Banjo Animation

Hey guys,

Here's the animation I mentioned a few days ago. I've cleaned it up and put it all together. Please know that I am not completely responsible for the animation we were given the keys and breakdowns and had to inbetween the shot. I learned a whole lot and am pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Storyboards

Hey guys,

Here's a look at the rough storyboards for the first third of my senior project at SCAD. The story's about a recent germaphobic squirrel named Larry. Larry's wife died of pneumonia and he's been terrified of germs ever since. One night a thief breaks into his house and steals all of his wife's things. Larry chases the thief outside but gets there in time to see his wife's wedding ring fall from the thief's sack and into the surrounding bog. Larry goes through an intense period of inner conflict before finally going after the ring. Once he retrieves it he realizes his absurd fear almost cost him one of the most precious things in his life and resolves to never let his fear inhibit him again.

Wondering

Does anyone know what's going on at Disney? A couple of fellow AM alumni and I were told we would hear back from them about the talent development program after the holidays, and we haven't heard anything since then. We were told the program was supposed to start in January. I'm getting worried since January's almost over and there hasn't been any word from the studio, not even a rejection letter.

I heard back from Sony though. Everything sounds good and I might have a chance to get some awesome industry exp in the not too distant future. That's another reason why I'm concerned about Disney. I need to know whether or not I was accepted into their program so I'll know what to do in a few months.

On The Way

Hey guys,

I just wanted to let you know some new animation is on the way. I'm inbetweening a run cycle from Banjo The Woodpile Cat and will be posting it here when it's finished. I've gotten everything done but Gary told us not to clean it up until he approves it. Once I get his approval and finalize it you can be sure it'll be posted here. 

Limitations

Hey guys,

I realized something unfortunate yesterday. I had a really clear and funny idea for my senior project at SCAD. It essentially was about a vain handler and her champion show dog. The dog dies during the final best in show judging and the handler is forced to try to convince the judge it's still alive as he makes his final rounds. Everyone I told the story to has enjoyed it and I really want to do it for my project. Unfortunately I realized I can't draw old characters and I can't draw adults. It's very aggravating since I know what I want the characters to look like but for some reason I can't put them down on paper.

My friend (who finished her senior project last term) advised that I do something else. She stressed the importance of really liking your character(s) since you'll be working with them for a long time. Senior project is not the place to learn how to draw people and an old dog. She said I'd struggle with the drawings and end up hating my film. As much as I like my concept I have to agree with her completely. I know I'd have more fun animating something with strictly animal or creature characters in it since that's what I enjoy to draw. I think that enjoyment will be reflected in my work.

Now the problem is coming up with a new non cliche idea. I want to keep it as simple as possible, with one character and an object. The trouble is, all the concepts I've come up with that fit that description have been boring. Fortunately, my concept development teacher said something that sparked an idea. She was talking about phobias and mentioned the fear of germs. That got me thinking, "what if there was a character who was terrified of germs/getting dirty and was forced to get really messy to reach his goal?". I'm brainstorming possibilities for this concept now and I like where things are going. The idea is simple and will allow me to do some pretty nice cartoony animation for when the character freaks out about getting dirty.

I'll see my friend in Gary's class in an hour and will talk to her about my new concept. Hopefully we'll be able to come up with an entertaining story between the two of us.

Joined

Hey guys,

I finally joined one of those online communities. A recruiter from Sony invited me to join LinkedIn a few weeks ago. If any of you have a LinkedIn page, please feel free to contact me so I can add you to my network!

Banjo

Hey guys,

Here are the drawings I did of Banjo the Woodpile Cat in class yesterday. Gary Goldman gave us plenty of copies of Banjo model sheets to use as reference. I think I'm getting better at drawing the character. The main thing I have trouble with is getting the space between his eyes right. My characters don't have that much space there so I'm unused to drawing the eyes so far apart. His body is easy though, thanks to the fact that I've studied and practiced drawing feline anatomy. I think the most accurate one is the bottom right drawing on the last page.

