No clothes yet, just colored patches, but you get the idea. Bonus points for guessing which animator's style I'm blatantly ripping off here, not that I'm making much of an attempt to conceal it.

I like it - no idea on the animator. Cool glasses. Is it me or are his fingers short?

May not be an animator's style but...

It imediately reminded my of those old Tin-Tin comics. I can't remember off hand who did those.

I like it.

Vernon "!" Zehr

Looks like he'll fit in well with Ebon. I can't wait for you to finish so I can watch the final version.

One pesky thing: from this angle, wouldn't his calves and biceps be behind their respective limbs? At the moment they're sort of sticking out of the side. : P

Looks anotomically correct to me...

But then again, that's the point: fool the layman.

I like your take on the design, but something... something...

Hm, I think it's the line quality (bear with me here) that would differ between your character's head and his body that doesn't sit right with me. What I mean is that the volume of his head is contained in rather round shapes, and the volume of his body is contained by more angular shaped without there being a proper blend between the two.

I only offer such a nitpicky critique because your female character is so nicely unified in her form.

Normally I would not offer a crit without offering *my* solutions for it, so you can at least parse out where its just my style versus yours and/or see an alternative... but in this case I can't offer it. For some reason I'm unsure what I would change in the guy to make him fit better together.

Ok, hold on I take it back- I would try to look for a way to define his face planes with more difference between the highs (cheeckbones, nosebridge, chin, forhead) and the lows (eyes, cheek hollows, curve from chin to sternum). The goggles are fighting this, so I would exaggerate their "outness" more and push them a bit- make them bigger, more out there.

Whatever- you know better than me- as proven by your last animation/character.. and I certainly don't want another Farstar episode to develop here... I'll jsut shut up now.

Oh, and I kinda like the short fingers- lends him a sturdiness I liked. Was that shutting up? No, no it wasn't.

Well, let's see if this one's any better.

Dearmad, you were absolutely right. Because I borrowed the mesh from my previous character, all the previous work I'd done in getting the lines soft and curvy was working against me in this new one. Once I realized that, it was easier to spot the problem areas you highlighted. I didn't make any major changes, but I think it's a solid step forward. My thanks for your perceptiveness.

I also tweaked the hands, and resplined the chest area for extra Timm-style smoothness.

I think you're getting the style down. I would work on getting the mouth toon lines a little harder though.

I also see a little Batou from GITS in there. But that's an easy one, what with the goggles and all. Is this guy going to be a badass?

I'm really liking the style you've got going. Any particular tutorials you look at to learn to tame toon render, or just experimentation? I'm curious about the wire frames. Are you aiming for the short animation contest? It's looking really great, can't wait to see the finished project!

-Alonso

double post

Unfortunately, there are no tutorials that cover the ultraprecise toon shading I strive for, so my work is largely the result of trial and error. For my "standard" look, I generally render out both a raytraced shadow (with toon rendering turned on) and a regular anime-style toon shadow, then combine them in post. The animation I posted in WIP uses all sorts of crazy time-consuming compositing tricks like this. I'm considering writing a tutorial, but not until after I've finished the 2-minute short I'm working on, which will give me time to refine my bag o' toon techniques into a finely honed art.

I'm aware of the "Am I short?" contest, and truthfully, my scene could even be said to contain "dynamic interaction" between its two leads, from an acting standpoint. Unfortunately, I seriously doubt I could make the March 4th deadline. But hey, you never know.

Here's the wireframe you asked for--keep in mind that some of my unconventional splining choices are due to the needs of the toon rendering process.

Sigh. He looks a bit less heroic with clothes on, doesn't he? Oh well.

I still need to add some belt accessories, and I haven't even touched the shoes yet.

Before you say anything, he doesn't have a brass police insignia on his chest because it got stolen in an earlier scene. And he doesn't have a gun because his unit just got put on suspension. (And because it would weaken the tension of the scene.)

Oh, and he's still in a boring T-pose because TSM2 for Mac isn't out yet.

Comments & crits, as always, welcome.

I really love you're spline work.

Sometimes I see wireframes that are as beautiful in the way they are done as the artwork itself. Like... invisible artistry the "real world" never sees. Jim Talbot wireframes are really nice. Joe Williamson is another.

That may be why I avoid "showing my splines"... the same reason I've never been to a nude beach.

He is looking good.

Vernon "NOT a nudist!" Zehr

Hey Mike,
If you don't like him w/ clothes on why not leave them off? Use the body like it is and just put some flaps on for sleeves, as long as it's colored like a shirt no one will question it, animation=exageration after all.

-Alonso