Hey everyone, I'm pretty much an aspiring animator and I just wanted to put myself out there a bit. Check out my reel at:
[URL=http://www.jasonkrach.com]
www.jasonkrach.com[/URL]
it's under videos. I'm really looking for any comments, but more importantly any criticism not only on the animation but the overall look/feel/aesthetic of the reel.
Any comment or critique is not only welcome but greatly appreciated. Once again thank you soooooo much.
J
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Portfolio and Reel:
please check it out, and give me anything from advice, to comments, to critiques. Give me anything. I NEEED to get better and I need your help...yes you...
Mind you, this is just my opinion on your reel and I by no means know everything! :)
First: the setup of your reel is different than most I have seen, or how we learned to put one together in school. First, the opening clip: I think you have much stronger pieces than. Remember, potential recruiters have TONS of reels to go through, and they probably won't watch the whole thing. So you want to format it so you keep their attention as long as possible, which means starting with essentially your best work! :)
The lip syncing of the next 2 scenes is pretty good I thought! But I will admit, I skipped a lot of the song lip sync scene to see what else you had done. I don't think employers would do that. I suggest cutting only a couple seconds of parts of that sequence you think are the best for your reel. You can include the entire clip listed separately on your site if people want to see the entire scene.
Nice acting with the characters! My only crit on the movement is when you get the characters in the air, like when the singer jumps or the guy lifting the weight at the end kinda does a jump-lift. The characters feel very floaty- like they are on the moon. I think this is due to timing and something called 'hang time' at the top of the jump arc.
You want the take-off from the ground to be fast, then slow at the top where the boost of the jump is wearing off and gravity is setting in. If you bounce a ball, you will notice this. This is what is called hang time, as the ball/person/whatever seems to 'hang' for a small time in midair.
Next, as gravity pulls the object down, it starts slow then speeds up as it races to the ground. Think of someone dropping something on you. The closer they are, (say, standing on a chair) the less the dropped object hurts because the object did not have enough time to accelerate. However, if they were dropping something out the 3rd story window on you - OUCH!
If you open the graph editor, you can adjust such timing. I have not done 3D animation in a long time (since 3rd year of school ^_^*) but I believe you end graph shape will look something like an archway with steep sides and a more flattened top... :confused:
I think I am startting to blabbler now... ^_^* Anyways, hope my opinion helps somehow ^_^* Keep up the good work! :)
thank you soooo much for the crit... I totally see what your saying with the floaty jump, especially in the singalong in the beginning. And thanks for the positive feedback as well.
Watching it after with your critiques in mind also brought something else to my attention. I really think I could improve some of the facial animation in some of the lip syncs with more communication through blinking and eye contact.
Now in terms of the overall presentation. COuld I get some feedback on maybe a better way to present my reel? You mentioned it seemed unorthodox.
Also, which pieces would you rate the best or worst, and what pieces if any should I keep on a new reel, in your opinion?
Once again thank you so much for taking the time to give me a little feedback.
J
Portfolio and Reel:
www.jasonkrach.com
please check it out, and give me anything from advice, to comments, to critiques. Give me anything. I NEEED to get better and I need your help...yes you...
It's long, very long. It feels like you put everything you animated in there.
First off, it takes 20 seconds before any animation comes on the screen. That's not a good thing for animation demo reel that should be 90-120 seconds long. Simply have your name and contact info on the screen. Oh, and I have no idea what that thing says that flies in. All I see is "------ '08"
Take your very best work and put only that on your demo.
Also take out all the text describing what I'm looking at. I don't need to know that I'm looking at a "sneak" walk, it should be apparent. And certainly don't put "Milt Kahl-ish" on there. You right away put your animation up against one of the world's top animators, and that's not a place you want to be. Also you are not impressing me with your speed. I don't need or want to know you only spent 6 hours on something. Saying you spent six hours on a shot and think it's good enough, is not a good thing.
As for your animation. It's not there yet. You have some nice posing going on. Some nice clear silhouettes on the sneak walk. What you need to work on first is your timing and spacing. Like Silver said, your animation looks floaty. This comes from even spacing of motions and eases. Like for the rocker. He's angry and singing at the top of his might. His WHOLE body should be tensed and full of emotion. When your muscles are tensed, you can move with these nice slow ease in and outs. His actions should be quick, not jerky, but fast and tight motions with over shooting the pose. I see you are trying to do it, but you are on the extremes. Things either move too slow and smooth, or they pop much too quickly.
I hope you take all this in a positive way. And don't get too discouraged. You have a long way to go, but so did Milt Kahl at one time. Just keep working. Whats good is that you do do a lot of animation, so you get a lot under your belt. But it's not enough to just pump out animation. You have to think about what you are animating and WHY that character is doing what they are doing. You get the WHY down, then you'll be animating rather than just moving something around.
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
Supposed to be "CAN'T move" not "can move"
Aloha
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
Never discouraged Mr. Ape, never discouraged. It pumps me up to know I have to do better, it helps me focus. I'm incredibly glad you posted, and thank you soo much for the crit and comments. I appreciate everything you have said. I'm going to periodically post up new stuffs here, please always crit them. This goes for everyone else on here too, I will reciprocate. I get tons of vies and two critiques...hook me up...
Portfolio and Reel:
www.jasonkrach.com
please check it out, and give me anything from advice, to comments, to critiques. Give me anything. I NEEED to get better and I need your help...yes you...