Yeah, I'd rather they have another animated intro like they did for C1/2 and I'll be that piece of shit, I'd rather have "Your Turn to Roll" back. It was upbeat, you could sing to it, and it hyped you up.
They really could’ve just got new animation and kept the song the same and I would’ve loved it. This new song is frankly pretty boring compared to Your Turn to Roll. Not really theme song worthy.
I hate this song. Also it's much cooler to see rhe characters animated for the intro than the cast, we see the cast the whole rest of the episode anyway.
For those wondering why this doesn’t hit for them, here’s my thoughts as an animator: 1.) The music is not synced correctly. I can’t tell if it’s because of the animation, or if someone messed up when the music starts in the final render. The music being off though makes all the big transitions fall flat, taking away all of audible impact they should have. 2.) Rotoscoping at a low FPS is often worse to the human eye than both live footage and hand drawn animation. This looks like it was done at 12 FPS. Pure rotoscoping like this also takes away many animation principles, such as easing, anticipation, and over-exaggerating. As a result, everything will look really stiff, unless you try to make things look hyper realistic, which requires at least 24 or 30 fps. 3.) Choppy camera movements. The footage they rotoscope is footage with a moving camera. In animation, you can get by with animating at a lower frame rate, but often you still want to keep the camera movements at a high frame rate, otherwise it will make everything look choppy. Think of old school video games on the Nintendo: the characters animations are slow, but the background scrolls at 60 fps, making everything very smooth. Because CR provided footage with a moving camera, the people rotoscoping couldn’t add in their own camera movements, and so the final animation ends up being much more choppy. This is especially noticeable when everyone is at the table. In addition to this, there are times where they could’ve added their own camera movements themselves, but didn’t. The limitation of purely rotoscoping makes the camera feel even more stiff. Adding some camera shake as Orym’s sword flies though the air, or as Sam snowboards would add a lot more movement and liveliness to the action. Adding zooms and slow camera pans to a scene can also make it feel more alive and direct the viewers attention. 4.) This is more of a personal taste, but I really wish they did more with exaggerating the character details. I love the little Travis wolfing out moment, but I wish they went harder and more extreme with those ideas. Taliesin and Liam’s parts are probably my favorite in terms of animation direction. Ashley’s is also just very well animated I think. 5.) Theme. Another personal take. They stuck with a color pallet, but I really wish the pallet incorporated the themes of everyone’s characters to better highlight their personalities. Give Laudna her dark goth girl vibes. Give Taliesin the purple and green and yellow tones of Ashton.
I feel like they’ve been trying something new with each of the openings theyve done so far. First was indepth realistic cosplays, then it was goofy 80s outfits, then the iconic animated op, and now we’ve had players exploring the new world and at the actual table and lastly, this style that kinda hybrids the players and their characters (even connecting to past campaigns). Each op is trying to be distinctly different, which is neat, but gods doing the powerful and beloved animated one so early really makes it hard to be really in love with the later ones.
I still really liked the first C3 opening. This one just isn't that great. It has some good points, but even the first C1 opening was charming in its low-budget jankiness.
I'm seeing that a lot of comments are about the good-but-off animation, but after listening to just the song a few times, I actually think the song itself - and getting to hear the whole cast sing really well - that is what makes this intro stand out for the better.
@Ryan Gallagher I'm aware. "From the healer, to the renegade" is my favorite part. Matt is a great singer, but I like Liam's singing in this song better.
I think, we disagree on what 'subtle' means. There are a bunch of transitions in there. Though agreed, this was the only, 'cross-character'-one I noticed.
@NobleKorhedron Orym and his late husband were both Keyleths bodyguards before the campaign begins. He sets out specifically to find out who tried to assassinate her.
Liam’s voice is pure magic and soothing. ‘From the healer to the renegade’. I love him. Will happily listen to him sing lol 😂 Matt, Liam and Travis all have amazing voices
It's a very nice intro, but I am still hoping for an animated one like campaign 2. I assume it will happen once everyone has some more concrete character hooks to include in an animation
Yes those intros have always happened much later into the campaigns..i think its a bit too early for one right now. But they probably will do one eventually!
They also have to make sure Taliesin doesn't have to change characters lol. But seriously, could you imagine the Areopagita opening WITHOUT Cadeuces and the grave?
@@Mezmero The Molly situation was driven by IRL circumstances that are now mitigated by the shift away from a live streamed format. They no longer feel obligated to go live every Thursday, and can do an EXU if an extended break is needed for the main cast.
Rotoscope is cool, that probably took a while and the result is very artistic.. personally, I really miss seeing the characters in action though, we see the people behind the characters all the time. Campaign 2s intro really set a bar that hasnt been matched yet when it comes to giving the audience a clear and concise look at the movement, mannerisms and emotional competence of these characters that only truly live in the minds of the cast. The main visual we have for them is the info cards that occasionally pop in the bottom left of the stream. What i mean is.. for example, Jesters scene in the intro "your turn to role".. as soon as she flys open that door, with that hopeful, willful, blissfully ignorant face, you just get a grasp of that characters soul, you can already tell how big her heart is and how damn silly she was. Bo catching her hat with that stern but stoic expression.. knott when she hides.. I mean, there is just soo freaking much detail to the characters. When that intro started airing.. it changed CR to me.. I stopped seeing them as just voice actors who play dress up... I started to really see these characters. I had the head cannon to visualize the reactions, the way the walk.. down to the simplest things like the gate of their step. I soo desperately want to see Chetney (travis's characters always blow me out of the water) in action.. how he walks, smiles, how he moves.. FCG, I want to see the mechanisms, the way his wheels turn, how his mouth moves. Laudna and Fearne.. my god, again, really freaking cool characters. I have this image of Laudna, rackety, petite but with an almost floaty elegance to her step... no idea if that is anywhere even close to Marishas vision lol. I know it is insanely selfish of me to say that that is all I want because these characters arent very fleshed out in the world yet, not enough experience for an artist to be able to portray them correctly (aside from travis, he probably knows every single aspect of Chet). I just want it soo badly because until that moment, my mind is just guessing in a hopeful arrogance. All that aside, like I said, this roto is done very well and is insanely stylistic, it really is quite a visual experience.
Yeah, it was many episodes into Campaign 2 before we got the animated intro, so I think it is about having the characters more fleshed out like you said. I imagine we will get an intro with characters for Campaign 3 eventually
Although I respect the time and effort that has gone into this, this doesn't grab me like the other openings have. The others followed a clear theme and this one doesn't seem to know what it wants to be between the blend of live action players, character traits and abstract colours and shapes.
I feel like if they had a different song choice it would be a lot better because the animation while not perfect is intriguing and has a sense of whimsy to it. The lyrics just don't back it up and feel too contemporary and clash with the themes present in the animation
My only real critique is that the animation often doesn't line up properly with the musical beats. Some moments would hit harder if they were timed up a bit sooner or later (example, Matt's book slamming shut right before the final "night." That would have much more impact if it came after the line and cut to black on the last drum sound and the logo came up on the denouement. I don't know music terms, forgive me.)
Honestly, by the appearance of that final clip, I believe that the audio is a bit delayed. It seems like the sound of the drums and flickering of flame was supposed to occur in sync, but it ended up happening a few seconds after the clip already began
The audio appears to have not rendered correctly in the final render. I played the audio track with what I think was the correct sync (starting audio 3 sec in) and it matches up SO much better ("adding more allies" pans to the other part of the table where they have more allies", "rise" has Marisha standing up, book slams are on the beat in the beginning and end, etc. I hope they can go back and fix it because it's much more impactful that way.
Rotoscoping is absolutely SUCH a pain to do, so it pains me even more for the artists who had to do it when I say this intro just doesn't do it for me... It's just so choppy and doesn't really seem to have any rhyme or reason for being rotoscoped vs live action or fully animated.
I'm okay with the rotoscoping up until the bit with all of them at their sides of the table. That part looks just weird and fake to me. I think this one's okay, but I definitely enjoyed the first way more.
My whole thing about this new intro is that they animated something they can easily film with cameras. If you're going to use animation you've got to use it to show something that isn't from real life. Something not easily filmed. Imo they wasted the potential of using animation as a medium.
@@elijahmiller2497 yeah, dunno why they didn't go all in with Travis to werewolf transition, or Marisha's unsettling presence. would be so cool to see it.
I like it as another edition, but it is my least favorite. Your turn to roll is my favorite and I like most of the others as second place, but I've gotten to the point that I enjoy each new introduction as another one to add to the collection and enjoy more like fan art. I'm only happy that I've still got the previous one to go back to. If it was taken away that I could never see it again and only see this one, I would be pissed.
Yeah, the previous intro went perfectly hand in hand with the music composition. I absolutely loved the practical effects in it too. This one is amazing, and it is phenomenal work, but I don't feel like it works with this intro music all too much. The animation has a very up-beat and pop vibe, where the song can get very broody and mysterious, so it's a bit of a clash of tone. But that's just my opinion, it still is an amazing intro :)
Audio sync is definitely weird in this version, but that seems like something they’re likely to clean up. I love the animated “fantasy” parts, but I miss the real faces in the table shots.
Agreed. The music and what was occurring in the first C3 Intro matched up really well. I found the 'real faces' fit the tune and theme of the music better too. C2 intro was so amazing not just because of an awesome song, but also the visuals felt like they MATCHed the beat and Its what made C2 "Your turn to roll" so good. Visuals matching the tune and theme. C2 and the previous C3 intro also matched the beat and was in sync with the music. This is a poor end product and needs to be fixed.
@@leauxgan what? What was colonialist about the last version? It was pretty much just a vague Indiana Jones parody mixed with fun table shots wasn’t it?
It's amazing, but nothing will ever top Travis's slo-mo, terrified, hair-flopping reaction to Marisha. My wife and I laughed out loud at that part every single time!
I, honestly, think I preferred the first one. I would say mainly because if there was going to be an animated intro done, why not do it of the games characters? Since it's just the players, the live action one just seemed better for that. But it is what it is. Not like it's bad or anything.
They want the brand to be the players so they don't have to keep making new intros each time a character changes. The real downside to the animation is that it's hard to cut in credits for guest players now.
If I think about time and what's practical, It's better this way. If a PC dies, we have to re edit this... I would not want to do that so early in the campaign.
I really love that each intro for Critical Role has been unique in their own ways. The original intro for campaign 1, the low budget cosplay intro. It felt like a bunch of kids that used their pocket money to be able to buy some props to cosplay as their PCs. The second intro for campaign 1, the high budget cosplay intro. It felt like a bunch of full time cosplayers that have the time, money and resources to be able to create cosplays of their PCs. The original intro for campaign 2, the funky 80s romp intro. It invoked the image of a bunch of friends in the 80s heading over to their friend's place to play D&D and have fun regardless of background. The second intro for campaign 2, the legendary animated intro. It really showed the viewers the world and who the PCs are, giving us hints of their backstories, their adventures and what they could face in the future. The updated second intro for campaign 2, just a more grander version of the animated intro. It added details to the already legendary intro. The Exandria Unlimited intro, shows off these beautiful landscapes and stained glass windows that depict locations and significant events in Exandria. The original intro for campaign 3, the explorers intro. It showed the players and DM exploring this temple, a stand in for the world, dressed as stereotypical 19th-early 20th century explorers' gear. And now the second intro for campaign 3, the rotoscoped intro. It blends the fantastical world with the animation with the real world players by animating over their actions. All of them are unique in their own ways yet still feel distinctly Critical Role. Sure some will be more loved than others (everybody will absolutely love the animated intro and the updated animated intro), but you can't say they are bad. They all do their job and do them well. A lot of work would've had to go into each one, and we must accept that. All that said, I look forward to see this intro more, though I do need to catch back up due to IRL obligations, and I look forward to what they end up making for the next intro, as given their track record, it will be unique and exciting. Edit: fixed a typo that completely changed the meaning of a sentence.
