Class 2 Officially Ends

Its hard to imagine that I've already gone through 2 of the 6 classes for Animation Mentor... but it's true. It is a bittersweet moment: I'm terribly excited to be moving on to the next phase of the program but it is certainly scary to face what is coming up next :/ All in all, I feel pretty good about how I did this class.  I worked really hard and I learned a lot.  I can't wait to see what is next on the horizon! Below is the final for the Stewie Drag project. It's gone through many stages and although not 100% amazing, I quite like how it turned out :)

Watching my progress from Class 1 till now makes me feel happy.  I think it's pretty obvious I've learned a lot already and that makes me happy :) I like the feeling of self awesomeness that comes with hard work! Below is my progress reel from Class 1 and Class 2.  And with that, I sign off until the new year :) Oh 2012 ...what will you bring?

Baby Steps!

Oh. My. GOSH. Who knew making a character pull a heavy object would be this labor intensive ? After all the hype in my mind of doing the Time Warp as an assignment, I ended up ditching that idea and going with "Stu Pulls Something ...Heavy" instead.  Class 2 is focusing on body mechanics and mentor Travis suggested (but didn't say we had to) that we try out something more focused on that (instead of the dance that would be ...*le sigh* ....). This was also the first adventure with a FULL RIG. Arms, legs, torso and head ....the whole enchilada.  Its been a very trying three weeks (so far) trying to get the animation/body mechanics working properly.  It definitely isn't there yet but its slowly making its way to the party :) Hopefully I'll have a kick ass final by next week!! Excelsior!

 

This is attempt uno... the fall wasn't working ...and neither were the "paddle hands"

 

This is attempt two! The fall still isn't working. The hands are better but are sloshing around too much!

 

Try number three! Didn't really touch the hands or hips, I mostly focused on the fall (which I hope is working better now! ...I know I like it better :D)

Who Knew It'd Be This Hard

So last weeks assignment turned out to be somewhat of a dud :/ I ended up blocking the moonwalk but there was a lot not working with it.  It came down to bad time management I think... so if there are any early AMers reading this, TIME MANAGEMENT! I had a lot to make up for this past week. I had to re-block my whole animation plus do the "blocking plus" to be ready for turn in this past Sunday. It took a few loooong nights but the animation came out a lot better and mentor Travis was pleased :) It still needs work for sure, but I'm just glad that I learned I could manage my time in a way that it made up for the horrendous work done last week! Below is the re-blocking/blocking plus (in spline). On to this weeks assignment: polishing and thumbnails for the NEXT assignment!

Log Rolling To The Max

I can't believe it is the end of the first assignment for Class 2 already :( *tear* Ballie, I hardly knew thee ...which isn't true at all because oh how I know Ballie after these past few assignments lol We're great buddies now I think :) After three weeks working on the first assignment (I chose the Log Roll), it's all done ....well maybe not 100% done but done enough that I'm pretty pleased with myself.  The arcs proved to be most difficult with the hips and feet but I found a dry erase marker, saran wrap on the computer screen and some patience went a long way. Below is videos of my blocking, first pass and final. Enjoy!!

This next assignment will introduce us to Stewie (the Stu rig minus arms) and we get to choose from a list of actions ...I quickly decided I need to do the MOONWALK finally! It was almost like a sign from the great beyond ...there was "moonwalk" there yet again, taunting me! Well I accept your challenge universe! Me and Stewie are gonna go dance now :) Happy animating!

Class 2 Officially Begins

And we are off and running on Class 2! The first weeks assignment was to choose from a list of options of an animation to do. It was either hopscotch or log rolling for me and I eventually chose log rolling!! First week also included getting (or filming) video reference.  Since I don't have the means to film myself log rolling, I scourged YouTube and found a few videos that worked nicely! Below is my reference:

We also had to draw out some thumbnails/planning shots for the animation.  I'm so happy Ballie is just hips and legs!

This week we were to go through the process of actually blocking out the shot.  The log roll proved to be more difficult than I originally thought but as mentor Travis keeps saying "Good planning = smoother blocking" and it's totally true.  Below is my initial blocking pass ...awaiting to be critiqued and torn apart!! The good news is we get two weeks worth of blocking before having to worry about splining the whole animation :) Wish me luck!

It Is Time!

Class 2 has officially begun with tonight's Q and A.  Got to meet my new fellow classmates (a couple of familiar faces), all of whom seem really awesome and enthusiastic about the program! Plus I got the most excellent of news: my mentor for this class is none other than Travis Tohill part deux! This presents a couple of noteworthy things: 1. It will be fun to continue with the same mentor as I know what he expects 2. He knows what I can do ...which means there is definitely no slacking off this class (not that I was going to anyway! promise!). I'm excited for this weeks first assignment (I think I've decided on doing a log roll animation) and for the assignments to come!! This is really where the character part of character animation starts to come out while also learning and exploring body mechanics! I can't wait :D Excelsior!

A Most Epic Adventure

I was fortunate enough for my first official class at Animation Mentor to have had an amazing mentor and former AM student who is holding his own at Industrial Light and Magic (a part of Lucasfilm Ltd.).  Perhaps being in his first class as a mentor opened the door to a perk that is still unbelievable.  The bet was made that if all the students in our little classroom (there was I believe 10+ students) could turn in all assignments on time, we would be fortunate enough to be granted a tour of ILM.  Through hard work and a lot of nagging emails (not from me, I promise!) the last class came and we were all given the amazing news: a tour was indeed in our future!  There was only one week of vacation between Class 1 and Class 2 and so we took advantage of that and made the tour on Friday, September 23rd.  I could barely sleep Thursday night ...the nerves and anticipation really got to me and I could barely eat the next morning.  A couple of more hours and I will be inside (in my opinion) the leading visual effects studio.  It was too good to be true! I'm just this dorky kid from southern California, I shouldn't be allowed in such places! But there I was ...walking past the Yoda fountain (yes ...the YODA fountain) and into the lobby of Lucasfilm!

