For a movie to b termed a blockbuster, it must have blown something away...either a large production budget or/and large n successful profits.

Boruto: Naruto the Movie and its predecessor, Last: Naruto the Movie were both Japanese blockbusters.

Several low budget movies became blockbusters because of their success.

Paranormal Activity had a 15000 dollar budget but became a blockbuster earning193 million dollars worldwide.
The original Mad Max, Rocky, The Blair Witch Project were all low budget blockbusters.

That the term is used commonly for large budget movies does not mean large budget is a prerequisite.

The key to any successful blockbuster is almost always the story.
Nollywood, Telemundos etc have endured, largely because some people relate to the stories, not because of excellent acting or movie making ability.

My opinion is that the first animated Nigerian blockbuster will be the first with a popular and acceptable storyline and not necessarily a high budget or even great animation quality.

Toon boom harmony is offered as a free trial version for 21 days on the site, alongside other 2d toon boom animation software. Just create an account and download d free trial n install. Get comfortable with the software within the grace period then decide what u want to do next.

Bro, have fun. I didn't say I was ur tutor.
And read d comments I made concerning d animation u posted a link to. I relish critique, positive or otherwise.

Bro, we r obviously on different pages.

To avoid more misunderstandings, I will refrain from more comments on d clip.
It's beginning to sound like a personal battle.
Critique is a matter of opinion and not necessarily fact.

I voiced mine ONLY when u asked for it.
At best, ignore it. I gat nothing to prove to u.

I suggested d animation sequences as an opportunity to illustrate d principles I referred to, and MUTUALLY LEARN not as a competition between us.

D offer still stands should u choose to take it.

D clip u referred to was a wip from way back, but feel free to share ur thots on d animation. No work is totally perfect, n all critique has a thing or two to add.

Do u consider d work u posted as flawless.
If u don't, then arguing d critique contradicts it.
If u do, I rest my case.

Cheers bro

@reid.
Wow...dis is majorly why we r less than we can be.
Trust me, I have zero interest in an ego battle.
If u feel there's nothing of value in my assessment (which u asked for), then trash it.

For clarity, I said inbetweened COMPLETELY. U do have some decent tweens but not in all cases.

It's tough to see ones work objectively at times, and if u can get past ur initial reaction and consider d points, I bet u, u may grab a thing or two.

No part of the human body stays perfectly still even if ur static.
D poses where he's talking and his hands r up draws d eye cos d hands r still in d various poses.
Same with d hips n head in various shots. If u want to maintain d pose for effect, just slightly drift d joint and u will see d difference it makes.

Even if ur sitting down n talking, ur whole body moves subtly. Dats wot makes d difference between a character being alive and moving, and a character appearing as if it is being moved by an animator.

Shoot reference shots to guide ur animating. It helps a ton.

I apologize if my phrasing offended u with d tutor remark, we all learn n r tutored on a daily tho. It was an expression and d point I was tryna make was dat breaking d animation into simple segments will reveal d tons of tweaking dat will go into each sequence to polish d animation....and only ur tutor could be in a position to tell u dat, or a mentor. I wasn't assuming a role.

U have d major elements less polish.
I didn't do an animation about fire.
If u r interested and r genuinely interested in upping ur game, we could participate in a series of sequence animations here to illustrate my points. I daresay d experience would be mutually beneficial. We r a long way from our counterparts n I have personally passed d level of ego clouding my objectivity.

I gat nothing but respect for anyone in this game, frequently post ur work on critique sites n objectively absorb d comments.

Again good job, d paths may differ but I believe ultimately we all arrive at d desired destination.

I said promising cos u have some poses that r interesting.
I would regard it as a pose-to-pose animation yet to be in-betweened completely.

The character moves from poses with little or no overlap.
U still need to employ moving holds to kill d deadness in d motion.
If d focus is on facial animation, then move d camera in for a close up. The head is normally thrown back slightly for the big vowels or exclamations to allow d throat a clear line, and ur animation should reflect the right body language to match d mood.

