"You have to fall in love with the process to become great."
Blake Griffin, NBA Clippers Power Forward
Here to Drop Some Knowledge about Animation!
Friday, December 27, 2013
1st Spline Pass completed
Just got my 1st spline pass done and did body curve edits with some timing tweaks. Its starting to feel like i want it. Now I'll go in and do my second spline pass, really clean up my curves, timing, Arms/Legs contacts and poses where necessary. This is a tough one, I want him loose but not so loose he drifts and always moves. There's also a lot of "C" shape to "Inverse C" shapes in the phrasing of this shot so I dont want to over do it, but I also want to make sure he reads as being a bit tipsy.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Quote of the day
"Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the cross hairs and take them down."
Bill Murray, Rushmore.
never give up.
Morpheus 2 Is COMING SOON!!!
It's almost here. Being a backer has its perks! Just saw some really awesome facial controls. According to CG Monks Morpheus 2 is coming soon!
Animal Anatomy - Univ of Wisconsin Digital Collection
Woo, some really nice animal reference! See how it all works. Click and be amazed!!! Illustrations from Wilhelm Ellenberger and Hermann Baum, and medical illustrator, Hermann Dittrich ~1889ish. Totes Magotes!
Friday, December 20, 2013
Red9 Studio Pack Update v1.40
Some really cool tools that can speed up your anim workflow. Also, these tools are totally free BUT you can donate if you wish. Thanks much to Mark Jackson for his continued work on this beast.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Friday, November 29, 2013
Viva La Pappa Col Pomodoro!
Wow cooky and fun. I like the dance she gets into at 1:04. Its also really cool at the beginning when shes silhouette coming from back stage - she looks a bit like Chaplinesque to me.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
SUET - WEEEE!!!
Ok, going a new direction with a bit more appeal and natural acting choices. My prior blocking was too forced and felt unnatural. Did a quick lighting and pose test - viewport 2.0 - to get the mood feeling right - now on to blocking out my reference thumbs. So more to come shortly.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
The Wes Anderson Collection
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
My Photo of Venice 2013 - "Tre Gondole Blu"
Took this photo while walking the main channel with my wife.
Monday, October 28, 2013
1st Rough Block Pass - "I Am Ready!"
Just putting up my 1st rough blocking. Looks like I need to push some poses a bit and tweak some things. It's all part of the process!
Monday, September 16, 2013
This is a great idea - SPARKBOOK
Cedric Hohnstadt has created this awesome sketchbook to help people like us to get the most out of our posing. Click here to read more about his idea and also to purchase.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
"The Scarecrow" created by Moonbot Studios for Chiptole
Wow, stunning work. Solid animation backed by a really great story and a haunting melody performed by Fiona Apple. The camera work in this piece is pure magic. Gives me goosy bumps.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Bishop gets "NORMAL" Overalls
Ahh, you got a love normal maps. Creating my next acting piece assets, here i quickly modeled some overalls for Bishop and then exported the UV'd object to zBrush, where I sculpted some folds and pockets. Then I exported the normal map back to the low rez geo overalls - BINGO!
Monday, September 9, 2013
Final Animation Sequence for Collaboration Short with AM Alumni.
So here is the final sequence, please feel free to crit! Thanks to my awesome mentor Nicole Herr, my fellow Alumni peers and Animation Mentor. As soon as the short is finished I will post it, just so you can see how this piece ties into the whole.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
WIP Polish Sequence
Almost getting wrapped up here with the two shots. Overall its feeling a lot better, had to work on the hook-up a bit and it seems to be better. Also, added a smidge of motion blur to see how the hectic parts will be affected with blur. Feeling good with it, just one more pass and its finished.
AM Collab Piece BLOCKING - just my contribution with the end 2 shot sequence.
Blocking out my 2 shot sequence. It was a cool project. Got to meet new Animation Mentor Alums and also test out their new rig Rock Imp and their new pipeline software - AMP. All in all, really great experience - thanks much AM!
