3dioot's polybook

ssmurfmier1985 and here we go. First "submission" after xmas. I don't think this is an official exercise to submit but its too much fun not to post and share right? :)

I am pretty pleased with this one. Matching rotation with movement was a little easier this time. I am certain it is not perfect but I do feel its convincing. The most difficult part was to make the ball stop in frame. I really feel I had to slow it down a lot more than it would do naturally. Oh well, time for the "complex" obstacle drop!

In regards to the planning, I was also referring to the end of our vacation which is, of course, in 2019. XD It was a bit of a brain fart on my part where it felt like my vacation started in 2018, therefore it feels like it finishes in 2018 as well which is not true of course. It's a good thing I am not a planner for a living ;) (although I sometimes could use one, especially in my private life)

With that said, lets just enjoy this. As long as we keep our hands busy while having fun its all good with me. :)

3dioot nice one!! 😄

small notes I see (being really nitpicky here):
- the first arc is pretty flat, the ball lands a bit too high on the next platform imo. I would expect gravity to have a bit more effect on it. The second arc toward the ground looks much nicer 😊
- the ball comes a bit to a sudden stop at the end.

Big compliment also: The rotations are spot on! went frame by frame and they look really really nice. 

Good work JW, you're absolutely ready for the complex ball drops exercise 😁

Also a tip, if you want feedback from Wayne, I've seen that some people just post it in the 'Questions Section' under Obstacle Drop II lesson, so there you could post it and ask for a critique 😉

Looking forward to your next exercise!

PS Yes let's go for just keeping our hands busy and enjoying the journey to the fullest! 

3dioot looking really great already. Look forward to the finished animation. I'll still have a long way to get to this exercise 

ssmurfmier1985 Thanks Miranda!

The first arc was a little problematic. I have tried many variations, a little shorter, a little longer and pretty much everything in between. XD When I tried to shorten it, it often felt like a magic force was pulling it to constrain it. Maybe I should try once more because you are right, it does feel like it lands a little high.

I feel you on the stop. At this point I think the only way to solve that is to pan the camera to the left so I have a little more space to play with. :)

Really happy to hear the rotations work! It's very frustrating when you feel like you cant "see" it but it seems to be getting easier.

I think I'll just stick to the official submissions for feedback from Wayne. Not that I don't want feedback on this one but you do know Wayne gives feedback on his own time right? :) He is not on CGcookie's payroll as a staff member. It's why I am a little reserved with tagging him everywhere, I feel pretty fortunate to get feedback on the official exercises already.

I am curious about the feedback you might get though. :)

3dioot nope I did not know that. Are you sure that's true? He does have the 'crew' badge on his profile pic, usually that means he's on the payroll in some sort of way... Ah well, I asked for feedback if he has time, he can decide for himself if he wants to 😉 I plan to return the favor giving feedback on his own work once I'm getting good enough at animating somewhere in the future 😊

ssmurfmier1985 I am pretty sure that it's true but its not like you committed a criminal sin or anything so I would not worry about it. =D

Its in there somewhere. Unless of course something changed for his role at CGcookie since that was recorded which is always possible. Its a great watch regardless, he essentially goes over his own beginner work to inspire us beginning animators. All in typical Wayne fashion with a good dose of humor. Love ya Wayne. :)

3dioot certainly not worried about it, he's a big boy and can decide for himself 😉😛 

I didn't know this one yet! saved it in my favourites to watch later. Thanks! On with some animating now 😄

ssmurfmier1985 I am still in this game! ;) Here is my submission for the complex obstacle drop. Spend a bit too much time on it, have to keep reminding myself its just an exercise. Thankfully I can now start with the fun things like anticipation and squash and stretch. :)

A happy Dougie jump for fun and to get the juices flowing again. I know its a bit wonky but I just had to get my hands dirty and have some fun. What do you think ssmurfmier1985 , does it have some charm? 

3dioot wow really great I love how you did this. The spin looks OK to me on first sight also nice work with the tail. 

yyukinoh1989 Thanks for the kind words Yukino!

3dioot np . i took a closer look today at the computer and i really love it . the spin looks amazing i dont see anything that looks strange but for that ssmurfmier1985 is much better .
dougie sure got a really cute personality here .

