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PartyGrunt — Test Animations are Magic
Published: 2012-01-02 05:37:53 +0000 UTC; Views: 8557; Favourites: 99; Downloads: 245
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Description
Hey everyone, here for you today is a tiny animation test that I've been working on, as I've been experimenting with movement transitioning lately.I'm looking for opinions on the quality of the animation overall, as well as individual things about it (IE smoothness of transitions)
Alternate version (no camera movement) [link]
I probably should have mentioned what the animation is about when I posted the walkcycle vector, but I never did... Anyway I'm working on a 2:30 animated PMV. The main reason it's a PMV is because the video is driven by a composition by jeffthestrider [link] made just for it. It's a story driven PMV though, so it's something different.
This is my first time ever animating, so it's a huge workload, one that I don't think I'll be able to handle completely once I go back to school. I've already put probably 100 - 120 hours in everything related to it so far, and with about 1:30 of it being animated, its gonna require a lot more time and effort.
Thats why I'm looking for talented individuals who would be interested in assisting me with this animation. The main aspect that needs to be completed is the animation, as music is taken care of, and I'm about 80% done hashing out the storyboards. Currently, I feel that I probably need at least one, preferably two animators and a background artist.
If you would be interested in helping, please send me a note.
Background by
*Right click and hit play to replay it*
Made in After Effects
EDIT: Now much smaller
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic series and Twilight Sparkle (c) Hasbro, Inc.
Related content
Comments: 35
That little WOOSH part reminds me of the intro where she notices her friends.
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Not exactly sure what the "whip" was about in the animation, but still just a fabulous piece of work. And coming from an animators stand-point, bravo.
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It's supposed to represent the "camera" rotating, as her body changes to 1/2 view in the second part, though the 3D camera (the actual one) is probably zoomed in too close to make it apparent. And thanks!
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That's kind of huge, don't you think it's better if you use a preloader or at least make it smaller instead so it won't consume so much bandwidth.
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Still too large or small enough?
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The resolution is smaller and still good, but the SWF file is NOT. Like I said, you need to learn Flash, or else Youtube is your best option in this case. I don't want to waste my bandwidth to view your animation. 
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It was made and exported through After Effects so I don't have Action Script, meaning limited options.
On the size issue, I was expecting DA to offer resize options, so I exported in full size. I can do smaller though, I'll update it later tonight since I'll have some time.
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Export through After Effects is a bad idea though, and DA will not a resize when it comes Flash animation. You have to learn Flash if you want to do it right, if not, you can take it to Youtube while you upload only a preview image here.
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It's really good, just really big. XD Still nice though.
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What do you use to draw the characters so well? Or are they vectors?
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I use After Effects (as a replacement for Flash). The characters are designed and layered the same way as the show.
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Is there a reference or something on how they do layering in the show? I've tried multiple different ways on structuring layers in my vectors, but have never found one that I was 100% happy with.
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I used [link] to build my stuff, along with watching frame by frame footage to fill in where theres no information (like the fact there's no Twilight wireframe). The vectors to the Canterlot Castle Game are made from the official rigs, so I've used those as well, I just look for where the edges don't meet perfectly.
Was there any particular problem you were having with the layering?
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Thanks for the link and tips
I wouldn't say that I'm having any particular problems with layering. Instead, it just seems that I can work on one image and arrange the layers in one particular way, but then the next image I work on, even if it is a similar pose/viewing angle, I have to order the layers in a different way to make it work. Of course, having to figure out the layer structure for every single image takes time, so I was just curious if there were methods that would allow for greater consistency.
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Hmm, I usually look at the source I'm working from for a few minutes to see if I can tell how everything should be layered. I then build each section and layer so that it works best. I suppose it's different for me because I'm required to break down the rigs and make each separate piece, so it's in chunks.
I know that vectoring is a different approach, but perhaps if you think of how the models are made, you can organize your strokes and fills into various body parts. That might take a while though so it could defeat the purpose. On the other hand though, when you do it once, it should be almost exactly the same for most poses.
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... how... HOW ARE YOU SO GOOD!!!????
I can't see a single flaw
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Magic! *snort* *snort*
In all seriousness, just tons of time and patience, and a drive to learn.
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Thanks! By the way, did you ever figure out how to animate the mouth for your Apple Bloom?
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I find some good lessons about animating of 2D charasters in AE, but they not very useful in my case... I temporary stoped my project with Apple Bloom. Now I'm too busy for this project
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Thats disappointing, I know how you feel though, I soon will probably have to stop my project for a while. I hope you do eventually finish it though.
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