gazzamataz

He has finally reached planet Bear? And being a brave soul decides to go exploring… However, the background seems to fuzz for the first three quarters of the flick but not the rest. I have a horrid feeling this is going to be a pain when going to final render. Ideas anyone? Do I need to use Multi-Pass on this one? Spaceship Landing

Nice Job m8! That's a nice image, makes me wanna start doing that sort of thing at my workplace…

Well I am chuffed and itching to press on Glad you all liked it and I agree with John about the Earth and the spaceship it needs a bit more work, but so do some other minor things. Any help in these departments appreciated from fellow hashers. I don't think I will spend any more time on this sequence just yet since I want to move on to the next section. I am now starting to see my vision actually materialising into my first ever Bella Bear film and it's getting exciting. Thanks for all the comments guys.

Flobbalobalob! Glad you liked it Paul and you Case. Guess I watched too much Bill and Ben as a Kid. Hope you liked the animation too though!

This is still a bit rough around the edges but I think the flow is just about right. So I thought I would post the opening sequence to my first ever Bella Bear short (the one that I am still working on and which I have already animated a section from the middle). Hope you lot like it, here's the link: Space Flight

If you are going for roughly anatomically correct then I would suggest the following: • The ears are too low, the tops of the ears should be roughly level with the tops of the eyes • The nose needs more definition, it goes straight down • The bottom lip looks a tad too flat and square looking, it need a little more work Apart from that it is a great first effort, I think you should post a side shot too.

Tralfaz I can only seem to download half of the flick… It does look good, bit like a slow motion home video with camera shake like in real life. I did notice one little thing though, Shaggy's hand twist un-naturally when he rises up. This might be IK popping or whatever it is called. Usually I find there is a rogue frame in the action where the bone flips out and back again which is fixed by adding a new key frame to bring the 'flipping' inline.

I think he looks cool m8. He kinda reminds me of the evil droid/robot from that Disney film 'The Blackhole' from way back when (1979).

Excellent model and walk cycle m8. It would be great to see this beastie navigating some more uneven terrain to really get those legs working.

Nice job there Mr Atkinson. If you wanna talk resolution then 300dpi is ideal for magazines, books and things that you look at close up printed on litho or digital printers. 150 dpi is fine for inkjet printers on matt or glossy paper. I have always had arguments with people over resolution for posters. You can get away with a lot less since you will be looking at the item from a distance so you won't see any pixelation. Go up to a billboard and look at it close up - yuk pixelation. I would go as low as 60dpi, higher for exhibition work that you get closer too. Otherwise the higher the res and the bigger the image the more monsterous the file size... You all new that though didn't you

And get my pants sued off - I don't think so! Actually, if you look closely at my Avatar (Alfie - he's one of my Bella Bear characters) there is a resemblance. I done him in 2000. He got me first place in the Hash animation competition and hence 'Fellow' status so I owe him a lot

Do you know what? I invented this character long before Crazy Frog/The Annoying Thing ever came out... Same with Bella Bear and her world. I keep thinking people would draw parrallels with my concept and Shrek which didn't appear until 2001 (?). I had my first drawings and ideas in the late 90's... Oh well, guess I'll have to work faster Mind you nost of all this stuff has been done before in a different guise anyway

Footwork! You need some footwork there m8. Shoulder Work! I think you need them to bob left and right abit too. I think the fall is pretty cool and looking forward to seeing how you develop this little flick.

Well, I am hard at work on the next segment of my 'Bella Bear' Saga which involves the alien character. So I thought I would show him to you. He (it?) was originally modeled ages ago, but I have only just rigged and textured him - might have OD'ed on the spots... I thought I would try a bit of GI and Ambient Occlusion on him but it still looks a bit flat - not to good at that sort of stuff (yet). Anyway here he is, comments welcome and expected

Well I certainly enjoyed the Expo and didn't realise that I was so good at selling Many thanks to Ken for answering my question, the posters and the other goodies and Heath - for I am sure it was him who bought me a pint For those of you who couldn't make it here are the only photos I took, even if they are a bit fuzzy… [attachmentid=21863]

