Unofficial animation entry reviews

Technical 3D Animation and Competition
1

I sat down and got through the first 25 out of 187 animations on firstbase (sorted by team number ascending) and typed down my notes. This is something I’ve never tried before, so I don’t know if people will either be 1) peeved that I criticised their animation, 2) glad that somebody provided comments, or 3) don’t care and won’t read anyways.

However, I would like to point out, to ALL animators (spread the word too), the following mistakes:

  • Narration is too quiet (or other audio problem). I need to be able to HEAR your audio. Autodesk explicitly posts decibel guidelines in the rules; please follow them! Record your narration on a decent mic (noise and pops were problems) and process it in Audacity to get rid of the noise and/or adjust the levels. If you have music, soften the music so we can hear your voice over it.
  • Camera movement gives me a headache (or other camera problem). How often does your camera need to move? Not often, and even when it does, keep it slow and steady. I’ve seen a lot of fighter-jet cameras so far and it is simply distracting. Simple cuts (not fades or wipes) are usually the most effective.
  • Lighting is too dark. The gamma on my monitor isn’t turned all the way up, nor should it be to watch your animation. Watch TV for a few seconds. You’ll notice that their colors 1) are balanced between light and dark (proper levels), 2) are in a scheme for a reason, and 3) are vivid, usually more vivid than real life.

Anyways, here goes the comments. Comments starting with a “+” are positive, “-” for negative, and “*” for suggestion (to be taken with a grain of salt!). I realize that most of them are negative; don’t be offended. You might already know what the faults are. The plus comments are rarer because I only added plus comments if I found that aspect to be unusually good.

Team 8: Underwater Adhesive
	- boat not only moves in a circle, but moves too fast
	- anemone is not clear---too dark
	- narration doesn't match up with animation
	- no sounds besides narration
Team 11: Photosynthesis and cars
	- scene too dark
	- narration is rushed
	- flower scene is too simple
	- jerky zoom?
	- last scene's camera movement is awkward; is it looped?
Team 20: The Efficiency of Nature
	+ cool car and other models
	- road is floating ? impossible
	+ nice plants
	- what was the point? I don't understand what message you were trying to send
Team 25: Bees & Bots
	+ good bee
	- scenes are too dark
	- tying in the robot is not necessary nor is it encouraged
Team 58: The Lotus Effect
	- narration too quiet: pay attention to the decibel requirements
	- don't move camera around too much
	- lines on the road have thickness?
Team 67: Radiation "Bearly" a Problem
	+ cool statistic
	- bear is not clear and scene is too dark
	- use camera cuts, NOT random movements; your spinning cameras are giving me a headache
	- narration could be louder
Team 68: Epic Thunder 2: Solution
	- where is the sound?
	- keep the camera still; it's flying around everywhere
	- unfinished animation?
	- message not clear
Team 69: Roll n' Squirt
	- narration too quiet
	- particle system is not good water
	- nice accent... NOT
	- Inventor screen cap? this is a Max competition
	- last scene too short to show what's going on
Team 70: Make Like a Tree...
	+ nice arrows
	- narration could be louder
	- scene is too dark and colorless; didn't even look like a storm
	+ nice house explosion
	+ nice models
Team 74: Biomimicry solving The Problems Of Today [sic]
	- some audio would be nice
	- using the Biped as-is is a big NO
	- background didn't move?
	- narrate instead of using scrolling text
	- DEFINITELY not how vents were invented
Team 75: Lights Alive
	+ trippy intro
	+ nice room illumination
	- camera movement doesn't make sense; cuts might have been better
	- how exactly does this idea work?
	- music didn't match
Team 84: Cuttlesuit
	+ nice guy animation.  who made it?
	- I can't hear your narration at all.  Please pay attention to the decibel requirements.
	* some alarm sounds on the first scene might be nice
	- ocean floor is too flat and barren
	+ nice demonstration of the idea in the last two scenes!
Team 85: From Food to Fuel
	- use cuts instead of one big camera crazy camera movement
	- pay attention to lighting and color
Team 86: Gecko Rescue
	- fade transition didn't work... sorry
	- music didn't fit too well
	- how exactly did that robot rescue the person?
Team 88: Echolocation: No Longer Blind As A Bat
	- did you get a blind person's input on this?
	- mouse-voice-narration not appreciated
	- room scene should be built to proportions
Team 95: Regenerative Bio Technology
	- please pay attention to slate timing requirements!
	- please pay attention to basic contest rules regarding time limit!
	- why does it look like it's missing a few seconds here and there?
	- was that supposed to be text that was washed out by the white in the end?
	- music is too loud and narration is too soft
	+ CG looks very nice overall
	- road not realistic
Team 100: Gecko My Heart
	+ nice opening molecule CG
	+ nice gecko animation
	- could use a real hospital room
	- could use a real heart too
	- keeping a grip on real life? sounds like an insult
Team 103: Nature - The Timeless Architect
	- please get a pop filter for your mic (easy to make)
	- could use more surrounding props on first scene
	- second scene: make bees move
	- not sure what the satellite at the end has to do with it
Team 108: The Arachnaglove
	- narration is too quiet; please pay attention to decibel requirements
	- illustrations not too clear
	- the last scene with the vehicle is kind of odd; not sure about its relation to the subject
Team 111: A Bug's Life
	- I can't hear your narration; please pay attention to the decibel requirements
	- building scene is not lit
	- what exactly IS the termite-mound design?
	- needs lighting overall
Team 116: Volvox Biomimicry Applied to Urban Design
	+ nice dense city scene
	- too much camera movement
	- no streets and stuff?
	- what exactly IS volvox structure and how would we build a city by it?
Team 118: The Sandcastle Worm
	- too much echo/noise on the narration
	+ nice skeleton
	- flat textured cylinder on the sandcastle-worm tubes does not hold up to a close view
Team 122: Quicksilver
	- odd water drops
	- some sound would be nice
	- using the Biped skeleton as-is is a NO
	- not sure what the message was
Team 133: Biolights
	- camera movements are a bit odd
	- narration is too quiet; please pay attention to the rules
	- why do the lights flash?
	+ clear message
Team 134: A Toothy Solution
	+ people animations show a lot of work
	- computer screen could be lit
	- end scene needs a setting
	- "the next day he explained ..." what?  I couldn't hear what he had to say, thus I guess I missed the message

