[2_12_02]

Wow Dhar! Those movements look gorgeous!

 

She in fact seems very light and gracile in the shot. If that is wanted ... perfect!!

[2_09_25 Trio runs up stairs to Golden Chamber]

Here comes my close to final version of the scene:

 

Sorry again for the large file ...

scene 2_09_25 (12 sec, full resolution, ~12 MB)

 

Further comments are welcome. I am not quite satisfied with the way the camera goes. Any comments or suggestions here?

 

Thanx!

[02_12_08]

Nice. I just felt abit dizzy watching it. It's like he doesn't stop moving. Maybe some moving holds would improve it.

I got the same impression; arms and chest are kind of swimming. I'd also suggest to insert some holds.

 

You chose really nice poses!

[2_09_25 Trio runs up stairs to Golden Chamber]

Well, this is what I have done so far:

* camera

... did the camera move according to Martin's request for showing the chamber. Also incorporated Ken's advice where to stop it

* SC

... made him climb up the stairs using a specially made walk action for this

... made him approch the door using a path and an already existing run action

* TW, Woot

... made them run up the stairs and also to the door using one run/walk action and one path each (to get timing and positioning)

 

Still missing:

* Correct placement and movements at the door

* More actions like looking around during walk/run

 

Sorry, files become quite large due to the long camera movement and the resulting high amount of image changes:

scene 2_09_25 (full resolution, ~10 MB)

scene 2_09_25 (half resolution, ~7.5 MB)

 

What I realized is: Although I intended to use the 'normal' walk action of TW and Woot on the stairs just to experiment with the timing, I realized that from that distant camera angle, it is hardly noticable that this is no 'stair adjusted' walk! Do you think, with some more tuning on the step placement, this could be acceptable?

[2_09_25 Trio runs up stairs to Golden Chamber]

Scene description:

TIN WOODMAN, SCARECROW, and WOOT, running, reach OUTSIDE GOLDEN CHAMBER. They stop before GOLDEN CHAMBER DOOR.

 

Comment from Martin:

It's intended to show the chamber so the camera movement is what's important here. TW, SC & W are supposed to run up to the door and stop, not knowing what to do.

 

 

This is my first shot. Unfortunately I somehow overlooked the word "run" and made the stair climb of SC a fast walk (TW and Woot still to come). It was so hard to do and now I have to start again from the beginning! :( But the camera move is about what I thought it could be.

 

Some first suggestions in this early phase are welcome ...

 

scene 2_09_25 (~5 MB)

[2_13_06]

Raffi: The speeds are probably not the best, but I've spent enough time on it for now. Hopefully I'll get back to it some time.

Edit: In case it's not obvious, he jumps up and then jumps again...rebounding off the bed post. That may be causing you to think it's linear.

Hi Ken,

this time it was up to me to have a look at your project

 

Indeed I was right ... your jump speed is identical from start to end which can be seen in the linear y-curve of the hip (see attached picture, green line). It should go something like the yellow line ... very fast in the beginning, very slow in the end. The same holds true for the second jump.

 

I had the same problem when doing my monkey jump and solved it by manually adding one key to the hip-y-curve to get something like the yellow line.

[2_13_06]

Hey, that looks good!

 

One thing: The jump speed is not exponentially degrading! The y curve of the monkey during the jumps should be exponential. I guess yours is linear.

[2-12-11]

Hey Dhar,

that looks great! While watching I was expecting that each moment monkey's tongue comes hanging out of the corner of his mouth

 

Maybe bear's face needs a bit more movement (mouth, pupils, one more blink)?

[02-11-21]

Wow! That looks good. Great improvement towards last take!

[2_11_15 Owl flies around clumsily]

Very nice! His face at the end looks abit strange though.

I tried to make him smile wide and proudly about his success of flying. But a bird's face is quite restricted on such things Should I reduce the extent of "smiling"?

 

I assume you're going to animate his claws ....

Well, the last time I checked the owl's rig, the claws still could not be closed ... ah I see ... It seems to be fixed now (owl leg rigging thread)

 

and brows (at the start....straining).

The brows behave quite strangely! Raising the brows using the BrowEmotion Null produces an angry face expression, so I hardly used the brows.

 

PS Don't forget to make the table and chair etc behind him visible when you're finished.

Ooops!? Which table? Which chair? Thought all the environment was one model. I'll have to check when I am home again ...

[02-11-21]

Hi Caroline,

the pupils are very static. In reality they would never be. When the head turns, they should go first. And also later on, they would shift at least slightly.

[2_11_15 Owl flies around clumsily]

Thanks for your suggestions. Here is my next try ....

 

scene 2_11_15

[2_11_15 Owl flies around clumsily]

.....generally, his feet would hang down from gravity...or maybe back from air resistance.

As he flies clumsily, i.e. quite slowly, I guess the feet would just hang down (at least here in the early phase of his first flight).

 

For the fall down below camera shot, perhaps the camera could start to look down (a few frames later) and then in mid move, it catches him coming back up. It seems like there's too long with nothing happening at the moment.

Yeah, I was also thinking of something like this to fill the "pause".

 

Also, try not have him fly directly at the camera....

That's how the animatic is laid out. What now?

 

Finally, check with the next shot for consistency on the direction of flight.

