--Comp 29 -- FISHING -- Comp 29 --

[BiG ToE-3DT]

_Fishing_

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g129/DJBiGToE/1407559890_ad371a5bc1_b.jpg

The idea,
It’s the butt crack of dawn; you wake up, get dressed, grab your dog and a few cases of beer and head off. Where are you going, Fishing. You sit on your little dinghy waiting for a nibble. You down a few cans of the bubble in suspense that today will be the day you catch the BIG one. Unexpectedly you feel a slight tug at your line, nothing special, you had a few of those already. Then your bobber drives deep into the water, your line is being pulled out faster than ever before. The reel starts to smoke as it reaches it limit. It’s now or never to tell yourself. Time to reel this sucker in.
Like all animation challenges, this one is open to artistic interpretation. It can be as simple as a guy fishing, in a boat on the ocean, or on land in a river. You can fish for aquatic animals, or humans, its up to you. But, you must have fun, or there’s no point.
Rules

- The due date is August 24th, (3 weeks and some days from now) a Sunday, 12 midnight (GMT). Voting will be on that following week. Post your final entries in the Final Entry Thread.

- Minimum animation: your animation needs to include a minimum of 5 seconds, with or without music, do more if your bored.
-
- Recommended screen resolution in 320x240 (you can do 640x480 if you want, but why would you). I will.

- You can post W.I.P.s but you are only allowed one complete entry. That link is also final. You can and should post your wip’s to get help.

- Websites where you post your finals is up to you.

- Remember, it's about animation, use your time for animation, not to get the best render possible, unless you can afford it.

- Use of plug-ins not allowed. Must be key framed (hand animated)

- Use QuickTime. It will allow everyone to view your hard work, plus it gives everyone the chance to go through your animation frame by frame to see how you did what you did

- You must post a render of some sort with your final entry post; also include a screen grab with key frames.

- Voting will be as follows -


First place (3) points
Second place (2) points
Third place (1) points

Prizes:(only available with 6 or more final entries)

Winner gets to choose one of the following options:
- 12-month subscription to the 2DCreative magazine
- 12-month subscription to the 3DCreative magazine

Good luck!


BiG ToE

[Warin-3DT]

I used to study a lot about fish/aquatic creatures and their habitats in Fisheries Science degree..so I find this topic is very interesting BiGToe!!

Let's see what the candidates will catch!:D

[Osky]

Very interesting topic Big Toe.

Got me a few ideas, so imma go put them down on paper and begin animating right away. This time I'm gonna finish, and it will be nice.

Hi, Warin. I'll be seeing you at Siggraph. Take Care.

[Dex]

Nice, there's a lot you can do with fishing and I'm sure there will be a lot of different interpritations. I just hope we get '6 or more final entries' and I'm sure we'll get a load of really cool entries. Looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with :)

[manny]

i got no idea what i can do for this challenge but i'll see what i can come up with i'll try to enter this one. any help?

[BiG ToE-3DT]

guy is fishing, falls asleep, poll is taken away by fish.

[manny]

lol. thanks bigtoe that might be it thanks.

[Poker]

cool topic. Ill be consulting my brain for a while, and then start on it.

[Warin-3DT]

Hi, Warin. I'll be seeing you at Siggraph. Take Care.

Would be pleasant to meet you in person as well, I'm getting really excited now! This will be my first time in this kind of a bigggggggggggg biggggggggggg event like this! Oh man 'I'm excited'!

Thank you for adding me in your friend list too!:)

I look forward to the event!
Warin

[aby arty]

big toe sir
this is an animation challenge but no rig or model is provided , wont it be unfair in many ways to many people or we have to do everything till animation on our own?

[Poker]

big toe sir
this is an animation challenge but no rig or model is provided , wont it be unfair in many ways to many people or we have to do everything till animation on our own?

There are a couple of free rigs, that you can use. Have a look at http://www.11secondclub.com/resources/. Or there are other rigs provided, in the former threads, like the wrestling move one.

I finally found a story I was happy with, and now Ive quickly roughed out the story telling keys. Comments and Critz are welcome as always, though this is a very early stage I might add.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/Pokevoke/Threedy/Key_01-1.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/Pokevoke/Threedy/Key_02-1.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/Pokevoke/Threedy/Key_03-1.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/Pokevoke/Threedy/Key_04-1.jpg

[BiG ToE-3DT]

Poker: thats a great little story board you got there, the facial expression is priceless.

aby arty: for these challenges, all you really need is a rigg. You can find them all over, Check the animation libks and what not thread, you should be able to find somethign in there. the thing about me posting one here is that it won't work for everyone, all programs use a different system.

