Monday, October 20, 2008
This show will turn your frown upside down. I love everything about it. It reminds me of the really fun timing that 2D animation can get away with.
*The timing
*The Character Design
*The poses
*The Simple stories
I really need to buy these shorts. I think you can see most of them online. Check out this link.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
In video game production, more often then not there is an assumption that any attack or motion will do for an AI as long as it is “cool”. A lot of this has to do with the fact that animation is often created before design has finalized the game plan. I find this workflow very frustrating. I understand that games are about the fun play factor and animation is the icing on the cake, but with a little staggering of roles I think both can be achieved. In games there are very few places to show personality for AI that doesn’t rely on cinematics. If possible I try to milk as much personality into every available piece of motion. The attack of a character should compliment its personality as much as the idle or fidget. An example of this can be seen in my TR creature reel.
The second creature showcased in the movie is the Boargar (Boar looking animal). Illustrating his swipe attack. Originally the design doc only called for a melee attack. During the swipe he spins around 90 degrees then has to manually turn the body the rest of the way. What I was trying to show in this move was that he is normally a very happy go lucky piggy but when threatened he strikes hard and strikes fast. So much so that his energy and exuberance can overcome his cute little body structure. Or something like that. This may seem like overkill but for a video game animator it can help keep the fun of animating alive and push the artist to make every animation as unique as possible. I also believe that this mentality helps bring life to a game without compromising design. This idea is not limited to only attacks but should be applied to everything. I have found transitions to be one of the most furtle ground for personality animations. When a creature is passive and then activated it is a great place to show how that character feels about being bothered. Also transition from active to passive states can show frustration or boredom. All of these things are usually supported by most tools such as Havok Behavior or most video game technology. I would love to have further tech that would support more situational or occupational animations. That would definitely go a long way to make creatures really belong into the world. I have not yet been blessed with that type of tech, so till then I will keep sneaking in as much personality as I am allowed.