Animation critique

[thespazicat]

hi there, i have recently had an interest in frame by frame animation by looking at tutorials by the likes of spaz kid and oney, bought the animators survial kit etc so i decided to give it a shot.

The animation isnt properly cleaned up yet and is essentially still a skeleton of a figure but it was a way to experement with frame by frame (aswell as fbf lip sync) and is animated at 12 frames per second using key frames and inbetween frames.

http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/c207f281da314e471bc46787 ffdce074
give your thoughts bellow on your opinions and ways i could improve, thanks.

[stalkerfox]

At 4 hours ago, thespazicat wrote: hi there, i have recently had an interest in frame by frame animation by looking at tutorials by the likes of spaz kid and oney, bought the animators survial kit etc so i decided to give it a shot.

The animation isnt properly cleaned up yet and is essentially still a skeleton of a figure but it was a way to experement with frame by frame (aswell as fbf lip sync) and is animated at 12 frames per second using key frames and inbetween frames.

http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/c207f281da314e471bc46787 ffdce074
give your thoughts bellow on your opinions and ways i could improve, thanks.

The animation seems pretty smoth.... what technique did you used?
Anyway..is hard to tell because it's really diferent animating a detailed char than a skeleton char as you said...

I'm Wondering if that animation would keep the ''softness'' if you make it with details =P

[thespazicat]

The animation seems pretty smoth.... what technique did you used?
Anyway..is hard to tell because it's really diferent animating a detailed char than a skeleton char as you said...

I'm Wondering if that animation would keep the ''softness'' if you make it with details =P

well technique wise, i used a technique called smears which i used for some of the inbetweens whichs helps create fast movements with very little frames and as for smoothness i think thats due to me changing the frame rate from 25-12 allowing me to do alot more frames of animation easier without it being too fast, but i dont know to be honest, im just starting out.

[leocartoon1]

It's actually good I guess, but I feel that the face is floating a lot around the head.
Draw some construction lines in the cranium and keep the face fixed to it. Don't make it float make it seem that the face is on a different plane than everything else.

[Zachary]

The animation seems pretty smooth to me, but the audio is very distracting. It's loud, crackles, and takes away my attention from the actual animation.

Good job though.

[thespazicat]

At 5 minutes ago, Zachary wrote: The animation seems pretty smooth to me, but the audio is very distracting. It's loud, crackles, and takes away my attention from the actual animation.

Good job though.

yeh sorry about that, i tried to edit the audio file in audacity and in flash but it didnt help much, but thanks anyways

[thespazicat]

At 44 minutes ago, leocartoon1 wrote: It's actually good I guess, but I feel that the face is floating a lot around the head.
Draw some construction lines in the cranium and keep the face fixed to it. Don't make it float make it seem that the face is on a different plane than everything else.

originally it was just going to be the body moving but at the last minute i decided to add the face and do a lip sync test, but i decided to animate it on a different layer so you are right about how the face wasnt in place and on a different drawing plane, thanks anyways

[leocartoon1]

At 16 minutes ago, thespazicat wrote:

At 44 minutes ago, leocartoon1 wrote: It's actually good I guess, but I feel that the face is floating a lot around the head.
Draw some construction lines in the cranium and keep the face fixed to it. Don't make it float make it seem that the face is on a different plane than everything else.

originally it was just going to be the body moving but at the last minute i decided to add the face and do a lip sync test, but i decided to animate it on a different layer so you are right about how the face wasnt in place and on a different drawing plane, thanks anyways

No problem.
But remember to always wrap your details around the bigger forms - in this case, the details are the face, while the big form here is the head.

[thespazicat]

No problem.
But remember to always wrap your details around the bigger forms - in this case, the details are the face, while the big form here is the head.

yeh ill keep that in mind

[thespazicat]

oh and btw, i decided to do another frame by frame animation test, using the critiques i have been given to improve such as the face profile, cleaned the lines, better audio etc, so tell me what u think, thanks

http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/99753b98030a2eb3740f019b 50e291e8

[thespazicat]

also the specs are still the same, 12 frames per second, but also the clean lines were drawn with a wacom intous 4 tablet so excuse some of the crudeness, but it is second best when compared to the cintiq.

[DillonBrannick]

At 2 minutes ago, thespazicat wrote: also the specs are still the same, 12 frames per second, but also the clean lines were drawn with a wacom intous 4 tablet so excuse some of the crudeness, but it is second best when compared to the cintiq.

the intuos 4 is class, don't be complaining. I think the arm is moving alot, but nothing is happening to his solder and that area, a bit stiff looking

[leocartoon1]

The details are following the forms more unlike the first one, but I feel that the arm is jumping a bit too much.

[thespazicat]

the intuos 4 is class, don't be complaining. I think the arm is moving alot, but nothing is happening to his solder and that area, a bit stiff looking

i see what u mean about the arm and shoulders, i should probably work on that, and i wasnt complaing about the intous 4, infact i love it, i was only comenting its not as accurate as the cintiq

[Sacros]

hey nice stuff you have there men, you sure have the animator survival kit

the face is awesome, you nailed that

the arm though, is desperetly asking for inbetweens, its only five positions, maybe you can fix it just by adding a drawing or two at the beggining of the motion, the rest is ok

[Zachary]

At 3 days ago, thespazicat wrote: oh and btw, i decided to do another frame by frame animation test, using the critiques i have been given to improve such as the face profile, cleaned the lines, better audio etc, so tell me what u think, thanks

http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/99753b98030a2eb3740f019b 50e291e8

To be honest, the first animation you posted seemed to be a lot more smooth. This one seemed very stiff and the arm moved in an awkward fashion.

[thespazicat]

this is still a work in progress but i made another test, more focusing on the actual animation rather than doing a lip sync, this time animated at 25 per second animated on twos. Ive been trying to make movemnt seem much smoother as alot of people commented on how jerky some of the arm movements were, what do you think

http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/9044aa3d7188bda095cf4e2f 31fbd34c

[cmkinusn]

At 35 minutes ago, thespazicat wrote: this is still a work in progress but i made another test, more focusing on the actual animation rather than doing a lip sync, this time animated at 25 per second animated on twos. Ive been trying to make movemnt seem much smoother as alot of people commented on how jerky some of the arm movements were, what do you think

http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/9044aa3d7188bda095cf4e2f 31fbd34c

You need to have follow through. Try doing what you just did there, and you will notice your body doesnt stop moving when you do that. Also, you seperated a single action into two different ones, I dont think you meant to do that.

[thespazicat]

Also, you seperated a single action into two different ones, I dont think you meant to do that.

no it was actually two different actions, but thanks for the advice anyways