[Osky]

Would be pleasant to meet you in person as well, I'm getting really excited now! This will be my first time in this kind of a bigggggggggggg biggggggggggg event like this! Oh man 'I'm excited'!

Thank you for adding me in your friend list too!:)

I look forward to the event!
Warin

Warin-Thank You for accepting my friend request. I can't wait to meet you in person along with your husband. It's gonna be fun and exciting.

Pocker, nice, you got some nice poses that tell your story very well.

Big Toe, I wanted to ask you for something that I've been searching for a while on the forums. I saw a thread where I think it was Sathe vs. Knut 3DT, and they were competing to see who created the better Iron Man. I just wanted to start competing doing animation, and I have in mind going up against Pocker in this challenge. It would be helpful if you could let me know how to start that up.

Poker-so you up to competing against me. It'll help us get better as animators, and maybe we could start getting more people involved in these animation challenges. What u think?

[Poker]

Osky - GAME ON:-)

[Osky]

Poker- It's On! HaHaHa! "Why....So....Serious......;(.....?"

I'm just waiting to hear Big Toe explain to me about creating a versus thread for this comp, and possibly others to come. Aight.

[BiG ToE-3DT]

if you want to start up a VS challenge, all you would need to do is start a thread over in the animation (http://forums.3dtotal.com/forumdisplay.php?f=38) section. then just post the guidlines the two of your are goign to use and the rest would be up to you.

[Osky]

Alright.

Thanks for the Info Big Toe.

[Poker]

update, still inbetweening...

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/Pokevoke/Threedy/th_Test_01-1.jpg (http://s57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/Pokevoke/Threedy/?action=view&current=Test_01-1.flv)

BTW does anyone know, where you can upload quicktime vids, where they also get viewed as quicktime video files??

[manny]

poker that pose to pose looks great man. very good. i can already see that your animation is going to come out very smooth. nice job man.

[Poker]

Manny - Thank you, I really like the story, thats why I do a thurough job on this one.

[manny]

well. keep it up man. nice

[BiG ToE-3DT]

Poker: pufile.com does quicktime. And it will load a viewing page for you, like youtube does. they let you upload some large files too, 200mbs, I think.

[Osky]

Here's my keypose pass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7viGhZnYKRY

[Dex]

Some cool ideas so far, looks like i'm a little behind. I've done my thumbnails and i'll start posing out now.

Osky: I think he's a bit offbalance when he's reaching for it after it's gone, maybe he could put his hand down on the boat to steady himself. Around 215 maybe?

Poker: it will be interesting to see your inbetweens.

I'll try and get my keyframes on here as soon as possible. No one else joining??? I'm surprized.

[Poker]

update... Ive timed out the animation, and are now looking at the holding poses.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/Pokevoke/Threedy/th_Fishing_03.jpg (http://s57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/Pokevoke/Threedy/?action=view&current=Fishing_03.flv)

I know that I shouldn't really worry about this, but I played around with the lighting to set the mood. And I just simply put a spot (omni) in with ray traced shadows, and I got this:-

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/Pokevoke/Threedy/lighting.jpg

I really wanted nice crisp shadow, and atm Im losing all the facial features. Anyone got any suggestions??

[Osky]

Hey Poker, your progress is coming along very nicely.

As far as the shadows, I use Maya, so I would suggest to crank up your Light Radius, and Make the Shadow Rays double what the Radius is.

To keep the facial features of the character, I would light link another light without casting shadows to lighten his face up.

Hope some of that Info helps, I know u use 3D Max.

[Bob Marley]

Poker, I absolutely love the idea, I wish I could steal it from you...... but I wont : )

I just thought of one and hopefully, I ll get time to get it done.

Good luck everyone.

[Dex]

Here are some of my keys.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c241/dllhunter/FishBoard.jpg

I've started timing out but I thought I'd get some feedback before it's too late.

(basically, he struggles with the rod untill it whips back and hits him in the face and he falls in the water. Thought I'd keep it nice and simple and concentrate on the animation.)

[Poker]

hehe, I like it. Really looking forward to see how you do the slap in the face:-)

I know its early keys, but I think you could go further with key 6-9. By further I mean more of a curve in the spine and through the whole body.

