CGTalk - VFS_Animation

nomad_girl

07-22-2003, 04:34 AM

thank you all so much for the kind replies--

JulianHo--- yes you are so right! i am a big fan of cirque and it was a strong influence in my project

Carbon- i did use some slight motion blur-- i guess not enough though-- next time i will try a higher setting--

Wesball-- the music is from the soundtrack to Edward Scissorhands, composed by Danny Elfman. I am using the first and second tracks-- Introduction and Storytime. Fox Films has given me the copyrights for a year-- but i think i may have sliced that part of the credits to make the web version smaller----oops!

i am trying hard to find some mirrors because i am afraid my vfs server is shut down temporarily and my abedovia is really crowded-- i will post again soon. please if you cannot download now try again later.

sincere thanks again to everyone for their comments!

LoTekK

07-22-2003, 05:02 AM

That was mind-blowing. The visual style is seriously trippy, and I love the modelling work on the character.

My only crit would be the animation of said character. At times it looks very cool, in that it looks kind of like stop-motion (although I don't know if this was desired or even desirable), but at others it seemed to lack a sense of weight (in the physical sense).

That said, it didn't really detract from my enjoyment of this reel. Great work! :thumbsup:

dpvtank

07-22-2003, 06:12 AM

i am really looking forward to seeing this

I am only getting 0.8 kbps! :eek:

I am pretty sure its gonna be worth it..but any mirrors would be appreciated.

nomad_girl

07-22-2003, 06:25 AM

hi-- sorry for all the delay, i am trying to find mirror sites but i am not having any luck. i do not know how long my vfs server will be shut down and i know my abedovia has become very slow. If anyone can PLEASE help me with mirrors i would sincerely appreciate it.

i can be reached on msn or email and i could send the files.

please help this struggling girl!!!

:cry:

rayz

07-22-2003, 06:29 AM

is there other mirror sites, i can't dl the vid :shrug:, ill try again tomorrow :drool:

manutara

07-22-2003, 06:37 AM

Really nice job Dustin!!! 5 STARS FOR YOU!!!:applause: :applause: :applause:

rayguo

07-22-2003, 06:45 AM

please fix it!

santosLord

07-22-2003, 06:58 AM

I just wanted to say what a great sense of motion and feel you have to that character. I saw a little bit of it but there was silence towards the end, then it just stopped. But from what I saw I thought was really good. Keep up the good work.

symantix

07-22-2003, 07:00 AM

geez rayguo...be patient...it is, after all...free :hmm:

I wish I could give you a mirror...hope you're able to get some soon...looking forward to seeing it when you do...

dpvtank

07-22-2003, 07:01 AM

yup.
btw, nice to see you here symantix.
anyways, I hope she get's the mirrors soon..I gave her some space temporarily on my ftp...but I think there was a problem uploading.

symantix

07-22-2003, 07:08 AM

Hey, Tank. How's it going, my friend? :beer: I've been around CG Talk for awhile, just don't submit too many comments.

Glad to hear you're working to help get a mirror up. Looking forward to seeing this. On the other hand, I hope you're prepared for the bandwidth overload! :D

dooom

07-22-2003, 07:11 AM

:thumbsdow i cant dl it either. i want to see what greatness awaits.

nomad_girl

07-22-2003, 07:45 AM

hi dpvtank!

thank you so much for helping me out-- that is really cool of you.

i uploaded the quicktime mov to your server.... am not sure if it is in the correct place though? please take a look when you have time. if you have the space i can upload the divx too-- was not sure how much space you had--

please let me know the mirror link when you have time

thanks again --:)

liquidik

07-22-2003, 10:24 AM

I'm really impressed!!! The mood, color scheme, music is all top notch. The only critic is for the animation...I know it's difficult to make a character dance...there's lack of weight and balance, I really cannot see where the energy is coming from and where is ending (it all seems like moving "controls").
As an ex professional dancer I know that we (dancers) get a lot of squash and stretch in the body, the energy during spins is all coming from the legs and ending in the spine and head like a vortex (I know it's difficult to understand, and my english isn't helping at all, but that's how it works). Then, if you study some reference, you can see that there's a lot of anticipation in the movements, because a dancer needs a lot of energy to jump and spin....

Anyway...I like that short a lot...soooo beautiful

:applause: :applause:

gladallover

07-22-2003, 10:50 AM

WONDERFULL, BRAVO.