Monday, July 15, 2013
ANOUNCING! My FREE Bouncin' Ball Rig!!!
You want a place to start? Well then, start HERE! Announcing my first created rig- The Colossal FREE Bouncing Ball Rig!!! Now, first time animators, vets, and regular Joe Shmoe can take their animating skills to heights never before seen!!! Enjoy, and email me with your finished animation. Last but not least, like to give a shout out to my rigging instructor (Drum Roll...) Mr. Mauro Giacomazzo, for giving me the skillz to build this dandy rig!
Friday, June 28, 2013
Thumbs for Female Walk Cycle pg 1
There's a lot happening in a walk cycle. Here is what I thought were some of the more important features.
Reference - Female Walk
So, here's my female walk cycle reference. The reference is from Rhino House, a really great place to get biped and quadruped reference.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
The Making - How To Train Your Dragon - Finding Story
Wow, really great insight on the process of finding the story of this great movie. Some really great points on making the story king. With using everything in a scene to move the story along on the right direction.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
AM Class starts TODAY! --Round 2!
I was selected to participate in AM's Advanced Body Mechanics Class. I will be working with 5 other alumni
volunteers to create a sequence with a mentor guiding as a director.
In exchange we work with
specific assets (like limited sets and props) and the Tribes rigs only
for assignments. HA HAAA yeah, it will be great to dig into these new characters, also working with the my new mentor Chris Street, my Alumni and using the AM's proprietary pipeline -- AMP. Time to add to my chops, and sharpen my skills.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Friday, May 24, 2013
New Shot Video Reference
Shooting some video reference of myself of a new shot in the works. This dog owner is playing catch with his dog, well more like teasing him with the ball before he superman's the throw leaving the dog and himself disappointed.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Getting up and "running" again
Been quite for the past few weeks, been in the process of moving and recovering from a sore lower back. But back on line and all systems go.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Alaska
My wife and I took a summer trip to Alaska, I brought along my 7D to record our adventure. Enjoy!
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Weta's Tissue Solver - AMAZING!!!
Click the image to watch this insane piece about where Weta is taking character animation.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Hit Reaction Test
Here's my hit reaction test. I also did this for test for a game company. This animation was fun, just came up with a quick story and went to work on this.
Walk Cycle Test - 24 Frames
Did a walk cycle test for a game company. Practice, practice, and more practice..
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Acting for Animators - My Notes
Acting for Animators Notes
(My notes on the book Acting for Animators by Ed Hooks)
Covers just his 7 essential Acting concepts
Seven essential acting concepts:
1. Thinking tends to lead to conclusions; emotion tends to lead to action.
- Everything begins with the brain
- people don't just move they move for reason
- we think of things before the body does them
- emotion is a result of the thinking you do with your brain
- thinking and emotion is different. It's emotion that leads to action
- a emotion leads to action, and emotion is an automatic value response based on thinking
- we experience our emotions based on our personal values, we are all different but all of us
have certain traits in common
2. Acting is reacting. Acting is doing.
- all action is a reaction to something
- acting is also doing. Reacting also includes reacting to internal thought
ex - I'm thirsty or external event such as a fire alarm going off
3. Your character needs to have an objective.
- what is he doing? And what he's doing his action should be active in pursuit of objective
- your character needs to be doing something 100% of the time
- so action without a thought is impossible and an action without an objective is just a
mechanical thing
- the objective a character pursues informs the action
- need to know the action then ask yourself what the characters objective is
- acting is playing an action in pursuit of an objective while overcoming an obstacle
4. Your character should play an action until something happens to make him play a
different action.