3dioot yes it certainly has charm, fun little jump :)

ssmurfmier1985 Thanks Miranda. :)

ssmurfmier1985 

And here we go; Baker being startled. Just before midnight, pfew! This stuff takes so much time but man was this a blast to animate. I know its short but I just find it so freaking cool! Baker is really nice to work with, he deforms well even with the basic controls.

I may give this one another tuck, his eye frame is rather static still, but I am quit proud of him. I feel he just figured out how many controls he has in the properties panel on the right of the viewport. XD

PS
ssmurfmier1985 added the framecounter.

3dioot I love his expression! Great stuff 😊 I'm currently on my phone so giving more detailed feedback isn't really possible, but if you want I can take a closer look at it Tuesday after the livestream?  (as well as for Dougies jump though I think you did that one more for fun in between)  Let me know I'll make some time 😊

ssmurfmier1985 Thanks Miranda! :D

I always welcome feedback! Dougie was indeed more of a quick in between so I feel it has more value to comment on Baker. I had no time to fix the frame counter yesterday evening, ill upload a new version with framecounter to make giving feedback more convenient.

Ill also be uploading something new soon! (really want to make him blink during a longer turn)

3dioot Hi JW, as promised. Thanks for the framecounter btw, makes it easier :)

Once again, love the expression at the end! Love the eybrow movements too. So, time to nitpick muhahahaha!

Some things I noticed:

- Antic, it goes in sorta a squash and then stretch, that's good. But since he's looking to the right, maybe also add an antic looking to the left a bit when he goes into squash?

- It looks more like looking up and then being surprised instead of startled, because he's still smiling when he looks up. So it's like he's in a good mood, hears something, looks over and then sees something surprising. When being startled you expect his expression to change sooner, during or right before the turn.

- Frame 12-13, his eyes shift suddenly over one frame, but he was already looking at the thing that starled him so it feel a bit like a glitch

- Frame 2-3, head start to turn -> frame 3-4, his eyes go straight to where he want to watch -> frame 5-x head turns further. I feel the eyes should lead the movement so they should move first, and then the head starts to turn, feels smoother and more realistic I think

- Frame 13-21, he feels a bit 'dead' in this section. Maybe add some small movement to the shoulders and the head to 'keep him alive', like he's breathing or turning his head up a bit to look even better to what startled him

Hope this helps! I think you did a great job, it's a fun short clip and I loved watching it :-D

ssmurfmier1985 

Thanks Miranda!

I've done some more research and your spot on with your observations. He has no antic at all, its just squash down and look right. This is also the case in the reference I used (the endresult of the tutorial) but that does not mean it cannot be improved. There is no arc to the turn either.

Some of your comments also cross into acting which, I really did not think about (yet). Like what he is feeling, is he startled by sound or surprised by what he sees. Or both? Either way your right, its not very clear currently what's going on. :)

Its funny you mention the eyes. I can tell you that keeping them still does not work either but you are the second person to call the secondary eye movement "glitchy" (I wanted to go for a bit of a scan). So while I know keeping them still ain't working, this is not perfect either.

The eyes should indeed lead! Its a very short turn but with the way I tweaked the spacing right now the order is the reverse of what it should be. XD In the tutorial the eye movement also took place in one frame which also gave me problems. I feel I should use a few more frames for the big eye movement here and see what happens.

Here is a random cool link on eye movement and "Saccades". Wikipedia Saccade Make sure to click open the small video on the right; its neat. :)

There actually is a bit of movement in the final section! ^_^ Its called a moving hold where you ever so slightly keep the previous movement going. Apparently its too subtle. <3 Looking up sounds like a neat solution though (maybe I should act this out and film it as ref).

Thanks for the indepth critic and the kind words. Ill keep them all in mind when I animate the slower turn.

Here are some really cool short (well, most are) movies on facial animation. I can't wait to implement some of these (so excited!).

Animator Island: Eyes Q&A (with Sintel examples!)

The Joy of Animation: Tips Tricks and Techniques - Hjalti Hjalmarsson (great "simple" tips you can apply right away, you should watch his other blender conference talks too!)

Animation School - Character Eye Blink

The Basics of Bangin' Brows (this is magic, wait till he gets to "eye masks".. holy $#%^, I can't wait to play with that principle)

Thanks again for the feedback and keep animating! :)

  ssmurfmier1985 Here is a rough wip of the new headturn. I think I already tackled some of the issues, some antic and the eyes leading the head turn. Even in the early stage it feels better! :) I also did some fun things with the eye frames, fun fun fun!