The result is in, I received an Incomplete/Pass for my thesis project, but got a lot of good feedback and supportive remarks. It's been recommended I make a punch-list of items to fix or improve, so will start here and update as I go along. Here's my to-do list along with Halbstein's comments...


Here are some of the changes I think are necessary to "complete" my project. Most were brought up in the panel discussion and I agree with them.

1. Improve animation.

I'd like to go scene by scene and make adjustments, corrections, improvements where ever necessary starting with some of the more problematic scenes. (when Dee flies over, walk cycle, Dee getting mad.

Strengthen the "Bright Idea" scene where Dee decides to knock over the shovel and rake.

I think Rosa needs to show a little frustration that the Fakes aren't responding to her. Just add glimpses of frustrated facial expressions in between her smiles.

HALBSTEIN: Animation is about two things - character and weight transfer.  You will get a lot of mileage if you address these things with Rosa; her desire to be graceful and her natural ungainliness are rich fodder.  It's almost like she's two birds in one - very graceful from the neck up, but this is attached to a very uncoordinated body.  The three areas that I think need the most attention are these:

         1.  Her entrance - as she peeks over the wall, you really need to exaggerate the "S" curve of her neck and the movement.  If you accent this now, the ungainliness of her walk cycle will be very funny.

         2.  The walk cycle - here is the area where you can introduce the imbalance of her character.  The lower half is about weight transfer and balance; the top half is about grace AND dealing with this imbalance.

        3.  The "dance" - I think you need some more reference material here - we can talk about this in more detail, but I don't get the sense that her body and her feet are connected, nor do they seem affected by gravity. 

Based on the comments at the critique, I think that the most important thing to do with Dee is to make her movements very quick - fast start, fast stop, motion blur on the wings.  While Rosa has to move very carefully or she'll tip over, Dee is more of a  "Flit, flit, flit ..."; this provides a nice physical character contrast between the two of them

2. Improve lighting

Help! I'd like to add shadows but would like to keep the light warm and outdoorsy. I want the piece to stay bright and cheerful but need shadows for depth and help define the animation. (i.e. When Rosa is dancing and her feet come off the ground and then land again.

3. Environmental Design.

Add a few more things so the garden doesn't look so barren. Nothing cluttered, same simple design. just more (i.e. tufts of grass, some mushrooms under the birdbath, additional leaves near the roses, bend the tulip stems) These changes will also happen ASAP for rendering purposes. (although if needed, I can add elements in post)

HALBSTEIN: Agreed.  I really like the look of the "Chicken Little" reference, you can use that as a springboard.  I would suggest maybe using an illustration as a background - you draw so well it's a shame not to use it in your piece.  Along the lines of what Darryl did, though using your own style and maybe not so much Photoshop stuff.  I agree that the whole garden looks a little stark; it would definitely impove things to dress it up a bit.  We can strategize the layering elements so you can move forward quickly and retro-fit shadows and other elements if you need to.   I have lots of ideas as to how I can help you with the lighting.

4. Textures

Add a slight texture to the grass area. check the wall and path textures.

HALBSTEIN: The last thing to worry about here;  do it if it looks bad after all your other improvements, though I'd rather see you put most of your effort into the animation.


TIME FRAME.

I think had I been at this point in my project in March, I would have been able to finish my project, so I think 2 months should cover what I need to do. I don't want this to drag on, and to be honest, I have another project waiting in the wings, with a group effort to follow that. Ideally I'll be done by the end of June.