Could you image what they could do on their current budget and production value if they attempted the C1 intro again?!?! The C1 intro was campy and fun and they did a good job with what they had... but if they tried it again it would be studio level awesome.
This is definitely the roughest of the openings, but artistic rotoscoping is WAY outside what CR has done before. It’s very splashy and feels like a bunch of watercolor paintings come to life!
@@franciscoborjaescobarsuare5802 Anyone who was offended by the costumes of the original S3 is an absolute hyperwoke moron that should have been ignored entirely.
@@franciscoborjaescobarsuare5802 true but nearly everyone agrees the animated intro for C2 was the best. Honestly, if they'd done the characters instead of the players, this might have resonated with me more. Hopefully they do something like that in the future.
Initial impressions/things I liked: - The playful energy of Laura coming through in the hexagon hopping - The portrayal of Liam acting out Orym's maneuvers with the designs on the blade - Marisha in classic standing-on-chair position*, then flicking Laudna goo off her fingers - Capturing Travis' energy in general - Taliesin taking a big swing in character as Ashton *One of things that made me smile during EXU Calamity was how much this translated to Marisha trying to crawl under the table at tense/scary moments
Travis's facial hair starting to wolf out was a great touch. I bet that's his favourite part, at least out of the parts that include him :P Although with the Strongjaw Ale shirt, the way he was moving made me think of Grog before Chetney. I enjoyed this, thought it was a fun twist of the idea of cosplaying their characters like the C1 intro. Although I'll probably fast-forward it sometimes after seeing it a bunch. Unlike C2's Your Turn To Roll which usually had me singing along and fully pumped up every time, even watching an episode a day while catching up; I don't think I ever fast-forwarded past it. And I'm one of the least musical people I know. This one seems well done, but doesn't grab me the same way in terms of driving energy in the music. I like it, and the fact that they all(?) sing on it with everyone getting at least a solo phrase.
I just realized on this rewatch (I keep trying to love it… I’m not sure it’s working) there are a BUNCH on nods back to their campaign 1 characters. Travis in the Strongjaw Ale and VM shirts, you can see Liam’s raven tattoo really well, and then when he casts gust it blow’s Marisha’s hair and she smiles, the rock Tal hits is residuum (I think), I probably missed more. I think it’s maybe pointing out how closely C3 is connected to C1? (Though we’re starting to get more nods to C2 now too.)
Critical Role made the mistake of making the C2 Intro so damn good. This is great, the animation is awesome and the style is cool... It's just hard to compare with actual perfection.
Best for the song theme. However, this is the best for the animation. Campaign 2's is top tier and feels like an opening for an animation adaptation, but it doesn't capture Critical Role as what the show actually is, this one days, and it encapsulates Critical Role as a whole.
While I appreciate the artwork and colors. I found that the perspective and camera angels of this made me dizzy. I feel that the previous intro was a lot smoother, and it didn't feel as "rushed." I also think that with the previous intro it better explained "What and Who is Critical Role." If someone was watching this for the first time it doesn't really make sense. I don't hate this but I don't love it either.
Agreed, though I still enjoy this intro plenty. The biggest complaint I have is the flashing, it means photosensitive people won’t get to watch the intro, and since CR is allergic to content warnings, it could end up being dangerous if a photosensitive person were to tune in for the first time with no knowledge of what the intro is like.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one. This one gives me a weird vertigo/motion sickness. Which is weird, because I haven't gotten motion sick in 17 years. 😅
I must admit, I'm not a fan of his at all. Then again I felt the same with the first S3 trailer and now I love it so... To me the animation is too "uncanny valley" and is a little unsettling in places. Plus, the characters are the focus for me and not the players. My favourite intro of all is still "It's your turn to roll" of s2. Good animation, excellent pacing, no one getting more time than another and focusing on the characters, not the players.
Considering the bar set by the M9 intro, the live-action one was better imo. I think they should have waited and commissioned an animated intro like the one for C2, with the characters actually being in it and doing their things, giving them personality. Others have said the same thing, so I'm just adding my agreement to them.
I have mixed feelings about this one. I absolutely love the concept and the colours however it still feels rough (weird jumps in the animation) and like it needed a bit more time
Everytime I hear/see a new CR intro, I get so emotional. Hell, even the fan art gets to me, in the best of ways. From being a group of people who voiced characters that I grew up with, and seeing all of them be themselves, and loving each other, to creating and supporting a familial community who supports one another. Seeing Matt and Marisha get married, Laura and Travis having a wonderful super child, and Ashley full timing with the group. Being introduced to CR was one of the greatest things to happen in my life. I love all of you 💜
I'm not big fan of this intro - I don't feel like it sets the mood for the table as well as other past intros, but I also don't watch CR just for the intro so it's fine that it's not up my ally. Just like it's fine if it's not up yours. It doesn't take away from the show itself, even a bit.
Doesn't set the mood? How could it not set the mood when we have that shot of their characters' miniatures, the cast with their characters' elements and doing dramatic hero poses and is actually Critical Role themed? The previous one didn't. The explorer stuff has nothing to do with anything.
@@bessieburnet9816 Meh, it’s fine if you like it but I personally didn’t like the disconnect from serious singing to silly visuals and I can’t bring myself to like the lyrics
@@bessieburnet9816 Glad you like this one, your opinion is valid, and so is mine and many others. If you don't see the disconnect between the intro and the show, that's fine, you don't have to.
@@claraclenky9843 I agree with you. I like the little touches of each character, but I dont like this style of animation at all. Its almost a little awkward and cringy. At the same time too serious and too childlike and playful. I cant really describe it better... I wasnt impressed when I saw it for the first time and my bf agreed with me. The thing Bessie Burnet said with them doing the hero poses... for me that is not a good thing. Marisha with the hero landing at one point - i cannot unsee the fact that she probably just fell/jumped from a chair. Its right at this border between purposfully being silly and having such good effects that it seems believebal and impressive. I dont know how difficult this style of animation is, how long it took or how expensive it was, but for me it seems almost a little cheap. As if a simple snapchat or instagram filter could do this stuff. What I really DID like was the beginning and ending with Matt. This gave me goosebumps, but the rest is just... meh. I dont think that I will mind it going forward, but I am definitely looking forward to the next Intro-Change. Hope I have expressed myself well enough.
I still miss seeing the characters in the animation just like season 2, because we always see who plays in the stream anyways. But this is just amazing and really loved the new opening
At least this has the characters in it, unlike the random unrelated explorer theme. It's clever how they put elements of the characters onto their players.
@@bessieburnet9816 I think it just takes time. The explorer based one is because the characters werent really fleshed out yet, so they didnt know how to incorporate them. Here they are, but a good animation can take years- longer than the characters have existed
If you notice though, aside from the opening mini shot, each of the cast gets an animated trait to connect them in: Laura - Imogene’s Dancing Lights Ashley - Fearne’s Horns and Ears Taliesin - Ashton’s Hammer Travis - Chutney’s Werewolf Form Sam - (thanks for the info y’all!) FCG’s oil and gears Liam - Orym’s Sword Marisha - Laudna’s Ichor/Form Of Dread
The animation one will probably still come later on. We are only in the 20s in episode number still, the animated theme for C2 didn't come out till around episode 50. You don't want them to make an animation with their character too early only for one of them to die.
@@feitocomfruta probably the idea of drinking from the oil can. I know that is just him, but it is rainbow which is the color of oil in the sun, so that is probably his link.
I also don't think the theme fits this intro as well as it did the previous one for this campaign. I felt like the previous intro kinda had the same charm as the first intro from the second campaign, the one were they were in the 70's.
@@abnon-tha3088 I'm not going to disagree with you. That is just the report I had gotten on the reasoning for the change. I had no problems myself with the original opening and didn't personally feel it was offensive. However, apparently someone did and they responded like this.
Yes! This alone would solve sooooo much frustration! And in the hero pose, give the 3 people a prop or something so they don't just look weird standing there while the other 4 are doing something character related.
I wonder if they'll update that last shot of Matt with the 'guests' the same way they were tweaking the C2 animated intro to change who appeared in Matt's book as the campaign went on...
I’m mixed on the intro because while it’s very cool and the colors are amazing and all the little details are amazing, I’m still obsessed with the original intro. I feel like we didn’t have it for a long enough time. Also, this song is so good! Still so epic! But, Your Turn to Roll will never be topped. I do still miss that intro and that song. But, new campaign, new song, new intro, and all of them are amazing! Love it all! I look forward to an animated intro of the characters once we get far enough into the series!
@@cannotthinkofaname7904 Was it colonial? I thought they were just going for the "adventurer" look. Like, Indiana Jones kinda style. Or steampunk-ish, which is pre-World War I era.
oh yeah an instant classic, but animated C2 was top notch. first intro of C3 was cool and colourfull, and dayumn new music (that's played in the break) is a fucking banger. this one is just plain weird.
i guess what hooked me in C2's opening title was that you got to see more of how the characters interacted vs how the players looked. we see the players regularly in watching the show and its our collective imagination that builds that world around us but to have a visual identity with each character, between seeing knot run into an alleyway or jester playing with the traveler, it gave us a visual ground to stand on. now in C3 we are seeing the players and the characters act out their roles as if theyre the same and while an argument can be made that they are since it is DND, it still makes it hard for me, a viewer to connect with them on a fantasy level and therefore a personal level. And i understand as VAs you want to be seen more than heard, but to me, and maybe im wrong, idk, but to me, you are AMAZING VAs because you bring life into existence with your voices, you dont NEED to be seen. we love you for everything youve done and brought into the world and shaped the community but after setting the bar so high from C2 opening sequence, its hard to meet it in C3
Agreed. This feels like it's made for marketing VAs for those who don't know them, it's content with too much vanity. Honestly, everybody already knows who they are and what they do... there's no need for a celebrity hook - there's a need for high-budget fantasy hook that would excite and intrigue viewers, and this has nothing of it and feels wrong.
I'll put this out there: We only got the C2 animated intro 44 episodes in, meanwhile we are only 24 episodes into C3. Also, it presumably took a while to make. Add in that apparently their C3 live action intro had so issues of tone deafness on colonial themes, this might have been a slightly speedier 'early campaign' opening to help avoid using the first one.
you put my thoughts in to words. if they wanted to do animated they should’ve used animation but this is just like putting a filter on live footage. I saw their minis and got hype then I was like ???
Understanding the difficulty of appeasing a large demographic. I dislike this opening as compared to the previous one. Season two opening was amazing, and I like the live action of the first season 3 opening! Even though it doesn’t really relate to the player characters! If they had made this opening more relatable to the PC’s it would have been better!
I mean, don’t get me wrong! I do very much like the visual aspects of this video! And appreciate the the artistic efforts that went into creating this!
@@AussieRider20 I'm the total opposite. This at least connects to the fictional aspects of what they do, compared to the live action one. It's leagues better.
Same I liked the Jungle exploration theme one. This one isn't really my style and I would rank it at the bottom of them all but it certainly isn't horrible.
The only crybabies I've seen are the ones complaining they changed it. All the criticism about a south-east asian based continent having COLONIALIST vibes in their intro were legitimate, and wouldn't have been an issue if it weren't for people complaining that any fair complaints are "people getting uppity". Chill and enjoy the new intro.
