Animation: Student Film

[melicion]

I liked it... but I was also was one of the people who worked on this jem. So yes... feedback is very welcome.

[Rodi]

my speakers arent working so i got no sound...watching it the first time it's difficult to tell what it's all about...

But 4 months learning maya and you done this as a group...thats very good guys, lots off good modelling animation etc...Im not sure about the camera work in some scenes... a bit 2 amateur'ish compered to the rest of it.

[Johnny_Cannuck]

Yeah, the camera move with the big laser/bomb thing are not very good, but such is the result when you let an someone else render the final scene...do I have to do everything myself....*sigh*

:beer:

[melicion]

I didn't do those camera views either so don't blame me... but remember that they are a product of our time restriction. Only had three weeks to produce this unfortunately. :hmm:

[HippieKiller]

That is surely the ugliest Porsche ever!

[webfox]

I know how difficult it is to get anything done in that short amount of time, so let me preface this by saying that I'm not dishing on your job... I just noticed some things that could use improvement.

The look is somewhat inconsistent. The Bladerunner-esque scene is medium quality. The robot army and rocket cannon are low, Lego-style quality, and then Ace is higher quality, but not consistent with the look of everything before him.

What happened with the bridge he jumped on? The attached image is composited from about 2 or 3 frames apart, then split, and overlapped to show what I'm talking about.

The camera shots in the robot army scene aren't great, but that can't be changed now. It is disappointing to you, but don't pass the buck. Being in charge of a team means you're in charge and responsible for the final look. Low quality renders of the shots or animatics in previs would have helped a lot.

It may not be award winning material, but you accomplished a lot with a small team and new software. Don't knock yourself down over it. The next project will be better and so will the one after that. Then pick out the best parts from all of them and slap them together into your demo reel.

It's important to do well, but it's just as important to keep things in perspective, not give up, and to strive for continual, personal improvement.

(and, you know... you take home the scene files, work them over yourself and beat on them until you're happier, and you'll have even better stuff for your reel without starting over from scratch.)

Good luck in all things.

[CGmonkey]

Some scenes work, some scenes don't.

But consider your conditions that's a really nice movie! :thumbsup:

[Johnny_Cannuck]

Thanks for the crits guys!

I agree with almost everything you've said, and given the chance I'm sure we could do a project that was twice as good in half the time. It was, however, a great learning experiance not only in problem solving within MAYA but in working in a team. My group had people of different skill levels and some parts are far better than others but again, we have been using MAYA for 4 months total and this was the first group project we've done so all in all; I'm pretty happy with it.

Just wait until you see the stuff we start putting out over the next 4 months, it will be killer!

Oh, and to the dope who didn't like my "Porsche" it's a hover car with directional anti-grav engines where the wheels would be and it's based upon elements of a few different cars of the 1930's.
I was going for a Blade Runner meets Dick Tracy kind of look, not a Porsche...

[melicion]

Personally I can't figure out why the texture dissapears in the last shot. Glitch in maya is my guess... although we rendered out that scene countless times and that came out being the best render. Oh well.

[RedSilas]

Interesting clip. There are a few good shots but the over all camera work needs help.

Some of the animation is also pretty rough. I understand the time frame but there really wasn't that much animation. The most technical animation was the run cycle (2 sec), the fight (2 sec), and the jump (3 sec). (I'm not bothering with the ships because they are simple to animate.)
I believe the clip would have been stronger if more focus was put on the animation of these three. Also the environment was pretty week. Texturing needs help, lighting was pretty good, and the environment and character models need work. (overly simple)

I'm not trying to be jerk here. Really. Over all it looks like you guys have some promise and that's all it takes. Continue to work hard and the only thing you can do is improve. Good luck!

[Phattro]

I'm only going to say a few things about the visual of your piece...since character animation is not my specialty.

You need to work on dramatic lighting and texturing of your scene...even if it's a day time sequence...it looks evenly lit and the textures are still flat. I also have to agree with Webfox on the inconsistency of the look.

overall...the trailer doesn't stand. I think that you and your team were spreading yourselves too thin in a short schedule. You might want to focus on only certain aspect.. for example minimize multiple character work, the number of set pieces, and camera movement. Then you will be able to focus on what you got and push it to maximum potentials...

this is my humble opinion.
good luck.

Phattro
---------------------


Factor City; My digital set post (http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62974)

[webfox]

I think that you and your team were spreading yourselves too thin in a short schedule.

This problem is the fault of the course designer and instructor. I looked up Johnny's profile and saw that he's signed up with one of those places that gives itself an impressive sounding name for a place that's only been around for 8 years or so.

Okay...so I said that off the top of my head and decided to follow up by checking out where he's going to school. Here's the quote from their site:

Applied Multimedia Training Centres were incorporated in January 1992 and since 1997 have been under the auspice of Mosaic Technologies Corporation, a publicly traded company on the TSX Venture Exchange.

These guys are not going to the Vancouver Film School nor Ringling. They're really going to a place that set itself up to teach website and macromedia Director skills, but that has expanded by hiring new teachers in the new field.

If you look at their site further, you'll see:

Registered as Private Vocational Schools under the Private Vocational Schools Acts of Manitoba and Alberta, AMTC are academic colleges devoted entirely to teaching professional computer graphics, animation, multimedia and Web design/e-commerce while setting the standard in graduate excellence.

Sounds like some lawyer's weasel-words to get around having to say "unaccredited, non-degree granting institutions."

Their next projects will be better, but I think they're going to have to take it upon themselves to learn the fundamentals of theater, drama, storytelling, lighting, and art, because this place they're going isn't doing much of a job of it.

Bad school. :thumbsdow

[melicion]

Yes I hear you on the bad school part. Although were trying to get the most out of it while we are here since we spent a hell of a lot of money to be here. =P

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.