Mab Animation!

[Toast]

Sure, DeviantART is cool and everything, but you really don't get any critique at all.

Crits please? I'm working toward being an art major and my first class is starting in a month, it's about time I learn some things about my animation right now so I can fix it.

HELPFUL CRITS THUSFAR:
+  Her head gets smaller as she puts it down
+  Her wings are jumpy
+  It's a bit short and abrupt
+  More movement

HELPFUL IDEAS THUSFAR:
+  Her antenae and wings can twitch when she lies down?
+  Extend her claws when she yawns, maybe move her arms in some other way
+  Fade out at the end
+  Quick scene of her dreaming

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I like the way her headlights go out when she falls asleep.

Have you considered having a brief train at the end of her sleeping? It just drops back to the start a little quickly, is all. Either that or the room darkening as her antennae go dark...

Also, her wings jump up a bit when she finishes yawning. And there's a small white line at the left hand edge, rather than the usual black line around the other three - that may be an artefact of using linux, though, so if you don't see that on windows, it's not a big deal.

Very cute, though. :-]

[xHaZxMaTx]

Seems that llearch and yourself have already listed all the obvious problems, so I guess all that's left for me to say is that that has got to be one of the cutest things I have ever seen.

[Tapewolf]

And there's a small white line at the left hand edge, rather than the usual black line around the other three - that may be an artefact of using linux, though, so if you don't see that on windows, it's not a big deal.

It's showing on Windows here.  As Llearch says, the jump back to the start is rather sudden, and faintly disturbing because she keeps doing it 

Very nicely done though.

[Alondro]

Generally, you don't show see-thoughs in animation.  By that, I mean the brow lines beneath the hair.  In almost every case, hair is drawn as a solid object, save for instances where transparency is being used for special circumstances (say, a character with crystal hair). 

Also, yawning generally included the movement of some other parts of the body.  The hands/paws in particular.  Since Mab is feline, an action to add interest to the characters might be the flexing of claws or some kneading of paws. 

Think also how the ends of the hair might move throughout the action.  One thing a beginning animator should always keep in mind is that though many objects are depected as solid, they are not in 'reality'.  Clothing, branches, hair, ropes, chains, etc. do not simply stop when you're done an action.  They have energy left in them and tend to sway for a time after the initial power has been exerted upon them.  Naturally, the shorter and less flexible an object is, the less it will move afterward.  The tips of long hair tend to lag behind the movement of the rest of the head, thus the 'wavy' appearance one sees in slow motion of a woman turning around, and then sway forward to slightly beyond the end of the head motion, then bouncing back to a resting position, for a simple hair effect.

I've been reading animation how-to books.  It's rather important for me to know these things if I'm going to be running an animation company!

One of the most important thoughts to always run through your mind as you're designing your cels/images is that everything you want to see in your finished product must be drawn there.  Every little twitch of a muscle, every slight alteration in view, light, color, tone, mood, and every miniscule object to feature in the action must always be there in the right time and place to ensure visual and temporal continuity.

Considering that you've yet to take an art class, it's quite good.  I suspect with training you'll become very proficient.

If my company takes off, I may have to enslave you in my animation dungeon... er.. studio.   

[Zedd]

Awww thats just..Adorable level by yawning...Man its contagious

[ITOS]

Very cool but I can't seem to stay awake till the end...

[Kenji]

I still maintain that I love it, but she needs a twitchy at the end.

[Shadrok]

Think also how the ends of the hair might move throughout the action.  One thing a beginning animator should always keep in mind is that though many objects are depected as solid, they are not in 'reality'.  Clothing, branches, hair, ropes, chains, etc. do not simply stop when you're done an action.  They have energy left in them and tend to sway for a time after the initial power has been exerted upon them.  Naturally, the shorter and less flexible an object is, the less it will move afterward.  The tips of long hair tend to lag behind the movement of the rest of the head, thus the 'wavy' appearance one sees in slow motion of a woman turning around, and then sway forward to slightly beyond the end of the head motion, then bouncing back to a resting position, for a simple hair effect.

You might want to also add more frames of her just sitting there before you go into the yawn.

Considering that you've yet to take an art class, it's quite good.  I suspect with training you'll become very proficient.

If my company takes off, I may have to enslave you in my animation dungeon... er.. studio.   

[techmaster-glitch]

Wow, that yawning is...*yawn*...contagious...*yaaawwwnn*...*falls over asleep*

[Nikki]

0w0

d'awwwwwwwwwwwww...

*tempted to try this with Abel*

[Seth C Triggs]

Cute overload!

Well done!

-Seth

[superluser]

*tempted to try this with Abel*

Don't do it!  You'll kill us all!

[xHaZxMaTx]

I suppose Deebs would just be overkill.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

This is great ..how many frames do you have?    I would have had at least one arm stretch up..


PBH

[techmaster-glitch]

I suppose Deebs would just be overkill.

That wouldn't just be overkill, that would destroy the entire UNIVERSE with such massive cuteness oveload!!

But for the animation, in the cuteness factor, it's almost as cute as Mab's cute-face to Jyrras (Hey! That was my gimmick!), or Mab's expression in the last panel of the most recent comic (The whole fae Kingdom laughs at the king or queen for being such a stupid loser head!).

[King Of Hearts]

that is simply too cute.

I was going to say the head... but since that is already brought to attention... umm... how about resting the wings as well when she slumps down to nap?

[Kryptic]

I have to say, I <3 how her little "headlights" (for lack of a better term) go out. That's cute.

I think a little fang/tooth in her mouth would be cute too. But I'm the type that just loves to stick it in for fun.

And the detail takes a slide (folds, wrinkles, etc.) as it goes.

[e_voyager]

very nice i especially like the way her attente go dim as she drops off to sleep

[Josh Massa]

Nice animation, well done. Not too skippy or anything, I like the effects with the glowing antenna things.