Dragon

[karabo]

I suggest you look at footage of birds flying to figure out how the wings move because yours are really stiff and robotic. The motion of the dragon is not smooth at all especially when it begins its landing sequence and then after it's on the ground it seems to shuffle towards camera. The animation needs to be redone imho. The model itsele is not bad but the textures could use some work

[Emperormak]

Thanks for the reply. I'm happy with the overall motion and look of the dragon. The dragon has more mass then a bird so it would move slower.

The landing has a cam shake and I suggest that you view it again slowly because the motion is up and down to simulate an impact upon landing.

I think sound would have tied it all together though, so I'll try to include that in other test projects.

Do you like to animate and/or do you have any animation examples?

[karabo]

your camera shake looks like you simply put the background trees on two layers and moved those up and down. The camera itself doesn't look like it's shaking, just looks like the tress that are shakingin the background. There is usually more to camera shake than simple up and down motion.
The animation of the wings could also benefit from some flutter in the webbing of the wings to simulate turbulence. Watch Reign of Fire to see how they did it and you should also be able to see how they animated the actual wing flapping motion and that should give you a basis for better wing animation.
On the last wing flap before it lands, the wings and tail go behind the background trees and then it lands in front of them which seems a little weird. That would seem to suggest that the dragon is gargantuan in size. Maybe this was your intention, I don't know, it just seems strange to me.
The tail is very stiff and doesn't move the way you would expect a tail to move, you might want to think about adding some curvy motion to it.
I think the dragon could benefit from a little more followthrough motion on the landing. This is a big heavy beast so you need to put more weight in its landing by making it dip down lower as it hits the ground and then making it come back up and little slower. You should put in a slight pause between landing and the start of its walk towards the camera. Also add some weight to the walk. As it is, the dragon immediately begins it's forward motion and that looks unnatural. In animation, you should try not to just string one motion after the other without little pauses here and there. After the dragon lands, wouldn't it fold up its wings?

[Emperormak]

I don't want to go back and forth with you but the landing is solid. His wings are not pulled in when he lands because I wanted them that way. I quess you haven't seen many birds in your life time but birds do keep their wings spread sometimes when they land/walk to signify a threat or just because the feel like it.

As far as when he starts walking, the transition is smooth. I've seen many movies with creatures that land and they immediately start to move.

I've showed this to many people both profressional and reg guy off the street alike and they loved it and didn't think or relay what you are saying. Also out of the x amount of people viewing this, you're the only one that seems to want to hammer this clip.

I would also like to see some of your animation endeavours. So far, all I've seen is mediocre modeling and texturing on your site and posts.

[karabo]

calm down there, sparky! You obviously don't take critiques very well. Would you rather I kiss your ass and tell you everything is perfect? I happen to have a Master's degree in Computer Animation and all I'm doing is trying to help you. These are simply the kind of crits that I get all the time and am always happy to get because they help me improve. Obviously you think that your animation couldn't get any better than what you have here. Don't post your work on this forum if you don't know how to handle the crits. Bottom line: Your animation needs work....ALOT of it. Take that how you will but that's the fact of the matter.

[Emperormak]

I think you have a very negative outlook. Plus, so far a haven't seen any Masters in Computer Animation material. Put your money where your mouth is and show me some examples. I can handle crits but not when they are not followed through with an example/evidence.

I also would appreciete a little respect and mature behavior in not being referred to as Sparky.

[karabo]

ok, this is really getting out of hand here, I'm not trying to start some kind of war with you. Let's just put aside all this negative energy.
You posted your work, which I took to mean that you wanted some honest crits. As such I decided to go ahead and give you some honest crits but for whatever reason, you seemed to take offense to them and you felt the need to insult my work because of it. Now I'm not an animator, I'm a rigger/modeler and I have written 2 tutorials that people love. You might have heard of the Fiat 500 tutorial on 3DTotal. My second tutorial (polymodeling a Porsche 356) was published in 3DTotal magazine. I constantly get emails on a daily basis from people thanking me for writing the tutorials.
As for not giving examples, I distinctly remember referring you to the movie Reign of Fire to see how they animated their dragons. You might also try the dragonheart movies.
Now forget about fighting with me and let's concentrate on your work here. I appologize for the Sparky remark that was uncalled for on my part.

