SeanC.

So then USE the parrot...make us think and feel something... THAT'S animation! You seem to be trying to express that animation can do more than just tell a story in the traditional fashion. I respect any kind of endeveaor which attempts to push the traditional bounderies of how people feel animation should be used but in the end, no matter how experimental a piece of work is, no matter how untraditional, there is always some underlying theme within the work itself...(unless it's dadaism). That is what i feel this piece lacks. You say you feel even a simple character can tell a story...i agree...but it doesnt, instead you tell the story and then we view the animation. The animation is simply a supplement to the story or idea you are telling. If you truly want the animation to tell the story...then let the animation tell the story, or theme, or preach or whatever it is you want it to do. Again, i respect any kind of work that tries to show people that animation can be more than a medium that appeals to jsut kids. SeanC.

Cute story. Congrats on getting a full animation done! SeanC.

Interesting work with the coffee pot! I must say...sometimes i get the feeling you purposely try to think as abstract as you possibly can just to push people's buttons. But what does it mean to push a button...a button is nothing...what matters is the action that occurs. And this cannot be predicted...the world cannot be predicted. Its contents, unknown to us...forever in blackness...much like the inside of the coffeepot. -insert irrelevent googled link of your choice- Something like the above in your next post perhaps? Don't take it personally, just a bit of observational humor. S.C.

I disagree. I feel that emotion can be conveyed just as well if not better through actions. I do think that sound often serves to increase my interest in an animation but it does not create the character; the actions do. As the adage goes, actions speak louder than words. SeanC.

Actually, as far as 2 cameras goes, theres a way around it. Set the interpolation method for the camera keys to stepped tangentsZ and then set keys for your camera. When you get to the point where you need it to switch camera angles, first, select the camera and set a key on the frame before it needs to move. Then, on the next frame, reposition the camera to where it needs to be and set another key. Its not the best method to use for a long animation with lots of camera changes, but its good for small projects like this one. SeanC.

One other thing to consider is how far off the ground his feet are actually coming. For such a casual, non-chalant walk his feet are coming awfully high off the ground. As it says in Williams' book, "Normally we lift our feet off the ground just the bare minimum. That's why it's so easy for us to stub out toes and get tipped over." I think this is partly contributing to the awkward-ish cycle, although i think its a very good cycle SeanC.

I think it might be the lack of a nose which is triggering your memory Hutch Very excellent work! Excited to see some animation!!

I use Jason Osipas facial setup. I love it! ITs a long list of mouth shapes but its well worth it. He uses visemes, shapes you can see rather than phonemes, shapes you can hear. Some of the poses are mouth open/closes , upper lip up/down, lower lip up/down, sneer, ooooo, pucker, narrow, wide. All of these are of course split into left and right sides of the face. The there are different brow shapes. I recomend buying his book, "Facial Animation and Modeling Done Right" It really helps. SeanC.

Thank you for the tips J, they all sound like sound advice. Ill implement them and repost as soon as i can. Thanks alot, SeanC.

Little bit of animation with my character. Something just doesnt seem right though. Something in the handfs mayber. Let me know what you guys think. http://www.pallidus.net/BadaBing4.mov Thanks, Sean

WOWEEE!!! Thats a great job Emilio!! Thats not the easiest technique but you pulled it off very nicely. With a little touchup here and there in PSP (i plug the cheap versions) it will come out nicely! SeanC.

Thats not bad for a first animation. It seems a little slow though, maybe try pushing the poses closer to each other in the timeline. Whats that soundbit from anyways? Also, try rendering larger, its really hard to see. SeanC.

New character im working with. Little animation test on my website. C and C welcome. PS-facial expressions were made using the book, "Stp Staring" by Jason Osipa-best ive ever done. hats off to Jason for the wonderful book. Thanks, SeanC. http://www.pallidus.net/animationwork.html

Thought id show off my new model im working on. First time ive really played with color and especially bump maps. C and C definitely welcome! Thanks, SeanC. ps. that is just a temporary color map to ge tthe feel, not the final.

::Stares blankly ahead smiling, clearly with no idea of what you just said::

Wow, for a first head youve definitely got some good things going on here. Your splines seem laid out rather well and there definitely seems to be a sense of youthfulness about her. For the decal i would look online for some help on how to apply a realistic decal such as the one u are using. As for the ears, check this link out. This guy uses modeling techniques i have found to be invaluable. http://www.colins-loft.net/CoopHead.html Also, there seems to be a dark ring on the nose area. Not sure if thats a shadow, modeling or decal but may want to chek that out. Hope i helped a little, Sean C.

Please...Please tell me thats StarScream....please... Transformers are the coolest thing ever in this world!!!!!! Great Jet man!!! Cant wait to see some decals and animation! SeanC.

on a similar note you could go into the channel editor and simply adjust the bias of the curve. Depends on the moevement u are looking for. SeanC.

Thought id out up a little of what im working on. Id like to say right now that im no modeler, hence the incredibly awkward creases and such. Good animation is my goal for this short and i was hoping you people with more experience could give me some pointers and point out things i should change. Anyways, heres a short little sample, 3 MB. www.pallidus.net/dball1 Thanks all, SeanC.

Ive had this problem myself onceor twice. I copied the whole model into another empty model window and saved it. Close and reopen the project and u should be able to just use the newly copied model for the copy/flip/attach. SeanC.

wow... truly amazing work you do Sir Jim. The only crit i see is something about the mustache. Maybe its the lighting but its seems to rectangular. Great work SeanC.

I LOVE THE CAMERA WORK!!! The music was perfect too. Where did you get that from. Is it a movie soundtrack perhaps?? Plz tell, id go buy that! SeanC.

Those are some cool bots u got there! You have any animations with them? Id love to see! SeanC.

Heres a bit of animation ive done with him so far... Just in case the the words are hard to understand he says, "Man if there is one constant in this world it is that i am HOT!" Let me know what you think!!! ( i know about all the awkward looking skin deformations but im having trouble making Smartskins that look good in all axises of rotation)...(axises...axi....axes...whats the plural of axis?...) Thanks alot guys, SeanC. www.pallidus.net/animationpage2

Wow, when u say low density u mean it! That should be easy to animate! Maybe she could get together with my character, they seem a perfect match lol!!! Im truly impressed by the low density/high detail you've created here. Be sure to post an animation, i want to see how it looks with the amount of splines youve managed to use! Great work! SeanC.