What do you think of these characters? (WIP)

funksmaname · Post by **funksmaname** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 5:12 pm

i mean minus the bikini...

Anyway we're hijacking Cap's post

see what the mention of boobies does. lol

capricorn33 · Post by **capricorn33** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 9:34 pm

funksmaname wrote: Anyway we're hijacking Cap's post

oh, please... I really don't mind...!

On the contrary, I kind of like this free associative flow, or whatever you would call it, when discussion on wobbling fat leads to drooling over womens breasts to coincidences with original artists recognizing their own (or their team's) work in pictures that someone else just by chance happened to post...

It makes this thread richer. It might even inspire me to rewrite my story in progress somehow... So please keep on hijacking whenever you feel like it. You are most welcome by me, the originator of this thread, to do so.

(Even when the topics are on something perhaps less inspiring than boobs, too.)

cheers
cap

BTW
slowtiger; I loved the "Werner - Beinhart!" clips! Beautiful! I hope I'll be that good some day.

capricorn33 · Post by **capricorn33** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 9:39 pm

This boob discussion made me wonder a little about gender in the animation business...

Is this whole business a men's club, a boy's sandbox?

Are there any / many professional women working as artists, as animators in the field? Or is it just boys?

Just seriously curious.

sour_jax · Post by **sour_jax** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:10 pm

capricorn33 wrote: On the contrary, I kind of like this free associative flow, or whatever you would call it...

Ahh...That sounds like something I would say.

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:56 am

Are there any / many professional women working as artists, as animators in the field? Or is it just boys?

Good question. I think nowadays it's about 1/3 women, 2/3 men in animation. At the time Werner was done, there were 3 women animating in our studio, among about 25 men. In the ink&paint department it was nearly all women.

If you look at some blogs like http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/, you'll find that it was even worse in former times. Disney himself made a statement that he had no female animator. However, female animators existed, and right now their careers and work is re-discovered.

But drawing boobs is not just a boy's thing. Boobs exist. Women mostly like their boobs. A nice character like "Hasi" (as she was called) was just fun to draw. (And the existing woman who was Brösel's girlfriend at that time was flattered, btw.)

capricorn33 · Post by **capricorn33** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:48 pm

slowtiger wrote: I think nowadays it's about 1/3 women, 2/3 men in animation. At the time Werner was done, there were 3 women animating in our studio, among about 25 men. In the ink&paint department it was nearly all women.

That's good. Going in the right direction I mean.
Hm.. Ink&paint has been (or is) considered low status in the business then, I assume...? How about now? Are there many women coming into leading positions? ...I don't know exactly what that would be... as key animator's or directors or whatever is considered higher status?

And how about this forum? Do we have a lot of women animator's here? Sometimes I get the impression that we are nothing but men here.

So, anyway...

...back to my problems with animating wobbling fat !
This is a fat belly I have been fiddling with, have been trying to get the weight into it... don't know if I got it right yet...

fat man's belly

But it's getting a little better all the time, I think...

This body is BTW point animated, no bones.

funksmaname · Post by **funksmaname** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:58 pm

looking good imo, more 'sloshing' than 'springing' - nice one

Phatthumb · Post by **Phatthumb** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:09 pm

Wow, thats an ugly little sucker, but he moves awsome. I have to learn that head turning stuff. Whats this character name? He looks like he would be funny

capricorn33 · Post by **capricorn33** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:58 pm

thanks Funk and Phatthumb for your comments.

Yes it is more 'sloshy' now, isn't it? (progress!

)

As for the name... well, as you can see this belly belongs to Coney JR:s father, but I don't know his name yet. No sweat, though... I'm in no hurry. It will come to me.

It IS a little hard to find names in a language you don't quite master... If I had been thinking of this story in swedish he would maybe have a name already... But now I'm trying to keep it all in english in my head - which causes some level of chaos and confusion.........

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:30 pm

I'm trying to keep it all in english in my head - which causes some level of chaos and confusion.

...join the club...

funksmaname · Post by **funksmaname** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 8:39 am

well, if the kids called Coney JR, it follows that his dad would be Coney Senior... (or just Coney)

capricorn33 · Post by **capricorn33** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 9:51 am

This scale-rotate technique make simple headturns swift and easy to do... but it of course comes at a cost...
For example, mummy's mouth get a very flat look when it's only scaled and stretched...

So I had to find some solution there. Couldn't find any way to do it within the scale-rotating limits, had to go to switch layers.

I'm quite sure this isn't anything new to those of you who have worked a longer time with AS - but it is a great discovery to me!

From the shapes-layout on top in the picture it's easy to mold the other mouthshapes below, same mmouth from different angles... which make nice turning, lip-synced movements when used with normal switching. (...it's just a case of simply hiding shapes behind eachother...)

And here is a an attempt to make mummy's mouth look like I want it to then, in animation.
Haven't quite got it where I want it yet, but it's in the right direction.

mummys mouth then looks like this

So now I have discovered that if I want to build a rig that satifies me I have to use multiple techniques.

scale-rotating
- head turns, eyes

genetes 3D technique
- for a smooth nose turn

switched mouthshapes
- to avoid the flat mouthshapes of scale-rotating

point animation
- to get proper squish and stretch and to clean up details

...and three or four other basic techniques, I am sure, that I just forget to mention here...

Now if I only could understand enough of scripting to make these different techniques to be guided by one masterbone as easily as that lionhead in a former thread was... (heyvern's script to my vertical and horizontal lionhead turn) !!!

This file: http://www.lowrestv.com/character_rig/l ... ontrol.zip
in this thread:
viewtopic.php?t=8540&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=120

cheers
cap

Genete · Post by **Genete** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 9:55 am

Great ideas!
But for better understanding.. Could it be possible to share the anme file? Just for learning...
Thanks in advance!

-G

capricorn33 · Post by **capricorn33** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 12:27 pm

Genete wrote:Could it be possible to share the anme file?
-G

Yes, sure, just hang on a little, I can't upload anything right now, there seems to be some problems at putfile.com... their upload file page isn't responding...

Hm... perhaps I'm sliding a little off-topic here with all this technical stuff. This was meant to be a thread sharing my working / learning process. More "story in progress" and "newbie trying to learn animation" than "bells & whistles of AS"... Maybe this technique stuff really should be posted in tips and techniques... sorry bout that, if it annoys you, folks...

capricorn33 · Post by **capricorn33** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 12:42 pm

funksmaname wrote:well, if the kids called Coney JR, it follows that his dad would be Coney Senior... (or just Coney)

...well, you see, "Coney JR" is just another temporary work name, too...
Thanks for trying to help, though!

If there's someone else just itching to leave a name proposal you are welcome to do so!

cap

What do you think of these characters? (WIP)

Cone head