@@RybackToTheFuture I just don't like the rotoscoped style mostly. Which is why I would rank it at the bottom. The rest I don't care about people will always find a way to be offended.
This is… weird… The live action one was much more in sync with the song and, although its theme was really generic, it was incredibly well made and impactful. It's not a big deal, but I hope they make another one.
@@neoncaster They didn't "have" to do anything. The amount of people that had that issue were minuscule and the complaints were ridiculous to begin with.
@@neoncaster "People" it was like three people. I think they had to change it due to Robbie being in it and probably odd to have a cast member in the opening credits who isn't actually in the cast.
@@Myst031 the episode after he left they cut him out and reshuffled the shot order... if you hadn't seen the ones with him in it you wouldn't notice the change, and it was still better than this crap
I love the hints of their previous characters blending into their current characters. Laura doing a Jester like skip before the Imogen magic starts closing in. Ashley cutting in with a two handed greatsword before being surrounded by flowers (still feels Yasha-ish, but also... Druid.) Taliesin grabbing Cadueces' crystal before smashing it like a barbarian. Travis using magic to defend himself with magic like Fjord before turning Chetney feral. Sam's is a little weak since he's riding a sword like Yasha did and there is little FCG in there. But then Liam comes in with a background of Caleb Amber as he grabs Orym's sword. And last we have Marisha doing a Beau toughman walk before shooting out Laudna's ichor and weirdness. LOVE IT!!! Edit: @BethWood01 pointed out that there is also a Orym - Keyleth connection with the leaves blowing from Liam to Marisha. and @our Adventuring Party pointed out the cogs in the background of Sam's entrance, just above the mountains. NICE!
My god, the comments here are brutal. this intro is very in theme for CR. it works for their production company as they head up their third campaign and represents this company well. I think it’s very lovely and colorful and works for the tone of the show they are running. sorry for all the hate you have to sift through, CR social media team, I think this is an awesome intro.
Yeah, now that felt like an anthem! Your turn to roll line also draws out the inner dnd nerd harder than its thurday night. This song feels too focused on increasing their brand and focusing on them versus the story they are creating. Like others have said, it would've been cooler seeing the characters because tbh, we see them at the table every time, not much in the way of art of seeing their characters in action
I dunno about this intro, unfortunately. The rotoscoping seems off, maybe it's the audio syncing, or maybe it's not that exciting. I kinda see a generic Critical Role intro that could fit into any Thursday night show on the channel, and not a campaign 3 intro that really stands out or showcases the colorful cast of characters that everyone is playing like the ones in C1 or C2.
I’m afraid this one doesn’t quite donut for me. There are some neat ideas in it, to be sure. But what i mostly don’t like is how the music doesn’t sync up anymore. In the live action one, in the verse you could see the cast solo. And in the chorus (which they all sing together) you see them at the table. It works and I like some parts of it. But I hope they keep the live action one as well. Maybe take turns with the intros.
i think its an issue with the RUclips upload. While I was watching it live on Twitch last night, it synced SOOO much better, i was actually a bit shocked when I went to watch it again on RUclips today just to see the intro alone. I really hope they re-upload or something, because it is remarkably bad and out of sync on the current version here, lol.
I really doubt they'll bring the live action one back. There was a lot of controversy around using the explorer themes, especially since their current campaign is set in an area inspired by Asia/Africa. They'll probably be retiring that permanently. Too bad because I did like the idea of adding long-term guests to the credits, like they did with Robbie.
@@cryofpaine I really hope they did not retire it because of the explorer thing. I find it a bit hypocritical to tie the clothing to the problems of colonialism. Especially when CR has proven time and time again to be a very inclusive brand.
I like how they added flair of each person's character to the intro. Travis having a bit of a werewolf transformation, Marisha having the black dripping from her fingertips, Taliesin swinging his character's hammer. Nice touches that hint at the characters they are playing.
Could someone please explain to me why Sam is skiing downhill on a sword? I think I caught pretty much all of the other little character nods, but that one still has me confused.
@@rhuali-6006 he's surfing the sword to set up for Orym/Liam which could possibly refer his role as support, his more clear/obvious reference is in the background with the gears turning to represent machines, the sword could also (speculation) be a nod to 'cutting' grass as well as the fact that FCG doesn't have legs so would move sorta similarly to the way Sam did.
That makes You, me, and like 5 other people who genuinely enjoyed the other intro. Because apparently; and I didn’t know this until someone in my dnd group mentioned it, people heavily complained and bitched about the other one, because apparently people dressed up like Rick O’Connell & Evelyn… is cultural appropriation. 🤷🏼♂️
@@EmmettF.W. Seems whoever told you in your group didn't quite understand the problem people had with the other one. Cultural appropriation is not the problem that people had with it. The issue was that the costumes and set were themed after what would be (charitably) called an "exploration" aesthetic. The issue is that the "exploration" aesthetic is actually just... costumes inspired by the outfits worn by colonisers during the time of colonisation. Now, add that to the fact this campaign is set in Marquet, a place heavily inspired by areas of the real world that have a history with colonisation, and you might see why some people, especially POC (especially with connections to those areas), weren't happy with the old intro. It was legitimate critique and was given (for the most part) in an informative and constructive manner. Clearly, the CR team understood, agreed, and changed the intro accordingly.
@@EmmettF.W. why do you call it bitching? people had criticisms about a piece of media, that's the most normal thing in the world. just because you didn't pick up on the implications doesn't mean they are not there. if you are actually interested, there are many many thoughtful explanations on why it's not the best idea to use colonialist cosplay in a SWANA campaign (or ever) adults accept that no piece of media is perfect, and criticism is a healthy part of making anything. freaking out about criticism is useless.
So thankful for a shout out to Dorian and Bertrand. These guys really know and love their fanbase. I feel I'm starting to become a full blown Critter. Best wishes from Poland.
That was... a lot of rotoscoping. I feel like this would have benefitted from being a combination of fully live with animation rather than all animation. 0:52 to 1:05 was particularly uncanny, and it genuinely took me a moment to recognize that as Liam at 1:12. I also found it jarring to see images of other characters in a completely different art style at 1:31. It feels like they were in too much of a hurry to replace their previous opening...
If one of my creative decisions resulted in such long-lasting and vitriolic social media backlash that keeps coming with every episode where it airs, I'd be in a hurry too. Seems like this is the 'Chill Twitter the f* out until we're better able to animate something more complex' opening.
@@swancrunch Apparently concerns about the colonial costumes of the previous opening. Which is an issue that I personally was unaware of until the release of this new opener. I respect that some people took issue with the outfits, and that CR wanted to make a timely response to those concerns. But I’m not sure why they didn’t just film new shots to replace the problematic ones, rather than trying to quickly fully animate a brand new opening. Personally my favourite parts of the previous opening were all the non-colonial stuff anyway, since the costume stuff didn’t really have anything to do with D&D or the current story, anyway. (It seemed like a better fit for Taliesin’s Lovecraft-themed oneshot, down to using the same lanterns.) The slow motion around the table and the ending shot of the whole cast were fantastic.
I don't know about this one, previous intro and C2 intro were so much better than this. It feels like some early 2000's nickelodeon intro for a kids show xD. Hope they go back to animation or live action in the future!
This is a big artistic swing and I applaud them so much for that! There are some really cool things in it. I also hope we'll get a character focused intro later on in the campaign, I love those.
I'm a big fan of the first version, it connects to the song more. This animated version is beautiful, but I think suffers from an emotional disconnect that happens caused by the uncanny valley of rotoscoping. Looks great! A solid entry, but boy I just really got a kick out of the first version. I'm sure others will find that this version will hit them in a special way too.
C2 animated intro was fathoms better. As others have pointed out, we see the people behind the characters all the times, its the characters we want to see brought to life. Might as well keep the live action intro they already have.
Very creative and interesting to watch. I think adding a little sound design through out the whole video would improve it a lot such as a clapping sound of some sort when Matt claps his hands in the beginning or a thud when Marisha jumps from her chair and so on.
Gotta admit, I much prefer the live action sequence. I'm actually a little disappointed that it's been swapped out already to be honest. The animation and style is nice I suppose, but for me, the fun and mischievousness shown in the live action intro is just brilliant. Ah well, I guess that's two minutes saved now...
At first, I got stoked to see the animated characters. As it stands though, the rotoscoping is neat and the colors are pretty, but I much prefer the live action intro.
I do personally prefer the C2 opening sequence as well, and seriously miss it. I wont deny the quality of both the new opening song and animation, but i personally hate it. Its a little corny/cheesy. Which i think was the point, but it didn't land for me personally.
@@ringosis Actually Undone more heavily relied on projection mapping. I know rotoscoping is going to be the term that gets thrown around the most about this, but in Undone's case, they actually had a (really interesting!) write up about their process to achieve this look.
Your Turn To Roll is the Critical Role theme no matter the Campaign, to be honest. It encompasses everything the show is, and it's leagues better than this song.
I'm going to say here what I said on stream, this thing gave me some weird motion sickness/vertigo when I watched it live on twitch, I don't know if it has to do with the choppy animation or not, but I am going to have to avoid the intro video for the next...however long C3 lasts because wow that was bad.
This is very cool but it's a hard fight to try and improve on "your turn to roll." The song was fucking awesome and seeing the characters animated was always the coolest thing. Plus all the homages to Molly, and the NPC'S, i wish we had something more like it's style
@@OctoberFair Smh omg, I swear people are profesional crybabies. I saw more from other comments, it's just so odd to change such a good intro because of that.
That's interesting, I actually found the original really uncanny, even though it's real people in that. Maybe it was the super dramatic lighting and extremely high contrast combined with the over-the-top facial expression, but uncanny describes exactly how it made me feel. I skipped it whenever possible because just seeing it felt slightly uncomfortable to me. It's weird, can't even properly explain it...
Yeah, it's the rotoscoping of the people that makes it feel that way. It's been used in some interesting ways in animation history but, in general, rotoscoping (and the still-frame, vectorized version) always feels to me like somebody hired an artist who can't really draw and just traced over some photos. I'm not saying whatever artist did this is unable to draw, btw, just that this art style always feels to me like a cheat. Also, it's always super obvious and draws a lot of attention to its process rather than feeling like fluid art. Tbh, having seen this now, I have to say I prefer the anime style of C2's "Your Turn To Roll" opening.
The artistry of this is just beautiful, but I have to admit that I really loved the previous one, where all y'all were frolicking around on set & it looked like you were having the time of your lives.
I liked the first one too, but a lot of people don't realize that they had to act that out every episode because Sam always forgot to push record on the camera. If you watch each one of them you'll see little mistakes, like Laura having a single strand of hair out of place by an 1/8 of an inch, or Taliesin forgetting to turn off his eldritch glory for a single frame. Still, we Critters were thankful for their efforts.
Oh, that's that thing that people do in comments where they say nothing, thereby implying they don't like it. I've seen them kids do that on the Internet! Is so funneh! Now Tiktok dance for me!
@@elbruces Oh, that’s the thing where someone pretends to be an old man to imply that the comment they’re replying to is unoriginal and childlike! How unoriginal and childlike. And I’m doing the thing where you copy someone’s tone to show how unoriginal and childlike their reply was. Which is also unoriginal and childlike. How unoriginal and childlike we all are. It’s almost like this is a RUclips Comment section.