Always remember dat d body is a linked system of bones n d movement of a joint should have an outward effect on d surrounding joints.

Break up d joint movements and transmit it down d chain n ur well on ur way to improved output.

If I were ur tutor, I'd break d above into simple actions n fine tune d heck outta it.
D neck n head were stiff through most of d animation. In reality, our neck/head is never really perfectly still even when we r being passive.

Shoot reference of urself just sitting down n shaking ur head and speaking, u may b surprised at d various subtle motions ur entire body makes in dat simple action.

Good job. I particularly liked his reaction when d 'girlfriend' caught him mid-sentence.

lol, I see ya too.

Nice. Promising.
I will reserve any critique since u didn't ask for any.

Good going.

@reid
Interesting response.

Learning employs different tactics. I merely meant that ruling out any source is misleading. There are no hard n fast rules.

I said what I did about 'teaching' cos there are several gaps in the animations u've posted so far, inasmuch as they show promise. In my book, teaching is only possible when a total grasp of a subject has been done (at least of the foundations)

Until then, one may 'share' what one knows but still be open to learning from fellow practitioners.

Don't post clips that u got bored and lazy with, especially if in the same post u are talking about training or teaching or bombing guys. U are assessed by what u post and d info u provide or don't provide about d clips u post.

At least tag it a work in progress and state what u have or haven't done.

U cld for example do a close up on just the chap if facial animation was ur focus. D female could be offstage talking, that way u totally focus on d facial reactions. Shot planning and storytelling is key in animation.

But like I said, don't listen to me, upload ur work on critique sites n absorb d feedback. It will snd u back to d drawing board
and u will launch bigger n better.

On d Pixar thing I meant it was about quality not quantity. 2 skilled artists beat 10 wack ones. Jeff Lew works alone and produces decent work, imagine 4 of him versus 50 of u or I.

I totally agree that specialization is vital because it allows one focus on a smaller sphere n subsequently master it.

People pay for what they 'perceive' to be the worth of a thing, not what u, the creator worth it at. It's all about perception, a Nigeria client pays no differently from a foreign one once u are able to break d mindset of his perception.

Being professional and producing decent work and presenting it professionally goes a long way in helping, in that regard. Ever wonder why d same Nigerian who jostles for stuff here queues abroad?....perception of different societies.

Up ur game, present it properly, price it realistically and u WILL get business.

And yes, I know chaps who learnt off the web. D challenge is filtering stuff and searching efficiently, dats why software help files aid in at least providing a basic background. Then one can search better.
And reading help files is free, its just dat sadly most people have lost the habit of study, n would rather watch a video tute.

@reid
Tsup bro....been a bit.

I read ur post and our opinions couldn't be further apart on most issues.

There's no price tag on learning a skill, it all boils down to DRIVE and the individuals natural talent and his or her ability to identify and CORRECTLY POSITION themselves in the relevant sector of the industry.

Yes! U can teach urself animation thru studying help files, tutorials whether Youtube or otherwise and it could be as cheap or expensive as an average internet plan. D determining factor is d individuals latent skill, drive and determination.

When I started, internet connections were a luxury. All my knowledge was obtained through d help files that came with my software. Video tutorials were practically non existent. What I laboured to master in weeks is simplified in a 2minute Youtube video tutorial nowadays.
So imagine wot resources ur average internet plan can expose u to.

I still prefer reading help files to video tutes cos they give more indepth understanding, but I refute d notion that one cannot go far with a very modest budget.

Again no insult meant, but judging from ur posts, u aren't quite ready to 'teach' animation, maybe d term should be 'share' ur methods.

There are sites where u can post ur work and let seasoned professionals constructively critique it, then u will improve ur game. When u reach teacher status, ur animations will make it evident.

It is d same syndrome u referred to where people who aren't quite ready dive into projects, and it ultimately hurts d industry.

Pixar and company don't create awesome work just cos they use a lot of artists, they do because they use skilled artists who understand d fundamentals.

Our challenge is going public prematurely, and sounding like we r all dat, meanwhile our work wouldn't stand up against a first year interns work in an average studio abroad. Meanwhile we all have access to the same resources.

