Music Video

[funksmaname]

man, i think its awesome. working really well imo.
I dont have a problem with funny busy backgrounds with hidden things to find on repeat watches - makes it more likely people will come back/spot stuff/share "did you see that xxxx at x:xx?? lol" type messages.

Also i think the timing of his reactions to first going down the hole is great

This is the best stuff i've seen you do - good job!

[Mikdog]

Hi,

Slow, you da man. That's an awesome response. Thank you. Managed to get most of it I hope:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MBziFfr_ZU

Also acted on synth's suggestion for the hop.

Apologies for the video-quality.

[synthsin75]

Great work, from the window to the hole doesn't feel rushed now. I'm always surprise at how much you improve an already great work.

[chucky]

OK the flashing is heaps better, but I missed all the funky colours, it had real life, the fishes world had gone from predictable to underground psychedelic.
I hope you are saving those effects for an ace up the sleeve.
Some rules are should not just be broken they should be treated as mere suggestions, don't conform too much in your fish out of water story, you might lose the whole point.

[funksmaname]

I agree... i think the window jump is greatly improved... but I too liked the mad unreadable flashing psychedelics!

with all due respect to slowtiger, do what feels right to you and take all of our suggestions with a pinch of salt...

[slowtiger]

Remember that this is just the first 10% of the whole video, so there's plenty of time to insert your funky flashin' patterns later! You don't perform a firework with blowing up everything the very first moment, right? This is going to be a 3 minute symphony of finest animation, so plan your accents carefully.

Do you think Ravel's Bolero would be that famous if he started the 18 minute piece with the complete orchestra right in the beginning?

As to the new version: yes, it's much more readable now. And no work is lost, the crazy colours will come, and the patterns, and ... wait, where's my pills?

Now I'm even able to notice details like the plant in the left moving in opposition to the other background stuff: very pleasing for the eye.

Did I already mention the movement of the fish? It's great! He's got rhythm, it grooves, it's full of energy. This alone carries half of the video.

[Mikdog]

Hey guys,

Once again thanks for the suggestions

Put another little test up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vehCDTu0hdo

Saving the psychedelics and pyrotechnics for when the fish is in the club.

I'll post another sample once I've done a more substantial batch of stuff.

[toonertime]

hey that last character in your test would
be fun if it was an Octopus, all legs waving and all!

I really like what you are doing with your
cartooning and animation.

[funksmaname]

awesome.
How are you doing this again? painting in photoshop, exporting layers and boning characters? how did you do the arm wabble? are the characters split up into different layers? Its a nice technique

[Springymajig]

It is looking AWESOME... my only critique... to me it seems the first shot isn't synced up as well to the beat... once the zoom on his face hits it's all PERFECT from there but the first few bounces just look a little too... early I think... maybe it's just me?

But yeah I am really excited about seeing it finished... there's so many cool little touches... like when he starts walking and then takes one step back... and the little head turns later on are also cool. And I love all the wacky designs.

[slowtiger]

This is so much fun to watch!

One last note about the kitchen window jump: maybe the pan should be elongated a bit, just to crop the following scene, the impact, to only have 2 or 3 empty frames before the fish enters.

It's sooo nice! And now with the octopus characters start to interact, which is great. Especially fine detail: the octopus' arms wiggle to the flute, a new movement for a new instrument. Excellent.

[funksmaname]

Springymajig - interesting point... the fish is going up on the down beat maybe the bounce should be reversed? once you zoom in the down beat is emphesised, so the accent reverses... maybe you did this on purpose as the fish doesnt yet have the cans on?

----

edit: looking again, i think the headphones maybe pop too much? they almost leave the frame completely - the extreme movement makes them look like they are dissapearing and reappearing almost?? maybe its better to just 'pop' the ear piece part considerably less?

[chucky]

Great Mikdog, love the drummer!

[Mikdog]

Thanks guys.

Going to implement much of the stuff you just said.

Also putting in some small flashes (white, black, inverted, normal) just to liven things up.)

Here's what the wavy-guy's arm looks like. There's lots of bones in there, and a vector line running along it so I can onionskin the movement.



For the wave, it took me a couple hours to figure out a good one. Normally I can find what I need in Richard Williams' 'The Animator's Survival Kit' but the whip and wave action wasn't quite suitable, although I based my action on some of it.

There's countless variations. I think this is what 'rubber hose' animation is, developed by Bill Nolan. Well, its just scratching the surface.

A sine wave moves along the arm, and depending on what size, you get a different result. I put 2 kinds in - a small wave and a bigger wave. They literally are like sea waves traveling along the arms.

Keyframes for both, I think, go something like this, evenly spaced (well, that's what I used anyway):



The first is for the bigger wave. The second is for the smaller wave.

[slowtiger]

As to wether some scene is going with the beat or against it: that's what final editing is for. If you allow each scene some 10 extra frames in the end, you will have enough slack to play with it, if necessary. This is common practice in traditional animation: the cameraman always shot some more frames of the last cel setup to allow for minor corrections in the edit.