Critique my 12 sec animation (Maya)

[digi]

So this little project has been pretty interesting for me...

I took this CLIP (http://www.artofbob.com/images/cindyref.avi) and put the image into the face plate on a model's head. and then tried to animate the model to the video in her head.

(the model is actually a picture frame that i have, where the face of the figure is where you place the picture).

The story: Girl gets surprised with a chocolate chip muffin for her b-day. She tries to blow out the candle (no fire on the candle yet) but just ends up fogging up her face plate.

I would love some critiques on this WIP so pls feel free to tare it up and help me improve. thx!

CLICK HERE FOR CLIP - 12 sec Animation (6mb avi) (http://www.artofbob.com/images/cindy3.avi)

[SirRon]

Good job on the animation, looking smooth. I think you should animate her so it looks like she's thinking of her birthday wish after she says "Thanks guys!" Even in the video she acts like she's thinking, so it'd be cool to express that with her body.

That's my .02 cents. :)

[molemansd7]

The idea for the short seems good...you could show a lot of emotion. I would think about changing the camera angle. The whole thing seems too symmetrical. Maybe have her walk in with her back to the camera or something then turn, see the cupcake, get surprised, and go from there. It just needs a little more acting.

[digi]

Hey everyone! Thx for the comments SirRon and molemansd7.

Well, I handed in my animation a couple days ago. It kinda sucked cuz we're just now learning about skeletons, IK Handles and weighting skin. Sure coulda came in handy when I was making my character...:(

but aw well... I'll get'em next time.

Here's the clip - 12 sec Maya Animation (6mb quicktime) (http://www.artofbob.com/images/Bob_Chiu_toy.mov)

Cheers