Getting the knack of Synfig

[Genete]

It seems that after long time reading the forums, watching other people's animations, reading books and training my self I'm getting the knack of Synfig and how to produce cartoon animation that doesn't look ugly.

I'm happy with this small test. For me it proofs the pudding of Synfig Studio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4akilsBsxps

-G

[muffysb]

Nice! Since it's easier to suggest improvements than it is to explain how good it is:

1. The "blink while turning" rule of thumb is good, but I don't think it works in a situation where the eyes are following an object: the head isn't turning TOWARDS something, the head is turning to FOLLOW something. The blink during the transition makes the dog look slightly lazy: when we intently watch something we don't blink. How about a blink immediately AFTER the transition instead?

2. The impact of the sudden arrival of the ball would be heightened if the dog had a more relaxed expression at the beginning. Maybe a calm and sleepy look. That way, when the ball arrives, his "perk up" expression -- wide eyes, erect ears -- would contrast nicely with his initial relaxation.

Just some thoughts! And you've probably already thought of them.

Cheers,
Muffy.

[Genete]

muffysb, thanks for the comments.
You're right on all your comments. The animation composition was done like this:
1) Create a simple dog head turn.
2) The head turn is due to something calling the attention from the left side of the dog (and that's why it moved the tail)
3) I modified the eyes direction and added the ball passing.

So you're right, the dog's behavior is not consistent with the ball passing
I was just animating "on the fly" nothing on mind to communicate.
-G

[muffysb]

Aha!

By the way, I should have mentioned how great the "leg shuffle" is right after the ball passes...very dog-like, and it perfectly matches the dog's perkiness. I know this is supposed to be a head turn test, but that leg shuffle is great.

And yes, very cool head turn too.