Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
James Baxter's "Enchanted" Reel
Go to jamesbaxteranimation and watch his "Enchanted" demo reel. It's so good. I love those two shots (see pic). The movement, the flow, the rhythm, and not just by the character but also the hair and cloth, they all have character, they are all one. Those shots to me are THE prime example of how character animation should be done and why a lot of CG work is so cold because they lack that sense of rhythm. Why sim cloth and hair? Because it's hard as hell to animate it by hand, I know. But I can't wait to get animation controls all over hair and cloth. Very subjective of course but I could watch animation like that all day.
Pixar Cameos and Easter Eggs
Great post by Jim Hill, outlining a ton of cameos within the Pixar movies and shorts.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Critique - Working
Hey, nice set!
A few things need to change and get added. First, you need at least a visual cue that his walkie-talkie is beeping. But I suggest you find a beeping sound and some generic jungle background noise (check the school resource folder, there are tons of audio files in there).
The other thing is the bug. You need to either find a simpler rig, or make it much clearer what it is. It looks like crumbled paper or some trash right now :)
Then the first jump away is too fast. Make it clearer what it is. Maybe have the wings flap or move it around a bit as he crawls forward so we know exactly what it is. As the thing jumps away we finally get that this is a bug, but then it's already gone. So that beginning needs to be much clearer.
You might also work on the silhouette towards the end. You got his hand/walkie-talkie in front of his face and then right there the cup, so it's getting a bit crowded.
Nice start, keep going!
Madagascar Penguins get TV show
Get all the details @ Animated News
I wonder if the general audience had enough of penguins though...
Friday, December 7, 2007
December Animation Mentor Newsletter
Another AM newsletter is out, this time featuring:
Of course the always great Shawn Kelly's Tips & Tricks section
This time it's about how you know when your shot is done. He starts with:
1) When there is nothing mechanically wrong with the movement and the performances truly LIVE
2) When you're out of time
3) When the director says so
As always a good read, so go check it out!
Then we got:
Animation Mentor in the world!
Matt Wessel's short film
11secondclub winner & ecritique
Chris Chua - Mentor
Rose Rushbrooke - Student
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Critique - Marry
About your blocking:
The main thing that sticks out are the poses on x112+ and around x220. He looks like he's talking to those flat shapes. If he's that much in love, I would have him gaze to the horizon or the sky, like he's on cloud 9.
Also have him look more straight ahead with left/right direction changes inbetween (roughly). Right now he's a bit fixated on the screen left part.
Keep going!
Cheers
JD
Monday, December 3, 2007
2007 Annie Awards Nominations
from comingsoon.net
Congratulations Michal, that's awesome!!!
2007 ANNIE AWARD NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY
PRODUCTION CATEGORIES
Best Animated Feature
Bee Movie – DreamWorks Animation
Persepolis – Sony Pictures Classics
Ratatouille – Pixar Animation Studios
Surf's Up – Sony Pictures Animation
The Simpsons Movie – Twentieth Century Fox
Best Home Entertainment Production
Doctor Strange – MLG Productions
Futurama "Bender's Big Score" – The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television
Best Animated Short Subject
Everything Will Be OK – Bitter Films
How to Hook Up Your Home Theater – Walt Disney Feature Animation
Shorty McShorts' Shorts "Mascot Prep" – Walt Disney Television Animation
The Chestnut Tree – Picnic Pictures
Your Friend the Rat – Pixar Animation Studios
Best Animated Television Commercial
CVS Watering Can – Acme Filmworks
Esurance "Homeowners" – Wild Brain
Idaho Lottery: Twister – Acme Filmworks
Oregon Lottery "Alaska" – Laika/house
Power Shares Escape Average – Acme Filmworks
Best Animated Television Production
Jane and the Dragon – Weta Productions Limited & Nelvana Limited
Creative Comforts America – Aardman Animations
Moral Orel – ShadowMachine
Robot Chicken Star Wars- ShadowMachine
Kim Possible – Walt Disney Television Animation
Best Animated Television Production for Children
Chowder – Cartoon Network Studios
El Tigre – Nickelodeon
Little Einsteins – Disney Channel
Peep and the Big Wide World – Discovery Kids
The Backyardigans – Nickelodeon
Best Animated Video Game
Avatar: The Last Airbender "The Burning Earth" – THQ, Inc.
