What you'll learn

In this Maya tutorial, we discover the process of creating smears using traditional concepts on a CG animation. We will start the project with a blocked animation. Then, we will begin talking about dynamic poses, line of action and silhouette, but also leading edge and how we build smear frames. Throughout the training we will spline the animation, cover hot keys to speed up your workflow, and talk a bit about the graph editor. We then leap into creating duplicate frames and smear frames similar to those created by 2D animators. By the end, not only will you know about smear frames and be able to apply some of the concepts that make 2D animation great, but you will also be able to spline your animation faster with better key poses. Software required: Maya 2012.