1–2Weeks
Throwing a ball
The first exercise puts the character in relation with an object. You study the preparation, the transfer of energy from the body to the ball, and the way the rest of the body follows and settles after the throw.
← All courses3D track · Course 3 · Live course in English · Autodesk Maya
Body Action
The character starts acting on the world.
In the third course of the 3D track the mechanics get harder: the character no longer just moves through space, it acts on objects and environment. Throws, lifts and pushes teach you to handle weight, balance, force and collisions; in the last five weeks you build an action shot of your own.
Prerequisite · Body Locomotion, or an equivalent level assessed by the teaching board
Maximum 5 students per classIndividual review, 20–30 minThree guided exercises and an action shot
- Length
- 11 weeks22 live classes
- Classes
- 2 a week3–6 live hours a week
- Software
- Autodesk Mayalicence included
- Class size
- 2–5 studentsindividual review, 20–30 min
- Practice on your own
- 20–40 hoursa week, on top of the classes
- Certificate
- Autodeskof attendance, on completion
Before you enrol
Is this the right course for you?
It is, if…
- you have finished Body Locomotion and can already build believable walks, runs and jumps;
- you want to make a character interact with objects and environment, animating more complex movement and secondary action;
- you want to get on top of the physics that make animation hold up: weight, balance, force and collision;
- you want to develop an action shot of your own, planned and finished with an instructor: it is the first action shot that goes into your reel.
What you should already be able to do
- If you come from course 2, finishing Body Locomotion is the natural way into Body Action.
- If you come from outside Vivo, send us your showreel: the teaching board looks at it and tells you where to come in. It should show confident command of basic body mechanics, clean posing and believable locomotion (walk, run, jump) with control of weight and balance.
- You need to be at ease with a full human rig in Autodesk Maya: posing, Graph Editor, animation curves.
- You need to be able to use video reference as the basis for analysing movement.
Student work
Weight, force and collisions in student shots.
A selection of work made during Body Action.
The programme
Eleven weeks, from a throw to an action shot
The course is built on three body-mechanics exercises, each handed in and reviewed with the instructor, followed by five weeks on an action shot of your own.
3–4Weeks
Lifting a weight
Lifting something heavy forces the body to redistribute its balance. You work on posture, on the contact with the ground and on effort: here the weight decides the timing, not the other way round.
5–6Weeks
Pushing
Pushing an object brings in force, friction and resistance. The character has to read as believable in the tension and in the release, with the whole body committed to the action.
7–11Weeks
Your action shot
Five weeks on an action shot of your own, planned with your instructor from video reference and developed through blocking, splining and polishing. It is the first shot of the path built with a production flow.
What you take away
The physics that make animation believable.
Weight, balance, force and collision sit underneath any animation that holds up. After Body Action you can make a character act on the world around it, not only move inside it.
Weight and weight transferBalanceForce and resistanceCollisions and contactsInteraction with objectsSecondary actionVideo referencePlanning a shotBlocking, splining, polishing
How you study
A typical week
Two live sessions a week: the class, given to the subject and to the work you are about to do, and the review, where the instructor spends twenty to thirty minutes on each student's work. Classes hold between two and five students.
Outside the classes you need around twenty hours a week for exercises, reference and practice of your own. Recordings, annotations and materials stay available after the course ends. The days and times of your class are told to you before you enrol.
How Vivo worksCharacters and tools
Rigs made for action
The Body Action exercises use the Vivo characters built for body mechanics and action shots. Davide and Manuela have rigs with shapers, controls that let you work on the character's silhouette during poses and dynamic movement.
Vivo's characters are made for the courses and include workflow tools such as a picker, IK/FK switch and match, space switch, reset and mirror pose. They stay available to you after the course ends.
DavideManuela
Along with Maya you also get a licence for animBot, the professional animation toolset, for the whole length of the course.
See all of Vivo's rigs and characters
Maya included for the whole length of the course. On completion you receive a certificate of attendance from Autodesk.
When it starts
Next term: Winter — classes from January to March, enrolment closes on 20 December. Classes of two to five students.
The exact days and times depend on the class and are told to you before you enrol, so you can check them before confirming your place. Our instructors work in different time zones, so a class is scheduled around the instructor teaching it and the students in it. All the dates of the year are in the enrolment calendar. If you did not take course 2 with Vivo, allow time for the showreel assessment before enrolling.
Questions
About Body Action, specifically
Can I enrol straight onto Body Action?
Yes, if you already have the level it asks for. If you have not finished Body Locomotion with Vivo, send your showreel: the teaching board looks at it and tells you which course fits. The call with one of the founders is where we work out where you are starting from.
What is the difference between Body Locomotion and Body Action?
Body Locomotion builds the foundations of body mechanics and locomotion: walk, run, jump. In Body Action the character interacts with the world around it — throwing, lifting, pushing — and finishes with an action shot of its own, where weight, balance, force and collisions all count.
Can I put the final action shot in my showreel?
Yes. Every course ends with an exercise of your own, and those shots are the first pieces of your reel. The shots that carry the most weight when you apply to a studio come from the two Pro courses, where the work goes into one single shot for eleven weeks.
Where you come in
Already have experience? Have your level assessed.
If you did not take Body Locomotion with Vivo, send us your showreel. The teaching board looks at your level, and the call is where we go through your goals, your availability and the path, so we can find the course that matches what you can already do.