UPDATE - New Class in Fall

Looks like my rambling, which I disguise as teaching, wasn't that bad, because the AAU will let me teach in Fall again. So far the class is going to be for undergraduates.

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ANM 489 14 Character Animation Studio

7:00PM - 9:50PM
probably on a Thursday
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I will structure this class the same way as I'm doing it with the current character animation class. You can either follow the school syllabus, or make up your own assignments. But either way, the content of both ways will be the same, character animation. The syllabus of the studio class will have you doing walk cycles, run cycles, peformance, etc. But if you come from a class that made you do lots of cycles, and you are good at them and want to move on, then feel free. That's what I mean with "make up your own assignment". There's no need to waste your time.
But if I see that you haven't mastered the basic animation principles, then I will have you go back to bouncing balls. I won't let you do a 20 second two character dialogue piece, if you can't animate a bouncing ball. Mastering the basic principles is key.

The schedule and deadlines are up to you as well. Obviously a weekly critique is the minimum. For every class you should have an improved version of your work to show. But if your blocking or fixes are done one day after class, then why wait til next week and waste all that time? You can send me an email and I will critique it at home and post it on the class website. I will check every now and then how you are doing in terms of schedule, but it is also an exercise for you to be disciplined and to keep your deadlines (from your own syllabus or the AAU syllabus) without a constant reminder. Don't be a slacker.

I will critique your work with a general eye at first and then I will delve into the details. But I admit that I am very detail oriented, so expect lots of frame-by-frame analysis. I'm working on balancing this out more evenly :-)
I won't sugar coat your work, because I don't see why I should feed your illusions. I want to prepare you for the outside world, and if your work is ready for it, I will let you know, and if not, I'll definitely let you know.

There are some rigs out there that I won't recommend using (like Generi), not because they are not good, but because of unfortunate stereotypes. A lot of beginners are using Generi, which results in Generi being associated with beginners work. Duh! Yeah I know, but hear me out. If all you do is watch demo reels and most of them show crappy animation with Generi, at the end of the day, you will develop an antipathy against the little blue guy. So when he shows up, the initial feeling will be "Oh no, this is going to be crap.", and you don't want things like that working against you. What if the recruiter is so frustrated that the moment he sees Generi, he turns of the reel? I doubt you want that to happen.
And it's not just Generi, the rig with the guy in his undies and glasses is not too popular either. I would pick rigs that you can modify. So the best choice right now is the "Norman" rig. Check out my "Spline Doctors Archive" post and watch the student examples. It's crazy how different Norman can look.
Also, take a look at the Animation Mentor showreels. That's your competition as well. So I encourage you to modify your characters, give them character (not just through animation, but that's obviously your first priority), put them into context. For instance, if you are doing a box lift assignment, don't just have a grey Hogan or Norman lifting a poly box. Who is the guy? Where is he? What is he lifting up and why?
Obviously if your animation is super sweet, then you won't need a fancy set. But I encourage you to think beyond the assignment.

The overall goal of this class is for you to have work that you are proud of and that you want to put on your reel. If you are prepared and willing to work hard, with daily updates to show, then you can expect from me daily critique. If you have tons of classes and not too much time, with updates ready once a week in class, that's fine too, it's up to you.

But don't forget to have fun, because it shows in your work. :-)

Ok, my class outline got a bit longer than I expected...

Tata
Jean-Denis

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Animation Critique - Tongue test

Direct Link: Tongue Test

The path is good, but I think that overall the timing is too slow. I cut out some frames (which messed up the arcs) but in general, that's more what it should feel like, snappier, slow and fast parts (I cut too much stuff out during the ball grab, the grab should still have a slow part to it, namely when the tongue wraps around the ball - the tongue is pulling back, the ball is jumping forward, so this part needs to show the tension, the opposing forces at work - what you have right now is too slow, but the idea is correct, cut some frames out, but not as many as I did (quicktime has only one undo, right?)). Anyhoo, here's a rough idea:



Direct Link: New rough timing

I like the movement that you have in the monster at the end. It looks like he's swallowing the ball. It's a good idea to show the mass inside the monster.

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Spline Doctors Archive

I don't know if you guys went through the archives of the "Spline Doctors" blog, I hope you did. In case you haven't yet (shame on you), here's a grouped list of the posts:

Animation Tips & Tricks:
Thoughts on hand poses
Thinking about a shot
Broadcasting The Inevitable
I suck
Shot Surgery
Oh crap I posted
Shot polish
Water balloon head
Gestures part 1
Eyes have it
How to be good animator
To spline or not to spline podcast
Demo reel tips
Overlapp in style
One frame
Change
Being directed part 1
5 sets of eyes
Residual energy
Physicality in animation
Eyes in animation
Brows
Michael Caine videos
Animation "Phrasing"
Body Language
If you don't know your character, you're screwed
Pose to pose with layers
Answers aren't in animation (study real life)
Animation roundtable
The power of silhouette
Great spline tutorials
Read "The Illusion of Life"

