"[Schlitzy Screentest contest] Pequod's WIP"

#35

getting better all the time and I still love this!

1- what’s the strange shadow that appears back where he came from when Schlitzy is in mid-rotate on the stool?

2- not quite so convinced with the end of the rotate on the stool. First time I watched it it almost seemed like he jumped into a fairly steady position. I’d like to see him stagger a bit more after he’s come off the stool.

I agree everything Drakkheim said about the eye expressions but
3- Shouldn’t his hands show the transfer of body weight a bit more onto the seat of the stool before he loses balance?

I know I’m probably being a pain but if he loses balance it’s because he’s trying to lean on the stool? Presently he seems to tap the stool then fall over.
Hope that helps - feel free to ignore me!

#36

WOW … WOW … WOW! That’s your second pass?!? That is awesome! I’ll be happy if my final animation is even half that good. I really like the way you captured the character. The fall is also great. Nothing else to add really that hasn’t already been said. I’m certainly inspired to work even harder on my entry. Can’t wait to see it when you’re done.

:bowdown:

Kevin

#37

John,
No penumbra or Reel smart motion blur, but the rest of your guess is right. Reel smart has problems with dark scenes.

Dagooos,
Thanks. Actually, I did plan out the original idea, hence the storyboard. However, I abandoned that idea, whereas this one has just grown ‘organically’ so to speak.

Alfiebabes,
Thanks for the suggestions.
(1)The strange shadow I hadn’t noticed, but it’s to be expected with z-buffered lights.
(2)The stool does need another couple of little settling hops as it comes to rest.
(3) His hand is searching for the stool, not tapping it. If you are misreading this I’ll have to make it clearer. I’m going to keep the smile on his face for longer, in his inebriated state he would not necessarily be too aware of most things that are going on -like a misplaced chair.

Cosmonaut,
Actually this is more of a third pass, sorry everyone for misleading you. My excuse, is that after about the second pass, I don’t really do passes anymore but jump around the timeline fixing things as they occur to me.
:blush: I reckon I’ve spent about two weekends working on Schlitzy so far, animation and rigging.

#38

Awesome, Stephen!

About the eyes: Maybe you should try adding a glow (increase the ambience) to the whites of the eyes? That would make the iris and pupils look darker in comparison. Increasing the size of the pupils is a very good idea, too, 'cuz the room he’s in is fairly dark.

I hope you’ll add some secondary motion to his hat? I want to see the rear pouch fly out, with centrifugal force, when he spins around on the chair! Be sure to make the pouch come to a rest immediately after he stops moving, to suggest its weightlessness. What am I doing, telling YOU how to animate?!? :beer:

'Looking forward to seeing the next pass! :slight_smile:

Sincerely,

Carl Raillard

#39

IIt just looked tat at some points the creasing of the clothing seemed too much, but now that I watched it again I think I’ve changed my mind :).

#40

:bowdown: Wow wow wow! That is some beautiful animation! :bowdown:

#41

Originally posted by pequod
BThe strange shadow I hadn’t noticed, but it’s to be expected with z-buffered lights.
(2)The stool does need another couple of little settling hops as it comes to rest.
(3) His hand is searching for the stool, not tapping it. If you are misreading this I’ll have to make it clearer. I’m going to keep the smile on his face for longer, in his inebriated state he would not necessarily be too aware of most things that are going on -like a misplaced chair.
[/B]

Hi Pequod.!
I originally thought the shadow was a way of describing some off-set action - like whoever had obviously pushed schlitzy out to do his test closing the stage-door.
Now you mention the stool… it does stop very suddenly doesn’t it? I actually meant Schlitzy’s stance. (I downloaded and watched your first pass again in comparison with a friend - she felt the first was “tighter” in some ways?)
Re: stool - I see what you mean now about reaching for the stool. He does move closer to the stool before reaching for it - maybe sound could tell that part of the gag I suspect?

I’ll shut up now!

#42

Originally posted by pequod
[B]

I animated him on my G4 Mac, (I’ve put a 1.2 Gig processor upgrade in recently). However, when it came time to render him with his hair on, it would always crash. So I rendered him on the PC (1.4 Gig) and it took the best part of the day to complete. It averaged 50 seconds per frame (approx 750 frames). [/B]

Stephen,

I’m getting crashing when trying to render with z-buffered shadows when the hair is on, also. When I render it with raytrace shadows, I’m getting render times of just over two and a half minutes per frame. I’m on a dual gig G4 w/1.5 GB ram. Ugh. I may have to settle for no AA in my final entry. I don’t have time to let my only machine just render all day.

