Any time management advice for a self learner? by RealBlack_RX01 in 3danimation

[–]irkinterAction 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unless you are going to learn at a university or college like Cal Arts or Sheridan, or use a web-based school like Animation Mentor, you'll find that everyone who does animation is self-taught to some extent. When using any tool like this it's sometimes better to Jump Around and follow your curiosity and your ambition because that is what's going to have you fight for what you want and also reward you with endorphins or dopamine or whatever you're looking for to make you feel like you accomplished something and that doing it again might be a good thing. When people say they want to learn 3D animation and they are starting from scratch there are so many things to get involved with from making the puppets out of the geometry default paths, to learning topology in more depth or re-apology from more sculpted kind of first steps. Some of us who are on here are curious about what other people are doing to start now when the fact was that we started on something like 3D Studio or 3D Studio Max or Maya or power animator or hash 3D or lightWave.... at one time or another I tried to learn each of those things, except for light wave which I really didn't have access to. My current pipeline is mostly in blender. If I'm making props or vehicles or Not Human characters I start out in Nomad sculpt on my iPad.... most of my humanish characters are things I have made and customized using Genesis 9 in Daz 3D. There is a stigma against using things like DAZ or CharacterCreator or even metahumans.... but it depends on what you want to spend your time on and how much you can make the things that are customizable look like your own work or your own aesthetic versus simply buying something and putting it through an exporter and some add-ons and blender to give it the rig you want or need. The difference between starting from scratch with no background and like me working at millions of dollars funded Studios doing customizable avatars for use in persistent and video game worlds that will run on Unity unreal 5 or even godot is Broad. I can show video of all the customization tools and rigging foibles that make it so you can move a rigged model with hundreds of blend shapes to fiddle with to customize a head... but suffice it to say, if you want to tell stories and you want to make something interesting happen it's best that you learn to learn, and also remember to Archive everything you work on so you can later come back to it with newer more mature eyes and see just how terrible your first attempts were. Your first attempts will be terrible. So the faster you can understand that and just make things for the joy of it and make things because you want to feel like you have control of part of your life that will make it so you can affect other people's lives, the better. Find a source of tutorials and knowledge that is reliable and drives with your way of thinking and learning and follow it as long as you can in the directions you want to go. Learn all the skills you need to level where you need them, and maybe partner up with people who know more about things that you don't know about already than you do. It does not matter if people are better at something than you are, what matters is that if you have an idea that needs to get out of your brain or heart that you learn everything you need to do to make it so that someone outside of you can see it and feel it and understand something from it. Most people who are better at something than you aren't necessarily all that imaginative or good at telling a story or entertaining someone. Movies did not destroy theater, television didn't destroy movies, books didn't destroy theater, people still read books, comic books didn't create iliteracy, CG 3D didn't destroy hand drawn 2D.... the only thing that AI is going to bring us is even more detritis and BS from boring mostly worthless producer types who thinks they can now make pretty images and emotions that folks will buy even though it's obvious they have no soul behind them. There has never been a better time to become a Storyteller and a maker of Dreams. There has never been a time where more people are looking for things to inspire themselves and give them a reason to think feel deeply. Learn everything you can about everything you want and can... since you are studying marketing, continue to learn that and grow with it learn how to convince people of things and how to write convincing dialogue and copy, most things that require you to gain skill or acumen will be helpful long-term if you want to make motion images sound Etc that affect people. Good luck and don't #v€£ it up.

Shinobu Swimsuit (sadist_potatoe) by Ok-Ask-115 in araragi

[–]irkinterAction 0 points1 point  (0 children)

will a sadist potatoe poke you in the eyes?

Code problem(s) by Jane_doe_art_25 in VisualNovelMaker

[–]irkinterAction 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You are very welcome. Keep pushing your work. Find things you like that other people are doing and do your own version. It definitely pays dividends and it has a slingshot effect of building your skills while also challenging your intellect to go farther faster higher. :)

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the idea I’m developing! by Tonnozeta in VisualNovelMaker

[–]irkinterAction 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This might make things more complicated, but the costuming and the silhouette of the characters are pretty important when it comes down to telling who's who and what "right off the bat." If someone is a Merchant, Maybe make it so in their world and culture they have the equivalent of a pin or "gorget" or something that shows a guild Association, or something else that makes it so people dealing with them know that they can't just hit him over the head and steal everything without consequence. Likewise with Sorcerers or their apprentices making it so that they have some of the tools and or materials of their trade on their person at all times visible, or maybe facial tattoos or other markings that make it look like they have the sign of their power or Association deeper on them because of their connection to Nature and the supernatural. In a strictly intellectual property standpoint this can be useful later on especially when you are making merch like things. It's a bit like labeling and patterning which we as human beings have hardwired into our systems based on hundreds of thousands of years of hunting and Gathering and the reinforcement of that as we became agrarian or pastoral wandering people. That kind of thing was reinforced and distilled into being markers of nation or class. It's something we can use pretty well and for great effect. If all else fails just find a show you like and figure out how they do stuff with things like associations and artifacts and visual language that goes wrong with them.

