Skip to content
Learn MikuMikuDance – MMD Tutorials – Free 3D Animation Software

Learn MikuMikuDance – MMD Tutorials – Free 3D Animation Software

Download Free Animation Software – Let's Learn How to Do Everything!

  • Step-by-Step MMD instructions
  • DOWNLOADS
  • Troubleshoot, Fix MMD
  • Site Contents
  • Reggie Replies Q&A
  • Homework!
  • What IS MMD?
    • Download MikuMikuDance Newest Latest Version of MMD
  • “HOW TO”
    • Raycast RAY-MMD Effect Tutorials
  • BONUS PAGES
    • Why convert PMD models to PMX?
  • HALL of CHAMPIONS
  • Tutorial Categories
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
  • Toggle search form
  • Cry Baby Motion DL featured image
    Free MMD Cry Baby Motion DL from DA’s Smol-Hooman "the making of" my video
  • An MMD Walking Motion: Creating it is easy! LoverOfVocaloid
  • A short animation of the Eared Robot blinking its eyes
    ALMorphMaker Adds AutoLuminous Morphs to your Model! ALMorphMaker
  • Audacity® 2.0 Audio Editor easily converts mp3 to WAV files for MMD Music and WAV Files
  • Recoloring MMD’s Control Panel GUI Interface Genbento
  • MMD Animation Project Where My Demons Hide "the making of" my video
  • Why MMD cannot open the models in a saved PMM file Downloading New Models
  • Starting-out Using MMD starts you on a learning path.
    Starting-out Using MMD Reader discovers missing elements. MMD Basics

Animate MMD ballet pirouette motion

Posted on September 21, 2019July 8, 2024 By Trackdancer No Comments on Animate MMD ballet pirouette motion

A feature article on LearnMMD by Trackdancer2015!Over the last few years several people have asked me how to animate an MMD ballet pirouette motion sequence. Now to be totally honest, although I know how to spin a MMD model through a complete 360 degree cycle, I know next to nothing about ballet.

So, this article will make up for my past transgressions. We will first show you the basic method on how to spin a MMD model through a complete 360 degree rotation. Then we will show you the basic steps on how to build a ballet pirouette motion. Both are really easy to do; kinda…

How to animate a MMD ballet pirouette motion…

Choose a model

The first thing to do with almost any MMD project is to choose a model. I chose IA Rocks [Unofficial] simply because I like IA. However, with the wisdom of hindsight, it will actually work better to choose a model that is not wearing fashion boots. I honestly do not know of any MMD models wearing ballet shoes, but there’s a whole bunch in bare feet that would be far more suitable. Then again, other than Tda Miku Append, most bare foot MMD models seem to be wearing swimming costumes…

Well if you’re working along with us on this project, choose whoever you like. Just stay clear of heavy footwear or high heels and you should be fine.

How to spin a model through a 360 degree rotation

Since by “definition” a pirouette will involve a 360 degree spin, the first thing to learn is the proper way to spin a MMD model with an IK leg structure. Rather than writing an essay on the topic, just watch the video below which shows exactly how it is done.

Next do some research

Now if you are like me and is totally ignorant of the finer details about ballet, GOOGLE Search is going to be your best friend. There are plenty of sites and videos teaching people how to do a pirouette. I simply chose a site that gave me good shots of the poses that I needed: Pirouettes for the Beginning Ballerina

But any site with photos of the poses required will do. It also helps to watch a couple of videos of people doing the routine; just so you know how it should look.

One problem that you should be aware of…

Ballet involves some really fancy foot work. Some of the basic stances are going to need extensive tweaking on an MMD models IK leg structure. It can be done; it just needs a lot of patience. Essentially in a ballet animation, you are in essence going to transition from one awkward foot position into another. So transitional corrective frames may be necessary to prevent “derping” at the ankles.

That is also why you want to keep away from models wearing boots like IA and especially any model wearing high heels.

The key frames

I like to keep things simple and this translates into using the least amount of key frames as possible as we create our MMD ballet pirouette motion. This may not be the best method for really smooth animation but this approach does require much less work. From my research I figured that only about half a dozen poses are needed for the sequence and these are shown below.

MMD ballet pirouette motion is easiest if you set up only a few key frames.
POSE 1: The fifth position. Notice the awkward (for MMD) foot positions.

 

MMD ballet pirouette motion is created by carefully studying the actual motion from diagrams you can download.
Pose 2: The second position; much less awkward for the model’s feet.

 

Pose 3: The fourth position; there’s those awkward foot positions again…

 

Pose 4: The beginning stance for the spin itself. This pose is actually quite delightful. It is used, slightly tweaked, four more times to animate the spin itself. Basically, IA is rotated 4 times in 90 degree segments using the method outlined above while in this pose. It will be necessary to tweak the ankles to keep them from derping when carrying out this sequence.

 

Pose 5: The fourth position again is used to complete the sequence. This is not a straight copy of the pose used from above but a variation. Also, I used this pose to sort out issues caused to the leg IK chain by the prior awkward foot angles. Plus, it just looks better done this way.

Putting it all together

These poses were created in sequence in MMD to ensure continuity and smooth transitions. MMD uses a process called interpolation to calculate how IA’s body transitions from one pose to another. This is a great feature for lazy animators like me as basically all you need to do is make the key poses (also known as key frames) and MMD takes care of the rest. All that might be necessary are to make use of some intermediate frames to correct awkward looking movements or preventive adjustments to eliminate the leg IK chain from derping at the ankles.

