Hey Folks,

I've re organized the bootcamp idea to get people ready for The Wizard of Oz project.


Ultra BootCamp A little more self directed than the last one but if you go through it you'll come out with a demo reel ready to work on the Wizard of Oz Tinman project.

Here's the Original Bootcamp for comparison


Also I've written some tutorials
Alonso's Tutorials Menu



Whole Project
This tutorial goes through a project from opening A:M to rendering. On the menu page there are hot links to: attaching the limbs, building hands, building a head, rigging, animating, and getting that all white background (among other things)

you can also download this whole tutoriall so you can use it offline. Also the project is downloadable for you to pick apart. The model and animation aren't super advance because they were laid out fast, but the principles are the same you would use for a more advanced project.


Cartoon Eyeballs
short tut on modeling and rigging them.

How to Animate basically it's my description of the 12 principles, sometimes hearing it from a different voice makes it click. Also has common Newbie mistakes for a more direct step by step on animating see the Animation Section of the Whole Project tutorial



-Alonso

Great idea Alonso, this should be a big help for beginners.

One question, would it be best for each participant to start their own feedback thread in the Students forum?

Richard

Hey Richard,

I'm not sure where the best place to post would be. The advantage of starting your own thread is that you won't have to wade through others comments to find stuff on your own. I'm not sure if you will get more critiques on the student section or on the WIP section.

One possibility is to find a couple of other people who are trying to get through it also and set up a critique group with them, then your sure to get some helpful responses.

So I'm not sure, but wish you luck!

-Alonso

Hi Richard,

I am also just starting to work through the bootcamps and haven't decided the best place to post for critiques. I don't know how many people frequent the students forum, so WIP might be the best bet. I like Alonso's idea of finding a few others to work through it together. Anyone else interested?

P.S. Thanks again Alonso, for organizing this bootcamp so nicely. It is exactly what I needed to help me focus!

Count me in.

Hi Heath,

There are a few of us starting to do the boot camp right now, and we have been posting in the pinned boot camps at the top of the student forum. Go ahead and give the first one a shot. There will probably be others starting up too, if they're hoping to participate in the TWO movie.

Paula

Here is a rough animation of the first UBC exersize. I didn't enjoy working with this model, his squash and strech where awkward. Anyways here is the link(s).

http://heath.250free.com/movies/ubc/UBCe1-2.mov

and if that doesn't work

http://heath.250free.com/movies/ubc/ and just click UBCe1-2.mov

Note, if you are checking out my website, I don't update it, it sucks because it is hosted by 250free.com

Heath, that is original. I like the motion of the tail...good follow-thru and whip action. The only thing I might suggest is that the distortion for squash and stretch be limited to points of contact (and JUST before and JUST after). The ball seems to maintain its stretched pose for too long. The overall timing may be too slow too, but over all the flow looks really good. As a beginner myself I make these comments from the perspective of an observer, no as a knowledgeable animator!

Paula

Heath,
My only comment would be that the arc of motion after the first bounce has got some real jarring changes in direction that are not a result of any visible force. It seems to be coming in at a low angle, then all of the sudden it starts rising at a sharper angle then changes direction again. From this angle is seems that the center of gravity for its rotations are a little off, but it is hard to say definitively.

Very original though,

Scott

Yes, this is why I did not enjoy the tail ball model, the center of gravity is tweaked too much every time you change the squash or stretch, I maight just make my own.

Everyone feel free to make your own models, just remember to not get to distracted making the perfect one. I just threw some together quickly to give people something to work with. (I tried to make the tail work better with Squetch but after puzzling at it for a while I gave up, sorry)

Heath,
Nice effort. Your squashing looks great. I agree that the stretching is lasting to long, I think the ball should return to it's nuetral shape sooner. I also agree that the arcs of movement are a little jerky. The follow through on the tail is a good start but you can take it further. On the first bounce the red tip should slap down once the purple has flattened, right now the tail is staying curled up. When the ball hits the big heavy ball the tail I think should really get snapped to a new shape, it's smaller and lighter than the green ball it's attached to so it should be more affected (but delayed in time) by the sudden stop in it's forward direction. The unwrapping as the ball turns over is good, but currently it looks like the blue segment hits the ground so this would change how the energy is flowing through the tail. Strong start. Don't be afraid to change the model to make it easier to work with, or even just to get the pose you want (move the start of the tail bone from it's original position for a pose and then move it back later if that gets you what you want) Remember the end result is all that matters, doesn't matter how you cheat to get there.

-Alonso