Dynamics Ahoy! Pre Production Ahoy!

Already two weeks into the term and I feel like things are kicking into high gear! Im thoroughly enjoying all my classes and Im having a blast jumping into the subject matter. One of the first assignments was to approach dynamics in Maya. Let me tell you that it was quite an experience. I learned quite a bit about how certain things can effect the overall picture and trying to get things to act in the correct manner. The first video I have here was a "Little Big Planet" approach to the subject matter.

I ran into a few issues trying to convey that and overall really wanted to go back into the assignment. After the class critique I decided to head back and focus on cleaning up the actual cause and effect of some things. I apologize for the dead space thats in the project but after cleaning it up, I ended up with a decent amount of it. I needed to speed up certain aspects to help convey weight and speed. Overall I was happy with it but alas I needed to move onto the next project.
We are currently learning the basics of particles and how we can apply them throughout our animations. Looking forward to exploring them this next week.

Below I also have some rough sketches of my robotic character for my final animation 2 project. Im currently waiting for story approval but I wanted to get started on preproduction. I can adjust if alterations need to be made. This will at least get ideas down. As always, would love feedback. Have a great day everyone!