Vimeo has now replaced the original 480p version of Kata with their smaller transcoded version (640x360), so if you’d like to download the full-size video, please use this link:
Plays beautifully in VLC, not so good in Virtual Dub or WMP.
Server space generously donated by a fellow Blender user – many thanks!
Please note that there is no explicit nudity in the movie, nor any sexual or erotic content, but if depiction of the human female form disturbs you, just pass on by, please. No sense ruffling anyone’s value systems.
Very nice. Absolutely love the visuals, the lighting is really good as well. As for the animation, also very good, although it seems a bit unnatural at times. But altogether, stunning!
Probably the best human animation done in blender. But fighting by fist with demons… not too deep story. But maybe I didn’t understood. Hair could look better - look Sintel
Anyway 5stars for best human animation :).
am I dreaming? you are actually done with this. congrats on getting to the finish line I always lurked on your w.i.p thread without posting much so its nice to see this here.
There´s stuff in it I love, stuff in it I hate.
I don´t bother to point my finger, it being finished is a huge success and as a whole it is a… whats the english word?
It is a “Werk” - prolly “creation” is the best translation.
It is no finished project, its a creation.
I shrug when I try to sum up the hours of work you put into this
@ 4Daniel: Many thanks! I’m happy the lighting/DoP qualities got noticed, it was one of the chief reasons for doing the short in the “style” shown.
@ JoseConseco: Gracias! The story – yes, not very deep for the most part (keeps the “plot holes” from being being too bumpy ), but it’s simplicity by design. The hair was begun & finalized for animation well before Sintel and the 2.5x improvements were underway, so it does show some weaknesses, but it works well enough I think. BTW, fists and feet + just a touch of magic!
@ tyrant monkey: Could be a dream, but if so, “It’s a good dream.” to quote a well-known elf-maiden. Thanks for following such a long trail, glad to see you at the finish line!
@ CD38: Thank you, sir, for both your compliment and your patience!
@ arexma – Love/hate – just about how I feel, too. So much I would like to have had the time to do better. But it also had to be finished, or at least abandoned in an acceptable state :D, to steal a line from Da Vinci. “Werk” is good enough for me – I think I understand your meaning precisely. I appreciate the applause (even if it smacks of the old Zen kōan) – you are what they call a “tough room,” and it’s not something easily earned, I think.
The movement was very convincing. Really nice job. One thing I would suggest is mixing in a little bowed cymbal into the music, to give it a more organic, ambient feel, as well as some added tension. If you want, I’ll crank out some bowed cymbal and post on freesound.
To see this finished is a real pleasure. So much dedication and attention to detail.
I am not particulary fond of the story, but that is just my personal view. But the modelling and most of all the rig is just stunning. Animation is a bit off sometimes but doesn’t bother me too much.
The workflows and techniques you used and showed in your wip are a very useful reference as well.
How did you stay motivated (especially with all the obstacles coming along the road) ?
I hope ‘real life’ doesn’t completely forbid you doing further projects sometimes.
This has been a wip since before I entered this forum, I (inconstantly) looked at your progress, congratulations!
The animation looked well done in general there were a few movements that “looked” a bit faster (or with weirder timing) than normal (I think it were the poses that were related with balance and some jumps), but then I know little of real life martial arts (besides movies and anime =P).
Thanks, michalis, and it’s good to hear the figure work is being appreciated as I intended it.
@ modron: Would that I could produce the music with such elaborations, but alas I am severely limited in that regard, both in term of technical know-how and instrumentation. I must compose within fairly strict limitations of both skill & technology, and so keep things very simple – too simple, perhaps, but it’s a reality I face. Collaboration would be a welcome option, though, if such an opportunity arose…
Glad you like the animation! “Convincing” is a word I like to hear!
@ loramel: “How did you stay motivated (especially with all the obstacles coming along the road) ?”
Mule-headed stubbornness and a nag, nag, nag of a Muse – you know how they can be!
Seriously, though, I think it’s because I believed in this project like no other I have undertaken in many years. To put it very poetically, it “sang” to me, and it was a Siren’s song, irresistible and in some ways dangerous (another story altogether).
I also wanted to prove a point of my developing artistic philosophy (with regard to 3D animation, that is) – there is a region residing somewhere between high stylization (ala “cartoons”) and the grail-land of ultimate “realism” (wherein the Valley lurks!), and in this region characters of normal human proportion and motion capability can exist and run, dance, play, whatever, and look completely natural doing so. I term this philosophy “naturalism,” and Kata is its first fully-realized incarnation. Sounds so very pretentious, but is in fact the conceptual foundation for the entire project.
A naturalistic character can be stylized, but not to the point of distortion or caricature. A naturalistic character is unmistakably human – or unmistakably whatever species is intended for the character – but not over-burdened with detail to the point that it pushes the character over the brink into the Valley we all know and love not at all. Kata is my first attempt at working & playing in the realm of naturalism.
@ Cloud_GL – Thank you! Timing the moves was often a matter of having to tweak things ever so slightly to match the music pacing, so there are a number of places where fully “natural” speed for some motion has been sacrificed for overall fluency in the movie. I don’t think this is a major issue with the animation since the adjustments are subtle, but it does mean that if watching the animations from a technical viewpoint, some might be seen to be running at not quite “perfect” speed.
It’s interesting to note that in live action sequences, film speed is sometimes jiggered for artistic effect, even in virtually unnoticeable ways, but is rarely held to look odd – we accept such tricks for live actors as artistic convention, but for animated pieces it can be interpreted as technical error. Different sets of expectations, I think.
I have been watching the thread for a while, your hard work and persistence is an inspiration to the community, and myself. Beautiful modeling and deformations Much congratulations on finishing Kata!
@ Dark Altar: Many thanks, both for watching & waiting, and enjoying!
@ JiriH: Merci beau coup! Different styles, though, different art direction, different philosophy of motion. But I sincerely appreciate the compliment!
@ jpbouza: Sorry, she’s off-limits And Kata is the movie’s title – see the end credits for a (sort of) explanation. The character’s name (around the studio, that is) is Katrice, but then who’s to know? Unless you’ve been following my WIP path for way too long :eek: Anyway, thank you for the kind words!
Bad news! I have to scrag the download link for the AVI file until I can find another home for it – the vid’s popularity (totally unexpected) is straining my bandwidth limits on the server site I usually use. I’ll revamp the link once I find a new home for it.
Seems the video has a huge popularity, that’s the 1st time ever i see such message on vimeo.
I didn’t noticed your project thread until now, but i have been really amazed when i watched your video.
Fantastic work, animation and models are top notch.
Amazing and certainly very inspiring for those new and used to Blender.
Thank you for sharing.
Hope you’ll find a host for the AVI, as due to the intense traffic on vimeo for your video, the poor website was crawling for me
), but it’s simplicity by design. The hair was begun & finalized for animation well before Sintel and the 2.5x improvements were underway, so it does show some weaknesses, but it works well enough I think. BTW, fists and feet + just a touch of magic!