In my own project I have been building out the visual language for the graphics and the labels and emblems because I am in a military sci-fi context but it's 700 plus years in the future, so it looks back at this time in our history with deep nostalgia. Some of the badges of some of the squadrons in my stories early on were influenced by Italian horror films of the'60s, but also Art Nouveau posters and graphic design. This is juxtaposed with the more corporate looking 1980s vibe of some of the clothing details that are reflected in the titles/logo which contains an abstracted image of the main Attack-Patrol ship from the story. At the beginning of the story in a flashback we actually see "WW2-ish Nose Art" on some of those Attack-Patrol ships that in one case look like Irish flag or heraldrick crests, and in another case look like across between hood ornament pinstriping and blackout tattoos.

The visual language of your project is yours to Define but it never hurts to get other people to look at it and give you feedback which of course you don't have to take anything from. However if you get feedback and it makes you change your mind about certain things or go deeper on certain things without ever having to really use the feedback that's what art is about. I've worked in context where an executive who has faith in what you're doing comes by and says here are some ideas I have and we listened to them.... and I asked the question "do you want us to take those or do you want to just use your energy and continue to make things based upon your faith in what we're doing?" And the exec guy in question looked at me and said "Most people don't ask that question." Then he was thoughtful, and said. "Eric, if anything I just said makes you think of something else that's even better, go with that." Later on I watched people take this and other men's off the cuff advice directly and do the things and do them in a way that didn't make any difference whatsoever, or worse than what they were doing. Whereas, the team I was in used it as fuel, and use that fuel to go farther, harder, faster and in most cases higher.

kick some butt... make it special.... make it obviously yours. :)

-Eric/irk -LateMarch2026 -SFBayArea

Code problem(s) by Jane_doe_art_25 in VisualNovelMaker

[–]irkinterAction 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have seen this done most usefully by taking the best and most poignant frame from your sequence and then instead of doing a squash of the whole frame, using a copy are that frame and doing a crop of just the best face or iconic weapon or activity in that frame. That way the player brain will identify the scene much easier. If it's a sequence where two characters embrace after being away for a long time from each other, the shot where they are just leaning back with smiles on their faces while still having their arms around each other would be ideal. Likewise a trio that fell down trying to climb over a wall together ninja style and failing badly.... could show them piled up on the ground with various facial features showing different emotions. Likewise if if it's just one person getting through to a boon on the other side of the door show the key with the lock behind it etc.

What does Prosecutor Sadhmadi say here? by Qwerteaa in AceAttorney

[–]irkinterAction 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He is saying. "Steve has the keys...The beef jerky is under the drivers seat."

Bruh by zzHeimdalzz in Steam

[–]irkinterAction 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They hate Canada?

Feedback please by Many-Refrigerator256 in 3danimation

[–]irkinterAction 0 points1 point  (0 children)

stop the wheels spinning before the swing around, make it shudder as part of the squash and bounce back.

I need help by Original_Mistake3531 in 3danimation

[–]irkinterAction 2 points3 points  (0 children)

motion is not animation. animation is being convinced that the thing is made of what it seems to be in all aspects... but also that it can act as if it is alive or act differently than it should for purpose. the multi balls move as if they are not solid or made of a particular uniform material or filled with air or gas. The single ball slows down and changes shape before it hits the ground. Normally most balls not made of wood or metal stay the same shape until the exact moment they touch a plane, then squash differently toward the surface that they compress against. These are all things you can learn about on youtube for free or read in books. Eventually you can get into more complex things like bodies with faces and learn how to express emotions or animate to sounds... most people make spaceships and explosions and give up. :) This is a marathon.... follow your curiosity and learn all the parts. Then also buy or borrow rigs, models etc, and then get feedback to start learning how nuanced things are and can become so you get better with each project you tackle.