- Your character should always be doing something
- action to action can be internal or external
- beads or beats are used to explain the action. Beads in a necklace example
- you need to be playing an action all the time
5. All the action begins with movement.
- Movement may be imperceptible at first - ex. Heartbeats and breathing
- action without movement is impossible
- and remember that movement is result of thinking
6. Empathy is the magic key. Audiences empathize with the emotion.
- Empathy means feeling into
- empathizing with the character we relate in a personal with how a character feels
- the theatrical transaction is between actor and audience, and the glue that holds it all
together is emotion
- humans empathize with emotion not thinking
- the goal of an animator is to expose emotion through the illusion of movement on screen
7. A scene is a negotiation.
- A scene requires an obstacle unless it is a pure connective or expository situation - ex.
Getting from one place to another
- you can think of a scene as a negotiation because negotiations inherently contain conflict
- conflict is not negative
three kinds of conflict:
1. Conflict with himself
2. Conflict with the other characters in a scene
3. Conflict with the situation
- conflict and obstacle are the same thing. They both lead to negotiation
(My notes on the book Acting for Animators by Ed Hooks)
Covers just his 7 essential Acting concepts
Seven essential acting concepts:
1. Thinking tends to lead to conclusions; emotion tends to lead to action.
- Everything begins with the brain
- people don't just move they move for reason
- we think of things before the body does them
- emotion is a result of the thinking you do with your brain
- thinking and emotion is different. It's emotion that leads to action
- a emotion leads to action, and emotion is an automatic value response based on thinking
- we experience our emotions based on our personal values, we are all different but all of us
have certain traits in common
2. Acting is reacting. Acting is doing.
- all action is a reaction to something
- acting is also doing. Reacting also includes reacting to internal thought
ex - I'm thirsty or external event such as a fire alarm going off
3. Your character needs to have an objective.
- what is he doing? And what he's doing his action should be active in pursuit of objective
- your character needs to be doing something 100% of the time
- so action without a thought is impossible and an action without an objective is just a
mechanical thing
- the objective a character pursues informs the action
- need to know the action then ask yourself what the characters objective is
- acting is playing an action in pursuit of an objective while overcoming an obstacle
4. Your character should play an action until something happens to make him play a
different action.
- Your character should always be doing something
- action to action can be internal or external
- beads or beats are used to explain the action. Beads in a necklace example
- you need to be playing an action all the time
5. All the action begins with movement.
- Movement may be imperceptible at first - ex. Heartbeats and breathing
- action without movement is impossible
- and remember that movement is result of thinking
6. Empathy is the magic key. Audiences empathize with the emotion.
- Empathy means feeling into
- empathizing with the character we relate in a personal with how a character feels
- the theatrical transaction is between actor and audience, and the glue that holds it all
together is emotion
- humans empathize with emotion not thinking
- the goal of an animator is to expose emotion through the illusion of movement on screen
7. A scene is a negotiation.
- A scene requires an obstacle unless it is a pure connective or expository situation - ex.
Getting from one place to another
- you can think of a scene as a negotiation because negotiations inherently contain conflict
- conflict is not negative
three kinds of conflict:
1. Conflict with himself
2. Conflict with the other characters in a scene
3. Conflict with the situation
- conflict and obstacle are the same thing. They both lead to negotiation
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Character Animation Reel - 2013
Here is my current 2013 reel. Still working on 2 new shots - 1 acting the other a body mechanics shot and they should be done in a few days. Thanks for viewing!.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Hulk Maquette by MARVEL
Just ordered this bad boy from Sideshow. Awesome inspiration! Its 25 inches tall and weighs 40 lbs! It's my graduation present. Sweeeeeet.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Acting Choices Workflow to Blocking
Here are my notes (so forgive the somewhat "notey" format) that I follow on what it takes to get into acting out a shot. First, just want to give a shout out to my AM mentor Mike Stern, Dreamworks Animator, to really laying down a great foundation and opening up the sky when it comes to approaching my shot. I hope this guides you as it has done for me.
Acting is instinctual, you know when its good. Focus on the essentials we want to be clear, honest, sincere, and simple. The audience is watching and wants to be entertained! That's are job!
