Hi there. I just started the bootcamp exercises tonight. I've been busy with other projects, so....Better late than never. I just really feel that I need the practice.

Here is my first excersice. I decided to treat the ball as more of a character than a ball, so I exaggerated his(her) movements a bit and used a bit of follow through. I hope it turned out alright. I've been staring at it for hours, so I can't tell anymore. I'll let you be the judge.

Oh yeah, I almost forget. I cheated and used a vertical motion path so the only 2 parameters I had to worry about keyframing was the path ease and the squetch pose.

Nice rendition, good looking basket ball. I see more of a float than a bounce. You have the upward motion equal to the downward motion which defies gravity. It should slow down as it reaches the top and speeds up as it goes down.

So, get on the ground and gimme twenty

Thanks for the comments Dhar. What you said makes good sense. Too bad I hadn't thought of it while animating . Oh, well. I'll pay more attention to that for my next excercise.

Here is my exercises numeros dos y tres for Level 1:

Wow, not much activity in here.

Well, here is my fourth exercise for Level I:

Well, Alonso's off to Animation Mentor, Robcat said he's inundated with work. So, I guess it's just you & me and I'm just a student like yourself, so, take everything I say as the opinion of an amature and not as someone who really knows what he's talking about

All I can say is watch your arcs. The fall and the rebound still seem like they are at the same speed. I think it was Robcat who suggested to watch/film an actual ball as it falls and bounces to a stop. You got the squelch ok, except for the one where they bounce across the screen, the white one bounces off the floor while it is still in squashed position and doesn't go to its round shape at its up in the air position, and that gave it an unnatural feel.

Now go over to my thread and give me your feed back. Or else drop down and give me twenty

Wait, I'm here too! I'll try to do more of my share in critiquing others work since it's slowing down a bit 'round these parts. I'm in a bit of a rush now though-----

With the 'Bouncy Tail' one I'd say you have a good grasp on the tail movement. I think you need to work on the timing/spacing of the ball (same thing for the yellow ball in your previous exercise). Having it 'hang' more over the top and spend less on the bottom might be something to consider.

I'm sorry, I gotta run! (I'm packing up ship to go to the Pixar exhibition in NY! I'll critique more when I return!)

Thanks for the crits, guys. Some really good ones. A bouncing ball seems to be something we all take for granted. We never analyze it unless there is a distinct need to. I guess I've in ball-ignorant my whole life, lol. I'm going to try to redo at least this last one and see if I can get it right.

More time up, less time down...gotcha

I lenghtened the tail one a bit and totally tweaked the arcs for the transform.y params on all of them.

Here are the remakes:

P.S. I'd be totally lost without this place.

For some reason when i see your screen name I think of the old movie studio RKO.

Anyway, welcome to animation and the Boot Camp!

I've tracked the paths in your bounce animation and I can see some classic issues. But rather than outright tell you what they are, let's see if you (or any other boot campers out there... dont' be shy, it's good practice to spot things in other people's work) can identify them.

What do we see...

Well robcat, thanks for the markup. It really helps to identify problem areas. It seems to me that the balls have a very linear path on both their leap off the ground and approach (which as we all know, is impossible ). Some day, I might actually get this exercise correct

If you or anyone else see what else is wrong, please speak up. I wanna be a good animator some day.

bouncy tail- On the downward motion, it stays in it's regular shape, it could use some stretch to show that it's being pulled towards the ground.

bigball_littleball- same thing. The bouncy ball is staying in it's regular shape on the downward motion. The big ball looks good. When the balls come to a stop they stay perfectly still. Adding a little squash on the bouncy ball would keep it from looking dead. and on the big ball, maybe rotate it back and forth a little.

bounceacross- It's hard to tell whether or not the small ball is doing the correct movement because it comes from off the screen and only bounces once. If someone threw the ball like they were skipping a rock then that movement would be ok. But if you want it to look like it was dropped the arcs are way too flat.

The big ball has some major float to it. Also the height of the first two arcs are the same, when it reaches it's peak afteron the second arc it should be lower than the first.

Thanks for the critique "forevernameless". You present some good points for me to work on.

It has been a while since I've posted...working a lot of O.T. I've decided to create my Final project for this level so I can finish it this year. Hopefully, some of the problems of my previous excersises have been worked out with this one but I know better. You guys can spot a LOT of things that I haven't learned to look for yet. That's what makes this forum so helpful. I bet animators that learn at Hash forums will become some of the best in the World because of all the training and critique here.

Anyways, here it is. I hope you like:

(re-loaded movie 10:40am. Found somethings I didn't like)

Yeeeeeaaaaah

That was great! Go Mark go. Cute scene that brought me a smile, make that a huge grin with a giggle on top.

A couple of things, when biped stops, I think it'd be better if he stops in step rather than put both feet together before he looks side to side. Other than that, I don't have much else to say.

What do you mean final? You can't stop now! I want more

Thanks, Dhar. I worked real hard on him, so it's refreshing to get some positive feedback. I know it isn't perfect, but I think my animating IS improving. Thanks again.

Hey , that was a cute one Arkaos!

-when Mr. Yellow is turning side-to-side have the silver ball react a few frames latter. If he moves exactly with Mr. yellow it looks like he's invisibly stuck to his butt.

When silver stings yellow, the frame before and after are almost identical. our eye welds those two together and we almost miss the actual sting frame. make those two different, and maybe add a frame to the sting.

-onthe walk...

I'd move Yellows body somewhat farther forward

get the leg straight on the push-offs and the contacts

I see a hint of overlap on the toes... do more of that!