Gerald : Animation for Crit.

[tubby]

hello benjicon! your animation looks good, the only part the throws me off is right after he gets pushed forward and shakes his head. I would personally cut out the part right after he shakes his head up until right before he turns around. in the very beginning where he slides and turn facing the door his feet seem to move perfectly together, maybe you want to offset the left foot to land second. other than that i think its awesome, good work!:)

[benjicon]

Hey Tubby ,

Thanks for that , I'll note those one's down and try to sort them out tonight , I do seem to fall victim to 'twinning' a bit in my animations but I'm slowly becomming more aware of it .

Its funny you should mention the wind-up after the head shake , you are the seccond person to mention there being something about that part , and the more I watch it the more I think it doesnt fit in, it almost breaks up the flow of the animation "too" much , where as before and after that all seems to flow at the same pace .

Thanks again dude , Ben .

[FKMaster]

hi !

really good ! :thumbsup:
too hasty, i think.....the balancing with the arms is too extremly.... a deep breath before he look back to the door would be fine.....the facial when he looks back, looks incorrectly, move up the eyebrowns....the walk back to the door looks stiff....there no motion of this belly when he breaths.... i hope that helps.... :D

[benjicon]

Hi FKMaster,

Thanks for your crits , I just want to clarify a few parts with you so I know what to tune ...

Which parts are too hasty ? entry through door, the stumble or the whole thing ? - ( I personally feel the stumble needs some slowing down or even some pauses as he is about to topple over his ballance centre )

The arms could probably be wound back a little , especially when he is stumbling - which parts do you think are extreme ? the turn when he enters ? the stumble ? or both ?

I think I'll take tubby's advise on the pause before the turn to the door and chop out the whole part where he is taking deep breaths while facing away from the door .

Where you mentioned the facial "looks incorrectly" when Gerald looks back, do you mean the direction of the eyes ? or the facial expression ? I was trying to make him look angry , ticked off and ready to retalliate .

The walk back to the door was supposed to be a determined march , as if he is on a mission to kick some ones ass , I'll see if I can loosen it up a little .

The belly does need some jiggle , I am working on that , maybe a morph target or something .

Thanks again , looking forward to your feedback .

Ben .

[FKMaster]

>>Which parts are too hasty ? entry through door, the stumble >>or the whole thing ? - ( I personally feel the stumble needs >>some slowing down or even some pauses as he is about to >>topple over his ballance centre )

the whole animation are too hasty, i think.....

>>The arms could probably be wound back a little , especially >>when he is stumbling - which parts do you think are extreme ? >>the turn when he enters ? the stumble ? or both ?

the arms are too high at the end of the stumble....use a little frighten facial expression for the stumpling (open big eyes...)

>>I think I'll take tubby's advise on the pause before the turn to >>the door and chop out the whole part where he is taking deep >>breaths while facing away from the door .

sounds good:)

>>Where you mentioned the facial "looks incorrectly" when >>Gerald looks back, do you mean the direction of the eyes ? or >>the facial expression ? I was trying to make him look angry , >>ticked off and ready to retalliate .

the facail exporession look not convinced enough....he look angry before he turns his head to the side....

try this:

he heard the sound of the door, he turn slowly his head to side with nervously facial expression.....than he does a littel angry expression....looks back to the door...and looks to the side again with really angry expression (maybe with a little red head;) )....than he walk to the door....


>>The walk back to the door was supposed to be a determined >>march , as if he is on a mission to kick some ones ass , I'll see >>if I can loosen it up a little .

for the walk back --> stamping with feets and little bit slow down....the shoulder should be "extremly" moves sideways (left and right)...so he should looks very pissed off....

that should make it better, maybe i could be wrong.....just try it...


>>The belly does need some jiggle , I am working on that , >>maybe a morph target or something .

i can´t wait to see the new version:thumbsup:

[benjicon]

Thanks again guys , Appreciate it , I'll hopefully have my own site up and running soon with more to show in a few weeks .