Yes acting should be instinctual, we can start here and really dig in and root out what you can define as the truest response. But what if our actor is so different that we cant relate to its frame of mind and/or its physical body? ie a talking dragon with eight heads. Hmm, ok know we go to our imagination and shear away from our natural instincts. Easy enough, but how do we do that? Tools, or rather exercises that will help us get to where we can design our performance. Where an actor might take info and portray it through or on themselves, our jobs as animators, is to imagine info and portray it on another object - our character. We want to as I was taught, "tell the truth under imaginary circumstances."
First, we might want to recall emotion from memory, essentially method acting. Here we want to feel the moment. A good practice to learn is to take a single word from your dialogue and adjust your emotions with each delivery of the word. The idea here is to elicit certain responses and try and change the scene entirely. We could use improv and with improv we might want to look for important moments where status - the idea that an actor has control of one or many characters, can authenticate your shot or maybe look to power centers where leading with certain body parts donates one's opinion of oneself. A good rule of thumb is that with status the actor controlling the scene tends to be less animated and more in control of his/her actions. And with power center examples we could lead from the belly - sloth and lazy. Lead from the chest - high opinion on one self. How far our chin is from our chest can equate a sense of confidence, so the larger the space between chest and chin the greater the confidence. We could just hardwire the physical look of what we think "looks" correct. Forget the emotion and what's inside just give me the "correct" look for angry! This style is assoc. with David Mamet - Actor's are just tools " if they are doing this, then this is the emotion I want." Now that we have an idea on what it takes to get into our actors heads, we'll go into workflow.
My Workflow
1. Once you have the line, play it over and over again. Learn it inside and out, front to back and back to front - burn it into your brain. You want to know every little part of that dialogue.
2. Now grab your camera and get ready to film yourself. We want to act out our first inspiration - Are our first ideas cliche? Just keep this in your thoughts. Now, we will film as much as you can think of about the shot. Don't worry about getting it "right" we want to see as many possible ideas as possible so get dirty. We want to be loose and remember to go with your instincts. We are trying to find those gems where we get as "true" as possible to each phrase( a phrase is a single thought or emotion to define your beats usually defined by verbs and sometimes nouns).
3. Ok, now watch your all your reference and go through and pick out frames and or frame #s of what you think is working. We want to really look for those choices that are resonating and yet again most true to our scene.
4. Analyze the shot, know the context of the shot, whats the lead up to our scene? What are the actor/actor's thinking, whats the emotion I'm going for here?
5. Phrase out your scene. Remember phrase is a single thought or emotion. A change in thought means a change in pose. There are two causes to relate change internal and external. Good to really show contrast in phrasing happy to angry, excited to bored, etc. So think of that verb that best describes the beats of your dialogue and make those your phrases. Also, good to know that some scenes will have no phrase change, it could be just 1 phrase. But in general we want dialogue lines where there is a strong change of emotion.
6. Now take all your reference picks of what you think is working and edit it to 1 take. You can do this inside of QT, but I find it easy to do this in After Effects. What this gives us is a full take of our shot, so we get a really good idea of any of the body mechanics, transitions, etc. Along with this take we will still reference our individual picks because this gives us a huge source of info when it comes to the emotions and spontaneity. So we get the best of both worlds!
Remember we are animators, not rotoscopers! We want the essence of our reference to support our animation. So amp up the appeal!!! Also, make sure to push your reference further, weak poses will kill your shot.
Understand context!!! Know that a story is like a good song and cannot evolve on just chorus after chorus after chorus. We need those quiets before the loud.
Top things to remember while acting out your shot:
1. EXPLORATION.
2. ANALYZE Ask questions to really define the character and his world.
3. PHRASING define your beats from 1 frame to the next.
4. CONTEXT.
5. PERSONALITY the more your personality shows the better.
Acting is instinctual, you know when its good. Focus on the essentials we want to be clear, honest, sincere, and simple. The audience is watching and wants to be entertained! That's are job!
