Animation in exaggerated form

Head over to Mike Nguyen's blog (via Cartoon Brew) and check out his post on exaggerated animation:

This physics is a reflection and take roots from the real-world based on our human experiences; this reflection does not follow exact step-for-steps of the real, but requires a reinterpretation from the artist.

There's a great little 2D animation clip and another piece on his July Films Inc. site. There's just something about 2D that 3D doesn't have for me. Although that Ice Age 3 trailer in front of Horton was awesome. :)

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Horton Hears a Who - CG Society article

Head over to CG Society for the "Production Focus" article on Horton.

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Analysis of a shot

The beauty of the web. So much information out there!!
Looks like more and more posts about a shot analysis pop up, love it! This time it's Alex Woo's post "Analysisof a Shot - All the President's Men". Speaking of which, I'm a bit behind with my movie updates. There's been an accident within my family, so critiques and long posts have been on the back burner.

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Walkcycles

Yep, just like bouncing balls, a walk cycle is an exercise you should master. They look easy but are hard as hell. Head over to Stephen Gregory's class blog for his walk cycle post.

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Daphne's new broom

Great short by Ales Mav. You know, every now and then I think about doing a short, but then I see the quality of the models, the environment, the renders, the sounds, etc. and I feel old. :)
I think a playblast with Milt is more my level! :)
Check out the frogs at around 1min 20sec. I love how the one on the water and how he floats to the left and the frog at the end of the short.



- found @ bobbyboom.blogspot

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Facial Expressions and Milt Kahl

Carlos Baena has two awesome posts on his site. First one about facial expressions, using the Seinfeld show as an example. Lots of great screen captures and important notes. I really want to highlight the first point of his:

Just because your character is upset or angry, doesn't mean that you should have an upset or angry expression. Sometimes a character that's so upset or sad that can't even handle their feelings, they display emotions through laughter or smile.

That's so true!

Next one is a humongous collection of Milt Kahl movies, notes, recordings, drawings, etc.

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The Art of Disney Animation Blog

Cooked Art points to "The Art of Disney Animation", which has TONS of really cool images and photos.

You'll get to see "Alice", "101 Dalmatians", "Ratatouille", "Robin Hood", "Aladdin", you also get info about Eric Larson, Wolfgang Reitherman, etc. etc.

Make sure to click on "Page suivante" (next page), and then pages 2 and 3 for a lot more.

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Interview with Andreas Deja

ultimatedisney got a good interview with animation legend Andreas Deja.

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Horton Hears a Who - Shot Progression by Jeff Gabor

UPDATE: Site is open again and you can watch the movie clip. GOOD STUFF! HOLY MOLY!



I don't know how he's allowed to post that before the DVD release, but according to Jeff Gabor, check back in a week or two for the clip. - found @ 3dtotal

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Stumbled onto tons of links

Every now and then I check the stats of this site and this time followed a link to someone called "Arien". He had a list of useful links on "Stumble!" and here they are:

Tutorials and Technical Information for 3D Modeling, Animation Setup, and Rendering
Tons of stuff about the trax editor, FK-IK Spine setup, Blendshapes, Footrolls, Gimble Lock, then links about Cloth, Rendereing, Texturing, etc.

Another was for abhimation.blogspot and the post "Dialogue Clips to Animate" has a good list of audio clips.

This next one is awesome. I thought I posted about it a while ago, but it's worth a repost. It's the Art Tutorial page of itchstudios.










Then there is this silhouette image from uxmatters by Kevin Cheng.


The next one cracked me because I'm so rarely sketching things out (because I SUCK big time), and then I see these elaborate renders for a bouncing ball assignment (courtesy of Kid-Mesh @ CGsociety)



Then you got this massive Maya Video Tutorial site. You have among others:
- Illustrator to Maya
- Blendshape controls
- Maya 3D Piston
- Mental Ray
- Suspension Rig
- Modeling Tutorials

etc. etc.

Another thing was an animation blinklist (?). Worth a look, you never know.

Next one is a classic site. I remember checking it out while I was a student. It's about walk cycles courtesy of Thinking Animation. Head over there for a cool example list of different walk attitudes.

Next one is another Maya tutorial list on 3d-tutorial.com. You got stuff like Animation Layers, Rigging examples, etc.

Next one is the "Things They Don't Teach in Art School #5" post @ Temple of the Seven Golden Camels
You should visit that site no matter what.


Next up is "Animation Critique". I haven't registered yet, but could be good. If you're unsure about your clip, the more eyes the better.


Then you have animationresourcecentre, which has tons of links to animation shorts. One of them being "Zoudov". Even though I wish the animation was more polished, I love the feel of it (the John Barry music helps a lot, classic).


Lastly, talino.org has a nice little tutorial section for Maya.

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Madagascar: The Crate Escape

Oh no, that song is back... But the penguins are awesome!

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Animation Mentor Newsletter March 2008

As always, I encourage everybody to sign up for the AM newsletters. :)

This month we got:

A free eBook with all of Shawn's Tips&Tricks - a total must have!

Myths of the Animation Industry by Mark Garabedian

Chris Clyde's "Building the Pyramid" short

Mentor Randy Haycock

Geekcorner: Weight in Animation by Wayne Gilbert

and more!

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New Wall-E Trailer kicks ass

Head over to Apple for the trailer in glorious HD
I know they call me Pixar fanboy at work but COME ON! Look at this trailer and tell me that it won't kick ass. How can you not be a fan of what they're doing when comparing their movies to what else is out there.

Could this be the first live-action appearance in a Pixar movie?

Notice how the glow fades away on her as she opens up.

This reminds me of Attack of the Clones.

That's the only weird thing. Live-action humans and those guys. Weird mix.

Looks like the little guy is leading a robo-revolution.

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Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - Poster

This version is funny! I just wish the dino would look at the mammoth. I think "direct' eye line contact (if that's a way to describe it) could be more menacing? I know, never happy...

Isn't this more menacing? (gotta love photoshop)

found @ impawards

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Dreamworks at the AAU

I got this reminder email today:

Dreamworks @ the AAU

Wed, March 12th
7pm, 491 Post St
Morgan Auditorium

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Dog Walk by Neil Parkinson

As I was going through google in search of rigs for Animation Buffet, I stumbled across this dog animation by Neil Parkinson (see his website here).
This happens to showcase what I was talking about yesterday in class about toe animation, how they would fan out once they hit the ground and curl back when the foot gets off the ground. It's subtle in this clip, but still there.

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Jonathan Paine

Head over to Jonathan Paine's site to check out his modeling and sculpting work. Really cool! Thanks Jeff for mentioning his site!

Here you get a good look at the pilot:

I like how their names are Bass and Treble, never noticed that before.

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