Character Animation Reel

[theBIGmack60]

First of all, your modeling and texturing is awesome it would have been nicer to see the knight lit more so you can see his armour shimmer as well as the details in the texturing etc.
The glow on the golem was a great effect too. During the model contruction bit, have them spin slower. I had trouble looking at the detail because new stuff would get in its way quickly.

My biggest crit is that you really have to loosen up the animation. The stepping seems a tad robotic, like the knight kinda hits everystep a bit hard. (before he does his super jump/stab)
The jump and stab looks fantastic however you need to have more "Antic". Before his jump, have him really bend down and then launch himself like a spring. The current preperation for such a jump doesn't match with the power he exploads with. The same goes for the landing. Your knight has his torso strait the whole time and this makes it look stiff and awkward. Even in tiny jumps, the body bends. Try to find some crazy vid of some guy jumping off somthin high and watch him try to land or try jumping in the air as high as you can. Watch/feel how the legs must support all the weight coming down as well as the torso bending over. I am sure you could land strait with all the shock going to your shins...but it would hurt like a bitch.

The fighting intro where the golem sneeks up on the knight was wierd. When i watched it i couldnt understand why the knight couldn't see/hear the golem coming. Have his back completely turns away from him to push the effect.

Study the human form and how it works. Watch sports to see how people run and jump. Better yet, record yourself doing these things so you have a real time resource on how the body works. Add some classical figure drawings in the real to show that you understand the form on traditional media. Have things in your demo reel that show that you understand weight. For example, have your knight push a really heavy box. Have a character jump over something. Have a character balance on something... Things like this (they may be boring to make), if done well, will really push your demo reel to the top of the pile of potential employees. Try not to concintrate on the knight golem stuff too much, take out the titles and just let the video flow. Or have sub-title stuff explaining what you are looking at as it goes on.


I am really amazed that you are self taught, you have a serious eye for animation and a great potential. Enroll in an animation course it will help you like CRAZY. (Its 10000x more fun then lawschool :P) Not having any education can really turn off employees. Showing this demo real in your application portfolio for school will get you into an animation course NO problem.

I am in a 3d animation course right now (2nd year of 3) and you pretty much have most of my class beaten in the face with your biped animation skills. All you need is a better understanding of wieght/antic/followthrough and you are set!

The models/textures were great. The poses of the characters were pretty good...it's just that the animation was a bit stiff.

Best of luck Sean.
You seriously can be an animator. :arteest:

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