@@calvinjohnson6242 Thanks for the summary Calvin. No cap. Let's end it on a note that CR is awesome, but this just quite didnt live up to my expectations. Hope they come up with an animated intro like they did with the M9, shit was lit.
it's nice, but kinda hits that "uncanny valley" area for me. Think i prefer either live action with the cast, or animated with the characters. Animated cast just feels weird.
The campagain and everything around CR is great so pls take this as construktive critisim. Imo the Intro is very much in the uncanny vally and it doesn't fit too well with the song. I like the RL intro with the cast and would wish that you show a bit more of the characters, if you decide on an animated intro. Keep up the good work!
My problem with this intro is that it doesn't really feel like something that a group of D&D players would make - it feels like something a company would make. I mean, as a D&D player myself, I personally would love to see an animation of my character rather than myself. It feels like a generic Critical Role opening rather than a Critical Role Campaign 3 Bell's Hells opening.
Honestly still like the first opening more. It was done so well and really captured the "adventuring" aspect of the show and the game. This is also done masterfully for sure, and there's nothing wrong with it. But it doesn't excite me the same way the first opening did.
Honestly i loved the original intro we had for C3, which felt very relatable and homely. Just pure good vibes from the cast. This sort of pulls you out of that, at least for me
I think this is cool, fun, and fine and all of the people who worked on this should be proud because I'm sure it took weeks and not pay much mind to everyone who thinks they're entitled to other people's creativity wether they realize ot or not. It's your show, so make the show the way that fulfils you.
Ooh :( I wished to see their actual characters being animated. It's definitely not bad (a little bit out of sync) and amazing but I was so excited to see an animatedly fcg, Ladna etc. They'd be so great and their attacks and transformations could be way more exaggerated instead of using the real players. It'd be so great if they have the cast transform into their characters!
I like how all their names as they appear on the screen are written differently. I assume it's their signatures? Anyway, loved the new opening guys! Thanks a lot!
Wait a second, are those Easter eggs?? I think you can briefly see them subtly transition from their past characters to their C3 characters??? 0:16 Laura with Vex’s wink 😉 and then the playfulness of Jester, leaping into the role of Imogen 0:29 Ashley as Yasha swinging into view and finds herself in the Feywild, Yasha passing her sentiment towards flowers to Fearne's aesthetic. 0:37 Taliesin as Caduceus with the refined residuum crystal transforming into Ashton the earth genasi and break the crystal with his hammer 0:43 Travis as Fjord blocking the crystal shards with some sort of an arcane shield, and Chetney’s wolf form comes out for a moment. 1:05 Sam as Veth sledding down the snow with a sword in reference to “bladeboarding” during the Aeor arc at ep.115, then leaping into the air with patterns of cogs and gears in the background. 1:10 Liam catching the sword. Colours of flames from Caleb with Orym’s two moons in the background, blending with greens, then blasting fire with leaves swirling in the breeze. 1:15 for a second there, the wind from the air ashari catches in Marisha’s hair, then rising from Beau/Marisha’s signature perch, her hands dripping black ichor as Laudna. Am I tripping??
Think you’re right. Besides the little Easter eggs I’m not sure how I feel about this intro, feels a bit off. But great work from the animation crew nonetheless!
@@TiaraStarbrighter I personally love this intro, but I get what you mean. I’d also like to see a character centric intro as well. Their first intro for MN is player focused too, and it was until they were level 7 and at ep44 when the mighty Nein animated intro came out, so there’s still time before another animated intro but more focused on the characters 😊 excited!
In terms of C3 intros I prefer the first one, not that this isn’t cool! But, what was cool about the first one was that they could slot the guest into that intro, like they did with Robbie. All they would have to do is get the guest to dress like their in a safari and shoot something simple and voila, their in the intro. An animated intro with all the characters is probably the most ideal intro you can get though, because nothing has yet beaten the C2 animated intro. They might think it’s still too early for that though (C2 animated intro premiered in episode 44)
Bring back the live action one please. I liked it far better. This was too much colour about nothing, whereas the live action was the team in the adventure - it was awesome!
@@Kyrbz Apparently some people believe when certain historical clothes are worn (explorers outfits) the people wearing them idealise that certain time period and all the negative associations that come with that (white culture over others, colonialism, slavery, etc). Explorers clothes equals idealising colonialism to some, apparently. I'd say those people don't understand that, like art for art's sake, historic clothes can be worn for their beauty or practicality, without claiming the historic times they come from were good. Vintages fashion, not vintage values, I say. (Dandy Wellington did an interesting video on that). Alas, it's a thing nowadays for people to take offense about everything, and anything (in most cases white) people do is treading on eggshells.
After seeing both of the C3 intros, I think we learnt that it will be really difficult to beat M9s animated intro
Yeah, I'd rather they have another animated intro like they did for C1/2 and I'll be that piece of shit, I'd rather have "Your Turn to Roll" back. It was upbeat, you could sing to it, and it hyped you up.
They really could’ve just got new animation and kept the song the same and I would’ve loved it. This new song is frankly pretty boring compared to Your Turn to Roll. Not really theme song worthy.
I was low key hoping that’d be the case, I feel like they found the perfect song to adapt with any animation
I hate this song. Also it's much cooler to see rhe characters animated for the intro than the cast, we see the cast the whole rest of the episode anyway.
C2 intro was great, but I love C3’s song.
For those wondering why this doesn’t hit for them, here’s my thoughts as an animator:
1.) The music is not synced correctly. I can’t tell if it’s because of the animation, or if someone messed up when the music starts in the final render. The music being off though makes all the big transitions fall flat, taking away all of audible impact they should have.
2.) Rotoscoping at a low FPS is often worse to the human eye than both live footage and hand drawn animation. This looks like it was done at 12 FPS. Pure rotoscoping like this also takes away many animation principles, such as easing, anticipation, and over-exaggerating. As a result, everything will look really stiff, unless you try to make things look hyper realistic, which requires at least 24 or 30 fps.
3.) Choppy camera movements. The footage they rotoscope is footage with a moving camera. In animation, you can get by with animating at a lower frame rate, but often you still want to keep the camera movements at a high frame rate, otherwise it will make everything look choppy. Think of old school video games on the Nintendo: the characters animations are slow, but the background scrolls at 60 fps, making everything very smooth. Because CR provided footage with a moving camera, the people rotoscoping couldn’t add in their own camera movements, and so the final animation ends up being much more choppy. This is especially noticeable when everyone is at the table.
In addition to this, there are times where they could’ve added their own camera movements themselves, but didn’t. The limitation of purely rotoscoping makes the camera feel even more stiff. Adding some camera shake as Orym’s sword flies though the air, or as Sam snowboards would add a lot more movement and liveliness to the action. Adding zooms and slow camera pans to a scene can also make it feel more alive and direct the viewers attention.
4.) This is more of a personal taste, but I really wish they did more with exaggerating the character details. I love the little Travis wolfing out moment, but I wish they went harder and more extreme with those ideas. Taliesin and Liam’s parts are probably my favorite in terms of animation direction. Ashley’s is also just very well animated I think.
5.) Theme. Another personal take. They stuck with a color pallet, but I really wish the pallet incorporated the themes of everyone’s characters to better highlight their personalities. Give Laudna her dark goth girl vibes. Give Taliesin the purple and green and yellow tones of Ashton.
This defenitly explains that part in me that thought something was missing, thank you!
thank you for making me not feel insane
Immediately noticed the sync issue as well. Definitely what put me off quite a bit. Then again, I don't watch CR for the intro, so fuck it.
Yeah, good summary! I think that audio sync issues hit worst though, and even just fixing that in the cut they use for show would go miles.
Omg yes! THIS
I feel like they’ve been trying something new with each of the openings theyve done so far. First was indepth realistic cosplays, then it was goofy 80s outfits, then the iconic animated op, and now we’ve had players exploring the new world and at the actual table and lastly, this style that kinda hybrids the players and their characters (even connecting to past campaigns). Each op is trying to be distinctly different, which is neat, but gods doing the powerful and beloved animated one so early really makes it hard to be really in love with the later ones.
Maybe an anime style op next 😁
I still really liked the first C3 opening. This one just isn't that great. It has some good points, but even the first C1 opening was charming in its low-budget jankiness.
@@Rik3n unfortunately the first one triggered people because white colonialism
@@ionfalcom1because obviously dressing like explorers is just as bad as wearing Klan outfits...
But that's a whole other conversation
@@Rik3n well since the Klan didnt start till 20th century you sound real dumb but thats a whole conversation right ??
We as a community don't talk about Liam's singing enough. I love it I always get chills and it makes me want to restart the whole thing.
Hey i just hate the fact that as soon as he starts singing i ptsd into fucking veths silent image to caleb and it brings a tear to my eye everytime
I'm seeing that a lot of comments are about the good-but-off animation, but after listening to just the song a few times, I actually think the song itself - and getting to hear the whole cast sing really well - that is what makes this intro stand out for the better.
@Ryan Gallagher I'm aware. "From the healer, to the renegade" is my favorite part. Matt is a great singer, but I like Liam's singing in this song better.
@@CaptainAricDeron Literally
I had no idea the man could sing until this intro. We need more of it.
I love how it transitions from Liam/Orym's sword with leaves to Marisha. Seems like a subtle nod to his character's connection to Keyleth.
I noticed that too! 🍃🍂
I think, we disagree on what 'subtle' means.
There are a bunch of transitions in there.
Though agreed, this was the only, 'cross-character'-one I noticed.
was gonna comment on that too! Great call back!
What connections to Keyleth...?
@NobleKorhedron Orym and his late husband were both Keyleths bodyguards before the campaign begins. He sets out specifically to find out who tried to assassinate her.
I definitely want to hear more of Liam and Travis for any future tracks. They sound fantastic.
Liam’s voice is pure magic and soothing. ‘From the healer to the renegade’. I love him. Will happily listen to him sing lol 😂
Matt, Liam and Travis all have amazing voices
It's a very nice intro, but I am still hoping for an animated one like campaign 2. I assume it will happen once everyone has some more concrete character hooks to include in an animation
Yes those intros have always happened much later into the campaigns..i think its a bit too early for one right now. But they probably will do one eventually!
@@AnxietyRat i feel like this intro was like they wanted to make an intro like c2 but rushed it tp finish by calamity.
They also have to make sure Taliesin doesn't have to change characters lol. But seriously, could you imagine the Areopagita opening WITHOUT Cadeuces and the grave?
@@Mezmero The Molly situation was driven by IRL circumstances that are now mitigated by the shift away from a live streamed format. They no longer feel obligated to go live every Thursday, and can do an EXU if an extended break is needed for the main cast.
Rotoscope is cool, that probably took a while and the result is very artistic.. personally, I really miss seeing the characters in action though, we see the people behind the characters all the time. Campaign 2s intro really set a bar that hasnt been matched yet when it comes to giving the audience a clear and concise look at the movement, mannerisms and emotional competence of these characters that only truly live in the minds of the cast. The main visual we have for them is the info cards that occasionally pop in the bottom left of the stream.
What i mean is.. for example, Jesters scene in the intro "your turn to role".. as soon as she flys open that door, with that hopeful, willful, blissfully ignorant face, you just get a grasp of that characters soul, you can already tell how big her heart is and how damn silly she was. Bo catching her hat with that stern but stoic expression.. knott when she hides.. I mean, there is just soo freaking much detail to the characters.
When that intro started airing.. it changed CR to me.. I stopped seeing them as just voice actors who play dress up... I started to really see these characters. I had the head cannon to visualize the reactions, the way the walk.. down to the simplest things like the gate of their step.
