New Animation 2004-01-11 - By Dave Angelini
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Dennis,
If this is your first animation, then I look forward to more work from you.
Did you use Motion Studio for this?
Overall, I am really impressed given that this is your first character
animation....a rather ambitious start for someone new to the game.
As you asked for comments, here are some general tips/hints/etc.
1) In general, anything that is asymmetric (not-symmetrical) looks more
realistic. Therefore, very slightly what the left and right parts of the
body are doing. When the left hand movements look exactly like the right
hand movements, then you have a very mechanical motion. But should there be
slight variations, then it would look more real.
2) For the same reason that you want asymmetrical movements, you also want
to avoid animation cycles. Therefore, variations between consecutive
animation cycles would be advised. For example, when you create the first
walk cycle, copy it twice but vary each of the two copies slightly. Now you
have a 3 step walk cycle which can be copied but it will be harder to notice
the cyclical patterns than a 1 step walk cycle.
3) Again, harping on the theme that variation is a good thing, the floor
texture needs some variation to it. Not all the floor planks should be the
exact same shade or length. You could easily overcome this with a custom
specularity map which will vary the shininess of each plank (this will work
particularly if the floor is a procedural color and bump shader).
4) The camera moves could be a bit smoother. I usually block out my scene
first and if it is a 150 scene animation, then I plan out where I want my
camera using a few keyframes in a quick 15 frame animation. Then going into
the KFE, I expand it out to 150 frames which has a tendency to smooth out
tS's automatic ease-in/ease-out characteristics around key-frames (you could
modify this in the KFE itself, but that has other consequences with the
motion curves).
5) The boning and skinning work seems pretty good, but there are some
extreme limb motions which produce uncharacteristic wrinkling. You may want
to selectively sub-divide the joint areas one layer more than the rest of
the mesh prior to skinning that mesh to the bones.
Overall though, it is an impressive first start. From you resume, I noticed
that you had also used Animation Master. If you have experience with both
Motion Studio and Animation Master, I would be great to hear what you think
of the two (pros and cons of each).
Thanks,
Dave Angelini
-- -- Original Message -- --
From: Dennis Borruso
To: truespace@(protected)
Sent: Sunday, January 11, 2004 4:40 AM
Subject: [TSML] New Animation
Hi All,
I have been lurking on the list now for some months. I am pretty new to
trueSpace, but have been learning 3D for a few years now.
Anyway, I just completed my first animation in trueSpace and would love to
get some feedback. I am not going to rework this one anymore but any tips
for future animations would be appreciated.
Here's the link:
www.3dfrog.com/characters/movies/dancingfool.wmv
You'll need Windows Media Player 9 to view. The file size is 4.5 mb.
Also, if you have the time, check out my web site:
www.3dfrog.com
Take Care,
Dennis B
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