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Pixar in a Box
Course: Pixar in a Box > Unit 9
Lesson 2: Code a character- Start here!
- 1. Creating objects
- 2. Representing a shape object in code
- Rigging a snowman 1 (building the body)
- 3. Putting shapes together
- Rigging a snowman 2 (adding a head)
- Rigging a snowman 3 (adding a hat)
- 4. Functions
- 5. Defining deformer functions in code
- Rigging a snowman 4 (coding deformers)
- 6. Connecting deformers and shapes with code
- Rigging a snowman 5 (adding and updating deformers)
- Project: Create your own character
- Project 2: Animate your character
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1. Creating objects
Before building characters you need to define individual shapes using objects. Click here to review objects on Khan Academy.
Want to join the conversation?
- Does Pixar actually use JavaScript?(4 votes)
- No entiendo por qué en estas lecciones están todas en inglés?(2 votes)
- En la parte inferior de la página hay un botón de cambio de idioma si hace clic en él, que le llevará a la página de configuración, entonces usted puede elegir su idioma - I hope my spanish is Okay...(3 votes)
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Video transcript
(ball bounce) - In this lesson we're going to explore the wonderful world of rigging software. (drilling loudly) To build a character at Pixar, we begin with a modeling packet. A model packet consists
of a series of drawings or clay sculptures called maquettes that are a guide for
modeling the character. For more important characters, there can be a lot of drawings. And for less important characters it might just be a scribble on the napkin. From these we build the
model in the computer. I hope you enjoyed rigging
the face for a snowman in lesson one. In this lesson, you're going
to create your character in a similar manner to
how Pixar built a snowman for the short film Knick Knack. Before starting, the rigger
will meet with an animator and discuss what type
of controls are needed. A character, like the
army man from Toy Story, would be made from plastic. So its movements would be quite stiff. In contrast, a rubber snake
would be quite flexible. Keeping true to the materials
creates believability, the rigger and the animator work closely throughout the rigging
process to make sure the animator gets all the
controls she needs to make the character come alive and act. The animator will do various tests such as calisthenics to
test a range of rigging. The final test is usually
a fully active scene. In this lesson you'll write
code to design your model, then rig your model with
the former that you learnt about in the previous lesson. You'll start by drawing basic shapes, then you'll combine the
shape to make characters, then you'll build there
the former functions for translate, scale and rotate. And finally, you'll connect
everything together. And in a bonus step, we'll show you how to animate your models. But first, let's think
about what we are doing. All models have one thing in common, from the perspective of the computer, a model is just a collection
of individual shapes. Each shape will be stored in
the computer as an object. To create the shape of a circle, we'll put in the object
all the data the computer will need to create that shape. In this warm up exercise,
you'll create a circle for the snowman's body. If you're new to coding we
have a short code review before the exercise. Be awesome!