Hi Everybody:

I created a short Easter animation for the kids, but it didn't get completed in time. (What a shocker!)  Finally finished and encoded.  Thought I'd share it with you (used both Poser and Vue so I'll post there as well.)  Well, I hope you enjoy it and try not to be too ... frightened. (On Easter?!?  moo-haa-haa)

CHOOSE YOUR FORMAT:     (Running Time: 1 min, 30 sec)

Easter Special 2006 - Windows Media (WMV) (*my personal favorite)
Easter Special 2006 - Quicktime 7 (MOV) (*Uses the latest H.264 codec)
Easter Special 2006 - MPG (*Universally compatible, but most cumbersome and slow loading)

[Note: Both the WMV and MOV files stream at about 1.5mb/s, so you'll need at least a broadband connection to watch in real-time.  You may want to do a brief pause and allow the buffer to fill though, even so.)  The MPG version you probably should "right-click" and choose "Save As", then playback off your HD for optimal results. Sometimes it won't load the last 20 seconds or so for some reason.]

HOPE YOU HAD A NICE EASTER!

Take care,
Tim

Thank you !!!

Brilliant work.  I have no knowledge of creating animations but this is very very impressive work.  The POV, the lighting and especially the music all fit perfectly.  Well done and you do the little varment proud.

Thanks so much guys for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed it.  By the way, I TRULY enjoy criticism (well, not just "that really sucked" of course) as much as compliments, so if there is anything about it you would change, did not like, etc. I would love to hear it.  There are a few things I might go back and touch up at some point.

Also, as I mentioned in the other forums, I honestly can't be objective about such things ... I work with it for so long and so closely, that I tend to nit-pick-it to death, and am sick of it too by the end. You go through, "Man, did I really spend all this time just to make THIS??", a wave of depression hits you, and then you get over it and show it to some people you think might appreciate it in some way. (Other than my kids of course, LOL!  They love anything animated ... easy to please crowd!)

Best,
Tim

Incredible.  I enjoyed it much.  I liked everything especially the camera work, DOF, and the animation.  In fact,  I liked it all.

Hm... I really like it. But, you asked for it, I re-looked at it with a 'critical' eye. I'm nulnadazero in animation, so I looked as the blasconsumer I am :=: - Scenario, mimicks and gestual are fine, but there is something in the animation which has it edgy, slightly saccad as if movements went from one point to another, and change direction with high G - they do not flow one into the next. - There is about 1/5th of the time with text, in different styles with different animations. That attires my attention so much, that I nearly forgot the nice animation/story itself :( The changement of music&volume accentuates the rupture, as if text+music were a clip of their own. I do not know, how one could resolve this - have the text simpler, roll-over, lower le music, or put that in the front part (but you need the easter bunny gag at the end...), Idunno : I never dared to try an entire story with start, run, and end... First of all I said, and keep to it : I like it, thank you !

Yes I did.  Thanks!  All valid points, If I'm understanding you correctly.  I'm working on character movement all the time, but the human (or duck in this case) form is so hard to emulate.  I truly am amazed by the professionals who do this so well.  I think you're trying to say it looks a bit robotic maybe?  Which is, of course, the #1 problem animators face when hand animating a figure.  I tried to alter timing on various body parts, etc. and used the graph editor to tweak the transitions from linear and spline motion, etc.

Not sure I understand exactly what you're saying about the rupture sequence.  Could you help me out there?  (I assume you're talking about when the pieces are being blasted from the egg?

Thanks again,
Tim

Edit: Sorry Cobra, didn;t see your post at first.  Thanks!!!

:) "The blasconsumer" back again : The "shaggy" movement in Vue seems to be due to the way Vue interpolates between two keypoints. Seems to be linear interpolation. So having smooth animation with that, seems to be a bother, staking out changements by multiplying keyframes ev'rywhere. That's why, for the instant, with Vue, I stick to jetplane mach6 flythru, that's all :) You did really great work there ! Congrats for the duck's mimique, expression. About my subjective perception of "falling apart", or rupture, (sorry, my english is not good, I am searching for the right words) : one comes gently sliding into the scene, -> title -> subject, suspense music (ok) the story makes it's way -> surprise -> the duck walks out of frame (ok) the rythmic music starts, low -> kind'a mini-pause to let things sink into the brain (ok) that has it's particular speed and focus. And then, for me, is kind of rupture : many graphical elements fly rapidly around, accompanied by a new, rapidly hacked music rythm, plus new voice, The subjective speed of that part seems accelerated to me, about three times, in comparison with the film itself. Perception "torn apart" to many things, here. For my subconscient, that don't go together with the eggs&duck part. is a new thing, and would expect something new to begin, whereas it's the end of the clip. Then, the duck comoming back -> comment -> fade-out, that's ok. See what I mean ? ---- No, it wasn't about the pieces blasted away, that's well inside the story, even if gravity in toonworld isn't 9,81 :-). Fine, the camera getting hit by a piece, staggering, getting out of focus ! If I'd really want to dig out something in this part, it would be the egg's jump from the table to the floor, which is a little bit sudden : the camera switches without indication of movement accompanying the egg. But as the general view direction nearly didn't change, one sees the same stools in the background, and the brain fills the gap. If the camera backed out and downed a little, when the egg jumps towards it, out of the basket, perhaps that would help, - dunno. But, as I said, I'd be unable to do such an animation as yours, I really like it ! (My "filming carreer" stopped before it began, when my 16mm cam broke, nearly thirty years ago ;-) Gerhard