Animation Challenge 2 - February 16 > March 1

[Adam]

just to make it clear dialouge is acceptabel just not "sounds" right?

[SheepFactory]

Originally posted by Adam
just to make it clear dialouge is acceptabel just not "sounds" right?


No no dialogue either , completely silent.

I'll add that in the rules to avoid any confusion.

[aesir]

I bet most people will choose number 2. Looks like the most fun. At least it would be for me

[peanut]

Number 3 looks good too IMHO, you can derive a lot from that

[ACFred]

What about camera cuts with locked off cameras? I need all the help I can get.

[Tom N.]

ooh count me in, finally something I can try hehe.. (I'm shy still :p )

sounds like it'll be fun.

-Tom N.

[Julez4001]

After several months doing websites and animatics, i would liketo character animtion again...time to fire up Messiah!

[ERR:OverFlow]

oooo, this sounded like fun so I started a couple hours ago with a low-poly character I've been working on.

http://tremulous.net/users/OverFlow/phone-wip1.jpg

If you can't tell, I'm doing the phone option.

and heres a vid of what I have so far (Divx)
http://tremulous.net/users/OverFlow/hydra-phone-WIP1.avi


Im certainly open to c&c. Oh, and how does one save as a quicktime vid in 3dsm 5.1. (Im a bit of a noob :hmm: )

[randalls]

For those people like myself who does not yet have a web site,
how do we go about uploading our animated movie once it is finished?

I might have missed that part, but this is the first animation challenge I have seen since I have been involved with CG Talk.

If you could shead some light on this for me I would greatly appreciate it.

Cheers.

[georgh]

this will be fun to follow................or participate in...........iff time allows..........

[TANGOMAN]

I like the second one,could be fun:buttrock:

I do´nt know where I´m gonna get the time :eek:
,I´ll give a try!:bounce:


-John-

[SheepFactory]

Originally posted by ACFred
What about camera cuts with locked off cameras? I need all the help I can get.

unless anyone objects I see no harm in doing that.

[SheepFactory]

Originally posted by randalls
For those people like myself who does not yet have a web site,
how do we go about uploading our animated movie once it is finished?

I might have missed that part, but this is the first animation challenge I have seen since I have been involved with CG Talk.

If you could shead some light on this for me I would greatly appreciate it.

Cheers.


You can upload to one of the many free hosting services. You can find all their links in the sticky thread under the gallery|3d forum

[bentllama]

I look forward to seeing the entries.

[SheepFactory]

Originally posted by bentllama
I look forward to seeing the entries.


And i look forward to seeing yours ;)

[dubou4]

sounds fun...

[TANGOMAN]

Hi again,

Can we use any kind of characters? or just bipedal(two legs)..

[SheepFactory]

Originally posted by TANGOMAN
Hi again,

Can we use any kind of characters? or just bipedal(two legs)..

Its up to you , if you have a character that fits the scenario use it.

[ERR:OverFlow]

hmmm, I suppose I'm pretty much done unless there are some suggestions from others....

http://tremulous.net/users/OverFlow/phone-wip1.jpg

http://tremulous.net/users/OverFlow/hydra-phone-WIP5.avi


I'm new here, so my first post had to be checked for offensive material I guess. That being said, unless it was already seen: How does one save in quicktime format using 3dsm 5.1?

[UnlikelyCorny]

And what about the secondary elements. Is it all supposed to be mime or is a door and doorbel allowed (in case of nr.1 a cab for nr. 2)? Dito for environments, a nice hillside with trees etc, allowed?

[Liquidstudio]

This sound like hella fun!

I'm looking forward to seeing some of these anims :D

I'll be posting soon.

Laters peeps!

[TANGOMAN]

we have to model the taxi also? or we can just animate a box..

[posetopose]

Just a box!

Keep the props simple and stylized, IMHO.

[nomad_girl]

hi--

just not familiar with "locked off camera cuts"-

how is this different from regular cuts? do you mean the camera is not animated?

thanks--

[SheepFactory]

no pans , dolly , track , zoom , camera shake etc.

Guys i'd REALLY recommend to keep it to one camera , no need to do cuts and make your life harder , try and tell the story from one angle. This is not a short film.

[cgman27]

In the future I would like to see supplied models. Being able to remove all subjectivity other than the animation itself should be paramount in this style of endeavor. I am sure, like myself, seeing pretty models can sometimes be distracting from the actual animation, and it does make it more difficult to come up with an animation only subjective opinion.


I am sure someone has a copy of deep exploration and would be willing to convert the base model into a few formats for download

[SheepFactory]

supplying a model is no problem , but its the rig. We cant convert the rig and everyone has a different workflow so thats not going to work. You can use one of the many available free model\rigs like IK Joe , etc or model rig your own.

[posetopose]

Here is the way I am going to approach mine, this may answer some questions about what is allowed, etc. Not that I'm making the rules or anything.

I'm probably going to #1. I'm going to use a modified version of my boxman (see left). I'll probably build some very low-poly props, such as the front of a house, and a door, and maybe a simple handle and doorbell. If I get around to it, I might model some really stylized, simple background elements. Since my character is a box with limbs, I can get away with simple background elements very easily.

