Exodus Legerdemain

[Shadic]

I hope this is the LAST big project that keeps me off the Internet for weeks and weeks and weeks... XD Anyways, I've been working on an animation (which involved WRITING a storyboard so...I sez it can go here...w00t!) mainly for the Regional Computer Fair, but my art teacher wanted me to enter it into the Scholastic competition too. So I had to make a quickie sloppy version of it in time. Which is kinda a good thing, because now I can ask for opinions on it! Yaaay!

The storyline is going to stay the same, and the timings and all that, but I'm going to probably re-animate the whole thing. So if something looks off, tell meh! I know it's really twitchy now (especially in the middle, but I think that was a computing problem) but it's a learn-as-I-go deal anyway. The walk-cycle isn't as smooth as I'd like either. Those are my main peeves, but I have a lot of them. ^^; So if you can, go watch it since I joined YouTube for this purpose! AND since it kept me offline for about a month! Pwease clicky to watchy?

[Blaze]

nice. lol. dragons. hehe

[Shadic]

Funny looking dragons. XD

[Blaze]

lol. i didn't want to say it

[Liz]

Oh my god, Shadic, it's amazing! I could never do anything like this. However, as a perfectionist, I'd like to point out things to improve. 'Cause choo MUST WIN!

* Any time there is an area in which you see the dragon, don't give more than a second to wait for it to come on screen.
* The opening gave me enough time to read, but shorten it by just A LITTLE bit, keeping it on the screen too long will disinterest, as well as you should most likely title it "The Dragon" instead of "A Dragon."
* The Dragon should be more detailed [I have a feeling you planned on this, so sorry for repetition], but a more detailed dragon will fascinating. Mostly, the face looks goofy for something as cool as a dragon, and the wings are REALLY stiff.
* The terrain is too similar to each other in each scene. Adding trees, shrubs, or muddy hills might help this.
* The trap or thing that attacks the dragon is too bland... I can't really tell what it is. To fix this, you might want to use some brighter colors or have it more defined in that scene.


I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pile up with the things to fix.
But it's great, and has A LOT of potential to be better! <3

[Blaze]

heh. i missed the trap. it must be during the part where it kinda craps out on my screen.

[Shadic]

Yup, that's the crappy part. XD If it would have looked right, it would have looked shiny, so maybe people would know what it is. Maybe! Ah, and I am still working on the model. The wings were placeholders because I ran out of time (darn deadlines!) but the new ones are looking okay so far, and they actually move! I think I might give the dragon either horns or ears, because a lot of people commented on how plain his face is. My sketch has little horns and Shrek-ish ears, I just didn't get to it in time (again!). I reeeeaaaally want to add trees EVERYWHERE in the background (the story board says it's a dark forested area afterall), but...I have no idea how to make a tree. ^^; I'm still going to try, there's GOT to be a tutorial out there somewhere that isn't for 3DS Max. I need to add a lot more muscular detail to the body too, and figure out stride length so it doesn't look like the dragon is prancing. I'm actually glad that there's so much to fix; I'm all excited to make it look awesome! Bwaha, I ought to render an early version when I make things like this for college so I can ace everything. XD

[Liz]

Yay! Hooray for acing college. xD But when you get a more updated version, show me again. I'd like to see. <3

[Shadic]

The new one has to be done for April 16 (before that, actually), and I'll put it up on YouTube. So far I've finished the wings, started the horns, and read up on lighting, constraints,and stride length. W00t!

Oh yeah, and I don't think I've been on since they judged the entries for the Scholastic fair. This actually won an honorable mention! YAY! There weren't any gold keys (first places) awarded in animation this year, so I guess I did pretty good to get mentioned at all.

[Blaze]

i imagine so!

[Shadic]

Heeey...this'n all finished now. XD

NEW Exodus Legerdemain

This one got an Honorable Mention too for ebil reason (a school that always wins entered TWICE and took first and second...and apparently the teacher did a lot of the work v.v) I've been told by a few people (one being a judge AT this fair) that they were very impressed considering my age and lack of help and that I should have had first since I put in so much more work (everything that one was done in Flash). Oh well. Entering it in one more competition this month, w00t!

[Blaze]

it was very good. we have a graphic designer in the makings!

[Shadic]

Whee! *prances around for joy*

I'm still waiting for the results of the next competition. Eeps, nervousness!!!

[Blaze]

i think you'll do great!

[Liz]

Liz wants to know how Shadic did!