Yes acting should be instinctual, we can start here and really dig in and root out what you can define as the truest response. But what if our actor is so different that we cant relate to its frame of mind and/or its physical body? ie a talking dragon with eight heads. Hmm, ok know we go to our imagination and shear away from our natural instincts. Easy enough, but how do we do that? Tools, or rather exercises that will help us get to where we can design our performance. Where an actor might take info and portray it through or on themselves, our jobs as animators, is to imagine info and portray it on another object - our character. We want to as I was taught, "tell the truth under imaginary circumstances."
First, we might want to recall emotion from memory, essentially method acting. Here we want to feel the moment. A good practice to learn is to take a single word from your dialogue and adjust your emotions with each delivery of the word. The idea here is to elicit certain responses and try and change the scene entirely. We could use improv and with improv we might want to look for important moments where status - the idea that an actor has control of one or many characters, can authenticate your shot or maybe look to power centers where leading with certain body parts donates one's opinion of oneself. A good rule of thumb is that with status the actor controlling the scene tends to be less animated and more in control of his/her actions. And with power center examples we could lead from the belly - sloth and lazy. Lead from the chest - high opinion on one self. How far our chin is from our chest can equate a sense of confidence, so the larger the space between chest and chin the greater the confidence. We could just hardwire the physical look of what we think "looks" correct. Forget the emotion and what's inside just give me the "correct" look for angry! This style is assoc. with David Mamet - Actor's are just tools " if they are doing this, then this is the emotion I want." Now that we have an idea on what it takes to get into our actors heads, we'll go into workflow.
My Workflow
1. Once you have the line, play it over and over again. Learn it inside and out, front to back and back to front - burn it into your brain. You want to know every little part of that dialogue.
2. Now grab your camera and get ready to film yourself. We want to act out our first inspiration - Are our first ideas cliche? Just keep this in your thoughts. Now, we will film as much as you can think of about the shot. Don't worry about getting it "right" we want to see as many possible ideas as possible so get dirty. We want to be loose and remember to go with your instincts. We are trying to find those gems where we get as "true" as possible to each phrase( a phrase is a single thought or emotion to define your beats usually defined by verbs and sometimes nouns).
3. Ok, now watch your all your reference and go through and pick out frames and or frame #s of what you think is working. We want to really look for those choices that are resonating and yet again most true to our scene.
4. Analyze the shot, know the context of the shot, whats the lead up to our scene? What are the actor/actor's thinking, whats the emotion I'm going for here?
5. Phrase out your scene. Remember phrase is a single thought or emotion. A change in thought means a change in pose. There are two causes to relate change internal and external. Good to really show contrast in phrasing happy to angry, excited to bored, etc. So think of that verb that best describes the beats of your dialogue and make those your phrases. Also, good to know that some scenes will have no phrase change, it could be just 1 phrase. But in general we want dialogue lines where there is a strong change of emotion.
6. Now take all your reference picks of what you think is working and edit it to 1 take. You can do this inside of QT, but I find it easy to do this in After Effects. What this gives us is a full take of our shot, so we get a really good idea of any of the body mechanics, transitions, etc. Along with this take we will still reference our individual picks because this gives us a huge source of info when it comes to the emotions and spontaneity. So we get the best of both worlds!
Remember we are animators, not rotoscopers! We want the essence of our reference to support our animation. So amp up the appeal!!! Also, make sure to push your reference further, weak poses will kill your shot.
Understand context!!! Know that a story is like a good song and cannot evolve on just chorus after chorus after chorus. We need those quiets before the loud.
Top things to remember while acting out your shot:
1. EXPLORATION.
2. ANALYZE Ask questions to really define the character and his world.
3. PHRASING define your beats from 1 frame to the next.
4. CONTEXT.
5. PERSONALITY the more your personality shows the better.
Animals and Creatures Final Shot - The Haymaker
Just finished my final shot for AM's Animals and Creatures. I will be adding this shot to my upcoming 2013 reel.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
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