Animation Acting Challenge #8: Post Progress, Start May 16th - End June 18th

#1

Animation Acting Challenge #8

EXTENDED DEADLINE to June 25th

There are two topics to choose from

1. Athletic Event (you can choose any sport or Olympic event)

Or

2A. Audio Clip from [i]The Last Starfighter[/i] (download attached file or follow link)
Alien: “The last starfighter…”
Xur: "Is dead! The last starfighter is dead! Nothing can stop us now. Ahead full! To Rylos! "

For higher quality of audio 2A. Note: It will ask you for a confirmation code and a a little bit of time before downloading.

2B. Audio Clip from [i]Grosse Pointe Blank[/i] (follow link)
Mr. Newberry: “Been doing with your life?”
Martin: “Ah, ah, professional killer”
Mr. Newberry: “Ah, good for you, it’s a growth industry”

Audio clip for 2B

Rules
Read me first!

  • Have fun animating!
  • Use any rig and any animation software you like.
  • Animate with any medium (3D, 2D, or stop-motion)
  • You’re open (and encouraged) to post your progress here if you’d like any comments and critiques.
  • No time/frame restriction on the animation. Just remember that the more complex it is the longer it will take to finish. Make it by the due date!
  • You can do both topics if you have the time. Either separately or as one animation if possible.
  • You may add time before and after the audio clip, but please do not change the timing of the audio.
  • A separate final submission thread will be created. Post your final animation there. I’ll make the thread a few days before the deadline.
  • Textures and lighting are optional. Playblasts are acceptable. Just make the acting clear and easy to see.
  • Use any resolution and aspect ratio… but keep the file size manageable. Nothing over 20MB definitely. As for codecs, preferably one that’s common like quicktime or windows media. My recommendation would be Quicktime.
  • When posting progress and for final entry please state which topic you are animating.
  • Adding music is optional, just don’t make it distracting.

We’ll do this for about a month (May 16th - June 25th). Then we’ll vote (June 26th - June 28th). We’ll vote for the best animations AND suggest topics for the next challenge in that time.

Feel free to ask questions about the challenge. We’re still looking to improve how the challenge is conducted, we’re open to suggestions.

Tips:
-Don’t know where to upload your final animation or WIP? I recommend using www.vimeo.com. Free to register. You get to watch a streaming flash video and if you’re registered, users can also download the original video source.
-The audio can also be set to mono instead of stereo, that may help keep the file size down.

The winners of the previous challenge can be seen here.

EXTENDED DEADLINE to June 25th
SHORTER VOTING SESSION (June 26th - June 28th)

#2

mmmm…athletic event…I feel very tempted to submit a clip that I just finished with LoTekK’s model hehe.

here it is boxer

but nah, i think im going to do another 1 from scratch hehe. :slight_smile:

#3

I’m in! Although a tough one to decide…sports/dialog…It will deffinately be fun to finally participate in one of these instead of watch from the sidelines!

#4

Hi everyone!

A few weeks ago i started an animation for de #7 acting challenge (projectile) but I’m still in progress and i’d time to post finished animation there.

The animation is about a football (soccer) referee, maybe now I can post it in the new challenge (athletic event), it’s is possible??

Well, in any case i’d like to post the progress of my animation here, I’ve just finished an advanced blocking with lineal curves, now the next step is to smooth the curves with graph editor, smooth arcs and siluettes, overlaping and all the secondary animation (props included)…

This is the link to the advanced lineal blocking!
http://www.3dpoder.com/laopresion3d/BLK_LINEAL_linier_jodido_v15.mov

Feedback pls :wink:

#5

Ups, sorry for the link.

Check this:

http://www.3dpoder.com/laopresion3d/BLK_LINEAL_linier_jodido_v15.mov

#6

Hey jmvadell79,
That’s looking good even in linear form. Did you roto the motion at all, or is that all “from the mind”?
-Chris

#7

Is there a link for the model everyone uses?, ive seen some that are extreemly basic, and was curious where everyone finds the rig… even animation mentor students use that one.

Would be great if in the challenge there is also links for the rigs for maya, 3dmax, xsi, etc so we all have kind of the same thing to animate with.

