Dalemation

Great use of squash and stretch there. Funny - I liked it.

Well, you`ve obviously got the hang of rigging because the shoulders look great to me. Very nice movement there. Maybe the next step is to animate your character walking (very clearly illustrated in the A:M guide) or some such motion. Btw, don`t forget that you have the more detailed `online manual` on the A:M CD.

Hi William, That animation demonstrates superbly the effects that are achievable with A:M. Amazing. I sort of agree with your `constructive criticism` comments also. I hate to criticize others work because I know what it feels like to be `knocked back`. There are 25 animators at work and I know all of us would interpret and animate the same given shot in an often totally different way. I suppose the `constructive` element to criticism can be very helpful at times though in enlightening you to an aspect of your work that you may have been blind to or just simply got wrong. I know exactly where you`re coming from though.

Looks excellent. I can really get a sense of weight and muscle.

For a first animation that`s excellent! Maybe a little more anticipation would have helped and the inbetweens are a bit too even on the jump. I think he should have slowed a bit more as he reached the peak of the arc before falling again. The run looked great to me. Impressive.

Beautifully animated with perfect timing and very funny. I don`t think you can ask for more than that. Great stuff

Hi Rodney, I must admit to being very surprised to see this return. I haven`t done much more to the dog apart from a few tweaks. I`m working (at this very moment) on modeling the other characters for this film. I decided to wait, after Setup Machine 2 was announced, and use it for rigging before I decide if I`m going to rig them with that or some other means. Thanks for your interest, I`m very touched actually, and I will keep you posted Dale.

Thanks Rodney. I used the `Songmaker` wizard in Magix Music Maker for the main body of the music. I then just embellished it a bit and added some samples from the voice track. All of the sound effects are from Magix also. Btw, on the original movie the footsteps are really quiet. For some reason after I compressed the soundtrack in QuickTime they suddenly becam very loud?! I`m still thinking about a sequel but am working on something else at the moment. John - thanks for the kind words. For once the idea came very fast. That`s normally the most difficult part for me.

Well thanks everyone. I`m going out tomorrow to buy myself a larger hat

Wow!! I like it. The girls hair is a little distracting towards the end of the animation but otherwise the whole thing looks very impressive so far. The idea sounds fun too. Are you producing a short film with the characters?

Ah, in that case I think I can understand all that is being said. I just assumed he wasn`t sayimg `hum`. I`m very much looking forward to seeing some more of this production.

It looks great. I like the subtle hand held camera look. The design and use of colour are impressive. I, like Ken, found it a little difficult to understand what was being said that was all. Probably the compression though. Nice stuff

I`m sure you won`t regret it once you get over the initial learning curve. The tutorial booklet that comes with the software is deliberately quite basic but takes you gently through almost everything you need to know. Animation is very rewarding. For most people, once they see their first character moving they are hooked. I know I still get that `magic` feeling when I feel I`ve done a good bit of acting or action. The people on this list are great and I`m sure you will get all the help you need.

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments. It didn`t take too long really as I was only working on it in evenings for a couple of hours. The rendering of the shots could take anything up to 8 hours but I just left it going overnight. For someone starting out in animation I think A:M is ideal. It`s relatively easy to learn and you can see results fast. If your daughter is totally set on animation as a career then she should definitely go for it. So many people are put off at the first hurdle because they fear unemployment. That can happen in any career and nobody wants to spend the rest of their life wondering `what if`. I don`t know about computer animation but in stop-motion (in the UK anyway) it is very difficult to find animators. The studio I work for often has to train people to meet demand. Obviously this may change with advances in CG. I`m quite surprised to find myself still employed in stop-motion these days to be honest I guess the best thing to do would be to maybe try A:M and then your daughter can decide if animation is for her or not.

At last I`ve finished the Mad Edd short. Mad Edd Movie

Looks great! Very effective. I have a shot I was going to add lightning to so you`ve given me some ideas

The Dope Sheet in A:M also does pretty much the same thing. You can add your own words to A:Ms dictionary and you can add to or change the `sounds` that A:M has chosen. Everyone has different ways of working but I find the A:M Dope Sheet can give you a great head start with lip synch.

Wow! That was great - and a major feat if the character was modelled and rigged in one day Very nice animation.

Thanks for the comments everyone. Doug - I asked a guy at work who I know has done some acting if he would record a voice for me. He was very keen and we agreed to meet up at lunch time. I scribbled down the script in the 10 minutes just before we met up. It started off being slightly based on the end speech of Psycho but then went completely off Luckily we have a foley booth at work and we did the voice record in there. Ollie did four takes - all very different - but I like the one I`m using because it reminded me a little of Vincent Price. I agree, I think he`s done a great job. Thanks Ollie George - okay, I`m definitely not posting any more stuff `till it`s finished now.

I`ve just posted the second shot. I`m on shot 7 and having a few problems combining actions which I`ll hopefully sort out tonight. Shot 2

Thanks for the comments Aminator. I agree about his expression and the weak head turn. Strange I didn`t correct the head turn as the following shot has him turning his head and nearly touching his nose on the floor! On the lip synch - the word `they` sounds exactly the same volume to me. I`ve found with experience that it`s usually far better to exagerate a bit with animation rather than under animate. Especially important with more cartoony characters. If you watch `Monsters Inc` for example the lip synch is VERY exagerated most of the time. I am going to review all shots though before I do the final render and all comments received regarding this shot have made me look more closely at the rest. So, thanks for the suggestions - I`m taking note

Thanks Doug! I`ve already done quite a bit more but I`m going to wait until it`s finished now before posting again I think. Regarding the camera move - I do like the freedom that computer animation gives you but it`s easy to get carried away. I wanted a track in from the establishing shot but I`ve kept the camera static for much of the rest. Actually, the camera went through the side of the door originally. I wondered what to do for a while then decided it was easier to create a pose on the door that simply pulled the offending part out of the way as the camera passed than to adjust the camera move I`m not sure about the `DUH`. It`s quite `explosive` on the soundtrack and I thought it made him look a little more `unhinged`. What do others think?

This is the opening shot for my Mad Edd short. Mad Edd Animation AVI 3.5mb

Hi George... I can bring a T-Shirt in when I`m back on Monday What are you doing on the forum when you should be working - does this mean you`ve completely finished the `Spookem` character eh?

Thanks TC. Yes, it is intended for the new website. I`ve been updating it slowly - the existing one is..well...naff