ChallengeS+
The biggest challenge so far has been working on shots with multiple characters in... right now I'm working on a shot with 7 animated characters... I use the c4d layer system to solo the chaR I'm working on then switch the others back on for previews... with 2 characters I can play the scene back around 24fps... but with 7 it slows to 3fps...which isn't really useful.. So I have to animate the scene is passes...2 chaR at a time... which works but slows the workflow down a lot... thankfully there aren't that many shots with gangs of characters....OR maybe there IS?! looks over storyboards ^ ^
Something I've been fighting is being TOO resourceful... I know tons of animation shortcuts...meaning I know lots of ways to complete shots as fast as possible with as little animation as possible... I learned this rushing through wats trying to make a deadline... BUT in HSM I'm not doing this... I'm fully animating everything...it takes longer but since I don't have a deadline really and I'm out to show that I have improved all my skills I might as well show off my animation skills you never knew I had ^ ^ This is a big fight I find making animated films... Do you focus on telling the story and just do enough animation to tell it? Or do you only focus on the animation? Or do you do both? Solo or small teams might have to make some sacrifices to complete a big project in less than 5 years...
Since I had to cringe for like 2 years since I made wats looking at my own "cheap" animation I won't do that again... because its a horrible feeling... knowing you can do better and being judged on stuff thats not your best work... I was able to get away with it on wats because of the crude nature of the characters and the overall style but I don't want to have that feeling again...
So on my past work if an animation was "working" to tell the story in the shot or do what it was supposed to do I moved on to the next...but not now... every single shot has to be "right" and I wont move on until it is...no cheap stuff... getting things right has to do mostly with getting reference when a shot isn't working... if it doesn't look right...keep acting it out in the mirror and study the timing to you figure out what isn't right...
So I still don't think I've proved myself with my work so that I can honestly call myself an "animator" just yet... I'm a filmmaker yeh...but after HSM is done my work will be at a high enough level so that I'll be able to call myself an "animator" and be proud of it ^ ^
I've always had tons of creativity... which can take you pretty far... but now I strive for technical excellence, refinement, and depth in all aspects of the thangs that make a "film"
Pride...and having a chip on your shoulder can drive you to great lengths... its my artistic inferiority complex that has gotten me this far...and it will take me further... After HSM I will take on my greatest animated challenge with my next feature that will have...gulp.... animated humans.
I guess the purpose of this post is to let peeps know that you never feel like your "good enough"... but you just need to keep striving to be better....step by step...little by little.... shot by shot.Brought to you by professional weirdo M dot Strange.