Animation Demoreel : Dan Paladin

[natec]

I really dig this, but have been waiting too too long to see more Koy stuff!! Why can't you make some more animations with this character?

What are these secret "newer" projects you have in the works? Any previews available?

-nate

[ytrabbit]

One question, if you had no hand in those game segments what are they doing on your reel?

I must be smoking the wrong brand...:surprised

[o-phile]

oO
is that.... dare i say it?.... WHACKED!

THE online game for xbox live? what did you do in it exactly?
oO i love that effin game!

[synj]

Originally posted by ytrabbit
One question, if you had no hand in those game segments what are they doing on your reel?

I must be smoking the wrong brand...:surprised

I didn't say I had no hand in those. :) I animated them and did some design for the characters regarding the 'whacked' sequences. I did not model or texture them though. Anticz rigged and modelled the characters, and they were textured by several people. He also did half of the 3D animation for Whacked, which of course I don't have in my demoreel except for maybe a character here or there running in the background (though the compression quality is bad enough that you can't really see them).

o-phile: I did a lot for whacked, fortunately! it was incredibly fun. I did half the in-game and cinematic animation. For the 2D cinematics, I wrote and animated them as well as some voice acting. I also got to get my hands on alot of character and weapon design and am the voice of Toof. :)

natec: sorry, I gotta keep 'em secrets!

[LPlasma]

Nice, but a higher quality version would be good, in the ingame sequences it's kind of hard to see a lot of the animation due to the compression + such. Also I'd consider cutting a few of the death sequences, they are nice, but you possibly had a few too many. Runs/jumps/something to replace a few would be a good idea IMO.

[baglunch]

I love the animations on your site, but the reel you linked up makes them feel a bit choppy. Is it my computer (a dual dual xeon) or the compression or what? I love the guy dying to the music, but I don't think this reel does justice to your animations. Too much video game that you can't really make out what's happening, and not enough of the synj animations that we all know and love.

[eezie]

ahahha, that was fun to watch. not many demo reels ive seen (not that ive seen a WHOLE lot) have been 'fun' to watch, impressive, yes, but fun.. no.

Im ore than positive you'll get into the biz NO problem, your style of animation is too good for you NOT to be doing what you love for pro wages.

good luck, keep freakin' it.

[ed209]

I have to agree with baglunch...I visited your site and I don't think the reel you cut does justice to your skills. You have allot of stronger clips that you could draw from instead of having all the game cycles. Use those clips that showcase your best work, your only as good as your weakest animation.

[.FX.]

Hahaha! Great video Synj, loved the music :love: :buttrock: :airguitar :buttrock:

[synj]

oof, that's a bummer. I sort of see what you mean after watching it back. But what, by example, do you think some of my better shots are from the work on my site?

Most of the work is old and will be completely replaced with my new material in the new reel, but I'm very curious to hear your thoughts on it!

I'm a bit torn because I can't really show the entire short or anything to get all the magic across, ya know?

eezie: thank you! :cool:

[ed209]

Really you could get away with just useing one of these shorts as your reel. They're very profesionally done and show that you have a great sense of timming. The two that really stand out in my mind are:


THE CONTINUANCE OF KOY (..part 2..)
MISTER GHRIB : CUBE COLLECTING: PART 1

There are allot of beutiful shots to draw from both of these. I love the paint on the feet of the orange dude and I love that chase around the blocks between the black snarly creature and the blue guy. These 2 animations alone put you in a whole different league of quality then any clip that I saw on your demo reel. Don't worry about your reel telling a story unless you plan on using one of your shorts. If your just cutting stuff together, break apart these shorts to highlight your stronger work.

[The Magic Pen]

I'd hire ya .. :beer:

[Larry_g1s]

I'm currently checking out your stuff, but I'm just curious...is this the same Paladin from IGN? (it's me Megatron30 from IGN)

Pretty cool demo reel.

[anticz]

Yay, it's like yak butter and yak hides for all my friends. Let me know if you need help encoding your new reel. Wheee. :)

[CGmonkey]

rock on!!! awesome reel! :):buttrock:

[Briareos]

groovey.

[Knox]

I haven't seen your reel yet but I'd like to tell you
that I've always been a big fan of your animations

I consider the animations of your site as some of the best that can be found and I advice people to see for themselves

[Aros]

I love the way how that 1st char's head isn't attached to his body :D

Nice, really nice :thumbsup:

[webfox]

Let me add to this back patting ceremony by saying that I've been a huge fan of your work, too, Dan. Whenever I start dating a new woman, I show her your animations. If she gets them or at least likes them, then she's golden. :thumbsup:

I'm still waiting for the rest of your reel to come in, but I wanted to say that I, too, am eagerly awaiting more Koy and Ghrib.

[ninjacore]

papa loves mango!!!:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

unless you were going for a 3d job, i'd shove in a lot more of flash animation stuff, especially the blue synj character, who i think has a lot of personality! but i had a quick look at your short avi's and i liked the bones set up of the yellow guy dancing, maybe you should add more of this kind of thing into your reel.