  

Gary Goldman

Hey guys,

I'm about to go to my Gary Goldman classes for the second time this week and I am really excited. Monday's class was amazing and we didn't even do anything, lol. In the advanced 2d animation class we'll be animating different shots from Banjo the Woodpile Cat! I think we'll be given our shot assignment(s) today along with the original model sheets to use as reference. From looking at the syllabus it seems like we'll be working on our one shot for the entire 10 week period. That's really awesome since I've always wanted a chance to animate a shot in 2d from thumbnails to a completely finished/cleaned up shot.

I also feel a little better about my speed since Goldman said is usually takes 30-45 min to draw a character on model at Disney. My other Goldman class is 2d Animation Production, which focuses on teaching us all about how studios work and everything that goes into making a feature film. He gave us a list of 57 steps that studios go through for creating a film. I had a general idea of how the production pipeline works thanks to the guys at AnimationMentor, but I had no idea there were that many steps involved in the process. Plus I've never had anyone to talk to about how a 2d studio works until now.

I am extremely excited about both of the Goldman classes and can't wait to get started on his assignments. I've read blogs from CalArts students talking about how amazing it is to have masters like Glen Keane and James Baxter looking over their work and drawing over their keys, and now I can finally experience that for myself. I seriously can't wait! Goldman told us teaching animation is really an over the shoulder process and I completely agree with him. There's nothing like having a master animator go over your work in real time. I've imagined that's how it was back in the early days at Disney and based on what Goldman said it sounds like I was right.

He talked about how he had worked under Eric Larson and Ollie Johnston. He spoke about Milt Khal's confidence and extreme level of draftsmanship and skill as an animator. Man, I can only dream of working under animators as great as they were and having them actually sit down with me and help me with a shot. Simply looking over their shoulder as they animate would provide a goldmine of knowledge.

I hate to end this chat abruptly but it's time for me to head over to room 321 so I can bask in the glory that is Gary Goldman. =D

Here Comes Another Short Film

Hey guys,

Today is the first day of class for the winter 08 quarter here at SCAD. So far it looks like I'll be having a busy but fun time. I'm in concept development class right now for my senior film and I already have a solid idea for what i want to do. The only thing is I'm having a hard time deciding what medium I'm going to animate with. I've already decided to do a 2d piece because the story is set at a dog show. I really don't want to have to build a stadium, props, a crowd, dogs, and their handlers in 3d since I suck at modeling and I'm even worse at rigging. I also have a specific look in mind for my characters which I know I personally can't pull off in 3d.

Anyway, I can't decide whether or not I should animate the good old fashioned paper and pencil way or if I should spend $300 on a copy of windows xp to put onto my mac so I can use Mirage. Both have their pro's and cons. Animating in Mirage is much faster than the traditional way because I don't have to waste time capturing drawings. Back in animation 1 I spent over an hour capturing drawings while working on my final project. Having an undo function and instant playback are also wonderful benefits of using the computer.

On the other hand, I still feel like I can draw better on paper than with the tablet. I know I have a harder time staying on model/maintaining my volumes when I animate on the computer. I also wanted to have the Sword In The Stone/Jungle Book/101 Dalmatians "scruffy lines" look and I'm not really sure how well that would work if I animated in Mirage. I plan on working on my senior project over the summer but I don't have access to a capture station at home. I'd have to scan each drawing in which will slow down my workflow significantly. Plus my scanner isn't large enough to get and entire sheet of animation bond onto it's bed.

As much as I enjoy working the traditional pencil and paper way, it looks like working directly in the computer is the most efficient method to use.

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.

Good News

Hey guys,

I got my website to work properly now. Things seem to be looking up now. I'm going to see what's wrong with my computer in an hour. I hope it can be fixed, cause I feel pretty inspired to produce some animation. I just finished reading a thread from the AM grads working at Dreamworks. They were saying how awesome Monsters vs Aliens and How to Train Your Pet Dragon look. Both of these films sound incredibly fun and I really hope I'll get into their Outreach program this year so i can work on one of them. That would be fantastic! =D