Bee Movie Game – Activision
Ratatouille – THQ, Inc.
Transformers: The Game – Blur Studios
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES
Animated Effects
Gary Bruins – "Ratatouille" – Pixar Animation Studios
Deborah Carlson – "Surf's Up" – Sony Pictures Animation
Ryan Laney – "Spider-Man 3" – Sony Pictures Imageworks
James Mansfield – "How to Hook Up Your Home Theater" – Walt Disney Feature Animation
Jon Reisch – "Ratatouille" – Pixar Animation Studios
Animation Production Artist
John Clark – "Surf's Up" – Sony Pictures Animation
Michael Isaak – "Bee Movie" – DreamWorks Animation
Hyun-Min Lee – "The Chestnut Tree" – Picnic Pictures
Natasha Liberman – "Growing Up Creepie "Creepie & The Candy Factory" – Taffy Entertainment LLC, Telegrael Teoranta, Discovery Communications Inc., SunWoo Entertainment, Peach Blossom Media
Jim Worthy – My Gym Partner's A Monkey "Meet the Spidermonkeys" – Cartoon Network Studios
Character Animation in a Feature Production
Dave Hardin – "Surf's Up" – Sony Pictures Animation
Alan Hawkins – "Surf's Up" – Sony Pictures Animation
Michal Makarewicz – "Ratatouille" – Pixar Animation Studios
Character Animation in a Television Production
Elizabeth Harvatine - Moral Orel "Nature 2" – ShadowMachine
Monica Kennedy – El Tigre – Nickelodeon
Eric Towner – Robot Chicken – ShadowMachine
Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
Sylvain Deboissy – "Surf's Up" – Sony Pictures Animation
Carter Goodrich – "Ratatouille" – Pixar Animation Studios
Character Design in an Animated Television Production
Jorge R. Gutierrez – El Tigre "Fistful of Collars" - Nickelodeon
Directing in an Animated Feature Production
Brad Bird "Ratatouille" – Pixar Animation Studios
Ash Brannon & Chris Buck "Surf's Up" – Sony Pictures Animation
Chris Miller & Raman Hui – "Shrek The Third" – DreamWorks Animation
Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi – "Persepolis" – Sony Pictures Classics
David Silverman – "The Simpsons Movie" – Twentieth Century Fox
Directing in an Animated Television Production
Seth Green "Robot Chicken Star Wars" – ShadowMachine
David Hartman - Tigger & Pooh "Turtles Need for Speed" – Walt Disney Television Animation
Raymie Muzquiz - Squirrel Boy "Gumfight at the S'Okay Corral" – Cartoon Network Studios
Howy Parkins – The Emperor's New School "Emperor's New Musical" - Walt Disney Television Animation
Gary Trousdale "Shrek The Halls" – DreamWorks Animation
Music in an Animated Feature Production
Olivier Bernet – "Persepolis" – Sony Pictures Classics
Danny Elfman, Rufus Wainwright & Rob Thomas – "Meet The Robinsons" – Walt Disney Feature Animation
Michael Giacchino – "Ratatouille" – Pixar Animation Studios
Rupert Gregson-Williams – "Bee Movie" – DreamWorks Animation
Amy Powers, Russ DeSalvo & Jeff Danna – "Disney Princess Enchanted Tales" – DisneyToon Studios/Walt Disney Video/Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Music in an Animated Television Production
Alf Clausen & Michael Price – The Simpsons "Yokel Chords" – Gracie Films in association with 20th Century Fox
Evan Lurie, Robert Scull & Steven Bernstein – The Backyardigans "International Super Spy" – Nickelodeon
Drew Neumann & Gregory Hinde – Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure – Cartoon Network Studios
Shawn Patterson – El Tigre "Yellow Pantera" – Nickelodeon
James L. Venable & Jennifer Kes Remington – Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends "The Bloo Superdude and the Magic Potato Power" – Cartoon Network Studios
Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Doug Chiang – "Beowulf" – Paramount Pictures
Harley Jessup – "Ratatouille" – Pixar Animation Studios
Marcelo Vignali – "Surf's Up" – Sony Pictures Animation
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Don Hall – "Meet The Robinsons" – Walt Disney Feature Animation
Denise Koyama – "Surf's Up" – Sony Pictures Animation
Ted Mathot – "Ratatouille" – Pixar Animation Studios
Sean Song – "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" – IMAGI Animation Studios
Nassos Vakalis – "Bee Movie" – DreamWorks Animation
Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production
Ben Balistreri – Danny Phantom "Torrent of Terror" – Nickelodeon
Aldin Baroza – The Replacements "London Calling" – Walt Disney Television Animation
Dave Bennett – Tom and Jerry Tales – Warner Bros. Animation
Steve Fonti – Family Guy "No Chris Left Behind" – Fox TV Animation/Fuzzy Door Productions
Roy Meurin – My Friends Tigger and Pooh "Good Night to Pooh" – Walt Disney Television Animation
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Janeane Garofalo – Voice of Collette – "Ratatouille" – Pixar Animation Studios
Ian Holm – Voice of Skinner – "Ratatouille" – Pixar Animation Studios
Julie Kavner – Voice of Marge Simpson – "The Simpsons Movie" – Twentieth Century Fox
Patton Oswalt – Voice of Remy – "Ratatouille" – Pixar Animation Studios
Patrick Warburton – Voice of Ken – "Bee Movie" – DreamWorks Animation
Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production
Scott Adsit – Voice of Clay Puppington – "Moral Orel" – ShadowMachine
Madison Davenport – Voice of Sophianna – "Christmas is Here Again!" – Easy To Dream Entertainment
Tom Kenny – Voice of SpongeBob – SpongeBob SquarePants "Spy Buddies" – Nickelodeon
Eartha Kitt – Voice of Yzma – The Emperor's New School "Emperor's New Musical" – Walt Disney Television Animation
Eddie Murphy – Voice of Donkey – "Shrek The Halls" - DreamWorks Animation
Writing in an Animated Feature Production
Brad Bird – "Ratatouille" – Pixar Animation Studios
James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Ian Maxtone-Graham, George Meyer, David, Mirkin, Mike Reiss, Mike Scully, Matt Selman, John Swartzwelder & Jon Vitti – "The Simpsons Movie" – Twentieth Century Fox
Don Rhymer and Ash Brannon & Chris Buck & Christopher Jenkins – "Surf's Up" – Sony Pictures Animation
Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud – "Persepolis" – Sony Pictures Classics
Writing in an Animated Television Production
C.H. Greenblatt & William Reiss – Chowder "Burple Nurples" – Cartoon Network Studios
Gene Grillo – Back at the Barnyard "Cowman and Ratboy" – Nickelodeon
Ian Maxtone-Graham & Billy Kimball – The Simpsons "24 Minutes" – Gracie Films
Christopher Painter – Squirrel Boy "I Only Have Eye For You" – Cartoon Network Studios
Tom Sheppard – My Gym Partner's A Monkey "The Butt of the Jake" – Cartoon Network Studios
WINSOR MCCAY AWARD WINNERS (career contributions to the art of animation)
John Canemaker - Animation historian, educator, Oscar winning filmmaker. Canemaker's tomes on Windsor McCay and Felix The Cat, his numerous books on Disney history (The Nine Old Men, Mary Blair, etc.) are essential references. Canemaker is Chair of NYU's Animation Program and won an Academy Award for his animated short The Moon And The Son: An Imagined Conversation.
