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Tek wrote:
> http://www.irtc.org/anims/2003-04-15.html
>
> Woohoo! :)
Congratulations!
Some of the most fantastic images i've seen out of POVray so far.
One thing that's been puzzling me for quite a while: How many
particles form the planet's rings at 1:30, and how long did it
take to render?
Markus
(2nd place! Woohoo too... :-)
Oh, and i'd like to try something... i'll add the
maal_jny.comments below, and i'll comment on the comments (sort
of like the imitation of a talkback system). Just to simulate
some sort of "producer - watcher" dialogue, and i'm curious about
what other participants think about the comments *they* received
(hint hint... ;)
My opinion is that it's especially the "negative" comments that
help with improvement. Of course, reading "I really liked..." is
great fun and boosts the ego, but reading "hey, this and that
looks really bad" gives a good hint as to where to increase the
effort, and things like "you may try to do this instead of that"
are valuable pointers into new directions.
Looking forward to the "Evolution" results in two months - but
most likely i'll skip this round. Real Life incoming again... but
until it hits me tomorrow morning with a desk full of tax forms
to complete :-S here's my totally incoherent half-serious half-;)
response to the feedback (i hope nobody of the people quoted
below is offended by this, remember you've posted your comments
to the web :-):
>=====
>From marlo.steed
>Once again you do a good job of the animation. I like the
>ship. Some of the modeling could use a bit more detail.
>For instance. the ruins had sharp even edges - those could have
> been rouphed up a bit. If pillars had fallen, there
>would have probably been other damage.
Agreed... i actually tried to smooth the edges (think wind
erosion), but i just don't have a clue (yet) as to how to achieve
this in Cinema without blasting the scene file trough the 15 MB
file size roof. Adding other damage would be so much easier if my
computer wasn't that slow while editing. Too much of the ruins
are just simple extrusions or primitives like stretched cubes
that don't allow for "simulated damage" (with my experience
level, at least)
>Not sure that the message of the journey was apparent to me
Message? Did i leave a message in there? Oooops... ;-)
No, actually i didn't think of the animation as having a message,
just wanted to tell a little story.
> - well it was but I guess it didn't have a strong
>connection for me. I was a bit confused because you start
>out by saying "Late again. Everyone is already there."
>However, that did not seem to play into the animation.
No, it just refers to the large spaceships already parked in the
orbit. No relation to this story in particular.
>=====
>From evilsnack:
>JV: The ruins look like a bunch of brand-new objects left
>in a heap.
Yes. That's because they're in fact a bunch of brand-new objects
left in a heap. ;-) The ruin is one of the models that didn't
look at all like i wanted it. I thought of something like a
cliche ruin a la Indiana Jones, dark, dusty, with a single ray of
sunlight falling on the fountain, but i'm not that versed when it
comes to modelling. Time was also a factor. So i ended up with
extrusion objects, converted to polygons, then crumpled and cut
in various predictable ways, placed into the scene by hand...
some sort of automatic debris or particles would be nice. I
remember some IRTC animation of a tree through the seasons, with
an algorithm that did let snow and leaves drop to the ground. I'd
like to be able to use something similar within Cinema... so far,
no success.
By the way, what does the "JV:" mean? I've seen it on all your
comments ("Judge's Verdict"?)
>
>The banter between the two characters isn't that amusing.
Which one? The one at the beginning wasn't intended to be funny,
and the one at the end was more of a filler...
Oh, and remember the eternal lines (almost) straight out of Star
Trek: "Dammit Jim, I'm a desktop publisher, not a writer..." :-)
>=====
>From tek:
>Wow an animation with a proper story! :) I like it.
I like it that the creator of this round's winner video likes it :-)
>
>=====
>From maarten_hofman:
>I'm a bit disappointed that it is a sequel rather than a new
>animation. However, it is still a technically superior entry,
>with more details and wonderful effects.
I love this comment... it sounds like it's from a real movie
review. Ah yes, the trouble with sequels... bigger, better, more,
but actually, it's "same old with new colors" :-)
>=====
>From pterandon:
>Pretty cool. With all your technical ability now, you oughtta
>implement a lip-sync system for your characters. Having mouths
>just open and close isn't as cool. ;-) Everything is very
>impressively done.
Thanks a lot! As for the lip-sync: So far, i've used bones, but
there seems to be a limit as to what can be done with this. To
improve facial expressions, I guess it's necessary to use
point-level animation and to create various states for at least
the vocals, but i'll have to try this out - takes some time to
set-up *and* to animate. Maybe there's some way to automate the
process, like writing a parser that uses text as input and
produces the vocal sequence as output? Not sure how to implement
this in Cinema, though.
Did anyone take a look at Pixar's "Finding Nemo" trailers? Now
that's what i call lip-sync - and it's even fishes talking...
i've got a long way to go, i guess.
>=====
>From jps### [at] yahoo com:
[negative comment edited ]
just kidding... ;) here it is:
>For the most part the animation is very well done, but the
>story puts me to sleep. Reoccurring characters are ok, but
>filling the animation with unnecessary scenes/dialog just so
>all your entries work together as a whole tends to bog
>things down. Plus it leaves people that haven't seen the
>previous animation in the dark as to what is going on.
Agreed... it's just a linear story, with sequences arranged in
order of passing time. Not really *that* creative.
>If I were to re-edit the animation here is what I'd do.
>First I'd drop all the filler that helps tie this animation
>to the last and I'd start out showing Wyngz wandering
>through the desert. She could be talking to herself to fill
>the viewer in on what she is doing. I'd keep the rest the
>same and append a scene of Amurel and Wyngz walking to the
>shuttle, maybe modify their argument/dialog from the shuttle
>landing so it would fit this context. I think trimming
>things down would help draw the viewer into the story from
>the start. As it is now, I have to sit though almost half
>of the animation before the journey even starts.
Another nice effect of trimming down would be that the MPEG data
rate could be higher, reducing image artifacts...
>I've written a lot and most of it seems negative, but apart
>from
>the story the rest of the work is really good.
The comments were not negative at all, in fact it's a good
summary of most of the story's shortcomings, plus a lot of good
ideas for improvements that i'll try to keep in mind. Thanks a
lot, seriously!
>=====
>From cle### [at] dholorg:
>Easily the class of the field for story and modelling. This
>time, the lighting worked fine for me!
Flattery will get you anywhere... :-)
>The winged one needs a more expressive mouth. The stiff upper
>lip and constant mouth width seem to be the culprits.
That's a good idea, it fits well with what pterandon said about
lip-sync. On the other hand, maybe she's british (see:
http://www.sterlingtimes.org/memorable_images61.htm )
and/or an AC/DC fan... SCNR, "stiff upper lip" reflex cutting in
again... :-)
>Some of the motions produce a skin and bones effect on both
>characters.
??? Not sure what is meant here, maybe that sometimes the surface
is bent like there's no substance to it. In this case, it's most
definitely a problem with my IK and deformation area setup. The
elbows are worst...
>The transformation of the temple was easy to miss.
Agreed, i was running out of time and ideas here...
> These, of course, are quibbles. Great job.
Aaaaand once more, thanks a lot!
====
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