Hey guys,
My scanner has arrived and is now hooked up. Here are some of the drawings that I've done within the past few weeks...
From a Disney life drawing session:
Quick sketch before bed:
Stylized life drawing:
Gestures from the car wash:
Hey guys,
I just wanted to happily announce that I've quit playing Wow. My account's been canceled for the past few weeks and I just deleted the game and all of its related files/folders from my computer. I didn't bring any of my consoles with me to Burbank and I'm not sure I trust the mail enough to have them shipped here, so tomorrow will be the first day of my video game free life.
Tomorrow's also important because I'll gt my first assignment at Disney. I wont be using any of the Rapunzel characters yet so I'll ask if I'll be allowed to post the progress of my tests here. If so, you guys can expect to see some poses and walk cycles in the not too distant future. If not, no worries either since I would really like to do some 2d animation in my free time and will post that here once I start. I want to have a decent amount of good 2d animation to show the guys at Disney in the hopes that they'll let me work on their next 2d film once Rapunzel's finished.
Besides, how can I be at Disney and not do some 2d?
Hey guys,
Things are finally starting to settle down move-wise for me. I'm just waiting on my car to arrive and for my internet to be hooked up in my apartment. Then that'll pretty much be it.
I'm thoroughly enjoying being back at Disney! I met my mentor today, its Doug Bennett one of the supervising animators from Bolt. I'm really looking forward to working with Doug and cant wait to receive my first assignment! =D
Hey guys,
Sorry for the lack of posts! I'm in the process of moving in/furnishing my new apartment in Burbank. My internet there wont be set up until the 18th (how will I survive?!?!?!?) so my access will be limited to only while I'm at work. I drove by the studio yesterday while running my errands. I'm really excited to be returning to Disney, it's great to be back!
Hey guys,
I just found out the book I illustrated back in June/July is being printed and will ship on September 15th! If anyone's interested in picking up their copy, you can do so here: Weezer the Sneezer Finds A Home.
After days of reading Drawn to Life and drawing nothing but animal characters for Deviantart commissions, I've been itching to do some life drawing. I knocked out a few pages tonight that I have varying degrees of happiness with. I've also been really admiring Chris Sanders' style and worked on a few attempts to emulate it.
I've been wanting to work on my feet, hands and faces for some time now. I feel like I have a better understanding of the structure of the foot but I'm not 100% confident yet. I still feel like I'm missing a few more pieces of the puzzle but I'm getting there. The leg in the center is from one of Chris Sander's drawings. I wanted to see if I could copy his style from an existing drawing before trying to apply it to a drawing of my own.
My attempts at trying to get more appealing leg shapes.
A 10-20 min drawing. I didn't think to time myself, so I'm not sure exactly how long it took.
Finally, here are my attempts at drawing in Chris' style. Lol, now I need to learn how to draw heads, hair, and faces to go with them...
Hey guys,
I'm really enjoying being able to draw something everyday. Doing commissions has been keeping me pleasantly busy. Today's commission was to design a steam-punk hyena character with two costume vairations. I drew a quick hyena sketch in preparation using this photo as reference. I'd say this character has been the most difficult one I've ever had to draw since I've struggled with drawing clothes for years. Once I get some extra cash I'm going to get a book on drawing clothes/folds and I'll do some studies to remedy that. I really cant wait to get to Disney and participate in their daily life drawing sessions!
While doing research on steam-punk related props and clothing, I stumbled across this awesome website called Crabfu SteamWorks. It features functioning steam-punk robots built by a guy who also happens to be an animator and a concept artist. How cool is that???? I'd love to build a robot of my own if I had the knowledge and resources for it.
Hey everyone,
There's an awesome video on Dr. Facilier from Princess and the Frog online at CartoonBrew. I remember being blown away by rough pencil tests of him dancing last summer and even more excited from seeing Dr. Facilier finished and in color. I can't wait to see the finished film. I attend one of the wip screenings last year and was very pleased. It was awesome to see the bare bones of the movie and now it's super exciting to see various finished clips. Princess and the Frog looks beautiful and I think it's an excellent example of the glory of 2d animation at its best. Every time I see something from the film, I'm reminded of why I got into animation in the first place and what an honor it would be to work at Disney. I still can't believe I've accepted a position at the studio of my dreams!
