Last week when I was strolling around the park, I found a golf and a billiard balls. When I saw them I knew straight away they will be a good reference for some bouncing ball tests.
I tested the bounciness of the two balls as well as a tennis ball (was looking for something with a softer texture unlike the rigidness of the other two balls). To my surprise I found out that the golf and the pool ball react completely different to one another on different surfaces. It seems like the pool ball was a little more bouncy on a stack of paper than the golf. Anyway, you are probably asking yourself what am I yapping about so here is what I have got.
After a very busy week, I finally managed to sit down and make those final adjustments I wanted for the dialogue test. There are still few timing issues I would have changed if I had all the time in the world but I guess it is time to move on and work on a new shot.
In the next few weeks I am aiming to go back and practice some animation fundamentals which I feel could be pushed a bit more and improve my work flow.
Before I stop my rambling I want to say thanks to everyone for finding the time to look at my work and give me some good criticism (especially Ross-thanks mate, you are a legend!).
Anyhow, here is the final version of what I have got. As always, I am happy to hear what you have to say
Here are my thoughts about few of the things I have learned while working on the “Back to the Future” animation test:
1. PLANNING IS EVERYTHING!
2. Consisitancy in thumbnailing is the key to a more efficient work flow.
3. Silhouettes read better, never forget to test them.
4. Contrast in poses helps you to avoid twinning.
5. Timing can really push and accentuate a moment.
6. Small subtleties can make a big difference.
Last but not least I would like to mention that this test really taught me a huge deal about over animating a shot. Thanks the the fabulous feedback Ross and Kate gave me (Thanks guys, you rock!) I realised that sometimes the small gestures read better.
I know I have been spending a fair bit of time working on this shot, but I guess thats the way it is when you are self taught. You learn some of things the hard way.
As I said in previous posts, it’s still work in progress . There is still another pass I want to do for the lip sync but all in all I am happy how its coming along.
As always, I am happy to hear what you have to say about my work so don’t be shy and share your thoughts (if you have time off course).
So after I received some very useful feedback and criticism from collegues and some people at “strut your reel” I went back to work on my dialogue shot. As I wrote in my previous post it still need a lot of work, but slowly I am getting somewhere.
When I looked at the shot couple of days ago, it felt too slow, as if the timing of the gestures was twinning a fair bit of the time. To overcome this problem I offseted some of the keyframes and tweaked the poses slightly. The ending bit got cut down (thanks Ross!) so now the shot finishes when the dialogue ends. Somehow I ended up with something completely different to what I had few days ago but overall I think its getting there (VERY SLOWLY!).
Hi there
I am Avner, welcome to my online animation workbook.