Glen Keane - One of the leading lights in the current generation of Disney character animators, Keane's artistry has been the bedrock of many classic animated features since 1977. Most notably, Keane was lead animator of Ariel in The Little Mermaid, The Beast in Beauty and The Beast, and animated the characters Aladdin, Tarzan, Pocahontas in their respective Disney films. Aside from Disney he's worked on animated films of Star Trek and Alvin and the Chipmunks.
John Kricfalusi - Notorious animator Kricfalusi created the influential Ren & Stimpy Show in 1991. He restored an individual look to TV animation, pushing the envelope during the "creator-driven" movement of the 1990s. He also pioneered the use of artist-driven Flash animation. His animated films and design style currently influences a new generation of cartoonists, with which he communicates personally to through his blog.
JUNE FORAY (significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation)
Jerry Beck
UB IWERKS (technical achievement)
Jonathan Gay, Gary Grossman and Robert Tatsumi – the creators of FLASH computer software
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT ANNIE AWARD
Edward R. Leonard - promoting the Linux open system for animation in animation studios and gaming software development
CERTIFICATE OF MERIT
Marcus Adams
Jo Jo Batista
Steve Gattuso
Jon Reeves
Gemma Ross
Woodbury University
Friday, November 30, 2007
The Animal/Human Motion Show DVDs
There is a really great DVD set called "The Animal Motion Show" (Vol. 1 & 2) and "The Human Motion Show". They are very expensive at $60, so if you can rent them or borrow them, it's probably better, but it's still a good investment though, just eat and drink less for a week then you can buy it. :)
Go to Rhino for more information about the DVDs, but like you saw in class, they are very nerdy and detailed.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Enchanted
Saw it last week-end and it was great, very charming, funny, the songs were great and the 2D animation was fantastic. Screw CG, there is a life to drawings that CG just doesn't get (yet?). One shot had her walk then kinda run towards camera, with her hair and costume flowing and billowing. There was so much volume and weight to it, ahhhh, fantastic. A nightmare to do in CG and most cloth and hair is simulated to look and move realistically, there is no rhythm and flow... sigh... Anyway, good to see 2D again and the movie was great.
pic source
Yippee Ki-Yay Animation: Inside the Brain of The Orphanage
Got this email. Please let me know if you are going to attend and don't just ditch the class. If you don't show up I won't mark you absent as long as you let me know AND send in your work beforehand.
Please join us on Thursday, November 29, 2007 for this presentation:
TIME:
Reception 7:00 p.m.
Event 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
WHERE:
Academy of Art University Theatre Morgan Auditorium, Post & Mason
491 Post Street San Francisco, CA. 94102
We are honored to have Artists from one of the leading visual effects studios, The Orphanage, present an inside peek into the animation process for both feature films and television commercials. Creature Supervisor Corey Rosen and Animation Director David Andrews will treat the audience to some of The Orphanage’s most recent work with a special focus on two projects – this summer’s blockbuster Live Free or Die Hard and Director Genndy Tartakoysky’s commercial for Nicoderm. For Die Hard, David Andrews will discuss the pre-production in Houdini and the process of animating that work, with specific attention to the creative challenges of translating pre-viz to final imagery. Corey Rosen will use a recent Nicoderm spot as a case study, analyzing how The Orphanage created a new aesthetic using the iconography of traditional 2D for 3D animations.
pic source
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Victor Navone's Thumbnails
Head over to Victor Navone's site and check out his thumbnails for shots he planned out.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Spring 2008 Class
[YET ANOTHER UPDATE] Got this from the AAU:
There will be no more printed syllabi for on-site classes. Syllabi will be available for students – and yourselves – in the Student Pickup drive.
[ANOTHER UPDATE] So far we will meet in room 805.
CA3D 686.02 MS: Character Animation for Grads, Monday 7-10pm
Sounds like the class is already full, but will have more details soon.