Katie and Tobermorey are the property of Stamps at: http://www.tobermorey.com/index.php
I've decided to give Twitch an upgrade from his previously drawn self. He was lacking in the anatomy/structure department, lol. I'm really enjoying being able to draw freely now without having to worry about turning it in as an assignment! It's still hard to believe that I'm finished with school. Part of me is expecting to return to class in the fall, lol. I guess that's somewhat true since they have a huge amount of classes at Disney. I will definitely be watching new lectures and re-watching the ones I saw last summer once I get there!
Hey guys,
I'm working on updating my freelance portfolio while preparing to go to Disney. Things have been really slow as far as acquiring freelance illustration work and I have one more month of rent to pay before moving to California. Here's a look at one of the new additions to my portfolio. Hopefully my new work will attract some clients.
Your dreams come true!!!!!!!!!! I just got the best phone call of 2009, I will be returning to Disney next month as a talent development animator!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =D =D =D =D
Man, Siggraph has made me even more excited about getting started in this industry! I can't wait until I can be a part of some of the amazing productions coming up! I'd be happy to have a chance to animate the tiniest background character(s) and shortest shots in the film, just as long as I'm there and a part of the process. I seriously cant wait!
I finally found my sketchbook from my last quarter at SCAD and can now return to working on my drunk Norman scene. I've been in contact with Prof. Webber this entire time and he's really encouraging me to return to that scene as well. Now that I have all of my notes, I plan on putting it back in production tomorrow as soon as I finish my commission from Deviantart. I'll also be keeping my eyes and ears open for a phone call or an email from Disney, Sony, and Reelfx. My summer of animation unemployment may be coming to an end soon and I can't wait! =D
Hey everyone,
Siggraph's been a blast so far! I'm really glad that I decided to come. So far I've had my reel reviewed by two people from Disney, recruiters from Sony, and critiqued by the amazing Bobby Beck and Shawn Kelly! Bobby and Shawn gave students and alumni feedback on their reels during the AM Birds of a Feather meeting. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to get to everyone during the meeting but Bobby and Shawn were nice enough to review the leftover reels out in a quiet hallway. I'm very grateful to them taking the time to review everyone's reel since mine was one of the ones that wasn't seen during the meeting. Surprisingly, they didn't have a long list of things for me to change. They both really enjoyed my reel which means a ton to me. It was truly an honor to have them give me feedback.
My reel was also received very positively by Disney and Sony as well. I'm hoping to hear back from both studios within the next few weeks. Hopefully I'll hear back from ReelFx soon as well. I had a great interview with them last month and I'm not sure what's happened...
Hey guys,
I cant wait for the job fair tomorrow! I found out that MPC and DoubleNegative are hiring too so I plan on dropping off a reel with both of them. On Wed. I also have an interview with:
I'm super excited and cant wait to speak with the representative from Sony!!!!! I think its awesome that so many studios are hiring right now. I hope I'll hear something good from one of them soon! =D
Greetings from Siggraph guys,
The Animation Mentor student showcase is now online. Check out all the amazing work here.
Congrats to everyone who's work is featured in the reel!!!!
After receiving some comments on the colors, I've decided to re-render my squirrely shot. Here's the new version:
Hey everyone,
Here's my polishing pass for the squirrely shot. Please let me know if this can be improved in any way. Tomorrow I'm going to work on modeling the tree branches, lighting and rendering. I will also be addressing any changes that might need to be made as well.
Hey guys,
Here's today's update on my squirrely shot. I'm still tweaking the arms, they've been giving me trouble for the past two days but now they're almost there. Once they're done, I'll work on the tail some more. I did a quick smoothing pass on the tail in the GE before closing Maya, but I didn't like it enough to include it in the post. Anyway, once the tail's been worked on I'll move on to polishing. =D
Oh, I didn't include the first section since I didn't work on it today. As usual, all comments/crits are highly appreciated!
