a new (yet) nameless short

[SkyePhelps]

Ok, here's a little C & C for ya, (go Command and Conquer, lol)

First off, I like the character, he's pretty cool, but the way you have him walking just doesn't seem very natural, so here is what I'm going to suggest, either you have him drag his body, or head on the ground instead of having him lift up. Or make his body already lifted up, and have him walking on his hands. From the shot you provided, it just doesn't seem like his arms are able to lift his body up that way and make him walk, but if you were to run the cycle, that's a really bouncy character there... :bounce:

But if you decide to stick with the type of walk you have going on now, try to make it less symetrical, right now, the arms move at the same rate, and the exact point, nothing in nature does everything exactly the same speed, so I might have one hand reach it's point a fraction faster and then the other leave a fraction faster, or something along those lines, hope this feedback helps

[droidoz]

Hey Skye Phelps/Micheal Sanford thanks for the help, you were right, this walkcycle wasn't the most natural. Ive made a new one, again i always welcome c&c , and I want to thank anyone who takes a look!:)

Walk 02 (http://home.hccnet.nl/m.joor/walk%2002.mov)

[SkyePhelps]

Hey Droidoz

Here's is a little c&c for ya, first off... you got some funky twishing going up near the shoulder area when he's moving, also on the left hand, it keeps dipping under the plane, but that's not big deal to fix... it's looking better, and a bit more natural, but to give it some character, I'm thinking you should do it one hand at a time, have him throw one hand over his head grab the ground and pull himself forward till he gets about half way, and then throw the other hand over and pull himself, that'll give him a even cooler more characterful walk.

Here's a rough draw over, not sure if you can tell what's going on, but when one hand is by his side, the other hand has then dragged behind, and then it he swings the dragged hand over head, and pulls himself letting the other hand drag behind...

Alrighty, well you can shoot me now if you want, but I think it's a cool idea :)

[droidoz]

Great advice, I think ill spend the rest of the day doing various cycles, each with a different attitude, just as an experiment. I really like the "drag behind " idea, It is supposed to be an angry little man, and walking that way really fits him.
Thanks again

[droidoz]

Here is the latest cycle, i used your idea Skye, i think it looks pretty cool. Thanks
I'd like to hear any comments or crits, and thanks for taking a look.

Walk 03 (http://home.hccnet.nl/m.joor/walk%2003.mov)

[SkyePhelps]

Looking pretty cool dude, I was thinking he'd more drag himself, but that doesn't look to bad... I'm just having a hard time, seeing how he would lift himself up with the one hand the way it is, if you still want him to move up, I would place his hands closer to his body, and have him lift up and his body go over the hand and then fall down, this way you can see that his body is actually being supported by the hand...

You had also mentioned that he's an angry guy, right now it looks like he is kinda swatting at the ground, you should have that rage that is in all angry men show with this character... have him lift up his hand and slam it down, pause for a moment, and then claw into the ground to pull himself or lift himself... that'll get that angry walk down...

Can't wait to see some more progress... :bounce:

[droidoz]

Well, its a lot harder than i thought. Thanks again for you comments Skye. I hope to be able to post a new vid later.

[thedigitalmonkey]

Hey Droidoz, this is coming along nicely. I like your overall character design.

It seems to me that a character who is just a spherical mass and dragging himself with lanky arms like this needs to focus a lot more on weight. The forementioned pause would be a good idea...also, adjust the timing of the arm motion perhaps. They seem a little too fluid now. He's pulling his whole mass with his arms, so a bigger, slower anticipation as his arm "winds up" and than a powerful "slap" down on the ground (maybe even with some secondary motion radiating back out toward the body) would increase the illusion of weight. He seems nice and cartoony, too, so you could really work some squash stretch into there....if you have stretchable arms in your rig, let them really hyperextend after they slap down, then slowly pull the body toward them. Get a sorta slow (arm goes up), fast (arm slaps down), slow (arm pulls body to it), pause rhythm going and see if he looks more weighty.

I like this guy can't wait to see him in action :)

[droidoz]

Hey, I've had a busy week, but finaly, here is an update. Ive been experimenting with different ways of walking. This walk is based on the crits ive received. Thanks for that again. Ive tried to put more weight in it, to bad i dont have stretchy limbs in my rig. It is a "CAT" rig so stretchy limbs are not possible.
I have reworked the shoulders because they wernt deforming correctly, I think the skinning is done now because that problem is solved.
Soon i will start working on morph targets so the face can also be used to create a more "living??" walk. I can use morphing to squash and strech the face.
I think the timing of this walk is ok, but there are just not enough bodyparts to make the little man seem alive. If anyone knows how to improve this, please tell me.

Anyway, thanks for watching my new test, and again, thanks in advance for any crits.

Quicktime, 1 MB
Walk 08.mov
(http://home.hccnet.nl/m.joor/walk%2008.mov)

[droidoz]

Hey, here is a sketch of the second character, 3d coming up next.
http://home.hccnet.nl/m.joor/sketch%20char%2002.jpg
Crits are always welcome, thanx for taking a look.

[droidoz]

Hey, here is a voice test with my first character, did the sound myself. I'd like to hear some crits so I can improve my animation. thanks in advance.
Voice test 02.mov (http://home.hccnet.nl/m.joor/voice%20test%2002.mov)(2.7 MB)

Thanks for viewing!

