Basketball Simulation in Houdini (Research Project)

This month in Software Technology class, we were asked to do a research project on making a basketball go through a hoop. (All the models would be made by students as well as figuring out how to make the simulation work.)

I modeled the assets (the basketball rim and the basketball) in maya and imported them as OBJs into Houdini.

When thinking about how to carry this out the first thing that came to mind was to figure out what force would send the basketball through the hoop. The first thing that came to mind was to use some sort of lever system to drive the ball's take-off. so, google!

I found a few interesting tutorials, but I found more of what I needed when looking at Introductory videos to Houdini, most people were demoing the software with the demonstrations that I was looking for.

I settled with a catapult system, creating a plank, a RBD ground plane, a tube and a box object. With my modeled assets in the scene, I made the tube a Static Object, and every other thing was a Rigid Body so it could move.

My ball did not go through the hoop. The ball kept bouncing off the edge of the rim in a really odd, unrealistic fashion (without contact). It did not actually touch the rim and bounce off as it would in real life.

The only flags I could think of was that my projection was not properly set up. I messed a lot with with the weight and height of the box that drove the simulation, but I quickly came to terms with the fact that that was not the issue.


It turns out that the right way to look was in the AutoDop Network (shown below), as per the directions of the Instructor, and I was to change my rim's RBD solver type. A quick switch in the Bullet Data from Convex Hull to Concave got the ball and rim interacting properly.

My AutoDop Network

The Pantomime Project

The first project we worked on this month was The Pantomime. The objective was the animate Bugsy to undergo a change of emotion.

We were given a host of events that could happen and cause a change of emotion. This is what I chose:

You are impatiently waiting on the bus and are excited or relieved to see it arrive, only to have it whiz right by. You must walk 3 consecutive steps in scene.

I did some pre-pro on this, acting out the scene and trying out various ways to execute it. At first it was awkward to act it out but I found that I paid off a whole lot, especially when I started the blocking. My personal reference gave me what to do and left little to my imagination, which sped up my work process.



Now in this first pass of the blocking, I am missing a tremendous amount. (The ground plane, my possible props, etc) I was using this first lab to feel out the scene, actions and other things that I thought might be vital to the project.

In the second pass, I imported the rest of the scene and worked more on strengthening my poses. I adjusted the camera and began working on positioning the props properly.

The third and fourth passes show more progress with the actions I am giving Bugsy.

working in these passes, I am still in stepped mode because this gives me an opportunity to see what is missing in the main poses, anticipations, overlaps, etc.
I removed some unnecessary props and change the camera some more to get better silhouette and staging.
THIRD PASS:

FOURTH PASS:

The last video is what I turned in for the final.

I am not pleased with my final result, but I saw the progress I made. There is so much I could have done on the final to make it a stronger piece. I plan to fix these things in my own time and have it the way it should be.

This was a very fun project. I learned so much that I did not understand before, especially about the essence of timing and spacing, moving holds, blinks, overlap, contra-posture and strong poses.

It reinforced my knowledge of the Basic Walk in animation and made me learn to trust my instincts a little better.

I constantly need critiques and guidance, so I will get more and more as long as I animate.

Introduction

Hello, 

I'm Jesimiel Damina. This month of June, I'm going through my second Character Animation class. I'm going to be blogging about what I've done so far throughout the first half of the month through to the end.

I am very interested in animation, quite determined to do it, and I know that in order to be successful with it I've got to constantly be critiqued, practice an awful lot, and keep things simple!

This month the character we're working with is Bugsy, a model and rig provided by Full Sail University. Bugsy has the potential to be a very entertaining ant, and I plan to push all his potentials as I grow. 

I hope this inspires you!