Well 4 years of Academy of Art University - SF and here's my 75 seconds to show for it =) I'd appreciate some feedback on my demo reel found at www.kenhuling.com
I just finished handing it out to all the booths at Siggraph (along with the thousands of other applicants). Tell me what you think about the order of things, content, animation... etc. Rip it shreds if you want - I wanna hear whatever you have to say.
thanks in advance for the crits.
Ken
I'm not usually a big fan of 3D but I like your flavour. I liked the cowboy. Good to see.
The Brothers McLeod
[SIZE=2]brothersmcleod.co.uk[/SIZE]
ok !
cool
:D
I like your acting !
Very cool ...
and hello too Kenimator ! ;-)
Good work too ;-)
hero
htpp://users.skynet.be/hero
thanks hero and greg,
Glad to hear that my 3D work is liked be a non-3D fan =) Even though I work in a 3D environment I really try hard to apply all the traditional animation rules. I try to look at things from a 2D perspective as I animate because thats the foundation of all animation.
Amazing! Very filmic and well timed. Keep up the good work! :)
Tom,
http://www.taranimationstudios.com
Congratulations Kenimator from one Academy survivor to another. There was some really nice work on your demo reel. Good work so I'm gonna be nit-picky.
The first two shots you have were alittle mushy for my taste, and I wouldn't have put those first. I would have put the scene with the family or the Shangi Hai Noon scene first as I think those two are your strongest pieces. My problem with the first two shots is that the character is always moving. It seemed animated alittle too straight ahead, so there was no real strong posing. I would've liked to see him hold his "point" longer in the first shot.
Same thing with the phone shot. He starts in a really nice pose. I like how he's barely holding the top of the phone. But then he goes to look at the phone, then lean back in the chair, then to slouch down, almost in one slow even move. I think it would read better if you held on him looking at the phone longer, then had him move straight into the slouched down pose. Also a slight body antic or head roll with the eye roll would be a nice added accent. I actually didn't catch the eye roll the first time watching. I like that he's playing with the phone with his free hand. Its a nice touch, but I'd have his hand laydown on the table in about half the time. It looks too slow and careful for that move.
The Family shot was good. I like how the day doesn't even turn around and kinda stares off while talking. Very nice interaction between the mom and daughter. I like that the girl doesn't return to her starting position after the mom pushes her. One little thing. What is the mom looking at? To me it looks like she is checking out the dad's butt :)
I'd lose the guy in the chair and the bouncing juice box. The guy doesn't show much, and the juice box looks like a first year, flour sack exercise, and your work is much better than that.
With the guy jumping, he once again looks alittle slow while he's practicing. The arms would flow a bit better if you could break the joints more. I don't know if you could do that in 3D or not, but it would give a nice feeling on drag on his arms and help to sell the whip action and his arms raise up for the jump. Also the arch seems alittle off.
The cowboy is really good, it's my favorite piece. A couple very little things. I love his point when he says "in the East..." but I think it could be a little stronger. It you dropped his head down and forward more, along with straightening out his pointing arm, would sell it that much more. Even if you straightened his arm for an overshoot and then eased into what you have now would make a diference. Then I also think an bigger antic with his hand when he says "sets here," would also sell that action better. Great focus on his eyes in the same action. Very nice.
The paddle ball guy is alright. Nothing wrong, but nothing really great. I wouldn't have end with him though. I would have put either the family or the cowboy last. Probably the family.
Very nice work though. My coments are just little ones, that I think will add just alittle more oomph to your work. I make a lot of the same mistakes in my animation, too slow movement, and too small antics, so I pick up on those in other peoples work. Good luck in what all you do after graduation Kenimator.
Aloha,
The Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
I can't top the technical advice Animated Ape gave you, but I really thought you captured the emotions very well!
WOW! Ape - that is EXACTLY the kind of feedback I was hoping for. I'm at the stage where I dig all the nitpicky stuff so it's cool that you took the time to think about everything and get technical.
I agree that the dialogue shots are better than the one I open with, but I liked the pacing it sets to open with it. If it's that noticeable though then I should probably change it.
The microphone shot is part of a longer piece that goes downhill after the cut so thats why it seems abrupt. I hope to get the second half of it polished so that it can all be on there. That would also make the overal running time longer, allowing me to cut the juicebox and the chair scene. I've heard that reels under 60 secs are frowned upon.
Hahah - I never noticed that she was looking at his butt. I intended for her to just be looking in his direction. I think I'll move her eyes up a tad.
As for the jump, the arm breaking is definitely an option (even in 3D depending on the rig). good eye on the arc. I struggled with that arc quite a bit because his dipping motion throws it off. maybe breaking the elbow will help to fix it.
I'll play with the order of things a bit and keep polishing. hopefully I can update it soon since I've just begun the job hunt. Thanks again for the detailed crit - it's hard to see all that stuff after the thousandth time watching it.
Ken