Hey guys,
I figured out how to save my squirrely scene. I've kept the animation from the messed up file prior to him hopping out from behind the tree and then I started refining everything after frame 80 from a previous blocking file. Here's a look at how far I got yesterday. I've done a smoothing pass on the hips, spine, and head from f80-150. Everything's been smoothed from f01-80. Today I plan on smoothing his limbs, ears and tail. Once everything's had an initial plateau pass, I'll go through and start pushing the spacing, weight, arcs, etc.
Please let me know if anything stands out and/or can be improved, pushed, or toned down!
Hey guys,
I would have had a nice refining pass on my squirrel shot but I've run into a set back. I went to swap the ik arms for fk when the joints for part of that arm suddenly disappeared. Now Squirrely's arm bends at awkward angles and deforms strangely in ik and fk. I've emailed Josh about it with the hopes that he'll be able to fix it. If not, I'll have to redo everything that I did today. =(
Hey guys,
Sorry for the lapse in updates. I spent yesterday preparing my reel and paperwork for Pixar. I just found out that Disney will be looking for people at Siggraph and am now gathering my things for them as well. Once everything's ready, I'll resume working on the squirrel shot as it needs to be finished in time for the convention. Here's a look at my summer 09 reel so far. I'm going to add Cat Flap to the end of the reel as well. I've noticed that some of my classmates at AnimationMentor have done that. The dvd version will also have the option of watching the film by itself.
Hey guys,
Here's a look what I have so far. If you have any comments or critiques please let me know. I'm not happy with the tail twitch at the end. If I cant get it to work tomorrow morning I'll just remove it. I need this to be as good as possible since it'll be on my reel for Dreamworks and Pixar.
Here's today's update. I'm not very happy with the steps after he jumps out from behind the tree. There's something odd about his weight. Right now, there's a large spacing gap between the stretch contact and the down position. I'm hoping that posing out the inbetween will make his weight feel better. I'm also not too sure about the contact pose for the screen left foot. I've been having some trouble with getting him to swing his giant feet forward without them going through the ground. I've been using Crash and Eddie from Ice Age as reference since they have long feet with short legs as well. The motion blur had been getting in the way though, lol.
My goal is to pretty much have the blocking finished by the end of tomorrow. I'll post it in the AM forum for feedback before moving on to the refining stage. If anyone has any comments on this so far, please let me know!
I think I'm going to do things a bit differently with this squirrel shot. Dreamworks is accepting reels for Siggraph attendees and they ask to have everything in by the 27th. I'd like to use this squirrel test on my reel, but I know I wont have it finished in time since it's almost 30 seconds long. After much deliberation, I've decided to at least block everything out like the 2d version and then pick a section to finish off for my reel. My two choices are the beginning hundred or so frames and the part where the squirrel jumps across the gap and catches himself. I'd like to try to finish those two sections off as much as possible so I'll have some new content on my reel. It really sucks that I had to spend so much time doing freelance projects. I could have had a completely finished shot for my reel if I hadn't done them, but the bills had to be paid somehow.
Here's a look at what I've done so far...
There need to be some timing adjustments when he comes out and walks forward. I'm going to address those later though, as I'd like to keep everything in sync with the 2d version until I've gotten all of the poses in there.
I started working in 3d for a few hours before going to bed. Here's what I have so far. A few changes are in the process of being made here. The main thing is having him come from behind the tree convincingly. I'll also have him take a few steps forward to get to his ending position and to slow down his momentum from jumping out. I'd like the final version to incorporate my drawing as the background so it would look like he exists in that "world". I'd like to paint the background and then light him accordingly. I'm not sure how I'll do that though. I'm really unsure of how I'll get my 2d background and his 3d body to overlap properly where the two interact. If worse come to worse, I'll more than likely just end up modeling the trees in 3d and simply rendering it out normally.