The point is, I'll probably spend a total of 30 minutes to an hour modeling everthing I need, including any props i need for my character, and any and all background elements. I won't use any shaders, just flat colors will do.

All the rest of the time, I shall be animating.

That's it!

G

[edaddy]

good idea for a challenge.

i think maybe a future animation challenge should be a lip sync w/ a basic character head provided, then the animator will only be responsible for the phonemes and the animation. It would be more on an even playing field this way b/c since everyone is using the same character it would be strictly judged on animation. Having it like this almost makes it too subjective towards the characters.

[jporter313]

ahhh, is that the old Hogan model on the front page? reminds me of the good old days at the academy.

Good luck to all.

[SheepFactory]

Originally posted by jporter313
ahhh, is that the old Hogan model on the front page? reminds me of the good old days at the academy.

Good luck to all.


yeah it is :) , i remodelled\rigged him in xsi though he is a bit different from the academy version.

[Richie_P]

is there a limit to the number of characters in this anim?

[SheepFactory]

Originally posted by Richie_P
is there a limit to the number of characters in this anim?

no , if you can animate 2 characters in 2 weeks go for it.

[Stephen Vyas]

It's good to see animation challenges over here again. Can't wait to see em!

[johngloid]

Is that rig on the front page for the challenge available anywhere online? I think I have seen it before.

[SheepFactory]

Originally posted by johngloid
Is that rig on the front page for the challenge available anywhere online? I think I have seen it before.


Its the model Academy of art college gives to students , we are not allowed to distribute as far as I know.

[benjicon]

Hi all,

Been a while since I posted here , but this animation challenge looks like too much fun to pass up .

Here is my character , Kev , I'll start some of the animation today and post a link soon .

http://www.polypusher.com/cgtalk/Kev.jpg

Ben .

[onurbasaldi]

Hi, this is my contribution. I started it today and got this far. I know it is not that good so any comments or suggestion would really help. Thanks

ftp://mbasaldi:topac@ftp.beld.net/leoalmostfin.avi

Onur

[Tom N.]

This is just the pose to pose simulation but we were told to post WIPs so here's my start. Hopefully people will be able to understand what is going on. (Also he has luggage that I have not added in yet)

ok enough babble here it is: cab 1 (Xvid) (http://www.angelfire.com/moon/tomny/setup_1.avi)

My final will be in quicktime but for now I had to save playblasts as avi's.

-Tom N.

P.S. its just a simulation but this is the first thing I've ever posted so feel free to critique the crap out of it haha :p

[benjicon]

OK : )

didn't get as much done as I wanted today , but here is the first 2/3 of blocking , haven't decided how to end it yet , had some grand plans for a tantrum but not enough time .

Think I'll go more for a disgusted sigh .

www.polypusher.com/cgtalk/first_test_BG.avi

Ben.

[baglunch]

Here's my placeholder. My problem so far is that mine's about 15 seconds, and I haven't figured out yet where to shorten it to the 5-10 seconds specified.

The story is: he looks, sees a cab, inhales deeply, whistles loudly, and for some reason one of his fingers pops off. He then tries to signal the cab from coming, but it comes anyway.

This same theme would work well with the date scenario, but have his finger get stuck in the ringer, and he's left there with a spurting finger stump trying to figure out what to do before the door opens. I might go with that instead. :)

If the link doesn't work, drag it to the address bar. I don't know why.

http://www.vfs.com/~adamc/movies/animaticXViD.avi

The concept art for the model was created by Roundeye (www.eatpoo.com) for his own portfolio, the character geometry was done by jeb (also at eatpoo.com) and I'm rigging and playing around with him.

Oh yeah, I'm having problems getting quicktime to render the timing properly, and I don't know if it's because these are still images... so this is XViD encoded for now.

[grury]

oohhhhh! I'm away for a couple of days, and for my amusement when I came back, theres a new thread already with 3 pages of replies, more than the whole of the last challange...the wonders of the front page..
guess I'll be in, but dunno yet which 1 I'll be doing.

Hope to see a lot more people participating and commenting this time around.

Cheers

Grury

[nismoS132]

so it is fixed to just 5-10s?

[onurbasaldi]

I am pretty much done accept the elbow on the arm popped out. Does anyone know how to fix it? And another problem, it is 17seconds, gotta shorten it down.

ftp://mbasaldi:topac@ftp.beld.net/leoalmostfin3.avi

Onur

[Purgpow]

I think i'll try this .


just one request if you chage anything about the rules can you please Edit the first post.

thanks

[FSkarstedt]

Can't seem to find your animation. Is the file there?

[FSkarstedt]

Since it was stated in the rules that WIP's are to be posted, here's mine. This is the first 100 frames (4 secs). I didn't put the door in yet as it keeps blocking my view as I animate.

This was an excellent excuse to test out this rig I did for a game we are working on. :)

Anyway, URL: animcontest_1.avi (http://www.affectworks.com/new/animcontest_1.avi)

avi file. Hope this is ok.