I soo desperately want to see Chetney (travis's characters always blow me out of the water) in action.. how he walks, smiles, how he moves.. FCG, I want to see the mechanisms, the way his wheels turn, how his mouth moves. Laudna and Fearne.. my god, again, really freaking cool characters. I have this image of Laudna, rackety, petite but with an almost floaty elegance to her step... no idea if that is anywhere even close to Marishas vision lol.
I know it is insanely selfish of me to say that that is all I want because these characters arent very fleshed out in the world yet, not enough experience for an artist to be able to portray them correctly (aside from travis, he probably knows every single aspect of Chet). I just want it soo badly because until that moment, my mind is just guessing in a hopeful arrogance.
All that aside, like I said, this roto is done very well and is insanely stylistic, it really is quite a visual experience.
I tend to agree. I want to see the characters, not the players.
Same
Yeah I have to agree, I’m here for the characters, not the players
Yeah, it was many episodes into Campaign 2 before we got the animated intro, so I think it is about having the characters more fleshed out like you said. I imagine we will get an intro with characters for Campaign 3 eventually
I 100% agree, this intro is just kind of... Meh to me
Even though this style isn't really my thing, I continue to appreciate how different all the intros have been. Keep being weird and experimenting!
Although I respect the time and effort that has gone into this, this doesn't grab me like the other openings have. The others followed a clear theme and this one doesn't seem to know what it wants to be between the blend of live action players, character traits and abstract colours and shapes.
I feel like if they had a different song choice it would be a lot better because the animation while not perfect is intriguing and has a sense of whimsy to it. The lyrics just don't back it up and feel too contemporary and clash with the themes present in the animation
My only real critique is that the animation often doesn't line up properly with the musical beats. Some moments would hit harder if they were timed up a bit sooner or later (example, Matt's book slamming shut right before the final "night." That would have much more impact if it came after the line and cut to black on the last drum sound and the logo came up on the denouement. I don't know music terms, forgive me.)
Honestly, by the appearance of that final clip, I believe that the audio is a bit delayed. It seems like the sound of the drums and flickering of flame was supposed to occur in sync, but it ended up happening a few seconds after the clip already began
Rotoscoping be hard yo
The audio appears to have not rendered correctly in the final render. I played the audio track with what I think was the correct sync (starting audio 3 sec in) and it matches up SO much better ("adding more allies" pans to the other part of the table where they have more allies", "rise" has Marisha standing up, book slams are on the beat in the beginning and end, etc. I hope they can go back and fix it because it's much more impactful that way.
@@bellavitagirl4 the audio of the logo burning at the end seems off too
Was just about to comment on this
Rotoscoping is absolutely SUCH a pain to do, so it pains me even more for the artists who had to do it when I say this intro just doesn't do it for me... It's just so choppy and doesn't really seem to have any rhyme or reason for being rotoscoped vs live action or fully animated.
I'm okay with the rotoscoping up until the bit with all of them at their sides of the table. That part looks just weird and fake to me.
I think this one's okay, but I definitely enjoyed the first way more.
My whole thing about this new intro is that they animated something they can easily film with cameras. If you're going to use animation you've got to use it to show something that isn't from real life. Something not easily filmed. Imo they wasted the potential of using animation as a medium.
@@elijahmiller2497 yeah, dunno why they didn't go all in with Travis to werewolf transition, or Marisha's unsettling presence. would be so cool to see it.
Yeah this one is visually fun but it doesn't blend with music as well as the first one.
I like it as another edition, but it is my least favorite. Your turn to roll is my favorite and I like most of the others as second place, but I've gotten to the point that I enjoy each new introduction as another one to add to the collection and enjoy more like fan art. I'm only happy that I've still got the previous one to go back to. If it was taken away that I could never see it again and only see this one, I would be pissed.
I'm gonna miss seeing the *incredible* slo-mo sections of the old intro, but this is fun too!
Yeah, the previous intro went perfectly hand in hand with the music composition. I absolutely loved the practical effects in it too.
This one is amazing, and it is phenomenal work, but I don't feel like it works with this intro music all too much.
The animation has a very up-beat and pop vibe, where the song can get very broody and mysterious, so it's a bit of a clash of tone.
But that's just my opinion, it still is an amazing intro :)
I just want to know why Marisha's hands were so dirty
@@MightBeCale no one said ichor was clean
@@MightBeCale more than likely a reference to her PC, Laudna!
Everyone had some encapsulation of their current character. Laudna has this necrotic inky black warlock magic
Audio sync is definitely weird in this version, but that seems like something they’re likely to clean up. I love the animated “fantasy” parts, but I miss the real faces in the table shots.
🙄🙄🙄🙄
Agreed. The music and what was occurring in the first C3 Intro matched up really well. I found the 'real faces' fit the tune and theme of the music better too. C2 intro was so amazing not just because of an awesome song, but also the visuals felt like they MATCHed the beat and Its what made C2 "Your turn to roll" so good. Visuals matching the tune and theme. C2 and the previous C3 intro also matched the beat and was in sync with the music. This is a poor end product and needs to be fixed.
@@MnJiman my theory is that it was a slapdash attempt to retcon the colonialist themes of the last intro
@@leauxgan what? What was colonialist about the last version? It was pretty much just a vague Indiana Jones parody mixed with fun table shots wasn’t it?
@@jubileemoquin Ya but people will jump at anythiny
It's amazing, but nothing will ever top Travis's slo-mo, terrified, hair-flopping reaction to Marisha. My wife and I laughed out loud at that part every single time!
I will miss not seeing real pure chaos at the table, but the colors in this are unbeatable
I was never a huge fan of the original, this one is great!
@@Benisuber1 same here
The facial expressions in the previous one were great, but this has good imagery.
The original was apparently racist
@@matthewevans3543 No, no it most certainly was not.
I, honestly, think I preferred the first one. I would say mainly because if there was going to be an animated intro done, why not do it of the games characters? Since it's just the players, the live action one just seemed better for that.
But it is what it is. Not like it's bad or anything.
or the player transitioning to the character, not just the flair like in this one.
I agree.
Exactly. I "knew" they would make a new intro but I thought it would be once the characters had a chance to flesh some stuff out.
They want the brand to be the players so they don't have to keep making new intros each time a character changes. The real downside to the animation is that it's hard to cut in credits for guest players now.
If I think about time and what's practical, It's better this way.
If a PC dies, we have to re edit this... I would not want to do that so early in the campaign.
I really love that each intro for Critical Role has been unique in their own ways.
The original intro for campaign 1, the low budget cosplay intro. It felt like a bunch of kids that used their pocket money to be able to buy some props to cosplay as their PCs.
The second intro for campaign 1, the high budget cosplay intro. It felt like a bunch of full time cosplayers that have the time, money and resources to be able to create cosplays of their PCs.
The original intro for campaign 2, the funky 80s romp intro. It invoked the image of a bunch of friends in the 80s heading over to their friend's place to play D&D and have fun regardless of background.
The second intro for campaign 2, the legendary animated intro. It really showed the viewers the world and who the PCs are, giving us hints of their backstories, their adventures and what they could face in the future.
The updated second intro for campaign 2, just a more grander version of the animated intro. It added details to the already legendary intro.
The Exandria Unlimited intro, shows off these beautiful landscapes and stained glass windows that depict locations and significant events in Exandria.
The original intro for campaign 3, the explorers intro. It showed the players and DM exploring this temple, a stand in for the world, dressed as stereotypical 19th-early 20th century explorers' gear.
And now the second intro for campaign 3, the rotoscoped intro. It blends the fantastical world with the animation with the real world players by animating over their actions.
All of them are unique in their own ways yet still feel distinctly Critical Role. Sure some will be more loved than others (everybody will absolutely love the animated intro and the updated animated intro), but you can't say they are bad. They all do their job and do them well. A lot of work would've had to go into each one, and we must accept that.
All that said, I look forward to see this intro more, though I do need to catch back up due to IRL obligations, and I look forward to what they end up making for the next intro, as given their track record, it will be unique and exciting.
Edit: fixed a typo that completely changed the meaning of a sentence.
Same
Not seeing the old one anymore saddens me. I loved the high definition slow-mo.
I dunno about anyone else but Travis in transformation just...Sends me.
I was actually hoping he'd scratch his own face off to transform the way he describes from old horror. But it still looked great
Seeing that come to life is probably a dream come true for him
He morbed out
This is the worst generation of slang, hands down.
@@chand911 nah, we are just getting old. Our parents felt the same way...
To be honest, I prefer the life action intro... Seeing everyone with the explorer outfits was really charming
Could you image what they could do on their current budget and production value if they attempted the C1 intro again?!?! The C1 intro was campy and fun and they did a good job with what they had... but if they tried it again it would be studio level awesome.
Same! Marisha in particular looks weird here, Sam too. Matt, Liam, and Talesin look great.
to others it was offensive :white colonialism
@@ionfalcom1 please say you are kidding?
@@Beagslie76 The campaign is set in Exandria's equivalent of South Asia, so "colonial era British explorer" is not the best choice of outfits.
This is definitely the roughest of the openings, but artistic rotoscoping is WAY outside what CR has done before. It’s very splashy and feels like a bunch of watercolor paintings come to life!
The first intro (Campaign 1 with slow motion) was rough, this is basically for the fans that didn't like the costumes for the other one
@@franciscoborjaescobarsuare5802 Anyone who was offended by the costumes of the original S3 is an absolute hyperwoke moron that should have been ignored entirely.
@@franciscoborjaescobarsuare5802 true but nearly everyone agrees the animated intro for C2 was the best. Honestly, if they'd done the characters instead of the players, this might have resonated with me more. Hopefully they do something like that in the future.
@@Killajake99 they prob will do a theme song for the actual group at some point and thats when they will be able to do the characters animated
@@Killajake99 If they kept exactly the same art style and did characters instead of cast I think if actually be quite keen on this one.
Initial impressions/things I liked:
- The playful energy of Laura coming through in the hexagon hopping
- The portrayal of Liam acting out Orym's maneuvers with the designs on the blade
- Marisha in classic standing-on-chair position*, then flicking Laudna goo off her fingers
- Capturing Travis' energy in general
- Taliesin taking a big swing in character as Ashton
*One of things that made me smile during EXU Calamity was how much this translated to Marisha trying to crawl under the table at tense/scary moments
Also having Tal's hand trembling too, INSANE attention to detail
Also the inclusion of Eshteross among the other past/temporary pcs leaves room for either another guest pc to be included or for another death
@@nickliderbach Um...Eshteross isn't a PC. Only Matt's ever voiced him.
Everything said here 100%
Travis's facial hair starting to wolf out was a great touch. I bet that's his favourite part, at least out of the parts that include him :P
Although with the Strongjaw Ale shirt, the way he was moving made me think of Grog before Chetney.
I enjoyed this, thought it was a fun twist of the idea of cosplaying their characters like the C1 intro.
Although I'll probably fast-forward it sometimes after seeing it a bunch. Unlike C2's Your Turn To Roll which usually had me singing along and fully pumped up every time, even watching an episode a day while catching up; I don't think I ever fast-forwarded past it. And I'm one of the least musical people I know.
This one seems well done, but doesn't grab me the same way in terms of driving energy in the music. I like it, and the fact that they all(?) sing on it with everyone getting at least a solo phrase.
I just realized on this rewatch (I keep trying to love it… I’m not sure it’s working) there are a BUNCH on nods back to their campaign 1 characters. Travis in the Strongjaw Ale and VM shirts, you can see Liam’s raven tattoo really well, and then when he casts gust it blow’s Marisha’s hair and she smiles, the rock Tal hits is residuum (I think), I probably missed more. I think it’s maybe pointing out how closely C3 is connected to C1? (Though we’re starting to get more nods to C2 now too.)
