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Hellwuzzat posted:Hey, stop-motion homies, I have a question. What sort of cameras do folks use? I only ever used a firewire or machine control camera, whatever you want to call it. Using a DSLR with Frame Thief looks to be a bad idea. Are there similar programs that do support most DSLRs? Is it even healthy to have a DSLR operating for several hours at a time? My first project used a few point and shoot cameras, but I've used Canon 5Ds running non-stop for 8 hours or so with live preview into Dragon Stop Motion and not had an issue. Caveat - I have no professional experience, and will never do this for a living.
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Oct 3, 2011 06:55
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I actually find 2d to be more accessible and immediate than 3d. It's hard getting a sense of life from a bunch of bones and morphs, while you can just draw what you want in 2d. It's hard to get your hands in and control an abstract 3d model. The two mediums are very similar in the use of timing and movement, but dramatically different in their implementation and overall effect.
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Oct 3, 2011 12:03
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Dr Solway Garr posted:Oh dear, please don't turn this into a big thing, but you're utterly wrong. Bad 2D animation is just as easy to make as bad 3D animation and good 3D animation needs as much consideration as good 2D animation. My bad, not my intention. But I guess I can post a few.  Here are two TF2 taunts that I made as well. (Video uploaded by a friend who helped me compile it.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfTziSVLSAE The part where he falls over is removed now if I remember correctly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imb9rumcnUA I got some other strange things on my youtube channel. If anyone feels like wasting their life. As always, criticism is welcome. Boar It fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Oct 3, 2011 |
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Oct 3, 2011 16:19
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Gromit posted:My first project used a few point and shoot cameras, but I've used Canon 5Ds running non-stop for 8 hours or so with live preview into Dragon Stop Motion and not had an issue. What is the deal with live preview, anyway? The camera has to be in some kind of live preview mode in order for you to see what you're doing before you take the picture? And it doesn't show the actual image, but a close-yet-low-res approximation of the image? That's what I'm gathering.
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Oct 3, 2011 16:56
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I finished my 24 hour cartoon! I actually managed to finish it in time (had less than an hour to go when it finished), but I passed out while it was uploading to Youtube. It was fun to do again, but next time I'm doing it on a day when I don't have to work first. There's a difference between staying up for 24 hours and staying up for almost 40.
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Oct 4, 2011 00:43
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Torabi posted:My bad, not my intention. I can't really see much in those videos you posted, but the gif is nice. To be honest though, I'm not seeing much weight where he's pushing enough to make the block wobble. The arms are too loose and the palms don't fit flat against the surface, which is pretty noticeable (Maybe not so much in-game). When he's REALLY pushing against it, lock and raise the elbows and have him lean forward. Maybe even have his locked elbows wobble a bit from the strain. When you push, you really strain and tighten almost everything in your body from the effort!
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Oct 4, 2011 02:22
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Made a silly thing.
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Oct 4, 2011 15:35
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QUEEN CAUCUS posted:I can't really see much in those videos you posted, but the gif is nice. To be honest though, I'm not seeing much weight where he's pushing enough to make the block wobble. The arms are too loose and the palms don't fit flat against the surface, which is pretty noticeable (Maybe not so much in-game). When he's REALLY pushing against it, lock and raise the elbows and have him lean forward. Maybe even have his locked elbows wobble a bit from the strain. When you push, you really strain and tighten almost everything in your body from the effort! Thanks for the C&C. I will take your advice into consideration the next time I animate. Seeing as how the gifs are more useful in terms of studying the animation. Here are a few more. The model is from a mod made on another forum. They needed a stripper robot so I took the liberty of animating it. The project is sadly on "ice" at the moment.  .  Here is a replacement I tried to do for the TF2 Soldier's suicide taunt. The poking bit became really weird for some reason.  No idea on what I was doing with this one.  (I have never done a proper walk cycle.  )Boar It fucked around with this message at 18:33 on Oct 4, 2011 |
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Oct 4, 2011 18:25
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EDIT: Ugh, never mind. Was going to direct you to a great ref site...Apparently they thought their videos of walk-cycle references were SO good that you had to start paying for them. 
Hometown Slime Queen fucked around with this message at 01:27 on Oct 5, 2011 |
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Oct 4, 2011 23:45
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Morton Haynice posted:Made a silly thing. I keep thinking of Tory from Mythbusters.  Funny looking thing that you made there though! QUEEN CAUCUS posted:EDIT: Ugh, never mind. Was going to direct you to a great ref site...Apparently they thought their videos of walk-cycle references were SO good that you had to start paying for them. Aw, bugger. Thanks nonetheless. The strange thing is. The hard part isn't making the legs looping properly or anything like that. My biggest issue is the arms syncing up with the legs. I have some immense issues with that. I thought it would take five seconds to do but nope.
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Oct 5, 2011 17:22
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Torabi posted:Aw, bugger. Thanks nonetheless. Perhaps this is what you meant, but the arms actually don't sync up with the legs in a walk cycle, they are usually behind by a few frames because of secondary motion (You can see this on people in real life, but in a more purposeful walk, like power-walking it is less pronounced since the person is actively pumping their arms). It also makes a huge difference in making a cycle (or any animation, really) look less mechanical if all of the poses don't hit on the same frame. Of course, most of the rules in animation are made to be broken.
