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The Little Elephant That Could...

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The Little Elephant That Could...

Hi, thanks for taking the time to view this animation. I am currently finishing up my associates in computer animation at Full Sail Real World Education. This animation is for my DEMO. I would love to get some critiques please. I'm new to the art of animation, and i need all the help i can get.

thanks!

http://www.jtiger3d.com/videos/ElephantPlayblast.mov

Elephant Credits
MODEL by Jessica Dunbar
RIG by Michael Corinella
www.kaffeenBuzz.com

_________________
Juan Tigreros
Jtiger01@gmail.com
www.Jtiger3d.com

I was talking it over with a friend on AOL Instant Messenger, and the main points are

-- "A lot of the movements are too fast; I would personally try slowing down a lot of it quite a bit"
-- When certain points are hitting their max positions they're just hitting and going in the opposite direction; they need longer ease-ins and outs
-- Kind of moves like a mouse (versus a more or less evenly weighted 20,000lb creature)
-- The pushoff doesn't affect the column, the arse doesn't either but then a brushing leg pushes it over
-- "There's also this anticipation of the anticipation going on which I would try to simplify myself"

It's very fluid though, and the rig is cool. I think the issue is that the movement is stylized and that's actually at odds with how realistic the appearance of the model is. It'd go over a lot better with a cartoony elephant in terms of feeling right. Since it's a realistic model, the moves can stay the same (that's the humor, right?) but just be done in a more realistic manner in how they're carried out, without breaking the joints and with strong regard for weight.

I was talking it over with a friend on AOL Instant Messenger, and the main points are...

I did not catch any of the points ScatteredLogical pointed out when I watched it. I was wondering, Scattered, do you have some kind of mental check list to help find all those things you pointed out?

jtiger01, I liked you work.

That's not to say any of that stuff is objectively true. There's a sort of tacit understanding, I think, when critiquing, that it's the person's taste or opinion...how it feels to them.

There's no checklist involved for me, but my friend and I are both taking animation classes (the same course right now actually) so when you're in the thick of the training and you see stuff every day, your eye is conditioned to just naturally notice, pick up all sorts of weird details because you're supposed to be finding it in your own work.

It also doesn't exclude me liking it. It's fun, but he asked so I said what it feels like and what I got off someone else. If I had the file I could hop in, make the changes, and illustrate the differences but that'd just make it more like our tastes---different, not necessarily better.

hey, thank you all for your critiques. I need as many different points of view as possible to make my animation better. I was fortunate enough to meet a Pixar artist who suggested i send my reel in to pixar, so i need to up my animations to the next level and all of your guys ideas are only gonna help me do that and become a real animator in the process. Please keep the critiques coming!

Juan Tigreros
jtiger01@gmail.com

It's definitely better than the vast majority of stuff that's out there. Someone -from- Pixar is recommending you...can we see some of the other work? This is exciting...

sure, i can post more stuff. i am working on another animation for my reel. i will like to get it to look better before i post it but it will be soon. if you want to see how is looking now, i'll posted but is not near as complete as the elephant animation.

one more thing, i want to clarify that the guy from pixar is not recomending me for a position. he simply saw the animation and when i asked him about it he said he'd liked it and that i might as well send it in to them.

It may not be a big deal but i have to at least try!

Oh yah, send it. If they see it and are willing to take the time out, it'd be a great place to get feedback from.

this in kind of early stuff, lots of refinement needed but please critique it as hard as you can. There is another version of this animation that i will be posting soon.

http://www.jtiger3d.com/videos/JUICE_BOX.mov

Without going into excruciating detail, the movements on the juicebox are absolutely manic. I can tell you from experience it never goes over well when things are popping around so quick in such a short amount of time that none of the movements or poses have time to really register with anyone. Try to think of what the most basic moves are you'd like him to do, and simplify to that. The pace and the rhythm can remain similar, but give time to breathe for all the crazy time, so there's a balance. Also, when he's twisting and jumping occasionally the volume is inconsistent and it makes it look like a used car commercial.

As for the biped, two basic things to watch out for are the floppiness of the fingers. Unless you're whipping them consciously, they're way more rigid in their interconnectedness than most people realize. Also, there never seems to be any points where his body is absorbing the shock of him landing each step on the impact, so he moves along the road in a sort of glide-with-steps instead of anything that has a sense of real force.

I like your elephant animation. The frantic movements when he knows he is going to fall are working very well. Put some sweet textures and smooth it out and it will look "toight."

I think you mostly need to slow things down a bit. ScatteredLogic is right when he calls in "manic". Some parts fast and some parts slow. For example, if the juice box moves at a slower pace at the beginning, then it can go fast when it realizes it is being chased and faster still when it is about to be caught. It's the contrasts that give punch to the animation.

Alan

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