felixcolgrave
patreon
Extinct mammals in walk-cycle purgatory
🕑 Added 2024-04-23 11:37:42 +0000 UTCA video!
So, I've been working on an evolution sequence for this film for quite a while now.
Before I could even begin animating, I had to map out evolutionary lines of several placental mammals and do a bunch of reading, and then run my grossly simplified science through a meat grinder of other considerations like "how do I fit all these animals on screen". The process got so daunting I got partway through, and then went back to add several other shots preceding it.
Since then, I haven't had many film updates to post because the main component of this sequence is a silly amount of walk cycles, that I didn't want to spam on here individually.
Now, the sequence as a whole isn't finished, and I still have to animate all their modern day counterparts- BUT I have finished all the prehistoric animals walking, which felt like a good enough milestone for me to share!
To best demonstrate the gradual change from "little rodenty thing" to whatever it becomes, the video keeps going back to square one for each animal, and I map it all out at the top of the screen as it goes.
For any paleontologists looking at this I know it's not especially accurate and this isn't for a display in a science museum. For instance, that glyptodon is going to become an armadillo in the next shot, even though I'm aware he's a distant crusty uncle and not a direct ancestor. But it was a fun detour in a patchy fossil record, and I also don't explicitly show any of these animals giving birth to their successors either (though actually maybe I should have????)
For the purposes of my story, it's just to show the shared history and broad specialization of mammals, for a story that's actually set in the present day. Wait hang on why did I have to animate all these prehistoric animals at all? Nvm it's done now and I can't wait to do the next bit!
Comments
kp8080
I really loved how the sounds were synced to their gait. Big chonkers got bassy sounds, and the small one at the beginning got beeps, all timed to when they make contact with the ground. Did you craft the audio that way, or did you have some programmatic way of generating audio based on the position of their feet (or whatever they had)?
Felix Colgrave
You're exactly right! In the film theres several animals on screen at once, and the further they each evolve the more the screen fills up. So for some of them I didn't animate their entire bodies, because theyre standing behind someone else!
Cimmanon
I absolutely adore how you pair sounds and music with each animal that appears. It makes my brain vibrate with joy. Not to mention each design of the critters just amazes me thoroughly! Love seeing everything you post, be it shorter videos like these, the loops, or just traditional arts!
Jay Bedard
As someone absolutely obsessed with evolution and the absolute CHUNGUS the tree of life is, I adore this animation (even if it is super simplified). Why are the "final product" animals blacked out though? I imagine it's because there's supposed to be something on top of those sections in the final cut but still curious
