[starla30]

also, i went out and picked up black beauty and the black stallion as reference. tons of reference footage there!

[seb4d]

Hi,
my uncle teaches horse-riding and it seems to me that your horse's rear legs are not moving correctly. They are both hitting the ground nearly at the same time and shouldn't. And the fore legs seem to move like trot while the rear legs seem to move like canter.
I don't really know what is wrong, but something disturbs me in this animation.
My team is animating a horse for my school project, and it's true that it's not easy. Even references pictures are not enough, if possible try to observe real galloping horses.

Good luck for your animation ! :thumbsup:

[mebamonster]

Great start there. However, there are a few things that I think need some attention to really smooth it all out. First off, you may want to play more with the up and down movement of the horse as he runs. right now, it seems that his hind region is moving up and down but the frontal area isn't moving enough. Remember, he is a large animal and has to move a bit to re-allocate its weight to maintain some sort of balance.

I also whipped up a little image to show you some corrections you may want to make to the joint movement of your horse. you can find it here:

http://puhalacg.com/cgtalk/horse.jpg

Again, these are just suggestions. take them or leave them as you like.

EDIT:
I just realized you had an updated clip here. So, some of my suggestions seem to have been fixed already. :)

[williamslijp]

good of head montion, I have worked on horse before
u can get it under following ftp

ftp://202.147.253.5/kkj.avi

[invisible]

thanks so much everybody

well heres another take on it...

new movie (http://miketrujillo.com/hstudy.mov)

from two angles - not sure its better but different at least....

mebamonster: I have added rotational limits to prevent breakin in front legs - still looks fishy on some frames but.... - tried to pose the hind legs to your suggestion as well kind of messes with the skin but you are right this is better thanks...

williamslijp: your clip looks good i notice you have similar hind leg motion - horses pair there hind feet a lot it seems like.

starla30: i could not see your clip for some reason.?.

seb4d: yes I am probably mixing steps because i dont know much about horses - hope to figure some of that out.

[Redspective]

Dude, no offense but I think you should start again from scratch.

What I recommend you do is take a look at this link,
http://www.masters-of-photography.com/M/muybridge/muybridge_galloping_horse_full.html

Muybridge is a famous photographer who took frame stills of animals in different motions such as walking, trotting, galloping etc.....

Work on strong poses while also paying special attention to the feet. A horse will never bend their front legs once they've hit the ground. One thing that really stood out in your test was the horses front feet. They not only were bending but they were also galloping faster then the back feet which is of course a BIG no no.

If I were you, I'd first either go view one of his books or better yet watch the movie, Spirit, Stallion of the Cimmaron for reference.

And for the future, before you animate anything, you should ALWAYS exhaust your resources so that you are fully knowledgable in the animation that you are doing. And if you can, try rotoscoping if you're really finding this piece of animation dificult. The horse is one of the more harder animals to animate.

Good luck!

Furio

[Diablo™]

don't be afraid to suspend the horse slightly longer in the air, especially when in motion a horse stays in the air for about 1/8th of a second with no hooves on the ground. in simpler terms, make the stride-air time longer.

there are motion capture vids available by search on google for Horses and quadrapeds alike.

[williamslijp]

invisible: thanks for the ADV

[Gorp]

Seeing how I can't use AVI's on this site I can always send them to you by e-mail if you would like. I also have walks, canters, rear up, deaths of horses, getting up, mounting, etc. I was the senior animator on a Western game for a major publisher and can't think of letting all this animation go to waste {project got cancelled}. If you need any kind of help in horses just let me know by e-mail.

I was raised with horses and am now taking care of 13 on a daily basis. Best of luck man. Oh by the way...look for a website or search for Skyhaven Arabians and contact me there if you would like me to send AVI's in either Max and Maya.

[Cornelius3D]

I am wondering if anyone has the end of the lloyds tsb commercial. Right at the end there is a black horse running and it just repeats over and over. It is great reference but I cant find it anywhere on the net, as it is a commercial. I know someone out there must have it .. anyone ...? anyone?? ..Bueller? ..Bueller?

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.