Cricket WIP phase 3

[Aminator]

Ages ago, I put up an animatic of a short piece featuring a

cricket who resorts to modern electronics to improve his

chances with the ladies. I've *finally* gotten around to

actually animating one shot for this. Any comments or nitpicks

at any level - modeling, lighting, animation, etc. - would be

very welcome.

 

http://www.digins.com/jack/cwip3.mpg (1MB)

 

I created a reusable "handheld camera shake" action based on

Sotiris Gougousis' excellent "Expressions in AM" tutorial; I'd

be happy to post that if anyone's interested.

[zacktaich]

awesome

[Ross Smith]

Really fun! Animating and motion look good -- I would only recommend working on the cricket's face, sculpt it for a little more detail. I look forward to more.

[Aminator]

Thanks, Ross, good suggestion!. I had started out with a cartoony character and decided to add some visual depth with textures, so now the simple head does look a little out-of-place.

[xor]

Smooth motion. Very well done. Lookin' forward to the next part of this animation.

[jfirestine]

I think it looks great! Can't wait to see more.

 

Nice job!

[Zaryin]

Very innovative way to have a cricket turn knobs. Looking good.

[animaster]

From: Jack Morrison jack@digins.com

Date: 2004-1-26 21:04:19

 

>> The cricket is a bit dark and hard to see clearly.

 

I agree, I'm cranking up the lights some. And experimenting

with a separate specular-only light to add a little glossiness

to that exoskeleton without washing out the soft "cloudy day"

look I'm trying for.

 

>> Why does the right dial go up to 11?

 

> It's a spinal tap reference and a funny visual joke IMHO

 

Bingo. That was Vern's (good) idea!

 

> I don't have any idea what might becausing the flicker.

 

After much experimentation, I've mostly eliminated it by

turning off "specular" on the bulb inside the left meter.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

 

--

-- Jack Morrison (jack@digins.com)

.

[pia12254]

Very Cool! I like the animation so far.

 

What if you had him turn the second dial up to 10, pause, look back at it and then kick it up to 11. It might break up the pacing a little and give the viewer a chance to catch on.

 

Just a thought. Looks good so far!

[modernhorse]

Looks great! Love the way the cricket moves.

 

Keep on!!

 

Doug

[Aminator]

I've updated the file after some tweaks (same link as above).

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement!

 

What if you had him turn the second dial up to 10, pause, look back at it and then kick it up to 11

 

Nice. I just might do that!

[pia12254]

Just watched the latest clip. Looks better! I don't remember the first clip in that much detail but I can definitely tell a difference.

 

I really like the secondary motion you have on his antennae, very natural looking. Keep it up. Cant wait to see more!

[robcat2075]

Looks like this could be something major!

What if you had him turn the second dial up to 10, pause, look back at it and then kick it up to 11

Nice. I just might do that!

to do that joke right you gotta not let the audience see the 11 in advance. It's gotta be a surprise.

 

Change the dials so that they aren't a pointer to something printed on the case. Have them reveal something in a window above the knob, or they could be changing an LCD readout right above the knob.

[williamgaylord]

Great job of animation! Very smooth and natural.

 

Why not cricket sounds? Or is this leading up to it...next scene he steps up to the microphone and lets loose a wicked cricket riff...

 

Perhaps a smile, wink, and "thumbs" up after cranking the gain up...or a grin and an a rubbing of the "hands" in anticipation...

 

Great work!