I went over the curriculum of a typical animation course, and I began to understand why there's a difference in the quality of our animation and our foreign counterparts. Their focus is primarily on just mastering the principles and their application.
One spends months animating simple motions and studying d mechanics and dynamics of motion.

When ur eye has been properly trained, u begin to see d gaping flaws in our animations, and why clients will keep offering us peanuts for our offerings.

So lets rein in those egos, kill d superior attitude, synergize to share ideas and methods, be open to criticism, and encourage newbies with accurate information and we are well on our way.

Just my thots.....

Good progress so far. U sound like u have an open mind to critiques- which is a good thing.

Study typography a bit more and begin to use it creatively to guide ur viewers eyes to a specific focus in ur work.

Ur font choices, font size and arrangement are as crucial, if not more, than the design of the other graphic elements.

Establish the most important piece of info ur client wants to impart and implement it in ur design.
Eg.... Is it his biz name? His services? A unique feature?
If it isn't clearly defined in ur design, the reader leaves with no tangible info.

Good going

@kazuna
Sorry for the late response, I have to juggle web presence with other pressing duties. Will dig up some reference material and post them to aid ur walk cycles. Just gimme a bit.

Been out of circulation for a bit.
Big ups to all!

Are we still interested in an animation challenge?
Have the winners of this challenge been rewarded?

@kazuna
Well done. It takes patience and determination to pull off what u did. At this pace you will only get better. U asked for critiques, so here are my thoughts.

As regards the quality of the animation, embark on simple exercises to practise animating how the body moves and shifts weights. For example, u could just focus on walk cycles. Get tons of reference footage of walks from different views, there are sites that provide free footage.

Ur work has a challenge in that regard. There is no noticeable up and down motion of the hips at either the passing position or the contact pose. It kinda draws the eye.

U also need to break up the flow of your joints to eliminate the feeling of stiffness. If the arm is swinging forward from a rest position, the elbow and joint will delay for a bit before moving in accordance with Newtons law of physics.

It applies to all joints and will provide some overlap and secondary motion.

The human body is never ever perfectly still even when we are being passive, introduce moving holds (where there is some slight motion of maybe the hips, arms or head) to eliminate that dead feeling of some of the characters.

Human actions occur in arcs, be mindful of that. If your limbs perform their actions in arcs the animation is more fluid and readable. Currently, most of ur actions are linear and robotic.

The above observations are a lot to absorb at a go, that's why I suggest taking on smaller projects like a walkcycle, a character lifting a pot, a character sitting down etc...when u nail the principles in those kind of simple actions, it will be easier building more complex interactions.

Study and apply the broad principles of animation....trust me, its important. Our eyes have been trained to expect certain things in animation, the absence of any impacts our work and the appeal it would have on an audience.

Again bravo on the hard work!
I have more thots but I can share them on a dedicated thread, if u like.

@ken
u made untrue statements about someone, honour demands u publicly retract them THEN u can apologize.

I am done on this matter, u don't deserve more of my attention.

By the way, on who's behalf r u apologising?
U made d goof all by yourself.

@all
u don't have to rig if u don't wanna.
Model d character in d pose shown in d ref pix, its part of d challenge.

good job so far guys.
feel free to share ur work process as well as wip shots.

@ladanski
kool. Look forward to seeing it when outputted.

@all
wips?
this is like day 3 or 4

@ladanski
good tip.

question...will it randomise the looks of the rocks, or just repeat the ones u created?

@ken
ur opinions r urs n urs alone, don't presume to speak for others.

i passively follow the thread and i would like u to point out d insults u refer to, if u will.
last i knew, constructive criticism differs from hate.

u too possess some rudimentary talent, n i guess that's ur license to post wot u did, but in my opinion its a gross misrepresentation of the character of the OP.

lol, u were actually d 'gangstar' flooding several threads with d same posts of ur work sometime back.

lets read thread topics before we choose to click on them, reading and/or posting isn't compulsory.

besides, i don't have to 'like' my lecturer if inspite of my feelings, he is educating me.

