During our Framestore talk with Andrew Schlussel, he mentioned that something called matchimation is highly sought after on matchmove showreels currently. This is a term for animating a character rig on top of a background plate involving a tracked person. As I mentioned before, in my collaborative project I aim to showcase my tracking abilities, and in my individual, I seek to do the same but with a spotlight on my animation skills, too.
Last night I went out with a very kind friend and took several shots of her wearing this homemade mocap suit on public transportation. I’m very excited to actually get to track a person/object that is made to be easy, rather than struggling to pinpoint a tiny scratch on a leather jacket and hope it doesn’t spline.
As I took my footage, I had three goals in mind:
- To create a shot that would be trackable. By this I mean making sure that the camera motion is steady enough, avoiding and objects interfering with the sticker placement on my model (for example, on the escalator, people moving around her to climb up the stairs), and keeping all of the stickers in eyesight without crossing over too much.
- To create a shot that would be impressive on a reel. By this I mean one with a very solid track, impressively realistic animation, or dynamic movement.
- To aim for realistic character animation. By this I mean animating my model moving naturally through her surroundings. In the chosen shot, she is swaying with the motion of the subway carriage car and moving her arms to stabilize herself.
Out of the shots I took, Dom suggested I choose this one because I could get a very precise background track on it due to the lack of movement and the subject’s movement will be natural yet at the same time impressive. I was at first concerned that the background and camera movement were not dynamic enough, but he reminded me that this project is meant only to focus on my object track, not my background track, and I already have several good background track shots to put on my showreel.
The next step for me is to brainstorm what kind of rig I’d like to use for this project. I’ve been told to make sure that it stands out in some way, whatever I do, whether that’s with a striking character or lighthearted humor. I’m considering something supernatural. I will spend the rest of today planning out the character and storyline here.