Update

wow, still working on the same scene. It's really almost there though. I have to say, I don't like the way it looks splined. I mean, the arcs work and all, but there's something missing, and I think I know what it is.

In CalArts, they define the craft of animation in 3 scales when it comes to traditional, and 2 for computer: Acting, which applies for both. Now, I can't even begin to describe myself in that ctegory. I'm not much of an actor, what can I say... I'm good in a lot of things, and I can 'fix' my acting in animation until nothing jumps out, AND I have pretty good ideas usually to make a character do interesting stuff, but other than that I have a lot to learn. I think in a couple of years I'll be excellent in the other two categories (which I'll soon describe), but then I'll really have to take a lot of acting classes if I truely want to master animation...; The second category is called 'animation tech', which involoves a lot of technical knowledge of how things look when they move. Spacing, timing, arcs, squash and stretch, hold/moving holds, weight, and the rest of the principles. Recently I watched the little Mermaid again, and I have to say I felt I can understand a lot more of what they're doing there because I've been animating a lot lately. I understood something really important, which I'll try to illustrate and post here in the next couple of days. I realized a few things about force, after comparing the wonderful movement in the little Mermaid (although the cleanup is wobbely) with the movement in my scene, and there was deffinately something completely missing in mine. Anyway, the 3rd category is GOOD DRAWING. Now, drawing is a craft that even after 80 years you can still grow and learn new things. Every time you draw something new, you learn. First you have to understand the fundamentals, and then u have to use the tools that u learned, and apply them to, yes, FURTHER LEARNING of every thing u wish to know how to draw. In essence, it's about understanding THE STRUCTURE of things, which enables you to draw it from any angle u wish, from imagination. There's also different types of things to draw, that's why ID drawing, which focuses on slick surfaces and hard materials deals primarily with structure and accurate perspective, whereas figure drawing is more about things like fleshiness, weight, spririt. Then comes in understanding in drapery, hair, effects and what not. And we haven't even begun to talk about light. Shading, and eventually color (which is a whole theory by itself) can be also applied to all of this.

Pheww. So much to learn, so little time. But to get back to my movie, fortunately I don't need to master drawing to make my movie look professional because it's 3D. Instead, I have to become a tech wiz, and rely on advice from my mentors. The first dream sequence WILL BE COMPLETELY DONE IN EXACTLY A WEEK, including cloth and hair. That leaves me 5 weeks for the second dream sequence, but I have thanksgiving week to catch up.

Cheerios.