Character Animation WIP

[h2oStudios]

It's been almost a year since I've done any actual character animation so I decided to try and knock some of the rust off in that area by doing some basic excerise. This excerise in particular is a character grabbing a handle (drag, follow-thru, etc.). I kind of ran with it after the first second. There are areas that I feel are in need of improvement but I would like to see what others may find.

All comments, critiques, and questions are extremely encouraged. Be brutal.

http://hometown.aol.com/h2oStudios/stuff/h2oStudios_CA_WIP_OpenDrawer.avi

-903KB, Divx - 56k friendly.

Cheers!

h2o

[rezman]

Really nice work...the ending is great! One thing is distracting though. The cabinet door pulsating with the strain. I would either tone it down a lot or lose it completely.

rez

[h2oStudios]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll take that into consideration and see how it looks without drawer pulsating.

Any other comments or critiques? Anyone?

[Hopper]

The facial expression at the end is absolutely perfect. It has that "Ow! Holy sh** that's gonna a leave a mark - I'm a dumb a** - Everything is getting dark suddenly" kind of feel.

Nice head dynamics while he's trying to pull on the drawer. Very natural.

:thumbsup:

The only thing I would change is speed of the drawer going back into the cabinet. It's kind of fast. A slower speed would give it a heavier feel.

[h2oStudios]

@ HopperZ - Yeah the drawer does go back in too fast, someone else here at the studio had pointed that out to me aswell. Thanks, I'm going to slow that down a bit, and also speed up his fall at the end; it looks a little slow (floaty). Thanks again.

Anything else? Come on. I have no training in CA so I need all the criticsm I can get.

h2o

[adamredwoods]

It's a good start.

What did you use to animate?

Crits:
Show the range of emotion the guy goes through in dealing with frustration, anger. Start light, end big. Exaggerate more. He doesnt seem angry enough. You can also speed up his actions the more frustrated he gets. Make it a little snappier.

Use the head to show some secondary animation, show more emotion in the end. When he climbs off the file cabinet, I cannot tell the characters emotion. Maybe use shoulders to show aggression or despondent. Show him winding up before yelling.

Study classic Chuck Jones to see how Wile Coyote deals with things that are stuck.

[h2oStudios]

@adamredwoods - Thanks. Everything was done by me in Lightwave 3d v9.0, Modeling, rigging, animation and rendering - pure Lightwave.

- Great advice. Increased exaggeration, more pronounced exposition of emotion, snappy timing, and some emphasised secondary action. Looks like I have my plate full for the time being. I'll hope to have an update on this animation for further critique soon. I guess it's also time to get some Chuck Jones - "Looney Toons" DVDs.

Thanks again for all the feedback.

h2o

[zapper1998]

I love it..

Thats Funny..

Great Job :thumbsup: :thumbsup: