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FablePaint — A and O Fix
Published: 2010-06-23 01:19:04 +0000 UTC; Views: 10424; Favourites: 235; Downloads: 103
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Description
Original being the original and extra crispy being my own.I'm not typically in the habit of redesigning film characters, but I really felt this one demonstrated a complete disregard for basic anatomy and design principles. These fixes are not only doable, they're minimal. They're the kind of thing the majority of people I've spoken to have noticed.
So rather than rant (as I've done in the past) and tell you what I think is wrong, I'm showing you. Then decide for yourself if the designs still look "cute". Notice I haven't taken away the style or even given the wolves more toes.
Images taken from alphaandomega3d.com/
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Comments: 162
I was waiting for someone to get that xD
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I did not assert that, I pointed out my degree as a way of defending my position as a character designer, not as a master (if anything to highlight that I'm NOT a master and still see the problems inherent in this production). I'm well aware of why films aren't always up to snuff and that budget concerns are very real. I've lived it and seen many films with even lesser budgets that look and act better. That doesn't excuse the incompetence I see demonstrated in this picture. This company was going under and moved all their production resources overseas while they sat in Burbank. That's an awkward move, but whatever it seems to be a trend now. And normally I'd give the Indian companies working on this the benefit of the doubt because hey, they're trying really hard and getting experience that will serve them to make their own animated features in India.
But I've seen a helluva lot better CG, animated work come out of India than this. The kids just starting college who I've met still in school know anatomy better than this. Anybody who's googled "dog" knows anatomy better than this. It looks wrong, it's rigged badly, and the whole model is like a poorly built puppet that's breaking as I watch the trailer. It doesn't serve the function asked of it and forcing it into positions that it can't accomplish only highlights the problems with the model. It's not a matter of style or cartoonish-ness, it's that it's just poorly built.
As for know what they're doing? Mmf, not necessarily. Talk to anyone in the industry, they'll recount you with many, many stories of how those in upper management don't have to know jack shit about their field to get where they are. Heck forget animation, practically any field has the same problem. But Dilbert covers that better than I.
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what i meant by detail was the fur details and i was referring to films like "bolt" and "balto"
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Balto is a traditionally animated feature, thus it can't have overly complex fur details without making the animation far more expensive. Bolt, however, DOES have well groomed fur and all their models are extremely well done. Also he's a short-haired dog.
Yet both of those had better fur effects and placement then this film.
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my opinion is still the same
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but you had a rant about people designing stupid looking wolves for a comic?
so then if I had a comic with the dorky wolves, it would be wrong to have someone fix it?
it's a film for wolfaboos and small children. they won't notice anything is off.
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Ummmm.... Why didn't they just let YOU design the characters? 0_o
lol XD
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wow they look a lot better! 
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Yeah, your fixes make them look a LOT better!
I've never heard of this movie, either.
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Man, couldent they have gotten actual wolves to look at before trying to draw it? I mean if they give me a cam-corder and a bag of chicken nuggets I'll borrow my neighbors wolf mutt and get them all the forage they need.
I really hope this isn't a "It's a horrible Idea to reintroduce wolves and they will never be happy and should just go back to Canada" film, because that would suck. props to them for trying to make the wolves cute though, I wish they'd succeeded.
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This is Cooooooool!
But I gotta say that your versions are the ones that I'm more attracted to. I was never a big fan of the 'half moon' shaped head. XD
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You fixed them so much with a few simple steps. You're awesome.
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I just generally hate the idea for this movie. For one, there isn't actually such a thing as an "alpha" anymore. Scientists now use the terms Breeding Pair, Breeding Male and Breeding Female. This is because wolf packs function much differently than early studies showed (that being because those studies were based on captive wolves placed into forced packs). In the wild a pack is generally made up of a breeding pair and their offspring, hence why only the two breed. If at any point a member of the pack wishes to lead they are free to leave, find a mate and start their own. Every pack member can be an "alpha" if they want to, but that's like giving a stereotypical gamer nerd the choice to live in his parents' basement and be provided for the rest of his life or move out, get a job and provide for himself. More often than not he's going to stay home.
The general build of the pack (a breeding pair and their offspring) is the reason only two wolves in the pack breed. Most animals will not directly inbreed unless their is no other option... Like, for instance, if a mother and son are taken and thrown into an area where there are no other wolves... So, basically, this movie is all about the main characters coming to terms with inbreeding. The end.
The design makes me think they were going for an Ice Age kind of look.
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I think wolf packs are even more flexible than that claim makes. Brothers and sisters can stay together in a pack, and when two take over as the main breeding pair (unrelated, hopefully) then obviously the "alphas" aren't the parents of their siblings. Or other occasions where there's multiple litters in a pack because the alpha male bred with a subordinate female. What's more, animals actually aren't that picky about inter-breeding. It's unlikely that maybe a son and mother would mate, but siblings and cousins don't always have those hang-ups.
Based on some poking around, the idea to redefine alpha, beta and etc positions is mostly a minority opinion among wolf researchers. In fact as far as I can tell, only one researcher holds that opinion. One David Mech, who's the only one ever cited when claiming "alphas don't exist". I've yet to find the opinion shared among the larger scientific community. Which isn't to say it's been ruled out, but consensus in science (through theory, evidence, experiments, and observation) is what brings ideas into the mainstream and accepted among other researchers.
But basically, I think wolf social structure fits the environment it exists in. Alpha doesn't have to mean father or mother, but it can imply it. Alpha refers to whoever is top dog (literally) in the pack, and if that's the parent then they have the title. Animals (including humans) tend to adapt to the circumstances at hand, and even in the wild outside of the influences of captivity, there's going to be a large variety of situations which make that nuclear family "norm" unfeasible or unreasonable. Especially in exceptionally large communities.
However that's beside the point, as the movie frankly gets the definitions wrong. They treat "alpha" and "omega" like highschool clique terms. A cute idea, maybe, but painfully cliche and apparently not a well done trope within this movie, if the trailer is to be believed.
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Mech said that?!? I'm genuinely shocked about that, because David Mech is considered one of the foremost experts on wolves! I have several of his books, as well his his great documentary, "White Wolf", on DVD, and in the books, and DVD, he gives no indication he doesn't believe alphas exist - in fact, in "White Wolf", he shows how the alpha pair lead the pack's hunt of musk ox. Dave Mech also founded the International Wolf Center, of which I'm a proud member (and sponsor of 2 of the center's captive wolf pack). I'm hoping he was taken out of context - or else, maybe he's losing it in his old age, like Jack Hanna lately.
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It's definitely him, here's a youtube video with him saying it:
[link]
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Wow, like I said, I'm shocked.
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It's possible he's trying to counter the assumptions on what an "alpha male" is since it's entered the English lexicon as a synonym for "bold, douchebag guy who gets all the girls". But still, I see it spread around now as "alpha pair doesn't exist!" Heck, the forums at the WolfQuest videogame actually censor the phrase "alpha".
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Maybe I was harsh in saying that he's "losing it" - after all, I still do have great respect for the man and all he's done in the past for wolf research. But I do think he is "selling out" to political correctness, which is just as bad.
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Well, I have to admit, it's quite a change of opinion for him. I'm still with the scientists who use the term alpha pair rather than breeding pair, and I do have to wonder if he isn't losing it a little.(Incidentally, he sure looks a lot older in this that he did in "White Wolf")
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Hm, could be true. My interest isn't in wolves so much as dogs. Positive trainings, like myself, use that data because most of the general public can't get past the fact that dogs aren't wolves anymore. It's the Cesar's Way vs. real training thing.
But that's really ot. Mostly that post was meant to be funny, so it could lead up to turning a kid's movie into an incest fest 
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I like your Pack Man so much better. It actually looks like wolf!
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Wow, that is great! They should look like that. I have nothing against the style, but yours gives them...Well a better feel to it. If I were you, I would totally email this to the film's crew
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Wow, facial structure! o_o And shoulders! And paws!
They both look so... pretty, with your improvements. Kate looks very lovely and Humphrey looks very cute and sympathetic this way. I really wish that was the real look of the film, because then I would actually consider seeing it
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If anything, the male looks WAY better. The anatomy fixes are awesome, and they make the characters more believable.. Thumbs up!
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I wanna see it, because it has wolfies... But the character designs really put me off. :-/ Your fixes would make them MUCH more appealing. That, and when I watched the trailer, I swear half the humour in it was toilet related...
And pffft, the goose is a total Boris rip-off!
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I'm so glad you fixed the bottom ones Koala nose.
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the new pack man is just.. SUCH an improvement. I love everything you did here. C:
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I think the crispy ones look better over all - this includes design and anatomy. However, the original are more kid-looking. I think that's the point of this movie - to be kid friendly.
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definitely like yours more, and i completely agree.
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Thank you so much for doing this! You pointed out all the crappiness of the upcoming movie really nicely.
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I just realized what has been setting me off about Humphrey's face - in either the original or the extra crispy version, it looks like he has mange or is at least balding - no texture of fur around the features to make it apparent that he is in fact not a really old wolf that's turned white or has gone bald. The harsh line around the face where the dark fur meets the white probably doesn't help. Bad designers, bad!
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But you're welcome to have your own go at this.
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I agree, and I tried to give him more fur to differentiate him from the female and improve his looks, but I was trying to make the changes not so extreme that the character was completely redone.
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I definitely do not discount you for not improving his superficial 'looks' - after all, you were only looking to apply more anatomical accuracy, and not stray away from the original design outside of that. It's not your fault the original character looks that way! *chuckles and grins* As for doing my own version...hhmmm... I might just take you up on that. 
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Wow, the A and O versions are really scary to look at - they just hurt to look at. I still don't enjoy their overall designs, but your 'crispy' versions with anatomy adjustments make them look 100 times better. Wow, just... wow. I can't believe that the people who designed these passed them off as 'good'. Or maybe they didn't - maybe they just said 'F*@$ this, I'm going home' and left the designs and modeling to rot. And rot they did. >>'
I'm almost afraid to watch whatever trailers are present for this film - I hadn't even known of this film's existence until now, and I sort of wish that it could go back into obscurity. *chuckles* Thank you for showing us what they could look like with some common sense applied.
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I love yours! They are so awesome!!
I don't think I've heard of that movie yet...sounds okay...*tilts head* their ''hair'' makes them seem like hippies o.o;;
If I may *Faves* 8D
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you did a very nice job, but personally I think that you totally changed the style of a wolf's face- it might look weird in original, and yours might be better, but I think it's completely different and unable to compare. anyway, good job on repairing "rubber paws" 
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I tried to not change the "style". I made his face symmetrical and gave it some mass. The eyes don't even line up in the original.
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I think the extra crispy PWNs the orignial!
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That just makes me sad - an animated wolf movie and the animation is so ... I know it's been echoed in the comments multiple times, but LAZY is the best I can come up with. Good job on the revamp!
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You should have desinged this damnede movie. Yours are so much better, its not even funny.
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I... would probably see it only because I love wolves so much. Haha.
Yours do rock much more. Though editing a 2d image and making a 3d character are two different things. Still, they should've put more effort into the character design, 3d or not.
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The changes I've made are very doable in 3D, I've done CG modeling before. These tweaks aren't tough.
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Ugh, yeah. I saw the trailer and was neither impressed by the really basic, overused storyline, but the dreadful animation. >: Love your re-design.
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Gods, those legs... just looking at them makes me wince. It's like that one scene in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets where Harry loses the bones in his arm. And Humphrey's face... did someone smack him in the face when he was born, or something?
Somebody should find the character designers responsible and smack them in the face. Preferably with a few books on anatomy.
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I actually don't understand why the character design and animation is as poor as it is - seeing as there is obviously talent there everywhere else (lighting, rendering, environements, etc). I can't see why a studio would allow the pivotal characters to have awkward and lazy design?! They are thousands of people who can do this and do it well. It just shows the ineptitude of the studios regulation, management and hiring as far as I'm concerned - cause it doesn't look like a complete lack of money or talent elsewhere. 
However, still a million times better than myself...easy to critisise. At least I'm not getting paid for my work yet!
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