MBR: Mexo vs Vuvucue

Core theme: Story
Sub theme: 1 v 1 fight
Time limit: 50 seconds min, 2 minutes max
Due Date: (originally was October 2nd. then time was extended to the current date)

Name: Mexo
Rank: Bronze|18
MBR Profile: http://maplemation.com/threads/mexos-mbr-profile.35670/
Submission:

"My submission"

[MEDIA=youtube]0775JOaTbYQ[/MEDIA]

Notes: "there were many, many, many, MANY things i could have done better tbh. though to be fair CC was acting up, and i had to deal with collabs and IRL stuff and it just ended up eating away my time. this, to me, feels rushed. i had other plans...other plans that went down the drain because A: they were too complicated for someone like me, B: i was losing motivation, and C: CC was acting up way too much. i ended up using a character i JUST made (cause plans with kanmuru went a little off). and stayed up ALL night to finish this (spoiler, i didn't finish, i ran outta time) so i'm really tired, but in the end i'm just glad i was able to do an MBR. whether i win or lose i get to learn something from this, and that's what an MBR is about (to me at least)

and i also apologize to those whom i hyped up about this and also i apologize to Vu. i thought i could get this done but it seems i still have ways to go."

Name: VuVuCue
Rank: Bronze|37
MBR Profile: http://maplemation.com/threads/vuvus-mbr-profile.35960/
Submission:

"Vu's Submission"

[MEDIA=youtube]P7Gja_Stbak[/MEDIA]

Notes: Notes: I'm surprised that I managed to finish with how insanely busy my life is. I attempted things I felt were out of my level but I managed to complete it at least.. I'm glad I tried!

My vote goes to VuVuCue because her video last long and I loving how she beginning to develop her animation and her Sprite pixs, I would love to see more of her talent and her animation again.

Mexo:
It's unfortunate you couldn't finish but shit happens, I hope to see something from you next time - don't give up here, I still want to see what you can do!

Vuvu:
God damn. It's staggering how you improve so much with each animation you make. You've made some big strides in areas with some mishaps in those areas so I'll go over what you did good and what you can improve on if any for the same point.

+ This establishing shot was really nice and the parallax is a nice detail too.

+ Attempt at hair rigs
- Make sure it's eased more since it looks kind of stiff when moving left or right, and it would be cool if you split up the pony tail into 3 further chunks and rig that around kind of like this dudes hair.

+ Attempts at perspectives
- I'd layer one more grass tile in front to sell the perspective a little more. More of a nitpick and this was fine for the most part.

+ I really liked the combat a lot more this time, instead of two hits there was some actual fighting going on
+ Pacing generally improved compared to before
+ Choreography was nice
- To further improve the pacing, definitely lower the gap of time between attacks, e.g. around the 33 second mark, the action had a noticeable gap of nothing going on inbetween, this will make it more exciting.
- Further pacing issues like the 54 second marks where it's like 2-3 seconds of wait time and text with still poses. Whenever you finish an animation, think about whether it's necessary and what you can cut or add. Remember, making it concise is key.
- You also have text interrupting the action or the action slows down for the text. Try and get into the habit of adding text while action is going on to keep the flow going.

+ 1:08 was really fucking cool. I liked the bouncing between trees, had a lot of weight and it was a really nice and memorable dynamic finish.
- Some camera shakes, zooming speedlines and clouds in the bg would have helped that spinning attack.

- Sound design was bland or missing a lot. Like when a character lands or slides on grass. E.g. around 8 seconds, while I liked the shot, the lack of sounds there was a bit off. Remember, there's more to sounds in a fight than hits and whooshes.

- Finally, try and make a habit to have things going on rather than holding a still pose - you do it pretty frequently like at the 38th second mark. We covered some tips and ideas in our recent vod review.

Honestly, slow down. You're scaring me with your rate of improvement. It's difficult to believe you started recently lmao. You definitely get my vote.

Sorry to say it but... I believe my vote goes to Vuvucue.

Mexo

It looks like you still have a lot of practice to do for your future animations.

I'll point out some flaws in your animation despite it being unfinished.

- The buildup is quite nice with the explosion and everything. But the camera sorta zooms into the scene way too quick.

- Recalling to the explosion, please take a look at the cities condition. It displays a message of destruction within it. But it contridicts the theme when you jump to the next scene afterwards. It looks... well.. sort of peaceful.

- The text does bother me certainly. It seems you've stuffed the sentence all together. I suggest you to refrain from doing so. There's another thing I'd like to point out: The duration for that text box. It's too long and boring (not trying to insult you). You have to make it interesting for your viewers.

- At 11 seconds. You've shown a scene between the two characters confronting one another. When the guy with the red hair crosses Vuvu's character, you could have simply turned him around at that moment.

That's all I'd like to say for Mexo. I hope you improve further in the future.

Vuvucue

I've seen your other MBR the other day and I gotta say.... noice.

I'll point out some things too for you as well.

- What you've shown at this scene was Mexo's character jumping from tree to tree it seems. This is pretty good but the moment he lands, he somehow slides into someones dms. Maybe perhaps have him stand up and walk or run out of frame.

- At 35 seconds, Mexo's character seems to have summoned an Allie. I didn't really know what happened by the time Alpha(The allie) charged at Vuvu. Maybe have some effects going on to display a message of him being under control.

- When your character stabbed Mexo's character. Maybe have him bleed out afterwards.

That's all I'd like to say. This animation is pretty good and I have a feeling there's going to be a dramatic change in your animations in the future. Nicely done.

Great job you guys. You both did well :D
I look forward for your next MBR/Animations!

i'll try to keep my thoughts simple.
VuVuCue i really enjoyed your animation, and you get my vote.
The pure effort you've put into both learning and creating is an inspiration by itself.

the detail of Zeruma bouncing back and forth as your character walked with him made the shot look more interesting and was a good choice,
and the use of 3d space was very well done, from Mexo jumping through the trees, the two assist characters jumping towards the camera, and the last slash from the sky.
my favorite part was the part where your character jumped into the background off the trees, very well animated and satisfying to watch.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you make next.
A few things I'd recommend:
-Experiment with easing more, a little extra slide to character movements can go a long way to help an animation feel more alive.
-Try to make some more subtle facial expressions, your character seems to be very calm and collected for the most part so something like the default face where the eyes are moved to the left or the right will make it so your character doesn't always look like they're staring off into space.


Mexo, I'm going to be brutally honest, as hard as you may have tried it really does not show in your animation.
The explosion at the start was alright, but the shot after where the character is sliding back just stops without any slide, there should have been some ease on the landing.
The text box does have too much in there and should have been split up, the sliding perspective shot is a nice idea but the heads are too close to the same size it gives the impression they are incredibly close. but worse off the eyes aren't even looking the right direction after they switch sides,
Summoning the sword wasn't bad but it needed more movement and frames, and the shot in the dark of the eye effect is bad presentation there's too much empty space.
it's unfortunate you couldn't do more, i hope to see improvement in the future.

It's vuvucue for me hands down. Her animation was way better than her old one and the battle was a bit more engaging.

Vuvu wins 5-0.
Mexo 18 > 0
Vuvu 37 > 52
Vuvu, try to do some other themes to gain the full amount of points next time and Mexo don't let this get you down. I'm sure you'll be able to make something good for another MBR soon!