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BrianLadouceur — Dunkleosteus color test
Published: 2014-08-18 15:21:37 +0000 UTC; Views: 3741; Favourites: 106; Downloads: 18
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Description
I did this to test out some colors for future animations. Feedback is welcome.Related content
Comments: 16
the colours are awesome buddy. Brilliant work on the monster too
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Ohh the fish looks nice! You animate with Toon Boom, right? How did you do the soft shading? It doesn't look like a plain gradient.
I really like the motion on the fish. Detailed design, a bit of a static expression (I don't see him actually "biting", the ship just sort of slips into his mouth but then again there are fish who can't move their jaw and I don't know if this is one of those?).
You said you wanted feedback, so here goes nothing
I do appreciate the thought you put into the water but it doesn't feel quiet natural to me, but maybe that's just me. I think it would've looked nice if the water 'bulged out' before the fish comes to view because of the surface tension. Like an indication of a hill before the surface breaks? Like here in this photo. I think it would give the water more weight and inertia too.
The fall and dive looks fine to me, I like that you drew the reflection/fish body shining through the water. Keep in mind that when something falls into the water it first pushes the water away, sort of denting it in. In that split second there will be air on top of the thing and the water splashes up in sort of crown-like shape (small particles, straight up), like this. Then the water from around there follows gravity and fills the air bubble, THAT'S when the wild splashes occur, from water hitting water.
I know it's just a test but maybe animate the water on the horizontal line too? Because it looks like all that was splashed just vanishes in the end. Water is dynamic and the fish is a huge thing dropping in there, I'd expect it to have some more aftershake.
Ok the last thing I want to say is that - again, maybe that's just a personal preference - I think liquids really stand out and look more natural if you use a very high contrast for shading and highlights. The places where light hits water at the right angle to be reflected it usually reflects almost all of it, resulting in nearly white highlights, like this. It really stands out against the darker areas. In the spashed water are usually tiny encapsulated air bubbles, resulting in white appearing foam and splashes. Just google jumping whales, the splash water always looks the lightest.
Haha a lot of talking about water XD I don't mean to pick your test animation apart, especially since I'm just a beginner but maybe at least some of it was helpful? It is a very nice looking animation with the detailed fish!
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WOW.
Thank you for the feedback.
The soft shading here was done by drawing in the areas to be blended in Toon Boom, and then exporting out the frames. I brought them in to Photoshop and use different blurs and the smudge tool, then brought them back into Toon Boom.
I agree with you on the water and have to admit it was not my top priority here. I was not even planning on finishing this animation, but wanted to try out some colors before working on any of my other pieces from this. I'm glad I did, since I found something that works on the fish, but agree that the water needs some work. The bulge was originally animated, but removed since the boat was on top of it. There would definitely be something going on in the background for the horizon. I ultimately decided to leave it static to minimize time on this. The use of white on the highlights for the wave crests is something I plan to do for future animations though.
Thank you again for all the helpful tips and photos.
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You're welcome, I'm glad it could be of use
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I must say that animation is quite... FLUID!
Okay, I realize that was very unfunny. I'll go to bed now.
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The dunkleosteus looks great. The boat's color, while allowing it to stand out, seems a little plain to me.
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Yeah, I didn't spend much time on the boat, since this was done to play with the shading on the fish before going any further on other animation. Thanks for the feedback.
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Amazing animation, the water effects are also very cool.
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