Critical Role made the mistake of making the C2 Intro so damn good. This is great, the animation is awesome and the style is cool... It's just hard to compare with actual perfection.
It's not. It's weak. It's ok to criticize. If we tell them, they will change
Agree wholeheartedly. I really do like this animation style but Your Turn to Roll was an absolute banger
I REALLY want to see a fully animated bell hell’s opening
@@jessicahermaszewskisergeil4197 "Your Turn to Roll" also doesn't alienate everyone watching from different timezones where _its not Thursday_
@@Sideway8 Yeah but no one's really bothered by that to begin with.
Dont get me wrong this is awsome but i still think C2 has the best intro
I hope that Your Turn to Roll returns with a new rendition for a proper Hells Bells animated intro
@@georgercop same here i felt like you got a better understanding of the mighty nine from the intro so it would be cool to see bells hells verison
@@georgercop That theme is so catchy.
Best for the song theme. However, this is the best for the animation. Campaign 2's is top tier and feels like an opening for an animation adaptation, but it doesn't capture Critical Role as what the show actually is, this one days, and it encapsulates Critical Role as a whole.
@@bessieburnet9816 This comment right here. Indeed as great as the anime opening in C2 is, it really doesn't tell you what you are about to watch.
While I appreciate the artwork and colors. I found that the perspective and camera angels of this made me dizzy. I feel that the previous intro was a lot smoother, and it didn't feel as "rushed." I also think that with the previous intro it better explained "What and Who is Critical Role." If someone was watching this for the first time it doesn't really make sense. I don't hate this but I don't love it either.
Completely agree! I got disoriented and had to resize it to be much smaller to be able to watch it.
Agreed, though I still enjoy this intro plenty. The biggest complaint I have is the flashing, it means photosensitive people won’t get to watch the intro, and since CR is allergic to content warnings, it could end up being dangerous if a photosensitive person were to tune in for the first time with no knowledge of what the intro is like.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one. This one gives me a weird vertigo/motion sickness. Which is weird, because I haven't gotten motion sick in 17 years. 😅
I must admit, I'm not a fan of his at all. Then again I felt the same with the first S3 trailer and now I love it so...
To me the animation is too "uncanny valley" and is a little unsettling in places. Plus, the characters are the focus for me and not the players.
My favourite intro of all is still "It's your turn to roll" of s2. Good animation, excellent pacing, no one getting more time than another and focusing on the characters, not the players.
Considering the bar set by the M9 intro, the live-action one was better imo. I think they should have waited and commissioned an animated intro like the one for C2, with the characters actually being in it and doing their things, giving them personality. Others have said the same thing, so I'm just adding my agreement to them.
While I enjoy the animation I feel like people wouldn't be nearly upset if we got a new song instead of them reusing the old one.
I have mixed feelings about this one. I absolutely love the concept and the colours however it still feels rough (weird jumps in the animation) and like it needed a bit more time
I think it’s because of the frame rate they chose for the animation mixed with it either being MoCap or pulled from live scenes
@@andrewjustice210 yeah and I think that the music being slightly off sync doesnt help either
Everytime I hear/see a new CR intro, I get so emotional. Hell, even the fan art gets to me, in the best of ways. From being a group of people who voiced characters that I grew up with, and seeing all of them be themselves, and loving each other, to creating and supporting a familial community who supports one another. Seeing Matt and Marisha get married, Laura and Travis having a wonderful super child, and Ashley full timing with the group. Being introduced to CR was one of the greatest things to happen in my life. I love all of you 💜
I'm not big fan of this intro - I don't feel like it sets the mood for the table as well as other past intros, but I also don't watch CR just for the intro so it's fine that it's not up my ally. Just like it's fine if it's not up yours. It doesn't take away from the show itself, even a bit.
Doesn't set the mood? How could it not set the mood when we have that shot of their characters' miniatures, the cast with their characters' elements and doing dramatic hero poses and is actually Critical Role themed? The previous one didn't. The explorer stuff has nothing to do with anything.
@@bessieburnet9816 Meh, it’s fine if you like it but I personally didn’t like the disconnect from serious singing to silly visuals and I can’t bring myself to like the lyrics
@@bessieburnet9816 just in general preferred the previous two to this but glad that you could like kt
@@bessieburnet9816 Glad you like this one, your opinion is valid, and so is mine and many others. If you don't see the disconnect between the intro and the show, that's fine, you don't have to.
@@claraclenky9843 I agree with you. I like the little touches of each character, but I dont like this style of animation at all. Its almost a little awkward and cringy. At the same time too serious and too childlike and playful. I cant really describe it better... I wasnt impressed when I saw it for the first time and my bf agreed with me. The thing Bessie Burnet said with them doing the hero poses... for me that is not a good thing. Marisha with the hero landing at one point - i cannot unsee the fact that she probably just fell/jumped from a chair. Its right at this border between purposfully being silly and having such good effects that it seems believebal and impressive. I dont know how difficult this style of animation is, how long it took or how expensive it was, but for me it seems almost a little cheap. As if a simple snapchat or instagram filter could do this stuff. What I really DID like was the beginning and ending with Matt. This gave me goosebumps, but the rest is just... meh. I dont think that I will mind it going forward, but I am definitely looking forward to the next Intro-Change. Hope I have expressed myself well enough.
I still miss seeing the characters in the animation just like season 2, because we always see who plays in the stream anyways. But this is just amazing and really loved the new opening
At least this has the characters in it, unlike the random unrelated explorer theme. It's clever how they put elements of the characters onto their players.
@@bessieburnet9816 I think it just takes time. The explorer based one is because the characters werent really fleshed out yet, so they didnt know how to incorporate them. Here they are, but a good animation can take years- longer than the characters have existed
If you notice though, aside from the opening mini shot, each of the cast gets an animated trait to connect them in:
Laura - Imogene’s Dancing Lights
Ashley - Fearne’s Horns and Ears
Taliesin - Ashton’s Hammer
Travis - Chutney’s Werewolf Form
Sam - (thanks for the info y’all!) FCG’s oil and gears
Liam - Orym’s Sword
Marisha - Laudna’s Ichor/Form Of Dread
The animation one will probably still come later on. We are only in the 20s in episode number still, the animated theme for C2 didn't come out till around episode 50. You don't want them to make an animation with their character too early only for one of them to die.
@@feitocomfruta probably the idea of drinking from the oil can. I know that is just him, but it is rainbow which is the color of oil in the sun, so that is probably his link.
I think the one in the jungle is better I just love how elaborate the sets looked even though it was kind of not a right fit it worked awesome
I also don't think the theme fits this intro as well as it did the previous one for this campaign. I felt like the previous intro kinda had the same charm as the first intro from the second campaign, the one were they were in the 70's.
Yeah... I think this is a quick fix into. There was backlash to the European conquistador theme from the first.
@@LindyDave If you're going to spend 20 episodes on a "quick fix" then you might as well spend 40.
@@abnon-tha3088 I'm not going to disagree with you. That is just the report I had gotten on the reasoning for the change. I had no problems myself with the original opening and didn't personally feel it was offensive. However, apparently someone did and they responded like this.
They should have had their animated selves morph into their characters.
yes not just hint at the characters.
Yes! This alone would solve sooooo much frustration!
And in the hero pose, give the 3 people a prop or something so they don't just look weird standing there while the other 4 are doing something character related.
Yes!
This is like Take On Me by A-ha made for nerds and I love it.
(p.s. thanks for including Dorian, Bertrand, Eshteross and Dusk in it. It's very sweet)
I was also thinking about that
It's so sweet to include them!! And they'll probably include more!
Yeah, seeing Dorian and Bertrand in the intro almost got me teared up
I wonder if they'll update that last shot of Matt with the 'guests' the same way they were tweaking the C2 animated intro to change who appeared in Matt's book as the campaign went on...
I’m mixed on the intro because while it’s very cool and the colors are amazing and all the little details are amazing, I’m still obsessed with the original intro. I feel like we didn’t have it for a long enough time. Also, this song is so good! Still so epic! But, Your Turn to Roll will never be topped. I do still miss that intro and that song. But, new campaign, new song, new intro, and all of them are amazing! Love it all! I look forward to an animated intro of the characters once we get far enough into the series!
By "original" you mean their 5th one..
Yeah, but the previous intro was racially insensitive by featuring colonial-era attire and aesthetic
@@cannotthinkofaname7904 Was it colonial? I thought they were just going for the "adventurer" look. Like, Indiana Jones kinda style. Or steampunk-ish, which is pre-World War I era.
@@Caitydid561 or scouts, in some cases. Sam's bandana.
@@cannotthinkofaname7904 racially insensitive how?
The retro theme one is still my favorite with Sam in the rainbow suspenders, Matt as the goth kid, and Travis the jock. It was just silly and fun!
that theme to this day is still my ringer tone.
Matt isn't a mall goth, those didn't really exist then. He's more like Eddie from Stranger Things.
@@jackyll Totally the metalhead, exactly.
oh yeah an instant classic, but animated C2 was top notch. first intro of C3 was cool and colourfull, and dayumn new music (that's played in the break) is a fucking banger.
this one is just plain weird.
Same
i guess what hooked me in C2's opening title was that you got to see more of how the characters interacted vs how the players looked. we see the players regularly in watching the show and its our collective imagination that builds that world around us but to have a visual identity with each character, between seeing knot run into an alleyway or jester playing with the traveler, it gave us a visual ground to stand on. now in C3 we are seeing the players and the characters act out their roles as if theyre the same and while an argument can be made that they are since it is DND, it still makes it hard for me, a viewer to connect with them on a fantasy level and therefore a personal level. And i understand as VAs you want to be seen more than heard, but to me, and maybe im wrong, idk, but to me, you are AMAZING VAs because you bring life into existence with your voices, you dont NEED to be seen. we love you for everything youve done and brought into the world and shaped the community but after setting the bar so high from C2 opening sequence, its hard to meet it in C3
Agreed. This feels like it's made for marketing VAs for those who don't know them, it's content with too much vanity. Honestly, everybody already knows who they are and what they do... there's no need for a celebrity hook - there's a need for high-budget fantasy hook that would excite and intrigue viewers, and this has nothing of it and feels wrong.
@@Lishtenbird most cringy part is when matt looks like a sexual predator in the first opening of C3...
I'll put this out there: We only got the C2 animated intro 44 episodes in, meanwhile we are only 24 episodes into C3. Also, it presumably took a while to make. Add in that apparently their C3 live action intro had so issues of tone deafness on colonial themes, this might have been a slightly speedier 'early campaign' opening to help avoid using the first one.
you put my thoughts in to words. if they wanted to do animated they should’ve used animation but this is just like putting a filter on live footage. I saw their minis and got hype then I was like ???
Well said!
Understanding the difficulty of appeasing a large demographic. I dislike this opening as compared to the previous one.
Season two opening was amazing, and I like the live action of the first season 3 opening! Even though it doesn’t really relate to the player characters!
If they had made this opening more relatable to the PC’s it would have been better!
I mean, don’t get me wrong! I do very much like the visual aspects of this video! And appreciate the the artistic efforts that went into creating this!
Yeah I agree I think it's a downgrade compared to the live action and I'm not a fan of the animation style compared to Your Turn to Roll
@@AussieRider20 I'm the total opposite. This at least connects to the fictional aspects of what they do, compared to the live action one. It's leagues better.
