What am I not seeing

[kazinger]

Tell me what will bring this animation to life. I want to tell a story and do not want to spend to much time on one scene. I can't get help on it so I want move on but before I do I want to learn what would make you want to keep watching.
Things I plan to do.
#1 put lots of sounds in the trash.
#2 add clutter and things to the scenes.
#3 Fix the intro I'm not sure what I can do I'm using Blender render.
#4 write and add script.
#5 next scene is a fight with the spider.
Anything you want to suggest is OK. This video is about the best I can do in a reasonable amount of time.


I would like to learn how to make a good alien voice.
Thanks for any and all replays.

Ive posted this video before but did not plan on asking for help with it. This is the first video I have made where I could not see what to do to fix it ( or could not see many many things that needed fixing )
I may get burnt out I have not opened Blender for a week and the longest I have gone in 3 years is 3 days when I went to visit family.

[McThingy]

Alright, you asked for it...

The only thing I can really see is your lighting, animation, and the moon close to 2 seconds...
Your animation isn't bad. But it could improve. You need to give your characters more, noise, bounce, and randomization in their movement. Thing of it this way, anything that's alive, doesn't stay perfectly still, it moves slightly.

the moon needs work because, if the moon is supposed to be far away, you shouldn't be able to see it turn. If we were on earth, just an example, no matter how many miles we travel, we still see the same side of the moon. Try tracking the moon to the camera, and add more distance.

The flower spider creature was awesome! The way it crawled way amazing.
The green alien with one eye, the way it flew down was also amazing.

However, as for your lighting, what version of blender are you using?

EDIT: The fire on the meteor could be a little bit brighter, and the smoke could dissipate more.
Also, if they are in space, there would be a whole bunch of space junk and stars and galaxies and things like that. Not just a few stars...
Your textures could also use a bit of work as well as your composite.

[kazinger]

Yes I did, I asked. thanks for the answer
I'm using 6.3 and 2.64. I did not know there was a difference (but for a default setting that darkened my renders).
With the lighting in the bunker I had big problems. I had to turn off the environmental light because it caused artifact inside the bunker. It took all day to figure that out.
Composite what composite? ha ha. I was thinking of putting a composite on the final in sequence just to give the complete animation a consistent look.
Textures. I know how to texture paint I'm just not so good at it. but I think I see textures I can fix.
I see places where the bodies are to still I can fix that.

[McThingy]

That's okay. It all takes time.
But since you said that, you using 2.63 or 64 in all, everyone on this forum is going to recommend you use Cycles to get better lighting...

[kazinger]

I started with the spider. It is still not finished but I posted it to hear ideas.

I need ideas for the spear pod that the spider arrives in. any ideas?

[kazinger]

The space scene redo. I need a better earth map. I forgot to try cycles opps. How can i make a atmosphere?
Hows this one? new Christmas day.

[McThingy]

I find using the suns atmosphere makes it easier. Add a sun and then play around with the atmosphere.
The spider is also fine. Just when the pod opens, make the spider fall a little bit before the legs come out. It kinda stays in the air before doing so.

[lodger]

overall really good. a few things that would go a long way here to sell the main model as being more realistic are having the torso move more. Right now, the movement has a very forward kinematics look to it with limbs and head moving, but little else. i'd suggest thinking about things like whether the character breathes and minor anomalies in the process of standing still... like shifting of weight, as these are things that real world creatures/humans do.

[lodger]

also, regarding alien voice, an effect that may be helpful here is ring modulation...especially if coupled with pitch shift. Ring modulation takes a signal and multiplies it with a value, making really interesting, but non human overtones. these plugins are pretty widely available as vst and dx format. I suggest searching youtube for ring mod voice to see what its all about.

[kazinger]

Ok the voice is what I want fixed the most. I'm back to redoing the bunker now. I was thinking getting rid of the three stooges movie, adding things in the room, all movement and camera I want to make new. The space scene is new/ finished. Atmosphere entry and decent I want to keep the same but with the new spider and I want the Flower top thing to shape key away.
Thanks for the help. I'll put up the incoming scene for critique but do not think I want to invest more time in it.

[kazinger]

I'm on this now adding detail. im going to remodel the tree leaves and ad 2 trees in the background. Remodel the entrance way, flatten ground and widen door. Put something in the lower right. I dont want to be funny but something like a mail box and work on the lights.
Any ideas or opinions or 2 cents worth. Is this a improvement?

[lodger]

much improved. i'd avoid putting in a mailbox, as it sounds like a detail for the sake of detail thing. it could be much more interesting to have some objects outside of that home that provide clues to what this alien society is all about. for example, how do they make their homes? consider what artifacts are left behind in day to day life that are meaningful to understanding their culture and way of life, but sit neatly as a background detail and only engage the viewer more subconsciously. Hope this makes sense/helps

[ArMan]

I think it would also made it lot of a better if there were some more interesting camera angles. Something not so common. More close views and faster rhythm with the cutting. I would recommend watching some professional or student movies and only focus to the camera angles.

[blendfile]

I would like to learn how to make a good alien voice.

Use Audacity or another VST supporting Audio editor with http://www.loomer.co.uk/shift.htm
that addon. (the demo weill do)
There are some useful presets, also tagged with "alien". (just search for alien and check the sound )

[kazinger]

Lots of good ideas. About the society I was thinking advanced and putting technical stuff.
The camera angles Ill work on this problem. When I turn the camera the scene is empty.
I never thought about using the word "alien" in my search. Ive downloaded some programs and have Audacity. Ive been able to change pitch and ad sounds. If that makes sense. I'm not really getting one sound changed so much but another sound added to it.
As I opened the thread this morning first thing I thought was it looks a little plastic (out side the bunker image).

[blendfile]

Ive downloaded some programs and have Audacity.

With searching i meant the presets search in shift 2, but searching online would work as well i guess
Theres also a useful collection called "mda VST" espeacially the ring mod will make nice alien sounds (If you leave the intensity at 100% you won't understand a word, it just gives you alien language
With a Flanger Effect on top i think you can create decent alien dialogues

[dadougler]

I saw this thread and wanted to mess with the alien voice. Here is a sample of what I created. https://soundcloud.com/dadougler/alien-voice To make it I just took some audio of someone talking and put it into audiacity. Then I applied the gverb effect without changing any settings. I then reversed the audio and increased the pitch 50%. Simple but effective.

[kazinger]

Wow that's some cool sounds. can you make it talk?
I made a new model and worked on the animation.

[mmoore500]

Regarding the alien speech, have you considered speaking gibberish and adding subtitles? It may seem more alien-like. Also, the main character doesn't seem too worried about the invading spider. What I mean is that his voice doesn't sound concerned and his movement makes it seem like an invading spider is old hat to him (her/it?). Maybe quicker movement or a concerned speech pattern would add something overall.

Good work though. Definitely a lot to work on solo.

[dadougler]

It would be much more difficult to get a good alien voice with audible speech. I was thinking along the lines of the post above.

"Regarding the alien speech, have you considered speaking gibberish and adding subtitles?"

Just another small thing i noticed in the animation you just posted. When the main character lifts up off the ground the tips of the propeller blades should point up instead of down. http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/e...ht-800x800.jpg