[Dex]

Ye, i see what you mean, luckily I haven't offset anything so it's not too difficult to fix. I'm thinking of a bend modifier to give more life to the rod, or maybe give it bones and animate it like that, any suggestions?

[Osky]

Updated

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQtk48KoBgo

There's mine with some fixes to my poses, and some animation to the fishing rod, plus some breakdown poses/linear tangents.

Dex, kool Idea. Like Poker sayed, make the poses where he's pulling as extreme as possible.

[Poker]

update...

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/Pokevoke/Threedy/th_Fishing_04.jpg (http://s57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/Pokevoke/Threedy/?action=view&current=Fishing_04.flv)


and here a test render..

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/Pokevoke/Threedy/lighting_01.jpg

I dont really know where to go with this one now, so rip it to threads. The renders aswell...

[Dex]

Here's what I have so far, still a long way to go but I thought I'd get some feedback.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c241/dllhunter/th_Framecounters.jpg (http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c241/dllhunter/?action=view&current=Framecounters.flv)

[Poker]

looking good Dex.

When the pole get pulled first (frame 130) it gets pulled upwards first, and forward. I dont think there shouldn't be any upwards pull, only forward.

I still think you can push the action curve further at frame 169, go extreme..

Maybe its just me, but dont really like the sudden stiffness of the pose at frame 280. I think you would get a much bigger impact, if the guy reacts to the pole bodily as well as facially. It doesn't have to be a lot, just so we get the energy of the pole transfered somewhere.

keep at it dex...

[manny]

looking good dex a bit more tweaking and its there.

[dyb3k]

Hello
I also decided to take part in this challenge. For now I have this speed animation. Hope you like it. Comment and critics are welcome.

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=PTzUZsKGoPA

Osky - I think that timing in second part of your animation is a little bad. This part should be much quicker in my opinion. Overall it looks fine.

Poker - I like your animation very much. I think that there are no significant errors. You just need to polish it and it will be great!

Dex - It is good also. Poker wrote what could be better and I think you should do it.

Good luck!

[Poker]

Welcome to the challenge dyb3k:-)

Your speed animation looks pretty good. I like the widescreen feature, fits really good to your animation.

Could you post another video, with some frame numbers on?? Itll be easier to comment on your poses with a frame number to refer to.

[Osky]

Yes, It's looking very nice dyb3k. Thanks for your comment towards the last part of my animation. I will take that into account, and fix my animation. I haven't been able to upload anything new just yet, because I'm in Siggraph '08, in LA, at the 3D Total Booth, and it's just been a wonderlful experience, and everything is going great. I'm trying to make some time to finish up my piece, but it's a little difficult this week.
But dyb3k, like Poker mentioned, please add frame counter to your animation, so that we can specifiacally tell you what needs fixing. But from what I see the begining of the animation, is looking great, but the last part needs some tweaking. Alright.
I'll be posting something real soon. Laters.

[Dex]

Hey, welcome to the comp dyb3k, looks like a great start, I'm sure you've already worked on some things but some things I can comment on without frame counters are - he looks a bit off-balance when he gets to the end of the walk way and I don't think you got the bend in the rod quite right when he initially swings it. The only other thing was that the spacing of his hips was a little even when he was walking trying to pull it along with him, I think it would sell it way more if his hips slowed in and out of the steps. Your composition works really well but the black behind him blends into the frame. Nice work man.

Poker: I have to say you've got a good idea there. but if I had to pick some things that stood out to me I'd say the toe doesn't feel like it's pulling, I think it's because the timing is even on the pull and the release, I would think it would be quicker on the pull. and when he's breathing at the start, looks like all thats movement is in his chest. I think a little movement elsewhere would sell it more, like the stomach or shoulders, I've noticed shoulders are under used on this rig. Also when I dropped a hat to see how fast it fell, it dropped quite a bit quicker. Lastly it feels to me like his right foot should be doing more in the struggle. What I really like is the look up and the tip up of the hat revealing his expression, nice touch.

Osky: I think he needs to lean forward more to get up around 145, and I agree with dyb3k - the timing needs to be quicker when he's trying to catch the rod, when he puts his hand down to balance himself i think it works well and I like the point at the end, would be interesting to know what he's saying.

I'm clearly being picky here (on everyones) but i'm just trying to help make it better, or at least my opinion of how it could be better. I'll post my latest up in a bit to get some more feedback, Thanks guys.

