you can send the password here coolzpixel@gmail.com

Kemjisuper:

I wanted to ask in addition, is there any need for sound effects or background music? Still trying to clarify the details we may have missed out! Cheers

I think we should be allowed to have sfx. I plan to if the time permits.

Who are the judges? or how do we plan to pick a winner?

@zpixel

well, i think the judges should be the viewers(audience that pops on this post) but however, we can still judge each other with technical critiques, standards and skills. remember that the objective is a influence learning development. no contest whatsoever

my views, any other view?

ok.

well, if u guys can swing soundfx- kool.
personally, i think sound detracts from focusing on the animation-
its easier to notice flaws or areas for improvement on a stark, soundless animation. (my opinion, mind)

aside from the character, i intend to use basic primitives for any other props in the scene.

on the judging/assessing thing, any and everyone qualifies. i'm with 9tLecturer on that one.
of course, some opinions will be more relevant than others. lol

@ zpixel
password sent

hey where's everybody gone? dont tell me you are all neck deep in the animation already. and if thats the case updates and w.i.p's remember? we are here to learn from each other not to surprise anyone ryt? . anyway is there any closing date for the challenge? because initially i was hoping it was a bit more hardcore(modeling,texturing, rigging, animating and rendering just so i can learn more). but its fine to hammer one nail at a time. i just wanted to know because i wanted to do a new rig for the challenge but seems like ready made rigs are the way to go and i dont want to waste my time rigging while others are animating i mean this is about animation after all ryt. well i looked today for a nicely rigged character but most had one thing or the other that i wanted missing in the end i kept getting back to Max, a slightly higer version of lowmax which is a max version of the lowman rig for maya for its simplicity and nice features. im just getting familiar with the dud and he does'nt look like he can cause trouble. at least not when i dont want him to. i am about sketching a rough story board for the animation and camera work and if all goes well i should be animating late today or by tomorrow. below is the Max rig im planning to use. it wud be nice to know what u guys are up to or the rigs u are planning to use. i'll try to upload the story board when im done.

@ okx my email- sagir.carpenter@gmail.com

yeah also i wish i thought of this sooner. but it would be nice if user's of each app use the same rig. i think this one im using is more than enough for any max user in this challenge complete with both fk and ik so u use which ur most comfortable with.  it wud be nice if the maya guys and the other apps can do the same. (so far i can only see max and mayases oops and a poser)it will help in eliminating any distractions and make it easier to judge and critique the animation even for the animation newbies when they come here to critique and might mistake visual appeal for great animation. in fact there is this same rig for maya so i feel it would be better if we all had the same looking character. just follow zpixels link to the 11 second club and u'll find them there. what do you guys think. of course its just a suggestion

@ xothermik
good idea on the same rig thing. it does make for uniformity, however, we had earlier allowed for any rig/character to be used- i dunno if that can be revised at this stage. (wot do we think ?)
well, if not, this is just the first of what will hopefully be a long series of challenges, so we can improve/modify as the series develop.

password has been sent to your email addy

@ all
remember, tomorrow is officially the BLAST OFF day!

all artists should start by :
stating their workflow stages
stating the applications to be used for the various stages
uploading their storyboard/ any other relevant material, or links.

i propose a max time limit of two weeks for the challenge. (if the team okays)
the clip should not exceed 20seconds.

comments . . .

Hi Guys,

Meet the attached, GOSH!, a brief intro about GOSH, Gosh has been my pal, instructor, friend, trainer( d guy get masho body ooo ) rival (my babe dey trip for him) and a very cute character,

i believed some folks would have seen Gosh somewhere or maybe have it cuss Gosh was found online with his family, anyway, not modelled and rigged by ME but has been with me for a while now

Gosh was modeled creatively with a low res poly, complete simple rigged but FK only and very fast and flexible when animating.

i will be using Gosh for this task, give him some nice cute shirt and jeans, ANYWAY, till then.

SEE YA LATER,

oh yeah iv seen him before alright. one of those gnomon character animation dvd's.

let the games, BEGIN!!

2weeks! Personally, 2weeks is short considering those with a full time job.

Anyways, i will be using the Moon Rig for maya.

zPixel:

2weeks! Personally, 2weeks is short considering those with a full time job.

Anyways, i will be using the Moon Rig for maya.

Yeah really, it's gonna be tight for those of us working full time. I guess no more after-work naps for a while (2weeks)

Here's an intro to my project:
I be using one of METACREATIONS POSER's ready-made models for my lead character; fully rigged with tweakable Inverse Kinematics, with adjustable body parts suitable for Posing or Animation scenarios. I then proceeded to texture the model a bit, in line with its role in the animation flick.

Two weeks? Max 20 seconds animation in two weeks? Wow! For those with full time jobs this might be tasking.
I will be using the Max rig for Maya.
Is it ok to use rigs that accompany Training DVDs. Isn't there any licensing issues?

@ all

OKX:


i propose a max time limit of two weeks for the challenge. (if the team okays)

consider it a rude awakening guys. lol
every animation studio works under deadline pressure! so this is good practice.

besides, i think it is better to have quick feedback and reviews, rather than give a longer period 4 assignments.
since this is a learning experience, by posting ur progress and methods- u might just get a helpful tip from a teammate that will cut ur production time dramatically.
i once saw a training dvd, where an animator created a cool walk cycle in real time- 30mins!
besides the 20secs is the max clip duration, u can creatively storyboard it for less.