I still like the live action one better, but it's not bad to mix things up. Honestly, I wish they'd rotate all of them.
Same I liked the Jungle exploration theme one. This one isn't really my style and I would rank it at the bottom of them all but it certainly isn't horrible.
They went with this because a bunch of crybabies on Twitter said the previous intro was racist, lol
The only crybabies I've seen are the ones complaining they changed it. All the criticism about a south-east asian based continent having COLONIALIST vibes in their intro were legitimate, and wouldn't have been an issue if it weren't for people complaining that any fair complaints are "people getting uppity". Chill and enjoy the new intro.
@@RybackToTheFuture I just don't like the rotoscoped style mostly. Which is why I would rank it at the bottom. The rest I don't care about people will always find a way to be offended.
@@escobarisanoctopus that was a small group of Twitter trolls that I can count on one hand
This is… weird… The live action one was much more in sync with the song and, although its theme was really generic, it was incredibly well made and impactful. It's not a big deal, but I hope they make another one.
I assume they will eventually. They had to get this one out because people were finding the original C3 opener to be a bit colonial.
@@neoncaster They didn't "have" to do anything. The amount of people that had that issue were minuscule and the complaints were ridiculous to begin with.
@@neoncaster "People" it was like three people. I think they had to change it due to Robbie being in it and probably odd to have a cast member in the opening credits who isn't actually in the cast.
@@Myst031 the episode after he left they cut him out and reshuffled the shot order... if you hadn't seen the ones with him in it you wouldn't notice the change, and it was still better than this crap
@@neoncaster what the hell does colonial mean in this context?
When i noticed their signatures, it felt like the cast is presenting who they really are, not just their characters.
I noticed that too, especially when Tal used his telekinesis to hold up that gem ore....
I love that part
It's not that it is bad, but.. i really like the old intro SO MUCH MORE !!
yeah the previous one WAS REALLY IMPRESSIVE, this is good but fades in comparison
I love the hints of their previous characters blending into their current characters.
Laura doing a Jester like skip before the Imogen magic starts closing in.
Ashley cutting in with a two handed greatsword before being surrounded by flowers (still feels Yasha-ish, but also... Druid.)
Taliesin grabbing Cadueces' crystal before smashing it like a barbarian.
Travis using magic to defend himself with magic like Fjord before turning Chetney feral.
Sam's is a little weak since he's riding a sword like Yasha did and there is little FCG in there.
But then Liam comes in with a background of Caleb Amber as he grabs Orym's sword.
And last we have Marisha doing a Beau toughman walk before shooting out Laudna's ichor and weirdness.
LOVE IT!!!
Edit: @BethWood01 pointed out that there is also a Orym - Keyleth connection with the leaves blowing from Liam to Marisha. and @our Adventuring Party pointed out the cogs in the background of Sam's entrance, just above the mountains. NICE!
I came here just to point this out...about Sam, he's with Nott's flask before he "rolls" like FCG
There was actually a hint of Keyleth as well with the green leaves from Orym blowing toward her
You can see FCG's cogs being Sam as he snowboards down the hill.
oh wow i didn’t catch that at all! but love that idea so much
@@OurAdventuringParty Good catch!!
My god, the comments here are brutal. this intro is very in theme for CR. it works for their production company as they head up their third campaign and represents this company well. I think it’s very lovely and colorful and works for the tone of the show they are running. sorry for all the hate you have to sift through, CR social media team, I think this is an awesome intro.
Still doesn’t beat the Your Turn To Roll intro imo. I miss that song…
Nothing ever will, friend… nothing except The D&D Beyond thing lol
Yeah, now that felt like an anthem! Your turn to roll line also draws out the inner dnd nerd harder than its thurday night. This song feels too focused on increasing their brand and focusing on them versus the story they are creating. Like others have said, it would've been cooler seeing the characters because tbh, we see them at the table every time, not much in the way of art of seeing their characters in action
And the animation was fantastic. Such a great intro
@@andrewjustice210 YES! THIS!
@@andrewjustice210 lol the other day, that song was on loop in my head!
Randomly I'd go "You've got the perfect warlock..." 🤣
Everyone's faces look REALLY uncanny. The rotoscope just makes their faces look like a poor Snapchat filter :/ Hopefully it grows on me!!
I mean, it essentially is a filter. The rotoscoping was done via a computer algorithm. It's almost certainly not hand-drawn.
@@legathus Marisha said someone by the name of Minnow Mountain helped them animate it so maybe in the future we’ll get a bts look at it!
@SmugSmuggler Travis's face in the last few seconds goes to 4 different faces and none of them are his own
I really dig it!
I dunno about this intro, unfortunately. The rotoscoping seems off, maybe it's the audio syncing, or maybe it's not that exciting. I kinda see a generic Critical Role intro that could fit into any Thursday night show on the channel, and not a campaign 3 intro that really stands out or showcases the colorful cast of characters that everyone is playing like the ones in C1 or C2.
Looks like the audio is off by a couple seconds. Either way, I still like the live action more. The table scenes were fantastic.
Agree 100%
Same
My music will blow you away
They changed it super fast. I get that some people thought the last one was offensive, but I never saw it. It’s just a cool trope and setting.
I’m afraid this one doesn’t quite donut for me. There are some neat ideas in it, to be sure. But what i mostly don’t like is how the music doesn’t sync up anymore. In the live action one, in the verse you could see the cast solo. And in the chorus (which they all sing together) you see them at the table.
It works and I like some parts of it. But I hope they keep the live action one as well. Maybe take turns with the intros.
i think its an issue with the RUclips upload. While I was watching it live on Twitch last night, it synced SOOO much better, i was actually a bit shocked when I went to watch it again on RUclips today just to see the intro alone. I really hope they re-upload or something, because it is remarkably bad and out of sync on the current version here, lol.
My music will blow you away
I really doubt they'll bring the live action one back. There was a lot of controversy around using the explorer themes, especially since their current campaign is set in an area inspired by Asia/Africa. They'll probably be retiring that permanently. Too bad because I did like the idea of adding long-term guests to the credits, like they did with Robbie.
@@cryofpaine I really hope they did not retire it because of the explorer thing. I find it a bit hypocritical to tie the clothing to the problems of colonialism. Especially when CR has proven time and time again to be a very inclusive brand.
@@cryofpaine controversy? Why?
I love how each player got an aspect of their character represented in this. Werewolf Travis looks so happy!
I appreciate how each opening is like a completely different style and vibe from the previous ones.
I miss the animated C2 intro with the in-game characters featured. I think that's what we all want to see!
how ever did the animation is amazing and i will give masive propers to do i imaged to be just like this! so ty and hi to all the critters out there!
I like how they added flair of each person's character to the intro. Travis having a bit of a werewolf transformation, Marisha having the black dripping from her fingertips, Taliesin swinging his character's hammer. Nice touches that hint at the characters they are playing.
Could someone please explain to me why Sam is skiing downhill on a sword? I think I caught pretty much all of the other little character nods, but that one still has me confused.
@@rhuali-6006 same.
@@rhuali-6006 OMG I THINK I JUST FIGURED IT OUT
He's CUTTING the grass
@@rhuali-6006 he's surfing the sword to set up for Orym/Liam which could possibly refer his role as support, his more clear/obvious reference is in the background with the gears turning to represent machines, the sword could also (speculation) be a nod to 'cutting' grass as well as the fact that FCG doesn't have legs so would move sorta similarly to the way Sam did.
@@rhuali-6006 It's a callback to Campaign 2 when he did that as Nott
i still miss the campaign 2 intro (it was just soo well animated) but this is pretty fun!
From that first BOOM at the beginning, it was epic as hell.
yeah hoping that the opening for campaign 3 evolves from live-action, rotoscope, then full animation.
I miss Campaign 1 and the first half of 2 in general.
I love that theyre getting to be artists and do so much. Thank you to everyone on the CR team for everything you do. it means the world to me.
Rotoscoping was certainly a unique decision. Idk how I feel about it tbh. It gives some serious uncanny valley vibes for me
sometimes people are TOO nice.
As someone that only gets to listen to the podcast version, that was everything I wanted it to be.
Personally for now I like the old one better but this will definitely grow on me I mean it already has so it definitely will even more
That makes You, me, and like 5 other people who genuinely enjoyed the other intro.
Because apparently; and I didn’t know this until someone in my dnd group mentioned it, people heavily complained and bitched about the other one, because apparently people dressed up like Rick O’Connell & Evelyn… is cultural appropriation. 🤷🏼♂️
@@EmmettF.W. Seems whoever told you in your group didn't quite understand the problem people had with the other one.
Cultural appropriation is not the problem that people had with it. The issue was that the costumes and set were themed after what would be (charitably) called an "exploration" aesthetic. The issue is that the "exploration" aesthetic is actually just... costumes inspired by the outfits worn by colonisers during the time of colonisation.
Now, add that to the fact this campaign is set in Marquet, a place heavily inspired by areas of the real world that have a history with colonisation, and you might see why some people, especially POC (especially with connections to those areas), weren't happy with the old intro.
It was legitimate critique and was given (for the most part) in an informative and constructive manner. Clearly, the CR team understood, agreed, and changed the intro accordingly.
@@EmmettF.W. why do you call it bitching? people had criticisms about a piece of media, that's the most normal thing in the world. just because you didn't pick up on the implications doesn't mean they are not there. if you are actually interested, there are many many thoughtful explanations on why it's not the best idea to use colonialist cosplay in a SWANA campaign (or ever)
adults accept that no piece of media is perfect, and criticism is a healthy part of making anything. freaking out about criticism is useless.
The original wasn't problematic.
@@balijosu i disagree, but does it matter?
why does it bother you that people view cultural appropriation differently from you?
So thankful for a shout out to Dorian and Bertrand. These guys really know and love their fanbase. I feel I'm starting to become a full blown Critter. Best wishes from Poland.
That was... a lot of rotoscoping. I feel like this would have benefitted from being a combination of fully live with animation rather than all animation. 0:52 to 1:05 was particularly uncanny, and it genuinely took me a moment to recognize that as Liam at 1:12. I also found it jarring to see images of other characters in a completely different art style at 1:31.
It feels like they were in too much of a hurry to replace their previous opening...
If one of my creative decisions resulted in such long-lasting and vitriolic social media backlash that keeps coming with every episode where it airs, I'd be in a hurry too. Seems like this is the 'Chill Twitter the f* out until we're better able to animate something more complex' opening.
@@CalamityCanyon welp, that explains, but what was the backlash? did someone managed to get themself offended by bright colours or something?
@@swancrunch Apparently concerns about the colonial costumes of the previous opening. Which is an issue that I personally was unaware of until the release of this new opener. I respect that some people took issue with the outfits, and that CR wanted to make a timely response to those concerns. But I’m not sure why they didn’t just film new shots to replace the problematic ones, rather than trying to quickly fully animate a brand new opening.
Personally my favourite parts of the previous opening were all the non-colonial stuff anyway, since the costume stuff didn’t really have anything to do with D&D or the current story, anyway. (It seemed like a better fit for Taliesin’s Lovecraft-themed oneshot, down to using the same lanterns.) The slow motion around the table and the ending shot of the whole cast were fantastic.
I don't know about this one, previous intro and C2 intro were so much better than this. It feels like some early 2000's nickelodeon intro for a kids show xD. Hope they go back to animation or live action in the future!
honestly this is the first time I've liked the live action opening better than the animated opening
This is a big artistic swing and I applaud them so much for that! There are some really cool things in it. I also hope we'll get a character focused intro later on in the campaign, I love those.