Hey everyone,
I've decided to do a new test with Josh Burton's adorable squirrel rig. Here's a look at my very rough 2d blocking. It's filled with volume issues and a lack of breakdowns, but it gets the point across lol. Towards the end, he's much bigger than he's supposed to be which is messing up his line of sight with the acorn. Usually I'd fix this, but since its going to be a 3d test I wont have to worry about volume issues and such. Lol, I've also realized that when left to my own devices, I always come up with these short film length tests. =P
Hey guys,
I've finally finished all of my freelance work and am now free to animate. I'd like to return to my previous scene with the drunk character stumbling around. I cant find the sketchbook containing my notes on the scene though. I tried working without them but I don't like what I did and now I feel lost. I no longer have a clear idea of where the scene was going before, without access to my notes. I'd really like to finish the scene but I feel like I'm spinning my wheels with it...
Hey guys,
Its week two of my freelance illustration project which means its time to color! Hopefully I'll be able to color faster than I can draw, lol. I also have to draw two more images for my freelance mascot project and then ink/color the remaining five. The deadline for my illustration project is July 6th, so I'll be done soon. I cant wait to get back to animating! Taking on a second project has eaten up the rest of my spare time but it's also allowed me to have enough money for July's rent and thus granting me time to animate next month. Hopefully I'll get an animation job sometime next month so I wont have to take on anymore freelance projects; I enjoy drawing but I really love animating.
Hey guys,
I haven't heard anything about a job yet. I got emails from Rhythm&Hues, ILM, and ReelFx but it was just a confirmation on receiving my materials. I saw a new post for Disney Talent Development animators on CreativeHeads.net today. I thought the TD animators had already been chosen back in May. Maybe they have two programs or something. I applied via the Disney website just to be sure though. I really hope to hear something good this time. The reel I submitted this time is much better than the one I sent back in January, lol.
Here's a look at yesterday's roughs. I just realized I'm behind though. I thought I had to do two drawings (as in one spread) a day, but it turns out I have to do two spreads a day to meet my deadline. Good thing I realized this early in the week, lol. I am really learning a lot from this project so far. I think I've already gotten faster since I was able to do these in literally a couple of hours.
Hey guys,
Here's a look at what I'll be working on for the next few weeks. They're roughs for a childrens book freelance project. I really under charged for these now that I've seen how long they're taking. I think I would be able to draw them faster if I did it on paper, but each image is 8.5"x5.5". I'm really bad at cutting straight lines so making 15 pages of that size would take longer that it should, lol. I also feel like I can get more detail at this stage from using a tablet since the size is so small. Paper and pencil is still my medium of choice though. I dont feel like I have a good workflow for working 100% digitally and like I'm really slow as the result.
Hey guys,
I am about to go to bed, but I wanted to share a small animation update with you all. I was frame by framing the Meet Buck clip from BlueSky when I realized what had happened to my work. I was watching the medium shot of Buck talking when something really hit me. I went back to the beginning of the shot and watched how Buck turns around in slow motion. He really leads the action with his head and then his chest and later his shoulders and finally arms settle into his final pose. That's what had been missing from my animation. I had been so focused on trying to get everything done as quickly as possible, that I was animating way too pose to pose.
After realizing that, I decided to work on my Norman scene before I got too sleepy to animate constructively. I think this is a vast improvement over what I had and definitely think I'm headed in the right direction. Thank you so much for opening my eyes, whoever animated Buck saying "weeellllll, he's dead. Welcome to my world. Now uh, go home"!
Hey guys,
Check out these two awesome clips from Ice Age 3!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDnRFjOi3rA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7iPS5dnynw
I really love the animation on their new character, Buck! I can see from that first clip that he's definitely going to be my favorite character. I think everyone who worked on this film did a fantastic job and I cant wait to see it in theaters!
In other news, I have an update on my job status. I was able to catch a freelance illustration project to work on for the next few weeks. It'll delay working on my drunk Norman scene, but I really need the money for rent. Industry work wise, I'm currently waiting to hear from ReelFx. I applied for their apprenticeship program and hope to hear from them soon. I also might have a position at a small traditional animation studio in Savannah. There aren't any guarantees of course but hopefully I'll either be at ReelFx or doing some 2d animation before July.
