drag and overlapping action w/Keith Lango

Azo

I hope acting out your animations like this doesn't become a job requirement. Meet Azo - weird hybrid of animator, parkour enthusaist, and carny.

blog sabbatical

What a crazy few months it's been - apologies to those who read this for not posting in so long...the Iron Man 2 crunch did me in and I hit a really low point creatively and really just wasn't inspired to post.

I'm going to be picking up the blogging again, though this time with a bit more focus...there's so many great animation blogs out there right now, that it can feel redundant to post similar info, so I'm going to focus a lot on workflow and process and really try to do fewer posts with a greater focus to them.

On another note, I just finished my first week at Lucas Arts...the team is incredibly talented and the project seems incredibly well planned. I can't say much about it, unfortunately, but it's incredibly inspiring already.

Carlos Baena on Feedback

I'm re-blogging Carlos Baena's really insightful post on feedback. Really well written and gets to the heart of both giving and receiving feedback. This process is very much a learned skill and this should serve as a great reminder in how to give and receive it graciously.

One thing I'll point out is the mention of mentioning what's working. It's not only good for morale, but to know what's strong. Ultimately, every piece can be critiqued until the end of time...animation is never perfect, but again...great post!


Feedback is quite a delicate part of what we do. Sometimes animators take it well and other times not so well. Over the years, I've come to learn that without feedback, my shots or anything I do would look like complete crap. Getting some fresh eyes on what it is that we do, really helps, especially when you are staring at your same shot for days and/or weeks.

I noticed people give feedback in some ways. I'm not writting here about how to give feedback...but instead, some pointers that may make the process a little easier.

• First, does the animator want feedback? Are you confortable giving feedback to a person? If you are not, then don't. However, if the animator is open for suggestions, that's a great quality as it shows he or she wants to improve the shot.
• Also, the feedback should be honest. I always go to particular animators at work, that I know will be direct on their feedback, and will not pull any punches. If I want to improve as an animator, I need that.
  
• Not all feedback is about things to correct in the shot. Even if the shot needs a lot of work, it's nice when someone brings up something that is actually working.
• Make the feedback constructive. Doesn't help to hear "That looks wrong" or "That area seems off". Instead, find ways to let them know how to fix it. Maybe the up/down curve could be smoothed out...or hold that pose there a little longer so that we read it.
  
• What kind of feedback are you passing? Is it feedback that will improve the shot based on what the animator has in there already, or is it feedback that will make it different? Big differences.
  
• I think it's important to respect the animators idea/choices. I would not want to give a friend feedback that will completely change their acting choices, unless they ask for it. Also, it's important to remember that this is their shot. Not my shot. Helps to keep that in mind.
  
• I think it's important to get feedback from a few people. It doesn't matter how much I like the choice/acting I put in there. If two or more people agree that something in there is not working, then it's important to re-evaluate the shot, and consider to re-block that section.
  
• Something that matters also is when the feedback is given. It's not the same to give feedback when the animator is just starting to work on it as opposed to the day the animator is supposed to final that shot.
  
• If a shot is in the early early stages of blocking, then feedback related to the actual ideas, acting choices or overall staging of the character will be useful knowing a lot of the work in the shot is still very rough, and it's easy to change.
  
• However, if your shot is about to be finaled, you are adding some of the polish...and someone tells you, to have your character walking slowly instead of running, it can really set you back. It helps to show often to get feedback, or if you don't, be ready to get feedback that may change your shot a 180 degrees.
  
• So usually, if the shot is closed to being finaled, most of the feedback I'll offer is related to small polish things that may help the shot...arcs, pops, subtleties, keep alive areas...
• It's important to know that getting feedback is about improving a shot, and not judging the animators skills. Some of my early blocking looks very crappy. However, at that stage I can care less about how the curves looks...what I'm concerned about is whether my ideas are good or even worth it.
• Ultimately, the Director has the final say in a shot. So you can get all the feedback you want from peers, but at the end of the day, you are working towards helping the Director realize his/her vision.
  

I hope this helps.

Carlos.

octopus...interesting reference footage

andrew gordon...traits of a successful animator

very well articulated

Take this to heart. A few students asked what it takes to get an internship last night and how to separate their reels from the pack. This sort of thinking is really what it's about.

time is sneaking up on us...

The last 3 weeks of class...how time flies.

Quick recap...
this week. second pass animations on the acting piece.
next week. final pass animation
+
playblasts/renders of all of your work from this term with the following settings
1024x576 (or 4x3 format if the composition dicates it)
quicktime h.264 compression

final class, tbd.

happy animating

swordfight sequence

love you tube..someone captured the sequence where I did a bunch of anims on the swordfight sequence and the jump to the other table. Telltale rocks...they make everything they touch fun.

google wave invites

i have a few more to hand out if anyone needs one

muppets. just because.

fun theory

ok..so I'm just spreading some viral marketing around, but my lesson of the day, and I have few to give really, is have fun while you work! Animation can be a dull plodding process if you lose focus. Sometimes it's good to forget about the details and refocus on the intent of making something entertaining!

Devin..crit

static composition

narrow range of motion

explore foreground/alternate staging

Some nice things going on here, but right now the biggest problem is still staging. It's composed like you're sitting in the audience of a play. Looking at the yellow sketchover I did, there's clear shapes the characters fit into and never leave, adding to a static feel. Looking at the sketch underneath that, it's a range of motion ghosted image composite. In a nutshell, your character is bolted in place in a widely framed composition, which demands at least a solid weightshift. I don't mind the acting on the guy, but she needs to solidify her performance a bit. Maybe take a step or 2 and then turn away. Or explore alternate compositions to focus on more detailed performance. I quickly did 2 cut and paste versions to see how the characters hold up.

art thief

read JD's blog

While the adage imitation is the sincerest form of flattery holds true, it hold true to a degree. Copying, is, well, cheating, in the world of animation. That goes for taking credit for other people's work as well. But Aysha Khan, you've made it to the wall of shame!

Sometimes animation is collaborative...shots are shared. Rigs are borrowed, etc. But give credit to who deserves it, and never plagurize. It's a very small industry and theft of ideas, or anything else, for that matter, will bite you in the tush. Guaranteed.

shelf buttons….tangent switching

I mentioned a workflow I use of switching tangent types even in the early stages of an animation to evaluate timing.

Here’s a few shelf buttons/mel commands you can use to avoid having to do a lot of clicking in maya. Just save the icons to your images directory and add them in. Were I more clever, I’d build a UI for this. The first 3 scripts change selected keys in the timeline (or graph editor) to different tangent types. The following 3 determine what sort of keys you’ll set next. Enjoy! They save me a ton of time.

 

 

//change selected keys to linear
keyTangent -global -itt linear;
keyTangent -global -ott linear;

 
//change selected keys to stepped
keyTangent -global -itt flat;
keyTangent -global -ott step;

//change selected keys to plateau
keyTangent -global -itt plateau;
keyTangent -global -ott plateau;

 
//change key type to linear
evalEcho "timeSliderSetTangent linear";
timeSliderSetTangent linear;

 
//key type to stepped
evalEcho "timeSliderSetTangent step";
timeSliderSetTangent step;

 
//change timeslider to plateau
evalEcho "timeSliderSetTangent plateau";
timeSliderSetTangent plateau;