One of the best showreels I've seen this year.
I wish you the greatest of success with your career.

I thought your timing was sweet and the wieght and balance
will come with more time and patience.

A great acomplishment.

modi

07-22-2003, 11:06 AM

:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

for the lack of words , beautiful . She has so much personality, the colors scheme, sound, and modelling n effects were stunning. Since the animation plays a key role in ur film, its very important that u get it more polished. I hate to say this but at times i was getting distracted cause the animation was less finished than the rest of the peice. All in all , it was the most entertaining visual stuff i've seen. Cheers.

RuneV

07-22-2003, 11:38 AM

Excellent work! Love those 'growing motions'!
Wish i could do half of what youve done here! :applause:

Oktavian

07-22-2003, 11:58 AM

Beautiful work! :thumbsup:

el_mone

07-22-2003, 01:21 PM

HOOOO !!!!:applause:
That´s great man!!
I love the colors, the style of animation seems like stop motion technique, uau I like it so much, like a lot the music You´ve choose !!!

Congratulations
Great project.........

coCoKNIght

07-22-2003, 01:25 PM

I'm speachless, excellent work!

JahnkeKong

07-22-2003, 02:38 PM

Wow, the music and animation together make such a beautiful effect, of course it doesn't hurt that I'm a huge elfman fan as well. Nicely done!

fillfree77

07-22-2003, 04:10 PM

That is something, WOW!!!
By the way here is one more mirror for you. I also PMed you.
http://www.3dg.biz/mirror/nomad_girl/

Aelius

07-22-2003, 04:12 PM

Wow! Beautiful work! :applause: There's not much else to say, except well done!

The work coming out of the Vancouver Film School is amazing.

RobertoOrtiz

07-22-2003, 05:12 PM

One of the best reels I have seen this year!

Good work!

-R
Ps
I said it once and I say it again.
CG talk should do an exposure DVD with pieces like this one.

kmachine

07-22-2003, 05:58 PM

Another mirror:

68.107.152.136
port 27779
user: nomad_girl
pass: nomad_girl

Apollux

07-22-2003, 06:02 PM

:applause: :applause: :applause: I wish there were an Icon of a happy face taking his hat off and bowing with reverence. :thumbsup:

dpvtank

07-22-2003, 06:09 PM

nomad_girl:

there you go
people can get this reel (and a few others) from

ftp://cgtalk:cgtalk@dpvtank.gotdns.com:21/

cheers.
dpv

edit: this server should be the fastest for people on Canada....since this server is in Mississauga, Ontario.

edit2: bloody brilliant work. :applause:

aazimkhan

07-22-2003, 06:43 PM

yes, as said very nice colors,lighting and effects for the growing trees or plants...

but the animation is not as good as some of the other work in the peice. As already said, she lacks weight and energy -

This is gonna be a harsh crtic: She looks to be moving continously without stong stops, or sudden start - she seems to move in a constant manner - It reminds of the dancing grasshopper cartoon i rememer seeing somewhere...

in th full body shots, she moves more cartoon style, but when u have a close up of her face - she moves slow and then looks less cartoony and a bit realistic...

but OVERALL - very nice peice.:thumbsup:

TheGreenGiant

07-22-2003, 07:05 PM

Hi!

Fantastic! Fabulous! Frothy!!! VFS again astounds with a stunning piece of work! The short film was a stunning piece of design --> execution. You've used the extrusion technique to great effect (and extremely dissimilar to Kathedral). I love the poetics of all of it. I can't remember the French artist's name who does all them classic Art Noveau pieces but its very reminiscent. The close up of her face and that look of extreme derangement and wonder is fantastic!

LOVE IT!!!

:beer: :beer: :buttrock:

TheGreenGiant

07-22-2003, 08:29 PM

Originally posted by BrandonSSmith

And as for that little stab at the idiot fanboys at the beggining of my post, it wasnt aimed at you, it is meant for all these wandering newbs and fanboys that fail to ever give anything even remotely constructive, and think critiques are lame. They are the worst thing to ever happen to this forum, and it kinda annoys me and they piss me off to no end :) . i mean why cant they post more than one or 2 lines when someone asks for honest critiques? we should all help each other get better, not just sit around stroking each other.

