Comments for Talking Moose

Comment on HEY, Welcome! Please take a moment, read half-a-page, and form an opinion. by Cheesebear

Cheesebear — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:23:01 +0000

I think that the eyes need to be rounder and less human like. The eyes on the 2d version are quite rounded, whereas the 3d version eyes are a little too human like, hope I helped!

Comment on HEY, Welcome! Please take a moment, read half-a-page, and form an opinion. by Lulufangirl

Lulufangirl — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:06:14 +0000

These kinds of stuff creeps me out,Lulu~!

Comment on HEY, Welcome! Please take a moment, read half-a-page, and form an opinion. by Chris Holm

Chris Holm — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:46:08 +0000

I like the texture of the felt antlers of the professional moose.
However, I like the round (unrealistic) eyes of the earlier version. I think that is cuter and more cartoonish.
Because the original was 2-D and oblique to the face, the mouth could be seen better with the silly grin. On the 3-D moving moose, the nose blocks the mouth on the older 3-D version, but the pro version uses a higher camera angle to show the mouth more, just as the 2-D version did.
So, the pro version is better, but round out the eyes.

Comment on HEY, Welcome! Please take a moment, read half-a-page, and form an opinion. by anonymous moose reviewer

anonymous moose reviewer — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:48:34 +0000

I think anyone working on this project needs to take a look at the concept of the “uncanny valley”. I don’t mean to snipe at your model, but it is really unnerving and frightening to me. You want to create a cute, endearing character, and to accomplish that, you have to understand what humans react to positively and what they’re unsettled by.
Research the uncanny valley. Look at examples of things that fall into it. Watch videos by wendyvainity as examples of what not to do under any circumstances.
Personally, I don’t like the fact that he has a very human mouth. That is just not how moose mouths work. You’re treating a snout like a nose and that’s horrifying. You have to go in one direction- either stylize it more or try to make the moose look more like a real moose. Otherwise it looks wrong.

Comment on When is this new Moose available? by Unjay

Unjay — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:40:32 +0000

iPad would be the perfect home for the moose!

Comment on HEY, Welcome! Please take a moment, read half-a-page, and form an opinion. by #1 moose fan

#1 moose fan — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:55:19 +0000

IT’S ALL GOOD, AND ONLY GOING TO GET BETTER!
I think the eyes are amazing! I also think the moose should wink sometimes after sharing a joke.

Comment on HEY, Welcome! Please take a moment, read half-a-page, and form an opinion. by Steven Halls

Steven Halls — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:21:08 +0000

I made an animated gif, showing 2 different versions of the eyes. I made it to show my co-workers for their opinions. I can’t paste it directly into this comment, but you can click on it to see the image.

My co-workers are familiar with the 2D moose popping up, and telling jokes during the day, so when I asked them which 3D moose eyes are a better choice, for a JOKE-TELLING facial expression, it was 80% in favor of the darker eyes.

But the lighter eyes, I think, reduce the “human-ness”, and reduce the “serious staring” look of those eyes.

There have been some great comments (albeit negative) lately. It’s admittedly discouraging, but I keep hoping that once everything starts moving in real-time, the “Creepy” aspect will disappear. Or that’s what I hope. If it doesn’t, well, back to the drawing board.

But let me re-iterate. The eyes will have the correct ratio of eye-contact and looking-away, for a friendly subordinate. The eyebrow ridges will be moving, very similarly to Wallace and Gromit (and they are cute).

The mouth pose you currently see, is not a resting pose. It’s something approximately representing an average pose of phonating vowel sounds. When the moose is running, you’ll briefly see him appear with a smile, then he talks, so you’ll see lip-sync, seeing vowels and consonant lip shapes. Thus you won’t be able to stare at the teeth.

The nose, I put moose-like bumps on it, but natural moose nose bumps are ugly, so I had to soften them quite a bit. But if I smooth them out of existence, then it becomes a cartoon dog nose. Once the nose starts wiggling in real-time, I think it will become a nice feature.

The ears, I have high hopes for the movements of these ears. If you haven’t yet seen the youtube video of the Baby Giraffe, it’s got super cute ear movements, and I’m going to have the Moose ears behave the same way.

Comment on Got Ideas for moose merchandise? by Denis Savoie

Denis Savoie — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:49:07 +0000

Talking Moose was the first application I installed on my Mac LC in 1991. I was working ridiculous deadlines publishing trade newspapers and at 2 am, when it popped up and said “How come we never go out anymore?” it was the funniest thing ever (you had to be there).

Anyhow, I buy a really nice quality hoodie with the moose on it and a speech bubble containing “Did you miss me?” I think those would sell like hotcakes. I’d buy them for friends.

Comment on HEY, Welcome! Please take a moment, read half-a-page, and form an opinion. by Cynthia

Cynthia — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:01:42 +0000

The first rendition (January 24th) is scary looking. The nose is just wrong! There are several things that I think could be done to make him cuter while staying close to the original, or as close as possible. But seriously, the original wasn’t really “cute” as far as I’m concerned. Anyway, first the eyes could go even a little bigger (see original). I like the the eyes, in the eyes only shot, but go even bigger and keep them roundish. Lashes are good, make them long (we’ve all seen the little boy with lashes up to his eyebrows, TOO CUTE . The brows are just way too primitive looking. Make them very, very subtle or get rid of them all together. Raise the forehead, make it large to balance out the eyes. Science says that big eyes and a large forehead automatically makes people think “cute”. PLEASE DO NOT put that bump in the nose!! Maybe experiment with the nostrils, bigger, smaller? In the smile show very little teeth and keep the mouth closed. The ears, I think should be half way down. Thats the ONLY thing I like about the January 24th one. . . . sorry! I know its not like the original but try making the antlers a little plumper. Well, I think that’s it. I don’t know if you like any of my suggestions but I hope that maybe some of it will help! I know it will end up looking very cute, no matter. God Bless.

Comment on HEY, Welcome! Please take a moment, read half-a-page, and form an opinion. by Steven Halls

Steven Halls — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:35:09 +0000

You hit the nail on the head.. that I clearly do not have the knack of creating the appealing character in 3D, based on the old 2D. My concept artist for that paintover (above), I thought was pretty good compared to my own crappy ideas. I’d love for some other inspired artists to say “Hey.. let me show you something better” (and actually email me something better).