It's been a long time coming, but I'm pretty proud of this. Characters are from Character Creator 3, all animations are done in iClone 7 and then rendered in Blender 3.1. It has a mix of live voice actors and Replica Studios voices. I use Live Face to really help give the characters some life. It ain't Pixar, but it's markedly better than episode 2! Please give it a look and let me know what you think! 

- Jeff
The Adventures of Capt Sanchez
Cybernautic Studios

This is Really cool, and it doesn't need to be Pixar. To be honest the entire episode was way better.n I have noticed in iclone that the way in which it's recorded is like your recording actual people doing actual stuff and it looks a lot cooler in my opinion.

This is Really cool, and it doesn't need to be Pixar. To be honest the entire episode was way better.n I have noticed in iclone that the way in which it's recorded is like your recording actual people doing actual stuff and it looks a lot cooler in my opinion.

Thank you! It is a labor of love, for sure!

- Jeff
The Adventures of Capt Sanchez
Cybernautic Studios

I love your science fiction universe

You like Music relaxation ?
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm6yyWm0H0oQSlCLeLMsQ-w
My channel :
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCquvcGNUBVW0J4zhle2uYnQ

I'm bumping this because I'm looking for intelligent criticism of this episode. What do you like? What do I need to work on? I have some new voice actors joining the crew and I want to make the most of my next episode. If you can rate your criticisms from most important to least, that would be a help too! Thanks in advance!


- Jeff
The Adventures of Capt Sanchez
Cybernautic Studios

Hi jeff.davies,
Great work, I like it.👍👍
Greetings rosuckmedia

Hey Jeff,

I really think you did a great job. It is clear that hours and hours of work went into putting this together. Well done!

I'm still very much a newbie, when it comes to animation, and have a lot to learn - So it's always hard for me to share any form of criticism but based on your request for honest onions - here is mine: (this is personal so please take it with a pinch of salt)

WHAT I LIKED:
* Loved the story and dialogue - The ended was great - with the twist at the end. The lesson is clear.
* Some really good voice acting (Referring to the lead actors)
* Great character design - Not sure if you used Headshot but all the lead actors voices suited their face and facial animations.
* Loved the sets and uniforms.
* Also want to compliment you on the animation of your background (extras) characters, even though they were our of focus. Most people would not have animated them so well.
* There were a few places were you got the facial animation just right.
* The AI voices worked in some cases but I'm glad to hear you are getting some new voice actors.

WHAT I THINK WILL HELP, GOING FORWARD:

1. SOUND DESIGN
Here you may need to spend more time in your editing software.
a) Try adding in atmospheric sounds e.g. atmosphere inside the aircraft and bar (You'll be surprised how much free background sounds you can get). It will take away from the "uncomfortable silences."
b) Try adding in the appropriate Sound effects and Foley - Examples footsteps, clicking on the keyboard and especially in you Star fight scene - Laser sounds, bombing, shields being armed, etc.
c) You have some good background music but you may be ending it to early - the Music usually only fades out after the next scene is introduced. The music should never end abruptly, unless you want to draw attention to the action happening in the next scene.

I often listen to the Audio version of my "Movie" to make sure it also tells the story clearly.

2. BODY AND FACIAL ANIMATION
This is very, very tricky especially if your using iClone as your animation tool. I'm still really struggling to get this right.
Some of your movements and facial animations are very robotic (same as mine).

Two tips that help me with making it less so is:
* Longer transitions between two different motions.
* And the Curve editor. There is very little chance of getting good body animations without using the curve editor properly. I'm also still trying to master the Curve Editor.
* Timing of movements is also difficult to judge when animating - Often the head rotations or general body movements for your characters were a be a bit to slow - This is easy a easy fix by shrinking the motion clip.

3. CAMERA MOVEMENT
* Stationary cameras are safe and are often helpful but camera movement can really help tell your story.
* Using transitions (ease in and out) or the curve editor on your camera animations makes for smooth camera movement.

I subscribe to a YouTube channel called Studio Binder and learn so much about framing, cameras, color and lighting from them. Definitely worth checking it out.

I really hope this is helpful.

I really can't wait to see the next episode of The Adventures Captain Sanchez and think you are great storyteller.

Allistair

Thank you very much, Wholesome 3D (Allistair), for a very thorough critique. As the creator, I am both proud of the work and yet I see all of its warts at the same time, so I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment.

I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to learn the curve editor. I think this weekend I'll buckle down and focus on that.
The facial animation is tricky, but also seems to add the most life to the animations. Not just the facial animations, but the eye movements of the characters. Im learning that I need to do the animations in phases, first the rough "blocking" of the animations, then refined body movements, then head and facial animation (Live Face is a huge help here) and finally the eye movements. Eyes are rarely stationary for more than a second.

I'm looking forward to the voice actors. I would prefer to only use AI voices for AI driven entities (androids, etc).

I've gone back and forth on the laser blasts in space thing. I had sounds in space in episode 2, but of course in real space there is no sound. So in episode 3 I went with more of a Firefly (great show) approach and kept the space silent and used music to set the emotional tone of the shot. My use of sound is still quite nascent and spotty. As one of the greats once said, "Half of all video is audio".

Thanks for the reminder on Studio Binder. I used to watch them all of the time.Somehow it's fallen off of my youtube in the last year. I did find a great sound guru named Alex Knickerboker on Youtube who is a professional sound engineer. I learned alot watching his videos, Now I need the practice!

- Jeff
The Adventures of Capt Sanchez
Cybernautic Studios

"...Then I plan on getting my genitals pierced."
Now, that was unexpected and funny, the crew reaction was as well. Got me laughing.
Overall, this is good work. If I might, I would suggest you watch this video on Akira Kurosawa 
to get some new ideas on camera work. It's an interesting watch and he is considered THE master
of the camera. I re-watch it fairly often to re-fresh my memory.

   
I liked your video very much and I'm looking forward to where you take it. As far as suggestions go, I'll only add one 
and leave room for others. In the cockpit scenes, make a video of the "status" screen in the background in which the meters move to show 
that it is monitoring a real device. Then place it on the object you are using for a screen. This will liven up the cockpit view considerably
while adding realistic detail. Have one of the crew check it occasionally so they don't get too static.

Keep animating and each production will get better and better. Oh, and try to emulate( and even re-create) the 'flight' battle scenes
of some of the great flying films from Star Wars to Top Gun, the Reallusion camera can do everything positionally
that the big boys did.
Keep at it 👍

pete



http://www.youtube.com/user/peterblood50?feature=mhee