animation avi

ok this is my FIRST FIRST FIRST animation, i started to mess around, and then suddenly i finally got the animation system for max :O, so well, c&c plz

your first time is always special. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

is he suppose to jump, or hover?
maybe add the sense of weight for the sword by giving the arm some follow through. for now the arm slows like spline interpolation between keyframes, and then snaps to position when the wings spread. not very convincing.

it's a really good start, as simple as it is.

It's too robotic, although it is a mech, but you know what I mean. The movements are too timed, not natural enough.

the rules of any animation are 1)antic 2)action and 3)conclusion
The antic is where you add a sense of how the action is going to take place. look at any warner brothers or hana barbera cartoon, before they proceed with the action they charge up ( i.e fred flintstone before he runs)
The action is what you've got already, so your one third there.
The conclusion is basically the antic backwards, so to say that the character settles into the new pose. and example here would be after the takeoff the mech would still have to fight gravity so he might slump down a bit as the action takes place, but in the conclusion he would gain control of the environement and straighten up.

These are mainly taught with traditional animation techniques (i.e pencil and paper) but they should transfer over to 3d. I hope that makes sense.

Mike's comments are right on.
Basically you have a series of independant motions that just sort of happen.

Another wording instead of antic, would be anticipation. Weather he jets into the air or jumps, a slight anticipatory bend of the knees would lend a lot more believeability to it. I'll look again when Im less tired and see if there are any other specifics I can point out. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]