Hey guys! I'm reworking the baseball pitch that I did for AnimationMentor last quarter to put on my Disney internship reel. I'm spending today refining as much of it as possible so I can spend all of tomorow polishing it. After what you see in the clip, Stewie will realize the ball will be returned to him and will walk backwards to catch it. I cut it off at this stopping point so it would still look complete, just in case I dont get far enough with the rest by tomorow.
Right now the head is really bothing me, but I'm trying to resist messing with it until I start polishing, as right now I'm trying to focus on animating the large actions. If you guys see anything thats wrong with this so far, please let me know! I'll be uploading updates of the animation as I go along. Thanks!
"Animation isn't about how well you draw, but how much to believe." -Glen Keane
Thats a good point Ape. >_< I should have though of the points you made. Unfortunatly for me, I just sent the reel off in the mail with the pitch on it. So much for that. :(
Here's the version that I sent. I know it's still wrong, but I ran out of time. >_<
Baseball Pitch
"Animation isn't about how well you draw, but how much to believe." -Glen Keane
WOW! That sure is a bright green. :P Thats cool Mighty, I hope you get the internship. Just remember, nothing is ever finished, but you can't wait till you "finish" a shot to send it in or you'll never send anything. Just get it to a point that you feel happy with and send it in. Thats really cool that you're sending your work out.
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
Lol, yeah, the green is a bit bright, lol. Sorry about that! I agree that stuff never truely is finished, I know I could work on shots forever. I think knowing when/how to stop is a good habit to get into. Though in this case, I'm being forced to end the baseball animation.
"Animation isn't about how well you draw, but how much to believe." -Glen Keane
The animation's been updated...
Baseball Pitch
"Animation isn't about how well you draw, but how much to believe." -Glen Keane
Hey Mew,
It's baseball season, so it's natrual if we're fans of the sport that we may in fact animate baseball, so kudos to you for doing this little number:)
I want to say a couple of things, but I will say one thing that you should consider if you want to sell this as a pitcher and not a warm up...
A good pitcher is ready for the ball to come straight at his face after he throws the ball.
good luck
Adam
Atomcloud Animation
Ahhhhhh Stewie :) The actions look really good but the timing of the actions seem a bit off. First though, I think there needs to be a bigger anticipation at the start. It's a pretty big move that he's going into and the small antic that he does is not enough. The arms seem to be a bit behind the body with this pitch. I think if you have the pose on frame 38 but with the arm possitions of frame 40 it would work much better. I think it's that dip down that he does that is throwing off the rhythm. Great pose and line of action on frame 42, but I think the ball needs to be closer to Stewie and be on screen for at least 2 frames if not 3. There is a ballance of force issue on frames 50 and 51. His weight is so far past his toe, that his momentum should keep carring his body forward, screen right, and his right leg then needs to quickly swing forward to catch him from falling on his face. As it is now, his body shifts back over his foot. That can't possibly happen unless he has some ultra strong foot arch muscles to pull his heel back down to the ground. Keep up it up Mighty. Gonna have to check out your work on AM again. :)
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
Thanks Madaman and Ape! Madaman, I dont know anything about baseball at all. I've never watched it in my life. I'm not really a sports fan. I'm only doing it because it was a past AM assignment that I hadn't finished. :P
Ape, thanks for the crits! I'll apply them after my Q&A. At this rate though Stewie's back leg will hardly be in the air after the pitch... That really sucks cause I liked how stylized it was, but it seems to be moving away from that. >_< Hey Ape, that dip you refered to, are you talking about the one he does after the antic to the "wind up" pose? Wouldn't it seem weird for him to go from standing straight to pretty much still standing straight w/ a leg off the ground?
"Animation isn't about how well you draw, but how much to believe." -Glen Keane
Hey, I have a question. Is it at all possible to keep the pitch animation stylized? I really liked how the back leg agter the pitch stayed in the air before coming down, but each time I revise it, I end up reducing that. It seems like by the time it's finished the cartoony element will be gone. Does anyone know how to fix that?
"Animation isn't about how well you draw, but how much to believe." -Glen Keane
never seen a pitcher pitch?
never studied the real life model?
dude!?!
Animation somehow begins and ends with some relationship with real life things and people...even the really abstract stuff....only that stuff doesn't hit audiences because it's "art".
Study real a life pitcher. Some pitchers are so distinct that all you need is a silhouette to tell who's pitching (look up Dan Quisenbury if you want an example...the submarine pitch). As is, you've got some good foundations and I do agree with apes crit so there's no need to repeat.
But I would say, above all else, look at a real life pitcher either on video or real life to see how every organ and bone moves. There's a flow and series of events that every pitcher on earth has, and if you miss one of them in the motion of putting them all together, you're not going to sell the idea.
good night and good luck
Adam
Atomcloud Animation
Hey Madaman, I've looked at pitching reference quite a few times. I've noticed that only a few pitchers actually bring their leg as high as Stewies is. I've also noticed that their pitches dont seem to have as much momentum as Stewie's has as far as his body coming forward goes. I've even seen some pitches where the pitcher only moves forward a little bit.
I've been working with the arms to get them to do what Ape said, but it doesn't seem to be working. it seems like if I move the timing for the arms back, then the overlap going from the body to arm stops working. >_< I dont know what to do. I'm still working on the back leg thing too...
"Animation isn't about how well you draw, but how much to believe." -Glen Keane
Another animation up-date
http://studentpages.scad.edu/~jcofer20/pitchRedo.avi
"Animation isn't about how well you draw, but how much to believe." -Glen Keane
The dip I mentioned was actually on frame 39 and 40. He dips down really far all of a sudden then pops back up.
This pitch never struck me as cartoony. If you want cartoony, you have to push certain actions waaaaay more. Like when he's winding up befor the throw, bring his knee and foot up over his head. Stretch his leg leg when he steps forward. Really over ephisize the arcs that his arms, legs and hips are making. You have a pretty solid base there, but you need to nail the realizim first befor you can break the rules succesfully and make the action cartoony.
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
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