This is one of my tests for the lead character. I've changed the title to Nebula 9, I thought the last one was a bit naff!.. Come to think of it, this title is pretty naff as well. Oh well, criticism is welcome. Be brutal! I think I am probably barking up the wrong tree with my design and technique on this one. Please take a look anyway!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9NSBN3ncTE
NEBULA 9,(Monster Hunter) Character test.
Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger
Very nice! It looks like you used dynamic bones on the hair which works well. I like the character too. Although it's quite realistic it's still a nice design that's appealing. The lip synch is only slightly out. I think it's the 'f' sound that doesn't read at all. I maintain that you are better off (and almost as fast) just scrolling along the timeline and choosing the correct mouth switch layer yourself.
I'm enjoying seeing this progress and look forward to your next post.
I'm enjoying seeing this progress and look forward to your next post.
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neeters_guy
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- Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2009 7:33 pm
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I like the character design. Something strikes me odd about the animation though, like her head distorts when she tilts it and for a moment it looks like her mouth is in the wrong position (esp. on the "oo" phoneme). It's a pretty short clip so it's hard to isolate. The hair movement is credible. In any case, this is a test so I assume you'll work it out. Nice job!
(This is first time I've heard the slang "naff".
)
(This is first time I've heard the slang "naff".
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Paul Mesken
- Posts: 64
- Joined: Sat May 08, 2010 11:13 am
- Location: Netherlands
Re: NEBULA 9,(Monster Hunter) Character test.
It's a very nice looking character (reminds me a bit of Roxy of Gen13, she also has a purple streak in her hair).
As for design : you're using shading. This can create depth but can also destroy it just as easily. When I saw the animation it cried out "flat" to me. That's because the shading doesn't change on the tilts of her head. Now, this might actually be a deliberate choice and an effect you want to achieve. It has its own dynamics (on a minor note : the highlights in her eyes seem to dance between 9 and 12 o'clock, this will only happen during major movements).
The hair springs nicely on her steps (which I like) suggesting fluffy hair. But when she tilts her head, it doesn't hang down with gravity, it keeps following the same arcs as if fixed in place with loads of hairspray. I think it's an important decision to make whether her hair should be fluffy or stiff. She's your main character and animating that hair on each movement will take time.
Talking about tilting : the shoulders don't really react to the tilt of the head. Each movement of the head should be facilitated by the shoulders. Making the head move without an appropriate response of the shoulders will make it look stiff.
The motion of the walk is a bit jerky. It shocks too much and, at places, there's a tilt of the entire chest. Now, shoulders and chest don't tilt really that much in a relaxed walk (shoulders roll along counterwise with the hip movement, it's not really that big of a movement in a normal walk).
Imagine a line running down the chest and where it will end up down at the hips. This tilt needs to be counterbalanced by the hips. Try this : just stand straight up with your weight balanced equally on both feet. Then tilt your chest slightly and see how much your hips move the other way. The same goes for the head tilts. Just try them out and see what your shoulders do.
Now, if you look at animation movies that where made at a tight budget (not some Disney movie but something like Transformers or Pokemon) then you'll see that walks where only the head and chest are shown will only have that head and chest move up and down. No shoulder tilts, at best an arm that swings back and forth in 3/4 views and nothing of that in full frontal view. Having Ash Ketchum holding the straps of his backpack is pretty convenient, the arms won't need to swing, not even in side view, just slap some walking legs underneath him and make him bounce
This means that the up and down motion is the most important thing in animating a walk because those low budget movies get away with just having a single drawing bounce up and down for 3 seconds and it will still read as a walk to the audience. Of course, you'll have to draw attention away from that it is a static drawing. This is done by not showing it for too long (such shots are hardly over 5 seconds long if nothing else happens like talking), making the character advance towards the camera and making that single drawing look nice (with shading, for example). It seems to me that in such movies, camera moves are often used to draw attention away from the fact that we're looking at a single drawing for a couple of seconds, quick cutting also keeps our eyes from getting bored
In the end you need to decide what you really need to tell your story. I assume you're animating this on your own. Do you really need subtle and fluent shoulder tilts in that shot or can you get away with a single drawing which bounces and advances? Do you want realistical shading or do you want head tilts? If you want both then it will take a lot of time to get it right. You can also be creative with your shots instead. Show her advancing and talking the simple way (just a moving mouth, blinking eyes and for the rest just bouncing up and down), show the person she's talking to, then show a shot of her with her head tilted (perhaps two frames of the head arriving at the tilt and a bit of hair action following it up). Disney movies and books like that of Richard Williams or Muybridge show movement at its best. Cheaply made animation shows you what you can get away with (like 2 frame head turns) and still tell your story.
