okay.
these r clips from a personal animation learning project i am working on. just using it to hone my skills (in my free time)

the plot is simply this:

a bumbling chap is shown into a plain looking office which is actually the HQ of a secret agency.
while his host is out, he unwittingly hits a button that starts the office morph- transforming it from the simple room into a high-tech office.


my focus is on timing, reaction and a smooth cartoony character animation.

my first task was 2 create various office equipment, morph targets and experiment with the animation morph of various equipment.

comments r welcome as is participation (with this or any other storyline)
such personal projects really helps improve personal skill- i recommend it, and if the end product is good enuff; it adds to ur portfolio.

will be posting clips as i work.

okay.
i have added an animated shader to the chair to simulate the transition from wood to leather.
the scene now includes a wooden storage bookcase which also undergoes transformation to a steel file cabinet.

still loads of tweaking to be done, but i wanta get a feel of the whole sequence first.
i am itching to put a character on that chair- i think i will do dat next!

and hey, because this is a personal learning project, i am not following strict rules regarding storyboarding or the general creative process. i am just working on the fly.

Good start

latest updates.
just moved the file cabinet around n did a ruff animation with a character sitting on d chair.

been up thru d nite- gatta grab some shut eye.

@ zpixel
thnx, but surely something can be improved upon.
i dont mind criticism.

Hi OKX
I've been really out of the 3D world for such a long time. I almost don't feel qualified to comment from that angle. From what I can see as Zpixel said it looks like a good start. There are more ingredients such as camera moves etc that would add more life to it. But as we're looking at just the changing process then I feel the chair is more successful. The cabinet for me is not as successful if it is supposed to be 'real' and not 'cartoony'. But if I understand correctly you are going for a cartoon style. I'd still explain what I mean though. If it was a secret cabinet in the 'real' world that could change, I would expect the folding and revealing panels to be directly related to the first form.

That's why the chair works better for me. From what I saw most of the parts of the old chair changed into or produced parts of the new chair. But in the cabinet I can see 'air' in the structure as it changes. Like panels being created out of thin air. It's hard to explain what I mean. Even if it is impossible to do the change I still want the change to have some kind of grounding in the laws of real world physics. But if it's cartoony then we're more flexible.

As for the character animation. Again, it's a good start. a bit of refinment needed on his reaction but I know it's WIP so I'm not too sure how far to crit. But the foundations for a good animation are there.

now this i like-a more detailed analysis.

@AdamuW
great input.
Am purposely keeping d camera static so d flaws stand out.

I totally feel u on d cabinet morph thing.(guess i now know how d creators of transformers felt)

i wanted a morph style different from d chairs, but cartoony or not-i think d cabinet needs revisiting. I get ur 'thin air' feel-unless d old bookcase is a hologram. Lol
Maybe i will try spinning d shelves 2 achieve d morph (any ideas, ppl?)

d chair still needs to move a bit, as d new legs form, the whole structure should react-
so i am easing on tweaking d character til i am done with d chairs final motion.
Guess i cldnt wait to see how the scene played with an actual character.

Pls dont hold d punches, WIP or not-id rather hear input when its a WIP than have u hack my finished work.
U may just have an idea that i wldnt have thot of or dat is easier to implement at an earlier stage. (so u all feel free to suggest any areas of refinement needed)

Besides if u suggest something i was already planning to do anyways- no harm done.
Will revisit d cabinet later 2nite.
Will post d revised morph clips for assessment when im done.

Thanx.

d revised bookcase-to-cabinet morph.

Nice work!

interesting stuff. please keep it up.

okay
before i bite off mo' than i can chew in one mouthful-
i think i will stick with these as my key elements.

i experimented with a rough draft of the lighting for the office scene to see if it captures d mood.
wot dy'all think?
im not going for a NASA space centre, so i may stick with this for now- pending any suggestions from y'all.

i just included a retractable work surface, shutters on the windows with panels that slide down to reveal flat lcd tvs.
seriously trying to balance between reality n suspension of disbelief in creating these elements.

i think i will plop our chap in there and see how he interacts.

