J. Baker Posted June 21, 2004 Posted June 21, 2004 ..................WOW!!! That's very impressive, nice work. Quote
mike meyer Posted June 21, 2004 Posted June 21, 2004 really nice! top work. when will we see it in motion? any plans for that? Quote
tobinjim Posted June 21, 2004 Posted June 21, 2004 DEAR MR. SUTTON: PLEASE FIND ATTACHED THE FULLY CHARGED AND TESTED A-B-C FIRE EXTINGUISHER FOR USE ON YOUR BALROG. THERE IS NO FEE FOR THIS SERVICE, BUT THERE IS ALSO NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. SINCERELY, TOBIN STUDIOS RISK MANAGEMENT TEAM Quote
Alien_Films Posted June 21, 2004 Posted June 21, 2004 Awesome work!!! You nailed the fire effect!!! Looking forward to seeing it in motion sometime. Quote
HomeSlice Posted June 22, 2004 Posted June 22, 2004 Great model. Nice texturing. Cool fire effect. Not much else to say. You're Awesome. Quote
Xtaz Posted June 22, 2004 Posted June 22, 2004 YOU ROCK !!!!!!!!! no words ...... i tried to find a icon to describe .. but i didnt get... Xtaz Quote
Sharky Posted June 22, 2004 Posted June 22, 2004 Hi Mr. William Sutton! It's a wonderful model and fire effect! Great work, Mr. Sutton! I can't wait, that I see it in animation! Sharky Quote
williamgaylord Posted June 23, 2004 Posted June 23, 2004 Fine looking work, William. Now I really, really want to see it animated! Bill Gaylord Quote
Julian Posted June 23, 2004 Posted June 23, 2004 I've been trying to compare it against stills from the movie, and one thing I've noticed is that the detailing on the head should look craggier. Perhaps you should increase the bump map percentage? Or have you considered making the bump maps into displacement maps as well? But the most important thing is, I don't think you should use depth of field because it makes the Balrog look small, like a badly shot model. Quote
Iham Wrong Posted June 23, 2004 Posted June 23, 2004 Gosh, I bet there are guys in FX studios around the world cursing your name for doing this in A:M. Truly exceptional, but you pride yourself on being exceptional. <grins> Quote
chikega Posted June 24, 2004 Posted June 24, 2004 Very cool indeed! I also enjoyed your new tutorial on UV mapping that complex model. Quote
Iham Wrong Posted June 24, 2004 Posted June 24, 2004 Gosh! You know Balrog would be an excellent spokesman for Zantak, Tums or Rolaids. How about a parody Mylanta or PreparationH commercial where he get some relief from either burning reflux or itching. Quote
zandoriastudios Posted June 24, 2004 Author Posted June 24, 2004 But he's supposed to be scary! I'm leaning in the direction that animation doesn't have to be funny, or for kids...I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this model, I just wanted to prove that A:M can do this level of work. I will probably just re-create the set with the endless pillars and see if I can do some animation that looks like it could have been in the film(nothing too ambitious )... There are some scenes in the book The Silmarillion with balrogs, so I may try something with that. Quote
Iham Wrong Posted June 24, 2004 Posted June 24, 2004 OT: The ultimate scary is experienced while rasing children. Quote
shaunf Posted June 24, 2004 Posted June 24, 2004 I remember when I was just starting out with A:M in 2001, there was a long thread on the Balrog effect and a discussion of 'spriticles' as it was used in 'the fellowship of the ring'. Three months later, v9.5 came out with sprites, so its fantastic to see this, as it kind of proves the point of the original discussion way back then. WONDERFUL stuff! I'd love to see the balrog with a reference to the Silmarillion. You're an inspiration William! Quote
Srmjr Posted August 5, 2004 Posted August 5, 2004 ...I just wanted to prove that A:M can do this level of work. You've proved your point I think. I humbly bow down. Man that's Frigging Great!! VERY inspirational. Quote
zandoriastudios Posted September 8, 2004 Author Posted September 8, 2004 Animation! http://amfilms.hash.com/search/entry.php?entry=907 Quote
jfirestine Posted September 8, 2004 Posted September 8, 2004 Nice start William! I would place the camera lower to give the viewer a feeling that this dude is tall. Overall textures and particle effects look very good. I need to rub the goose bumps off my Hobbit feet, get out my pipe, and smoke some "Old Toby" to calm down. Quote
zandoriastudios Posted September 8, 2004 Author Posted September 8, 2004 The camera is a little under 6' off of the floor. The pillars are so huge that the Balrog doesn't seem as big without a human sized figure for comparison, but he is 20' tall. Quote
My Fault Posted September 8, 2004 Posted September 8, 2004 Yeah, he actually looks kind of tiny without anything else to give it some scale. A few other things I think are keeping him from looking large and imposing. Right now he seems to be moving too quickly and with too little weight to him. I would also have his body drop much deeper when his foot hits. Right now it looks a bit robotic. Perhaps a little more follow through on his arms and chest and head as well when he steps. Love the modeling on the Balrog and the set is blowing my mind. Amazing work! Quote