[baglunch]

Fredrik_S: Looking good. I think this really captures the spirit of what this contest is aiming for.

Mods:
My main problem so far (at this early stage), like others have mentioned, is keeping within the time limit for any of the ideas I want to do. I think anything close to 5 seconds will look too exercise-ish, and perhaps I just need to re-think my ideas, but even 10 seconds is pretty brutal. Is the time limit negotiable?

[benjicon]

Ok , decided on an ending for my entry , very rough blocking out , timing is a little off when the character gestures to the cab , I'll address this when I start refineing the animation .

http://www.polypusher.com/cgtalk/second_test_BG.avi

Ben.

[SheepFactory]

Time limit is not negotiable. Thats part of the challenge , when you are working as an animator and they give you your frame range you have to fit the animation in that range , so its better to get used to it now :)


10 seconds is long enough to finish a quality anim in 2 weeks.

[claytondouglas]

is there a prize?

[SheepFactory]

Originally posted by claytondouglas
is there a prize?

experience

[gigatron]

Originally posted by benjicon
Ok , decided on an ending for my entry , very rough blocking out , timing is a little off when the character gestures to the cab , I'll address this when I start refineing the animation .

http://www.polypusher.com/cgtalk/second_test_BG.avi

Ben.

LOL, that was hularious :p

[Stupeyfied]

LOL Ben, thats great stuff! hillarious...

I'll have to keep an eye out on this thread...I'm no animator myself...haven't even attempted it, but I'll be sure to cheer you guys on!! :P

[Phearielord]

wow
this challenge comes at a great time!
...cuz I was wondering what to do for my next animation.

I'm in! :thumbsup:

[keltuzar]

This will be my 1st time animating. I try to do my best. Please dont laugh if you see mine...

[Phearielord]

dont worry
You have to start somewhere :)

Most animators, when they look back at their first animation, cringe :D
The trick is just to stick with it...and to keep on practising!
you'll notice a big improvement with each animation you do :)

[keltuzar]

thanks dude now what I need is some starbucks coffee and the animation survial kit and I am off!

[claytondouglas]

Originally posted by Sheep Factory
experience

Whoopideedoo!

[PeterSanitra]

Sooooo,this is my character for the contest,
right now i`m animating the phone scene..
http://www.3dgrafika.cz/img/_gallery/13/13285.jpg

[Jozvex]

Experience is good, it's what gets you a great job!

[Toonabel]

hey, just finished reading this thread and everyone’s convinced me, I'm in!

I’m really excited. the 10 second limit is kind of bothering me but the moderator guy is right, you have to work with what u get.

look for my posts in a day or two.

about that idea about doing a lip sync test. sorry but I think that’s kind of lame. I want to see peoples animation! not critique whether someone has the right blend shape when pronouncing the efffff sound. lets get this actual ANIMATION challenge ironed out eh? just my 2 cents. forgive me if I’m being a bit crass, just my opinion.

everyone’s stuff is looking great. keep on rocking!

:buttrock:

abelsalazar.com (http://www.abelsalazar.com)

I'll be using this rig.

animation exercise - not for this - (http://www.abelsalazar.com/render_with_blur.mpg)

Oh, a question, perhaps a bit rhetorical but, what’s with all this rigg and "making the playing field even" talk all about? stick figures can still be animated well right?

RELAX!! be happy.:)

i mean, everyone gets a free T-shirt for entering right?

[SheepFactory]

Originally posted by claytondouglas
Whoopideedoo!

so typical :rolleyes:

I think I'll start calling these animation sessions instead of challenge starting with the next one. Appereantly you missed the bold "UNOFFICIAL" text in the first page.

[Tom N.]

Originally posted by claytondouglas
Whoopideedoo!

thats the attitude! sarcasm

[claytondouglas]

Originally posted by Jozvex
Experience is good, it's what gets you a great job!

Sure...but it doesnt drive the spirit of competition....which essentially IS what this is...

[SheepFactory]

Originally posted by claytondouglas
Sure...but it doesnt drive the spirit of competition....which essentially IS what this is...


the 300+ entries to the old international cg challenges says otherwise.

[Tom N.]

Originally posted by claytondouglas
Sure...but it doesnt drive the spirit of competition....which essentially IS what this is...

so you should only try to be the best you can if theres a big prize at the end??

Anyways, we're getting off topic, I'm gonna go work on my animation and post an update later tonight

Great job to everyone doing this, its fun.

-Tom N.

[Larsen]

Great animation challenge oups.. session ;)

Ok i'm in for this one and i choosed the "talking at the phone" topic .

The character is already modeled, it's a character i made some months ago :

http://www.powerofvisual.com/portfolio/3d/fluide_character_wip/char1.jpg

I made the skeleton yesterday,tonight i will skin it and start the animation.

It's going to be fun, Good luck !

[SheepFactory]

very cool character cipher :)

cant wait to see it in motion. I am also doing the phone talk one , hope to have something ready by sunday.

[posetopose]

Most animators, when they look back at their first animation, cringe

:blush:

[baglunch]

Is it bad if I'm still cringing at my animations?

[posetopose]

Is it bad if I'm still cringing at my animations?

