===== From sshelby@shelbyvision.com: This is, to me, probably the most original in the group. I like the penguins, I like the concept and the story line. ===== From emperorofrome@yahoo.com: extremely good, but the peguin's arms go throught the piano. Very good water by the way. ===== From rich@brickbots.com: What a Finale! This was by far my favorite entry. The theme was incorporated in an very entertaining way. This was techincally well done, the animation is pretty nice, and it made me laugh. Generic Note: I really enjoyed watching these animations, but I personally think that pointing out the low points of an animation help more than pointing out the high points. As such, I usually only mention the problems. Please don't take it the wrong way :-) Techincal: The rendering was clean and well done, and the animation was rather nice. The shadows had just the right amount of light in them to show depth and detail. I found the water to be a bit much, I would have personally gone with a bit larger wave size (not amplitude, but wavelength if that makes sense). I also would have made the (admittedly clever) caustic fake a bit less noticable as there is not a lot of light reflecting off of the water (it's nighttime right :-). You managed to get good expression out of the limited penguin faces. The eyes are small so you could not really use those, no mouths, no eyebrows, so it was really all neck and head movement. Well done. There was one part that I think could be improved quite a bit, the initial 'take' of the spectator penguins as the ice cracks. If you have 'The Animators Survival Kit' there is a really nice section on 'takes' and such. Basically, I think it needs a LOT more anticipation. Scrunch those penguins wayyyyy down in maybe four frames and then, POP, they stretch back to full stature in one maybe two. It will make the 'surprise' a lot more forceful. It will look strange as you are animating it, but people won't really notice the anticipation (it's only 6 frames, maybe 1/4 second) but they will feel it. Artistic: Your environment was well done, the penguins are very nice looking and you use of light did invoke the nighttime feel. From a motion standpoint, the penguin playing the piano was very artistically animated and had a nice rythym to it. Theme: I was really afraid it would be all crashes and destruction this round, and I was very happy to see another type of 'end' explored. In fact you kind of had two, the false end of the musical pause, and then the unexpected end. I think the best endings are both end, and beginning, so having the penguin re-emerge to applause was a nice touch. Have questions about my comments? Rich at brickbots dot com ===== From Markus.Altendorff@asamnet.de: Funny idea, just a bit rough around the edges. Some suggestions: - animation of the three listening penguins is a bit too synchronous at times, esp. when they're looking at the player after looking at each other. - the sinking ice with the piano on it moves more like an elevator. Some irregularity there would have been nice. ===== From file: Notable for modelling