But good job anyway, i've been a fan of your flash stuff for ages after seeing it all on newgrounds.com .The game with the little green guy blew me away!

oh yeah.....san diego is a wicked place!!! (i'm jealous):thumbsup:

:buttrock:

[SGT.Squeaks]

Originally posted by webfox
Let me add to this back patting ceremony by saying that I've been a huge fan of your work, too, Dan. Whenever I start dating a new woman, I show her your animations. If she gets them or at least likes them, then she's golden. :thumbsup:



haha!! thats halarious because I do the same thing. If they like the animations then that girl is a keeper, if not then it just wouldn't work out.

[webfox]

No.... Papa love MAMBO!

This is Mango...

[lildragon]

Very nicely put together! I really loved the soundtrack you choosen cause it added to the general fun of your animations. This is most definitely professional level work. Absolutely loved it!

You have received the CGtalk choice award .Please feel free to display this image anywhere you like! Incredible work.

upon receiving this award, it guarantees you a spot in the cgtalk gallery hall of fame (http://gallery.cgtalk.com) - which you are now placed

http://www.cgtalk.com/plug_award/cgtalk_award_mar03_2.jpg

P.S. Please email me @ tito@cgnetworks.com for the award .psd file

salud

[Flog]

Synj? Hmmm sounds familiar....looking at the character... looks familiar, the style anyways....hmmmm

Dude I got it, your the one who made those tight animations on Newgrounds, actually moving, breathing good stuff. WOW. Nice to meet ya.

Great work. Very inspiring. I wish I could hire you. You rock. Working with you would be awesome!!! Keep up the good work.

Shawn

[Dominique]

Small white cubes,

that was terrific, neat , great,

*****

[CADster]

excellent timing :thumbsup:

your demo reel is great IMO. it shows your work in a released title as well as a link to your site where anyone interested can see additional pieces.

[synj]

haha wow i never knew there were a couple people out there who use my films as some type of, uh.. woman-checker :) haha

wow, thank you for the award! i am honored!

yeah you guessed it ninja, its more of a reel aimed towards 3D oriented animation job stuff.

ah, i feel so wonderous today! :beer:

[mjm]

You rule, Dan. :airguitar
-Chez

[Royal]

Your shit is the best, always :buttrock: :buttrock:
Man.. laughed alot at the first gag, more!
:thumbsup:

[muckywetnoodle]

Nice work! Those Whacked ads are a gas.

[Toxic Frog]

I'm a big fan of your stuff - especially the Mr. Ghrib and Koy shorts. Your demo reel's great, but I suggest that you make sure potential employers see some of your loony personal projects in their entirety.

I'd recommend starting your reel with the 'Wait here to be animated' piece (or at least including it somewhere. It shows comic ability and communicates your animator instinct).

You also might want to consider, at the end of your tape (the screen giving your name and phone number), have a message saying something along the lines of 'Stay tuned for Paladin cartoons', and include your shorts in full after the closing screen. That way you don't make your demo too long, and people watching it have the option of checking out your great shorts.

At the very least your demo package should include a CD with your best shorts on it, and make sure the VHS tells the viewer that the CD has several shorts in their entirety.

Include Alien Hominid on the CD as well - I think that would really impress a game studio.

Just my two cents - some of your stuff is priceless, and you want to draw attention to it so potential employers will check it out.

Keep up the excellent work - I'm sure you'll find a job in no time!

[CGSisdead]

absolutely great stuff :thumbsup:

I nearly fell over with laughter when that little creature tried to spell it's name. :D
I haven't been laughing like this since I saw that simpsons episode with the 1000 Homer clones (You know,when the first one dies trying to change the lightbulb ? ) !!!!!

Damn funny :D :D :D :D

[synj]

toxic frog: thanks! I actually did consider doing that for this particular reel by putting things at the end, but for the online version that would be just way too big of a file i think. maybe in the next one I'll include them on the VHS. :D

I've been trying to figure out the best way to capture footage of the flash games for my reel. any ideas?

H13: hah, thanks! Toof was probably by far the most fun I've ever had voice acting. P.S. I dig your work!

[Toxic Frog]

I've heard good things about a screen capturing program called 'Camtasia'. I haven't used it myself, but from what I understand it lets you record any portion of the screen (full frame to designated size/location). It might be just what you need to record some Alien Hominid for your reel (I think it would be a good idea - it's full of style and quality - be sure the viewer understands it's an actual working flash game).

I'd also suggest you include the playable game itself on the CD - that's good stuff to show off when applying at a game studio.

Rock on, Synj!

[mactabilis]

Im thinking there should be more variety.. There's a lot of neat stuff of yours that isn't in there.. Synj stuff, etc.. Just clips of other stuff I think would be better than those death anims.. even though they are good, they get old right after each other.

[webfox]

I dunno... the part where he's singing "He goes fast, she goes slow"... and the deaths are a fast one and a slow one cracks me up every time. I was amazed at how the piece was put together and fit so well with the choice of music.

The numberous deaths are repetitious, but with a purpose.

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