Mitch's Animation Anxiety Attacks

3 comments:

Ian said...

Hey Mitch

Push the hips forward on the last couple of frames before the release so there is a stronger line of action and a clearer reversal in that line of action when he throws.

I'd probably have a little follow through in the body (arcing forward) as well as the arm after the throw too. I can see you're trying to keep it casual, but it can still be there, just subtle ;)

His emotions are not so clear at the end either, let me know with his body language how he feels there.

May 27, 2009 at 3:33 AM  

Mitch said...

Thanx Ian, I really felt like there were alot of things missing from this, and it seems you've picked up on it. and now that you mention it he does look very stiff. I'll get to work on some improved poses after I've finished tweaking and polishing my first EAP.

May 27, 2009 at 4:17 AM  

Frank said...

Hey Mitch,

He could dip a bit on the catch and then you have an opportunity to work a nice arc into the anticpation of the throw.

Keep those animation principles near you at all times, best place to pack them is in your memory, and each time you start working into the 'zone' take them with you like a water bottle.

Each time you play your planning linetests make an improvement based on the animation principles.

Solid Drawing is the principle we are interpreting for 3D as posing and I would advise you to grab a few fellow animators to draw all over your poses to push the:

Line of Action for clear depiction of energy and emotion of your character as Ian suggests, in particular on the finish pose... How does he feel? Only you know and you have to show it to us.

Always know where your character's power centre is on your key story telling poses. His body and all the dangly bits (like hands) will be drawn to it like being caught in Spidey's web.

Consider psychological gesture(s). In someting like this casual throw it can be subtle but none-the-less inform the viewer of what your character is thinking.

Meaningful symbolism could be worked into an EAP like this to show some of your personality: if the character were to throw away a heart* rather than a ball and then slump forward, then we would know more about the micro-story you are attempting to communicate in this EAP.

*That comes from me listening to Burt Bacharach while critiquing. You're probably in zombie mode, so throwing away a heart may mean something different in your brainspace.

Work those poses!

May 27, 2009 at 5:46 AM  

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