JBarrett Posted September 8, 2004 Posted September 8, 2004 MyFault hit the Balrog...er...the nail on the head with the motion comments. A large part of what sells the scale of a character is its speed, and this guy's movements are too fast to make his size and mass believeable. Even though you've positioned the camera at the 6-foot level looking at a 20-foot character, it doesn't feel that way, and in the end, it's the feeling that counts, regardless of what the figures say. For starters, try using a different focal length. The default 35mm perspective is okay, but doesn't work very well for drama. A wider lens would help punch up the presentation a bit more. Try something around 20mm and see how it feels. Combine that with a lower angle and a closer position, and he'll start to feel even bigger. If you can get the camera tweaked and the walk working better, this could be a really sweet clip. (I'd offer to help in a more direct manner, but I've been a bad boy and still haven't purchased the v11 upgrade disc.) Quote
aaver Posted September 8, 2004 Posted September 8, 2004 (edited) very nice, William! The Balrog is amazing!!! WOO HOO!! *pointless rambling deleted* Edited September 9, 2004 by aaver Quote
KenH Posted September 8, 2004 Posted September 8, 2004 lol that looks so damn funny You're half way right. Right now, it looks like Thom is dancing. He probably needs to be fatter. (Yes I know it was just a test ) For "Giant large" everything is slowed. Just watch some of Harryhausens work. Ahhh...fond memories..... Quote
aaver Posted September 8, 2004 Posted September 8, 2004 Right now, it looks like Thom is dancing. LOL. Yes, you are probably right and using Thom to illustrate something very large and heavy, might not have been the most intelligent choice in the first place Quote
zandoriastudios Posted September 8, 2004 Author Posted September 8, 2004 Well, Everyone can have a chance to do it their way when the next A:M CD comes out. I've told Martin that he can distribute it for the community to play with. I'm not really good at taking constructive criticism...I've been an artist long enough to understand that everyone else has their "2 cents" on how they would have done it. But if you listen to that pretty soon you find yourself swamped under a mountain of pennies, and all you hear is criticism...and as it crushes your soul, you may wonder what is constructive about it... Any artist who manages to "survive" the helpful critiques of his life and work, has to have developed enough self-esteem or just "attitude" to keep doing it their way, or it eventually crushes them. Because the fact is that blank piece of paper would have stayed blank if they hadn't poured a little of themself onto it. It is a little bit of a vulnerable feeling when you do something creative, because it leaves you a little exposed as you open up to put it on paper. What ever you put down is unique to you, and no one else whould do exactly the same thing. The whole world seems full of "helpful" people, parents, teachers, critics who have suggestions on what you SHOULD have done...but then, they aren't the ones who were creating it. If they had done it, it would have been something else of course... So, that's how I feel about it... I just wanted to make something "cool" in A:M, as a flaming defiant answer to the complainers who whine that somehow A:M is holding them back... But the blank paper is in front of them... In front of all of us. Quote
zandoriastudios Posted September 8, 2004 Author Posted September 8, 2004 (edited) .... Edited September 8, 2004 by zandoriastudios Quote
Admin Rodney Posted September 8, 2004 Admin Posted September 8, 2004 I'm definitely being misunderstood here. I'm still a devoted fan regardless and have done as instructed. Best, Rodney Quote
MiddleKid Posted September 8, 2004 Posted September 8, 2004 Well, Everyone can have a chance to do it their way when the next A:M CD comes out. I've told Martin that he can distribute it for the community to play with. Sweet! Will it have all of the cool UV texturing and sprite work you've done still intact? Quote
zandoriastudios Posted September 8, 2004 Author Posted September 8, 2004 Yes, it will have everything. I will send him the Dwarrowdelf too Quote
MiddleKid Posted September 8, 2004 Posted September 8, 2004 Can't Wait! I've put off upgrading this year but I'll definitely be getting the new CD when it comes out. Thanks for your generosity Will! Quote