Nope. They more you do it, the less you cringe.

:thumbsup:

Greg

[Tom N.]

Speaking of cringing (hehe) heres another update on my animation:

taxi (Xvid) (http://www.angelfire.com/moon/tomny/taxi13.avi)

I'm still working on the first half of it, the second half is just sorta posed out. I also haven't done the hands yet. Still needs lots of work, I also have to add the luggage that he picks up and carries away at the end.

So as far as the first half of it goes, if anyone wants to help me on how it could be better so far, that would be great because so far its kinda blah. Oh well its still fun

-Tom N.:p

[FSkarstedt]

Here's my entry to the challange. I had fun working on it in my spare time and I hope you get a chuckle out of it (9 seconds long. 5 meg in size.)

I made the door and the doorbell slightly transparant so the animation is not blocked by anything.

Any c&c is always helpful as usual!

How to get a job (http://www.affectworks.com/staff/Fredrik/howtogetajob.mov)

Thanks!

[soslayo]

Ok, I choose the number 2, the character trying to hail a cab...

I'm using generi rig... (great character).

And this is my attempt:

animatic01.mov (500kb) (http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/luismiguelherrera/temp/animatic01.mov)

Cheers.

Luismi.

[SheepFactory]

nice start soslayo , i like your poses.

do you have a conclusion in mind?

[soslayo]

do you have a conclusion in mind?

yes, i have a simple end.... but it's a secret.. :surprised :)

Luismi.

[Larsen]

Ouch after a good night i made some blendshapes.

http://www.powerofvisual.com/animation-session-WIP/blendshapes.jpg

No my character is not on a trip...

[keltuzar]

Ok here is my 1st Pass.
Nothing great just a simple stupid animation.
Animation (http://sheldon3d.freewebpage.org/Animation.html)
I used after effects to reduce the file and make it smaller.
PS this is my very 1st try at using maya and the animation keying - self taught.

[SheepFactory]

Originally posted by keltuzar
Ok here is my 1st Pass.
Nothing great just a simple stupid animation.
Animation (http://sheldon3d.freewebpage.org/Animation.html)
I used after effects to reduce the file and make it smaller.
PS this is my very 1st try at using maya and the animation keying - self taught.


A couple tips for you:

- sketch your poses first , spend sometime on the paper and make sure you are happy with your poses before you start animating in 3d.

- read up on silhouette , follow through , ease in and ease out. right now your animation is jerky because all body parts move and stop at the same time.

- try to act it in front of a mirror , do you walk up to a door like that? I am not quite sure what the character is doing.

good luck with it , keep em coming.

[ilasolomon]

Yoohoo! Now I realized how much I missed the old animation challenge, lots of fun. It's good to have it come back in some way. ;-)

My attempt, I used IK Joe rig from D.M.L. (never heard of him?!) and modified it a bit to match my needs. and this the first 4 sec 'Entrance', still WIP:

HERE (http://www.ilasolomon.com/Temp/01.rar)

rendered attraction!:
http://www.ilasolomon.com/Temp/01a_0100.jpg

[grury]

Hey Ila, good to see you hunging around here again..looking good.
Cant wait to get started on mine...hopefully today will have the time to start blocking it...I'm going for the phone conversation one, btw.

Cheers

[dobermunk]

Ila, looking good!
his hips are a bit floaty (= no weight)
but the rest of the motion is wonderful.

Next: Deev!

[ilasolomon]

:-) Thanx a lot, Gru, David.
I keep in mind what you said.

So the 'Villager' is yours, David!

[anobrin]

HI decide to keep mine very VERY simple,:D
render as editor and use bounding box mode on my charcter

I will let you all decide why the cab sped off
after seeing the potential passenger

(700kb)
http://66.70.166.29/promo/hailcab.mov

[SheepFactory]

hahaha funny anim , actually happened to me once :)

I think it'll look better if he takes a step or two after the cab as if in a "wtf is going on?" state.

[Larsen]

There's some bad things yet that i will rectify later when i'll do the end.

Here is the .mov (2.7mo-7 sec) (http://www.powerofvisual.com/animation-session-WIP/char-phone1.mov)

I didn't and i will not use a lot the blendshapes because of the size and short time of the clip.

critics and comments are welcome

[grury]

looks good cipher, although still quite a bit to do, dificult to comment at this stage. I love yo character, he looks very sinister, like some kind of funeral director, maybe he could act a bit more sinester, kinda loooking around and puytting the left hand in front of his mouth as he talks...dunno just some ideas.

Cheers

[grury]

I think I got a bit carried away and just got off track with my story...
its not much a reaction to a phone conversation but a reaction to the phone itself, I have this thing about poliphonic phone rings, just cant stand the things, so i decided to do something about it.
cos sound is not allowed it doesnt make much sense rite now, but this guy has a phone that sounds like gun shots :rolleyes: ...
just done the blocking, the end is still a bit messy..but he'll just scream "WHAAAATTT" to the phone... silly??.. yeah!


