SAVE ME!

[robcat2075]

Save me! was the topic at the animation showdown on wednesday. Or character was stranded on a desert island and had to get the attention of passing ship or plane.

 

Since then I've reworked some of the animation, and added gratuitous lighting and materials. In other words, this looks nothing like what i had going at the four hour deadline.

 

See it on my showdownpage

[ZachBG]

Man, you stole my title idea...

 

The reaction definitely adds a lot to the moment, as does the buildup to the giant jumps. For some reason the first waves of the hands look very IK-ish to me. Maybe the movement from the shoulder to the elbow to the hand needs to be offset a bit.

 

Personality-wise, we definitely know what he's thinking.

 

Zach

[Zaryin]

I love the way he looks when he jumps. I also like the wobble of his antenna. Did you do that by hand or use the -- um -- I forgot what it's called, for the secondary action.

[robcat2075]

Thanks.

For some reason the first waves of the hands look very IK-ish to me.

That's because they are IK. Because I was lazy. Because I only had a little time left to do this shot and because I knew I wanted it to start and end with the hands in exact locations and because I always find it maddeningly slow craning FK arms into exact locations.

 

In hindsight, there are spots in between where I could have switched to FK and done the waving motion better. I'll keep that notion in mind for future outings.

the wobble of his antenna. Did you do that by hand or use the -- um --

Dynamic Constraint. I'd like to find a way to make it move more slowly, as if it were more damped by air resistance. Changing the "stiffness" doesn't get me that. But for "free animation" it's working pretty well.

[Dalemation]

Very nice! Good snappy animation and the leaps into the air are great.

 

The only very minor thing I noticed is a continuity thing. When it cuts to the wide shot the character is in a different pose so it appears as a bit of a jump cut. Otherwise it was excellent.