hi all,
my first post here.. just found this SUMEA website yesterday and am very very happy i did! Exactly what i was hoping to find..
Anyway, i recently graduated the Diploma of Animation from QANTM.. Not long ago i finished one of my final assesments, a 3 month project to do a short animation of our choice (our first animation since learning the skills to do so) ... a lot of late nights, that's for sure!
i chose to do a game-intro style short based around the great wall of China involving an oriental dragon.. i am hoping to get into the games industry.
i bit off way more than i could chew for my first proper animation, attempting 3 characters + a 20+ spine-boned dragon, but i managed to get it completed in time!! It was more important to really learn what i'd been taught first, the refining and perfecting can come later i figured [;)] I do understand that under normal circumstances, 10 seconds of quality is better than 30 seconds of crap, not that this is crap!!!
I am happy with where i'm at after 10 months learning.. with more time, it definately could have come up a lot better (although i'm sure everyone says that..[:)] ), and it still will when i have spare time to get back to it!
here's a couple of screenshots to give you an idea..
[IMG]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d64/inked3d/ShotOne0002.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d64/inked3d/shotSix0161.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d64/inked3d/shotNineteen0170.jpg[/IMG]
you can download a version of the final thing at [url]http://www.gethinhill.net/animations/The%20Wall/theWall%20LQ.wmv[/url](14mb .wmv, save target as)
Any feedback on things for me to improve, try out, etc are greatly appreciated. The next couple of months will be hectic trying to get myself and my work organised and tidied up to get a job!
Were you at the QANTM industry night? I don't remember seeing this there.
Nice, but certainly room for improvement. Go for the 10 seconds of quality next. Animation wise, do one character and work on animating him for a while. Start with perfecting a walk cycle, then move onto various other movements: runs, jumps, various gestures and actions. Try out [url="http://10secondclub.net/]the ten second club[/url] and basically keep working at it.
Modeling wise, find reference (wireframes, etc) on the web and use them to improve your own models. Post here constantly for feedback, and dont stop modeling. Even if you do one character in a week then throw it away and start on another, the more you do the more you will improve.
Most of all dont give up, i've seen to many students just neglect their work after finsihing UNI. If you want to imoprove and get a job you have to keep working.
Hey - I'm an audio guy, not an animator so cannot give much feedback about some more technical aspects you could improve upon in your animation.
However, I did want to add that you should try get an audio guy/composer/sound designer who knows what they are doing - this shouldnt be underestimated! the general feel is there in your animation but for me the sound effects were lacking and very removed from the animation - and this subconsciously affects viewers and can detract from your animation!
For me, particularly the dragon, while fairly well conveyed in design, lost so much of any impact it would have had, only because it did not SOUND fearce or menacing..! there was no 'weight' to it, so its hard to feel scared when its sounds are limited.
But this is all constructive criticism - good work and wish you all the best with improving and finding work eventually!
hi guys,
Livewire: yes i was at industry night! But unfortunately it was a major flop for most of the Diploma grads. We were stuck on Level 12 where there was no free food or alcohol, and most importantly no industry people due to a serious lack of signage (and probably food and alcohol) directing people to us. Everyone was really disappointed, some amazing talent from this years diploma students was missed. Badly organised was the general concensus from Diploma stuendts of Industry night, unfortunately. I personally think a few of the Diploma students gave the Degree class a run for their money, as did many other people. I wasn't expecting a job but would have loved to have talked to and met some people, gotten some feedback. Hence why i've posted here! i found where you all hide! :)
I am planning to do what you've suggested, and that's focus a bit on animating. I downloaded a rig kindof similar to Andrew Silke's Generi (but for max) and am eagerly awaiting January's 10 second club comp. That way i can focus on practicing animating
without all the other stuff to get there (modelling, unwrapping, texturing, rigging etc).
And yes, i won't give up! i enjoy it too much and will do it as a job or not.. if i can make it a career, then life will be grand :)
InsanelySane: thanks for your view as well from a sound point of view. I too have a bit of background in sound, but this particular soundtrack i whipped up in a few hours due to lack of time to get everything else i needed to done to pass the course. And since i knew about sound, i wasn't so fussed about the 'learning' side there, so focused on the 3d elements this year. As much as i would have liked to incorporate my sound knowledge, i ran out of time and had to make do. that's my excuse and i'm sticking to it ;)
But you are definately right, and it does lack a lot, and fixing it up would make a world of difference.
thank you both so much for checking it out and the great feedback. Very much appreciated!
ahh you were one of the ones in 12.6 or something were you? yeah that room didnt seem to be getting much attention, and the only reason i went down there at all was to see if there were any more people there. anyone that didnt knowthe building would not have know to look down there as there was nothing to indicate there was anything else beyond the hallway. sucks, but industry night isnt your only chance to get a job. And as of yet i've never seen anyone get a job from industry night anyway - interviews yes, but never an out right job offer, which is probably to be expected. industry night if for getting contacts and feedback, and feedback you can get here aswell, and there are pleanty of job postings going up all the time too, so dont fret to much about industry night.
yeah i was at the back of 12.5, poor guys in 12.6 were worse off again. They'd put 3 of my favorite animations/showreels from my classmates right next to the door, so anyone entering got stuck at those heheh.. The 3 hours was up when people started to find us. I think both, you Krome guys and Pandemic had just made it to our room when presentations were called lol..
but yeah i'm not fretting about it, i was happy to complete the course succesfully, and was happy with how much i'd learnt in a year, even if their big build-up of Industry night was an anti-climax for many of us.
Finding this SUMEA website was great, and did definately lift my spirits and give me hope for when my work and I are ready for serious jobhunting.. will be plenty of other chances to meet people and get feedback as you said..
i'm pretty outgoing so will definately be posting/surfing on various websites and mingling at any Aussie game and CGI gatherings i hear of and getting my name out there. i'm here to stay.. an industry wannabe :)
cheers for the reassurance :)
I like this very much man, really good feel to it. Good choice of music as well. On whole smooth animation, though when the man gets hit by the dragon, I feel that there should be a bit more movement when he is in the air, anyways, good job, and good luck with it.