THE THING (http://www.bunchdesign.com/grury/phone01.mov)

cheers

[baglunch]

Gru: I think it works so far without the sounds. It just makes him look super-paranoid to imagine the phone sounds like a phone when he jumps up. I like it so far. :bounce:

[Larsen]

thanks gru, i'm still newbie in animation but this challenge make me learn a lot of things.
I want to make my character very lazy and bored about what he's listening.

Make transitions between poses and think about the time of movement is very difficult ...

I'll post some updates soon...

[ACFred]

Gru, your guy would look a lot more paranoid and nervous if you really speed up his motion between poses. After he kicks off of the chair, the time between poses is way too slow to really convey paranoia and provide comic timing.

Try the same action but cut the time between his poses by half and hold the each pose a touch longer and see what that gets ya. And maybe a little hop between each of his motions to each side.

I like the premise and poses, though. Looking good.

[baglunch]

Ok, different animatic using my other idea, and 10 seconds on the nose. Is it readable yet? He goes to the door, checks to see if anyone's looking, rings the bell, loses his finger to it, and reacts.

Nearly a meg, QT.

doorbell animatic (http://vfs.com/~adamc/movies/doorbellAnimatic.mov)

His finger isn't missing from his hand yet, but it will be, and if I have time I intend to do a bit of spline blood.

[dror-zoro]

hi guys
as i promissed here is my post .
it is about a romatic singer and his ..............well you will see

in any case i would like to hear your critic good and bad .
so
enjoy
and keep animate

here is a link...just right click to save

http://dror.lizard.co.il/files/test-01.mov

test_01 (http://dror.lizard.co.il/files/test-01.mov)

[dror-zoro]

hi guys
here is my post it is only the start but tell me what
you think i would like to hear your critic....

http://dror.lizard.co.il/files/test-01.mov

test_01 (http://dror.lizard.co.il/files/test-01.mov)

[soslayo]

Well, this is a little update.

It's the "final" blocking...
What do you think about the poses and timing?

blocking_02.mov (380kb) (http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/luismiguelherrera/temp/blocking_02.mov)

Cheers.

-Luismi.

[grury]

Good stuff everyone, glad loads of people are taking part.

ACFred: Cheers mate, thats a good point, sure gonna try it.

baglunch: Thats one funny character u have there, full of potencial, I would advise u to render the blocking without that harsh lite/shadow, it makes it dificult to read the action at this stage.

dror-zoro: Not much to critic yet, it seems too slow at the moment, specially when he rings the bell, also you should give him a bit of an antecipation, b4 he goes to the bell. Maybe you shouldnt render it a full broadcast res, 320x240 is ok for previewing stuff.

soslayo: good stuff, I was wondering what the end of your story would be, my guess was that he was gonna be hit full on from a cab caming from the oposit direction..
all your poses are pretty good, the only thing to crit would be his reaction after gettin run over, b4 he starts screaming i think he should bend his body forward as an antecipation and then explode in pain..

Cheers

[soslayo]

Hey, thank you Gru for your comments!:thumbsup:

I'll insert the anticipation to the pain pose...

my guess was that he was gonna be hit full on from a cab caming from the oposit direction..

Hehehehe... good end..

Cheers.

-Luismi.

[PeterSanitra]

Here is my video post for the contest,phone animation.
Sorry but now in avi only,final post during this week in mov file.
Please,i need some response.

Download (http://www.graphinence.com/tophat/preview.avi )

[TANGOMAN]

Hi ,just a bit of the blocking for the moment,done in a few hours:

http://www.vss-solutions.com/tangoweb/taxi.avi

:)

[soslayo]

Tangoman, your link don't seem to work...:hmm:

[grury]

Just did a bit more of work on hands, fingers and so on.. next will be on with the curves and overlapin and if I have time b4 the deadline will do the facial animation, fingers crossed.


UPDATE (http://www.bunchdesign.com/grury/phone01.mov)


Cheers

[TANGOMAN]

now is working:wip:

..anyway nothing from the other world to see,just rough animation,ha haa

[posetopose]

Nice work Gru!

Nice work everyone!

I hope to be able to post soon....it looks like you guys are having alot of fun!!

Cheers!

Greg

[grury]

Cheers Greg!
Oh! and you better get on yer skates and post something soon, remember u started the all thing...the pressure is on u.. eh eh eh!! just kiddin..

[ilasolomon]

Okay good boys (and girls?) ... finally I finished it. if u don't have any RAR uncompressor, just find one!

10sec|640x480|DivX|RARed: HERE IS THE CRAZY OLD FaRT! (http://www.ilasolomon.com/portfolios/animations/crazyoldfart_divx.rar)

3ds max, DML's IK Joe rig, after effects.

[mv]

:bounce: fun one Ila! that character is full of expression. Those animation sessions look very funny!

[fellah]

ila, looks great! alot better this time, the expressions make more sence now.
after a few times of watching, the last 2 seconds(when he gets pushed away) feels a little fast. maybe you could let him be "hold" with his stick in the hole for a while.. and then, ssphoootjoo.. spit him out..
but I know you had to make it at 10sec.

nonetheless, great character, you know it.. and btw, you should model that old man, completely.. like your sketches!!! ;))

[ilasolomon]

Thanx a lot Mat and Anders, yeah it could have been definitely better if I had more time to spend. the ending is a bit unfinished and fast. hopefully in Director's cut DVD with backstage and more features!! :p

[Tom N.]

hey ila solomon, you might wanna take out that initial camera movement, the rules said it had to be a still camera - other than that i think yours is great, good job.

