Animation Demo Reel Feedback

rockyourteeth

Hi Polycount community. I'm trying to break into a career in 3d animation, and so I'm trying to create an awesome animation demo reel, probably for a gaming company.

Can you guys give me some feedback on what's good, what's bad, and what I should try to include that I don't have in my reel? Feel free to rip it apart. I can accept tough love. as long as it's constructive criticism.

Here's my website: http://nickhester.blogspot.com/2011/06/3d-animation.html

And here's a direct link to the demo reel: http://youtu.be/40pbuGFCdKE

slipsius

Ask and you shall receive

Over all, Id say your timing and your weight are the two biggest things you need to work on. But posing is also up there. The whole reel seems slow, all at the same pace, and, well, boring because of it. The reel itself is over 2 minutes long. It should be no longer than a minute. 1:30 TOPS, and thats if you have some AMAZING work (professional level) that keeps them interested. So, keep it under a minute for now.

The first half, you show 1 thing, then show it again at a different view. The thing is, you have seconds of still movement between. Slow cross fades, after the keys have finished. If you are going to show things from a different view one after another, it should cut, not crossfade, directly after the last key frame.

Ill do a quick crit of each piece.

shot 1
-you`re starting to show the weight of the weapon, but you can push it more. have it slide along the ground first, before popping up.
-The idle after is decent, but personal preference, I dont like it added on to the end of it. It slows down the reel

shot 2
-You`re going for power, but the posing, weight and timing all need work in order to achieve that. Have him really wind up to show the power, with slight moving-holds after each punch.
-starting and end frames are an A-pose. Its boring and looks like the default pose.

shot 3
-way to slow. speed it up to show the speed and the weight of the cat
-the feet go through the ground constantly when pushing off.

shot 4
-the kick is decent. the timing is alright, but could pushed further to have the real life feel to it.
-this shot feels unfinished because the last keyframe is mid recovery. Add more and bring her back to an idle or something

shot 5
-decent shot. some of your holds need more motion though. more fluidity, and more offset to give that real life feel

shot 6
-ditch this shot all together. It shouldnt be in your reel

shot 7, 8 , 9, 10 (all the robot ones)
-robot pushing a button? Ditch this shot. I dunno if hes suppose to push it and fall through the ground, but id ditch the button pushing part
-sliding down the cloth (maya cloth?) Needs more weight on the fall. Gravity,
-crawling and looking down through the hole, then crawling through it. its the best outta all 4 robot scenes. id say keep that one and ditch the other 3

shot 11
-cube guy is pretty cool. but Its slow at times. All the holds are kinda, meh.
-his attacks are slow, and could use some speed to sell the weight behind the punches

shot 12
-walk cycle needs alot of work. lots of arm popping. shoulders and hips dont seem to rotate (or is hard to tell at this camera angle). Legs are always bent. Legs tend to be straight at one point or another during a walk.

shot 13
-lip sync. id say ditch it. Theres not enough interesting movement in it, and the lips are hard to see with the colour.



I know all that probably comes as a kick to the groin. Ive been there. But you asked for a crit, so you got it. It was a quick, initial look at it all. If you want more indepth crits, or want more feedback as you progress, feel free to send me a private message and we can chat on msn or something

I do see potential though. You just need to keep at it and work on that timing / weight issue. Dont give up! Keep at it!

rockyourteeth

OOPS! I accidentally posted this twice, so the full discussion is continued here...

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93761