Well here's a start and as you can see I ain't mastered fur yet but give it time

Rodney I am flattered by your comments and indeed I do find them uplifting and pertinent. The idea of Bella Bear interacting with live characters has crossed my mind, I was going to do some live footage of the grandchildren (one is 5 the other 7) and mix them with BB just for fun (I know Parlo - Sam Bruntock - has a DVD with Anzovin Studios on this subject). Again, I never got around to it. I am glad that you found it potentially commercially viable, and don't think I haven't tried flogging it - BBC, Channel 4, Nickelodeon etc. I have also started work on a book using my three stories but the market in the UK seems to be so saturated. Nevertheless I perceiver. I cannot let it go since I have a vision (or is it a curse?) in my head which I cannot let go. It drives the missus mad but that's tough Thing is all the time I spend enhancing the characters is less time spent animating. I have decided the route to go down is the film festival one. I have entered the IFCT with my latest effort just to test the water. In the meantime I decided to sod the book and finish more of this current animated story. I just gotta keep at it and not get distracted with flying and diving and how fast is my computer. As for working on TWO, I keep thinking shall I or shouldn't I. But again, if I did I would never finish my first episode. (Twitches wildly and naws at his fingers wondering). I heard a good dialogue the other day. A chap was saying he had been trying for five years to become a national DJ sand still hadn't got there. The person he was talking to said there is no time span. You just keep on trying and you will achieve. Mind you if you work is crap then you never will, but I don't think my stuff is crap So thank you for your encouragement it is most appreciated, now back to the computer... Now where's the Wacom tablet I think Bella needs a face lift and some eyelashes - everyone thinks she is a boy

OMG! Where do you find the time man? You must live and eat this stuff… Makes my efforts seem limp… Apart from that this is pretty gripping stuff, I will be keeping an eye on your great work m8.

Two months later… I am tempted to improve the image quality of my work but I think I prefer the relative simplicity of the characters and I am more interested in what they do than look like. I mean I could use hair on Bella Bear but what bothers me is the render times and I think people will be looking at my inability to use hair rather that what the character is doing. I dunno. I am in a quandary like many others who have limited time. Although I feel now that I want to drop all other interests and hobbies and go at these stories and nothing but before I end up looking too much like Gandalf… But I am sure I will get side-tracked buy something new and shiney. I guess that is why I am galled 'Gazza' since it is Italian for 'Magpie'.

Since I am still recoiling from missing the venue last year and have been avoiding Paul Forwoods Daleks ever since I am definately, definately, definately going to be there at this year's Mac Expo at the end of October to pay homage to Ken Baer and whoever else will be there from Hash Inc. - I have even promised to help So anyone else from the UK or the GLAM, LAMUG or whatever it's now called going? I am really looking forward to it and to drive Ken mad with all my questions

Well all of this sort of stuff is making me itch to get 3DPainter! I have always wanted a tool like this (never did like laying out UV maps). Nice work John, although I am very intrigued by the render quality - did you do this with radiosity or HDRI? Or did you use a batch of low strength lights? I haven't been using AM13 much so it is still pretty new to me…

Ken, have you smelt that flower? Why else would she cut the head off it!

Old 'little' project that I never finished and since I was itching to do some animating again after a bit of a break (holidays, fixing things and such) I thought I would start finishing it off. Here's the flick: Flower Sniffin I still have a problem with the feet skidding (I have never fully worked out how to avoid this, or if I did I have forgotten how to do it) and a few other glitches. I have basically put Bella in her Igloo nad changed camera angles on her - not sure if I have done too many though... It's great to be doing some AM again!

Nice model there m8, but as others have said he needs some transparency and refraction on him... He looks a little too metalic at the moment and it will interesting seeing him animated since being made of ice, I cannot imagine he will bend too well...

Well I am flattered and very pleased by the responses - thank you all. I will indeed continue the work to produce the next bit, but I don't think it will be Peg actually rescuing Bannah and Bella - I have got another section in mind which hopefully won't take quite so long... I have taken some of the points people have made and thought them over and I might get around to incorporating them but at the moment I have had enough of this little flick and want to move on to the next one. Although I will add, Rodney, that Peg doesn't actually kick the door off it's hinges - she just kicks it open. The main thing in all the suggestions was me animating Peg getting onto her broomstick but my patience was running out and I cheated and decided to skip it. Lazy bugger eh? P.S. Please note the file size has been drastically reduced using the Apple H263 codec (QuickTime 6.5 required), so instead of being 23mb it is now just over 10mb. P.P.S. On the nose! That will indeed be a trademark of the series - along with a few other points of style generated mostly by my inability to animate really smoothly