[Dex]

Here's mine, be as picky as you want. I'm thinking about painting in some sky for the background and maybe putting some sound on it just for fun. Let me know what you think of it:

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c241/dllhunter/th_Fishhi.jpg (http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c241/dllhunter/?action=view&current=Fishhi.flv)

http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c241/dllhunter/?action=view&current=Fishhi.flv

[Poker]

Hey Dex.

I think the first 100 frames, whens hes looking around and bored is fine and good.

The first pull (130) his right arm, is like a stiff pole. At frame 136 his right arm stick out backwards, where I think it should be more relaxed since he's coming from a relaxed pose. And I noticed that the arm is broken, when he's reaching for the pole (141).
At 147 he looks very unbalanced, I think you can counter this if you lower his center, so he's got bend knees.

The pull/release at around frame 207, is too fast for the eyes. Slow it down just a tad so we can absorb it.

I see what you are trying to do at frame 266, with the struggling, but its way too fast. And lastly I still think you should transfer some of the energy from the pole into the guy's face/body(273). I think that'll sell it so much better. Plus the fall at the end is a bit too fast.

Hope this helps, looking forward to your next update:-)

[Dex]

Thanks for the feeback, some of the things that you've pointed out are the things that i have on my 'to do list', I was trying something with the broken arm but it clearly didn't work, and I was going for a cartoony look on the quick snap back on 207 but I will try slowing it down, and the fast struggling at the end I'll shorten the spaces between the jittering and it should look smoother. Thanks for the feedback, I'll get you another preview soon.

[dyb3k]

Ok, so made some improvements nut still I think that a run looks bad. I will try to improve it next time. Also I will add some facial expressions. I added frame counter so now it will be easier to see my errors:)

Dex - Please tell me how can I watch your animation frame by frame. Because when I download via Realplayer I can't watch it later. What's wrong? By now I can only tell that it misses a really surprised facial expression when this fish is pulling for the first time. What Poker wrote is really true.

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=5GCxRT474xw

[lythtis]

ahh still some time i hope i can get this to where i am somewhat happy with. i know it needs a huge amount of work but what do u want in an hour. the basic idea is he is in a river like stream rdy to spear a fish. just hope the hurricane dont take out the power.


http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm149/ieatp/th_gfnbnbgf.jpg (http://s295.photobucket.com/albums/mm149/ieatp/?action=view&current=gfnbnbgf.flv)

[Poker]

dyb3k - I got two main critiques for yours; the turn and the feet hooked to the pole. The turn at around frame 188 seems very light compared with the fact that the guy is still pulling the fishing pole. I see him turning more slowly, and with an effort.
The other thing is the final 30 frames, I don't get why the fishing pole gets hooked to the guys feet??
Then lastly I, personally, liked the more side-on camera angle. I think your poses were made for the side-on angle, cause with the new camera angle you are losing some of your nice struggling poses (around frame 300-350).

lythtis - its quite early to comment on it. I would say watch your hip, when proceeding with this one. And is there a final like pose/point to this one, eg. he catches a fish/gets knocked down/breaks his spear??? (just curious:-)

Ill have a look at mine later today, and should have an update ready....

[Dex]

I was going to say that I won't be here to submit mine because I bought tickets to go to reading festival... but it looks like I've been ripped off and will not be going. Hopefully I can get the money back... but there's no chance I'll be going now... I guess I have more time to work on my animation...

[Dex]

Made some changes, wasn't sure what you expected the body to do when the pole hit. Let me know what you think.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c241/dllhunter/th_prev-20.jpg (http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c241/dllhunter/?action=view&current=prev-20.flv)

http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c241/dllhunter/?action=view&current=prev-20.flv

"Dex - Please tell me how can I watch your animation frame by frame" - I have no idea sorry mate. I didn't even know you could download them from photobucket.

[Poker]

Dex - I still think the struggling jitters around frame 260 are too fast. About the slap in the face, I was thinking something like a bitch-slap in slow motion; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BRw_ihZRJI&feature=related. Of course this is just for inspiration, but something in the liking of this, would be great to see.

[Osky]

Poker- that's some good slo-mo reference you have found there, looks very funny.

Dex-I think that it would be really funny to see the part when the rod hits your character, move in slo-mo. But if not, I think that he needs to get off balance and step back as he gets hit. Then wobble a little bit with a dazed look on his face looking at us towards the camera, and finally fall down.