-Tom N.

[mg3d]

Hi Guys,
Don't really know if this falls in hailing taxi cab category, but it's given me an idea for a cool action sequence. here's what i got so far.
http://www.geocities.com/mike_gambardella/animatics/
just click on the CabmG_DivX.avi for some stupid reason the direct link doesn't work.

-mG

p.s. sorry about the geocities, but the cash flow is limited for web space.

[Danilo Buendia]

Here we go, my first entry EVER...an unpolished pass

http://www.megatoons.com/animations/bigdate.mov

[Jozvex]

Well I'll hopefully be entering too! I haven't animated anything in quite a while and it's a bit scary really, hehe. I've chosen to animate the 'date' scene, here's what I have so far (like 2 seconds!):

http://www.jozvex.com/temp/DateTest1.mov

I'm using the default Final Rig character. Is it too dark? I'm using a really bright monitor so it may be too dark for everyone else.

:)

Edit---------

Oops, I just realised we can't use motion blur, which I did for that WIP. At least my rendertimes will be shorter from here on!

[Age-1039]

Now, just to be sure of this, can we have, for instance, a locked camera with fades between shots? just wanna be on the safe side. Thanx!:thumbsup:

[Tom N.]

Heres the latest update, I changed it a bit. The end hasn't been done yet but heres what I got so far, any comments (good or bad) are appreciated :p

taxi (Xvid) (http://www.angelfire.com/moon/tomny/taxi.avi)

-Tom N.

[hideandfreak]

Hello All,

Here is my first attempt at a CG Challenge. The keyframes are stepped and this is sort of blocking pass 1/2. Hope to have an update soon.

-Aaron

http://www.aaronrobbins.com/temp/imageCGChallenge.jpg (http://www.aaronrobbins.com/temp/arPlayblastV2.mov)



Playblast (http://www.aaronrobbins.com/temp/arPlayblastV2.mov)

Quicktime (890k)

[PeterSanitra]

I have a problem to save the movie to quicktime format
Will be my entry accepted in divx avi?

[hideandfreak]

Am I the 'Thread Killer" or what . . .

anyway, here is a quick update. I'm still working on the challenge a bit. This is the first pass on arcs and breakdowns, with slight facial to just set the scene a little more.

Thanks for lookings.

Playblast Pass 1 (1.3mb) (http://www.aaronrobbins.com/temp/arPlayblastPass1_V2.mov)

-Aaron

[grury]

Aaron, rigth now your animation just feels a bit too floaty, weightless and kinda slow motion, and doesnt show much emotion.. specially the way he aproaches the door, for example you would expect him to be happy to to go meet his date, maybe a double bounce sort of walk would help, or maybe he's head and spine bending forward, kinda of a sad walk lacking confidence, like someone that did something wrong and comes to apologise.
Also you should give a bit more of an anteciaption b4 knockin on the door, not just on his arm but alsio on his body, same thing for his raection after touching his hat, if something is gonna happen you should perhaps antecipate and then exagerate the reaction a bit more.

your character is quite nice and cartoony, try to make the most out of it.

hope it helps, keep em Blasts comin

[hideandfreak]

Thanks for the comments. I am definately working on making it more snappy. I think most my stuff seems floaty right now. I was trying to go for a lack of confidence motif, looks like I have some work to do on that part. Thanks again.

[Age-1039]

Here's my WIP for the contest. It's almost done, with just some minor details that need to be fixed. Although i'll admit it's a bit quick, i wanted it to fit the 10 second-limit. The "character" is basically just MAX bones because i am really really bad at character modeling (i'm getting there thou). But hey, this is about the animation, right? And, the car model is one of many free models available at 3DM-MC.com. Comments & Crits are more than welcome!

The clip is in DiVX format
http://members.aol.com/egalaviz/contestWIP.avi

[Phearielord]

hahahahah!!
Age_1039, that's funny! :D

good stuff!

[grury]

looking good Age_1039, agree with you, thats a bit too fast though.
I guess you were gonna address the issues that am gonna point now, but just in case, i'll mention em.
The character feels a bit too stiff on the legs as he moves around, his upper body is movin like crazy and his legs are perfectly still at times, specially during the 1st half.
Also it looks stiff on his arms whenever is waving em around, it need a bit of bending on the elbows and overlaping on all those joints.
Other than that, looks pretty good.

cheers

[Danilo Buendia]

Age_1039: hahaha that was the funniest one yet.

Better story even though it's jammed into 10 seconds....

[Jozvex]

Yeah Age that's great! Hehe very funny for sure.

I kinda like how it's fast, it adds to the comedy and kinda reminds me of those silent films that play at the wrong speed.

