Kevin Nguyen introduces the concept and utility of the Master Control in Maya and how it could be used throughout the animation process rather than just for initial placement of an actor. This tool allows animators to significantly reduce technical complications and focus more on the creative aspects of posing. This workflow strategy transforms what are typically complex multi-control adjustments into simple, single-control operations; making 3D animation more intuitive and efficient while maintaining the flexibility that animators and artists enjoy.

Duration: 12m 49s

In this lesson, Kevin demonstrates how to use the Master Control when animating a character. His goal is to simplify the dynamic action the reference character does into a stream of compelling poses. He also introduces Temporary Controls and how to use them to separate world space and local space transformations. This gives animators the freedom to focus on making poses and polishing animation curves without constantly battling double translations. This workflow dramatically reduces production time while allowing for greater creative flexibility and easier iteration on complex animated sequences.

Duration: 23m 20s

In this lesson, Kevin continues working with Temporary Controls, refining the jump animation he started in the last lesson. Rather than painstakingly keyframing every control for every change, he can use the Master Control for major positioning and direction changes, then bake and refine individual elements without having to worry about extraneous data. Working in this manner turns previously daunting revisions into manageable tasks that take minutes instead of hours.

Duration: 29m 2s

In this lesson, Kevin revises the reference and explains how to apply the teachings from the previous jump animation, to much longer and more dynamic sequences. By establishing a flexible control hierarchy with offset locators and breaking down elaborate sequences into manageable sections, Kevin shows how artists can work more intuitively and make adjustments easily throughout a sequence. In this way, the scene truly becomes a sequence of adjustable poses.

Duration: 38m 31s

Finishing up his initial pass on the sequence from the last lesson, Kevin works on blocking in as much of the sequence as possible while maintaining believable physics and mechanics in each camera's perspective. By focusing on key transition poses and proper timing, animators can create compelling action sequences as quickly as possible. What's left is the fun part, adding secondary details, timing polish, and any other refinement passes.

Duration: 34m 23s

In this lesson, Kevin's focus is on polishing most of the major issues and lacking parts in his sequence thus far, starting off by converting his system to Temporary Controls. Utilizing the graph editor and animator curves, Kevin demonstrates how to isolate problems and fully resolve them. Kevin's approach shows how artists can use these skills to adapt to late-stage changes; vital for real world production situations that call for flexibility and technical efficiency.

Duration: 35m 41s

In this lesson, Kevin presents us with some studio scenarios that could occur on the job, including environment updates, and major notes on the animation sequence so far. Thankfully, his teachings up to this point combined with some other tools in Maya, allow for animators to quickly iterate on changes. Feedback from directors and leads becomes easy to manage now, and helps the artist concentrate on what will benefit the shot as a whole.

Duration: 14m 10s

In this final lesson, Kevin looks at some ways he can polish up his sequence, and how to export these animations for different departments or industries. One major part of this is understanding what's attached to the master once polish is complete, and resetting the master root control. Kevin quickly archives these results by utilizing the ebLabs script, baking all the root control key frames down into world space.

Duration: 49m 8s