kissing book
Comments(6) Since I’ve been on break from AM I havn’t animated anything so I thought I’d do something simple.
UPDATE 1 (Day1): Base on feedback from the above link, here’s an update: Blocking 2
UPDATE 2 (Day2): Base on feedback from the above link, here’s are a few links of the progress made today: Blocking plus, Spline, Face pass
As suggested by a few people, I added a prop to break up the his eye contact with the off screen character. Also made him sit back at the start so he’s not all in one spot for the whole animation.
I’ll probably have to redo the legs on FK as it’s been a paint trying to clean them up on IK :(
UPDATE 3 (day3): This is probably my last pass on this. There’s still a few polish bits I’d like to do but I’m going to leave this one for now. I was mainly going for speed on this test and this one from planing to completion clocked in at 22hrs.
I’m quite please with the results but looking at it now I should have probably had him interact with the book more. I just wish I thought of that when I was planning the shot.
Thanks for all emails and comments on this shot. Your suggestions helped out a lot!
Hey Nino,
Right I think this is looking pretty good. I was thinking though that it would be great if he could have the book with him as a prop to interact with. This way he could have a chance to look back and forth from the book and the person off camera as well as give him something more interesting to do with his hands the whole time. I think it would really allow for some cool acting and make the character seem more alive. Hope that helps. Sweet audio line btw, this is gonna be brilliant.
Hey Nino,
I really like your individual acting choices. I like all the beats you’re hitting, they go well with the line, and show what the character is thinking throughout.
However, I would change the character’s main pose. He looks like he’s sitting in a pretty neutral, relaxed pose on a couch, and this isn’t giving the audience much information. I don’t know what age you’re gong for, but the audio clip sounds like it’s an 8-12 yr old boy (Fred Savage, right?)…so the pose should look more childish. Maybe one leg up on the couch, an arm wrapped around his body or something like that. Also, your pose should tell the audience more about the situation: is he just relaxing and ready to hear a story, is he receiving a book as a gift? He sounds kind of defensive, maybe he should be in a more dubious mood.
Hey Nino!
Lookin good man! I dig the subtle squash and stretch in the beginning. The thought poses between 140 and 160 are a nice touch.
This is something that you’d probably do in the refining passes, but make sure to pay close attention to your eyes and the positions of your pupils, sometimes, if the spacing of the white is different between each eye, it feels weird, like in frame 155. Also, the last pose kinda makes him look like he’s looking down a bit, instead of straight into the other guys eyes, like when he started.
I think his left hand on frame 104 feels a bit unnatural. Maybe if you moved it a bit so that they silhouette was clearer, it’d feel better.
Other than that, solid start man!! Good to see that you’re animating again! :) btw, I dig your sketches! Cheers.
Hey Nino, this is looking great & concidering you did it in 22hrs its very impressive. just a few little notes from me..
104-115, the left (screen right) hand movement is very linear maybe add a little rotation.
F101-112, maybe offset the legs so one clearly starts the lift before the other. I like the drop.
Good stuff. You back at AM next term?
Cheers Phil! I might be back at AM next term or definitely the following term.
Omri, yep – Fred Savage indeed.
hey man!
this is great nino. i really like the overlap you have as he comes forward . the whole perfrmance feels really loose and natural.
just a few things-
1. it would be interesting to see if it makes a difference if the bok is open- i noticed some people have commented that he hasnt interacted with it much, so that may help. (or if you have time to animate it, it could be open, then fall shut of s own accord as he moves forward.)
2. the lip synch feels a little late, but im not sure if that is just my browser playing it back slow. I think its the most noticable on ‘book’. from what i can tell its just a mater of shifting the lipsynch forward in time aboout 1-3 frames.
3. 150-160 te fingfers of both hands are really still.. but i’m not sure its worth changing that, becase at the moment they are just not distracting, and what you have works. I woiuld say if anything, yu could have a little more movng hold on the screen right hand during this time, and that would help them feel a little alive. maybe even just a little twitch or something. also, 150-160 as the screen left hand comes in, i thnk the fingers would curl around a bit sooner, to make it easier for him to tuck his hand under hs arm. so maybe have them bend over by 160, so they are pointing more in the direction of where they are headed. (hope that makes sense)
really great stuff dude.
hoep to see you soon! i will be back in town in a few weeks :)
brad