@ aphek
yeah, u can use the rigs. there shouldn't be any licensing issues- but u can read any documentation that came with the dvd just to confirm.

okay, workflow please people. . .

@aphek

i think Rigs/models/textures included in any training DVD are for your usage, they've considered that already, some can even be used for commercial purposes, but come on, you can change the character and claim you modeled it no be me tell u oo, anyway, it's for learning purpose.

@all

2 weeks nothing do me

already started my blocking poses,

see ya, 9tLecturer

i totally agree wit okx. how long do we wanna take to animate a guy walking and hitting a pole? one month. i mean the free rigs are there already. truth is you could knock this down in one weekend if u really wanted. even when you work from 8-8. i think i the future as we get better, a straight foward challenge like this should take no more than one week. we dont have to take sfx and editing into consideration at this point just animate!

@ xothermik
bullseye!

i am using the same Max rig xothermik suggested

storyboarding- the old fashioned way, ink & paper
rigging- Maya 2009
animating- Motionbuilder 6 Pro
rendering- Maya 2009
post processing- Adobe Premier pro CS3

i am not bothering with sound fx, textures, facial animation, or out-of-this world rendering.
i want to deliver the storyline with just my characters body language. other scene items will be basic primitives.

will upload my stickman storyboard later 2day.

I hope i'll be able to finish, well, let me see hw far i can go. I will start the planning stage today.

Good Job guys, I can feel the energy and enthusiasm building up! It's only gonna get stronger all the way to the climax at the deadline. Thumbs up to all involved, and God speed! 

Sorry, forgot to drop my email addy earlier - kemjisuper@yahoo.com

Pls I would like to be involve, but I need someone to teach me 3D Modelling and character Animation. I will appreciate if the cost is not much. pls help me. 07041571558 or kola_omotosho@yahoo.com

kolamoses:

Pls I would like to be involve, but I need someone to teach me 3D Modelling and character Animation. I will appreciate if the cost is not much. pls help me. 07041571558 or kola_omotosho@yahoo.com

Hi dude, I'd say watch this thread closely for tips in 3d animation, but really that's assuming things pick up speed ASAP!

@Topic
Guys, as a 3d animation newbie, I'm not so sure how a workflow is to be presented. Could one of the pros give us a lead to follow? Seriously, the silence so far at the start of this project is quite discouraging. What's up now?

@ kemji
lol.
just consider it the creative calm b4 the storm!
most guys prolly have a full workload besides this.
just outline ur processes (like i did), its just 4 information not 4 professional assessment.

@ all
it would be nice to see proof of progress tho.
storyboards, anything . . .

working on getting a fluid walk cycle.
am not bothering with the upper torso just yet, cos my character will be gesticulating a lot.
am trying to get an interesting gait.
will post developments as i tweak the walk cycle.

a bit more hip sway.
i am trying to convey his light stature in the quickness of his gait, and the springiness of his steps.
his knees dont bend so much, that would be more appropriate for a heavier person.

i know its an early stage, but comments are welcome.

@OKX
Nice start.

Critiques
[list]
[li]The hip movement appears to be too much. [/li]
[li]The character appears to be weightless, that's because of the knee remains bent throughout the cycle.[/li]
[/list]
I know this i just the starting stage.

@ zpixel
thanks man.
am just roughly blocking the motions, i will fine tune as i progress.
i get ur drift on the knee thing, i still have a load of tweaking to do.

good eye man!

optimus okx . leading by example. not looking bad at all. like z pointed out the knees should be a bit straighter on the contact poses. as for the hips i'll wait till the arms are in action. one tip however, please when doing previews set the time to cut at the end of the cycle so it will loop well when we view.
anyway i was having a bit of malaria but am much better now and i took the time to do some blocking of my walk cycle. i was going to use step default curve but changed my mind and used the bezier curve default to give me a quicker feedback of my progress.
let me share my walk cycle method. when it comes to walk cycles i use the method i learnt from doing cycles in 2d.
first things first, the first thing i do is create the contact poses. my walk cycle beat is on 16 seconds so that means i just create the first contact pose, turn on auto key and go to frame 17 and create the next contact pose(the opposite of the first)

then i add the passing position which basically is the center of a walk cycle. in this case its frame 9. normally its slightly higher than the contact poses.

the next thing i do is add the down and up poses. these are inbetween the contact and pass poses with the down coming after the first contact to give a feeling of weight. then the up after the passing pose to give a sense of the character pushing foward and up. this is usually the highest of the cycles.

by now our character is beginning to feel like his body is working against gravlity. at this point i can begin to add some subtleties like and shoulder movement. this gives the character a bit more attitude and personality as well as help convey mood.

now we can give the character some slight hip and head movement. when doing this it helps to think about the personality and mood of the character. also the hip movement is important for conveying the gender of the character. you would want to give your character some more sway if she is a female.

at this stage all that needs to be done is add the remaining subtleties like finger movement and and the things that feel your character should display in the walk. i still have one major part to complete the walk cycle which is going into the curve editor to refine the curves and timing even better so as to give the character more of an organic feel. i might even give him a double bounce to display his happy mood and maybe some more swag (i hate that word!) thats all ive done for now i will post more stuff when i make modifications.