:)

[Age-1039]

Thanks a lot for the comments guys! :buttrock:
And thanks for pointing those things out GRU, especially the stiff-leg part. I almost missed that! I knew there was something odd about it, but i've been staring at the animation for a while and just couldn't figure it out. Hope to update soon. Again, thanx for the Coments & Crits!:thumbsup:

[CJ_Markham]

I just joined this site to enter this contest for the fun of it. This is my work in progress, tell me what you think.

CJ

http://www.eng.utah.edu/~jlanders/CJ_entry_alpha.avi

:beer:

[grury]

well, thats me almost done, still gotta do the facial animation and fix the pose when he first jumps in the chair, apart from that i think its pretty much done, would like to hear some comments tho.

NU UPDATE (http://www.bunchdesign.com/grury/phone01.mov)

cheers

[Tom N.]

Heres another update, I changed the ending, I'm still workin on tweaking a few things here and there..


Toms Update, oooh (http://www.angelfire.com/moon/tomny/newest2.avi)

cooomments anyone?

-Tom N.

PS. Age and Gru, yours are both lookin sweet. Age you should try to cut a part out and play the animation in normal speed so it doesn't look so forced, but its hilarious, good job. And I like the eyes on yours Gru, for some reason they stood out, probably because a lot of us are using faceless primitive men (like me:p )

Can't wait to see everyones finals!

[Jozvex]

Gru:

Great! The facial animation will really help I think, so that he's not smiling the whole time, hehe. The only slight crit might be that it kinda doesn't look like he's looking 'at' the phone when he looks at it... if you get what I mean. He sorta looks near it instead?

Tom N:

Great also! Two small crits I have for yours would be:

1. With the jump at the start, he leans over to one side but he jumps straight up and down on the spot. If he's leaning to one side perhaps he should jump slightly sideways? Or land on that foot first? I'm not totally sure.

2. When he runs off at the end, his centre of gravity (hips basically) is quite far back (he's also leaning back in that cartoony way) and it sort of feels like his feet are pulling his body forwards, rather than just catching his weight as it moves forward.

Hmm, my crits are a bit vague today! It's because I'm tired! I also did a little more on my animation. Equally vague comments/crits are welcome, hehe:

http://www.jozvex.com/temp/DateTest2.mov

Ohh, and Gimbal Lock be damned!! It can be so annoying...

:thumbsup:

[grury]

Thanks a lot for the feedback everyone!

CJ_Markham: welcome to the forum and great start you have there, remindes me of the Foo Fighters music vid for few years back. Apart from the slidding feet at the end it looks pretty good over all, did you use any MoCap for the final part of the animation, at all?

Tom: you getting there mate, I agree with Joz, its lacking a bit of weight on the hip.

Joz: looking very good as well, guess you gonna fix the hands for the last bit, just after he wipes his jacket. come on show us your ending gag! wots gonna happen to mr confidence?

Cheers

[Tom N.]

Hey guys thanks a lot for the crits, I'll have to fix that jump at the beginning. As for the running away, i was going for that cartoonish run where they're leaned far back, but if I didn't get that across clear enough then I'll go back and try to make it more believable. Thanks a lot I appreciate the comments:)

-Tom N.

[andy_maxman]

essentially it being an animation session where we learn......could you allow me to post the link to the first animation subjects ( sleepy character waking up to a noise )......

reasons being :-
1) the response for this session has been phenomenal
2) lots of people seeing the works
3) a chance to showcase and learn
4) please

and i'm sure others who worked on it would want that too......

so if you can leave an option on the last day......where we are allowed to do that......

Gru what say you!!!!!

[hideandfreak]

Alright, so I tried to take some of the crits of my last version and do my best to improve the peice. I have only been animating characters for 2 months so I am not so sure I addressed the problems at all.

Here is the first version:
Version 1 OLD (http://www.aaronrobbins.com/temp/arPlayblastPass1_V2.mov)



Here is the UPDATED version:
Version 2 NEW (http://www.aaronrobbins.com/temp/arPlayblastPass2_V2.mov)


Both are quicktime and about 1.5mb

Thanks for your comments.

Aaron

[grury]

thats a hell of an improvement Aaron, now we can see how he feels, theres a few bits still too linear tho, sometimes theres no movement on the body at all, but its gettin there. Maybe u could put the camera a bit closer, theres too much dead space around him.

Andy: I guess I dont mind, if other people is up for it, btw are u not joining in on this challange?

cheers

[hideandfreak]

Thanks for looking Gru, I appreciate the comments. I done for today but if the weekend allows I will post an update. Thanks again.

Aaron

[CJ_Markham]

Gru: no mocap, but I'll take that as a compliment.

I'm just about done with it, just a few minor tweeks...

:buttrock:

[CJ_Markham]

Here is my final entry:

http://www.eng.utah.edu/~jlanders/CJ_Markham_Entry.mov

Although it's 320x240, the quicktime plugin I have caused it to come out to be about 18meg so be patient.

CJ
Lead Animator
Majesco Games

:beer:

[grury]

Cheers CJ, yeah I meant not to underestimate your skills.
Very good animation and gag.

