Moho Forum

Hey everyone!
I haven't posted in a while, but I finished my latest animation that has taken me a great deal of time. It's called Grasshopper Green and the Meadow Mice, based off a book I read as a kid. If you want to check it out, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XgHnmahJgg

If you guys have any comments or suggestions, it would definitely be appreciated!
Keep in mind, I'm only 15, and still getting used to the software! I hope you all like it, and if you could give the video a thumbs up or a comment I would be grateful!

-MB

Oh, and any tips would also be appreciated!

Wow! That was excellent
The timing and staging were good and I enjoyed it. The only thing that was a little odd was the flipping of the layer for the head turn. Even that sort of looked okay though due to the cut-out style. Good stuff.

Thank you very much! I thought about the turning of the characters for a long time, but I really wasn't sure what else to do beside the flat, 2D, paper effect. Are there really any other solutions in the software? I'd like to figure out another way for a future short.
Thanks again for the nice comment!

PaperCrate wrote:Thank you very much! I thought about the turning of the characters for a long time, but I really wasn't sure what else to do beside the flat, 2D, paper effect. Are there really any other solutions in the software? I'd like to figure out another way for a future short.
Thanks again for the nice comment!

I really was not too distracted from the full rotation but it was odd too see it because most people seem to avoid the profile view of a cut out animation.

Maybe rotate the character to 60 or so degrees then flip the layer?

sbtamu wrote:

PaperCrate wrote:Thank you very much! I thought about the turning of the characters for a long time, but I really wasn't sure what else to do beside the flat, 2D, paper effect. Are there really any other solutions in the software? I'd like to figure out another way for a future short.
Thanks again for the nice comment!

I really was not too distracted from the full rotation but it was odd too see it because most people seem to avoid the profile view of a cut out animation.

Maybe rotate the character to 60 or so degrees then flip the layer?

That's a good idea, I'm going to test that. I don't know particularly why I chose the profile view over a front / side shot.. or all three. I guess I started with that style a while ago and never really expanded on it. I think I pulled it off with Grasshopper though.
And yes, I definitely was aiming for the whole cut-out style

I remember seeing PaperCrate ads for hiring awhile back on craigslist, before I got into AS. You are out of Portland?

Nope, I'm a one man team. Way to young to hire, hah. A couple of my friends make the music for the shorts, but the animation is all me.
If you have a YouTube account thumbs up the video for me! It helps.
Here's my site:
www.papercratestudios.tumblr.com

AmigaMan wrote:The only thing that was a little odd was the flipping of the layer for the head turn. Even that sort of looked okay though due to the cut-out style. Good stuff.

Yes, seems like that technique's gotten some currency since it was used in the hugely popular Paper Mario games.

Dude ! I loved it ! =)

I thought it was well thought out and I love the style of the characters. Do you draw your characters in another program ?

Dj Manik wrote: I thought it was well thought out and I love the style of the characters. Do you draw your characters in another program ?

Thank you! It means a lot! All of the characters were originally hand drawn. Then I threw them into Photoshop to paint them and break them into segments for the animation.
I had folders of eye lids, mouths, and other generic odds and ends. It almost reminded me of stop motion.
There's a lot of video that I cut as well, and multiple other characters that I deemed weren't necessary.. It took a very long time to get stuff to look natural-ish.
And people have said before that the heads are very Paper Mario like, good call neeters_guy