animated short

[cribbidaj]

I'm posting this recent short animation I made with A:M with a note of thanks to everyone at Hash. Among others, Robert Holmén and Mark Largent have been extremely quick and helpful in answering questions and solving problems I encounter onVenriloquist Show.mov this journey of learning animation, and A:M in particular.

 

This software and these forums are so very important to me - thank you!

[Rodney]

Nicely done Chris. Those guys are lucky to have you do an intro like that!

 

That is a very interesting concept and you worked it well.

I think now have a little more insight into your forum avatar too!

 

More please!

 

Edit: I almost forgot to add my obligatory critique suggestion.

It'd be nice if after the curtain opens the camera could zoom in a little closer to the characters.

 

I do have a question too but I'm not quite sure how best to ask it.

It has everything to do with your lipsync animation.

In considering the dummy's lipsync I'd say that's pretty straightforward... the piano on the other hand... now that looks like a lot of work!

[cribbidaj]

Thank you, Rodney! Yes, a camera zoom for closer shot is good advice!

 

The dummy lipsync is straightforward up and down. I perhaps should make it's eyes blink a little more often. The head and neck are on one bone so that I can rotate it on x axis, which seems to be the right thing to do.

 

For the piano-ventriloquist's lipsync, I've created a number of poses for the mouth. I did some CP weighting, but failed to do smart skinning, so the white of the bottom of the keys shows through in a number of poses. Basically, I just got this done to where it made me laugh. I'm considering creating a number of "episodes" for these characters, so I'll get in and do the busy detail work before animating again. I really like the way A:M allows audio into an action and the choreography. I've been using the software since 2004 and ran into problems early on with that function - mostly due to a slow computer and user error - but it's a flawless workflow now.

 

In short, I'm still amazed that I can accomplish this with this software. I can't imagine how programmers create such a deep program that enables one person sitting at home with a laptop to grapple with all the capabilities that this software can do. It's like magic to me.

[pixelplucker]

Good stuff!

[largento]

That was great, Chris! Very clever and a very entertaining way to get the message across. Kudos!

[Rodney]

Thanks for the info Chris. It's always fascinating to learn more about the processes people use to get their productions made.

It's like magic to me.

 

Every time I open A:M I still get a sense of that magic and I fully expect that to always be the case.

I'm considering creating a number of "episodes" for these characters, so I'll get in and do the busy detail work before animating again.

 

 

I can see some great potential for short gags with these guys even if only of a one, two three punch variety (or even knock knock jokes).

I admit I've been swayed by those of late because some of the kids I hang out with really enjoy telling jokes.... and those kids are really good at telling those jokes too!

If only I could remember the punchlines... I might try a few myself.

Ahem...

What do you call it when the worms take over the world?

Global Worming.

Okay. I won't quit my day job.

And the bigger benefit to the simple riddle/joke format would be that the animation wouldn't have to be overly complicated.

[John Bigboote]

ENJOYED!

[cribbidaj]

Thanks, all, for the feedback!

[cribbidaj]

Here's a new episode using these characters.

Ventriloquist_Ep2_Bach Breaking.mov

[Rodney]

Another fun episode. As with the first episode I really like the pacing and the back and forth banter between dummy and piano keeps us engaged in the show/ongoing conversation between characters.

 

I'm also finding lots of little bits to enjoy upon subsequent viewings.

 

Added: I'm curious how you got the piano playing over the piano's voice. I must assume you've got those separate and layer them together.

[cribbidaj]

Thanks Rodney!

 

I use Logic to record multi tracked audio. I write the script (with pencil and notepad - old school, but fits my workflow best), then record each character's dialog separately on separate tracks. I then edit them to get the timing I desire. Next I improvise a separate abstract piano track during the piano ventriloquist's dialog, trying to match timing and inflection. For this episode I recorded a separate piano track as the dummy begins to play, starting with JS Bach's 25th variation from the Goldberg Variations then morphing into an improvised stride piano thing. Mixing goes fairly quickly from there, then I bounce to a .wav file and bring it into A:M for animating.

 

As a side note: the insults hurled between the characters toward the end is a nod to New Orleans jazz musicians' banter called "playing the dozens", which was first observed at the turn of the 19th into 20th century. I don't know the origins of the term, but it's obviously been adopted by people from many different walks of life.