Animation Examples:
Great cast of characters
Student film
I say good show very good show
Jay clay in da house baby
More student work
Spring 06 work- Level 1
Spring 06work - Level 2
Spring 06 work- Level 3 (creampuff)
Gear change
Mark Oftedals short films from Cal Arts
Pixar 2 student work- fall 06
Virgin voyage

Reference Material:
Reference book of day
Tigers and shapes
Milt Kahl thumbnails and more here
Watching what's around you
Scared straight off balance
Great site for reference (bbc motion gallery)

Various:
Who are your influences?
Want to really learn something about animation?
Animation Schools
Schools (follow up)
Dean Wellins Interview
Make your own flip book
Exclusive Glen Keane interview
Matt Williames' blog
Story Boredom
Andrew Stanton splinecast part 1
Andrew Stanton part 2
Andrew Stanton part 3
Top nine movies of2005
Collaborator, prima donna and fanboy (job interview)
Ralph Eggleston Interview
Ralph Eggleston Questions answered
Animation in Spain
Cal arts producers show and update
Interview with Mark Oftedal
Another Stanton Interview
Brad Bird splinecast

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Body Language in Animations

In that animation cliche thread was also a link to a site about "Body Language in Animations". Might be useful.

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Animation cliches

There's a nice little thread going on about animation/acting cliches. It's a good checklist.

Check it out @ CG-Char

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New Class in Fall

Looks like my rambling which I disguise as teaching wasn't that bad, because the AAU will let me teach in Fall again. So far the class is going to be for undergraduates:

ANM 499 14
Character Animation: Studio

7:00PM - 9:50PM
probably on a Thursday

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Pixar's "Ratatouille" - The Technical Ingredients

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Sigg Jones

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New Animation Mentor Newsletter

I hope that by now everybody signed up for the AM newsletter (didn't I write that before?). If not, then... WHY NOT? It's free and you want to learn all you can about animation, right? If you haven't signed up by now, then you're not really serious about this whole being-an-animator thingie. Unless you know everything about it already. ... Yeah, right.

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Featured in this month's newsletter:

Got the gig! Advice for Preparing for Your First Animation Job

Short Film: Chocogreed by Fernanda Veloso

Mentor: Mike Belzer - Disney Animator

Student: Valdimar Baldvinsson

Tips & Tricks with Shawn Kelly: Black Out Your Character

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Now if I were you I would also go back to previous issues:

• March 2007
• February 2007
• December 2006
• November 2006
• October 2006
• September 2006
• August 2006
• July 2006
• June 2006
• May 2006
• April 2006
• March 2006
• February 2006
• January 2006

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Use every resource that you can find!

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Pocoyo

As mentioned yesterday by Mr. Brown, check out "Pocoyo" on youtube.
Really cute design and fantastic animation timing, showing how far you can push snapiness.

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previous "Ratatouille" Featurette

for those who missed it:

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Disney/Pixar's "Ratatouillle" - Cooking 101

It seems to me that JV Pixar is now the best place for news about Pixar. There's a link to a new featurette about cooking, which shows new footage from the movie.

























pic source

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Great Animation Example

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Animation Critique: Character Balls (Jenna)

Direct Link: Jenna's Character Balls

Looking good!

As you get into the polishing, make sure to fix there things:

Little Ball:

After it turns around on the wall and jumps up, the timing of the jump needs a bit more love. Give it a little anticipation (add tiny squash to it), one or two frames of hangtime and a fall where it accelerates at the end. Sounds like a lot to squeeze in, but basically go from this timing: V (curves are very linear), to U (more rounded), just like you have the rest of the jumps. Also, delay the tail up movement so that it follow the ball, right now it's moving up at the same time (and give it some nice overlap just like during the jumps around the sack).
After the ball jumps onto the sack and falls back down, you have it land, and then it slowly rolls backwards. That's looks a bit funny because the tail is not moving, so it's not really rolling but moving across the floor. I would have it land and then take one or two tiny bounces backwards. And don't forget to animate the tail as it lands and bounces, right now it just falls down and then stops. The tail would bounce a little bit as well, don't have it look like it's glued to the floor.

Sack:

- I really like the little wobble you have with the foot as the ball is on him. Cute! What I would change is how the sack bends over afterwards. Right now he feels tired. But he was freaked out because of the ball and at the end he is mad and kicks the ball. So I would have him bend over fast, in a "What the...?!" attitude and then kick the ball.
Pose wise, is it possible to bend down the "shoulders" of the sack? The top part is very straight, it would be nice to have more of a curvature to it. Is that going to screw up all the top animation? Can you maybe pull up a joint that's in the middle of the sack? Let's take a look at the rig on Monday.

Keep going, nice work!

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Research & Reference

Before you start a shot, before you plan out your animation, you need to know everything about your character and the situation he/she/it is in.

For example, let's take the tennis shot that Marie is doing. If you are doing a serve and attack animation, then you need to know how tennis players do a serve, how they move, what the timing is, what typical poses and gestures you see with players, etc. etc. You can't start without that knowledge because you will end up doing a completely wrong move (unless you are already familiar with the tennis sport, but even then...). Do as much research as you can, study as much reference as you can. You will only profit from it.