@ xothermik
thanx. but i also need ideas on how/areas 2 improve it.
u know ur qualified.

something i should have pointed out earlier-
the entire animation plays a little faster than normal.
i had to adjust the keyframes to keep the file size under 200kb.

its approx 20-25% faster than it should be.
if u have a video app, u cld scale d clip speed to about 75-80%.

will upload the final clip with the proper speed on youtube, or some other site.
but thats still a long way down the road.

okay, on to the character,

I was wondering why it was fast. The cabinet transformation now works better for me. But now lighting and material texturing is an issue. The wood texture doesn't work well on some areas of the table. It seems to be streaking as if the mapping wasn't right. Speaking about mapping I don't think I've mapped a 3D Object in 2 years!

Also when you say you want it to be cartoony do you mean 'Looney tunes' or 'Batman the animated series' cartoony? That will help me give my opinions.

Is that a laptop that folds out in the end? If it is the scale seems a bit too large for me. The screen looks larger than the chair even accounting for perpective. But again that could be a design decision on your part. For me if you did one scene where you had a greay or white matte material on all objects with even neutral lighting so all we had to access was the aniamtion that would be good. Once you are satisfied with it then we can move on to the lighting aspects and judge that based on what you are aiming for. But I understand time factors etc might not allow for that. But for me it'd be easier to crit.

All the best.

alrite. Makes a lotta sense.
One gray scene coming up!

Havent started texturing yet.
Just slapped on the default wood texture-didnt even map it.
Wanted a contrast with d bookcase- guess i shld stick 2 mattes til i formally start texturing.

Was experimenting with d lighting 2 determine d level of detail additional elements need-since d lights will go off at some point.
I wanta focus on d animation not modeling for dis one.

I guess i should follow some creative order afterall, instead of ping-ponging about.

Will render from an alternate POV so u can beta assess d perspective n scales.

yeah, looney tunes is a closer approximation,dats y i cld squash d cabinet.

Have a busy day so will prolly post updates much later.
Again, thanx 4 ur input.
Ud make a good creative director (like u arent already.lol)

same clip, neutral materials n flat lighting.

wow.
crazy week! even crazier weekend, but i haveta squeeze d time somehow.

decided 2 stop d erratic work pattern n stick 2 some order.
so, this is my story sequence:

1. guy waiting in office foyer
2. guy being shown into d office
3. guy being received by the host
4. host excusing himself
5. guy waiting
6. guy waiting n getting impatient
7. guy wandering about d office
8. guy accidentally initiating d morph process

well, thats roughly it- each scene will b a clip dat i will post for review.

so this is clip 1:
d guy is waiting in d reception while listening 2 music on his ipod (not shown,yet)
-just wanted 2 explain d head bob.

comments r welcome

I have to admire your discipline OKX.

For the transformation sequence I’d say it’s there. When you add the camera movement and lighting it’ll hold up very well.


As for the guy in the office reception, my first question would be why is he so laid back and lying down? Most people waiting for a meeting or interview would sit up in some sort of anticipation. Or is he that kind of character?


His movements are really good. I would say that his leg should to the rhythm of his hands. I’m referring to his right swinging leg. I tried to recreate it and it’s actually quite hard to tap to two different rhythms. Try it. Listen to your favorite song and tap to it naturally and you’ll see what I mean.
I don’t know where you find the time but keep it up man.

@ AdamuW
thanx. yeah- times a bitch, but we get by, somehow.

a lot still has to go into d transformation scene, but i agree, it has promise.
i decided 2 follow a production order, so that scene comes last now.

yeah, d dude in the office is being improper.
infact, the next scene shows him being scolded at, by the office clerk when he comes to show him in.
am just trying to give him an interesting personality, since im not doing facials now.
i want to focus on his body language, and give him lots of scenarios to react to.

am working on the clerks walk cycle now, so i can establish him coming in the distance in this scene.

the dudes swinging leg was actually just a lazy/relaxed gesture on his part- kinda subconscious.
its swinging to his body's rhythm i guess-lol
swinging it to the tempo of the beat will have him jerking about.(judging from the tap speed)
and i dont think legs swing that fast. wot u think?

reassess it from that POV and pls share ur thots.

thanx again.

Ahh ok I get it now. It makes sense that he's on the couch. He's one of those guys who have no clue. Looking forward to when he gets scolded.
I just watched the clip again. I'd still stand on the leg swing though. I tried it again listening to some music. Even if I'm swinging lazily, it's still somehow driven by the music. Or maybe I'm just hardwired that way!

