I finished it :)

So here is my contribution to the rowing assignment. After doing my grad film in ToonBoom, I wanted to try to animate the whole thing without linetesting it to challenge me to think more while animating and have more of a purpose with my poses (and no changing after linetesting—what will be, will be).

There are some quite obvious mistakes with the timing and spacing of the oars. It feels a bit like he is rowing in mud or something and then moving super fast back in the air. There is also some ugly mistakes with the arcs of them both right before it goes down into the water and in the water. The hands also goes out of their arcs as he reaches forward.

Oh well, hehe.. it was good fun to do. I want to do more of this in the future, and hopefully the next one will get better :)

Rowing through polygons...

First post here! Found time amongst film work to work on this. Feedback really welcome. Looking forward to doing more of these short tests, they really help to keep me on my toes!



Rowing Test Animation from Kat Seale on Vimeo.

Useful video. An Olympic rower teaches a reporter how to row by breaking down the method :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uRLvoKIgso
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNIvycJd6oM&feature=related

Row Row Row... updated with dialogue challenge!

Done at work during a bit of lunch break and at the end of the day. Still quite loose but I don't really have the time to refine it any more. I used Toonboom for this one.

EDIT: video updated with dialogue shot. It felt like I chained myself down in the drawing, hope to focus on the animation next time.

And I couldn't have done it without the rower...

After doing some action analysis of the Olympics, I had a go at animating an olympic rower.

Animation Challenges: 1

Here it is! The first of our Animation Jumble challenges has begun.
There will be new challenges every three months. Have a go at all the challenges if you have the time or focus on one particular test to challenge yourself. The idea is to set more unusual and challenging challenges that push you to think and plan more. I deliberately didn't choose simple challenges like ball bounces, yawns and walk cycles for the 'beginner' challenges because I know everyone here has done them many times before.

So here they are;

Beginner: ROWING
(the technical challenge)
Animate a character rowing in profile or any other angle you like. The test can be a loop just like in a walk cycle. This test was chosen for the changes in weight and resistance as the oars come in and out of the water. It is a specific action which should require some research.

Intermediate: HIDE AND SEEK
(the performance challenge)
Animate a character hiding or seeking, or both. Focus on character. Think about why they are hiding or seeking to inject story into the performance.

Advanced : DIALOGUE SCENE
(the acting to audio challenge)
Animate to this short audio clip. Just like the 11 second club.
Female character; 'You know you're sweet. You really are!'
MP3 is recommend for best quality.

Right click and download here

If you have any questions or technical problems just comment to this post.
Any form of animation is fine.

The next challenges start 1st January.


... And remember you can still post any animation you have unrelated to the challenges.

Discussion: Animation Software

Hi everyone

As we lead up to our first challenges I thought it would be good to discuss what you use to animate.
Which digital 2D, CG or linetest software do you use and what do you think of it?