[eburdeinick]

Nice animation, i like the wings, but it still needs some tweeking, it still has some weird movements... And the landing I agree that the trees move like layers, not that it looks bad, but it doesn´t look real.
Cheers

[Emperormak]

Thanks for both the crit and the positive feedback. It is highly appreciated after the first few posts.

[Radiospank]

ok sorry this isnt gonna be an ass kiss... the flight coming into land looks stiff ... i think the landing needs some work.. it looks as if he pauses and then abruptly lands.. kinda unatural looking to me like its forced.. um the wing animation i dont have a problem with also the tail is stiff .. and that needs to be redone also it should be alittle more predictable then all random tail slapping.. nice model

[amannin]

the wings feel a little stiff as previously mentioned -- but what stood out to me the most was the glide & the hault before the landing.

i know this is a dragon, but as birds land, they don't flap their wings slowly as they are about to glide to a stop --- more like, glide in to a certain range, pull back hard and flap to dramatically reduce impact, then land with little momentum -- but then your dragon seems more like a bat than a bird, and i have no idea how they land O_o

okay, that last part is kind of iffy on my part, but one thing i am certain of is your hault before landing not looking right.

your dragon seems to come to stop, or slow down dramatically before flapping its wings ---> it needs to be the other way around. his wings need to flap hard before his body arcs back and loses its momentum.

also, i'm not sure about the small flutter of flaps just before landing -- not that they look wrong, but perhaps out of place ---> like would a giant repltilian looking dragon really flutter its wings before a landing..? but then again, i guess that's just speculation.

anywho, hope this was somewhat helpful for you.

[Bluder]

the modeling and texturing are nice but the animation needs work. its kinda stiff and linear.
good luck

[ConwayTwitty]

Hey just watched the the Dragon landing and I have a number of brutally honest suggestions. To begin, the Dragon approach is what we refer to in the industry as extremely stiff. The y orient motion on just the root of your dragon is too slight if not non-exhistant. create more drastic arcs on the root and spine of your character. Second, the wings always seem to zero out making them straight. They absolutlely need flex . Their is not enough if any. A bat wing does move similar to a birds and I suggest you take a close look at Muybridge footage of this to understand proper organic flight movement in the animal species. Third. the landing needs much more work, my suggestion is to redo it completely. Again check out Muybride Flight examples in Birds and you'll have a better idea of what most people in this forum are talking about. Other than that its perfect...

[MsBrisby]

Hey man,

You've got a good start on this animation but I have to agree with previous posters that it needs a little work. I think the main thing is the flap cyle, the pull up of the wings looks nice but when they push down they stay straight, if you can add some overlapping motion, a bend up on the tips as the wings push down on the air. As he comes in to land have him flap really really hard twice instead of hovering and it will help sell his size and weight, something that big can't just glide/hover as he comes in for a landing, he has to work to stay in the air, make sense?

I did see the camera shake but I would make it even more pronounced, He's huge after all :)

and then when he lands have him pause, and recover from the landing, then andd in a little pull in before you have him roar/lunge at camer, it will punctuate the landing and give the motion more texture.

On a side note, I read all the previous posts and I don't feel that they were trying to be malicious, just trying to help. Critique is how we all learn and improve our work, they aren't attacking you personally just trying to help you out :) So try to keep that in mind and try to learn as much as you can from as many people as possible... I've been animating for 4 years now professionally (not counting college) and I'm still learning!

[karabo]

Hey just watched the the Dragon landing and I have a number of brutally honest suggestions. To begin, the Dragon approach is what we refer to in the industry as extremely stiff. The y orient motion on just the root of your dragon is too slight if not non-exhistant. create more drastic arcs on the root and spine of your character. Second, the wings always seem to zero out making them straight. They absolutlely need flex . Their is not enough if any. A bat wing does move similar to a birds and I suggest you take a close look at Muybridge footage of this to understand proper organic flight movement in the animal species. Third. the landing needs much more work, my suggestion is to redo it completely. Again check out Muybride Flight examples in Birds and you'll have a better idea of what most people in this forum are talking about. Other than that its perfect...

I rest my case...

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