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Oct 5, 2011 18:42
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cocoavalley posted:Perhaps this is what you meant, but the arms actually don't sync up with the legs in a walk cycle, they are usually behind by a few frames because of secondary motion (You can see this on people in real life, but in a more purposeful walk, like power-walking it is less pronounced since the person is actively pumping their arms). It also makes a huge difference in making a cycle (or any animation, really) look less mechanical if all of the poses don't hit on the same frame. Of course, most of the rules in animation are made to be broken. Hm, never thought of that. So do you guys use 3ds Max or Maya for your animations? I don't want to spark some argument about which is better (Gee, this is sounding familiar.) but I am just curious. Maya seems better for animation but I love 3ds Max's CAT system which lets me rig just about anything in minutes for animation.  Like the TF2 engineer. If anyone has 3ds Max and feels like quickly animating a TF2 character then I could upload them. They aren't the best things in the world but they do work very well.
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Oct 5, 2011 19:14
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So, you guys might know I work at Frederator Studios, I'm a screenwriter, writing and directing animation is my passion, and I'm currently pitching a web-TV series. Why am I mentioning this? I've been inspired! My friend and co-worker Steve Worth showed me this video, and it's changed everything for me. In the video, Ralph Bakshi, famous creator of Fritz the Cat and others talks about why he's sick of young animators becoming studio slaves. He says "You guys have entire production studios in a box, and what do you do with it!? Nothing!? You can get 5 people together, get some computers, eat poo poo for a year and make a classic animated feature! Why don't you!?" And I thought about it. He's right. I'd like to do something like this. Not a feature, but a 3 minute animated short film , we could distribute it to festivals and on the web and all sorts of stuff! I can't animate, but I've been told I'm an exceptional writer (and I'm very confident with my abilties) and can storyboard the poo poo out of this project. I'm poor, and don't have a lot of money. If you guys want to be involved but want to get payed, I can throw you a pittance, but it's all I can muster. This would be a collaborative effort and anyone who decides to join "The team" can contribute! Not about the money, it's about the end result! I have no ideas for what the video would actually be. Do a bunch of 3D animators want to contribute? I can do something with that. Just 2D people? Works just as well. What matters is we're banding together and making something incredible. If you guys would like to start a small little short film, post in this thread and PM me/shoot me an email at Glmclain at gmail dot com. If I'm the only one interested, at least I tried! What do you guys think? 
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Oct 5, 2011 21:36
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I haven't seen that video before, but a teacher showed me Bakshi giving pretty much the same speech to someone at a con. The guy asked something along the lines of "how do you start animating films" and he basically just scolded the guy to start doing it already. Totally in on this thing. EDIT: Haha, I finally watched it and it was exactly the video I was talking about. Totally still awesome. Nate Breakman fucked around with this message at 22:59 on Oct 6, 2011 |
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Oct 6, 2011 22:33
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I've already got 3 goons on board! Any other takers?
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Oct 6, 2011 23:20
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I'd like to ask some of you animators a question. I'm going in to my second year of university and, after completing the mandatory shared first year for all computer related students, I need to choose between two courses. Computer Animation & Visualisation (mostly 3D animation with some flash and stuff in there too) and Computer Games Technology (Programming, maths, etc). Anyway, I'm interested in both these courses and am having trouble deciding between them. Is there anything you think I should know about animation/animation courses that might help me decide?
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Oct 7, 2011 00:36
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MixMasterGriff posted:I've already got 3 goons on board! Any other takers? I'm stuck working full time over the next couple years while my lady finishes grad school, but I'd be glad to chip in some work intermittently as my schedule allows. I've been working with 3D animation and After Effects over the last year, have a couple stop-motion shorts under my belt and am a decent editor.
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Oct 7, 2011 02:19
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The one thing I would warn you about an animation course is that if it is purely technical and doesn't teach any of the basics I would avoid it (as in they only teach the software). No amount of 3DS Max knowledge is going to help you if you don't know what is timing or how to make a good composition.
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Oct 7, 2011 02:21
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MixMasterGriff posted:I've already got 3 goons on board! Any other takers? Just ducking in to say I PMed him about this and am definitely interested in participating! Looking forward to hearing more about it!
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Oct 7, 2011 05:18
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Hellwuzzat posted:What is the deal with live preview, anyway? The camera has to be in some kind of live preview mode in order for you to see what you're doing before you take the picture? And it doesn't show the actual image, but a close-yet-low-res approximation of the image? That's what I'm gathering. Yeah, you're getting a live feed from your camera into your capture software, so you can see exactly what the camera sees without taking a photo. The cameras aren't designed to do it, really, so they get very hot.
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Oct 7, 2011 05:29
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Engage! posted:I'd like to ask some of you animators a question. I feel like you can learn the programs on your own time. More importantly are the base artistic skills that you use with the programs. You can also learn programming maths on your own, but it's definitely easier in a structured environment. I'd say study the maths and programming and then work on the art end on your own. You don't really need a degree to do 3d art professionally, just a good demo reel. Programming likes more credentials. I'd say you'd be wasting your time spending time at the university level learning spending it learning something that some good tutorials can teach you. Also programming generally pays more and from what I've seen there is a broader market for it.  My 2 cents at least, your mileage may vary.
