MORTIMER & BRACKET
Check out the short film by Andrew Chesworth.
Funny animation and nice art direction.
Found @ 3Dtotal
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Another Flip Post
I really like "Flip", make sure you check it out. This time Cameron posts an analysis of the judges and the performer on the UK version of American Idol.
Like he writes, watch the clip first, then his post.
Thanks for that post!
Peter & the Wolf
Annecy Winner! Looks awesome! For more info about "Peter & the Wolf", click here.
found @ Harald Siepermann
Monday, June 18, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
The 11second Club
The good old days of the 10second Club are gone. Unfortunately after a few technical problems the site died.
But now, thanks to Aja Bogdanoff, her husband Mark and other talented people, you will be getting the 11second Club! The premise is this: you get a dialogue clip every month, you animate to it and then people vote for their favorite animation. Having a monthly deadline is great (especially for lazy bastards like myself) and it's a lot of fun to see what other people came up with.
I remember the 10second Club in email form, then the different website versions. It was a blast to see 40 to 80 different versions of the same audio clip, different models, different sets, etc. etc.
Like in any other artform, practice makes perfect. So even if you have classes this summer, but especially if not, I suggest you check out that site and start submitting your work. I will try to do the same, but I don't want to throw out another empty promise... :-)
Tata
JD
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
The Power of Pyramids
by Cameron Fielding @ fliponline
Another interesting post by Cameron Fielding, examining the power of the pyramid in poses and the distribution of weight and focus. Go check it out!
Animator Friendly Rigging - walk timelapse
Timelapse video of a walk cycle created with the rig from Animator Friendly Rigging by Jason Schleifer.
jonhandhisdog.com
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Aardman Speaks
Learn to lip sync your 3D characters the Wallace and Gromit way with this 3D World tutorial in facial animation, based on the techniques used on CG projects at the legendary studio Aardman Animations
Head over to www.computerarts.co.uk for their tutorial.
Found @ Keith Lango's site
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Flip
Head over to "Flip" by Cameron Fielding.
Good site with tips and tricks illustrated via text and movies.
I can't wait to see his vampire short in action.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Friday, May 18, 2007
How to get a foot in the industry as a foreigner
I recently got an email asking me about my thoughts of coming to the U.S. in order to get a greencard and work for an animation company, and if you should try to get into bigger companies only in order to make it worth their while (greencard process is not cheap).
My 2 cents:
I wouldn't go for just the big companies, you need to try everything, which will obviously broaden the chance of getting hired. But greencards are hard to get. You can't just come over here and ask for one. First, you need an H1B work visa. You apply for those in April, and they are handed out to companies in October. But the number of Visas went down in recent years. They are so sought after, that this year, it took 1 day to fill up all the H1B applications...
So you need to find a company that will apply for you in April and then you can start there in October. Once you work there you can apply for the greencard (but not right away, unless you are insanely good and everybody wants to keep you). That process can last up to 7 years. Normally it's 5. The faster way is to get married, or to open up your own business (but the capital for that can be close to 7 figures). Hey, whatever it takes, right? (I hope not...)
There are two reasons that companies are not calling back.
1. They don't need people.
2. You're not good enough.
That's the bottom line. You can be the best animator in the world, but if the company is full and/or they have not enough money to add another employee, you won't get hired. Of course there are other reasons, but these are the major ones I believe.
Another solution would be to go to college here. Graduate, then get an OPT (Optional Practical Training), which is a work visa that lasts for a year. This will give you the advantage of being in the US for interviews and available for companies right away, instead of having to go through phone interviews and the hassle of relocation fees.
It's tough for foreigners at the moment. I'm obviously not an expert, these are just observations I made since I got here in '99.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Freedom!
Hey class,
I wanted to thank you again for your patience and endurance during my off topic rambling and mental harassment. :-)
Thanks for being my guinea pigs, I learned a lot from you!
I had a great time and I miss you guys already. I hope I was able to teach and inspire you and that you got something out of the class (besides the "300" brainwash...).
Good luck and all the best!
Freeeedoom!
Jean-Denis
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Semester End and Finals
Next week is the last class and I will be grading all your work. I'm down at the school only once a week, so please make sure to bring all your work next week to class. I'll have a folder ready for drop-off. Put everything you did during this semester in a folder with your full name and student ID. Again, next Monday is the last day, I won't be looking at work after that for grade changes. I will still critique your work if you are going to keep working on it after the semester ends, but in terms of grades, what I see on Monday is what determines the grade.
