Finally!

Joppa · Post by **Joppa** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 11:34 am

After years of trying. Lots of clips and try. hours of detail improvement. I Finally gave a damn in details.
It is more important to get something done than to make it perfect.

Here is my first (almost) complete movie.

Later I will fix the sound and dialogue, and some lip-sync.

Some tips to the music?

http://vimeo.com/19974731

Mikdog · Post by **Mikdog** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:13 pm

Nice one! A noble effort! I see you used bones, some physics, possibly some actions for the walk, vector shading, scene changing ... very cool!

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 1:45 pm

VERY nice. Looking forward to the version with music, although it plays out nicely without any sound at all. Shows the good storytelling you employed.

Joppa · Post by **Joppa** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 5:45 pm

Thank you! Both of you. I really appreciate your feedback.

neeters_guy · Post by **neeters_guy** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 4:47 am

Your lines and shapes are really tight and consistent almost to a fault. You might want to loosen up and exaggerate the action more and also watch out for "slippery" walk cycles (esp. on the dog). Congrats on a good beginning.

cheyne · Post by **cheyne** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 6:47 am

Nice effort. Like Neeters says - make the action snappier, and watch out for "slippery" walk cycles.

Totally agree with you about the little details in a beginners stage - it's too easy to get bogged done, than lose sight of your projects.

Start small and just get some stuff done - I've had to adopt the same attitude, otherwise I'd be "practising" in AS forever.

Joppa · Post by **Joppa** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:16 am

Thanks so much for the feedback.

I'm not sure I really understand what you mean by "too tight" and "snappier".

I am aware of the dog's walkingproblems. But in the next animations it will be better

shoepie · Post by **shoepie** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:01 am

Great going for a first effort! And definitely better to finish than perfect in the early days!

What everybody else said really. It would probably look a bit better to add a few close-ups on their faces. Just to break up the continuous wide-angle shot.

cheyne · Post by **cheyne** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 2:40 pm

Well I when I say "snappier" with action or pacing, it's about not having unnecessary stalls or pauses, moving the animation along, keeping it interesting by maintaining some pace.

With Neeters "tight" comment, I think he's referring to the fact that some shapes are too perfect? Not sure, don't quote me

I guess really, we can only critique it properly once it's all done.

(@Neeters, sorry I misquoted you in my earlier post.)

neeters_guy · Post by **neeters_guy** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 7:04 pm

Cheyne, you were right on. Every line is precise, almost like a mechanical drawing. This isn't a negative, but you want make sure the movement isn't mechanical.

Mikdog's Happyland shorts (available here) are a good example of how you can have clean geometric design, but still imbue the characters with fun and lively movements.

Joppa, basically learn as many of the animation techniques you can and apply them to create a sense of life. I know that's easier said than done, but you'd be surprised at how little you need to make movement look snappy.

Animation is often done in phases or "passes", eg., 1) Blocking and timing, 2) Acting, 3) Lip sync. What you have is a good first pass. You could go through a second pass adding bits of animation business such as stretch-and-squash, anticipation, ease in/out, etc.

Anyway, you got some great posts here. Hope that inspires you to keep on going.

DarthFurby · Post by **DarthFurby** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 12:59 pm

For the soundtrack I would probably use superhero music, cute children's music, or maybe something classical depending on the mood you're going for.

Joppa · Post by **Joppa** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 10:29 am

Thank you for the feedback.

The next movie should be much more alive!

Now I will finish with the dialogue and the music on this first.

Again, THANK YOU!