Animation tips

[jmart714]

Hey guys,

 

I did this animation about a week ago using AMv14. I've tweaked it as much as possible, but something feels like it could be better. Since it was a test animation for a bigger project, I may not do any more tweaks, but I would love suggestions to make the real thing the best it can be. Thanks.

 

Justin

NanoWar2.mov

[thefreshestever]

awesome!!! really great work! if you ask me it´s almost perfect. the only things that bothered me was the jumping of the main character after the throwing, looked a little bit floating to me, and the shooting at the end, i think it would be cooler if it had a real effect on the cup, maybe it could burst, explode or whatever...

 

but again: i love it!

[Dhar]

Way cool, Justin. Loved the concept.

 

Critique; the escapee could be more frantic with snappier moves and head turns. I didn't see arcs in the movements which would've added to the fluidity of the performance. I'd squash and stretch the lifting parts.

 

Keep up the good work. The aesthetics of your piece are top notch.

[jmart714]

awesome!!! really great work! if you ask me it´s almost perfect. the only things that bothered me was the jumping of the main character after the throwing, looked a little bit floating to me, and the shooting at the end, i think it would be cooler if it had a real effect on the cup, maybe it could burst, explode or whatever...

 

but again: i love it!

 

Thanks, that's one of the things I really need to work on is the timing of my leaps. This was actually the first thing I've ever animated in Animation Master, so I learned along the way. I think I got better at his leaps and jumps when I had him leap over the cup. As for the shooting at the end, I was going to shake his legs, but I decided that was to morbid. But your right, maybe blowing up the cup or something would make it work better. It definitely needs some sort of effect. Thanks again.

 

Justin

[Dagooos]

Real nice! The casual shooting was funny but agree it would be better with his legs shaking or some sparks or something.

[jmart714]

Way cool, Justin. Loved the concept.

 

Critique; the escapee could be more frantic with snappier moves and head turns. I didn't see arcs in the movements which would've added to the fluidity of the performance. I'd squash and stretch the lifting parts.

 

Keep up the good work. The aesthetics of your piece are top notch.

 

It's funny, I started out the animating process trying to make it look as real as possible. Right after he tosses the spoon, I changed my style and went with a cartoon like approached. I'm always torn between making the effect look real, and giving it the character movements you would see in a cartoon. But I think I like the idea of amping up the performance with snappier moves. It works for Pixar. Thanks.

[ruscular]

I don't have anything to say about the animation, but about the modeling. At first I thought that it was a animation of the model and the spoon and cup that was composited in to the kitchen. Then I am wondering if everything is model in that scene. I look at glass reflection and realize that the stove itself may be a 3D object. I don't know but is everything there a 3D mesh object?

 

The flame coming out of the ship could variate with some flicker or slight sway to show that it is gas and not solid.

[KenH]

That's pretty good. The "worst" of the animation is when the character comes in the window. He doesn't seem supported by his feet some of the time. Watch out for the feet intersecting the ground, but I only saw that because I slowed it down. Some of the jumps aren't how I would do them, but they work. Keep an eye on the interpolation of your splines in the timeline.

One thing I'd like to see is some emotion on the faces, but you say this is only a test.....can't wait for the real thing!

 

Oh yeah....the shooting at the end could be louder too. And it's not very clear what happens to the guy in the ship when he gets hit in the head......it just looks like he flys to the side. But then the other guy is celebrating and throwing things below him. If the ship went down, his reaction would make more sense.

 

BTW you got your 2D character looking good in 3D.....

 

http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?act=a...st&id=30873

[jmart714]

I don't have anything to say about the animation, but about the modeling. At first I thought that it was a animation of the model and the spoon and cup that was composited in to the kitchen. Then I am wondering if everything is model in that scene. I look at glass reflection and realize that the stove itself may be a 3D object. I don't know but is everything there a 3D mesh object?

 

The flame coming out of the ship could variate with some flicker or slight sway to show that it is gas and not solid.

 

The Robot, spoon, coffee cup, butter knife, steak knife, and blender are 3D objects composited into a rotoscoped picture. I created rough models for the counter, toaster oven, etc. Then turned on front projection target for those objects to receive shadows and reflections. Which brings up a question I have. Is there a better way to composite characters into a live action shot, or am I on the right path? The only problem I have with the current process is that it's hard to light, but it works. Thanks.