williamgaylord Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 Wonderful work William! And thanks for being so generous as to share it with all of us! More constructive criticism (understandably far more easily said than done of course....). I think slowing him down, giving him more of a swinging gait would really help the feel of the animation. Also a very low view looking up from the base of one of the pillars (with the pillar base close up in the periphery) as the balrog walks by would also help. Also reducing the ambient light to a very low level, so the Balrog is essentially the only light source would give it more of an ominous feel, too. (Can the spriticles cast light onto other objects? Or do you need to simulate this with another source of light?...this also may be much easier said than done.) This is offered from someone who has greatly admired your work and has drawn much inspiration from it all! And one who has also greatly benefited from your helpful postings on the Forum. Here's a combination that might work well in the scary vein...put Collin Freeman's boy into the picture with the Balrog! That could make for a scary, suspensful nightmare scene! Would add a sense of scale, too. On a tangent, it might actually be a fun challenge to make a giant Thom animation don't you think? Sincerely, Bill Gaylord Quote
noah brewer Posted September 14, 2004 Posted September 14, 2004 Fantastic work! Thanks for showing it to us! -Noah Quote
Admin Rodney Posted September 15, 2004 Admin Posted September 15, 2004 Just a bump and a plug as I see that Will's Balrog animation has been added to A:M Films. Awesome stuff. Invite all your friends to come take a look! Will Sutton's Balrog on A:M Films Quote
John Bigboote Posted September 26, 2004 Posted September 26, 2004 I would'nt want to run into THAT in a back alley! Powerful imagery! I'm not good with 'constructive criticsism' either. I always try to complement something I like before jumping all over what I don't, EVERYONES an art-director it seems. I always hear from people who could urinate on Disney's 'Fantasia' with an 'I could do better' tone... Q: Was the depth of field A:M or Photoshopped? Quote
Dalemation Posted September 26, 2004 Posted September 26, 2004 Hi William, That animation demonstrates superbly the effects that are achievable with A:M. Amazing. I sort of agree with your `constructive criticism` comments also. I hate to criticize others work because I know what it feels like to be `knocked back`. There are 25 animators at work and I know all of us would interpret and animate the same given shot in an often totally different way. I suppose the `constructive` element to criticism can be very helpful at times though in enlightening you to an aspect of your work that you may have been blind to or just simply got wrong. I know exactly where you`re coming from though. Quote
KenH Posted September 26, 2004 Posted September 26, 2004 Anything that helps you to think about improving your work is a good thing IMO. Even if one doesn't take advantage of it. No work is infallible.....cept maybe the Balrog Quote
MarkusAralius382 Posted September 28, 2004 Posted September 28, 2004 wow, i can only say one thing i love it nice Job on the Balrog!! Quote
jesshmusic Posted October 8, 2004 Posted October 8, 2004 Fantastic!! I have to go home to watch the animation because my DSl is way faster than the T1 here... Too many people on it.... but I digress. Seeing your Balrog makes me want to watch the movie. Congrats on the hard work... you nailed it. Is that fire effect going to be availible? I plan on burning a city soon and it might be helpful to see how it's done well... Quote
Srmjr Posted October 8, 2004 Posted October 8, 2004 Honest criticisms always a valuable thing, but I think things to consider before one issues criticism is "are they qualified to issue the criticism?" After that they have to understand that there is a WAY to criticise. My better half, used to work in feature development at both Nickelodeon and Disney. She said one of the first things they taught her in relation to issuing a critique of a script or pitch was to ALWAYS dwell on the positive first, and ALWAYS accompany a negative comment with a "fix" statement- ie, a helpful suggestion. Good criticism is very much an art. Sterling Quote
luckbat Posted October 9, 2004 Posted October 9, 2004 Honest criticisms always a valuable thing, but I think things to consider before one issues criticism is "are they qualified to issue the criticism?" I certainly agree that there are many different ways to offer criticism--some helpful, some not. But it also depends on who your audience is. Is your animation for the public? If so, then the advice of "unqualified" people is exactly what you want. There are times when you need insightful, constructive criticism. It's best to go directly to your coworkers and mentors for this, since they can evaluate your work with a professional eye and (hopefully) a sense of what level of guidance you require. On the other hand, when you upload something to the Internet, well... Expect a flood of blunt, simplistic, contradictory responses. And that can be useful, too. Because this is, ultimately, your audience. And if they're giving your latest masterpiece a lukewarm response, that's important to know, even if they can't give you a good, articulate reason for why. If only George Lucas had spent a little more time listening to "unqualified" critics when he was working on Episode I... Quote
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