No big deal, the quality of my render isn’t going to help me win this contest anyways! :stuck_out_tongue:

Love your work, Stephen!

Jim

#43

Carl,
The droopy bit of the hat at the moment has got a dynamic constraint applied to it’s bone. The motion it produces is erractic, sometimes not moving at all. I can’t be fussed to work it out, so it’ll be simpler to just hand animate it, then if it doesn’t look right I’ve got no one else to blame other than myself. I think there was some notion going round that if you reversed the orientation of the dynamic bone, the simulation would be more accurate.:shrug: I think this is a question for Joe W.

Zaryin,
Jim has cleverly modelled in folds in the clothes which actually deform rather well when moving the character around. Anyway, as long as you’re happy now :wink:

Kricket,
Thanks. I think your Katrina character definately has the Wow Wow factor.

Alfiebabes,
His dismount from the stool hasn’t had much additional work done to it since the first pass. The mo-blur might make it look a little different though. But you might be on to something, I need to reexamine this section.

Jim,
Thanks for the info, raytraced shadows with hair is just not on. I use my Mac mostly for work as well, so the PC has become the render machine. Another advantage of having more than one computer when using AM, is if there is a problem in a project on the Mac, it’s occasionally rectified by opening it up on the PC and indeed visa-versa. Also good for double checking bugs.

#44

Hey Pequod, the dynamic constraint problem only uccurs when you use a single bone. If you just give the chain two bones then it would be sorted. Whether or not it will look just how you want it is another thing. These things may be changed by the next update though (if it ever comes :slight_smile: ).

Check here for more on DC’s,


Joe and I am trying to get other people to ditto any of these requests if they want to.

#45

Hi Gang,

www.hash.com/users/milos/schlitzy3.mov

Latest Schlitzy updates:

Fixed droopy bit of hat, got rid of dynamics. (John Keates)
Improved spin on stool, (Alfiebabes)
Now brought to you in glorious sound,
Increased ambience in eyeballs (Carl Raillard)
Reintroduced bottle (apologies to Kevin if this looks too familiar)

#46

Oh my…

That is just ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!!

The sound is excellent and adds so much to the whole thing. All the tweaks raised it to another level.

Thanks so much for doing this contest, Stephen. I always wanted to see one of my characters animated well. This is better than I hoped for.

Jim

#47

Once again Stephen, that is awesome. And how could I complain about the bottle? It actually leaves his hand in your animation :thumbsup: I take it you are finished? Amazing job.

Kevin

#48

Thanks Jim,

It’s been a pleasure constantly hitting that render button and revealing Schlitz in all his textural goodiness.:cool:
Judging from the other entries so far, your character is certainly going to be brought to life, it’s a shame there haven’t been more participants, but hey.
Like you say, the music (Mr. Men theme) has really helped. With just sound effects, it was too stark.

Kevin, I’m glad you don’t mind. I’m not finished yet, a few more tweaks and a proper render is required.

#49

the Mr Men didn’t just bring back memories (:beer: ) it fit the sequence perfectly!

Really fantastic work Stephen, and I now understand one of the little jerks Schlitzy made - it was a hiccup. :blush:

#50

Wonderful stuff Steve!!! You use of timing and balance (particularly to animate a drunk guy) is terrific!!

I would have loved to enter the contest, but the last month has been crazy, as we have just had our first child. Which has been wonderful (but a little tiring, 5 hours sleep isn’t really enough for me to work on I have discovered).

Shaun

#51

Congratulations, Shaun! You’ll never “animate” anything better than your own child. :slight_smile:

Jim

#52

Thanks Alf and Shaun,

Shaun, I suppose I’ll have to concede that the ‘bleary eyed father’ is a good enough excuse…for the time being :wink:

Ah, I now understand where the inspiration for your cuckoo chick in diapers comes from.:wise:

#53

Sorry, but I’m afraid I must complain. To both Stephen and Jim Talbot.

I downloaded Stephen’s WIP yesterday, and whilst viewing it, my 18 month old son climbed on my lap. He now DEMANDS that I play the animation as often as possible. I can’t get any work done!!! I’m falling behind my deadlines, I’m not getting any time to myself. My computer does nothing but show Shlitzy!!!

Seriously though, guys. Fantastic animation and superb modelling. Really nice work.

Mark

#54

Not my fault, it was Jim…he started it.:stuck_out_tongue:
Cheers for the nice words Mark.

Stephen.