In the end it's all about the story. No bad story was ever rescued by a perfect walk cycle.
As for design : you're using shading. This can create depth but can also destroy it just as easily. When I saw the animation it cried out "flat" to me. That's because the shading doesn't change on the tilts of her head. Now, this might actually be a deliberate choice and an effect you want to achieve. It has its own dynamics (on a minor note : the highlights in her eyes seem to dance between 9 and 12 o'clock, this will only happen during major movements).
The hair springs nicely on her steps (which I like) suggesting fluffy hair. But when she tilts her head, it doesn't hang down with gravity, it keeps following the same arcs as if fixed in place with loads of hairspray. I think it's an important decision to make whether her hair should be fluffy or stiff. She's your main character and animating that hair on each movement will take time.
Talking about tilting : the shoulders don't really react to the tilt of the head. Each movement of the head should be facilitated by the shoulders. Making the head move without an appropriate response of the shoulders will make it look stiff.
The motion of the walk is a bit jerky. It shocks too much and, at places, there's a tilt of the entire chest. Now, shoulders and chest don't tilt really that much in a relaxed walk (shoulders roll along counterwise with the hip movement, it's not really that big of a movement in a normal walk).
Imagine a line running down the chest and where it will end up down at the hips. This tilt needs to be counterbalanced by the hips. Try this : just stand straight up with your weight balanced equally on both feet. Then tilt your chest slightly and see how much your hips move the other way. The same goes for the head tilts. Just try them out and see what your shoulders do.
Now, if you look at animation movies that where made at a tight budget (not some Disney movie but something like Transformers or Pokemon) then you'll see that walks where only the head and chest are shown will only have that head and chest move up and down. No shoulder tilts, at best an arm that swings back and forth in 3/4 views and nothing of that in full frontal view. Having Ash Ketchum holding the straps of his backpack is pretty convenient, the arms won't need to swing, not even in side view, just slap some walking legs underneath him and make him bounce
This means that the up and down motion is the most important thing in animating a walk because those low budget movies get away with just having a single drawing bounce up and down for 3 seconds and it will still read as a walk to the audience. Of course, you'll have to draw attention away from that it is a static drawing. This is done by not showing it for too long (such shots are hardly over 5 seconds long if nothing else happens like talking), making the character advance towards the camera and making that single drawing look nice (with shading, for example). It seems to me that in such movies, camera moves are often used to draw attention away from the fact that we're looking at a single drawing for a couple of seconds, quick cutting also keeps our eyes from getting bored
In the end you need to decide what you really need to tell your story. I assume you're animating this on your own. Do you really need subtle and fluent shoulder tilts in that shot or can you get away with a single drawing which bounces and advances? Do you want realistical shading or do you want head tilts? If you want both then it will take a lot of time to get it right. You can also be creative with your shots instead. Show her advancing and talking the simple way (just a moving mouth, blinking eyes and for the rest just bouncing up and down), show the person she's talking to, then show a shot of her with her head tilted (perhaps two frames of the head arriving at the tilt and a bit of hair action following it up). Disney movies and books like that of Richard Williams or Muybridge show movement at its best. Cheaply made animation shows you what you can get away with (like 2 frame head turns) and still tell your story.
In the end it's all about the story. No bad story was ever rescued by a perfect walk cycle.
Hey thanks everyone. Now that's the sort of criticism I needed. It is really encouraging to get this sort of feedback and I am presently going over the sequence and making adjustments based on your comments. Thanks so much for your detailed analysis Paul, neeters and Amiga! You guy aren't NAFF at all!:D
Very impressive character design.
Paul Mesken's thourough comments provide an amazing and in-depth analysis of possible improvements.
I would only add that IMO using Bone Dynamics on the hair commits you to always using them. If you don't, then in those instances where they are applied they get a lot of attention and interrupt the viewer's attention instead of quietly adding to the sense of realism.
I agree that shading needs to be consistently describing the form of the character as well as implying the direction of the light source.
Once again, she is a very nicely drawn character. I am looking forward to seeing how your project develops.
Paul Mesken's thourough comments provide an amazing and in-depth analysis of possible improvements.
I would only add that IMO using Bone Dynamics on the hair commits you to always using them. If you don't, then in those instances where they are applied they get a lot of attention and interrupt the viewer's attention instead of quietly adding to the sense of realism.
I agree that shading needs to be consistently describing the form of the character as well as implying the direction of the light source.
Once again, she is a very nicely drawn character. I am looking forward to seeing how your project develops.
What if?