 

Justin

[jmart714]

That's pretty good. The "worst" of the animation is when the character comes in the window. He doesn't seem supported by his feet some of the time. Watch out for the feet intersecting the ground, but I only saw that because I slowed it down. Some of the jumps aren't how I would do them, but they work. Keep an eye on the interpolation of your splines in the timeline.

One thing I'd like to see is some emotion on the faces, but you say this is only a test.....can't wait for the real thing!

 

Oh yeah....the shooting at the end could be louder too. And it's not very clear what happens to the guy in the ship when he gets hit in the head......it just looks like he flys to the side. But then the other guy is celebrating and throwing things below him. If the ship went down, his reaction would make more sense.

 

BTW you got your 2D character looking good in 3D.....

 

http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?act=a...st&id=30873

 

I agree, the worst animation is near the beginning, which makes sense because it was the first thing I ever animated in 3D. I felt like I got better the farther in I got. It took about 4 days to animate, and has definitely done its job. The number one thing I learned is that I need a new rig. I made a very basic rig that forced me to move each individual bone, almost like stop motion. I think I may redesign the robot to work with the 2001 rig, at least the legs and mid section. Right now, he has very mechanical joints that only move in one direction. I need to learn more about workin with the interpolation, as it is, I don't even mess with it. But if anyone knows any good tutorials, I'm there. As for facial expressions, I agree, the real project will go up close, so he's going to need it. The hard part is making facial expressions without warping the mesh. I think I'll study Wall-e for that, they seem to have done a good job of getting those expressions across without adding fake eyebrows and such. I don't want to do what they did in the movie Robots, not my style, too cartoon like. As for the shooting sound, I was trying to make the gun seem as small as possible, in comparison to how small they are. But I probably should have messed with the EQ instead of the volume. I only put one day into the sound design, so I could move on to the big project. I think the ship crashing suffered from this as well. That's what happened when he flew off screening, you hear the pots and pans crashing, but I obviously didn't get the levels right. Thanks for noting these though, I will keep them in mind. Actually thanks for everything guys, this is all good feedback.

 

Justin

[tbenefi33]

That look cool I thought you might of used syntheyes the camer tracking software buts all 3d that's awsome how long did the project take ?

[johnl3d]

Nicely done something I wish I could do

[nimblepix]

Inspiring Justin!

[ernesttx]

Nice work.

 

I'll second what others have mentioned about the animation - foot slipping, gun shooting, etc.

 

What I would comment on has to do with adding more camera angles and composition of shots. It would be nice to have a close up (CU) of maybe the frantic escapee behind the coffe mug, eyes shifting from side to side; that way, we get to see his angst and can feel what he is feeling. Another would be the ship coming in the window, maybe a medium shot (MS) of the window and the ship slowly coming up over the window sill and acting like it's scouting out the environment, maype a point of view (POV) from the ship inside the kitchen.

 

As it is, it's a static shot and all the action happens within the one shot. It's as if we are to observe what is happening only. Allow the audience to be a little bit more intimate with the characters, situation and actions happening.

 

Otherwise, great modeling, characters and compositing.

[jmart714]

That look cool I thought you might of used syntheyes the camer tracking software buts all 3d that's awsome how long did the project take ?

 

Technically its not all 3D. The attached picture is what I composited everything into. If I really sat down with it, I think I could model all of those objects, and create a set that looks very close to this, but that wasn't my goal. The object of this was to see if I could composite my 3D characters into this footage.

 

Surprisingly, this project didn't take me too long. The robot was created for a bigger project, it was my first real model, so I learned as I made it. Modeling and Decaling took about 1 month, though I'm sure I could do it in about a week now. I spent 1 day creating quick models of the set that would allow me to project shadows and reflections. I also did most of the lighting this day as well. Day 2 was spent modeling the items on the counter and the ship. Day 3 I started animating. Days 4,5,and 6, I continued and finished animating. Day 7, I tweaked lighting. Originally I was planning on doing the ship jets in After Effects, because I don't really know a lot about particle effects yet. But on day 7, I experimented with the idea of using glow on semitransparent models, and it seemed to do the trick. At least it beat the amount of work I would do in After Effects.

 

It took a couple days to render. I spent the final day creating a sound design and adding a few effects and titles. If you count the robot that I already had modeled, it was about a month and a half of work. It should also be known that I worked 15 hour days, which I don't recommend. I will be pacing myself for the bigger project.

 

Thanks.

[jmart714]

Nice work.