[SkyePhelps]

HAHA.. that's freaky dude... pretty funny though. I won't go into his remarkable ability of lifting into mid air with out any help, cause I know this is just a voice test, but something that does bug me, is the blinking, I don't really think if he was screaming and yelling he'd be blinking like that, just a thought, just a thought :)

Oh, and give him a mouth, it's kinda weird seeing through him, lol

[nuclearbum]

haha, cute guy and the voice, is that your plan for how he'll speak? i think it would work and just have a translation or maybe just have it left for the animation to carry out the communication. the character is really cute. and the animations are looking pretty good, though theres a couple things i think might enhance it.

ok so lemme see... for your latest test, what i might do, just cuz i like the over dramatic movement stuff, is maybe whe he rises in the air have the hands push him up, or even simpler, have his body squish down and then elongate, kinda like a bouncing ball.

for the last walk cycle, the latest one kinda looks like he's been in the desert and he's trying to make it to water. maybe you can make him bounce his body a little more and have the body squish and stretch, so its not just his arms moving a ridged body but the full body is active in trying to move. psychologically i think that might be what's causing it to not completely give out a lively aniamtion.

i hope that's helpful, i'mma still an animation crit noob ;) so i'm still learning what to look for.

keep it up! i can totally see a nice animation and personality with this character.

[franklyn]

i think that his hands look a little to stiff in ur walk cycle i know that uve tried to move it a bit but the way that the fingers are always aligned just looks weird.
also i agree with the guy above me make his body push himself a bit.

[droidoz]

Hey, thanks for the replies, I am working on the mouth and I've taken care of the blinking problem. Thanks for telling me skye.
I now added some squash and stretch to the voice test. Thanks for the tip guys!:)
I dont think this will be the final voice, i sound to much like Gollum when I scream:D. I am planning to make him talk without words, only with loud angry noises. I've asked a good friend to do his voice.
In the last walkcycle the hands are indeed to stiff, in my next cycle they will rotate a little when he moves, and the fingers will push together.
Well, here is the improved version of the voice test, I hope you guys like it better this way. I'd like to hear your opinion, and crits are always very welcome. :thumbsup:

Voice test 03.mov (http://home.hccnet.nl/m.joor/voice%20test%2003.mov) (1,68 MB)

[Petes_Beaver]

Hey Droidoz, thanks for checking out my WIP, thought i'd return the favour, very nice work, do you have any screenshots you can post up of you work. Your Designs look cool, very stylised. Keep up the great work mate.

[droidoz]

Thanks for the friendly comments, pete(?). :) I haven't had much time to work on this little project lately due my final highschool exams. A short holliday starts tomorrow so i will get back to this project very soon. :bounce:

[EPICI]

Hi droidoz

I like much your cute character and voice. :thumbsup:

I quote the suggestions of the other users.

EPICI

[droidoz]

Hey guys, here is my latest test anim. I'd like to hear what needs to be improved. It's about finished, only the eyelids arent animated yet, that means no blinking. Thanx in advance for any crits!

Jump sequence (http://home.hccnet.nl/m.joor/jumpseq.mov)(0,8 MB)
(http://home.hccnet.nl/m.joor/jumpseq.mov)

[nuclearbum]

haha, love the facial morphs! (they are morphs, right?) good stuff, lemme see if i can think of anything to work on...

the latest voice test, he seems to be floating a bit. i think you should be able to get away with a pause at the tip of the jump, when he yells more, since the character looks cartoony enough for that effect. what i might try is to speed up the bouncing up and falling down portions.

for the jump one, something is missing to justify the second bounce being so fast. maybe try adding something to let us know he can bounce with little effort. maybe try having him bounce in place a couple, not too high but just showing that he's bouncy. also see about adding a major squish to him when he hits the ground, so we can see that he's putting some energy into the second jump.

I hope that helps! let me know if anything i said doesn't make sense and such. and keep it up, dude!

[droidoz]

Hey Nuclearburn, thanx alot for your input, I'll try to correct the things you mentioned. most of it made sense, so no questions here. The little guy( i have to make up a name) indeed talks with facial morphs. I'm glad you like em! Next update could take a while, I'm working on a admissionassignment for the dutch filmacademy.
O, I forgot to thank Epici for his crits... Thanks Epici! :D

[Dutchman]

Hey Matthijs!,

Still working on it? Or have you taken some rest? :eek: :bounce: In every case: I loved especially that last animation you uploaded: those bounces ánd those moving hands really make it very dynamic! :)

About your doubting (http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=241934) about which school to take:
1) Wow, you must be a lucky guy to be accapted on both! :buttrock:
2) Which one did you choose!?

Good luck with your further projects, buddy ;) & Greetz (from NL again, ofcourse ;) ),
Gijs

[droidoz]

hey Gijs, thanx for reviving my thread, I kinda did take a rest, I just had this very busy period, final exams for school, you know the deal. I'm afraid I might not finish this...:sad: There is just to much stuff for me to do.

About my difficult dicision..:D
I've decided to go to the filmacademy. It was really a very hard choice but most people from the dutch media industry said filmacademy was more advanced. I'm really sorry I can't just try out both for a year but I think I've made the right decision. Where do you plan to go after you finish school?

Thnx for your interest and your kind words Gijs... Maybe it might be cool to talk over msn sometime.. seems like a better place for conversations like these :)
My msn adress is droidozd@hotmail.com

Bye everyone, and thanx to anyone who ever replied to my thread, I learned alot from your words of wisdom:)

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