Fishman

Tiffany, I liked your movie, the special effects of the blackboard writing and the chalk dust were excellent. A couple of minor critiques: 1) I agree with Nancy that a build-up of frustration would definitely improved the impact or the nails on the chalkboard. 2) When he is waiting outside, try to show a little more motion other than the head and hands. Perhaps he could be leaning against the wall or squatting down to gather his breath and his courage. 3) I like the peek into the classroom. However when he walks into the room, he walks like the old peanuts characters in straight lines with right angle turns. He should take a more natural looking route. A very admirable effort for your first animation, great sets, great character, good lighting. You are well on your way, you should be proud of your effort! Scott

I kinda like the all black the best. It depends on what you are going for, but the mouth seems to fit the style a little better, draws less attention to the mouth. Wonderful muscle action by the way! Scott

Like the look and flexibility of the model. I'm assuming you haven't animated the eyes yet, because they really just kind of stare which is disconcering. I agree with the posibility of the flashing from white to black or vice versa. Would you be willing to share a shaded wire of the hands? They are just excellent and I would love to learn from them. Several views if I may be so bold as to ask! Thanks, Scott

Peter, That is definitely much clearer. He is clearly confused as to where this marble came from and then seems to react to the presence of the girl. Whether he senses her presence or reacts to either a visual or auditory clue is not obvious, but in a silent clip I will assume it was auditory. For confirmation you may want to show it to someone who never saw the first clip to make sure that the read is real. I had to chuckle, in the quick render, when he is looking puzzled, it is as if he is puzzled by the eye targets. What the heck are these things in front of my eyes! Scott PS: You made my day by taking my crit and incorporating it. I feel a part of your film now. Years from now at a showing, I can stand up and say, see that, I suggested that!

Forgive me master if I should be so bold as to add another comment. At Ravels right foot the crack/indentation in the side walk seems too large, it seems to be half or more the width of his foot. It looks like an intentionally poured groove almost too pristine. If it was narrower, I think it would cast more of a shadow and look a little better. Scott

I need a shortcut key to just paste in a reply that says beautiful and I can't wait to see it. Took me a second to see the marble come in. I do have one comment. When Ravel reacts to the marble he looks at his briefcase and then at the marble, then he looks straight ahead rather than where the marble comes from. This doesn't make sense. Based on the bounce of the marble, it would have been obvious that it came from his left. That is why I couldn't figure out why he looked straight ahead and then left. I would suggest that he look at his case, then at the marble and then up to see the girl. This might also make the head turn more natural. It also seems like he has the hint of a smile cross his face when he sees her. I don't know their relationship, but it seems that even if he is just pleasantly surprise to see a little girl his smile should have been a little more noticeable. Love these updates! Scott

Better reread your notes. Light in back of character = rim. Light in front of character = key. This is a good discussion. I love Peter's lighting in his Ravel film, so this is a great insight into his mind. Doug, thanks for being the sacrificial lamb on a subject that so many of us have no clue about, but are ashamed to admit it. Scott

Tom, I like the square one just a tiny bit more. I think the round one looks a little like a diving helmet. If you made the round one more ovoid, you might get the best of both worlds. Scott

Den, Sent you a PM with my e-mail. Scott

I agree it sounds like Talking Heads or maybe its Walking Heads? I would have liked to seen a shot showing him head to toe to appreciate the full effect. If you are going to submit that as demo reel stuff, they will probably want to see the whole character to appreciate what you are doing with the legs and the feet. They are definitely nice looking walks with good transitions. Nice work! Scott

Tom, I think that looks pretty good. Seems to be beveled and everything. I would guess that the best way to display stuff on his screen would be a decal. I think you can even put a video there as an animated decal. WOuld open a world of possibilities. Looks like you're off to a good start! Scott PS: Thanks for the acknowledgement in your mini movie, hardly necessary, but appreciated.

I'll sign up. I think you can click through my profile to find all my posts and be able to see some work I have done. I'm no great shakes, but I'mmhoping that being involved in a project will sharpen my skills. Hopefully those skills will then inspire me to carry through on my ideas. Appreciate the offer to share your talent and ideas. I'f I'm in I'll PM you my e-mail address. Scott PS: Be aware that I am using v10.5 for at least the rest of this year. (I'm hoping to upgrade the beginning of next year.)

Both stills are lovely. I really enjoy these updates. I hope things go better for you and you can make more progress. Scott

Very impressive model! It never ceases to amaze me the relatively few pathces needed to creat impressive models compared to the number of polygons that would be needed. Nice work! Scott

Very nice, nice clean splineage. Good looking nose. Keep at it, once you're past the nose and eyes you get to work on the dreaded ear!!! Scott

Tom, I like it. The wise cracking robot is good. The advantage of a character like that (especially for a mini movie) is you may not have to do facial animation at all, but still have dialog! Make the face shield reflective and all your animation will revolve around the poses. Are we allowed to collaborate on these mini movies? I have a brief joke story line, set on a planetary outpost, that may work with your two characters and fit the mini movie. PM me if it is allowed and you are interested. Scott

Nice start! I particularly like the chin. Are there plans for a nose and mouth? Keep at it! Scott

Experiment with many colors. I would try black and yellow and maybe orange. I personally think the eyes need to be just a bit smaller. Cute model! Scott

Tom, Good start on a cute character. I'm guessing along with Nancy that you've got flipped normals or hair turned off if you've got missing hair. I would vote for integrating the ears rather than intersecting. I think a simple character like that is going to look and animate way better if they are integrated. Plus you'll learn tons. Be careful that you don't let David's face rigging tute send you off into massive amounts of bones and constraints. You may need a lot less with a simple character and it may be simpler to just move bones rather than setting up all the poses. I guess a lot will depend on how expressive his face needs to be, how often he will be reused, etc. Since you mentioned it. Will there be another mini movie contest and when will the deadline be? Keep up the good work, Scott

That's cute and looks really good. Reminds me of a program called Moho (http://www.lostmarble.com/). Actually similar to A:M in that it uses splines to create animatable flat characters. Rigging is similar, too. Check it out. Scott

OK, here's an update. Took Paul and Nathan's advice and worked on the mouth and the abdomen. Haven't done anything on the eyes yet. New questions: 1) Does the black inside the mouth negate the need for teeth? 2) How do you like his abdomen? Let me know what you think! I appreciate the help. Scott

That's kind of the problem I was having as well, that's why I was wondering about eyelids. I may experiment with white pupils, but that might get creepy! Here's a wire! Thanks! Scott

Thanks! Actually he may get a shirt eventually, but I agree on the body. Here's a close up! Scott

Here is a character that I have been working on. I've got him rigged, except for mouth bones and poses. He does have a jaw so he can open and close. Three questions: 1) Is he engaging? 2) Does he need teeth? 3) Does he need eyelidds? Thanks! Scott

Man that is one stiff wind he's walking into! I like the knapsack over the shoulder. Maybe a few more cycles to get a better feel for it, but as you said there is still stiffness to work out. Keep up the great work! Scott