Animation decline?

[Harshreality 60]

I may just be seeing things, but comparing season 4 to season 5, it seems the animation is slightly worse this season, with slightly less detail and shading stuff in backgrounds.... What do you guys think?

[Mesme Rize 15,692]

I for one think that, if there is one thing that gets better with every season, it's the animation. I don't really see what you mean.

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

No. I mean did you see Fluttershy hair flip mess up thingamagig in Party Pooped? If anything we don't have as many lighting tricks as in Season 4, which I'm fine with. J.J. Abrams can keep his lens Flare's for all I care.

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

This is really subjective, as IMO they haven't had as many chances to show their stuff in Season 5 as they have in Season 4. The premiere, for one, was less VFX-intensive than the premiere of Season 4, but heavier in terms of character placements and animations.

 

Even so, the locations, I have to say, are surprisingly underwhelming. Everything from the equality village to Griffonstone to Yakyakistan seemed to be hidden behind the same set of mountains and accessible from the same mountain pass, and I imagined Griffonstone to be much bigger than it was actually portrayed to be. This, however, is more for writing and storyboarding than the visual designers themselves.

 

I don't really see any concerning decline in the visual qualities of this show. Maybe they are getting very limited in scope, but it's nothing to seriously worry about.

[shy0wl 484]

I thought it was actually getting better.  The depth of field from season 4 and 5 are really nice touches

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 42,200]

I have noticed a lack of len's flareish lighting this season but that really isn't a bad thing. Such harsh lighting effects aren't always needed and that might be something that DHX and crew decided on.

 

As for everything else, I think the animation quality is actually improving even still. The sheer amount of expression from the characters as of late is awesome and I am loving it. <3 They are getting much more creative with facial and body expressions for many of the ponies now. I noticed that started with season 4 and it's only getting better.

[Justin_Case001 4,927]

Keep in mind, they tend to put more time into the two-parters.  Twilight's Kingdom pulled out all the stops for fancy lighting and special effects and stuff.  It was basically a short movie.  But I think the animation in S5 is on par with S4 overall.

[Pineapple Bloom 511]

Hmm, I haven't noticed any animation decline. It might even be better than ever! There are great new face expressions and there is a lot of detail in the background, especially in Princess Spike.

[Magic Note 2,772]

I didn't notice any animation problems in Season 5 so far.

 

If anything, I think it has improved over the past couple seasons.

[Argumedies 1,748]

I think the depth perception has gotten better, camera shots and objects comming for the camera are more/better but they have diled back on the amount of lighting and lense flairs (+1)*ding*)

[UnknownFry 169]

Seems to be about par on course with Season 4 truth be told, but I am inclined to say the animation is getting better due to a possible bigger budget and greater experience using the primary tools used to animate this show.

Edited June 28, 2015 by UnknownFry

[chirox the pony 1,336]

Not seeing it, animation just seems to be getting better IMO, heck at times it also looks cinematic quality (which makes sense as there is a movie coming out). 

[Buck Testa 5,505]

Animations a lot better this season, complete with a slew of new expressions. 

 

 

 

If anything we don't have as many lighting tricks as in Season 4, which I'm fine with. J.J. Abrams can keep his lens Flare's for all I care.

 

That could be it.

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWNGMTcD_jY

[Empty Room 512]

I don't think it's declining at all. After all, the animation has had errors since the show began.

[ggg-2 3,554]

I think they're stepping it up! I noticed subtle bouncing in character's manes in Cutie Map that wasn't there before.

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

I'm going to have to compare the animation quality later, but I will say that there do seem to be a lot of bland designs.

 

The Town? Really average. They could have at least spiced up the surrounding area. When you realize that this was an isolated substinence community, the next question that comes up is where were they growing their food? I don't recall seeing anything besides a barren wasteland there.

 

Then there's the castle, which is pretty drab and dull. Nothing like the iconic treehouse design.

 

Then there's the generic, unmemorable setting at Appleoosa.

 

Griffonstone, like The Town, is also a pretty run down and ugly setting. However, there's not a whole lot that could be done with that. Perhaps different lighting or weather would have made it more appealing.

 

Those are just the things that come to mind. Last season emphasized things like lighting and shading, whereas this one seems to be throwing a lot of its effort into new animations and settings (some of which are good)

[Veritum 257]

I don't really think it's gone downhill, in fact there have been quite a few improvements that I've noticed, but not anything major. A lot of the expressions and such in the last episode were really interesting, and overall there seems to be less errors. Honestly, they have stuck with a similar style for quite a while and, from my view, not much has changed.