#8

blackboks: well, I filmed to my self acting and i’ve used that video and other things as references, but I’ve not retoscopied anything. I think is very important filming yourself acting because you can see some little things you cannot keep in mind, for example, when the char stops after running, there are some llittle tics in the feeth… sorry if my english is not so good, i hope you understand me.

glenfx: sorry but I don’t know if i can share this rig, I’m afraid it’s not possible.

#9

Yeah, actually the way he comes down on his right foot (toe first) is what gave it away for me. Well, that and the way he’s looking down at his landing spot. It kind of gives it a softer feel to it than shall we say ‘cartoonish’ keyframe animation. There’s also quite a bit of movement in the holds, which is typically another giveaway of rotoscoping/video reference (Not that it’s a bad thing, it certainly helps to give it more life and character). It looks good, but there’ seems to be a style difference between all of the animation up to the point he gets hit in the groin and afterwards. Maybe adding a little bit more motion to his hand when he holds it out would help.

#10

Molt booona Juanmi!!!

Congratulations!!!

This is a very good work!!

#11

thanks for your comments blackboks :thumbsup:

#12

I would be interested in this. a month sounds like a fair amount of time to make this in.

#13

ammm, did you get the sound from an old vinyl? :smiley: hihihihi

anyway, I think the sound is not exactly challenging for an acting shot. well, maybe anything could be challenging, after all, but this here audio… it’s like animating to a line in star wars… apologies to them millions of star wars fans, but star wars, besides having cool graphics (and a place in history), is an incredibly dumb movie. so is this line… it’s not funny, it’s not smart… it’s not realistic - it doesn’t imply a real context, it has no subtlety, nothing juicy to get out of it. honestly, it’s just like star wars. ok, sorry for the crit, I couldn’t help… my bad.

#14

Hey, Juan Miguel, very nice animation, up until he gets hit by the soccer ball. and then the pose could be more clear, I guess, and even if it makes sense to sort of freeze his movements, it feels a little strange. maybe it’s the pose, maybe the fall - not as detailed as the rest of the animation… but since the idea itself is a little cartoony anyway, I think you should give more impact to that soccer ball hit & character reaction.

About video - I think animators should use video for acting shots. Doesn’t matter how you use it, as long as the result is awesome :wink: There’s no way you can be naturalistically spontaneous while thinking about what you’re doing at the same time…it’s against the logic of natural acting. But one can analyze one or more video references and see for real what happens with a specific gesture. You still need to understand body mechanics anyway, and apply the principles of animation, in order to get the stuff properly out of video and make it fit onto the character, and work out the details, which is where the real difficulty is anyway… and you get to learn a lot from this. And you can still make stuff more cartoony, on top - like exaggerated: fluidity, poses, overlapping… (of course, this is valid only if the animation needs to be mostly naturalistic, not… mostly wacky or somethin’)

#15

I can already see some good potential for a funny little clip here. Unfortunately the class I’m taking isn’t quite at this level yet, we’re still working at bouncing balls and making flour sacks jump about. Anyone know where there’s a good beginner rig that I could maybe play around on? If I can figure out how to teach myself a little more about the techinal parts of animating in maya before the due date I might enter just to get some good feedback and for practice.

#16

Hey GLEN FX,
I believe the rig you are talking about, the one that appears on a lot of animations, is a free one called: LOW MAN…
from here: (lichiman)
http://lichiman.aniguild.com/

#17

Hey Lianna, use Taylor’s Robbie rig. It’s a good beginner’s rig. You should be using it soon anyway for a walk cycle assignment.

And I agree with the comment about the sound clip being kinda lame. Even the quality is terrible.

#18

I’ll check it out, thanks Kevin!

#19

Hey it starts again…hope I’ll have time to finish it this time.

The audio clip seems great maybe I’ll try with it.

Good luck to everyone :bounce:.

#20

Quality of the audio is bad? Hmm… Well I did have to turn it to an mp3 to reduce file size so I can attach it to the post. but listening between that and the wav I can’t tell the difference. I’ll look for a place to host a file and you can tell me if it sounds better.

As for the acting quality of it, eh… I’m bound to pick a clip that doesn’t strike a chord with people. That’s what the 2nd option is for. If that one doesn’t turn out then at least I tried twice :slight_smile: