The Shadow Hunter (CG Shortfilm)

[Leomhann]

Hey Great Work !

The camera movements are very good !

I really like the story.

Good job !

[liquidik]

Hey man, that's a great work!

I'm a little picky on cel shading but I have to admin yours is very well done. The story is funny and the animation is great!

Gian

[sachin3d]

good work man, liked it. but at places animation looked floaty to me. but over all its good.

[joancabot]

Hi Again,
Thanks guys for your comments. Part of the motivation behind the film was to create a celshading look that was as close to a 2d project as possible. I hear you about how cheap the celshading can look but I personally think it's a great option if is used with the right character/overall design. Is hard to get nice lines from cg geometry, specially in organic characters, so they must be processed somehow to give them a smooth continuity. In this case I used a flash renderer in maya and I edited the vector lines in flash, removing unnecesary detail. I also used a lot of deformation over the face and extremities to break the usual stiffness of the otherwise perfectly constant cg geometry. The idea was to give some imperfection to the render through the squash and stretch and followtrough principles. Of course all that can be pushed a lot further.
I agree the animation can be a bit slow or floaty. I was't the most snappy animator by the time. I did most of the animation of the kid in the short, but not all shots.
Here you can see some renders of the character at a Higher resolution.

P.S. Thanks for your reply Sachin. Say hi to Manu for me :)

[Dresse]

very nice !! loved it!
even the credits are nice :)
great job !

[heardfamily]

Bravo - it has a really great 'comical' feel to it. I wish I could create something like this...

Congratulations, this is an achievement you should be proud of!

[secondarymartin]

the lens flare didn`t quite fit for me, but that`s a minor quibble :D
i really enjoyed that!

[Xufo]

Great short!!!

One of the best cell-shading style i ever see, and the credits are pretty good!!

[joancabot]

You are right secondarymartin,
using post effects like lens flare when the rest of the elements are defined by flat colors was a wrong decision. Is important to keep the same level of abstraction (iconicity?) through all the movie. A realistic effect like the lens flare just don't match with the stylized design of the film. Good eye.

[yuriythebest]

the character animation was top-knotch! The way he moved was very expressive, as was the facial animation. I also loved how at first a flash-looking scene in the beginning when you zoom into the house becomes 3d later on. any chance of a high-res version?

[3dcga]

Sweet! Love the animation. Although the story was pretty predictable but still enjoyable. :)

[Xirimbolo]

I really enjoy with this short film, I saw it before and it was an inspiration while I was studying.Congratulations! ;)

[Animals]

i must say i reallly enjoy yor film really really much
let me tell you why:

first: the style is just so cartoonish and amazing and fun and perfect just perfect

sexond the music was so fit

third: the little tension and story behind is cute and short but very nice and the biggest reason this is a good short is because you dont use any speaking.. you are a hero thats how its gonna be done no damns blablablablababa just classical animation like tom and erry

keep up the good work

my only crit is that is maybe the lens flare that looks little odd it aint fit perfect

but overall this movie is a 9,9 outa of 10

[joancabot]

Thanks for the comments,

yuriythebest, I would love to post a better quality quicktime but I have no idea about where to upload it. Any sugestions?

3dcga, you are right, the story is predictable. I failed to create a mistery because the first time the little girl appear is too evident who or what it is. Originally that first shot with her as a silouette was meant to be more scary and undefined, but the resulting final animation didn't pass the quality bar so I had to reuse the girl from another shot at the last minute. But as you say I think is still enjoyable. Cheers.

Xirimbolo, saludos amigo, gracias por el comentario. Suerte en ese nuevo proyecto en el que andais metidos. Que las meigas esten de tu lado.

Animals, Although I know the story and animation is far from perfect I really apreciate your post. I really had a great time doing the film. The best way to learn.
I'm a hundred per cent with you about the talking in animation. I hate the direction animation has taken in the last years where all the storys are speech driven. It's too TVish I also hate when real people talks too much :)

If I find Somewhere to upload it I'll post a high rez version and some test animations.

Bye.

Joan.

[artichaud]

well... I didn't like it. Sorry. the rendering is not my type, i don't like the facial expression, some movements are floating... I know i seem hard but it stays a study film and i know how it's hard to achieve this kind of thing.

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