Still the whole sequence took about an hour to do, but that did include time spent on researching the required poses. What was not done was to further tweak the motion to smooth it out more and to add detailing. Detailing basically are poses used to enhance the movements to make them look more natural or if you just want to add some embellishments to the animations.

One good example of what could have been done was to add intermediary frames to make IA slightly more bouncy, which would actually be more accurate. Anyway, the final video shows these key frames at work and how they work in MMD.

Key takeaways

  1. IA is spinning with her center bone off center. This doesn’t matter if you plan ahead and follow the basic spinning technique described at the top of the article. You can accurately spin anywhere.
  2. When animating dance moves, it is a good practice to use external references.
  3. For absolutely accurate motions, the best method is to use motion tracing. That requires a lot of work to be perfectly honest.
  4. The next best method is just to be able to identify correctly the absolute minimum number of key poses required and work off those as was done here.

Thanks for reading. Hopefully, you have found some useful information here. If you have questions or comments, please feel welcome to post these in the comments section below. Likewise, if you want tutorials on any aspect of MMD animation post these here or on one of the main sections of this site. We always welcome suggestions for articles.

CREDITS

  • IA Rocks [Unofficial]: Trackdancer.deviantart.com
  • IA (C) The First Place Co. (Japan)
  • Pose and dance reference: Pirouettes for the Beginning Ballerina
  • MMD 9.31
  • AviUTL
  • Irfanview 64
  • MME: Ray-MMD

– SEE BELOW for MORE MMD TUTORIALS…


— — —


– _ — –


Visit the LearnMMD.com Homepage! Plenty of Mikumikudance instruction and info!

More MMD Tutorials...

Reader asks how to create MMD artwork... stuff like posing, camerawork?

A reader asks... Is there a tutorial on how to create MMD artwork, like those you ...read more

Learn MikuMikuDance in Small Steps! New LearnMMD Video Series

Learn MikuMikuDance in Small Steps. Where can I find easy-to-follow MMD instructions on YouTube? How ...read more

Apply Multiple Effects on an Entire MMD Model Using M4Layer Effect

How can I apply multiple effects to an MMD model? Can I use more than ...read more

MMD Plugin Manager... I Found a Treasure!

What sorts of MMD Plugins are there? MMD Plugin Manager? MMD Plugins. Plugin MMD. More ...read more

2023: Hatsune Miku is 16 Years Old by design and in reality!

Finally, in 2023, Hatsune Miku is 16 years old! When did Miku make her first ...read more

SEARCH LearnMMD.com... it's Easy!

Search LearnMMD.com to find your answers! With the posting of this article, LearnMMD.com has 758 tutorials ...read more

Creating Motions, Making Smooth Motions, MMD Tutorials, Trackdancer2015

Post navigation

Previous Post: How to create credible characters for your projects.
Next Post: MMD Rotating Objects 360-degrees -Miku’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 2)

Related Posts

  • MME PowerShader effect rivals Ray-MMD Raycast image enhancements MMD Tutorials
  • Make Custom MMD Models using Downloaded Parts BigPerryman
  • Keep The Faith MMD
    MMD Models Rant Keep the Faith-MMD Credits/Sharing
  • Cry Baby Motion DL featured image
    Free MMD Cry Baby Motion DL from DA’s Smol-Hooman "the making of" my video
  • Register often to get sharp, crisp lip-sync animation movements. LearnMMD,com MMD 7.39
    Create MMD Lip-Sync Animation as a Separate File Creating Motions
  • Making good MMD lip-syncs! Creating Motions

More Related Articles

Reader asks how to create MMD artwork… stuff like posing, camerawork? MMD Basics
Fixing Missing Facial Manipulation Tabs in MikuMikuDance. Fixing Broken Models
Here is the plan for the ball tossing motion in MikuMikuDance 7.39 Ball Toss Motion Hits Miku: MikuMikuDance! Dummy Bones
dull-VS-alive-animation-environment MMD animation environment… MORE than just a model on a stage! "the making of" my video
Multiply of Facial Expression command in MMD Animation Shortcuts
MME Collapse Effect requires PMDE model edit Collapse Effect

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the latest version of MikuMikuDance!
See the MMD Step-by-Step instructions page!
Learn how to make your own MMD motions!
LearnMMD.com
  • Create and save a sexy, natural pose for your MikuMikuDance 7.39 models.
    Create, Save a Natural, Sexy Pose you can load in MikuMikuDance Functions-Copy-Paste-Expand
  • The Croquis Effect.
    How to Use the Croquis Effect in MikuMikuDance ARIZONA
  • MMD "Kiss Me" free download motion and WAV files.
    Ten year old MMD “Kiss Me” animation LOOKS like NEW! "the making of" my video
  • LAT Model Shaders Create Stunning Scenes in MMD Kazumi
  • 966_DigitalRipple Effect splashes lots of color into your MMD video! 966_DigitalRipple
  • Try Reggie’s Evil Eye Effect for an Anime-style effect MMD Tutorials
  • The Audacity Generate Menu lets you add silent breaks to you WAV file.
    WAV Files Make Your Music Play on MMD MikuMikuDance Music and WAV Files
  • The MMD Circles Halloween animation is fun to make! Free Download
    MMD Circles haunts Halloween Visions download links "the making of" my video

Copyright © 2022 Learn MikuMikuDance – MMD Tutorials – Free 3D Animation Software and Instructions..

Powered by PressBook Premium theme

Go to mobile version