Robert Cristino - Flip - Critique

Hey,

that looks super cool! Really nice work! And I agree that the ending needs more work, but it's close!

First thing though, I'd need a frame counter. I will use the quicktime one, but that starts at 0. So if your shot starts at a different time, you'll have to do the math.

So overall, there's a lot of great detail work in it and nice complexities. Did you use any type of reference for that? I like the timing of the arms when he brings them up and how they go up and down a bit before he goes down for the jump.
It just feels like there was reference used or tweaked mocap up until he goes forward for the step. That feels keyframed without the same reference guidance.

But for the first part, I would offset the arms a tiny bit. The timing is great, but they both start and stop pretty much at the same time.

The biggest thing in terms of polish would be the knees. They feel a bit poppy in places. And watch out for transitions. If you track the knees back, they move screen left up until x37 and then the stop because the foot rolls kick in.

The knees get a bit wiggley around the x59 area. They really pop from 77 to 78, with more harsh direction changes around x82.

During the push off it would be cool to splay the toes a little bit. Not sure if there's a foot squash control.

On that first frame of the push off, the feet seem to move forward. Make sure they pivot off the toe:

I would also offset the legs by two frames when he brings them up. Right now they both move at the same time.

Watch out for the SL arm on x115 and 116:

The orientation is the same for two frames, after it went from left to right, then from x117 to 118 it moves screen left by a lot. Smooth out that transition so it's not so linear and poppy.

Now, the ending definitely needs more weight. You don't feel the step and how the step affects the body.
The timing of the settle is also too slow. He takes the step and goes down for a while, then comes back up in a slow manner. So that combined makes it feel too soft.
First thing you need to add is the weight shift in the hips:

The end pose feels a bit broken due to the direction of the hips and the chest. The hips are clearly pointing SL and the chest SR. I would rotate the hips around towards the chest a bit more.

To add some more oomph I would also make the SR foot plant at x160 sharper, which will help with the impact and weight.

For visual oomph you could hold the pose around x156 in his shoulders and arms, keep them up and instead of slowly relaxing them, keep them tight until x167 for a sharper release.

Hope this makes sense!
JD