Tell me if you’d like to see more or would rather have this thread nuked from orbit.

2

I think it’s a great idea, keep going.

3

impressive. I’ve always wanted feedback from fellow animators. It might be a while before you reach 1730, but I can wait.

4

I hope you can wait too, because I will be gone the entire next week (spring break for us).

5

You should really talk to the cameramen in charge of the regionals. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I like to be able to see whats going on in a match, not feel like I’m a bird flying into robots and faces.

6

Make sure you read all of the posts in this thread before you posted yours because what you said has nothing to do with the discussion of the Autodesk animation entries, not the camera shots at the regional matches. LOL

-Josh S.

7

Oh I did read the posts, I didn’t realize there was such a strict “No deviation” policy. I’ll make sure to stay on topic in the future.

8

What is the link to access the animations on firstbase? Would like to view a couple to see what other teams have done. Thanks

9

****Click here to see the videos.](http://firstbasefrc.autodesk.com/?&nd=m_first_competition_vis2009_viewer&base=26)

10

Team 2609 would like feedback for our student animators, if you have the time.
Waterloo competition.

11 
Team 2609: Man-Made Beaver Dam
	+nice character---normally I suggest that rookie animators avoid characters altogether---while your character was not realistic, it served its job and was not distracting
	-again, split up your animation into multiple cuts.  watch a couple commercials on television and note all every camera change including how often they occur and what type of camera movement is in it.
	-narration has odd pauses in it, as if it was artifically expanded 
	-the narration extends past the thirty-second time limit
	-the water sound was too loud relative to the narration.  bump the water sound down and the narration up.
	-the next topic your animators should consider learning is lighting.  Your animation this year had no lighting/shadows, but you have all of this year to figure that out, and I expect to see that in your animation for next year.
	-there is a way to get the fake flowing water to flow in a curve.  If you create a prim (e.g. plane or box) with many segments and make sure to have the mapping automatically mapped, and THEN bend the shape, the texture will keep the old texture coordinates and thus follow the shape.
	-consider putting a bit of splash/foam effect (white particles) around where the water hits the dam or bank to make the water even more realistic, but keep it subtle
	-same with the smoke

Essentially, your animators did a solid job.  The concept, while vague, worked.  More importantly, the way the idea was presented was clear and concise.  Keep it that way; don't fall in to the trap of animations that leave the watcher scratching their head or have distracting mistakes or shortcomings.  Keep your plans within the range of your abilities and focus on communicating your message.

I don’t think I’ll do any more evals unless they’re requested. It’s late in the season and I simply don’t have the time.

12

Could you review 1730’s animation? It’s at the Greater Kansas City Regional.