My list of possible studios has also grown since I last posted. So far the following studios have my reel:
Disney (rejected)
Dreamworks
Pixar (rejected)
BlueSky
Tippet
Rhythm&Hues
ReelFx
Blizzard (rejected)
Sony
ILM
MPC
Framestore
Blur
Insomniac
NaughtyDog
I've gotten some great feedback from Disney and BlueSky that I cant wait to apply to my Norman scene. I just need to hurry up and make enough money for rent so I can get back to animating.
Hey guys,
Sorry for the silence and lack of posted work. I've been really busy finishing up at SCAD and graduating. All of that is over now so I can focus on finding a job. Today I found out that I wasn't accepted into the program at Pixar. I'm currently working on getting packages together to send out to Sony, ILM, and Tippet. After I drive home from Georgia I'll have time to send out packages to the rest of the studios on my list. Once that's done, I'll resume working on my drunk norman scene.
Hey guys,
I heard back from Disney yesterday. They've decided not to go with me for their Talent Development program this year. I got some feedback though! They said to work on my acting and facial expressions. I'll make sure to focus on those things during my current and future scenes. You can apply for their program up to three years prior to graduating, so there's always next year.
In the meantime, I'm going to get some more flatbooks printed today so I can send me reel to ILM, Sony and Tippet. I also applied for the ReelFx apprenticeship the other day as well. I think it's time to start sending my work out to more places since I haven't heard anything positive back yet. I'll post more updates as they happen. Wish me luck!
Hey guys,
Here's an update on my animation. I've gotten stuck noodling with this guy in the first shot. After I make a few adjustments to his wine glass arm, and refine his face, I'm going to have to call him done for now. I really need to work on the drunk guy and both characters in shot 2.
Hey guys,
Here's a look at my Netherwing wip painting. I still dont really know what I'm doing...
I think I should stick to animating, lol.
Here's a quick sketch that I drew while waiting for my website files to upload to my host.
Netherwing drakes are copyrighted to Blizzard.
Hey guys,
After lots of long hours, challenges, and problem solving, I've finally finished my new portfolio website. It's up and running at the same url: www.jocelyncofer.com. Enjoy!
Now I can get back to animating! =D
After spending the afternoon/early evening talking to one of my friends about my website, I've come to the conclusion that it wont be finished by the end of the day. The prof. has us creating an image based site and it's causing several problems for me. He wants us to slice and create roll overs in Fireworks and then link our pages together in Dreamweaver. I dont have Fireworks, so once I leave SCAD I'd have to redo all of my pages in Dreamweaver to make even the slightest change. Another huge issue is the fact that I'd have to completely reslice and re-link my animation page every time I want to post a new shot.
My friend is helping me redo my website using html and image slices to get the look that I want as well as the ability to edit things easily. I'm not sure when it will be done but I know it'll be before Tuesday.
Hey guys,
I'm working on finishing up my new website for portfolio class. I'm aiming to have it up and running by the end of the day. I'll make another post once its up. I'm keeping the same www.jocelyncofer.com url, but my site will actually look nice, lol.
Hey guys,
I'm still working on my blocking and am expecting to be for a while. I'm still adding the new things my prof. suggested on Monday. Once all of that's in there, I'll do a blocking plus pass on both shots. The drunk guy hasn't been animated coming up in the beginning of shot two, so please excuse his temporary crappiness lol.
After struggling to come up with a performance that I like for the non drunk guy, my prof. helped me out and provided me with inspiration. I've gone from wandering around in the fog of animation uncertainty to having a clear vision of my shot. Now I am confident about what I am doing and will be able to work much faster. I hope to have a completely blocked scene by this time next week. It's amazing how good knowing what you want to animate makes one feel. Before this afternoon, I'd been feeling terrible for the past two weeks. I didn't know what I wanted from the non drunk guy and wasn't connecting with his character. I felt like a crappy animator and wondered how anyone would see fit to hire me. Now I'm 200% better and am confident about how my scene will turn out. I feel like I can animate anything as long as I can see it clearly in my mind. If I don't have a clear vision of my scene, I'm bound to struggle.
