New and improved

[TheKryptonian]

My new animation reel, for your viewing pleasure. Whereas the first one I announced here was mostly test work, this one contains mostly clips I've sold or done for hire. Thanks to the comments and observations made by people on this forum, I've come a long way. Here are the links.

The big one is 17MB: Windows Media Player 17MB (http://downloads.kryptonians.net/turnbow_demoreel_640x480_hi.wmv)

There's a smaller one at about 11Mb:
Windows Media Player 11MB (http://downloads.kryptonians.net/turnbow_demoreel_640x480_lo.wmv)

And here's one in RealMedia format, which actually compares well to the high quality WMV one:
RealMedia Player 7MB (http://downloads.kryptonians.net/turnbow_demoreel_640x480.rm).

They're on a nice fast server, too, so if you have broadband, you won't be waiting long to see one of these. I hope you like them, and I encourage more comments. I know there are problems with the reel - I'm interested to see if they're the same ones you think they are.

[General Phoenix]

I lke it. My only nits are that you should probably keep your contact information on the screen longer at the end, and the bit where you show the still photos seems to bog down and get a bit choppy - though that could be unique to the online clips.

[General Phoenix]

BTW, did you do that yoda-head sculpture yourself? If so, what sort of material is it - plaster, latex, etc.?

[TheKryptonian]

Thanks - I must be improving, if that's all the bad stuff you noticed!

To answer the first question, once I'm done with the new sequences I'm probably going to drop both the stills montage sequence along with the Paddy the Funpad lip synch toward the end - and that's probably a good idea to lengthen the hold on the personal information on the card for the end title, thanks.

To answer the second, yes, I did the Yoda myself from scratch using Roma Plastilina #2 on a hydrostone core (which later formed the negative space for the mold I made), then made molds of head, hands and feet and built a working puppet which you see in the last shot in the montage. The puppet had working eyes, eyelids, eyebrows, and working fingers on both hands. It also had a replacement hand which held the walking stick. The facial features were operated by a lever box; the cables came out from under his robe in the back. The fingers were operated by cable pulls and grip racks that came out under the robe around his elbows. The mouth and head movements were handled by a hand thrust up inside his fiberglass skull. It required three puppeteers to operate him. I still have the molds in my garage under wraps, waiting for the day when I can reassemble the molds and recast his skin in something a little less biodegradable than the original foam latex I used.

For those who want to see this rendition of Yoda, here's a picture:

http://kryptonians.net/images/yodacar.jpg

You can tell it's not the real Yoda because of the surroundings. He's sitting in the passenger seat of a Fiat 850 Spyder, something which, as I recall, Yoda never did in the movies.