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my 'lil contribution to the new forum

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my 'lil contribution to the new forum

We just put our new short 'Rockfish' online, hope you enjoy it :

http://www.blur.com/html_quicktime/rockfish_480.html

Dave's picture
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy [i]-Tom Waits [/i]

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy [i]-Tom Waits
[/i]

Woot! I love it! Great stuff. You guys a company? Need an animation intern? :)

Ender

Good stuff, Dave. Actually, someone at the studio was looking at this yesterday and I saw it then. What I think I like best is the backgrounds.

At the studio, we all pretty much had the same question though. Why animate the human character at all? I mean, I know it is mo-cap (kind of obvious), but why did you folks not just use a real human there. It all goes back to the age old theory of "if it doesn't have to be animated, then why animate it?". I understand the vehicles being animated, as well as the "dog" character, but the human? It was as if you were trying to make him move and act as realistic as possible, and I just do not see the need for that when you could haev just used the actual person who DID move around and act for the piece.

Anyways... Just one animator's opinion (as well as a number of others at the studio). Regardless, it is a beautiful film.

Cheers

Wade

"Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard" - Paul Simon

I liked it...took me to another world; which was the point, I hope...? This short would do great on the SciFi channel. They had a great series that showcased short films & the like, called "Exposure": http://www.scifi.com/exposure/exposure.html ...your Rockfish short would be sweet there.:)

I really liked the lighting/look of the piece. I'm guessing for one human character who is doing some stunts it was just easier to make him CG, as opposed to using an actual person and either finding a stuntman or faking a person in cg. not to mention problems with matching the lighting, hiring film crews, etc. Is this far off? anyhow, nice little short. bust out the beer batter!

Thx for the comments guys :D

At the studio, we all pretty much had the same question though. Why animate the human character at all? I mean, I know it is mo-cap (kind of obvious), but why did you folks not just use a real human there. It all goes back to the age old theory of "if it doesn't have to be animated, then why animate it?". I understand the vehicles being animated, as well as the "dog" character, but the human? It was as if you were trying to make him move and act as realistic as possible, and I just do not see the need for that when you could haev just used the actual person who DID move around and act for the piece.
Wade

I was just a characteranimator on this, but I'll try to shed some light. We weren't really going for a realistic look at all; but more for a comicbook type feel (you can find a bunch of conceptart that Chuck Wojtkiewic[size=-1][font=Arial Narrow, Arial, Helvetica]z did here : http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19321 )[/size][/font]
We were going for something that isn't cartoony, but isn't trying to be photoreal either. I don't think the guy looks all that real, nor was he supposed to. We could have used a real actor -and for that matter why not real backgrounds and a real vehicle and just do the creature in 3D- but that would have made it a completely different type short I think. The comicbook feel would have been all but gone.
Also, we did all the characteranimation afterhours and during weekends inbetween paying gigs. I did about 15 shots in 8 weekends, some running more then ten secs; there's no way we could have pulled those kind of numbers without using mocap. In my opinion the combination between mocapped guy and keyframed creature makes the mocap not stand out too much. Of course that's just my opinion. Plus, after animating cartoony stuff all day long, I was pretty happy to be doing something with a different set of physics in my spare time.
In the end it was mostly about the folks at Blur having some fun and making cool stuff. This time it was semi-realistic, the previous short was cartoony. Next one, who knows?

cheers,
~D

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy [i]-Tom Waits
[/i]

Fair enough. Anyways, like I said in my last post, the whole thing is brilliantly done. Good work.

Obviously, you guys did something right. You are getting some exposure out of this film of yours. I found this in the headlines of the AWN news.

"Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard" - Paul Simon

Saw it- loved it!

:D Saw it Dave and loved it!

My students couldn't wait to show me...

Hey Wade, no self respecting human would be caught with a pet like that...

Dave, how's the Disney stuff going?

Thanks!

Nice Jorb!!

Dave-

Looks real good. I thought it had some real good direction in it. Great flow to the storytelling. Good music. I think the atmosphere you guys created worked real well. The stylised realism worked for me.

What are your plans for Rockfish? Festivals? Portfolio? Content?

Good luck.

-Colby

:D Saw it Dave and loved it!

My students couldn't wait to show me...

Hey Wade, no self respecting human would be caught with a pet like that...

Dave, how's the Disney stuff going?

Thanks!

Glad you liked it Larry :)
The Disney stuff is all but done. I'm on standby tomorrow just in case anything pops up last minute, but that should be just about it. It's been quite the ride but the stuff is looking great. Can't wait to see the whole thing pieced together.

What are your plans for Rockfish? Festivals? Portfolio? Content?

Yes, yes and yes ;)
Our original deadline was the Academy Awards, and now it's being submitted at other places AFAIK. Apparently some places won't screen it now it's on the web. To hell with 'm.

I found this in the headlines of the AWN news.

The metal arms commercial was done a while ago. You can find the whole thing here
Jason Taylor did all the characteranimation for it.
I think Blur is hunting for bigger game with 'Rockfish' [i]*pun intended* :D

[/i]thx for the comments everyone,
~D

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy [i]-Tom Waits
[/i]

little late but..

Hey man this is great stuff!Im surprised it didnt get a little more chatter here.I thought the "monkey dog" creature was really cool!Seems like a whole story could be devoted to how these two became a team?Anyway, I totally dug it and especailly liked the fact that there was really no dialgue, it may be percieved as slow by a few (the pacing that is) but Id say "Subtle" is a better description personally.Im not a pro but thats my two cents;Cant wait to see more!
swankaman