CrabbWalker's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Fefnir - Pilot]

Awesome, very awesome. It is extremely challenging to pull off high quality frame-by-frame animation for over 3 minutes (with some tweening in there), so first of all...kudos guys! I know the feels. The camera work and backgrounds were absolutely spectacular, and overall it moved things along pretty well. The color work was also splendid, no problems setting up the stage at the right time. I must admit tho, it was hard to understand the rat guy at times, but it's not a deal breaker. I would also like to see just a bit more clarity on the story, but I assume we will dig a lot more into it on the 2nd episode...And I hope you are able to find investors or sponsors!

FrameFreak2D responds:

Thanks a lot CrabbWalker :D every advice counts, we have to continue learning.

[Fallen Angel: Trailer]

Awesome trailer. The transition from 2D to 3D must've not been an easy one, as I can see you are still working on trying to portray more naturalistic human movements. The environment however is amazing! Setup, camera angles, shots, and lighting were really well done! One other critique I have would be the lack of facial expression. There's a slight mouth open, but that's it. Humans can generate over 20+ expressions on the face alone; fleshing out more of that during production would make your character more dynamic! Otherwise, can't wait to see what Robs cooking!

RobsH66 responds:

Thanks for the feedback CrabbWalker!

The transition to 3D was a difficult one indeed. I agree that the facial animation (and the character animation in general) is one of the film's biggest weak points. I rigged the model myself, and the process of creating a flexible and expressive face rig is quite complicated. And even with a good rig, the act of creating a convincing, appealing performance when animating the face and body is an art form in itself!

[Don't You Just Love Fall?]

Awesome stuff, cool angles and warm colors! Just one thing I thought that might needed improvement would be the gestures on keyframes. Not as extreme as someone like SpeedoSausage, but enough to where her body language is a bit more understood. Cool animations, keep it up!

NorthridgeNG responds:

I will make sure to work on these few parameters for the next endeavour in my animation escapades!

[Miku Hatune Test]

Good clean bone (i think) animation, assuming the animation was rigged. Normally in an animation, the entire body motions toward a particular gesture. Next time, maybe just utilize a bit more body movement along with the arms and eyes you are moving. You see this in even symbol animation, like Teen Titans Go! or Johnny Test. Overall good job with the final presentation! Very high quality!

Evy-Devy responds:

I didn't use bone animation, but skeletal animation. This was more like an experiment.

[Honest Bank Commercial]

Awesome sauce. You know what would be ironic though? That upon seeing this, a bank offered you some contract work to do an animated bank commercial! ROFL!!

sadakab responds:

Hahaha the same thought occurred to me! I don't doubt it though lol

[Dreamt]

Wow...this animation style is extremely refreshing. Very airy, light, surreal. and got this amazing vibe from it, and that's pretty rare to me. I personally think this would benefit wonderfully from a technique called Rotoscoping. I don't know if you used it in your animation, but it at least might be a very great reference to use with the style this is going for. I think that would correct some of your anatomy issues if you were going for a more realistic stance. I felt like this was a great piece of art that didn't even need a story dropped in it, that's how aesthetically pleasing it was. Then again, maybe that's just me! Great job, looking forward to more :D

zephyo responds:

Thank you!! I checked rotoscoping out, it's really neat, would've made my life a lot easier lol. If I animate more I'll be sure to use it.

[KAFEEN]

Very, very well animated, and awesome direction. Man, I just wish the sound lived up to the love and care put into the animation. Maybe this is where you can start collaborating to help out with such things. George Lucas once said that sound is half the picture!

TaraGraphika responds:

The music is done by Andy Kyte. He's a really good composer. That was really the first time I collaborate with any composer, but I'm always looking for a collaboration/opportunity to make the music I envisioned. Thank you very much for enjoying my film.

[TSIOQUE - trailer]

The last time a full on 2D animated game that I know of was back in Don Bluth days...this will be highly anticipated by myself. The colors and scenery are gorgeous. I hope fixed camera angles make a comeback through this game. That being said, the camera work in this was pretty good.

P.S- Are you gonna put this on Steam? I will buy it lol

Sarkazm responds:

Yes, if we get funded that is.

[Jungle Hunt 2]

Awesome work, and very nice build up. I like how you didn't go action overboard like how most sprite animations do. I guess I'll be the one who says Harley Quinn played a fantastic job. The Harley Quinn, at least the one from the 90s, has always been that ecstatic. Since there is always room for improvement with everybody, one small crit I have for you is to maybe tweak all of your sounds just a bit more. I hear quite a difference between the clearness of Ivy's voice and Batman's voice (for example), but that's probably because I'm an audiophile and currently wearing headphones. Will be waiting for the next one!

MysticSkillz responds:

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed another episode and far as Harley Quinn goes, that's what I wanted for this project. Harley was always a hyper character and @LESisMOAR did a wonderful job playing as her. Like I said in the other review I listen to them carefully with headphones on and they all sound perfect. Far as the audio quality goes I can only do so much with what I get from each actor. Other than that, they all did a great job and nailed their lines perfect. :)

[Crestfallen (Concept)]

All of your beautiful, back breaking animation seems to be freezing up every now and then. I think I had a problem with my animation as well...I'd recommend trying on several different computers (or reupload with a different codec, maybe H.264) and see what the experience is like. It might be a RAM thing (or just me lol). The animation and potential storyline was wonderful. This is the most weighty I've seen a character animated on NG yet- each of the lady's subtle movements, background, and design told me a lot about her in the 10 seconds you've provided. I can see why this took you 7 months, and it pays. I saw your blog not too long ago, and wish you fun on your hiatus from animating; I'm doing the same lol

aggimajera responds:

Thanks a lot! This character is important to me and I wanted to give her a solid introduction from my head to the screen. No matter the time it took. And as for the skipping, I did not notice it on my computer... but if its mentioned more I will follow your advice. Don't want that taking someone out of it.

And sometimes we just gotta get life under our belts. I wish the same fun upon you in your other ventures!