Online Forum Post and current Feedback

Now that the blender.org site is back up and running, I thought it would be a good idea to post my Thread post, and feedback that I have had so far.

(http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=208787&p=1786282#post1786282)

Hi Everyone

My names Gemma Pullinger, and I'm currently half way through my final year honours project at Abertay, Dundee, Scotland. The aim of my project is to look at processes which assist on translating humen emotions into non humen virtual characters within an anti bullying campaign... I would love any feedback on a number of questions I have which relate to my dissertation research... you would of course have a mention in my dissertation references... I'm going to start off general, and see if I recieve any interest.

1: Do you think character emotion is more achievable depending on the visual style? eg cell paint animation vs 3D animation?

2: What do you think blender can achieve in terms of preparing character expression than other 3D packages?

3: Can you think of any films, animation, and games that do or do not achieve believable character emotion, and why do you think this is?

Feedback:

From oggbog:

There was a study a while back where they judged people's emotional reaction to three different things all emulating the same thing. First, a photograph of a person. Second, a cartoony version of that character. The third was a hyper-realistic rendering of a human, ala the Robert Zemeckis films. They were shocked to find the cartoony version appealed the most, but even more shocked to find the realistic rendering was disliked in comparison to the photograph.

So yes, visual style has a tremendous impact. The worst thing you can do for a film's emotional impact is go full realism poser characters. This one point is why Pixar, Dreamworks, etc, have all made lots of money on their films while at the same time Disney has fired Zemeckis after multiple "realistic 3D" movies flopped.

Good: Pixar, Dreamworks, Blue Sky's stuff.
Bad: Midnight Express, Beowulf, Final Fantasy Advent Children, the Jim Carey Christmas Carol.

Friends don't let friends use Poser

http://ogbog.blogspot.com/

From Richard Culver:

I would say that there is an underlying element that this brings to light. A great parallel would be bad acting. Another would be attempting to make a war epic on a meager budget at your local park with a video camera. Emotional impact relies solely on your ability to bring a convincing believability to your presentation. If done with enough technical expertise - in line with what an audience expects - it will have an impact. If it is clear that one failed to achieve a certain effect, it falls flat.

In a nut shell, if you want to have emotional impact, do something that is going to be an effect you know you can achieve without pulling the audience out of the story or message by the distraction of something not looking quite right.

That may mean doing it as a character animated rather than realistic effect. If for no other reason than the fact that it is so hard to achieve the realistic that it can be distracting of not done right.

That goes from the top down. From the story to the art direction and the choice of what genera and style, casting and on down the line.

Don't write for characters types you will not be able to cast. Don't cast an actor unless they nail it. And god forbid don't cast young people to pretend they are old. If you need an old man, find one.

And if you don't think you can find an older actor, don't write a part for one. Same goes for accents and the rest of it. A great actor can do a convincing accent. Done poorly it is just distracting.

www.richardculver.com