compare and contrast
For my first dialogue piece in AM Class 3, I choose a clip from My Fair Lady. I ended up getting a full time job midway through Class 3, at the same time we had to start up a second dialogue piece which meant I had to move on even though I wasn't completely satisfied with my final animation. I had always wanted to revise my Queen of Sheba animation, but haven't had much time since, so I thought the best decision was to lay it to rest and not look at it for a few months. A few weeks back I found myself with a rare free weekend and had a go at a spirited round of revisions on this old animation. In only 2 days I think I was able to fix a lot of the major problems. Although this animation is still far from perfect, I definitely think it's better now than what I handed in for my final assignment in October. This Bishop model has a muppet mouth and limited facial, but since then I have learned so much about lip sync that I was able to make the best of the limited rig. At that point last year I didn't even know that Bishop had teeth and a tongue that you could animate, I didn't even know what to do with them so I just left them, but since then I've learned the major importance of the teeth and tongue for lip sync.Queen of Sheba: What I handed in as final in Class 3, Oct 2005
Queen of Sheba: New Final after 2 days of revision work
posted by anthea @ 9:07 PM
7 Comments:
hey Anthea!
A couple comments. At the begining, ("Yes...") I think you could use more follow through going up the spine. You are leading nicely with the COG, but only with the COG, and it looks a bit floaty.
I also (and this is a personal opinion) like it better when eyes "dart" from one position to the next. Since that's more accurate to what they in reality do. Rather than "slide" from one point of interest to the next.
As far as the lipsync goes, you mention the rig is limited so it's kinda hard to crit since I do not know how far you can push it. I'd just say that when he says: "incarnate!" I would open up his expression a bit more. It's such a marked accent in the track.
Great animation non the less. I liked it!
mau.
hey mau! thx for the crit and advice. of course I know this is not a perfect animation, it was my first ever dialogue piece, so it was pretty much a struggle all the way through. I could probably spend a few more months tweaking this old animation but I have since moved on to doing tests using the characters at work, which bring on a whole new set of problems and new experiences. Sometimes you just have to move on and let old animation tests go, I was happy with the amount I was able to revise in 2 days though, and now I feel more comfortable calling this one finished. The great thing is that I keep learning more and more every test I do, so I'm really excited to move on and to dig into new tests at work.
Anthea:
I agree. There comes a point where animation becomes quiet subjective. And then it's not a matter of "right or wrong", but rather, who likes it and who doesn't. I believe that's a good moment to let go and move on.
I was just sharing a couple things I saw. And as I said, I think the animation is good!
:P
mau.
i totally agree about the subjective nature of our artform, that's why it's so great to hear others opinions, sometimes you look at it for too long and need fresh eyes. and i'm finding in this early learning phase that i'm in, it seems time is better spent on trying new things. it's just so hard to give up though, i'm sure everyone goes through that, not wanting to let go of older animations. but i have to keep remembering that the more animations i try the better i will become eventually.
thanks again for your crits, they are always welcome.
i also am not sure this one is good enough for a reel, but it does feel good to finally be finished with it for good.
Wow! What a difference! Nice work girl! It's amazing what soem distance can do. After a break I can see things to fix in my animations thst I never saw while in the midst of working on them.
:-)
Hey Anthea!
Thanks for the comment in my blog, I really need to update that thing more often.
I liked looking at the two versions and seeing what changes you made. I definitely think the ending works better, he seems a more balanced over his center of gravity as he turns around.
I know what you mean about looking at old animations, too. I'm in the middle of a student film and as I watch the entire thing I see my old shots and think "gosh, they're so BAD." But it's also comforting to know that I've grown and become more observant and can see what's wrong with them now, as opposed to back then when I thought they looked fine.
Hope the job is going well!
hi erica! thanks for stopping by. i really like your blog, seeing all your animations and artwork. yeah it can be a bitter pill to swallow looking back on older animations, and yes the good news is that you are able to see all the things wrong after getting some distance, the bad news is that you are probably already onto new animations so revisions are hard. i sometimes i don't know wether revising is worth it at all, but i do want to eventaully have some stuff for a reel. the job is going great, i'm working on a new animation test that is going to be multi character with camera cuts.
Post a Comment
<< Home