Time to stop lurking and join the forum.
I'm an older guy(53) trying to learn Anime Studio 5.6 (I don't have Pro yet).
In the past, my hobbies have been move-making, small press comics, and podcasting.
Now I'd like to try my hand at flash animation. I think it would be fun to create a series of webisodes featuring plus-size characters.
All the information I've picked up on this forum has been fantastic, and now I'd like to join in and share a little of what I've been doing.
Click the link to my BLOG on AOL-
http://journals.aol.com/geepster/media/
I use it to post my video tests and report on my progress.
Any comments or suggestions you may have would be appreciated.
Thanks-
geepster@aol.com
Newbie doing size-positive animation
Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger
Hej, that looks very promising! The guy character is perfect in terms of design. I like the use of coloured outlines and the clever placement of cloth folds which help to define the volume. He looks like a real person, and a friendly one, too. Maybe you could try and connect the creaves at the sides of his nose with the mouth movement: right now they are totally rigid.
The woman's face seems odd to me, but I can't suggest anything better. I know how difficult it is to create "realistic" faces within this level of graphic abstraction, so you did a very good job!
About the animation: the eyes move oddly. This is a common mistake made by everyone. Our eyes normaly only move in small jumps and then stand still for some time. A contiguous movement can only be done when the eyes follow a moving object (like a car). Maybe you should experiment a bit with this? You have: the frequency of eye movement (don't make it equal!), the blinks, and the pauses. With these three elements you can express whole libraries ...
I'm really looking forward to see your Big Woman walk - making the body jiggle in just the right way is a difficult task, I tried it myself! I remember having found one flash animation years ago which was quite good with this, but it would be nearly impossible to find that again.
The woman's face seems odd to me, but I can't suggest anything better. I know how difficult it is to create "realistic" faces within this level of graphic abstraction, so you did a very good job!
About the animation: the eyes move oddly. This is a common mistake made by everyone. Our eyes normaly only move in small jumps and then stand still for some time. A contiguous movement can only be done when the eyes follow a moving object (like a car). Maybe you should experiment a bit with this? You have: the frequency of eye movement (don't make it equal!), the blinks, and the pauses. With these three elements you can express whole libraries ...
I'm really looking forward to see your Big Woman walk - making the body jiggle in just the right way is a difficult task, I tried it myself! I remember having found one flash animation years ago which was quite good with this, but it would be nearly impossible to find that again.
Thanks slowtiger!
I appreciate your input slowtiger!
You are right about those cheek lines. It makes sense they would move along with the lip & chin. That will be an easy fix.
The woman I based the Mom character on said she thought her eyes looked funny. I'm going to revise those and hopefully make it look less weird.
I look forward to doing Mom's walk cycle too! Getting a fat body to jiggle properly is very tricky. I have just started to fool around with bones, and have yet to discover the correct set-up for realistic skin jiggle. I guess I'll have to experiment with the spring & torque controls until I get it right.
I don't know if this was the animation you were thinking of, but I always thought this thin to fat walk by beakerFA was great-
http://www.dimensionsmagazine.com/Weigh ... akerfa.mov
Anyway, thanks again for the encouragement.
I will keep plugging away at this.
geepster@aol.com
You are right about those cheek lines. It makes sense they would move along with the lip & chin. That will be an easy fix.
The woman I based the Mom character on said she thought her eyes looked funny. I'm going to revise those and hopefully make it look less weird.
I look forward to doing Mom's walk cycle too! Getting a fat body to jiggle properly is very tricky. I have just started to fool around with bones, and have yet to discover the correct set-up for realistic skin jiggle. I guess I'll have to experiment with the spring & torque controls until I get it right.
I don't know if this was the animation you were thinking of, but I always thought this thin to fat walk by beakerFA was great-
http://www.dimensionsmagazine.com/Weigh ... akerfa.mov
Anyway, thanks again for the encouragement.
I will keep plugging away at this.
geepster@aol.com
Good for you... I'm hoping that the future of indie animation is in telling stories that the "big" studios aren't interested in!
I'm a fan of color-coordinated inklines too.
I'd like to suggest that you lower the color contrast between the fills and the inks.