Lythis- I know its early and you haven't worked much on it, but when your character is looking around his arms should flail around his body and have some drag to them, and we need to see what happens in the end. Does he spear a fish, or something that would be even funnier would be to create a death sequence in which your character gets speared from above by an even bigger creature, and we just see that characters big foot after the red character dies, something random like that would be funny.

dyb3k-I also like your animation from the side, overall your animation shows weight, but I think that you could add subtle movements to his body at certain parts in the animation. One part in particular is when he is pulling the rod facing away from the water, some little shaking (like you did with the knee in the end), would look very nicely on his feet/knees as he is stepping.

I'll post some of my WIP, 2night.

[Osky]

More WIP, but still not done.

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=QptCRGtX6JU


Please give feedback.

[dyb3k]

This is my last post as a WIP. I changed what you guys said and I think it looks better now. But this camera angle is better because facial animation can be seen. Once more thank you for feedback and I ask you once more for little advice. Here it is:

link: http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=0CfkkYnofps

Osky - It looks much better now but still I think that rod moves much too slowly. Also acting in the first part is too quick. You should give the guy some rest after he sits. And then when the rod starts to move the guy should stand up much faster to catch it. I also think that movement of the arms is too chaotic. You should smoothen it. But I do really like falling into the water. Keep it going.

[dyb3k]

Where should I post my final entry? In this thread or somewhere else?

[Poker]

The final post should be in this threa; http://forums.3dtotal.com/showthread.php?t=60589.

Here's a quick update..

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/Pokevoke/Threedy/th_Fishing_05.jpg (http://s57.photobucket.com/albums/g234/Pokevoke/Threedy/?action=view&current=Fishing_05.flv)

I dont know if I've gone too far with the breathing bit, but crit away:-) I think this is the last WIP, before posting the final one.

[Osky]

More WIP from me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbaC4Vakd5w

[Poker]

Osky - I think you should stick to one ending first, whether it's falling into the water (WIP 04) or saving the fishing pole at the last moment (WIP 05). Personally I liked WIP 04 best.

[BiG ToE-3DT]

its good to see you guys going all out for this. Isn't animation fun.

[dyb3k]

Poker - It looks very good for for me. Maybe you could change acting a little bit. I mean that when he wakes up and looks at his foot, he could facial expression like "What's gping on here" and when do realises what is going on it is too late for him. I don't know if that would be better honestly. but you can try it. Overall I like it.
Osky - For me nothing changed in the begining. And like Poker wrote I also like the ending of WIP4 more. Keep it up.

[lythtis]

not much of an update here but i fig ill post something.

well from what i can see theres not much to crit about. all looks really darn good to me.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm149/ieatp/th_kkh00.jpg (http://s295.photobucket.com/albums/mm149/ieatp/?action=view&current=kkh00.flv)

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm149/ieatp/koll.jpg

[Poker]

Lythtis - Now theres an ending I like, him walking around and then suddenly sinking deep into the water. Just remember to shift the weight from leg to leg, when he's walking around. And I dont think he needs to walk all the way over to other side of the screen to sink. I think the composite of the shot would be better if you have him sinking in just to right of center-screen.

[Osky]

Thanks for the comment Poker and dyb3k, I'm going to stick with the WIP 04 ending better.

dyb3k-from what you commented is the begining alright with you, I've mostly just slowed it down.

BiG ToE-3DT- yeah, animation is fun, especially when its done right.

[lythtis]

here was my final but i missed the deadline


http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm149/ieatp/th_testdev.jpg (http://s295.photobucket.com/albums/mm149/ieatp/?action=view&current=testdev.flv)

[Osky]

Looks good Lythis. Only thing I could say is that his walk looks too neutral, he should look more like its hard for him to move his legs cause they are under-water, so he should push more with his upper body to make his legs move.

Also when he falls, he falls too fast, we dont get to completely catch it. That is the selling point of the animation so it should have the most impactful. Maybe you could have made his upper body have a moving hold as his lower body is falling. His arms should flail more, and his head also, it'll be more funny.

But great job

[BiG ToE-3DT]

he guys, I'm going to try and have the next challenge up some time Wednesday. Would have done it sooner, but was hit with a viruses. Formatting my harddrive right now.

[JamesEK4]

Cool thanks Big Toe, would that be today or next week? get well soon!

Cheers