Nice stuff.

just so we r sure we r on d same page.
r we talking leg 'a' or 'b'- (refer to pix below)

yeah i cant wait to do the scolding scene too.

wonda y so few comments?
altern8 points of views woulda been nice.
i hope the .mp4 format is not a bother 2 access.

oh well, i have one staunch critic anyhow. lol
will play with the swinging leg 4 comparison (once we r clear on which leg) .

thanx

lol I'm not an 'empty' critic trust me. They just tear down people's work without offering constructive criticism. Just offering my opinion as a fellow animator. It's leg 'A' I'm talking about.

ofcourse i know ur being constructive.
Appreciate ur even taking d time 2 comment.

Ok. Will see wot i can do with leg 'a'- nothing suggests itself to me at d moment.

The clip attached introduces d clerk.
Was kinda fun working on him- tho he still needs loads of tweaking

would apprec8 feedback.
Thanx,

Been a while, had to pop in on this one,
Excellent work OKX, Nuff Said
I do agree with AdamuW that while listening to music, ur leg would tend to move in rhythm wit it (also tried it)
BUT u know sometimes while animating, stuff thats not realistic strangely looks gud ,
(like how a real life explosion in a movie now looks somewhat fake till they pop in sum vfx flames etc,, it's crazy)
seems like this is one of them cases,
Loving the guy's laid-back attitude,

P.S
AdamuW, Need to contact u someway
Might be moving back to Abj soon (NYSC actually ---3 years late----long story)
Looking at your studio,

Hi OKX,

I really couldn't see the clerk clearly. But I know you have to keep the vedeo sizes small. From what I could see, I really could feel the poor guy suffering under the weight of the boxes he was carrying. The animation really nailed that aspect for me.

Hi Damseremie send and email to info (at) evcl.tv to get in touch with us.

a rework of d legswing

another variation

@ dams
thanx 4 d comments-appreciate ur taking out d time.
Pls keep em coming.

Have posted 2 variations of d legswing 4 comparism

@ AdamuW
will post a closeup of d clerk for easier assessment.
Have posted his ruff walkcycle.
Didnt bother much with hand or head movement cos in his script he will be gesticulating a lot.
Was gunning 4 a funny, unique gait.

Ur thots r welcome-as usual

Nice,
I see both legswings have made the foot-tapping be more in sync with the finger- tapping, i think that solves the earlier issue,
I rather prefer "legswing1" cause of that little extra "drag" of his leg, it helps with the whole laid-back attitude feeling,

just an explanation.
Been away from my workstation 4 a bit but will b back later this week.

@ dams
kool. U didnt comment on d clip with d clerk tho.
Will post a refined version within d week.

@ AdamuW
where'd u vanish 2?

hi optimus okx (my nick name for you okx for championing 3d animation on this forum) i have been insanely busy of late working on a current project which is why i have'nt been active on the thread. just catching a sallah day breather. anyway there's a lot of good stuff here but most have already been addressed so i would just say something about the clerk walk cycle. i like the slight sense of weight the character exudes. my main crit, everything seems too keyposed. i mean the interpolation is quite nice and there doesn't seem to be any crazy tangents on the curves but everything is happening on the same time. organic characters rarely move like that. try adding some over lap so the motion doesn't all happen at the same time maybe by delaying some of the motion at some points like the return of the hips and/or hands. but then you mentioned you haven't worked on the arms yet so maybe thats what my eye is picking up. keep up the good work.

OKX,
Apologies. Things have been hectic as usual. In a way I second what Xothermic said regarding it being smooth and nice but almost mechanical. Again it's WIP so the othe layers of animation that will come might change that. But you are heading in the right direction to getting that funny unique gait.

What happened to the other one where he was weighed down with books and files? I liked that one.

a sad,sad day.
My trusty workstation just quit on me.
Trying 2 see if any info can b retrieved from d drive but its not looking good.
Am awaiting delivery of another and may have 2 restart d project from scratch.

Trying not 2 think of d resources i may lose if all my previous data is gone!
Shoulda backed up-a hard lesson!

Really sorry. I've been there and probably will be again. I hope you were able to retrieve your data to some degree. As long as the hard drive itself wasn't damaged there's always hope.
All the best.