Score: 4

"Good to see you trying to learn!"

submission: [Animation Test]

date: October 17, 2007

Not bad, it's good to see you're trying to learn. I hope you are, atleast. If so, let me offer some advice, as a fellow learner:

Best thing to do before jumping straight is to learn good construction. Draw, draw, draw. Look for underlying forms. This will help greatly.

Breaking a piece of animation into key frames and inbetweening instead of animating straight through is a good thing to learn also.

When it comes to doing stuff like walk cycles, study your own walk. Study other people walking. Draw some key poses. Make a simple character and draw what you think are the key poses in a walk cycle, showing when one foot rises, comes down, etc; how the body and head move; how the arms move. It's important to observe it for yourself and not just copy a cycle from a book. They're merely aids.

Don't rely on Flash when you're trying to learn traditional animation, there's too many shortcuts (tweens, library objects etc.) that can hinder your progress and stop you from learning important fundamentals. If you are going to use it, draw it all, no symbols, tweening or copying and pasting ;)

If you're keen to learn I recommend you get Preston Blair's Cartoon Animation. It may not seem as in-depth as Richard Williams' book but it's packed with important principles.

Score: 9

"Mon the Scots!"

submission: "Lame" Episode 1 (Part 2)

date: December 28, 2006

I just watched both parts, and that was fantastic! Good graphics, animation (particularly the timing), voices and humour. The ending was just plain hilarious! I can't wait to see the next one!

Score: 10

"Excellent"

submission: Xombie: Chapter 8

date: October 16, 2006

Worth the wait, once again! Spectacluar graphics and imagery, and the events have left me awaiting the next chapter with greater anticipation than any of the previous chapters have. Zoe's voice sounds just like it used to, which was a thrill also.

Thanks for such entertainment!

Score: 9

"Beautiful"

submission: Quand l'amour fut pris

date: June 4, 2006

A beautiful and genuinely touching film. It hit me hard.

Score: 8

"Excellent!"

submission: Illwill Be Illin'

date: May 2, 2006

To coin a phrase, it's funny 'cause it's true.

Score: 7

"Good on you"

submission: Cloud's Confession

date: February 21, 2006

Good stuff, did not see that ending coming. Tell it like it is.

Score: 8

"Pretty funny"

submission: The Chicken or the egg!

date: February 12, 2006

I liked this. The theory doesn't really work but it's well entertaining.

Score: 10

"Great"

submission: Johnny Casanova

date: January 11, 2006

I think this is a fantastic cartoon, great quality. Good animation, voices, humour, and beyond all that - very entertaing to watch. Doesn't need non-stop gags to make it an enjoyable comedy. I don't see how some of the previous reviewers can talk bad about this cartoon, it's well better made than most of the Newgrounds content the same users would praise. I look forward to seeing your website when it's back, your company interests me greatly.

Score: 8

"Very nice"

submission: The Thwomps

date: January 5, 2006

Short, sweet, funny. One of the more original Mario parodies, and one of the most entertaing. Same goes for sprite animations. I wouldn't mind seeing more Mario bad guy shorts of this nature.

Score: 10

"Great!"

submission: Xmas Inspiration

date: December 28, 2005

Haven't seen any of your other work before (not yet anyway) but this was a triumph for amateur cartooning. Funny, structured and well made. "Potato chips".... madness.