Adventure™ (a Mario & Sonic thing)

[Xiron]

Description copy-paste

No logic is not suppose to be strong.
I created the audio source for this nearly a decade ago... heh, now ain't that something? And yes, I've got the history of it right below!

Back in the day my brother and I use to make (and every so often still create mini) audio tracks we like to call "Adventures", and these would be shared just between us two because we never had any friends that were into such things, and we weren't exactly on the internet back then either (even if so, just posting the audio alone would have been just... strange to strangers). You may think just audio is boring... nope! Our imaginations took us where our lack of animator skills couldn't!

The audio taken for this video was a scene taken from my very first Adventure as a tribute to the whole series we made out of it. What you see here was just the start of what it was like. As time went on we got more lines from the shows (and better quality rips of them!), we started using more sfx (it was bare minimal at the start) and we got more experienced at making these things. They got a bit less random (to an extent) with better sub-stories, and by far got greatly improved than what you see here.

These adventures usually involved a cast of Mario and Sonic characters traversing all over worlds with countless guests characters appearing in between. Video game worlds, movie worlds, or non-media worlds at all! Not even we were sure where they'd head off to next!


Questions & Answers
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Q. Why are the characters jerks?/why are they so easily offended?/Why does Sonic say "here we go again" twice in the same scene?
A. Simply put, at the time of creation of this Adventure I was very limited in the amount of lines I had, so I just threw random stuff together and tried to make something out of it. Truth be told, some characters ended up carrying over some of their jerkish attitude across several Adventures. xP
(It got so out of hand that it was addressed in one episode - and no that was not a boring Adventure.)

Q. How long is a normal "episode"?
A. An Adventure™ on average is 10-15 minutes in length. Mini-ventures are 2-3 minutes.

Q. Why is the mall so empty?
A. Well, Mario did say "there's something fishy about this place" did he not?

Q. Can I get the complete audio for this Adventure™?
A. I might consider it if you ask nicely.

Q. How long did it take you to make this?
A. A week and a half. 6 seconds a day on average I'd say.

Q. Do you plan on doing more? Even a full episode?
A. I've considered doing more, but with the time it takes, sometimes I just want to take an animating break to pursue some other hobbies, or perhaps even just animate something different as a break. You know how it is just to look at one thing for a long time, right?

[E-Man]

Is this your first animation? If it's not, then how long have you been animating for?

Anyway, from what I've seen, it's an alright animation (especially for a beginner); however, since I'm an animator, you have plenty of room for improvement. One thing I've noticed right off the bat is how stiff the movement is. If you'd bend a lot more of the body and exaggerated the actions a bit more, then it'll give this animation a big step in the right direction.

I have more advice I could give you, but I'll only go into depth if you want critique.

[Xiron]

I've done a few shorts (10 seconds or so) with LEGO figures before where stiffness is more tolerable, but this is my first time doing actual living characters. My first animation was 2 months ago.
Edit: Because I thought it would be worth mentioning, the Mario characters don't have eyelids, unfortunately.

Critique is always welcome!

[E-Man]

I'm glad that you're open to critiques, my friend. I just didn't want to jump in and overwhelm you with suggestions you might be hard-pressed to fulfill.

Anyway, I can't really go into depth right now because I'm a bit busy with designing a new potential animation program. Afterwards, I'll draw up a few notes that give my two-cents on how to better animate the characters. For now, though, I'll have to give you some verbal advice on one part I found pretty jarring. For Mario, when he mentioned that something is fishy, have his torso (and maybe his pelvis) rotate to the right and make it lean to the right, too; however, before that, add anticipation by adding tiny rotations to the left. Also, when his head rotates towards Luigi, don't just have it rotate to the right directly. Instead, add in a small head tilt upwards (or possibly downwards) as the head turns. That way, you'll form more of a curve instead of a straight line. As expected, the head turn needs anticipation (which is true for pretty much any action in animation).

By the way, you mentioned that the Mario models lack eyelids. Considering that, it's worth it to find models that have better control over the eyes for more expressions. If not, then maybe try creating and rigging eyelids yourself?

[Xiron]

Depth can be useful, but perhaps not so much a beginner like me otherwise it'll all just fly over my head, so that should be decent enough.

I would do the eyelids myself, but I've haven't really made much models from scratch, let alone rig them. I'd have no idea where even to start. As for already existing, I'm not sure there are any better ones out there.

[E-Man]

Depending on the software you use, I should be able to give you ideas on how to deal with eyelids. Just keep in mind that I have no idea if the suggestions translate well outside of Maya.

[iyenal]

Mario and Luigi animations are too mechanical, but Sonic animations are very natural.
I think also Peach reflect too much lighting and the camera have to be more static.
But in average good graphics.

[E-Man]

Actually, while the Sonic character animations are better than the ones of the Mario characters, they're still very stiff and robotic.

As for the camera, as long as it isn't all over the place and the angles don't make the viewers barf, I feel like a more dynamic camera is visually interesting (unless the scene calls for the camera to remain perfectly still).

[iyenal]

Also, the camera field of view have to be static, and it's preferable that the camera use many plans instead of animate it (except for showing objects or environnement).