I agree with you on this. Some of the critique you get here is pretty much of the "wow, nothing to critique" wonderful comments but then there is always room for improvement. Folks here aren't that bad though. Head over to the SImply Maya forum and read the incredibly stupid posts - I had a look and well, let's just say I prefer this forum. Even horrendously bad finished work gets the "nothing to critique, wow comments". I know that everyone is trying to learn but critique is good. Critical savage critique with a purpose is better.

That said, I did notice the motion of the character being strange but I felt it was deliberately done to be off kilter (with the nature of the piece)

nomad_girl

07-22-2003, 08:33 PM

thank everyone for all their replies and comments-- they are all very valuable to me.

THANKS SO MUCH to all the guys out there who are helping me with mirrors too!! i really appreciate this.

i know that many people have commented on the animation of my character.... i do know that i need alot more work in this area. i can only hope that it will come with more time and much hard work. i did try to understand the weight shifts into complicated poses but i know this is something that just requires alot of practice. i guess when you are putting together a reel and trying to achieve a variety of different things, sacrifices come at a certain point due to time constraints, like all artistic work. the only thing i can perhaps say in my defense though is that in order to compress my movies small enough for the web i compressed them at 24 frames per second instead of the original 29.97 at which i animated. perhaps this is contributing to some of the "stop motion" effect that several of you have commented on. i am not sure----- regardless, i do know that you guys are right on that i need more study as an animator and it is motivating and challenging to hear.

thanks again so much to everyone for taking the time to watch and comment.

best

dingo

07-22-2003, 09:03 PM

I have to say that this short is Beautiful.

At first I was gonna give a critique similar to what others have said, particularly about the girl's motion. But first I would like to say:

1. The art direction ie. colors, staging. I really liked it a lot. It reminded me of going and seeing a stage ballet. Some of the volumetric lighting was very "stage-like".

2. The modelling of the girl was great. Very Surreal.

3. Music usage was on spot.

Now in regards the animation:

I Really Really Really thought it was great. Before people blast me about squash and stretch, and follow thru ect. Lemme tell you why.

I think the choppiness, and jerkiness added to the presentation. Another feeling I got was like seeing a balerina from a music box come to life. Sort of like the balerina in Fantasia 2000. Like at any moment maybe she would be frozen in a pose. The way she moves makes her beautifully NON-human.

Again let me say I believe and like the 12 rules, and squash and stretch and everything. But really this animation made me think of something inanimate coming to life. Sometimes it's refreshing to see animation that doesn't follow the typical Disney style(which I love also).

The fluid movement of the growing animation, juxtapozed with her choppiness, for me, offered a wonderful subconscieous debate.

Also, I would call this an animated short, NOT a demo reel. I think if you would 'market' it as a short, and use some peices of it for your demo reel it may be more effective for you in the long run. Particularly if you are marketing yourself in the way of Art Direction.

Doing a good traditional style animation would be good, to show that you know that timing as well. (when I say traditional, I am talking about the motion. ie. anticipation, action, overshoot, squash and stretch, etc.) Add that to your reel first. Definitely would need that to get a job. Absolutely do some good "12rules" animation. But for me I think this peice is excellent. Continue to experiment, even after you acheive the industry standards.

Maybe the new renaissance in animation is to twist the old rules. To create an abstraction of those rules. See something that twists what we know of as "good" animation, and make it.

Think of Picasso, some of his earlier stuff was realistic. But his greatest work was abstraction to the established rules.

Putting on my Flack Jacket and Helmet now.

Speaker

07-22-2003, 09:26 PM

Wonderful concept and imagination. This is a superb piece of work. Congratulations on a job very well done.

eddy-3ddy

07-22-2003, 10:50 PM

:bowdown: no crits, just amazing :applause:

Jubay1

07-22-2003, 11:09 PM

That was simply great. Very consistent in the mood, the animation, everything worked so well togather... there were some small things that felt out of place to me..but they have been touched on and what you achieved here is gigantic..so im not even going to waste the space...the music was very Tim Burton... i dont know where you got it but it made your piece that much more magical. Very nicely animated and visually realized..
congratulations on it.
im a fan.

brodie

catbert

07-23-2003, 12:54 AM

truly, this answers the question, "what would happen if tim burton did a movie with psychodalic neon glass scene?"