Don’t mind me getting emotional at how happy they all look doing this. They always have so much fun together. It’s wonderful.
Nothing will beat the animated Campaign 2 Mighty Nein intro. That shit was legendary.
This is alright though!
The new one was okay but prefer the one they made it fit the song better.
So glad they kept the flaming d20 at the end. Classic
I'm a big fan of the first version, it connects to the song more. This animated version is beautiful, but I think suffers from an emotional disconnect that happens caused by the uncanny valley of rotoscoping. Looks great! A solid entry, but boy I just really got a kick out of the first version. I'm sure others will find that this version will hit them in a special way too.
personally I feel like the bright pastel colors really don't flow with the song itself
C2 animated intro was fathoms better. As others have pointed out, we see the people behind the characters all the times, its the characters we want to see brought to life. Might as well keep the live action intro they already have.
Very creative and interesting to watch. I think adding a little sound design through out the whole video would improve it a lot such as a clapping sound of some sort when Matt claps his hands in the beginning or a thud when Marisha jumps from her chair and so on.
Gotta admit, I much prefer the live action sequence. I'm actually a little disappointed that it's been swapped out already to be honest. The animation and style is nice I suppose, but for me, the fun and mischievousness shown in the live action intro is just brilliant. Ah well, I guess that's two minutes saved now...
I definitely prefer the C2 intro to this but, it isn't bad by any means. Hopefully as C3 progresses they'll do something similar.
You just know Travis was stoked to get a werewolf scene! Great intro as always!
At first, I got stoked to see the animated characters. As it stands though, the rotoscoping is neat and the colors are pretty, but I much prefer the live action intro.
D&D beyond 80's action cartoon is still the best, but this is fantastic too! Always great stuff coming from the CR studio.
This one is more similar to Undone (tv show) than a cartoon. Which is wild, because I was just rewatching that 😅
I do personally prefer the C2 opening sequence as well, and seriously miss it.
I wont deny the quality of both the new opening song and animation, but i personally hate it. Its a little corny/cheesy. Which i think was the point, but it didn't land for me personally.
@@Soulindex Because neither this nor Undone are traditional animation. They are both rotoscoped live action.
@@ringosis Actually Undone more heavily relied on projection mapping. I know rotoscoping is going to be the term that gets thrown around the most about this, but in Undone's case, they actually had a (really interesting!) write up about their process to achieve this look.
Your Turn To Roll is the Critical Role theme no matter the Campaign, to be honest. It encompasses everything the show is, and it's leagues better than this song.
There's a rescore of this to Aha's Take on Me running around tiktok that is ridiculously fitting.
I'm going to say here what I said on stream, this thing gave me some weird motion sickness/vertigo when I watched it live on twitch, I don't know if it has to do with the choppy animation or not, but I am going to have to avoid the intro video for the next...however long C3 lasts because wow that was bad.
Aye its the low frame rate, it's like vr, a certain segment of the population doesn't react well with it.
This is very cool but it's a hard fight to try and improve on "your turn to roll." The song was fucking awesome and seeing the characters animated was always the coolest thing. Plus all the homages to Molly, and the NPC'S, i wish we had something more like it's style
it was the drums and starting beat at the beginning that makes "your turn to roll" the best for me.
This is like... Better than I could do for sure! But it feels underwhelming after the others.
The Campaign or the Intro? Both feel underwhelming but better then I can do?
Saw an edit where they replaced the song with Take on Me and honestly it worked so well
I definitely appreciate this-especially Travis, Liam and Marisha’s moments-but I already miss the “old” C3 opening :(
well apparently that was "racist" and "imposing colonialism":
@@zarbonthedestroyer7232 Softies ruin everything.
@@zarbonthedestroyer7232 Excuse me what? When was that ever said
@@TheKroganMaster Twitter, where else?
@@OctoberFair Smh omg, I swear people are profesional crybabies. I saw more from other comments, it's just so odd to change such a good intro because of that.
love the song! not sure how I feel about the actual animation, but it'll grow on me!! I know how long rotoscoping takes haha. keep up the good work
Same, i think it's cool we can apreciate the effort put in Even if it aint quite our cup of tea
Funnily enough I'm the opposite, loved the animation with the subtle hints at old characters and the new. But I'm kind of sick of the song.
@@wastedgiraffe that's okay!! everyone has different tastes!!
I started as a DM about a month ago, this really pumps me up!
I don't comment often, but this might be the most uncanny opening I've ever seen.
That's interesting, I actually found the original really uncanny, even though it's real people in that. Maybe it was the super dramatic lighting and extremely high contrast combined with the over-the-top facial expression, but uncanny describes exactly how it made me feel. I skipped it whenever possible because just seeing it felt slightly uncomfortable to me. It's weird, can't even properly explain it...
Yeah, it's the rotoscoping of the people that makes it feel that way. It's been used in some interesting ways in animation history but, in general, rotoscoping (and the still-frame, vectorized version) always feels to me like somebody hired an artist who can't really draw and just traced over some photos. I'm not saying whatever artist did this is unable to draw, btw, just that this art style always feels to me like a cheat. Also, it's always super obvious and draws a lot of attention to its process rather than feeling like fluid art.
Tbh, having seen this now, I have to say I prefer the anime style of C2's "Your Turn To Roll" opening.
The artistry of this is just beautiful, but I have to admit that I really loved the previous one, where all y'all were frolicking around on set & it looked like you were having the time of your lives.
I liked the first one too, but a lot of people don't realize that they had to act that out every episode because Sam always forgot to push record on the camera. If you watch each one of them you'll see little mistakes, like Laura having a single strand of hair out of place by an 1/8 of an inch, or Taliesin forgetting to turn off his eldritch glory for a single frame. Still, we Critters were thankful for their efforts.
@@MrBlakeD82 ??????
@@RAZGR1Z I think they're trolling
Of all the CR intros this is definitely one of them. It's got music and everything.
Oh, that's that thing that people do in comments where they say nothing, thereby implying they don't like it. I've seen them kids do that on the Internet! Is so funneh! Now Tiktok dance for me!
@@elbruces *proceeds to flawlessly execute orange justice*
@@elbruces Oh, that’s the thing where someone pretends to be an old man to imply that the comment they’re replying to is unoriginal and childlike! How unoriginal and childlike.
And I’m doing the thing where you copy someone’s tone to show how unoriginal and childlike their reply was. Which is also unoriginal and childlike.
How unoriginal and childlike we all are. It’s almost like this is a RUclips Comment section.
@@calvinjohnson6242 Thanks for the summary Calvin. No cap. Let's end it on a note that CR is awesome, but this just quite didnt live up to my expectations. Hope they come up with an animated intro like they did with the M9, shit was lit.
@@jonathanthetoad185 Couldn’t have said it better myself.
it's nice, but kinda hits that "uncanny valley" area for me. Think i prefer either live action with the cast, or animated with the characters. Animated cast just feels weird.
The campagain and everything around CR is great so pls take this as construktive critisim. Imo the Intro is very much in the uncanny vally and it doesn't fit too well with the song. I like the RL intro with the cast and would wish that you show a bit more of the characters, if you decide on an animated intro. Keep up the good work!
My problem with this intro is that it doesn't really feel like something that a group of D&D players would make - it feels like something a company would make. I mean, as a D&D player myself, I personally would love to see an animation of my character rather than myself. It feels like a generic Critical Role opening rather than a Critical Role Campaign 3 Bell's Hells opening.
Honestly still like the first opening more. It was done so well and really captured the "adventuring" aspect of the show and the game.
This is also done masterfully for sure, and there's nothing wrong with it. But it doesn't excite me the same way the first opening did.
Honestly i loved the original intro we had for C3, which felt very relatable and homely. Just pure good vibes from the cast. This sort of pulls you out of that, at least for me
I think this is cool, fun, and fine and all of the people who worked on this should be proud because I'm sure it took weeks and not pay much mind to everyone who thinks they're entitled to other people's creativity wether they realize ot or not. It's your show, so make the show the way that fulfils you.
Ooh :( I wished to see their actual characters being animated.
It's definitely not bad (a little bit out of sync) and amazing but I was so excited to see an animatedly fcg, Ladna etc. They'd be so great and their attacks and transformations could be way more exaggerated instead of using the real players.
It'd be so great if they have the cast transform into their characters!
I like how all their names as they appear on the screen are written differently. I assume it's their signatures? Anyway, loved the new opening guys! Thanks a lot!
Definitely their signatures. They match what's in my DMG
What a crazy guess
Anyone else getting "Lord of the Rings"-1978 vibes? That rotoscope look always takes me back.
I confess, I liked the live action one better but, this is still pretty darned good!
Wait a second, are those Easter eggs?? I think you can briefly see them subtly transition from their past characters to their C3 characters???
0:16 Laura with Vex’s wink 😉 and then the playfulness of Jester, leaping into the role of Imogen
0:29 Ashley as Yasha swinging into view and finds herself in the Feywild, Yasha passing her sentiment towards flowers to Fearne's aesthetic.
0:37 Taliesin as Caduceus with the refined residuum crystal transforming into Ashton the earth genasi and break the crystal with his hammer
0:43 Travis as Fjord blocking the crystal shards with some sort of an arcane shield, and Chetney’s wolf form comes out for a moment.
1:05 Sam as Veth sledding down the snow with a sword in reference to “bladeboarding” during the Aeor arc at ep.115, then leaping into the air with patterns of cogs and gears in the background.
1:10 Liam catching the sword. Colours of flames from Caleb with Orym’s two moons in the background, blending with greens, then blasting fire with leaves swirling in the breeze.
1:15 for a second there, the wind from the air ashari catches in Marisha’s hair, then rising from Beau/Marisha’s signature perch, her hands dripping black ichor as Laudna.
Am I tripping??
Nope. I see it all there too. Its a nice statement that they are all one and one are all.
Think you’re right.
Besides the little Easter eggs I’m not sure how I feel about this intro, feels a bit off. But great work from the animation crew nonetheless!
@@TiaraStarbrighter I personally love this intro, but I get what you mean. I’d also like to see a character centric intro as well. Their first intro for MN is player focused too, and it was until they were level 7 and at ep44 when the mighty Nein animated intro came out, so there’s still time before another animated intro but more focused on the characters 😊 excited!
In terms of C3 intros I prefer the first one, not that this isn’t cool! But, what was cool about the first one was that they could slot the guest into that intro, like they did with Robbie. All they would have to do is get the guest to dress like their in a safari and shoot something simple and voila, their in the intro.
An animated intro with all the characters is probably the most ideal intro you can get though, because nothing has yet beaten the C2 animated intro. They might think it’s still too early for that though (C2 animated intro premiered in episode 44)
Bring back the live action one please. I liked it far better. This was too much colour about nothing, whereas the live action was the team in the adventure - it was awesome!
i doubt they'll do that, this ones less offensive.
@@ionfalcom1 how was the other one offensive?
@@Kyrbz Apparently some people believe when certain historical clothes are worn (explorers outfits) the people wearing them idealise that certain time period and all the negative associations that come with that (white culture over others, colonialism, slavery, etc).
Explorers clothes equals idealising colonialism to some, apparently.
I'd say those people don't understand that, like art for art's sake, historic clothes can be worn for their beauty or practicality, without claiming the historic times they come from were good.
Vintages fashion, not vintage values, I say. (Dandy Wellington did an interesting video on that). Alas, it's a thing nowadays for people to take offense about everything, and anything (in most cases white) people do is treading on eggshells.
@@ionfalcom1 Get a life with real meaning.