Ben :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[thesaint]

should the door buckle that way when the object trying to get through is hitting it in the middle??

Just a thought. Otherwise i agree with these talented gentlemen (and ladies where applicable!)

It is good to have snappy poses, but these are a touch too fast.

If he is out of breath his movement will be slower and more deliberate, until, that is, he gets his resolve back...

When he slumps his head he gets into a nice pose, but that is not enough. Remember that when you hit a good pose, make it stronger. Let it sit for a beat, then let his shoulders slump, his chest fall and his knees drop a touch, hold, then move on.

Motion blur will fill in some of the blanks that fast KF creates, so some blending will occur then. Be careful this dosn't muddy the animation for you.

General tips that i try to bear in mind:
1) Watch the sillouhettes. They are the basis for great poses.
2) If you can get into a stronger pose, do.
3) Anticipation leads the eye to the next pose.
4) Story. Everything must support the story.
5) Don't forget about the story.
6) If you forgot about it, now is a good time to check that everything supports the story. :-)
7) Lighting can give context to a pose.
8) Setting can give context to the story.
9) Eyes should lead the head almost always.
10) Everything 'human' like moves in arcs.
11) Weight and balance. Rotate your view and watch the pelvis all the time.

not in any order, but there you go. Great start by the way, i think it's pretty neat.

[benjicon]

Hey there thesaint,

Thanks for the crits, I had questioned the door bending that way as well, one of the guys in class at college said it should bend from the middle , but then my teacher pointed out the lock is in the middle of the door ?? I guess it could go either way .

Last night I refined the animation a bit more based on the ideas you all sugested.

I have toned down the heavy breathing action a bit , the shoulders dont move so much , I didnt want him to appear exhausted just a little scared, like he is being chased.

I have added a frame or two to the head turns when he is leaning on the door, it has softened it a little and made it easier and more believeable to watch .

FKmaster,

I tonned down the arm movement on entry and on the dizzy stumble, they dont bend back or up as far now which makes him look a little more in controll of what he is doing, ( and believeable )

I have changed the dizzy stumble aswell, I added some head roll and also held a couple of the poses where Gerald is about to over ballance, this slows it down a notch which works well , if your a bit dizzy you arent really going to be moving at a million MPH, so he looks a bit more dazed.

Tubby,

I did what you suggested , chopped out the part after he shakes his head , now he shakes and turns , flows a lot better now , I also went through and got rid of all the obvious twinning , especially the part with his feet as he slides and turns , looks a lot better.

I have tweaked a lot of other little bits , to many to remember , but I went over all of your crits and tried tham all to see the difference .

Unfortunatly I have hit my site down load limit so cant upload the revised version for you to see , I'll get it to you all in a few weeks with some new animations to crit aswell .

Thanks again all you have been a big help, Ben.

PS : I have added a morph for Belly Jiggle , and am now the proud owner of a large jiggling belly !:applause:

[webfox]

Thanks for the crits, I had questioned the door bending that way as well, one of the guys in class at college said it should bend from the middle , but then my teacher pointed out the lock is in the middle of the door ?? I guess it could go either way .

Then the bend should be along the vertical axis and not the horizontal.

There are parts that I like very much, such as his shoulder movements while he's breathing hard.

I don't believe, though, that as hard as that door was hit and making him fall forward, that he'd keep his back to it while it is getting hit again.

Keep at it. It's looking good.

[benjicon]

Hi Webfox,

Yeah great points ! I have been picking over and over to get this right , and there are still things that aren't quite clicking .

The door was ticking me off , Derrrr me ! , it seems so stupidly obviouse to bend it along the Vertical axis , I'll get right on it .

You are right aswell about facing away from the door when an ensuing attack is imminent , I have since chopped that section out , he now regathers and turns , it flows much better .

I'm getting a web site happening real soon , I'll post the updates there and let you know when they're available .

Thanks for the possative feedback too .

Ben .:thumbsup:

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