Chuck Jones Experience

Thanks Kevin for putting this together. The show was inspiring. Be sure to stop by the exhibit at Circus Circus when you get a chance.

Fire It Up!

Eye Blink Tutorial

This is great. So much can go into something that is so quick and simple. Just remember that everything counts. The whole face is gonna move. Happy animating.

Thought of You: Ryan Woodward

This animated piece by Ryan Woodward is beautiful, elegant and sophisticated. This was a personal project for him and his process can be viewed on his website here >>

Lifedrawing is a passion of mine, so seeing this done with conte crayon, gesture lines and clear poses, animated in this way is very inspiring.

He also posted a cool "Making Of" featurette on Vimeo for us to learn about the process by which this is done. Nice work Ryan! You got a lot of fans here who appreciate what you created. Keep up the good work.

Randolf

Thought of You - Behind the Scenes Preview - ROUGH CUT from Cambell Christensen on Vimeo.

Animation Breakdown: 11 Sec. Club Entry

Marcus Tee is an animator coming from Malaysia. We are happy that he posted his animation process in this entry to the 11 Second Club Animation Contest. Pay close attention to how he's breaking everything down, like his key poses, timing, then breaking down the movement to his extremes and refinement. His process is below, its pretty nice, simple and easy to follow.

1. Rough Thumbs (Posing and Preplanning)
2. Key Poses - General Blockin (Stepped)
3. Extremes - Anticipation and followthrough keyframes
4. In Betweening - 1st round of refinement (Spline)
5. Hand and wrist animation
6. Face and Lip Sync Animation
7. Polishing (Curve Smoothing)
8. Tie Animation (2ndary Motion and Overlapping Animation)

Be sure to check out his site here >>

And of course his demo reel...

Artbeats: Video Reference Site

Ever need video reference to help you animate a baseball pitch, various animal walks, or people doing various activities, be sure to check out Artbeats.com. They have lots of royalty free video footage to help you with your animations.

Visit Artbeats.com by clicking here >>

To view/download a low rez quicktime file, find and click the link on the right hand column, to download your video.

Happy animating!

Fire it up!

Randolf



Pigeon Impossible

"Pigeon Impossible" is a clever animated short produced by animator Lucas Martell. I liked many things about it, particularly the clever story, characters, overall digital execution, soundtrack (his music is "off the hook" - how in the heck did you pull that off?), and after looking at this piece, I also noticed that he's got a lot of "behind the scenes" featurettes, so you can experience many the many struggles he faced during the production process. These featurettes are also well designed and entertaining. Thanks Isaac for sharing.

Check out the animation and take a few moments to check out some of the "Behind the Scenes" clips...simply inspiring from an "animator" standpiont.

Thanks for sharing Lucas, keep up the great work. We'll keep an eye out for your next project.

Enjoy!

His featurette about writing and developing his script is below...

Gesture vs. Lip Sync: Fidel Castro

Which do you feel is most important?

In my animation classes, especially the ones where we focus on acting and movement, the topic of gesture arises. Gesture in essence, is body language, and if you can get the gesture of a character down, if you can make him look like he's saying it, then the lip sync is "icing on the cake" and makes the animation better.

Animate gesture first and make sure it communicates, your character animation will turn out much better. This clip is a perfect example of this. Thanks Trevor the link. Way to go Fidel!

Cheers and Enjoy!

20 Animations Nominated for Oscar Consideration

The Hollywood Reporter posted the list 20 features were nominated for Oscar considerations this year (11/11/09). That's great news. It shows that the general public likes the medium, and that the industry supports it. In the past, only three films could be nominated, but since there are now twenty, five will be selected. Here is the list...thanks Dr. Duncan for the heads up...exciting to see who will win.

Does anyone here have a favorite? Me? Meatballs!

• "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" (Fox 2000)
• "Astro Boy" (Summit)
• "Battle for Terra" (Lionsgate)
• "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" (Sony Animation)
• "Coraline" (Focus)
• "Disney's A Christmas Carol" (Disney)
• "The Dolphin – Story of a Dreamer" (20th Century Fox)
• "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (20th Century Fox)
• "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" (20th Century Fox)
• "Mary & Max" (IFC)
• "The Missing Lynx" (Kandor Graphics, YaYa! Films)
• "Monsters vs. Aliens" (DreamWorks Animation)
• "9" (Focus)
• "Planet 51" (Sony)
• "Ponyo" (Disney and Studio Ghibli)
• "The Princess and the Frog" (Disney)
• "The Secret of Kells" (Les Armateurs, Viva Film, Cartoon Saloon, France 2 Cinema)
• "Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure" (Disney)
• "A Town Called Panic" (Studio Canal)
• "Up" (Disney/Pixar)

Preparing for the Animation Industry: Animation Mentor

On the Animation Mentor - Tips and Tricks Blog, there is a posting about how to prepare for the animation industry. The blog post is informative and covers the following, but if you think about it, the advice crosses many disciplines. Visual Effects and Game Art and Design professionals would benefit from this advice as well. The blogpost includes:

• Know the studio and the work they create, so you can tailor your reel.
• Avoid putting work in your demo reel other than your own.
• Keep in mind that you will be hired during crunchtime - so meet those deadlines.
• Check your ego/attitude at the door.

The last one is interesting. Lots has to be said about being humble and open to critique. Having an attitude that prevents this stifles growth, and nobody will want to be with you because you will be deemed hard to work with.

Check out and bookmark the blogpost here >>.

Keep drawing, painting and animating.

Fire it Up!

Randolf

How to Break Into the Animation Industry

Allow me to add some gasoline to your "animation fire". Clay Kaytis, blog host of the Animation Podcast, interviews professional animators working in the field and posts these interviews on his blog. His latest podcast is going to be of some interest to you if you are interested in breaking into the animation industry. In it, he interviews 4 animators currently working in industry at Disney, and they share many great tidbits of advice to help you improve and break into the animation industry.

Collectively, each animator talks about the following:

• Going to college to study animation.
• Continuing the practice of drawing.
• How to tailor your portfolio?
• Creating a voice and versatility in your work?
• Importance of figure and gesture drawing?
• Getting feedback on your work.
• What is it like working in an animation studio...good and bad.
• Importance of having "the drive".
• Starting out, aiming high.
• Having fun.
• Getting out of a creative or professional rut.
• The importance of working on your own projects...

Great advice! Are we crazy to want to be part of this industry? I think so.

The interview can be heard on the Animationmentor.com site, a great resource for learning how to animate from professionals in the industry.

Hopefully, these interviews inspire you. Keep drawing, keep painting and keep animating.

Fire it up!

- Randolf