 

I'll second what others have mentioned about the animation - foot slipping, gun shooting, etc.

 

What I would comment on has to do with adding more camera angles and composition of shots. It would be nice to have a close up (CU) of maybe the frantic escapee behind the coffe mug, eyes shifting from side to side; that way, we get to see his angst and can feel what he is feeling. Another would be the ship coming in the window, maybe a medium shot (MS) of the window and the ship slowly coming up over the window sill and acting like it's scouting out the environment, maype a point of view (POV) from the ship inside the kitchen.

 

As it is, it's a static shot and all the action happens within the one shot. It's as if we are to observe what is happening only. Allow the audience to be a little bit more intimate with the characters, situation and actions happening.

 

Otherwise, great modeling, characters and compositing.

 

I agree with you 100%, my 10 minute short will have many camera angles, and lots of movement. However, for this project, I wanted to keep it simple, almost like someone left the camera on in their house. I just let the action on screen tell the story, without editing. Thanks for the comment.

[Paul Forwood]

This is brilliant! If it is really your first 3D animation then it is just amazing!

I agree on the points already made and I'm sure that the next version will benefit from the lessons learned while making this.

I like the pirate laughter that you are using for your credits at the end. That made me laugh.

[jmart714]

This is brilliant! If it is really your first 3D animation then it is just amazing!

I agree on the points already made and I'm sure that the next version will benefit from the lessons learned while making this.

I like the pirate laughter that you are using for your credits at the end. That made me laugh.

 

Thanks, it really is my first 3D animation. Before this, I did a lot of After Effects and Flash 2d, but it's just so limiting. With animation master, anything I can think of, I can make. Never been able to say that before.

[jmart714]

Just in case anyone is interested. I attached a picture of what the actual movie and character will look like. The story is post apocalyptic, and follows the last remaining human and his companion robot on a journey to escape Earth; along the way battling a large virus infected robot that threatens to stop any plans of leaving forever.

 

I'm about to start modeling the large infected robot. Should be interesting, since I visualize him as a T-Rex sort of beast.

 

Justin

[thefreshestever]

Just in case anyone is interested. I attached a picture of what the actual movie and character will look like. The story is post apocalyptic, and follows the last remaining human and his companion robot on a journey to escape Earth; along the way battling a large virus infected robot that threatens to stop any plans of leaving forever.

 

I'm about to start modeling the large infected robot. Should be interesting, since I visualize him as a T-Rex sort of beast.

 

Justin

 

this looks great, i´m very curious, can´t wait to see that movie...

[KenH]

Looks intriguing! So you'll be making a human?

 

If I might be so bold....here's an alternative color scheme to your image:

[jmart714]

Looks intriguing! So you'll be making a human?

 

If I might be so bold....here's an alternative color scheme to your image:

 

Yes, I have to model and rig a human at some point. It's going to be tough.

 

I like the color scheme you tried out. Normally I stay away from adding blue to simulate night, just because it seems cheesy to me. But for a stylistic look, it could work. Probably looks completely different on everyones monitor. At least the contrast, I know many people have had a problem with how dark it is. Thanks Ken, I'll keep this in mind.

 

Justin

[stormwire]

Im new here but I have to say that was amazing! Great job matey:) The only thing that seemed missing was the main characters contact with the ground. It seemed a tiny bit out but its nothing major.

[jmart714]

Im new here but I have to say that was amazing! Great job matey:) The only thing that seemed missing was the main characters contact with the ground. It seemed a tiny bit out but its nothing major.

 

Thanks, I think once I get the 2001 rig on him, I'll have an easier time keeping his feet on the ground.

 

Justin

[Tai Shan]

I'm sorry to say that I don't have any tips to offer -- your video is awesome!!!

[jmart714]

I'm sorry to say that I don't have any tips to offer -- your video is awesome!!!

 

Well thanks, can't wait to show you a longer movie.

 

Justin

[nixie]

10 Minutes working alone will take a long time, and will be difficult to keep all of it to a high standard!

 

Good luck, I would like to see more!

 

Nixie

[jmart714]

10 Minutes working alone will take a long time, and will be difficult to keep all of it to a high standard!

 

Good luck, I would like to see more!

 

Nixie

 

My prediction, 2 months modeling sets and characters, 4 months animation and effects, 1 month for tweaks, lighting, etc., and probably 5 months rendering HD 1080p. Of course I could always scale back and get it done sooner, but what's the fun in that.

 

Justin