Modeling & animation reel

[Vozzz]

not to be harsh, but i got bored after watching the first guy gong the thing, then i scrubbed through the bits that had buffered, and i kinda switched it off.

I'm assuming you want some constructive criticism, and that's why you posted, if you don't want it i apologize:

-The guy at the beginning has no emotion at all. His torso has minimal movement, and there is no reaction of the gong to a hit. Watch someone hit something, video tape it, and see what parts of the body move.

-Read a book : animators survival kit. It should help, i haven't read the whole thing, but i read bits and pieces of it when i can and it is really good.

compare your reel to other reels posted here, try and find the differences in timing and such.

Anyway good luck.

[AhmedTharwat]

not to be harsh, but i got bored after watching the first guy gong the thing, then i scrubbed through the bits that had buffered, and i kinda switched it off.

I'm assuming you want some constructive criticism, and that's why you posted, if you don't want it i apologize:

-The guy at the beginning has no emotion at all. His torso has minimal movement, and there is no reaction of the gong to a hit. Watch someone hit something, video tape it, and see what parts of the body move.

-Read a book : animators survival kit. It should help, i haven't read the whole thing, but i read bits and pieces of it when i can and it is really good.

compare your reel to other reels posted here, try and find the differences in timing and such.

Anyway good luck.

Thanks Vozzz for your interest & advice you are not being harsh, yes I want constructive criticism,this is my first reel it took me 4 months of work & effort, this was one of reasons I posted it.

What I hope for when someone comments is to say what you don't like & what you like (even if it is not animation related) , not for the scene to be too blackish.

You have just watched the intro, I think this isn't enough to judge the reel as a whole.

Waiting for more comments & for the people who didn't watch it yet I'd say be patient & if you have something to add don't hesitate.

Thanks in advance

[Tad Ghostal]

I watched the whole thing. Here's a few thing you might want to consider:

- It gets off to a slow start with the guy walking out to ring the gong, you might want to trim that down so he's already there and ready to swing to get started right away.

- I'd suggest either having a modeling OR animation reel, since when sending it out for jobs you'll usually only be applying for one or the other. But if you want to do both, instead of just having turntables of your characters, put some animation on there, have them doing something, even an idle breathing animation is better than just watching a static character turn oround in circles.

- The textures on the characters seem really flat, add more detail to those.

- The Mortal Kombat-like Vs. screen really isn't necessary and really doesn't serve any purpose.

- The gladiator guy just sort of turns over, I'm not seeing any shifting in his body movement that would make him turn. The snake should be coming at him then he puts the shield up. It doesn't really push him back very much either. The stabbing seems really casual and looks like it's looped, the snake doesn't really react to being stabbed which seems odd. The gladiator just stands there with no reaction to his shield being tossed to the side.

- Really, only the end shot of the running and stopping is necessary, making that 2 shots and as long as it is just seems like time filler. The turn around could use some work too. When the spikes fall on the snake, I think a close, lower camera angle might work better, and the chains falling can be shortened up.

- I don't see how tapping the chain gizmo would make the chain fall, it seems like hitting the lever would be a better choice.

- The guys shooting: The first guy seems really stiff. Also, why is he bringing the target closer to him? Is he a terrible shot? I think usually the targets are put in place then moved farther back. The second guy firing is better, but it seems like all that is animated is his arms, he also seems really stiff. And his movements at the end seem really linear and floaty.

- The guy taking off his sunglasses is floaty also, along with the color highlights being really blown out. You might want to consider having him look at the camera also so there's some sort of audience connection with the character.

- The girl walking at the end is actually pretty good, I'd leave that as is.

- The breakdown and software used doesn't really need to be on your reel. That's more of something you print off to accompany your reel and resume when you send it out.

- It's 4 minutes long and it seems like there's a lot of stuff that seems like filler work just to make it longer. Cut out things you aren't happy with or things you think might need work. If that chops it down to a minute and a half long, that's fine. Your being judged on quality, not quantity.

[AhmedTharwat]

Thanks Tad for your interest,I want to clarify that this reel wasn't aimed for job seeking & I tried to make it short as possiple, be sure that I know quality is what matters the most.

however I thougt that better than (in place animations) & breathing, is putting them in real action.I'm not claiming to be a pixar animator, but I gave it a shot. & I realize I need to improve my self.

-I used mental ray sssSkin & from that camera distance you won't be seeing the details you wish for.

-The (Mortal Kombat Like Vs screen) I think there are many games out there that includes Vs Screens, but no I didn't have that in mind while doing it.

- When I first imagined the fight between the Knight & Python,I didn't know at then how would I make it but here is the story : the Knight was knocked off that is why he was laying unconscious on sand at the scene begining, his sword & shield was close to his hands to make it easy ,when he started awakening, he finds a giant python in front of him, he turns over to avoid the python's attack. How would the Knight kill the python,there were other options like cutting the Python's head, may be the knight was powerful enough to drop a pillar on it. How do you suggest the Python reacts ? a snake of that size, staped by a sword !, when the shield was tossed the camera closed to the python's head & at that time the knight started to run, this was his reaction to the shield being tossed.

for this scene particularly I really hope to see how would it have been animated & directed by one of the top professional animators.

- it's a large temple, I made the knight's run in two shots to give that impression, no way the knight will run all that distance from one side of the temple to the other side in one shot, It wasn't a time filler dear Tad. I will work on the camera & turn around by God's willing

- The mechanism of the chain wasn't clear enough : welded to the end of the chain roller was a toothed gear, just beneath it lies a metal rod which prevetns the gear from spining in one direction, the lower end of the metal rod is welded to spring ,pulling it close to the gear. When the knight hit the metal rod it moved little bit allowing the gear to spin freely & due to the spikes mass pulling the chain with it, the spring resistance is compareless to the spikes weight.

- I agree with you that the 1st colonel is stiff ,I will work on smoothing it out by God's willing , but the seconed colonel I tried as much as I can to make him look realistic, I watched shots for real people firing that MP5, I followed their movements, & yes all that moves is their arms, I didn't notice any belly shakes !. and that sudden lean forward is what happens in reality, if you have watched mp5 shooters, you will realize.

-I'll omitt the breakdown

-again I wasn't doing any time fillers, as I don't need to, if this how you see it , it makes me feel sorry really.

[Tad Ghostal]

Before you started your scene with the snake did you do any storyboards or sketches of poses you want the character to hit? That can really help a lot.

[AhmedTharwat]

No, I didn't do any storyboards or sketches, the whole scenario was in my imagination, it wasn't translated on paper. sure your advice would have been helpful.
But as I was working on this reel by my self alone, starting from the modeling process, going through texturing, rigging, animation, lighting, rendering & compositing. I was eagerly looking forward to see the final result of my work, some phases which take place in a team work enviroment were dropped.

[njiok]

that is not bad.
be frankly,I think that is nice one.
that is good.

[AhmedTharwat]

Thanks njiok for your opinion.

[FNC]

I saw the all thing but I didn´t read all the comments that you got so far.
My suggestion is to divide the reel. If you wanna go for a modeling position and an animation position just create 2 different reel.

In the modeling reel put each characters in texture, shaded and wireframe mode in 3 different phase and then show textured, shaded and wireframe the enviroments.
In this way you will have characters and enviroments in 2 different phase, but you don´t need to separate it with words, just don´t mix them. When you finish to show your characters then show your enviroments.

For the animation reel I think you should improve your animations skill by studing books such as Animation survival Kit and Timing for animators (for exemple) and then in your animations reel put just your animations.

Last thing, don´t waist time with audio/sound effects, nobody cares unless you don´t want a sound FX position. Just show your best in a simple way.

If I were you I will not put any intro animation, just your name with contacts and then start with your stuff.

If this help.
bye!

[AhmedTharwat]

Thanks Fnc for your interest, you should have read through all the comments, including mine, your opinion & advice surely will be considerd by God's willing.

[ndeboar]

Hey mate,

Just watched your reel.

Make your reel no longer than 1 minute long. I have been doing this stuff for 10 years, and my reel is 1:30. Employers have no patience, they wont probably watch past the first animation with the gong.

There is also one about 1 minute of decent work here, a lot is padding. I think the only animation i liked was the girl walking, and her model isnt bad either. The gong has to go, its probably the weakest part, and its the first thing you see. If your not good at texturing, dont show any, just have matte models. The lighting is really flat, maybe just use occlusion. The short film with the snake doesnt work for me, i would drop it.

Specialise. Maybe split this into two reels, animation and modelling. If you apply for a modelling job, they are not going to want to sift through your reel to find the bits that are relevant.

Good luck! There are hints of potential in your reel, you just need to show your BEST work and drop the rest. Even if you reel is 20 seconds long, make it perfect, not filler.

Nick D

[AhmedTharwat]

Thanks alot ndeboar for your interest, advice and encouragement, I wish you have read through the previous comments including mine. It makes me feel sorry to see these words "filling & padding", because I don't need fillers, if you took a minute of your time to read, you would have noticed it has been said before. It's not a grocery bag (oh! wait there is room for more) & definitely it wasn't an attempt for a world record (the man with longest showreel in history). I will work hard on improving my self by God's willing & for the scene that doesn't work for you ,I'll be so happy if you have seen a simillar shot for such a fight, that you can share or if you or someone have better ideas about the best way to direct the scene.

Thanks again.

[ndeboar]

Dont worry about "direction", your not trying to get a job as a director. Just keep it simple, have a look at some other animation/modeling reel.

Best of luck, i honestly think if you focus on what your best at youll have a great reel.

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