Original subtitles

- In this video, we are going to animate the rocket shot.

The main difficulty is to isolate

the motion of the rocket from the walk cycle.

Let's get started.

First thing I'm going to do is to make sure that

our walk cycle is currently cycling.

So I will display all the bones.

I will go into the Graph Editor.

Click the Show Hidden option.

Press Alt+H to make sure that

all the curves are displayed

and then I will press Shift+E and Make Cycle.

I will then set the end of my animation

to an arbitrary value of 400 frames

because I don't know yet

how long it will take

to the rocket to touch

or hit

the cube further away.

Now we have a looping walk cycle.

So let's go ahead and work on the rocket shot.

(rockets whooshing)

The first thing we can do

is to display our rocket layer in the rig.

We will have a controller for our rocket.

I will select the very first one on the top left corner.

And I will get rid of

all the key frames but the very first.

Then I will go on frame 40 and insert a key frame.

This is again, pretty arbitrary.

The idea is to set this key frame

as being the beginning of the shooting animation.

It's a lot better to have a few frames in the beginning

so that our brain can analyze what's happening.

Like, the robot is walking and then shooting.

It is if we were creating some staging

for this shooting animation.

Add a key frame on frame 40.

Now, using Local Space,

I will go on frame 50

and I will get the first rocket out,

moving it along it's Y-axis.

If we now frame our curve or zoom on it

we can see there is a repetition

because of the cyclic modifier we added

in the beginning of the video.

So I will select all my rocket curves,

press Shift+E

and choose Clear Cyclic.

We can see that all the curves are straight and flat

while the Y-curve is slightly bending downward.

We can hide all the curve, but the Y-curve

so that we can work on the forward motion

of the rocket while it's getting out with ease.

We just scale up

the initial key frame handle

so that we get more easing whenever the rockets

start to get out of the rocket launcher.

And then I will just go to a further key frame

again, arbitrary

and move the rocket further away.

The idea here is not to build the motion

but to show you the current issue we have.

The rocket is a child of the rocket launcher.

Hence it inherits any motion from the rocket launcher.

So we will need to find a way to isolate the rocket

from the rocket launcher.

We'll delete the last key frame I have created

so that we just stick with the two key frames

where the rocket is getting out

of the rocket launcher and stop.

I will rotate the tip of the curve handle

so that we don't have any easing out of the rocket.

From there, we will need to use space switching

to be able to animate the rocket.

So I will go back into Object Mode

and add an Empty.

In the Object Display option

I will make sure that it shows In Front.

(rockets whooshing)

The idea is to bake the motion of the rocket

while it's getting out of the rocket launcher,

on the Empty.

So on our Empty let's add a Copy Transform Constraint.

Source the armature,

and then source the ROCKET-1 bone.

And when the Empty is constrained

we can bake the action,

choosing the Initial Frame as being frame 0

and ending on the current frame of frame 50.

We'll press Q to get to my Quick Favorites.

Choose "Bake Action."

As usual, enable Visual Keying and Clear Constraint and set.

You can check the Override Current Action,

even if there is no action for the Empty.

Blender will create one.

Set the Start Frame to 0

and the End Frame to 50.

We can get rid of the Scale Transform Channels

since we won't be using them.

And if we now play the animation,

we can see the Empty following the rocket.

Now, the idea is to reverse the constraint

so that the rocket is constrained by the Empty.

So I will select my rocket controller,

go to the Bone Constraint

add a Copy Transform Constraint

and solve the Empty.

And now the rocket is following the Empty motion.

Since the Empty motion has the same motion

as the rocket initially

it will fall, but since the Empty is not

the child of the robot,

we can move the rocket freely

or we can move the Empty freely.

So now it's just a matter of creating the animation

using the Empty.

What I want to do for this rocket launch

is to have it in two-time.

First, they get out of the rocket launcher

as if they were pushed away

and then they will fall.

The little wings will open

and then the rockets will fly away.

So what I've done is that I've set a first key frame

where I want the rocket to kind of fall.

And then the next key frame

is where the rocket will hit our cube shape.

Since it's a pretty simple motion

just work with pose extremes

as if you were animating a regular character.

We just set the first extreme

which is the "down" pose of the rocket

and the next one

which is when it hits the target.

From there we will just tweak the curve

to get the right motion.

Again, now, it's a matter of creative process.

If you want the rocket to go straight forward

to the target, you can do it.

I do like the idea that the rocket gets shot in two-time.

First, it gets out.

Then the wing opens

and then it goes toward the target.

I think it adds a more interesting rhythm to the animation.

And while I'm recording this video

I'm planning to use them to create the teaser

for the course.

And I want to launch three rockets

so that it will bring us even more rhythm.

I have the shot going in three parts.

The rockets gets out,

then it falls,

and then it flies away.

And I will kind of multiply that

three-times, using three rockets.

Animation-wise, what I did

is that there is a slight slowing down

on the Y-axis of the rocket,

so that it kind of floats

before the reactor of the rocket ignites.

And then it accelerates

on the Y-axis until the impact.

This is why I'm using vector handles

on the very last key frame

so that we are sure we don't get

any easing in the last position.

In the end, I spent most of the time

tweaking the rotation curve to get

the rocket pointing at the target.

While we could use Aim Space, with a Tracking Constraint,

you could add an Empty object onto the cube

and use it to add a Don't Track Constraint on the Empty

that is used to manipulate the rocket.

That could save you a bit of time.

But in the end, this is not a very complex animation.

We are manipulating only one rotational axis.

So it's a good exercise to do it by hand, too.

So I will let you there until the end of the video.

You can double check the curves on the example file,

but at this stage

you should be able to animate this on your own.

Don't forget to then get back to the rocket

and deploy the little wings using the Rotation Controller.

I will see you in the next video

where we will shoot with the artillery cannon.

(somber electronic music with rising piano progression)

(music fades)