Fox animation

CleanerWolf

Everybody loves cute furry beings, so here is another one
I made a fox model some months ago and now reworked it a bit and animated it. Done with Softimage XSI 4.2.

Here's a still from the animation:


And here is the Animation:
>>>>> Fox Forest Animation (3.3 MB) <<<<<

The video was compressed with DivX 5.2.1.

Bonus: Some facial expressions of the fox


Any comments and/or questions?

Sean McBride

Wow, dude... wow. I'll watch it a few more times and see if i can find anything to tweek but it looks great!

[edit] the only thing that stands out to me is the background is really static even the grass near the foreground. If you could get a slight breeze going or something i think it would liven up the whole scene.

When the fox is sniffing his nose dosn't move at all, if you had some controller for his nose I think it would help the overall effect of the "sniff"

But these are just nit picks

Daz

I think the lighting could use work. The shadows on the tree cast from him are very black for an outdoor shot. However, the animation is absolutely superb.

Badge

it seems his movements stop somewhat suddenly, try adjusting the curves to ease in more ( if youve got em). and i think his legs may need to be placed alittle differently, his center of balance looks off according to his legs. and perhaps the leap could use tweaking as well, just the initial reel, its like hes popping off the log.

Lore

That kicks ass. I don't have dog or cat right now so I just going by memory. But it seems his back is acting a little stiff between his ribcage and pelvic area when he translating horizontally across. Maybe have it when his head comes up have him stick his butt up in the air, like he arching his back slightly.

Plus model up some grass blades for when jumps off the log he causes some of the blades in the scene to move as if he went right through them.

I like the movement on the fur. I'm jealous.

aesir

That fox is gorgeous, just want to second the facts that the shadow is too dark and that some motion in the grass would rock.

Besides that and what other people have said, the anim itself could use a little polishing. The leap at the end probably needs to be a bit faster. He looks a bit floaty atm. The head moves somewhat mechanically from one position to another as well. Try to have more ease in/ease out, and remember that heads dont really move straight from one position to another, they always move in curves. Lastly, the last step forward before he jumps, needs to be smoothed out a bit.

Other then that, the animation is great!

e_x

Each of his feet seem to land at the same time. I would say delay each of them coming up.

The head is movement is very linear. Make it move in curves like someone mentioned.

For the jump, the anticipation is good, but I think you need more height. And delay his tail a little more too, give it some whip action.

Also, he would be jumping off his back legs, so delay them a little bit. Right now both sets of legs come off the log at the same time. His torso would come up first, arching his spine, then his back legs would spring and force his ass to come up.

iMag

was wondering when you'd post this here. the crits over at xsibase cover all the issues, that is unless this is an updated animation.

NoSeRider

The whole thing looks very convincing till the fox jumps.

Maybe if you put some secondary animation in the jump? Arch back and spread out paws or somthing?

CleanerWolf

Thanx for the replies. I am in a constant training process and constructive criticism is very important for me.

Rakile

Hmmm... there is something about his steps that seems a bit stiff. I didn't notice much movement in the shoulders or hips while he was moving, which might be what made it look stiff to me.

Still, that is really good. The movements of his head are really nice, very fluid. The modeling and texturing look excellent to me. I'd like to be able to texture like that, but I only have that kind of patience for animation.

Scott Ruggels

It's very good. It's very well "paced". the only criticisms I have are it never quite looks like he's putting his full weight onto his paws. There's a slight stretching of the sides behind the scapulae. Also a slight amount of "spring" in the spine when he leaps would help. But otherwise, nicely done.

For the lighting you need a few more blue fill lights from above, and some movement of the grass would work.

Scott

Echelon-IV

cute ^^