Jelly Fly

[TheOnlyAaron]

Here is a little thing I put together a while bit ago. I dont really animate much, i usually just try and make things look pretty, so this isn't much, but please let me know what you think!

Movie (http://www.theonlyaaron.com/projects/noise/jelly.mov)

http://www.theonlyaaron.com/projects/noise/jelly.jpg

[Papaya]

Love the model!!!

Right now, it doesn't really look like it's flying though... it's sort of just floating through the air. Needs some weight. Hope that helps!

[Pivo]

the model rox defintly!
the animation is a bit...hm like under water!
i think it will look cool if jelly would fly like a
colibry or something like that! u know? a bit faster moves!

[da_animator]

The model is cool. Did you leave the background dark so your model would stick out?
It does , if so.
I like the way it moves thru the objects.
How did you post your Quicktime and title it "Movie" in the message screen?
I have one that I want to post for crits but don't know how.
Can you help with that?
Thanks.

Keep the models coming!!!:cool:

[TheOnlyAaron]

Papaya> Hey thanks for the replies gang!

I had originally planned on having some volumetrics, to make it appear as though it was swiming in some water, but with that and the particles, it would have taken too long to render. Does anyone know how to easily give the appearance of being in a thick atmosphere, or underwater? . . . . Or i could just bite the bullet, and become a better animatior and add the weight. Thanks!

Pivo> thanks, i had too google "colibry" and all i could find was a hummingbird ;) I like that idea, but not quite as fast, thanks for the idea.

da_animator > yeah, i wanted contrast in the colors, and the wings sorta seemed to blur out, so i added the black parts on them so your eyes could track them. and as for posting a quicktime video, i just uploaded it right to my ftp, and linked directly to the movie, wthout having it imbedded in a html file at all, every thing else was just automatic. So to tell you the truth, i guess i dont know how i did that!

Thanks for the comments everyone!

[traBBit]

Man, that's pretty impressive :O


Model: Unique and pretty cool-looking :D 5 stars for that!

Animation: It's a bit "clumsy", but still great looking. If it was a bit smoother it would rock :)

[Alcron]

Swimming and flying have very different dynamics, so you'll have to pick one before you start. Swimming is smooth and elegant while flying is more intense and active.

I'll just talk about flying for now, since I think you'd learn the most from attempting that. Hmm. I suppose there are different types of flying, even but you gotta start sometime; can't just make decisions like that all day. ha ha.

For a this model I think it would be most natural for the long upper wings to be for flight and power and the shorter lower wings would be for acceleration and complex manuvering. The following will add more to think about with all the obstacles in the way, but the large flying wings will have to swing... flap... whatever in a much larger range of motion. keep the high point the same but make them push down toward the ground at least to the 90 degree point (0 degree - we have to agree on reference terms here - ha ha) or even low enough to nearly touch the small wings in motion.

I'd imagine it as a dragon or larger eagle. Long, powerful strokes. Considering the thickness and metal-like material, they can't go too slow, though.

The reference to weight that others have alluded to can be fixed. You just have to get the body moving up and down in time with the motion of the wings. Wings go down, the whole body moves up in the world; wings go back up and the body starts yielding to gravity.

In water or air, the tail just doesn't seem to move right, in my opinion. The tip of it seems to slap at the air, creating drag and pushing the tail down. Maybe that was partially intentional, but if so, you don't need it to that extent. You can either let it do "the wave" continuously and move slightly higher or let the last segment get rigid and point upward for directional changes.. or have the tail slightly imitate and help with the flapping, and do the same pointing upward trick as above for climbing.

-----

So, after watching your animation several dozen times in an effort to give tips, I realized that the motion you already have is very much geared for underwater movement. It would be interesting and helpful for learning if you do both and use the compare and contrast to teach yourself and others.

You did really well on remembering to lean the model into the turns. It shows that you have a pretty good grasp on natural motion and just need a nuge in the right direction. Same with the smaller wings. The rapid, direction-specifc flapping is a nice touch.

I'm so tempted to ask for a copy of the model/scene to animate but I shouldn't do it for you. ha ha. I haven't done this, myself, in a while and I'm realizing how much I miss it. As for volumetrics and particles... perfect your animation first, then render it with effects as a cherry on top. A reward for all your hard work and the long render times won't matter as much, considering you won't have to change much.

Well, have fun with it. Let us know the direction you decide to take and show us your changes. I'm looking forward to it.