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Oct 7, 2011 14:53
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Gromit posted:Yeah, you're getting a live feed from your camera into your capture software, so you can see exactly what the camera sees without taking a photo. The cameras aren't designed to do it, really, so they get very hot. poo poo. Well, machine vision it is. They can be expensive, but I guess expensive camera and cheap c-mount lenses evens out.
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Oct 7, 2011 15:13
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MixMasterGriff posted:So, you guys might know I work at Frederator Studios, I'm a screenwriter, writing and directing animation is my passion, and I'm currently pitching a web-TV series. I can contribute a little something if you end up going 2d.
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Oct 7, 2011 15:49
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We are indeed going 2D! Shoot me an email!
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Oct 7, 2011 18:49
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MixMasterGriff posted:We are indeed going 2D! Shoot me an email! I'm mostly 3D and After Effects, but if you need special effects or something along those lines maybe I could help? I do love group efforts!
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Oct 7, 2011 21:44
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Hinchu posted:I feel like you can learn the programs on your own time. More importantly are the base artistic skills that you use with the programs. You can also learn programming maths on your own, but it's definitely easier in a structured environment. I'd say study the maths and programming and then work on the art end on your own. You don't really need a degree to do 3d art professionally, just a good demo reel. Programming likes more credentials. I'd say you'd be wasting your time spending time at the university level learning spending it learning something that some good tutorials can teach you. That's the main reservation I had about animation, I feel like I could probably pick that stuff up without too much trouble since I'm already quite artistic in more traditional areas while I tend to need help to understand more complicated maths type things. So thanks!
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Oct 7, 2011 22:45
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MixMasterGriff posted:We are indeed going 2D! Shoot me an email! drat, I can only do some poor 3d stuff. Would've been really fun to contribute in some way. Still, good luck on your project. Will be interesting to see what it becomes.
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Oct 7, 2011 23:23
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Working on a new enemy for my game, Jerkmole: 
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Oct 9, 2011 05:29
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.TakaM posted:Working on a new enemy for my game, Jerkmole: I've always wanted to get into game developer, as a writer and whatnot. How neat!
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Oct 9, 2011 07:33
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.TakaM posted:Working on a new enemy for my game, Jerkmole: Looks great! The only thing I find a bit odd is how the arms seem to float in a strange manner on the run cycle.
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Oct 9, 2011 12:39
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.TakaM posted:Working on a new enemy for my game, Jerkmole: Oh, I thought your stuff looked familiar. I found your site via a comment on my YT channel a while back. I like your pixel art, particularly your backgrounds. Good stuff.
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Oct 10, 2011 01:59
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Thanks guys The arms came out more floaty than I planned, but I wanted them held above his head so they player can't jump on him and he looks ready to attack.
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Oct 10, 2011 06:14
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I think it would help if they swayed at the same speed as his legs are going... but it's hard to be sure vOv
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Oct 10, 2011 06:53
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What if Jerkmole had his arms down at his sides like a gorilla? Then, when the player goes to jump on him, Jerkmole puts his hands up and *shink!* SHARP STABBY CLAWS.
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Oct 10, 2011 08:01
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Hellwuzzat posted:What if Jerkmole had his arms down at his sides like a gorilla? Then, when the player goes to jump on him, Jerkmole puts his hands up and *shink!* SHARP STABBY CLAWS. Maybe it's a visual cue; that only while the claws are up, they are a threat. Similar to the Spikies in Mario. When they are walking, threat. When they are upside down, no threat. Like a status effect, almost. \/\/\/ Yeah, that! The way the enemies look determines what you need to do to defeat them Dodgeball fucked around with this message at 09:28 on Oct 10, 2011 |
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Oct 10, 2011 08:36
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.TakaM posted:Working on a new enemy for my game, Jerkmole: Forgot to comment on this. I definitely do love the style, and the animation works well regardless, since it's the style, it's not meant to be super-realistic. It reminds me a lot of Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, so good job because that's my favorite 2D-era Nintendo game graphicwise 
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Oct 10, 2011 09:22
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.TakaM posted:Working on a new enemy for my game, Jerkmole: Hey, are you still working on that Twinsen side-scroller? I can't remember if the project had been dropped or not.
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Oct 10, 2011 13:24
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We didn't want to make a fangame anymore so it's now Fetch Quest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6xZOKO58wk I just finished an animation for the jerkmole to skid as he changes direction running and my pc blue screened... of course I didn't save.
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Oct 10, 2011 14:47
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.TakaM posted:We didn't want to make a fangame anymore so it's now Fetch Quest: Oh, I thought you were developing the two side by side. This makes way more sense and isn't lawsuit bait to boot!
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Oct 10, 2011 16:22
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.TakaM posted:We didn't want to make a fangame anymore so it's now Fetch Quest: drat, that's really bad rear end! How large is your team? You guys going commercial with this?
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Oct 12, 2011 03:04
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