Reel feedback please - Junior

LeeMeredith

Hello everyone, can I please have some feedback on my reel? I'm looking for junior positions in the games industry. Advice on new pieces I should create and pieces I should remove would be gladly appreciated.  

https://youtu.be/XYPqSdkuHDc

Thank you

AnthonyAnimation

Hey Lee, thanks for sharing your work. I like that the reel is under a minute and is focused.

Showing a shot from multiple angles isn't usually necessary unless you think it will benefit the audience.

Showing game animations is a good start, you'll want to find a way to add your own flavor/personality. Personally I pick shots and actions I find interesting/exciting to animate. Your passion will come through with good animation rather than focusing on run cycle, followed by a basic attack, etc. Recruiters will look for good animation and body mechanics, the fact that it can fit in game isn't always necessary. Most studios will be looking for potential and are willing to teach someone to fit good animation into gameplay restrictions.

If you're unsure of what to have in your reel look at industry professionals. In the end, like I said, animate what you want to animate. Good animation is good animation, it doesn't matter what the subject matter is.

tholmes3d

I agree with Anthony, this is a nice clean and concise tell.
I forget who gave the talk (if somebody could post it here that'd be awesome), but they talked about using ABCA posing instead of ABA posing. This means, instead of going from Idle > hit > idle, they go from Idle > hit  > breakdown > idle. The point is basically to make sure that the character doesn't take the same path out of the hit that they took into the hit. This increases the visual interest because you're not just watching the first half in reverse. I think keeping this in mind could help push a lot of your hits and hit reacts to the next level. Good luck!

Hito

couple small things in addition, the first death clip is played twice but from two different angles. at first glance one gets the impression they are two different animations, It may come across as trying to pass one animation as two different ones. same with the kick and sword attack. Those would be good places to start with adding new animations.

I would also give the shots with the girl and the robot some lighting just to bring them closer in line with the rest of the clips, similar feel to the first shot with the adventurer and the body mechanic rig kick and sword attack.

RKirtlink

@tholmes3d
This is the video you mentioned, I've got that one bookmarked :P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1j5Tf6ulII

LeeMeredith

Thank you all for the replies, I'll remove the unnecessary angles and try to burn the ABCA technique into my mind, I remember watching ages ago but it slipped my mind or I just didn't understand it properly. I'm doing a project with my friend so I'll try out the ABCA stuff for sure.