Changes

Hey guys,

I recieved my new laptop a few days ago. It's a really cool shiny new macBook Pro. I've never had a mac before so I'm pretty excited about it. Unfortunately I'm going to have to go without a few things though. First, I found out I can't use my 2d animation software since they aren't universal. Then I found out I can't install the driver for my tablet since it only supports mac os9. I guess it's a good time for an upgrade anyway. Lol, it's not like I have a wacom or anything though, just a simple aiptek tablet. A few minutes ago I realised I won't be able to update my website while I'm at SCAD because I created it using Frontpage. I bought office 2004 for the mac but frontpage didn't come with it. I'll check to see if there's a mac version of frontpage. Until then I'll have to go without updating my site. I will continue to update this blog though, so no worries. =D

Extension

So, I heard from Disney today...they said they're still reviewing and they'll let us know the results after the holidays. Lol, I don't know how much more suspense I can take. XD

It's Coming

The moment of truth approaches...I'll find out the results for Disney's Talent Development Program reel review either tomorrow or Wednesday. I have to drive my grandmother to and from court tomorrow and I have to take my other grandmother to the eye doctor on Wednesday, but you can believe I will be checking my email every hour that I'm home until I hear something!

In other news, I'm not expecting to get very much if anything done on my Rosco shot at all this week. I have nine coloring book pages due by noon on Thursday and everyday this week has been/will be spent driving people around and/or doing menial tasks for them. It's pretty annoying how I was badgered and fussed at about getting a job and now that I finally have a project, no one will leave me alone long enough to get it done. I could see if I wanted just wanted to have fun with my friends all day, but it's quite the opposite. I haven't hung out with them at all since I've been back in November.

I just want to be able to sit and do my work for at least eight uninterrupted hours a day, just like the wonderful people who get to go to work all day. Is that too much to ask for? :\

The Next Pass

Hey guys,

Here's a look at the next pass I did on my shot. There are still a few kinks in the head and spine but for the most part every thing's as it should be.




As usual all comments and critiques are more than welcome and greatly appreciated!

Progress

Hey guys,

I just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten about the shot I was working on last week. I worked on refining the hips, spine and head today, and I'll post a playblast once that pass is complete. Things are just going slower than usual now that I have a freelance project to do. I'm not complaining though, it feels awesome to be getting paid to draw! I know getting paid to animate all day will be a million times better, lol.

Speaking of which, it seems Disney has started their review for entry into January's Talent Development Program. I'll be on pins and needles for the results from now till the 19th. I REALLY hope I get in this time!!!!!!!!!

First Art Job!

Hey guys,

I'm very happy to announce I just received my first illustration freelance project! =D Unfortunately, that means I have less time to spend on my shot. I'm still going to try to work on it as much as possible, but my new project has to come first since it's an official job. I'm really excited about it! Hopefully this is the beginning of people actually accepting my proposals instead of ignoring them. XD

Shot Progression

Hey guys,

I thought it would be a fun idea to string together the different stages that my shot has and will go through up to completion and post them here. I usually refrain from showing the first spline pass of my work to people because it's usually pretty embarrassing. This version is no exception but it's not nearly as bad as it could be. in fact most of the glaring problems are the result of careless mistakes, such as forgetting to do the ik/fk switch on the arm over one frame and forgetting to use copied pairs for the hold around frame 162. Lol, both of those things should have been and usually are done during my blocking stage.

I'm trying a new workflow for this shot as well. I usually convert the animation to flat bit by bit. This time I did a very rough pass on everything for the whole shot. I'll then go back and start tweaking body parts throughout the length of the shot. I'm curious to see if this method is faster than my previous workflow. I think it is simply based on what the first refining pass looks like. I've never fleshed out a shot in the blocking stage as much as i have with this one and I end up having to reanimate a lot of stuff as the result. Since I've broken down the blocking so much, it looks like everything is essentially all there, if you can look past the awful arm spazzes and bits of floatyness.

I've learned something new already though. Previously, I would convert everything to flat and then go a genera smoothing pass on each translation and rotation attribute for every control individually. I did that for 98% of this shot as well. I was pretty tired by the time I reached the screen right arm, which was the last thing I worked on. For some reason I decided to hit plateau instead of flat and was pleasantly surprised. Now all of the tangents had nice flat holds with somewhat smooth areas between them. That's pretty much what I spent all day doing manually for everything else, lol. I feel rather dumb for just now finding that out. I could have spent today on the second refining pass instead of having to do it tomorrow. XD

Oh well, I'm glad I found that out though. Tomorrow I'm going to make a VERY long list of things to fix and will get started on what's usually a long process for me. We'll see how far I get by this time tomorrow night.

New Laptop...maybe

I found out what happened to my computer today. I was told the lcd display is no longer functioning, the motherboard is fried and the hard drive has crashed. Lol, it sounds like I worked my poor laptop to death. I'm supposed to be getting a macbookPro as a replacement but it and the software that I need come to a total of almost $5k. I've never had that much money in my life so my mother is going to try to apply for a credit card to finance the purchase. I hope the application goes through. If it doesn't I wont have a computer to return to school with.

Coming Soon

Hey guys,

I've finally returned to working on my Rosco the Bear shot that I started at SCAD. I'm giving myself two weeks to finish the whole thing since I really need to work on my speed. You guys can expect to see some animation pretty soon, so be on the look out for that. Once I finish this shot, I'll resume working on my short. I wanted to finish up my 2d shots from SCAD as well, but I really need to focus on my short film.

Waiting

I got an automated response from Bethesda Softworks yesterday saying they've received my reel and paperwork. I hope they like my work and choose to select me for their job opening. This freelance illustration thing isn't working out at all. It looks like clients would rather let their projects expire from guru than have me work with them. :\

I guess I'll have to start asking for insanely low prices for projects. I've tried the whole "one full color image will take about four hours so I'll charge $40 at $10 an hour" but I guess that's too high. My friend told me about that method since she said a lot of artists end up selling themselves short. It seems like that's what I'm going to have to do though if I expect to make any money at all.

In the mean time, I'll continue to watch this awesome Jason Schleifer lecture on animating dialogue and will resume work on the Rosco shot I started at SCAD.