[UPDATE]
For those students who signed up (and if you didn't but know people who did, please pass this message along):
I HIGHLY recommend that you DON'T take this class if you are:
- enrolled in Animation Mentor at the same time
- taking any Pixar class at the same time
- working or somehow too busy to attend and/or complete the assignments given in class
Due to recent experiences with students being too busy because of above mentioned reasons I highly discourage you from taking this class, because it's unfair to the other students if you're taking up a spot and then are not doing any work for that class, while other people would gladly work their butt off but can't because the class is full.
Sorry to be harsh but slackers are not welcome.
Emotion Chart
Depending on the show you sometimes get emotion charts, character studies, pose sheets, etc. This one is just fantastic!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Critique - Manager
I don't know why I never thought of it, but the "Employee of the Month" doesn't really work, since he's the manager. Wouldn't it be really funny to have "Manager of the Month" instead? Since he's the only manager, he'd always be manager of the month! :)
Posing wise it's all good but the pen click at around x158 looks too deliberate and draws a lot of attention to itself. I would just switch the pen from his right hand to his left in a causal way.
The other thing is the part from x270 on til "I'm sorry". It's just too busy. Keep all the business til then (with the above mentioned change), but after x270 I would keep it very contained, especially during the silence. When I watched it the first time I really wanted to look at his face and his eyes and see how bad he feels. The pen business takes away from it.
I'd try two things. Put the pen behind his ear DURING the I'm sorry part. And then another version with no pen business at all. He just says I'm sorry to the guys. I'm curious which one has more impact.
Good start, love the tie business.
Cheers
JD
Critique - Samurai
Alright, here we go, let's look at it in passes (chest, arms, etc.)
First off, start the walk earlier so that when you cut into shot he's already moving. Right now it looks like "And...ACTION!".
During the standing around moments, make sure to have some keep alive in his body with gentle swaying left right (super subtle, you don't what it to look swimmy and floaty). The body move from x196 to x202 is a bit fast. I would slow it down and mix it in with his upper body movement until x217.
The upper body could rotate back after x65 to x80. There's a very isolated and fast turn on x92 to x94. His head and arms move with it at the same time, make that more organic. What part of the body do you want to lead the rest of the body? The arms will be a bit delayed after the upper body turn. The arm swing around x100+ would influence his upper body, having the arm swing so isolated looks weird. Same goes for the arm movement around x180. Always think about what part of the body gets affected by moving another one. Again during the sword grab around x230 til x270. It gets better at the end.
Bend his arms a tiny bit on x59. When both arms are swinging it feels very stiff. Screen left arm goes up in a very mechanical way and then sticks there at around x79, same with the other arm x84. Delay his arms during the body turn around x90. His arms would just re-adjust or stay in his defiant pose, they wouldn't really swing. The "regret anything" screen right arm swing is way too big and feels a bit over acted. Keep it small. I'm always in favor of eliminating gestures and have it all in the face. But give it a shot with a much smaller arm swing, let's see how much you can get away with. The arm gesture around x175 is very big, very fast and very isolated. Pretty much all the movement is in the forearm. Think about the upper arm, shoulders and chest. Now, the gesture itself is very non threatening, mainly because of the pose around x192. The way he points forward but then brings his arm/hand/fingers back is not very warrior like. He has to be intimidating at all times. The screen right arm move to his weapon towards x205 is also too fast. Fast movements don't work with his voice, he seems very threatening, sure of himself, calm, serious, etc. any fast movement takes away from that. So keep it slow and controlled. Again with the screen left sword handle move at x232. At least the upper arm moves as well, so it's not completely isolated to the forearm, but think of the shoulder and chest, they will have to move as well.
Your sword is moving without being touched at x237. Make it clear that something is influencing the weapon in its movement, keep it slow and threatening.
His head is very fast and stops like it hits a wall at x94. Tone down the movement as well.
Same goes with the whole taking sword (or should it be Katana?) out and fight stance part. You got giant movement from x284 to x288. Keep it elegant, slow, threatening. Find reference of people doing that.
Watch Samurai movies, really study the movements and focus on showing the intensity and threat in his face.
Cheers
JD
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
