Wait, weight? It's not what you think it is. Most people think of weight as being how heavy something or someone is – but this confuses the concept of weight and mass, which are two very different things. Weight (W) is determined by multiplying the mass of an object (m) with the local gravitational constant (g), thus W=mg. What does that mean? In short the mass of an object always remains the same, but it's weight can change. Let me explain: a box that weighs one pound on Earth will only weigh 1/8th of a pound on the Moon because the local gravitational constant is different. Does that make sense? Well, regardless we're now dealing with weight in terms of animation, which is a very tricky thing. Suppose you want to animate a character moving a massive object, how do you represent it? Are they going to float lightly along palming it in one hand, or are they going to struggle and strain? How do you represent that? Is it all done with short, halting steps or arms being stretched to the breaking point, while veins and eyes pop out? Or is it all in the anticipatory and post actions? This is an interesting topic and I'm looking forward to trying my hand at it. With a little more research I hope to be ready for my “speed exercise” on Wednesday and the ensuing project. Wish me luck, I'm sure to need it!
No comments:
Post a Comment