Thanks Prof. Webber for helping me find my way with this scene!
Hey everyone,
Here's a rough blocking pass for my new shot. Rather than going ahead and adding more breakdowns, I'm going to leave this shot as it is for now. The second shot of the scene hasn't been blocked yet and I don't want to spend all of my time on this shot and not get anything done on the second one. Once shot 2 has been blocked in roughly, I'll return to this shot and continue working on it.
Hey guys,
Sorry about the lack of posts. I've been busy working on my flat book and new website. I'm also blocking out my new animation. It's been a really rough week though. One of my aunts died on Tuesday from a stroke and today I found out my 17 year old cat has cancer. I've also been really worried about whether or not I'll hear something good from Dreamworks, so needless to say it's been a rough week. I especially don't feel like working now that I know my cat will need to be put to sleep, but deadlines need to be met regardless...
Hey everyone,
Here's my current demo reel. I'll be sending this to the head of outreach tomorrow. Today's interview went very well. I told her I finished a new shot the other day and asked if I should send her an updated reel. She liked the sound of that and will be expecting the reel on Friday. Hopefully the Dreamworks heads of character animation will like my work as much as she did. I've been told they're a tough crowd so I'll really need all the luck I can get!
Hey everyone,
Tomorrow I have an interview with Dreamworks!!!!! I'm super excited about this one! Today I found out they'll be animating on How to Train Your Dragon for a good while which is fantastic! I absolutely love dragons and have been VERY excited about this film ever since I first heard the title before Kung Fu Panda was released. I REALLY hope I get accepted for Dreamworks' Outreach program and that I get put on Dragon. I'd be in heaven if that happens! Hopefully my enthusiasm for the film will come across during the interview. Wish me luck! =D
Hey guys,
Here's the final version of the first assignment for my independent study. I'm not completely happy with it because of the persistent geometry intersections on his fingers. I also think I might be imagining hitches on various places because no one can see them but me. I think the assignment was successful though. I learned a LOT about subtle animation from doing this.
Anyway, I hope you guys like it.
Hey guys,
Here's an update on my shot. It's almost done! I just need to finish working on his fingers (the most tedious and annoying part for me). Would anyone happen to know how I can fix his finger intersections without loosing the animation I already have?
Hey everyone,
Here are some three minute gesture drawings that I did yesterday at the model session. After struggling with trying to draw the model as if she were nude I finally gave up and just drew what I saw. Drawing clothed models is still harder for me than drawing nude ones. I don't think I have enough anatomical knowledge to comfortably draw a clothed model yet.
Hey guys,
Here's an update on my norman scene. I'm currently working on the lip-sync and facial animation. "You know" is almost done but "everyone's just out for himself" has just been roughly blocked in. I also want to finesse the brows some more. I'll do that as I work on each sentence of dialogue. After all that's done I'll fix the fingers. So far I'm on schedule for being finished on Tuesday. =D
Hey guys,
I'm seriously considering starting over on my Norman shot. I got some outstanding feedback from one of my AM classmates about animating subtlety that's pointed me in a whole new direction. Things are starting to make sense and those that still don't feel closer none the less. I feel lost and confused but I know its a good thing. Glen Keane said to treasure moments like this because it means you're about to learn something. I had this same feeling when I was working on the original version of my Piglet shot. I decided to start over, struggled with a new concept/technique, and then my new version of the shot turned out 200 times better than the original. I think I've reached that point again now. Unfortunately I can't sit and ponder what's been said because I have to work on stuff for portfolio class. There will definately be a lot of thinking and searching for reference once I'm done though.
Hey guys,
Here's the final design for my business card. I'm thinking of making the cat and the film shiny when its time to get them printed. What do you think?
