Well... what do you think?

This here is kind of an on going project to keep myself busy. The idea was to record numerous versions of the same line, all read differently, and animate a character based on the reading. Kind of like alternate takes. I started on one of the tracks recently and It'd be great to get some feedback before I moved on to the details. Once this track is fully animated I'll move on to another track reading the same line in a different manner and just see how far I get.

Let me know what you think!

funny idea!

the expressions are good and if you watch it frame by frame and the body language is good too
but the animation still looks a bit stiff though while switching the poses. its hard do explain.
its not um "snappy smooth" enough :S does this make sense?

It's a good start, but I think the problem diemacht noticed, is that you can see the character go from pose to pose to pose. This makes it look a little stiff/robotic. There's no overlap in the poses/motions. If you can offset the motions, it will loosen up the animation and feel more natural.

Keep up the good work!
~Mechis

I think it's a great idea for a project - I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops

As for this anim I think it needs a little work on a couple of things. The guys here have talked a little about the stiffness going through the poses and I think that's pretty valid. But don't make the mistake of just breaking up the movement on each body part with what you have now. Going from pose to pose is what we do in animation and I think one of the problems you have here is the posing. From the face I see he's kind angry right from the start but that's contradicted by a relaxed body posture.

Secondly, I think you're going through too many poses and what you have is not so 'readable'. You could break the shot into beats (from the audio you have two clear 'beats' and it'd be good to work on that as a starting point) though it's possible that the general attitude of the character is the same throughout on a shot like this. For me I'd spend a while really nailing an angry pose and then design gestures within that.

Hope that helps... oh and one big thing I'd advise is to take video reference of yourself. This is your own voice, right? So take video too - act it out!

I should have been more specific but his is just a blocking pass and I'm more looking for notes on acting. I didn't intend to get into overlap, follow through, anticipation, etc.. until the acting notes are all squared away.

Thanks for taking a look just the same, though.

Thanks, Global. That was the kind of broad-stroke-critique I was hoping for. I have a nasty habit of over-posing when I animate and it seems I've done it again. I'll try to simplify the structure here and get into the details after. (f.y.i. this isn't my voice, but video reference is a good idea. I just don't have a video camera).

Update!

No lip sync or finger animation yet



zac.

Another update.




Besides needing to fix some arcs in the arms and head I'm feeling pretty good about this pass. Let me know what you think


zac.

OK this is looking much better. There are some arcs that'll need a tweak, as you say but good improvement overall on your first post.

The initial pose is looking nice now, though I still feel like the arms are a little detached from what's going on as the shot progresses and that the general posing becomes unreadable as he goes into the second beat. Remember that in animation one of the fundamental principles is squash and stretch. That doesn't just apply to bouncing balls or a squashy cartoon character. Basically if an arm is bent, it's 'squashed' and if it's extended then it's 'stretched'. The same thing applies for posing. For me, the audio hits a real beat on the last "THINK?!". What I'd suggest is really squashing up the pose just before that (hands and arms tighter in to the silhouette and raised) and then blasting out a really stretched pose (though bringing the arms down) on that last beat.

hope that helps

I think this one is wrapping up. Any final critiques before I move on to the next one?



Thanks all.

That's quite a change from the last version. The addition of the little jump works quite well though it could use a little anticipation. In terms of polish to call it final I'd take a look at the arcs on the head and arms as there's quite a lot of 'jitter' throughout. I looks like you have the arms in local space not world space and that may be causing you some trouble. I'm not familiar with that rig but most rigs will have an attribute to have the arms rotation planted in world space (so the arm stays fairly level as the character moves) [Note: The local / world space thing is not a 'right or wrong' way of doing things... just personal choice]

Re. acting choices - This one is a biggie and I wouldn't go changing anything now, but the way that the shot flows and the acting choices seem unnatural and a little unreadable. I think the attitude is readable from the first beat, but I still feel it odd that he taps his head on "What do you..." and then jumps on "Think?!". When designing poses always ask yourself what the guy is thinking, how he's feeling etc and animate that. Don't animate what he's saying but what he's feeling and thinking. Stand up and act it out yourself and take video if you can.

It's ok to wrap on this one but as you move on to the next take on board all the things you've learned from the last one

Can you post up the audio for your next shot? Maybe we can brainstorm out some ideas before you plan your shot.

yeah, I got a similar comment on my acting choices from an old teacher that kind of tanked my optimism on this shot. But like you said, it's time to move on and spend more time on the planning stage this time. I'd really like to take some acting lessons in the near future, but for now I'll just try to get a hold of a camera and film myself.



I'm not sure how to post an audio file so I just ran it through vimeo again.

I really appreciate your interest Global, it's encouraging to know I might have some more help in the early stages of this one.

It feels like three beats again, the laugh, 'well' and 'think'. The character sounds confident so I was thinking the first pose would be him standing tall, arched back a bit, with his hands on his hips while he chuckles. A subtle hand gesture with his right hand on 'well' and a stronger motion on 'think' but still keeping his posture pretty tight, like he doesn't have to sell it too hard because he knows it's good.

Another idea I had was more of a cover-up delivery of the line. Like he showed off something and it fell apart at the most important point, so it'd start with a beat of panic before he tries to cover it up with an uncomfortable laugh, faking the confidence before he asks what they think. This scenario would have more beats and extremes because he's trying to fake confidence to cover up his failure.

A prop wouldn't be a bad idea either, or a set piece just behind him for him to motion towards. I dunno. What do you think? (no pun intended)

Yeah, sometimes a comment or critique will make your energy level take a nose dive. I find it hard, especially during a rush at crunch time, to take any crits because I get emotionally attached to the shot I'm working on. When you invest a lot of time and energy in to something it's really hard if that just get's torn apart. But... that is something we just have to face regularly, so brush yourself down, and get back on with it. Most of the time I'll take a little step back, try and detach myself from it, and then realise that the comment was a good one and will actually help the shot a lot. So keep your spirits up!

On to the next one... wow, that's a tough little audio clip. Laughter is really hard to get right and the way the line is delivered seems much more like a statement than a question. Another challenge here is that the beats are kinda hard to identify. For me it's almost a single beat since there's no real change or shift in attitude from the laughter all the way down to 'Think'. I'd maybe concentrate on one strong pose and just work a couple of gestures out of that.

Re. props and such... What makes this clip hard is that it really feels like we're coming right into the middle of a conversation - that the audio is not isolated. That's not necessarily a problem if you can stage the shot in the right way and put the character into an instantly readable situation. I wouldn't go too extreme on a set or props but try to make the situation believable. I like the idea that he's covering up an embarrassing moment with a little laugh, but I would be careful about adding too much complexity. You said doing it this way means more beats and such but I don't think that's necessarily true. He could be a salesman, a business man revealing the sales chart, a teacher, a magician... perhaps he's just revealed something that is obviously a FAIL and has just read the audience's reaction and it is at that moment your animation begins.