Small ballet clip

uddhava · Post by **uddhava** » Sun Jun 19, 2011 11:10 am

Hello,

Here's a small clip from a cutout animation ballet that I am making using ASP 8 and My Paint (for artwork and characters).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMU-7YIqbI4

Comments appreciated.

Thanks, uddhava

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Sun Jun 19, 2011 11:45 am

I like it. I have three comments: it's a bit symmetrical (I love a bit of asymmetry), it's a bit one-paced, and there aren't any 'flourishes' (you know, the flick of a hand or the turn of a head). Even if it's a cut-out snap from full-face to profile...

uddhava · Post by **uddhava** » Sun Jun 19, 2011 12:08 pm

Thanks jahnocli,

Very good suggestions. By too symmetrical do you mean the movements of the dancers arms and legs in relationship to each other or do you mean the dancers position in the frame of the movie?

I have created this by following a video of a ballet dancer so I think I need to find some more videos. I will add a female dancer later.

I also will create a profile view of his head and try a head turn. What's a peanut headed guy look like from the side? Hmmmm.....

Thanks again, uddhava

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Sun Jun 19, 2011 1:04 pm

The positiions of his arms and legs. The framing is OK, I think.

uddhava · Post by **uddhava** » Sun Jun 19, 2011 5:36 pm

jahnocli,

How would I slow done certain areas of the animation to vary it's pace? Should I rescale the keyframes of the whole document for the frames I want to slow down?

Anyway, I put in a side view of the head, made it less symmetrical and slowed down the whole thing. I need to smooth out the movement of his left arm now. Here's the newer version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxteuQeLARQ

uddhava

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 10:11 am

There must be a dozen ways of doing these things, but what I'd do is try to keep it simple. Where the dancer is winding up for his jump, I'd slow that section down by dragging out the timeline keys. Needs to be slower at the beginning and faster at the end, of course -- basic easing in technique.

Secondly, it depends what kind of movement you are trying to portray. For instance, many live action films slow the peak action right down. So, as the dancer reaches the top of his leap, that section could be slowed right down to accentuate the height of the leap, gracfulness of his movements etc.

EDIT: Just had a look at the new short. Looks more interesting, but some of the hand movements should be smoother. Watch your arcs!

uddhava · Post by **uddhava** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 7:28 pm

Thanks for more tips, I'm working on it.

udd

uddhava · Post by **uddhava** » Sun Jun 26, 2011 2:32 pm

I added a ballerina and some reflections( which didn't exactly work) and I'm finished for now.
It took a long time due to different mistakes and because of not properly adding my key frames. Also I think there could be better ways for me to attach the image layers to bones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LwFEhwUOo4

uddhava