littleandy

I like the basic shape you're going for. Just get rid of any splines that seem even a LITTLE bit redundant, and it will clean it up a lot, and get rid of the rumpliness of the face. -Andrew

Wow, he looks like a gorilla! I like the unique style. You've kind of found a halfway point between normal rendering and cartoon rendering, it looks like. It's cool! I like it. -Andrew

Nice, I like the design, and all the detail you put into the artwork on it. Very cool! -Andrew

Thanks for the feedback! I have decided to just texture the head for now, and then make the rest of his body in seperate pieces, which you won't see the gaps between, because they'll be covered by his clothing. Anyway though, how would you suggest texturing this with photoshop? Can I texture it all with just one targa? (minus the eyes of course). Or do i need to create two or more seperate decals? Like, one for one for the face and another for the back of the head? If so, then how do I make the seams not show up? I have heard about alpha channels and everything, but i am really not sure how to use them. Thanks! -Andrew

And this is what i've got so far... I love getting critiques and everything, so fire away! Thanks! -Andrew

Hi... I have started working on a new character. I don't have a lot of time to explain, but here's the concept sketch...

Wow... are you sure you need that many splines in your guy's face? It seems a pretty unnecessary... especially for a cartoony character. I think it is just going to make him lumpy, and animation near-impossible. I would eliminate about half the splines. Especially around the cheek and nose areas. Don't make more work for yourself than you need to. -Andrew

Thanks for the encouragement! Ooh, does anyone have an idea for another quick animation i could try with him? -Andrew

Wow! Donate it? That is very generous of you! Again, amazing model. It is coming along really well. The only thing i think might make it look more like her would be to bring in the chin a little bit. It looks a bit strong now. But... I am more of a cartoony modeller myself, so... haha I'm not really complaining. Nice work! -Andrew

ummmmm.... i don't get it?

Haha, nice use of procedural textures on the fish! And I like the raccoon guy so far. Interesting morph! -Andrew

I think what mark was getting at was that, with the image you have coming from your light, you can actually turn off a color. So... in your case, you could turn off the black part of it, so it shows whatever is behind the black part- for instance, the cloud you have the light hitting? -Andrew

Call me crazy, but i like the "lots o' roll" It feels like we are going to attack the tower! It is exciting! Feels like star wars. And nice job on that tower! It looks really cool. Is that all texture maps? -Andrew

I have to agree with JBarrett... The expressions could be much more pronounced and exaggerated. Do more with the eyes (blink, shift around, squint, etc)... and the mouth movements could be exaggerated a lot more. Try to make it almost so that we could read his lips and know what he is saying without hearing the audio. Well.... minus the ability to speak french, which i do not have. Those are my suggestions anyway, and, keep in mind, i am no expert in lip synching myself. -Andrew

Lol, i like the exaggerated bowing motion he makes at the end of the movie Not a bad animation, I only would suggest that you do something with the big silver robot, instead of having him float along, really rigidly. And the little guy's walk cycle looks a little funky- his knees stick out to the side when he walks. That doesn't really matter too much for him, because he seems like a funky guy, but you might not want to repeat it for future characters. -Andrew

Alright!! I can now get critiques on my first lip synch animation! Hector Animation Thanks again, mark! -Andrew

Wow, cool! thanks! I just sent it off! -Andrew

Hmm... I did a 10 second animation with hector, and now i am trying to get some criticism... but i don't know where i can mirror it. Does anyone else out there have an idea? -Andrew

Haha, I like this guy! Really unique- I like how you are managing to make viable eyes out of an infinity symbol. That is cool! Keep it up! -Andrew

Wow, yeah! nice sharp look to it! especially with the reflections. Looking forward to more -Andrew

Interesting character, so far, hypnomike... I am kind of confused however, about where his body armor stops and his skin-tight uniform begins. It looks like he has shoulder pads right now, but they kind of run right into the rest of him. The bump on him also seems a little to tiny, and pronounced... kind of looks like scales to me, like he is some kind of underwater guy. Which, maybe you are going for. If not though, you might want to reduce the bump and lower the global scale of it. -Andrew

Holy shamoley! That is freaking awesome. Good texture maps and such! Way to go. -Andrew

I think a darker opening animation is kind of the norm now with big news opening animations... but I don't know... I guess you just have to think of what complements the tone of this news show you are doing it for. Maybe the photoshop picture you already did is the right idea. I imagine the slower movement of the camera might be more exciting when all the little t.v. screens are showing video, but still, could it maybe be a tiny bit faster? It seems like a kind of long intro for a show that only lasts 5 minutes. Anyway, apart from my petty criticism, I think it looks good! Looking forward to a textured render! -Andrew

Ok, I am all set up to try an do an animation, and now i have a slight problem. The program just crashed, and when i reopened it, and opened my recently saved choreography, hector's eyes don't show up with low res texture previews. They render fine, but if i am going to animate them, i have to be able to see them in real time- otherwise i don't know what is going on. Does anyone know what to do about this? Thanks! -Andrew Edit: Oh, false alarm... I guess it just kind of fixed itself while i was taking a nap.

Haha, well, whether you like South Park or not, I think it can be agreed that it is a testament to how little time it really takes to make a financially successful animation. I just didn't realize it could be done with Animation: Master. I think that is cool. Looking forward to see more! -Andrew