(EDIT: i see more people noticed the tim burton touch.... if they ever remake the nightmare before christmas in 3d, or do a visualy enhanched dvd of edward scissorhand, you should be their first pick)

AMAZING work. i love small touches, like on the growing veins, you have the "rings". eveything flows freat, the charcter is, of course, amazing, and im a real sucker for spiraly shapes anyways :)

even though im not a big fan of a movie which dosent seem to have any point, im still gaping when i see this :D perhaps im too stoopid to understand anyways. kudos.

:applause:

(i hope you dont mind that bastard tim burton stealing away all your fame. damn him!)

Jubay1

07-23-2003, 02:41 AM

oops..upon reading early post i see you already stated you got the music from Edward Scissorhands... rendering my above comments 50% worthless... anyway.. the music didn't make the piece, its beautiful with or without..

still a fan

dingo

07-23-2003, 02:52 AM

I just watched it again. The movement is perfect.

She really feels like a manequin coming to life, that's what gives it magic.

Almost like she shouldn't be moving, but she is.

If you add in squash and stretch, more weight, etc. I think it would RUIN the feel you have going here.

Like in my other critique, you are gonna need to show some of that in your demo reel. But do not change this. Don't do a George Lucas.

Give you an example. In the first StarWars movie(IV) When Ben and Luke go into town looking for a pilot. The town is desolate. In the 'remastered' versions, the town has big beasts walking around, more people. Even though that was cool. It' lost the flavor/character of the original edit. The old desolate town made it lose it's 'edge'(in some's opinion).

Don't lose the magic. Here's another example (may be a stretch) but here goes. Think of a Superman comic book. It's cool when an artist draws him with big bulging muscles that would be typical of a strong man. But in my opinion there is more 'magic' when an artist draws him less muscular.

Like imagine a 98 pound weakling lifting 1000 pound weight over his head with ease, you think 'AMAZING'. Compared to a muscle bound guy lifting 1000 pounds over his head, you think 'oh there's another strong guy'.

Those may not be the best comparisons, just trying to say that in my opinion her movements are creating that magic for me. If you add good weight etc to this peice it will lose it's magic. It would still be a beautiful peice but I think it would lose something.

Maybe that's part of the reason why Wallace and Gromit, and Nightmare Before Christmast, and Chicken run are still fun to look at, why they can still hold our attention. Because they are not perfect.

Again, I really like this animation. It's beautiful.

Pixel Dust

07-23-2003, 05:17 AM

Right on Dustin. This looks fantastic. I watched as this prioject progress, and I must say I am very impressed. Congratulations! I know you will get a job with this, I and have heard rumor about this going to festival, so congrats to you on that as well. I think this is one of the most beautiful works I have seen yet. :applause:

E-mail me...

DevonH :buttrock:

beatoperator

07-23-2003, 01:55 PM

absolutely great...
music was a BINGO!
that global surreal atmosphere knocked me down...
:thumbsup:
what I don't like in the animation is that ParticleIllusion (or Combustion, don't know, 2D anyway) particles... they look a little bit, hmh, how can I say... ...cheap... maybe some just variation and randomness on their rotation can help and make them much better...

anyway, going to watch it again a few times... :)
keep on rockin':wavey:

reetika

07-23-2003, 02:34 PM

Congratulations on such a beautiful piece.
I saw the whole process of u getting this reel to this level..from character designs to the final look.....u gave importance to every little detail and it really payed off.....
U did a great job!

All the best !!:thumbsup:

Copy and paste

07-23-2003, 06:48 PM

Nice work nomad gal.
But i dont think u can sell this as an animation reel,sorry to be this blunt but we all are in this field and should make each other realise whats right and what not with our critics and comments.

I feel it is visually really appealing,since you have nice modelling,textures,lighting compositing....but when it comes to animation,it looks little choppy.
The principles of animation r not followed to some extent,she is moving but looks like floating as not much weight shift is maintained.
she is doing difficult things...but anticipation in order to do that is kinda missing,that enery is not seen.

