Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Critique - Santa Lift



So about the Santa Clip:

You probably kept on working on this (I'm a bit late with the feedback), but here my 2 cents of that current version. I like the setting, the idea is great and I love that he jumps into the chimney, so it's not just a weight exercise. Overall it's working well, I especially love that he's looking at the chimney with that head turn around x127, because it shows that the character is thinking (and even thinking ahead). I would say keep going with these areas in mind:

- being on a slope, you want to incorporate that into your animation (otherwise why choose that set?); so once he's carrying the bag, let his feet slide down a bit on the snow, forcing him to readjust his footing and balance
- while the bag gets off the sled, add some rotation and compression on the sled, as if he's lifting that bag off a truck
- for a more complex or "different" way of putting the bag on top of the chimney, maybe go beyond the simple lift up and throw, but more of a roll. By that I mean, look at x174. On that frame the bag could be pushed up the side wall of the chimney which would break the momentum of his upward swing. Because of that he would have to start pushing/rolling the bag over the chimney's edge (I hope this makes sense). Not as a big, second part of the exercise, but just for added complexity and variety. You can still have him push down on the bag at the end for the final push. For that though, I would, if you can, make it look like he's really pushing into the bag, making the bag look soft (see some compression on the bag first before it goes down).
- the jump is cute, just watch your timing: first, from x220 to 248 I would have him lean forward instead of back, as if he's looking down the chimney to see if the bag made it down. The area between x266 and 274 (roughly) feels slow. The way he goes down just feels a bit off. He accelerates down at the end to a more believable speed, but before that it's a bit slow.
- detail: would be awesome to have snow foot prints. :)

Hope that helps!
Cheers
JD

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