sprockets The Snowman is coming! Realistic head model by Dan Skelton Vintage character and mo-cap animation by Joe Williamsen Character animation exercise by Steve Shelton an Animated Puppet Parody by Mark R. Largent Sprite Explosion Effect with PRJ included from johnL3D New Radiosity render of 2004 animation with PRJ. Will Sutton's TAR knocks some heads!
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Hash, Inc. - Animation:Master

Crits for Crickets


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Just over a year (!) since posting an animatic here, I'm finally close to finished with this short featuring a lonely cricket. I'm hoping to have a final hi-res version ready to submit to Hash for SIGGRAPH, which means it needs to be done Real Soon.

 

Comments and crits of all types would be most appreciated!

 

http://www.digins.com/jack/cricket.mpg (7MB MPEG-1)

 

(fixed link, thanks David!)

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That was great! The opening shot is gorgeous and I really liked the `focus pulls` with the two crickets in the foreground.

 

All very nicely done. It should go down well at SIGGRAPH. I wish I could be there but it`s a bit of a jaunt from the UK :D

I will have to plan a holiday around it one year when I have something to show.

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I am so not one to offer criticism as I am nowhere near this level. I actually love the whole thing. The motion is so fluid. However, I think you are fishing for some contructive critiques.

 

I noticed two things that distracted me.

 

The first may simply be my crappy work graphics card not handling it very well but it seemed that the sky in the first shot was moving in steps. It didn't look smooth.

 

Second, the overhead shot at the beginning clashed with the profile view of the grass. The colors in the side views are vibrant yellows but then you swith to the overhead and all color is gone. It looks like everything is dead. It was distracting.

 

Hope I am not being an ass here. Just trying to help,

 

Thanks

 

Wade

 

Okay just watched it again and updated my thoughts. As the camera pans down to the grass the colors aren't so bright and the jump to the overhead is not bad. The problem is that when you then go back to the side shot, the lighting on the grass is a LOT brighter. That is the part that catches the eye. The grass stalks in that shot are very bright and my eye keeps getting drawn to them.

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Hey, thanks for all the kind words, glad you enjoyed it!

 

Especially thanks to Wade, exactly right that I'm fishing for any problem spots. You're right, the lighting is not quite even there. Part of the problem is I'm using A:M hair for the grass, and it looks a lot different from above. I'll see if I can tweak it to match better, and maybe tone down the grass in the low-angle shots.

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  • Hash Fellow

Lotta great stuff there!

 

Two notes:

 

-I still think you gotta hide that "11" until he actually goes for it. The punchline is being given away too soon right now. Redesigning the way the dial shows the numbers would be the easiest fix.

 

-the ground plane looks too much like a squished decal at the low angeles. Maybe a displacement map to roughen it up a little?

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-I still think you gotta hide that "11" until he actually goes for it.

Yes! Yes!

 

You don't need the "10" at all on the second knob. The best joke is funnier I think when you don't have a big pointer aimed at it.

 

From the first shot you see him push it up to 9. From here you might not see right away that it goes to 11. The close up shot shows him push it up to 11 clearly. Great gag! I love it!

 

You actually get 2 movie references in this gag for the price of one:

Spinal Tap and Back to the Future.

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I never did comment on the overall project.

 

This is brilliant. It is one of those short simple concepts that practically "pre-exists" like the laws of physics. It is such a great idea that it seems to have created itself through you.

 

Like the "idea particles" that stick in peoples heads in Terry Pratchett's "Disk World" books.

 

There is no fat in the story.

 

Vernon "Sorry! I'm gushing again" Zehr

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