@ty
well, if i were in anyone elses shoes (who had concerns about system specs), i would rather go ahead and participate even if my render was of a lo poly version rather than not go thru the exercise at all.

there's a lot to learn and practice in the successful completion of the project.

besides, i really don't think it will be as dramatic as we r making out. I see models here with lots of unnecessary vertices, extravagant lighting and materials.
all the details u raised as concerns can be mapped 2d, n create a file less than 200kb. Its called a challenge, cos its meant to task our faculties and force us review our 'normal' methods.
but trust me, its doable.

breakdown the scene and render in passes/layers
optimise the scene.
efficiently organise the textures balancing resolution with size.
keep the polycount low.

when i started out, i had a crappy lappy with a integrated onboard chip...it forced me to cultivate a habit of working conscious of system limitations. I still turned out decent renders, even if i had to wait a bit.

@spy
care to share ur system specs?

@tos
unlock ur mind bro, stop saying 'cant'. Dats d essence of this exercise, to widen our horizons.

tweak d reference image in any editing software of choice, like Photoshop to straighten it out. Then use it as a guide to draw and create ur own texture map.

then create the rock effect as a displacement map, giving as much detail as u desire.

there is enough info in the reference image to creatively texture the complete character, or maybe i don't understand ur comment.
care to clarify?

@xothermik
lol, lend ur experience man. I know u wrote the book on mapping generally.

the above utilises just displacement maps and the texture, by combining displacement maps/normal maps and bump maps, a greater level of detail is achievable without increasing the polycount.

these are the results with the sample texture applied, followed by with the displacement map applied.
all i need to really do is fine tune the maps to create a killer texture and map.

once i model in the basic form of the character, texturing takes care of the rock relief and finer details.

the lower image is the displacement map.
i didnt go into major detail with the creating the edges of the displacement map, if i take the time to create the stone texture and instead of the solid black outlines, i create a subtle gradation I will get super realistic edges with the stones.

below is the polygon i am applying it to

the following textures were quickly and roughly created to illustrate the point.

@tos
lol, never say 'cant', instead say 'how'.
will map a simple sample texture to a lo-poly primitive to illustrate the point.

of course u will still need to model d basic outlines, but it will save u a ton of work and vertices.

@spy
u don't actually have to model in all details with polygons.
u could use a normal map and a displacement map to create d rock details and map it on ur low poly model, y don't u explore that.
to me, if d process teaches u a thing or two in ur bid to adapt to d challenge, dats a victory in itself.

@xothermik
wow, glad u pulled thru mate.
u could always still offer tips from the sidelines.
good to have an old hand around.

@all
progress?

@spy
hi man.
considering ur one of the contributors to the prize money i can understand ur desire not to actively compete, but u can still b part of the project, to trade tips and just enjoy the experience.

i myself, will find time to also send in an entry and share my workflow as soon as i can create a free window, even though im ineligible for the prize.

its primarily an exercise to build individual skill(s) and foster a stronger community.

please log back on sir!

@all
wips please!

@chuksxy
do u have any modeling experience at all?
if u do, don't just pull out.
participation will definitely b a plus, win or lose.

@ladanski
ur welcome to the challenge bro.

so far, just one sign on.
others pls indicate.

@prof.
could u moderate the proceedings.
im still gathering independent judges.

Well, d closer to d artwork ur model is, d better ur chances of 'winning'...lol

personally, I think there's enough detail captured in the image to aid a creative to fill in any gaps.

@cg
r u suggesting there's no need to model the back of d character cos its not in shot? Remember we want a 360° turntable of the model.

@all
its a challenge, so u r meant to creatively overcome the deliberate shortage of info.

Normally to balance the challenge across different system specs, a poly limit would have been introduced.

@cg
wot say ye? say, 10000 faces. Dats kinda generous.

Lol....now dats wot I'm talking about!

all interested participants should please state so clearly, also state ur software of choice.

please post wips and feel free to share tips, info trade is d main aim