[Age-1039]

sorry it's been a few days, but they've been busy for me. Here's another update. I made the legs move more during the 1st half, and i'm still trying to figure out what other little things i could do w/ them. And gave some more parts a bit more tweaking. I'll be looking at the animation a few thousand more times today to see if there's anything else i should update before i render out the final. again, the car is courtesy of 3DM-MC.com, and as usual, comments & crits are more than welcome!! Ciao!

http://members.aol.com/egalaviz/contestWIP_02.avi

[Tom N.]

Ok, heres my final:


Final Entry: Tom N. (http://www.angelfire.com/moon/tomny/TomN320.mov)

Quicktime
Sorenson Compression
320 x 240


I didn't have time to fix some of the things I wanted to, I forgot that february doesn't have a 30th day haha so I ran out of time. Oh well it was fun :)

[Jozvex]

Great job both of you! I'm bored at the moment because mine's currently rendering.

I really wanted to squeeze a bit more in at the end, but it just would've been too fast. I hope more people get their final entries in. It's already 3/4's of the way through the 1st of March here in Australia but I'm sure there's more time.

[Jozvex]

Ok! Here's my final entry:

http://www.jozvex.com/temp/JozvexDateFinal.mov

It's 1.32meg, compressed with Sorenson 3. Oh, and in case you're wondering, no that's not depth of field, I just used a fog primitive to fade out the edge of the scene.

:thumbsup:

[Dre]

Here is my entry:

http://www.daanimators.com/fred/animation/Plucky_taxi.avi

Simple animation..still a WIP... I haven't really have the time to finish it because i was really busy at work during the last 2 weeks. I should finish the ending this week....but not in time for the challenge.. :rolleyes:

Anyway. i will post it in the forum when it will be done... ;)

later

[nomad_girl]

hi guys!

i have been wanting to participate in this challenge to get myself animating again--- for the last several months i have been buried in aftereffects & illustration jobs-- so i have not been in 3d-- good to be back.

been kind of busy-- out of town & stuff -- so i could only work on it today..... but i really wanted to participate... so here is my WIP (f- curves not cleaned at all... still really rough) -- but i hope to try to do some more work on it later this afternoon..... deadline is midnight right?

http://www.abedovia.com/dustin/animation_tests/

anyways... any and all feedback welcome please!

everybody's stuff looks really good---i hope they do this again--

[PeterSanitra]

Here are my final files

Created in maxR5,polygonal model + IK and facial expressions thru morpher mod.

MAX RULEZ:buttrock:

Hope you like it:blush:

Rendered anim:

www.graphinence.com/tophat/FreakyPhoneCall.avi


Max viewport preview:

www.graphinence.com/tophat/preview.avi


btw:sorry,DivX req.

[Larsen]

That's sad i can't finish mine because of time :cry:

[Danilo Buendia]

Here is my entry to date...I don't feel quite finished, but here it is.

http://www.megatoons.com/animations/bigdate.mov

[CJ_Markham]

Did anyone even read the rules?...

>Animations can be between 5 and 10 seconds
>
>Please render as quicktime , no bigger than 640 x 480 (320 x >240 preferred)
>
>You can not use textures , sound , dialogue or render with >motion blur , the focus here is animation and animation only. >Please use a 3 point simple lighting setup or simply render out >as a viewport capture.
>
>Fixed Camera: No camera movement allowed , the focus here is >animation not camera work.

I could have sworn I saw some textures, advanced lighting, and what ever happened to rendering out as a quiktime?

CJ

[Age-1039]

Alright then everyone, here is my final render of "Bonesy hailing a cab." Cheesy, i know. Created with Max 5.0 by me, except for the car, which is one of the free models available at 3DM-MC.com. enjoy!

http://members.aol.com/egalaviz/contest_FINAL.mov

Good Luck everyone!!!!:thumbsup:

[Scarshadow]

Hello, I did an animation for this contest and here it is.



http://www.scarshadow.com/taxi2.mov

[grury]

Hi all here's my almost finished animation, didnt have time to finish the facial animation, some other day..
I'll post it later when i put the sound in, so it makes a bit more sense.

FINAL(ISH) (http://www.bunchdesign.com/grury/phone01.mov)

ps: thanks to Andrew for the great rig and giimann, iviss and IFRIT for the rest of the props, from turbosquid.

Cheers

Grury

[nomad_girl]

oh well--no time left--- still very much a work in progress.... & way too stiff....i look forward to the next challenge---

http://www.abedovia.com/dustin/animation_tests/

[SheepFactory]

Ok guys , this challenge is over.

thank you all for participating and hope you all had fun and learned new stuff.


Next one will be announced shortly so keep those characters ready ;)

[mandy3d]

here is the link...

http://mandar.yourprivatespace.com/angry_man.wmv

( kindly use a download accelerator incase right click save target as does not work )

I am switching from 2d to 3d & this is one of my very initial attempts.Would like to thank my friends Anand and Manoj for all the help.Looking forward to hear your views

[soslayo]

I haven't finished the animation still...:blush: ... but here it is that i do...

blast2.mov (354kb) (http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/luismiguelherrera/temp/blast2.mov)

I'm too slow...:cry:

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