"Just 'Fore Christmas" - Short Carrara Animation

"Just 'Fore Christmas" is a two minute animation based on the poem of the same title by Eugene Field, circa 1890.  It was done in Carrara, using Particle Illusion for effects and Digital Juice for sounds and music.  The video was created in Magix Movie Edit Pro.  The 3D characters and props were from Renderosity and DAZ3D.  It won first place in the voting for Renderosity's Holiday Animation Contest 2017.

Comments

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,551

    Kewl!

  • Steve KSteve K Posts: 3,234

    Thanks, Dartanbeck.  I give Mr. Field a lot of the credit.  His poem reminds me of a favorite character, Calvin of "Calvin and Hobbes" fame.  I still go through my big box collection "The Complete Calvin and Hobbes" for inspiration.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,551
    Steve K said:

    Thanks, Dartanbeck.  I give Mr. Field a lot of the credit.  His poem reminds me of a favorite character, Calvin of "Calvin and Hobbes" fame.  I still go through my big box collection "The Complete Calvin and Hobbes" for inspiration.

    That would be cool to have! Wow. I haven't seen any of those in Years!

  • Steve KSteve K Posts: 3,234
    Steve K said:

    Thanks, Dartanbeck.  I give Mr. Field a lot of the credit.  His poem reminds me of a favorite character, Calvin of "Calvin and Hobbes" fame.  I still go through my big box collection "The Complete Calvin and Hobbes" for inspiration.

    That would be cool to have! Wow. I haven't seen any of those in Years!

    One of my best friends was outraged when Bill Watterson decided to discontinue the strip December 31, 1995.  He asked, "Doesn't he know how much we need that strip?!?!"  He was serious.  The last strip was memorable, if kind of bittersweet:

    http://s3.amazonaws.com/images.hitfix.com/assets/9970/calvin-hobbes-final-strip-dec-31-1995.jpg

     

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,551

    Indeed

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,987

    great work SteveK !! love how it's put together

  • Steve KSteve K Posts: 3,234
    head wax said:

    great work SteveK !! love how it's put together

    Thanks, head wax.  A little secret, I used one of the Movie Edit Pro templates to get started, it has the editable text effects with placeholders for clips to be inserted.  A good way to get going, rather than staring at a blank timeline.  Don't tell anybody.  blush

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,551
    edited January 2018
    Steve K said:
    head wax said:

    great work SteveK !! love how it's put together

    Thanks, head wax.  A little secret, I used one of the Movie Edit Pro templates to get started, it has the editable text effects with placeholders for clips to be inserted.  A good way to get going, rather than staring at a blank timeline.  Don't tell anybody.  blush

    You used that to good effect, I thought. It's a great way to work! ;)

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • Steve KSteve K Posts: 3,234
    Steve K said:
    head wax said:

     

    Thanks, head wax.  A little secret, I used one of the Movie Edit Pro templates to get started, it has the editable text effects with placeholders for clips to be inserted.  A good way to get going, rather than staring at a blank timeline.  Don't tell anybody.  blush

    You used that to godd effect, I thought. It's a great way to work! ;)

    Thanks.  I've mentioned I try to avoid dialogue which requires voice acting, something that's difficult to do well.  So using a poem can be a good match for the Movie Edit Pro templates with their editable text effects.  Here's another poem I did a while back:

    Another similar approach is the silent movie dialogue cards, somethng I've tried a little on a long term WIP.  BTW, here is a great short from 1918 by Charlie Chaplin.  "[Charlie] Chaplin became a worldwide icon through his screen persona 'the Tramp' and is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the film industry ... By 1918, he was one of the best-known figures in the world ... Chaplin signed to complete eight films for First National Exhibitors' Circuit in return for $1 million. He chose to build his own studio, situated on five acres of land off Sunset Boulevard [Hollywood, CA], with production facilities of the highest order. It was completed in January 1918, and Chaplin was given freedom over the making of his pictures ... [The Gold Rush] opened in August 1925 and became one of the highest-grossing films of the silent era with a profit of $5 million ... In 2007, the American Film Institute named City Lights the 11th greatest American film of all time, while The Gold Rush and Modern Times again ranked in the top 100.”  (Wikipedia)

     

     

     

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,551

    Yup, I remember your Richard Cory tragedy. Very nicely done as well!

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,987
    Steve K said:
    head wax said:

    great work SteveK !! love how it's put together

    Thanks, head wax.  A little secret, I used one of the Movie Edit Pro templates to get started, it has the editable text effects with placeholders for clips to be inserted.  A good way to get going, rather than staring at a blank timeline.  Don't tell anybody.  blush

    secret is safe :) thanks for the headsup!

     

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