animatedjen

[animatedjen]

Jedi Survivor's 2 year anniversary is in ONE WEEK and I'm working on new videos (yes plural!) to celebrate. See you all then ✌️

[animatedjen]

Dirtbag Cal. Cal Cletus. .50 Caliber Kestis. Calabama Kestis.

[animatedjen]

I couldn’t make it to Celebration this weekend, but my photos did! Thanks so much for sharing this @stardustandash 💛

Shoutout to @animatedjen for being the whole slideshow in the Jedi Survivor fan panel at SWCJ

[animatedjen]

Bode Akuna | Jedi Survivor

[animatedjen]

Hope you all have a great time 🥲

[animatedjen]

Cal Kestis | Jedi Survivor

[animatedjen]

Would you ever show a bts of how you use the uuu poser? I'm very interested in how it works and would love to try it myself

I'm actually working on a "How I Made Traitor Inquisitorius" video! It won't be a direct tutorial for the UUU camera mod, but I'll showcase the different features (freecam, custom animation triggers, etc) and how I used them in TI3.

The Pose Editor tool is more for photos, and probably deserves its own breakdown. I found this UUU mod tutorial with FFVII: Rebirth that looks similar to my process in Jedi Survivor, so that's a good place to start.

It's technical! It looks complicated! But Otis_Inf (the creator of the mod) has thorough documentation that comes with his Patreon access, along with a member-only Discord server and every future update of UUU4, UUU5, and game-specific camera tools. It's about $6 USD a month and you can start or end your membership whenever.

Let me know if you try it!

[animatedjen]

Between missions with his new crew, Cal thinks of his old one.

[animatedjen]

I love your "I'm just a Kid" Cal edit! I mean I love all your edits, but this one resonates especially with me, because I've been connecting this song with Cal for years. A lot of Sleeping At Last songs remind me of Cal, weirdly. Recently, especially, "Anger" by them. Every time I listen to it, there is just a Nova Garon montage playing in the back of my head, plus Cal's struggle with his emotions and, consequently, the dark side.

I was wondering if you know the song! If not, I highly recommend a listen, it's so good!

How did inspiration strike for you to make the "Just a Kid" video?

Just a Kid - Cal Kestis

So Sleeping at Last (Ryan O'Neal) is one of my favorite musicians of all time - I listened to him long before getting into Star Wars and Cal Kestis. There's a melancholic-hopefulness in all his songs, and I think they just really fit the themes of Fallen Order and Survivor. The consistent space/celestial influences is a big help too.

His Atlas: II album is inspired by human life: senses, emotions, and personality. That's where Anger (a really great fit for Survivor Cal, and another one of my favorites!) comes from, as well as Eight and all the other Enneagram-inspired songs. Atlas: I is based on planets, and he's currently releasing songs that will eventually become Atlas: III.

I connected Eight with Cal because of a themed Spotify playlist, but now have a bunch of SAL songs that I associate with the Jedi games:

Saturn: an incredibly important song to me personally. Also just one of the most beautiful songs about grief and loss ever written

Mars: child soldiers and PTSD

Wave After Wave: grief, fear, and the Ship of Theseus

Eros (Bloom): featured in my Cal/Merrin mini-edit, and really fits their relationship throughout Survivor

You Are Enough: a more hopeful song, one that Cal probably needs playing on repeat until he learns how to believe it

Son: FO Cal inner monologue

September 29, 2024: PT5 - Mini Moon: instrumental, but something about it just feels like Cal

There's one more, but I'm keeping it secret for a Jedi 3 video so... check back in two years, I guess?

Thanks so much anon, appreciate the excuse to yell about great music 🫶

[animatedjen]

Lateron Arms: Greez Dritus edition

(thanks @cosmic-castor-canadensis for the idea!)

We're talking about arms today! More specifically, what do you do when you have a human actor (with two arms) playing a Star Wars alien with four arms?

The Cast And Characters Of Jedi: Fallen Order featurette shows Daniel Roebuck with two pads strapped to each side of his mocap suit. It's a simple, smart way to create space for Greez' secondary limbs, without compromising the actor's performance.

Cutscenes in the Jedi games are a mix of performance capture data (PCAP) and hand-key animation from the artists at Respawn. So Greez is created by two actors: Danny's on-set performance, and the additional performance from the animator. Greez' double set of arms is a perfect way to explore that teamwork.

Greez is an expressive guy, and his Lateron personality shows up in both his voice and his arms. It's not uncommon to see all four arms moving in unison - but there's usually a slight offset between the primary and secondary limbs. This keeps the smaller arms from looking like they're "on strings" and puppeteered by the arms above. Sometimes the gesture is the same, but the position of the hands or wrists differs slightly. It's possible the same PCAP data is applied to both arms, then re-timed or adjusted slightly.

Sometimes Greez' arms move with a left/right split, usually while piloting the Mantis as he keeps his left arms on the controls. Very occasionally he gestures with just one side of his arms, seen in the alt-angle cutscene here and at the start of the post.

More often, Greez gestures with a upper/lower split, creating two different poses with each set of arms. Why pick one expression when you can have two? It's possible the animator referenced an unused take of Daniel's performance for the secondary gesture, or it was created completely from scratch. The goal is to enhance Greez' character and not interfere/clip with his primary arms' movement in each scene.

There's some really thoughtful decision making that happens with Greez' extra limbs. I love how he clasps his hands both in front and behind his body here - and how his arms separately cycle through different gestures to show his increased frustration and concern.

When his primary arms are occupied (carrying a tray, grabbing a cup) Greez' secondary arms become more active (gesturing independently, adjusting his seat on the crate)

But the secondary arms are just as comfortable taking a break while the primary arms do the talking, which makes the animator's job a lot simpler too. Still, that slight adjustment in his second left arm keeps it feeling alive even when not actively "participating" in the conversation.

Greez has a lot to say and needs every available hand to say it, which is great synergy between his design and personality. It's a fun puzzle from a technical standpoint, and allows his character to have a unique silhouette compared to the human-shaped members of the Mantis Crew.

You made it to the end, so here's a four-armed hug <3

[animatedjen]

Some progress shots from the Cal and Greez photo I posted last week. These are mainly composition and lighting adjustments, but you can see where I changed Cal’s pose and added story elements (the cup, the saber on the counter) along the way.

Created with UUU 4.9.5

[animatedjen]

Monday mood 😡

[animatedjen]

Cal Kestis | Jedi Survivor

[animatedjen]

Pilgrim’s Sanctuary | Jedi Survivor

[animatedjen]

A perfect addition, thanks so much @breakfastteatime 💛 Everyone in the Mantis crew has helped Cal learn what it means to be a Jedi - but Greez especially helps Cal see who he is besides a Jedi.

"Hey kid."

[animatedjen]

Greez Dritus | Jedi Survivor

[animatedjen]

"Hey kid."