Hey guys,
Sorry for the lack of updates on my Norman shot. I'm having some problems with it and am trying to get them fixed before I post it again. I feel like my 3d work has been sitting at the same level for some time now and I'm trying to push it to the next level. Of course, that's easier said than done. I've been trying to analyze Alex Fleisig's shot to use as an example. I love how subtle yet loose his animation is here. I'm really struggling with loosening Norman up. Whenever I add more movement to his spine it always feels like its too much. Yet Helen's torso barely moves except for the few obvious spots where she leans forward, turns to the right and moves up and down. I emailed Alex a few minutes ago about his shot.
Hopefully I'll be able to figure this out soon, as I really want to be rendering this shot and sending it off to Pixar on Wed.
To make a long story short, my previous business card design was rejected in class on Tuesday so I have to start over. I made this sketch as part of an idea the class helped me come up with. I'll upload the business cards themselves tomorrow. They aren't shaded yet and I only want to post the finished images here.
Hey guys,
Here's a revised version of my cards. Hopefully the prof. will like them tomorrow morning.
Hey everyone,
Here's my blocking plus so far. I'm really trying to work out my drag/overlap and my ease-in/out now. I'm also fleshing out the motion on the brows and such. My goal is to be refining by Wed. at the latest. Hopefully having really detailed blocking will make the refining pass simpler and faster.
Hey guys,
My friends and I have come up with a new design for my business card after getting some awesome feedback on Deviantart about my first idea. Here's the process we went through:
And what we're happy with now:
I'm quite happy with the new design. It looks tidy and more mature than my original idea. Plus, the best cat in the world supplied me with this pose. =D
Hey guys,
I just wanted to thanks everyone who watched my show today. It was really fun! I wish uStream would create a sound or something whenever a message is left in the chat room though. I'm thinking of having regularly scheduled shows since I essentially animate everyday. Working out a solid schedule my be a challenge though.
I could just add the uStream widget to my sidebar. That'll allow it to always be visible and visitors can glance over to see if there's a broadcast. I'll work on coming up with a time range for you guys to use as a general reference.
Thanks again for watching!
Here's today's blocking update:
Hey everyone,
Here's an example of the imagery for my business card. I have a bunch of variations on the font but the character and film will be the same. I like the color as well, so that may not change either. When they're printed the film and Twitch will be glossy which should add a nice shine effect to both sides. What do you guys think?
Hey guys,
Here's another pass on the blocking for my new shot. My prof and I originally planned on giving him a silent moment before sighing and looking up at the end, but I'm not sure if the shot still needs it. The idea behind it was Norman would thinking about what was said and then silently say "God, what should I do?" or something like that. Do you guys think the shot needs that or if it would be too much?
I'm also concerned about frames 31-45. I loosened him up from the previous version but now I'm not sure if it's too much. What do you guys think?
Hey everyone,
Last week, I had an interview with the guys at Vancouver Animation about Cat Flap! I still can't believe that they choose to interview me and am honored by their choice. If you'd like to check it out, the article can be found here : Vancouver Animation Interview
Hey everyone,
Here's an update on my shot. I'm still trying to get the blocking done before my meeting with my prof. tomorrow. I think I'm going to make it. I only have one more large section to do and then I'll be working on more detail oriented things. I think I've gotten better with the over animating, but I'm still not 100% sure of myself.
Hey everyone,
Here's my blocking pass so far for my new shot. I'm still not sure if I'm over animating. This is my first really subtle shot, so I'm pretty unsure of myself. I'm not sure about the eye darts in the beginning. I think there are too many of them. He's supposed to be thinking something along the lines of "I dont know...I dont know" and feeling pretty lost. In phrase 1 ("You know, everyone's just out for himself") he's supposed to be troubled/concerned. My prof. suggested having his brows a little angry and intense here and then softening them up as the shot progresses. In phrase 2 ("It was like that everywhere I went") the main emotion is disbelief and the finally hopelessness at the end.
Oh, the 3d blocking is different from the 2d version now. My prof. gave me some awesome feedback today which caused the scene to vary somewhat from the original 2d idea.
I also did a quick test render for my prof. We have a specific mood in mind for the scene and this is what I imagined it would look like. My prof. used the spot lighting in Alice in Wonderland as an example. I went with that idea and made the background really dark while spot lighting the character. Obviously the lighting still needs a lot of work. I have no idea why there are ugly dark shadows under Norman's brows. I think I know how to fix the glowing floor though.
Oh, I heard back about using Bishop on my business card. It's a no go just as I thought it would be since the card is for a SCAD assignment. It's not a problem though because I dont want to use Bishop anymore anyway. Yesterday I came up with a 2d design that I like much better and feel like is more creative than a simple 3d pose. =D
Hey guys,
I just finished my really rough 2d blocking for my new subtle dialogue assignment. I have a really hard time animating small, subtle movements in 2d (which I attribute to lack of drawing ability) so everything is broader than it will be in the 3d version. I also work broader in 3d and then tone everything down once I see the that the motion is working. My mentors have always said it's much easier to go to far and tone it down than to not go far enough and have to push things.
Hey guys,
I'm starting a new 3d dialogue shot! I'm not very excited about using Norman since I really miss Bishop, but I don't have a choice since this is a SCAD assignment. (AM forbids their students/alumni to use their rigs for another schools work) I am thrilled about returning to 3d though. I can't wait to get started!
Here's a screen shot of the staging I'll be using. If anyone has any critiques on the staging or the layout please let me know! Later I'll put a cross and the title on the Bible. I'm not 100% how I'll do it, so I figured that would be one of the things I work on after the animation's finished. This is also the first time I've tweaked Norman's appearance. I'm not completely happy with it, but it'll have to do for now.
Hey guys,
I just wanted to let everyone know that I wont be here for a little while. Tomorrow I'm leaving to go on a cruise for my spring break and wont be back until March 24th. I'll see you guys then!
I'm working on this painting for Mythology class and I think it's pretty clear that I dont know what I'm doing...
This is nowhere near finished. I'd like to make the rocks fit with the rest of the painting better but I don't know how to get them to do so. I also need to paint her hair, some mist rolling out of the cave and the ground. I'd like to get some moonlight on the rocks and the pig. Lol, I have a lot to do.
I hope this will be done by the end of the day tomorrow. My friend won't have much time to color the last scene before Wednesday (when the film's due). I really wish I was faster. =(
Pixar's presentation tonight was fantastic!!!!!! Becki Tower is a great speaker and she was really inspiring to listen to. She told us all about her time in Pixar's internship program and showed some examples of the work she did. Lol, it sucks because now I want to animate but I have to go to bed now. One thing that really stood out to me was the simplicity of all of her scenes. Each one was very simple a very clear. I think simplicity is definitely something that I struggle with.
Becki also uses an emotional chart/graph for each of her scenes. I'd never heard of this before and am eager to try it out. All you do is create a simple line graph to show the highs and lows of your character's feelings throughout the scene. She brought up a great point when she mentioned loosing the initial essence of the scene after you've been polishing for days. I imagine having that chart will be very helpful. I'm going to make sure I try that for my next scene. Now I really cant wait to finish my senior project. I can't wait to get back to 3d again.
Ok, I really need to go to bed. I'll talk to you guys later. Wish me luck! =D
I'm super excited and can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!! =D
Hey guys,
Here's another Cat Flap update. My goal is to have the animation done before the end of the weekend, hopefully Saturday at the latest. I'm unsure of myself since I've never animated a 2d character moving with a camera (that's how the door goes up).
I'm also unsure about the length of my credits. They feel too long, but my prof. said the cards should be held with one second per word. At the same time, he also said the credits should be 10% of the length of the film. I'm not sure how I can achieve both of those standards. I'm going to show it in class today and get his feedback on them.
Hey guys,
I realized I had not drawn anything for fun in ages. Before going to bed last night, I decided to try my hand at drawing a night elf moonkin from World of Warcraft. I think it came out pretty nice, I wish I had drawn it in the corner of the page though. I think I did that because I wasn't expecting it to look very good. I'd love to paint it, but I dont have time right now.
Anyway, I love the design of ally moonkin. I'm not a druid myself though, nor am I an ally. I'm actually an orc warlock. I'm thinking of starting a night elf druid though because their moonkin are awesome!