The next shot gives a side view of the flight, and the direction seems right, so I guess we won't have any problems here. The only thing that might be a little problem: In the next shot, tin owl suddenly flies quite fast and powerful. But I guess it is still okay.

 

Edit: As he falls, his wings might go right up.

Yes, that's how I did it in my first try. But then I thought: Why does he fall down? Simply stopping to flap the wings does not seem realistic. So I thought: He is not yet used to flying and too weak so for one beat of the wings he does it powerlessly and that makes him drop. So I did a slow flap before/during the fall. Does that sound sensible?

[2_11_15 Owl flies around clumsily]

Scene description:

Slowly, TIN OWL extends his wings, flexes them,

then takes to the air. He flies around clumsily.

 

Hi folks,

here is my first scetch on the scene, how tin owl and the camera would move. Not very sophisticated so far, no facial movements of the owl. But a first run to get some input about ...

 

>>> file has been updated and overwritten. See last posting for current file

[2_01_69]

Hi Dhar,

sorry for that direct criticism, but that walk looks a bit as if Woot was wearing heavy ski boots. And it is so hard to find out the reason for that! I watched the walk and it technically looks okay, but still that ski boot impression stays. Maybe missing fluidness? Too hard stamping on the ground? Too little movement in the chest? I think it partially is because one can't see that the foot is rolling over the ground; it looks like a flat putting down.

[2_09_19]

Hi Dhar,

you made that scene really very expressive! I first watched it without sound and could figure out what is going on. I especially like that tip-toeing in the end!

 

Two remarks:

* Do they look into the camera in the end? I guess I was told to avoid that here.

* SC's left leg goes up too quick and maybe too high and quite unmotivated at about frame 145.

[02-11-02]

This is what I do:

 

1. Back up original SVN folder.

2. Copy original SVN folder to My Docs.

3. Embed all and save in My Docs.

4. Work in My Docs folder on versions a - z.

5. When finished, save out chor and copy it to SVN folder, open original project, make sure it works, embed actions as needed and if needed, save project.

6. Commit.

 

The embed all may be causing a problem, as I seem to be getting more technical difficulties than others, but I am scared of overwriting originals on SVN.

 

What do other people do?

This is how I do it:

1) Update all files of newly assigned scene using SVN

2) Copy the xyz.cho to xyz_V00.cho

3) Copy the xyz.prj to xyz_v00.prj

4) Replace the proxy-models in the xyz.cho file with the real models

5) Work with xyz.prj (with uses/references xyz.cho)

6) After some work steps or whenever I thing a new copy is adequate, I copy the current xyz.cho to xyz_V01.cho (going on with V02, V03 ...). You don't even have to quit AM for that or do any kind of "Save as" operation.

 

Remarks:

* I only work in the SVN folder; I of course don't SVN-add or commit my version files.

* I always save over the xyz.cho and xyz.prj files (i.e. I just press save)

* I leave all the references as they are, i.e. no embedding

* Sometimes AM thinks it needs to save a model I have worked with; I then save over the original SVN model (don't embed! or you'll lose the reference and any changes the model still might go through), but I don't commit that changed model file; I just revert it after the scene is finished.

 

That works very well for me! And you always have several backup files.

[Im In]

Hi Elliot,

your posting could as well be written by me when I entered TWO! I felt the same and still do! You sure will have a lot of fun!!

[Tin owl ... how to curl the claws?]

Hi,

I just can't find out how to curl/close tin owl's claws!

 

Can anyone help?

[02-11-02]

... is that if an object falls, rather than is deliberately moved, then the spline has to start slow and gather speed. Seems obvious now, but not so obvious looking at a diagonally straight spline.

Hi Caroline,

yes, this is a place where the timeline is extremely important: Falling and jumping (like this well known bouncing ball thing)! The translate.y coordinate timeline must show an exponential and not a linear line because acceleration and deceleration are exponential physical phenomena.

[2_01_58]

Wow! That has everything it needs: Really good poses, natural movements and humour! I love it!

[02-11-02]

Hi Caroline,

this shot is great! Very good movements, different for the two arms, with anticipation. It looks really natural to me! I think you have a good hand for the small little things in body actions.

[02_11_01 Almost done]

Hi,

that run and the way he bumps into the door and falls back looks really good! I like him sitting on the floor, crouched and desperate.

 

Two little remarks:

- In some places it seems the feet are sliding over the floor.

- I would - like Ken - expect the bear to be running towards the opening side of the door, not towards the hinges!

[2_11_04 Green monkey leaps up fireplace screen]

When he jumps up, don't be afraid to have him use his feet to grip. Remember he's now an agile monkey. So, you might have one leg help him get up.

Yes, I had thought of that in the beginning, too, but the fireplace screen offers nothing to get hold of or grab so his handlike feet are nearly useless.

 

His brow use isn't convincing. Usually people tend to do facial movements in quick spurts. ...

Hope I did it better now.

 

Here is the shot ... scene 2_11_04

[2_11_13 Straw Bear: If not for us, then how about for Woot?]

Here's the first pass at the lip-sync. This time I didn't use a dope-sheet:

_2_11_13_lip.mov

I think, the mouth is a bit over-animated. It goes too fast without clear expressions. And in the second half it seems as if mainly the jaw goes up and down, lips don't seem to work.