My favorite research method besides real life observation is Google. It's not without a reason that I have Google Ads all over my web pages. Googles search engine is great and you will find so much material for your animation, it's almost endless. For this assignment I typed in "tennis serve" and found tons of great reference images and sites. And it took me only a few minutes. So type in relevant keywords for your research and go to work. I switched to image results and started to pick out the best images. Two of those led me to great sites about tennis.

For instance, check out www.revolutionarytennis.com. Step 12 on that site is all about "The Serve". It's absolutely fantastic because it includes tons of pictures of tennis pros doing a serve, step by step pictures of the different serve poses and tons of written information about it as well. Good stuff.

Then Dr. Google sent me to www.tennis4everyone.com. This site is great for those who prefer videos. They have brief clips about The Forehand, The Backhand, The Volley, etc. etc. And of course, The Serve. So check this clip out for a nice side view of the serve mechanics.

If you need more video reference, then check out www.bbcmotiongallery.com or youtube, google video, etc. etc.

And here are a few pictures of great serve poses, facial expressions, hand poses and general body poses that are so typical in the world of tennis:

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Animation Critique: extended Walkcycle (Joey)

Direct Link: Joey's Football Character

Looking great! The timing change works and I like the hand gesture that you added before he gets the ball.
If the last pose is how you are going to end the clip, then you need to make it a bit stronger silhouette wise. But even if you add the casual throw away, that pose could be pushed more. Look at the screen right arm. Pose it out so that you can read a clearer bend in his arm and silhouette for his hand and fingers.

Here are some images with nice poses or typical gestures of NFL players. A lot of them don't really apply to your clip, but I'm posting those for inspiration. Google for more images and make sure that your last pose really reads as a typical football pose.

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You need to have a plan.

Earl Bassett: "Damn it Valentine, you never plan ahead, you never take the long view, I mean here it is Monday and I'm already thinking of Wednesday... It is Monday right?"



Knowing what you are going to animate is essential. I know it sounds redundant, but so many students (me included) are starting a shot without really knowing what to do, waiting for happy accidents, etc.

Take a day and really think about the end result, try to see it in your head, draw thumbnails, act it out, have someone else act it out.

There are shots that took me days to block out, shots that were only a few seconds long. It's really frustrating.
But my "Ze Chair" shot took me two days to block out, and the shot is about 45 seconds long. Why? Because I knew absolutely everything about that shot (I'm not saying that what I knew was right :-) ). I had a plan and I knew what to do. Plus I was motivated and I had a lot of fun. All that helps a lot in terms of speed.

When someone asks you what is going to happen in your shot and you can't tell that person frame by frame what you are about to do, then you're not ready yet to start animating the shot. But of course that's also a bit unrealistic. You may be faced with a deadline and have no choice but to animate, no matter what. But other than that, use all the free time to plan out your shot. When you wait for the bus, at the bart station, in line at the post office, in the bath tub, etc. plan and act out your shot in your head. At least have a solid idea of what you want to do before you start.



John Winger:
I have a plan.

Russell Ziskey: Great, Custer had a plan, too.

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Polish Notes by Andrew Gordon

As I was cleaning my laptop hard drive I found this pdf by Andrew Gordon. I hope I'm allowed to repost those tips. If not, I'll take this post down immediatly.

General Polish Tips…

1) Plot your arcs on body parks such as the wrist.
2) Pay attention to your patterns
3) work on your physicality - re reference a move if needed...
4) Get your contact points working well (for ex: foot squashing when it
contacts ground)
5) Make sure you are starting and stopping your character properly
6) break up twinned poses
7) Fingers? are they animated?
8) so on and so on..

Facial polish stuff....

1) Avoid even timing on the jaw
2) Slow in and Out
3) Watch the corners of mouth
4) Arc corners and jaw in dialouge
5) Compress closed mouth shapes
6) Overlapp fleshy parts of mouth
7) Don’t forget to animate the cheeks where needed.
8) Layer in Squash and Stretch
9) Do close-up records for detail
10) anticipate shapes
11) Don’t over complicate brows
12) Remember how the eye works
13) Get those eye blinks looking good.
14) Don’t have those lids hit a wall
15) Change shapes on eye direction changes
16) Use the brow in conjunction with the eyes

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Why are CG animators so much slower than 2D animators?

Keith Lango has as usual great posts about this question and the comments are very insightful as well.

Make sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2.

I'm definitely guilty of noodling and I scrub through the timeline as much as I can, two major problems that Keith points out when it comes to wasting time.

He doesn't think that rigs are the culprit (unless they are super heavy), but even if they are light, posing out a CG character still takes a lot longer than drawing the same pose in my opinion. Yes, you can have a library of expressions and finger poses to speed up the rough blocking process, but once you get into polish mode tweaking facial featurees and fingers is a huge time sucker. To me definitely an area that needs improvement and where 2D animation has its advantages.

But I still have so much more to learn in terms of technique and work flow that I will shut up for now. Go read the posts, it's well worth it.

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Spline Doctor's "The Power of Silhouette"

The Spline Doctors got a new post about "Silhouette". As usual, don't miss it.

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