The Animal Motion Show DVDs by Rhinohouse is a collection of over two thousand high quality video and still image references of animals for animators, modelers and TDs. The gooos are packaged very nicely in a two-DVD slip case which includes the Animal Motion Show DVD and the Special Guests DVD.Animal Motion Show DVD

The Animal Motion Show DVD includes references on Elephants, Giraffes, Horses, Hawks and Rhinos. The method to access those reference videos and images is perfectly designed. From the main menu you choose the animal and for each animal three groups are available. These are:

Locomotion: This section is full of walks, runs, close-ups and transitions from walk to run and vice versa. Under the locomotion section you also have motion studies. You can view the animal's walk and run cycles in slow motion, frame by frame, and Grid view and Film strip modes. You can also view comparison studies where two different animals walk on a split screen. It's just like the Muybridge book and videos.

Behavior: This section includes subgroups such as Eating, Bathing, Grooming, Subtle, Group behavior and Hunting. Each of these subgroups is full of reference videos that cover a broad range of animal activity.

Visuals: This section has two subgroups: Video and Photo. In the Video section there are close-up videos of animals' different features. Under Photo, there are hundreds of images of the animal divided further into subgroups such as Head, Legs, Trunk, etc. Also under Photo there is the textures section, which includes high-res, close-up images of the animal that are perfect for use in texturing.

Special Guests DVD
The second DVD, Special Guests , includes reference videos and images on a lot more animals: Zebras, Mongolian horses, Humming birds, Deer, Elks, Moose, Crows, Geese and Hippos to list some. The difference between this DVD and the Animal Motion Show DVD is that the special guest videos are not grouped and categorized like those in the animal motion show. That's not to say it's lacking by any means. It would be worth buying if it was sold separately and the fact that it's included for free with the Animal Motion Show DVD is a huge plus.

The Verdict
As an Animator, I found the Animal Motion Show DVD extremely helpful. It sure beats going to the zoo to shoot my own reference for many reasons, the most important being that all the videos in the DVD are shot in the animal's natural environment. Even if you are not animating one of the animals on the DVD, the lessons you learn by studying the footage and how the animals behave will help you with your creature animations.

Even though this product is marketed towards animators, I feel character riggers will get the most mileage out of it. Especially the close-up videos of animals moving in all possible ways; this is an exceptionally useful resource for TDs designing rigs and creating muscle deformations. Moreover, modelers and texture artists will find the thousands of reference pictures and texture close-ups valuable when modeling/texturing similar characters.

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