The face ink is too hot.
I suspect that the shirt ink would work better if it were not so dark and the lines a tad less thick.
Otherwise, obviously, this is very cool.
If you want to do this kind of work far more efficiently, you could generate reference footage in Crazy Talk (Reallusion) prior to animating in Anime Studio.
I'm a fan of color-coordinated inklines too.
I'd like to suggest that you lower the color contrast between the fills and the inks.
The face ink is too hot.
I suspect that the shirt ink would work better if it were not so dark and the lines a tad less thick.
Otherwise, obviously, this is very cool.
If you want to do this kind of work far more efficiently, you could generate reference footage in Crazy Talk (Reallusion) prior to animating in Anime Studio.
Thanks human!
I feel the same way about independent film making.
It's funny. I remember low budget exploitation movies from the 70's & 80's with subject matter the big studios wouldn't touch. Now those same kind of exploitation pictures are being bank-rolled by Sony & Universal. Even Disney!
I realize that fat-positive animation isn't for everybody. But with over 50% of americans on the tubby side, who knows how long it will be before Pixar releases the Little Lotta Story? Ha! Ha!
During the course of learning, I am experimenting with art styles. I have discovered that the color of my home G4 Mini Mac monitor doesn't match my Intel iMac at work. Sometimes what looks good at home, looks pretty funky at work. I guess I need to get a color chart and stick to a set color pallet. I'll also try reducing the contrast and see how that looks.
I would love to try out CRAZY TALK, but I don't have access to a Windows machine. Looks like it would save me a lot of work.
Thanks for your input.
geepster@aol.com
It's funny. I remember low budget exploitation movies from the 70's & 80's with subject matter the big studios wouldn't touch. Now those same kind of exploitation pictures are being bank-rolled by Sony & Universal. Even Disney!
I realize that fat-positive animation isn't for everybody. But with over 50% of americans on the tubby side, who knows how long it will be before Pixar releases the Little Lotta Story? Ha! Ha!
During the course of learning, I am experimenting with art styles. I have discovered that the color of my home G4 Mini Mac monitor doesn't match my Intel iMac at work. Sometimes what looks good at home, looks pretty funky at work. I guess I need to get a color chart and stick to a set color pallet. I'll also try reducing the contrast and see how that looks.
I would love to try out CRAZY TALK, but I don't have access to a Windows machine. Looks like it would save me a lot of work.
Thanks for your input.
geepster@aol.com
Colours: have you calibrated both Macs? It is easily done, just with the System Controls/Monitors/Colours. Just spend 5 minutes with each machine, it's worth the time.
I wonder about the term "size-positive" (OK, you already used the more honest "fat-positive"). What does that mean in terms of storytelling? Do your stories deal with problems about size? Are just some or all your characters fat? From the few examples I can't make out the direction you want to go.
I wonder about the term "size-positive" (OK, you already used the more honest "fat-positive"). What does that mean in terms of storytelling? Do your stories deal with problems about size? Are just some or all your characters fat? From the few examples I can't make out the direction you want to go.
Slowtiger-
Thanks for the tip on how to calibrate my Mac monitors. I didn't know about that.
I sometimes use the phrase "size-positive" because some have a problem with the word fat.
To me, fat is not a bad word. It's no different from other descriptive words like tall, short, thin, blonde, etc.
I have been following online fat community for a long time, and thought it would be fun to do an animation where fat people are the main characters and not the stereotypical villains or comedy relief.
I plan to show both negative & positive aspects in this story to keep it realistic and interesting.
Obviously, this isn't a mainstream project, but that's what's cool about the internet. It has something for everybody!
Thanks for the tip on how to calibrate my Mac monitors. I didn't know about that.
I sometimes use the phrase "size-positive" because some have a problem with the word fat.
To me, fat is not a bad word. It's no different from other descriptive words like tall, short, thin, blonde, etc.
I have been following online fat community for a long time, and thought it would be fun to do an animation where fat people are the main characters and not the stereotypical villains or comedy relief.
I plan to show both negative & positive aspects in this story to keep it realistic and interesting.
Obviously, this isn't a mainstream project, but that's what's cool about the internet. It has something for everybody!