But art direction wise,a fabulous piece...
gud work

nomad_girl

07-24-2003, 12:19 AM

hi--- thanks again to everyone taking the time to watch my work and give me comments!!

in many of the posts there have been many points raised about the animation in my piece-- that it needed more weight/balance squash/stretch...... i would like to speak to that again---

dingo----i am really interested in the comments you made--- i really love what you said about my character being like a ballerina in a music box coming to life. i think that now i am finally starting to understand what has happened with my work--- too bad the short is finished now!

when i first began work on this project i was really trying to find my own style of animation and being an avid Tim Burton fan i was really hoping to capture some of his magic, but interpret it in my own style-- using 3d instead of stopmotion. i never intended to create an animation that followed traditional principles or looked realistic/humanistic. this was never the goal at all. i think i always wondered in the back of my mind what would happen if jack skellington hooked up with dangergirl! but in the course of development and discussions with others i think i steered a bit off course from this when i kept getting critiques to make her more graceful.... and fluid. originally i was really hoping to create an original style with the movements and the transition between the poses and timing. i guess i was not very successful with this though-- and i have created an animation somewhere in the middle..... not very effective on either end.

again-- i know that creating a more believable style will come with time--- and you are so right-- picasso's earliest pieces were as realistic as durer's. (not that i am in anyway making any comparisons!) just that you have to walk before you can run---and i think i forgot that. thank you for reminding me!

catbert--thank for your crit too---hehe! i can only dream of working with tim burton!! but in regards to the other.... i guess my concept is not that clear-- well there really isn't much a clear narrative, but a pretty abstract fable of a journey through time, colors/tower are to symbolize the eternal growth and death of seasons and the celebration of life....... oh well--- an excuse to make fun imagery!!!!

copyand paste--- you know where my heart lies...in the art direction. i am trying hard to learn all aspects of filmmaking... but are definitely correct that was my highest priority. i will try next time though not to make so many sacrifices in order to maintain the overall integrity of the work.

thanks so much to everyone else for replying!!

best!

malcolmvexxed

07-24-2003, 04:57 AM

I ereally liked it, I think it held a nice consistency of design throughout. I did have some problems with the animation though, namely where the character lacks weight or loses grace in movement, and when the abstract/curved lines appear too abruptly as opposed to flowing with the music. That is one of the keys I think, with music that non-intrusive, sudden movements stick out all the more. So while i realise you say it was on purpose I don't think it matched the musical accompaniment, I'd even say it contrasted it. To an extent the pacing also wasn't there as I began losing interest about 2/3 through the movie. Very, very good stuff though.

lildragon

07-26-2003, 12:22 PM

Hehe told ya you'd need a mirror ;) this went straight to my inspiration folder. You really did well here. Gotta let me know if you recieved any job offers, send me an email ;)

You have received the CGtalk choice award .Please feel free to display this image anywhere you like! Inspiring 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_july03.jpg

P.S. Please email me @ tito@cgnetworks.com so I can send you the award .psd file

salud

incognito

07-28-2003, 01:10 AM

whoa! that was really beautiful stuff. like the colors and the growing thingis. real fantasy like stuff. the girl was kind of sexy too in a burtonesque-mannequin like way.

great stuff here.

:applause: :applause:

coCoKNIght

07-28-2003, 07:57 PM

congratulations to the award, really great and inspiring work!

mehdianim

07-30-2003, 04:24 PM

I realyl like the film. The character animation is a little jerky sometimes...I still enjoyed watching it a lot. Great Staging.
:applause: :applause: :applause:

Vril3D

08-02-2003, 03:47 AM

Great work Dustin,love the colours and models,lights are very nice in the start scene with the Smokey fog effect.
I love the flying transitions from the ground into the palace at the top of the stalk and then the way everything mood shifts when she finds the ring and floats back down to the ground.
I got a real sense of emotion out of this work.
Fantastic effort

gary hsu

09-04-2003, 07:25 AM

that's is truely beautiful, Dustin, I enjoyed every sec of the reel. I also went to your webpage, seems like you are a person with lots of talent, and interests.

jlramos3d

09-05-2003, 02:02 PM

Impressive!! :surprised

I am very impressed with this work. The model, the animation, the music... delicious

:applause:

Kain

10-21-2003, 01:33 PM

A delicious work. It really demonstrates that you have a great artistic sensibility. I love the world of fantasy that you had created and the way that has of showing it little by little, through their character's dance. I adore the color, the light and, mainly, I adore their character, especially their hands that are really expressive.
Excellent election of the music of Danny Elfman. You have composed a fantasy with a great sense of the pleasure. My congratulations for their work.:drool: :applause: