Animation : NSL ( National Soccer League)

[zzzrByte]

Go ahead, don't be ashamed... It's not soccer... It's FOOTBALL! REAL FOOTBALL! :scream:

As for the animation... It seems like you nailed all the really hard shots perfectly :thumbsup: but still need to work on the most basic ones... The slides, the referee pulling out a card, the free kick and others are perfect... But basic things like walk and run cycles as well as boucing the ball on his leg seem a bit too stiff and robotic.

Also when the goalie was jumping to the side to intercept the ball, the sense of weight as he is flying, is way off... It's like there's a gravitational shift in the middle of his jump... He's flying horizontally towards the ball... horizontally... horizontally... horizontally... then boom he falls down like Wile'E Coyote who just realized he is over a cliff.

And one last thing... towards the end... there's a player down on all fours banging the ground... It was real obvious to me, even when I watched it the first time that it looked wrong because while his upper body (chest, head and arms) was animated, his lower body is totally stiff and still.

All those things are just nit-picking... Overall, it is great! Looks like you had Pele' in your home to do mo-cap.
I can't wait to see the final rendered output!
Do you have some renders of the players to show us?

[zzzrByte]

I like this "stylized style".

However, if you are interested in a more realistic look to their clothing, you might want to desaturate their colors a bit... Colors in real life are rarely this saturated... And I know adding dirt is great for making things more realistic, but I never saw people play football in shirts this dirty... Except for in washing liquid commercials. And it doesn't really look like dirt either... more like a cloudy pattern, like one of those washed out psychadelic t-shirts.

Still if you are going for the sylized look and not a hyper-realistic one, then like I said... I like what you got going there.

[aazimkhan]

UPDATES, UPDATEs, CHECK TODAYS UPDATES.

hey guys,

not many replies, anyways, heres some update.
the animation in here is basic, and needs to be fine tuned.

lemme know what u think
- what can i do to make it a better charac. animation. reel.
- for soccer guys, help me with a little scene based on soccer where my players can do some acting ( like the once i have, refree shows him red card and he tries to fight it)

http://www.aazim.odhn.com/temp/prev2.wmv

heres some screen shots, for those with slow connections and hesitating to watch.
http://www.aazim.odhn.com/temp/soccer_wip.jpg

[zzzrByte]

I'll try and watch it tomorrow (I'm just about to go to sleep right now) but here are a few ideas for football scenes:

A. Maradonna's famous "hand of god" act... When Maradonna scored a goal by punching the ball. The referee didn't notice and approved it, but it was later obvious from watching the replays... Quite a famous moment in football history. Even for someone like me who isn't a big football fan.

B. I don't recall seeing a "wall" in the previous clip you posted. But it is a classic and very tense moment in many games. When a player gets a free kick, not far from the goalie, and the defenders line up in a wall (protecting their crotches with their hands) to try and block him.

C. Another very tense moment in football games is the free kick from 11 meters. The whole outcome of the game can be based on that moment, so it's a very suspenseful moment. It's also a great moment to realy shine with your facial animations, as the goalie and the kicker try to out-stare each other and read each other's minds.

Just a few things off the top of my head.

[Squarecloud]

there are some very nice animations in this reel. I really like the volley shot, very well executed. The keeper trying to save the ball should be improved though.

About scene ideas:

Why don't you try a corner situation. You can have multiple players pushing each other in front of the goal, and the goalkeeper also has to have quite some animation.

Also some celebrations after a goal would be nice. One of the most memorable for me is one of the '94 World cup. Brazil had scored ( unfortunately against Netherlands ) and three of their players lined up at the sideline wiggling their arms simultaniously.

Great job so far on the reel :applause:

*awaiting the next update*

GreetZ

Square

[aazimkhan]

UPDATE

Hello guys,

http://www.aazim.odhn.com/temp/latest.wmv
-run still needs more work ( damn making a good real run is a challenge)
-the hacky-sack play with the ball needs to be refined.
- rest i could use some crits from u guys n gals


C ya.

[DoLeeP]

wwwwwwwwowwwwwwww
very nice moves u got there my freind
good job:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[aazimkhan]

C`mon guys,

Just a few more final critiques would help before i begin the TWEAKS and begin rendering.

I could really really use any and all animation fixes...

Hope to hear something soon...

The link is above...have a look...

[Meshosh]

Well, I could not see the video, but the stills are really great. very nice job.
Just one thing... the stadium looks to small. I think it´s just the camera angle.. you could try to open the FOV a little bit.
Anyway, keep it up:thumbsup:

[mwkmn]

Well, I could not see the video http://www.aazim.odhn.com/temp/latest.wmv seems to be working :)
Great works by the way.
Keep it up!

[brianellebracht]

THis is some really really nice animation. I can't wait to see the final product!!
Brian

[mehdianim]

The animation although it's not mocap has a bit of the same feel: It's a little sluggish. Foot is a pretty intense sport. For instance when your player jumps to do the scisor kick he doesn't really bend his knees and then picks up off the ground, It feels weightless. Many of the kicks could use a bit more snap and power.
I see you've checked out Shaolin soccer :P good reference...
Hope it's coming along good though.

[aazimkhan]

Rendering under process, hoping to get all the final animation ready within next 2 weeks.

Heres is the front of the VHS cover i am designing.

Lemme know what u think.
http://www.aazim.odhn.com/temp/cover.jpg


thanks

[WSzP]

Good job. I love Soccer, so I really like it.

[aazimkhan]

ok guys, long way thru rendering..and still some left...
heres an update, this still contains non-updated scenes with the latest rendered scenes in low quality.

You can watch the update at:
www.aazim.odhn.com/temp/WIP.wmv (http://www.aazim.odhn.com/temp/WIP.wmv)
Note: this is WMV format. Works on WinXP or latest Media Player.

As usual any comms and crits welcome, but would like to hear more on the ligthing, colors etc at this stage.

Thanks.

[KolbyJukes]

It's looking really impressive man! I like it. Good luck with getting that job at EA ;)

-Kol.

[aazimkhan]

update: Oct 01, 2003.
same link as above.

www.aazim.odhn.com/temp/WIP.wmv (http://www.aazim.odhn.com/temp/WIP.wmv )

plus another DivX link.

www.aazim.odhn.com

right-click / save target as
links on main page and wip page.

thanks

[Cazor]

Wow... that was cool. Maybe somehow make the skin a little more realistic (might have been the video quality, though).

Great job though.

[aazimkhan]

Hello guys,

Heres a final update. Next update will be the final version in the finished gallery!... pelase have a look and let me know of any crtics, comments changes etc.

I can still go back fix stuff and re-render!....

Thanks all

Animation:
TOTAL SOCCER (http://www.aazim.odhn.com/temp/WIP.wmv)

[aazimkhan]

.............anybody home!?

[smoke]

very well done.
the music and editing are great
nice use of cameras angles
models fit the style well
animation is a little stiff in some places but overall very realistic

Love the guy 'hurt' on the ground and the other player blowing off the ref

too bad we North Americans have to call it 'soccer' though :)

[Emmortal1]

First off, overall well done, a few things that should be fixed though:

The solo shot of the guy in the yellow jersey doing the juggle, when the ball initially hits him and he traps it with his chest, the player is a bit stiff there, show some more arc in the back and loosen up his movements. The impact is good however, but he needs to loosen up a bit in that instance, when he drops the ball down to his knee, the volly up over to the back of his neck, the volly off from his neck to the his heel is stiff as well. Don't be afraid to overexaggerate those moves a bit, you want to show fluid motion in that sequence, and those two areas are pretty robotic.

The next shot with the player in the blue jersey, the bicycle kick is over all done well, the landing however needs some work. After he lobs it up with his chest and kicks the ball, bring down his right leg at a faster rate than what you have it at. Meaning, going from almost fully extended to hypo extended, bringing his heal further back towards his buttocks, then bring it back out as he hits the ground. The impact as well needs some work. Show more weight in the player as he hits the ground, he lands almost flat on his upper back/shoulders which would cuase a resonance of energy to be dispersed throughout his body causing a bit more flailing of his arms/legs.

The next shot showing footwork of the player by himself. Towards the end of the shot he hits the ball with the outside of his left foot, he looks though however that he skates off from frame, his right foot almost dragging across the floor as he kicks the ball. That's physically impossible to do, you can't change direction while in mid air. Show some power being pushed off, exaggerate that more with his right foot as he pushes the ball with his left, his body needs that momentum to move as well.

The rest of the shots are good, big thing that I notice in the slow mo shot of the bicycle kick. The players pushes off the ground with his left foot, however he speeds up as he lifts from the ground, but his foot stays at the same roll angle. Extend the toes toward the ground more to show that he's really pushing himself up in the air. You might want to check your animation curves as well for the Up (whatever axis it is for your software package) axis, it looks like you have some slow in and slow out there. Also he's going to come down and hit the ground at a slightly faster rate than what he did as he pushed up off the ground, increasing in speed as he reaches the ground.

Also, if you are putting this on your reel, avoid using the same wireframe shot animations more than once, having the same animations from different angles and speeds is ok. But don't use it for filler. Companies want to see 30 seconds of excellent animation, rather than 2 minutes of filler and excellent animation.

Emmortal

[EdmX]

hey dude...i like tha Brazil team....

;)

but i thing you still need more work on the animation...
some movments still doesn´t look rigth...
to stiff...

but getting there...
i like the car scene...

cheers

edmx

[aazimkhan]

Thanks emmortal for the detaled and very helpful reply!.

A lot of ppl are saying the anim is stiff, i was finding it hard to spot the places , after watching its a few times i see them,

but i stayed away from it coz, animating the spine too much to show felxibitly makes it look unreal... -I could be totally wrong.

I`ll go back and fix stuff, the footwork animation, the bicycle etc.

Thanks a lot guys, keep it comin, i can use
all the feedback...

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