Here's another clip from the project I'm working on. Experimenting with some framing and lighting style choices. There's some audio for this one, but basic, and will have some character vocals eventually.
***EDIT*** There's a slow fade in at the beginning, so if you aren't listening to audio it's surely boring and unimpressive.
She's up to something - ZHS
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She's up to something - ZHS
-ddrake
- Little Yamori
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Re: She's up to something - ZHS
Wow that lighting was completely awesome and dramatic. That level of work that just nails it, the only thing that pulled back for me (subjective here) is the thick outlines of the character's hands and sleeves. The soft light was so spot on it made her look a little flat by comparison. Don't know if I have a suggestion here in that I run into similar problems, I have some scenes where the outlines are just fine the way they are, and others where I end up thinning them to almost zero to match the environment. It's a hard call. But that lighting was the bomb!
LY
LY
Little Yamori
Creator at http://www.IslandBuddies.com
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/GECKOT0WN
Creator at http://www.IslandBuddies.com
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/GECKOT0WN
Re: She's up to something - ZHS
I watched this 5 times and still have no idea how you'd even animate this, much less get that level of realism. This is outstanding!
~Danimal
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Re: She's up to something - ZHS
To me it looks like he did point animation and a lot of switch layers but also used bones for the basic movements of everything. Really it's mostly about timing.Danimal wrote:I watched this 5 times and still have no idea how you'd even animate this, much less get that level of realism. This is outstanding!
Overall this looks great. For the lighting are you using After Effects, Adobe Premiere, Somy Vegas, Window Movie Maker (lel), or are you actually using assets in Anime Studio? The lighting looks great. Also I love the style it's like toon but has a hint of a Japanese anime feel to it. O.o It surprisingly works. Good job!
Re: She's up to something - ZHS
Thanks all. 
@ EHEBrandon & Danimal
Once again, everything here is done in AS using shape and layer blur and edge effects. And for the most part this is actually just point animation. Bones only in the pre-rigged character that pops into visibility on the frame the drawer starts to open. The opening lighted-slit and shadows part is a combination of a masked blurred rectangle, and a couple of semi-transparent point-animated shapes that slide back and forth:

Beyond that, it's mostly just shape fills using gradients and soft edges, and playing up the highlighted segments on a dark background. (Though I'm just now realizing I should probably draw in a shadow below the tape-recorder where it would be blocking light.)
@ LY - I definitely agree with you on the thick outlines. Unfortunately I think they're integrated too much into the character design at this point to do away with an outer stroke entirely, but I think I'll probably take your attack and pull them back for "lighting" heavy shots, or what blends best with the overall scene look.
Here was pass 2, trying to get the character a little more silhouetted and backlit, and pulled the stroke lines much thinner:
(***EDIT*** Also, not sure what's up with the little white line that slides across the lip of the drawer. Didn't happen the first time around. I'll find it though.)
Thanks for the feedback everyone. And I'm glad you think the style works, EHEBrandon. Surprising as it may be

@ EHEBrandon & Danimal
Once again, everything here is done in AS using shape and layer blur and edge effects. And for the most part this is actually just point animation. Bones only in the pre-rigged character that pops into visibility on the frame the drawer starts to open. The opening lighted-slit and shadows part is a combination of a masked blurred rectangle, and a couple of semi-transparent point-animated shapes that slide back and forth:

Beyond that, it's mostly just shape fills using gradients and soft edges, and playing up the highlighted segments on a dark background. (Though I'm just now realizing I should probably draw in a shadow below the tape-recorder where it would be blocking light.)
@ LY - I definitely agree with you on the thick outlines. Unfortunately I think they're integrated too much into the character design at this point to do away with an outer stroke entirely, but I think I'll probably take your attack and pull them back for "lighting" heavy shots, or what blends best with the overall scene look.
Here was pass 2, trying to get the character a little more silhouetted and backlit, and pulled the stroke lines much thinner:
(***EDIT*** Also, not sure what's up with the little white line that slides across the lip of the drawer. Didn't happen the first time around. I'll find it though.)
Thanks for the feedback everyone. And I'm glad you think the style works, EHEBrandon. Surprising as it may be

-ddrake
- Little Yamori
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- Joined: Thu Jul 18, 2013 4:23 am
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Re: She's up to something - ZHS
Bam! Nailed it with round 2. That looked awesome! Great solution with the blurred lightingddrake wrote:@ LY - I definitely agree with you on the thick outlines. Unfortunately I think they're integrated too much into the character design at this point to do away with an outer stroke entirely, but I think I'll probably take your attack and pull them back for "lighting" heavy shots, or what blends best with the overall scene look.
Here was pass 2, trying to get the character a little more silhouetted and backlit, and pulled the stroke lines much thinner:
[
Little Yamori
Creator at http://www.IslandBuddies.com
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/GECKOT0WN
Creator at http://www.IslandBuddies.com
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/GECKOT0WN