Improving Animatic Creation in Maya

Abstract

The goal of this work is the development of a new tool within Autodesk Maya for the creation of animatics. A brief history and survey of pre-visualization techniques and methods is provided, and the functionality and effective uses of current pre-visualization programs and tools are explored, focusing on an analysis of the current Maya Camera Sequencer tool. Development of the modified animatic creation tool (named ‘jSequencer’) is then discussed and the new tool is demonstrated using an example animation sequence. Results of the application of jSequencer are then compared with an animatic created with the Maya Camera Sequencer. jSequencer enhances the functionalities and adds elements that improve the animatic creation process’s efficiency and effectiveness; therefore, jSequencer is a better tool for creating animatics in the Maya workspace.