Digital Tutors - Animating an Acrobatic Fight Scene in Maya

4h 56m Difficulty Level Advanced Project Files Included MP4
Software used
Maya 2013
What you will learn
Throughout these lessons, we will create a fight scene in Maya between two types of styles:
capoeira vs. karate. We'll use the main actions of the fighters for the animation and
technical names. We'll begin developing the animation by blocking the first character's
poses and defining his timing and contact points. Then, we'll work on the breakdowns and continue to refine the shot into smooth curves. Next, we'll define their overlapping actions and body mechanics by working on the secondary motions. To add more interest in the final pass, we'll add extra motion to our fighters using Maya nCloth and Maya Hair. At the end of
the course, you'll be able to create a successful and complex fighting scene animation full
of acrobatic performances.

01. Introduction and project overview 01:15
02. Project workflow overview 07:24
03. Analyzing the video reference and storyboard 10:20
04. Setting up the project and blocking our fighters 13:25
05. Continuing to block our fighters poses 11:52
06. Blocking our capoeira fighter 10:30
07. Blocking our karate fighter 11:10
08. Starting the breakdown poses on our karate fighter 09:46
09. Continuing to pose the karate fighter breakdowns 12:27
10. Posing the karate fighter for a jump move 11:10
11. Posing the karate fighter for a kick move 08:19
12. Refining the evasion move in animation 11:02
13. Finishing the breakdowns for our karate fighter 14:05
14. Starting the breakdown poses on our capoeira fighter 09:10
15. Continuing to pose the capoeira fighter breakdowns 10:00
16. Posing our capoeira fighter for an evasive jump 10:48
17. Breaking down our capoeira fighter for contact 09:54
18. Setting up the capoeira fighter flying kick 12:30
19. Finishing the breakdowns for our capoeira fighter 15:16
20. Polishing our animation 11:31
21. Adjusting the timing of each fighter 10:16
22. Smoothing the curves 11:25
23. Completing the IK/FK switch on the karate fighter 11:52
24. Continue with the IK/FK switch on the capoeira fighter 10:13
25. Completing the IK/FK switch on the capoeira fighter 10:24
26. Finishing the project 14:19
27. Reviewing the revisions and adjustments 16:05