Hi everyone,
i have been reading many posts on this wondeful forum where all, from beginners to industry veterans can share this wonderful medium :
Animation, their experiences, their tips and tricks, becoz it helps
tremendously to those who are new in this art and also otherwise,
atleast it helped me a lot.
i know maya quite well, but im fairly new to 'animation' the way it is
and should be.
Without wasting more of ur precious time, i have created a small
animation, taking as reference many shots which have been put on this
forum.
i would be grateful, if people from this forum that is YOU, can have a
look at this scene, and guide me on my mistakes, whats missing or just
whatever you feel about this scene. belive me every criticism/comment
will be taken in a postive frame and it will help me to learn this
beautiful art, no matter how much time it takes.
also any suggestions about books or movies which will help takin as
reference, please please let me know.
i have ILLUSION OF LIFE, ANIMATION SURVIVAL KIT , CARTOON ANIMATION by PRESTON BLAIR and learning a lot from these few books, so if you think
there is any other book which is a must, kindly enlighten my knowledge.
thanks everyone for creating this forum and maintaining it, hope 2 b an
active part of this community
here is the link : http://www.geocities.com/freakbaba/killfall_1.avi
cheers,
freak
hi scatted, kal and graphite man,
i have made a bit of a variation keeping every1's suggestion in mind...dunno how far its been implemented...
since im seeing it over and over again..for me it looks the same...so only some one else sees it becames clearer...
looking forward 2 ur suggestions once again..
thnx
link : http://www.geocities.com/freakbaba/killfall_3.avi
cheers,
freak :confused:
Hello, freak.
I really like what you have so far. I can tell that the books you are referencing are really helping, what with the good use of follow-through you have on the head whiplashes. Anyways, if I were to make one suggestion, it would be to not have so much symmetry between the 2 hand motions. It might be more interesting if they didn't both move in the exact same way. Try altering the speed and position of each one separately to see if you like the results.
Might be worth a try.
Also, you might want to try www.animationmeat.com. They have a lot of notes from industry professionals that might help to tweak your work. Not as thorough as the books you already have, but just some suggestions that are worth a read.
Good luck.
KalEl118
I might be kinda bias, but I can't stand information - even good information - if it's not organized in some way.
I like that animation too. I agree with un-twinning the arm movements, but I'd worry more about the flex and less about say delaying of the same movement. I'd also experiment with making the last fall down more of a sudden drop. The timing is reasonably even between the three movements. That'd be great in context, like a comedic fainting, but for someone getting shot like this it could have a greater effect as far as being a dramatic collapse. (Maybe even a slight turn to the side, which would aid the arm changes).
If it's a stage fall, the kind they teach you in drama class as not to hurt yourself, it works timingwise.
It could be exaggerated more; BANG! stabbed off his feet, Feet postioned differently one from another, staggered forward, fall, slight bounce etc.
As for twinning; we can do the same gestures with hands feet etc.....but in reality it is virtual twinning. In animation it looks too mechanical when we symmetrically gesture on the same frame. Sometimes making one getsure follow or preceed another by a frame or two...or 3..or 4 can help it be not so mechanical.
Sorry. I'm not quite sure what you mean by that or what you are referring to. Please clarify. Thanks.
KalEl118
Hi, KalEl118 and ScatteredLogical ,
Thanks a lot for you encouragement and your important suggestions.
Lets take it one at a time :
KalEl118 : You said that the hands are in symmetry, so should i change the timing of both the hands or do you mean that i should give diff actions to both the hands?
The site you gave animationmeat.com is a wondeful site, with a lot of helpful resources for animators and that too from the industry pioneers. thanks once again, keep your suggestions goin. :-)
ScatteredLogical : You said about flex, what exactly you mean by that. And regarding the sudden drop once it hits the ground, i quite agree with you, will work on it...and will come out with a 2nd version soon.
You guys know of some site where i can get rigged characters 2leg/4-leg, which i think will give my skills more variations to work upon. and every character is rigged in a separate way, some are very flexible like the 1 i have worked on, and others have restricted movement. so pls let me know any resource for getting free rig char for MAYA.
thanks a lot once again....
hope 2 have many more discussions with you..
cheers,
freak :)
HI, graphiteman
your info is good and throws light on what more i can do...as u said...possibilities are endless...though will try to incorporate the diff hand gestures u r talkin abt...
keep watchin this space for the 2nd version..
thnx
chao
cheers,
freak :o
Yup, I agree. If you want "realism", arms should move independently of each other to begin with. By the way, how about making the "knife" come from off screen, as if thrown? While I'm at it, think about the scene where this action takes place. Make the character do something before he/she gets impaled like getting a sip of water at the water cooler, talking on the phone, making whoopie (sure hope this gets pass the censors!), bathing/showering (memories of Psycho)---the possibilities are endless.