archived-videos “Little Mecha”: Simple 3D Animation

[cinematography]

Little Mecha is short for “The Little Mechanical Thing”. I did this piece as a kind of speed test. It took about 6 hours to model, color, light, and animate, and about an hour to do the music. Please share your thoughts.

http://tsharpfilm.websiteallies.com/littlemecha.htm
(10mb – Encoded with XVID)

Sincerely,
“Cinematography”

 

[CommanderGoat]

I think that looks pretty good for a quick 6 hours of work. What did you use? 3DSMax?

 

[cinematography]

I think that looks pretty good for a quick 6 hours of work. What did you use? 3DSMax?

Thank you. I used Softimage XSI 3.0.

 

[Will Vincent]

Nice animation.

 

[cinematography]

Nice animation.

Thanks. I need to clarify one thing, however. I was able to do the animation in 6 hours because I was already familiar with the formula for making a character with 4 legs move, and I had done a couple of animations like this before with this character.

 

[LOGAN L Productions]

I cannot watch the movie in any of my programs...do I have to have an XviD program?

 

[LOGAN L Productions]

Nevermind. Great Job! The reflective surfaces really look awesome.

 

[King Goldfish]

tony, I cant watch it for some bizzare reason.

BTW.. One of my best friends name is Tony Sharp... Actually William Anthony but he goes by Tony.

 

[cinematography]

tony, I cant watch it for some bizzare reason.

You'll need to download the XVID Codec. It's one of the best codecs out now, and is definitely worth the download.

BTW.. One of my best friends name is Tony Sharp... Actually William Anthony but he goes by Tony.

That's strange.



And thanks for the feedback and compliments, everyone.

 

[CootDog]

The animation was pretty cool. Nice ending. Would have liked to see a little movement from the "red ball" It looked metal or plastic but thought it should have a little softer of a material, like hard rubber or something. That way when the end comes it would look more realistic.

But what the hell IS realistic in a 3D animation anyway... it's not real!! and neither is a 4 legged robot spider anyway... What the hell am I talking about!!?!??

 

[sonnyboo]

This animation rocks. What all equipment wsie did you use in your PC? What expedited the render time, or was the 6 hours just in the keyframing?

Regardless, this is a fantastic test of character animation & simple lighting.

Kudos!

 

[cinematography]

Would have liked to see a little movement from the "red ball"

Good suggestion. I will do that for the sequel. I should add some motion blur to. Motion blur really ups the rendering time though, and that is why I avoided it for this short. Thank you much for the feedback.

This animation rocks.

Thanks, Sonny.

What all equipment wsie did you use in your PC?

Just Softimage for the animation, Adobe Premiere for the editing and color correction, and Magix Music Maker for the music.

What expedited the render time, or was the 6 hours just in the keyframing?

I forgot what the rendering time was. I let it render over night. So yes, the 6 hours was spent on keyframing and adjusting the animation tangents.

 

[NicklausLouis]

Cool stuff, really enjoyed it!

Poke

 

[cinematography]

Woo hoo. Front page honors. Thanks a lot, folks.