ÜberKiller

Avoid using linear transitions if you can achieve a similar effect with ease-in or ease-out transitions. Re-learn the 12 principles of animation, and understand why they are important. Every movement can be divided into multiple poses. (Pose to Pose) Most start learning with (Straight ahead action) but it leaves with little idea of how to go about a whole scene. Make each movement have some sort of fluidity, making each action flow into the next (Anticipation) Avoid straight lines of movement. (Arc) Give movements some kind of secondary element to animate, like a cape flowing in the wind or a sword being swung with a character's slash. (Secondary action) For less realistic animations, give the impact of each land or final movement some (Squash and Stretch) Watch exactly how you can make a movement smooth. Try filming yourself doing it, and watching it again, or look at other animations for an idea of how it should work. These are my go-to tops, but learning the 12 principles of animation is highly recommended. If you know them by heart, you won't get stuck as much on how to make something look good. And each time you do it, it's all about diligence. Don't half-ass anything if you want those hot internet reputations. I've got class now, so thats as much tips as I can give. Cya

@UnmutEMC and @Ironwave Studios For a variety of reasons, but their raw skill is simply unparalleled.

A story is to have relevance to the animation itself. It's not a "this bedroom needs a story" kind of animation when even you know hes going to not use this thing again. Storyboarding comes first, and is then drawn out by the animation last. If the intent from the start is a "look what I can do" kind of animation, then it was never planned from the start. It's easy to argue it needs a story, but you can go on threads for days saying the same thing. I'm not even gonna say it's a random animation, (and won't assume why you did that either.) This is very clearly a test, and the random/test animations will contain random animations and tests. I have seen neither distinguished and having a line cutting the two in clear subforums would just be foolhardy attempt to make things make more easy than they already are. At the end of the day, people will simply form ideas that this video presents. And here we are discussing if it needs a story; if you need more, you missed the point.

never heard of a test animation that had a story if they were held to that standard i'd probably be blown away with what the actual narratives entailed here

Lets hope we can get more renders, which in turn could give some plugs for this program.

I would like it, but alas it may not come to fruition with david absent from Mine-imator's development.

I think this sketch is bad, but it gets the point across. I'm a bit like @David in how I have the will for these ideas but not the artistic skill to illustrate them. And unlike him in the fact that I can't code.

At my early days, the forums were quiet. Everyone could be a pioneer of something, and making a good rig was super difficult. Bending didn't exist either. I was practicing like hell to become a better animator, and to make some decent rigs. I didn't get much attention initially, and I was passed over people like Zeuxs who made better things. David was super talkative and appreciative to everyone who was there, listening and very interested in development of this program that's slowly growing. I don't think David had any idea just how large this program was going to get. When it grew, I started to give on the community. It was changing and going in a direction I initially didn't like. A month later I had returned (with some help from Ayhay telling me this place hasn't burned down yet) and made the Mine-imator Armory, my most popular topic ever made. It was hot, and times were good. Summer in high school was good, and I had lots of free time. I worked on lots of projects, and became fully invested in the program. I grew, for quite a long time. Even during my downtime, I was still getting lots of appreciation. New members started appearing and more overall content was being done. The servers switched a few times to accommodate the amount of people until we have our very strong server now. Lots of newbies who need help, and lots more of people who wanted to make things as well. Mods started dropping out of existence and the team needed help. I asked to join, and was obliged by David without any question on the matter. A year later rolls @SKIBBZ and he starts taking the place by storm. The Amination Squad was big and I joined in on that bandwagon. In the end of that, I met people who would still give me some solid animation advice. While that's kinda a controversial topic for some, I really think it doesn't matter who they are. They helped me grow all the same. Another year comes by that looks more like the present. I was 2nd best in terms of overall likes, and my hardships had finally come to a close. I quit the mod team to focus on school, and more new blood with more experience comes by and we have our place today. We found a medium that doesn't change too much overall but still feels like some kind of community. In the end that's what matters. My position now is the most liked member on here. I don't think I'm done here, but I'm just mostly absent because of college work (my grades are kinda dropping, and midterms have already passed) Take it from me when I say this: This community may seem like it's full of itself sometimes, but they are often a great help to improvement. Don't give up on it yet.

This looks like a nightmare to animate with. Though I guess you're getting the idea of rigs better so there's that. Now while I mentioned rigs can contain lots of moving parts, the goal is to minimize the amount of moving parts to achieve a certain effect. That makes it both easy to animate with, and easy to make. Starting to get it now? Anyways, look to make something a little more interesting since we already have a few bow rigs. Perhaps a book rig (Honestly, I haven't seen one of those) and then maybe you can make it a little more interesting and turn them into tomes perhaps. Just an idea is all.

A schematic is a structure of blocks, like a building or a giant sword to be scaled down. A rig contains multiple parts, and can incorporate schematics into the design if needed. But the key factor is that it's made with multiple objects/items/schematics and most of them are movable.

I would like to say I couldn't classify which it belongs to. At least, I'd like to say that.

I didn't set myself a goal when I started animation. I wanted to make animations that were fun to make, and more fun to watch. It's an interest I have, and sort-of a hobby really. If you intend to get serious and make good animations, train yourself to stay focused for longer. After a long day's work, it may be hard to want to sit down and animate for 4-5 hours in the day. I just spent last night setting up a scene, with posing, and that alone took several hours. I could very well stop there and just make it a wallpaper, but I don't want to sell myself short. So work on that endurance. Also another goal is trying to animate in a higher tempo (A higher framerate really) Most people start animating in 24fps, which is all fine an dandy I'd say. However for good 3D animation, it needs to be higher. (30 tempo is good) You can get quick, precise movements this way with only a little more effort per second. And finally, I'd say a good goal is to try and shoot for a longer animation each time. Some argue that establishing shots can make an animation seem longer, but if they were done well it's negligible to say the least. I'm rambling now, but you get the idea.

hot fresh baked memes from 4chin

I suppose Frossa is the one who likes to make walls on survival servers I guess.

I wouldn't mind a mod team becoming a real developer squad, but I think David should be able to oversee it to make sure it stays on track to what's best for the program and the community here overall. Being in charge of adding blocks seems fine, but if they decide to get serious and pick up development some kind of direction/blessing from the original owner should be done. And it should remain as a donation-ware program as it always has been.

I remember seeing some of my friends' old rigs do this. it's a weird effect that happens so it's often avoided. Plus it makes MI chug more than it should to render eyeball reflections.