If you are sick or can't show up for some reason, let me know as soon as you can and send me your work via email.
Alright, one more week, work away!! :-)
Friday, May 4, 2007
Animation Critique: Ball with Character
Direct Link: Character Ball
About the ball/tongue clip:
The ball and tongue are done! Well, except the tail of the ball after
the snatch.
About the monster, I would tweak a few things:
- Around frames 220 to 224, when the eye follows the ball falling down,
the eye movement is a bit slow, loosing the urgency and alertness of the
monster. I would cut out frame 222 of the eye position. The eye is still
following the ball, but the movement is a bit faster.
- Now you can some live into the monster with it's eye (Monsters Inc.'s
Mike is good reference for that). For instance, once the tongue grabs
the ball and monster moves back after frame 260, starting at 266 I would
squint the eye (from 266 to 269 or something like that), showing the
effort it takes to swing back. You can open it back at around 273 over
two or three frames.
- At 280 for instance, the eye looks up, but the ball is next to it. I
would have the eye follow the ball. Again, with eye darts, locking on
the ball only every now and then.
- I would squint the eye during the end part of the spiralling (around
303 maybe?). Or at least during the swallow. Nothing big, but showing a
bit of effort.
- starting at 318 I would have the eye blink, try it, maybe it doesn't
fit, but give it a try.
- the end, after the monster expands (around 320), I would give it a
beat, then around 349, blink and look at the camera, and have a smile
appear. I would at least blink and look at the camera. Not just have it
stare up all the time.
Cheers
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Framing your shot
Observations on film art and Film Art
by Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell
Very interesting shot analysis in terms of framing and composition @ www.davidbordwell.com
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Animation Critique: Solo
Direct Link: Solo
Nice look! Don't forget the orange stripes on the side of the pants. :-)
Did you change the animation of the legs? For some reason it feels very rigid now. I would animate the knee cons. On the first lunge and second one, once he's in the pose, add a little knee wobble (on the leg that's forward, because it takes all the weight). I would add some ankle pushing during the lunges (especially on the back leg which pushes forward).
On the first lunge forward, it would be cool to see finger compression on the lower hand that supports the gun.
On the first gun pull back (antic) before the lunge, and that's anal, not that you would see it, but hey, track the tip of the gun. As you pull back, the gun goes back in a straight line, maybe drog the tip a bit so that the arc starts from the beginning.
On the settle after the first lunge, the settle is in one axis only, look at the tip and add left/right wiggle (tiny, just like the knee wiggle), adding to the up/down - back/forth that you have.
On the second lunge, the frame that has him close his eyes with his gun pointed upwards, I would tilt the gun counterclock wise towards the left screen corner, continuing the arc that you form with his body. You might have to lower the gun one frame before so it doesn't look like it's sticking.
Speaking of body curve, on that same frame with the closed eyes, try to take his right leg knee con, and move it screen left, so that his kneecap is goes to the right, which would show the bend in his leg (instead of knee cap straight on), which would continue the C curve by his body. Maybe even take his right arm elbow con and move it toward his face (that one is tricky, might cover up too much of his face - I'm just trying to give the whole body a C curve). It might screw up some frames after (especially the leg knee con change) but give it a try.
Animation Critique: Character Walk
Direct Link: Character Walk
The fixes you mentioned are working, the only thing that doesn't convince me is the end pose change.
What you have right now is a full body swing back into the main pose til 174, then just the ball arm til 177, then compression til the end. It feels too slow and too even to me. I would try this: Go into 174 with the full body and hold that pose for a few frames with a moving hold (don't just do the arm, add some body rotation to it), then go into 2/3rds of your compression pose and then compress into the full 3/3rd (I doubt this makes sense...). Basically instead of going into the pose at 174 and then slowly raising the arm and slowly compressing, you add another tiny anticipation, which is that hold on 174 for a few frames and then you can go into the compression a bit faster. If that doesn't make sense, let me know.
The other thing is frame 131, the ball, cut that. The ball is visible on frame 130 AND 131, which gives it a little slow down at the beginning.
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