First things first: walking up to Building B off of Letterman Drive, one would have no idea of the amazing things that go on there.  It's a set of two unassuming white buildings nicely settled on the outskirts of the Presidio.  The only glimpse of what greatness lies within these buildings is the Yoda fountain out front.  There is no grand sign or giant arrow with flashing lights ...just a Yoda fountain and some white buildings.  But once you step inside, your nerd mind begins to freak out when the first things you are greeted by are Boba Fett and Darth Vader.  A wide smile spreads across my face and I think to myself "nooope... this can't be REALLY happening".  After a quick (and quiet) glance around, I make my way to the reception desk (where there is ((finally!)) a nice sized sign that indeed says Lucasfilm Ltd.) and try to act cool while getting my visitors badge.  Inside though, I've completely lost it.  I could scream and shout and jump around for all the excitement built up inside.  But I don't ...I have to play it cooool.  I get a couple of seconds to say hi and talk with my mentor Travis before a fellow classmate (from Washington I might add) makes it to the party.  His geeking out makes up for my bottled up energy :) (ps: geeked out at the Han Solo blaster, not going to lie.)

The lobby looks like a quaint and normal lobby ... reception desk on one side, Boba Fett and Darth Vader on the other side.  There are two bookcases on either side of the two figures as well as a display case nestled in the middle.  The bookcases have some most random books on it (none really pertaining to Star Wars ...) as well as artifacts and busts from Star Wars (of course!).  Yoda and Darth Vader's lightsabers are at home among Han Solo's blaster and a Thermal Detonator... yes. Feel free to geek out!! It was amazing to see and we hadn't even started the tour yet! (ps: Darth Vader is a BEAST)

After collecting another classmate, we proceed to the theater to watch a quick video of upcoming projects (aka: trailers) and to see the process of making a movie.  Let me just say: you walk into that theater and it feels like you're wearing really, really, REALLY expensive headphones.  You can't hear anything outside the theater and when you talk, it even sounds muffled.  This only adds to the intense awesomeness that is the sound system at Lucasfilm.  Oh. My. GOSH! The sound quality is amazing ...its loud without being annoyingly so and you can feel every explosion. It was intense to say the least!  The picture quality was pristine and clear... I'll never see movie theaters the same way again. (ps: apparently that amazing experience is nothing compared to Skywalker Ranch and its amazing theater!).

We picked up the last of our little group (five of us plus mentor Travis) then it was on with the tour! ...oh wait ...no! Then it was on to the cafeteria!! It was, after all, about 1 o'clock at that point.  No fear, the Lucasfilm cafeteria had AMAZING food at equally amazing prices.  There were specials of the day, a pasta/pizza station, a grilling station, and a sandwich station (which also had sushi).  I ended up getting a grilled chicken sandwich (came with tater tots ((fresh!)) and vegetables).  We all sat to eat by the windows so we could (get this) look out and see the Golden Gate Bridge... That's right. THE Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, it was rather foggy that day and all you could see where the tops of the bridge poking out from the fog ...but just knowing it was there was incredible. (ps: the cafeteria had baskets of fruits and vegetables that you could pick out and buy ((like produce at a market)) that was all grown at Skywalker Ranch!).

So then it was officially time for the tour!  We made our way into the lair that is Lucasfilm.  Walls are covered with vintage movie posters, paintings used in films, and photographs.  There are also many display cases lining the halls that hold the likes of a T-Rex model from Jurassic Park, the progression of the T-1000, and Captain Hook's hook as well as models suspended from the ceiling (NSEA Protector from Galaxy Quest anyone?!). It's a veritable treasure trove of nerd-epic proportions.  As we walk the halls (and gawk and stare) we run into Shawn Kelly, co-founder of Animation Mentor and all around amazing person.  He chatted with us for only a bit as he had to ...you know ...go work on something awesome.  The encounter was unexpected and surreal.  I'd like to think anyone in the AM program looks up to Mr. Kelly (as well as Bobby Beck and Carlos Baena! I know I certainly do!) and to actually get to meet him was like meeting a celebrity. (ps: we actually saw him twice but got to chat with him once ....and we got to meet his baby :D adorableness all around!).

There were a couple of super geek out moments for me. First was when we went by the modeling department where we are greeted by ...THE SCOLERI BROTHERS! If you don't know who the Scoleri Brothers are, you need to click the link and then watch Ghostbusters 2 and educate yourself! It was an amazing site and I'm pretty sure I squealed when we walked into that room. Not only did we have the infamous Scoleri Bros. but we also had Slimer and the Viggo the Carpathian painting all in the same room! ...I'll wait for that to sink in a bit.  Snoogins. My second geek out moment was in front of the entrance to the animator's space in front of actual ILM (versus Lucasfilm ...which was everything else).  There was (of course) R2-D2, the actual Yoda puppet (or muppet?), a stormtrooper, and .....AND ..... HAN SOLO IN CARBONITE! I definitely squealed at the site of my Han in one of the most iconic props in cinema history ...it was glorious. (ps: there was actually another carbonite trapped character next to Han Solo ...Jar Jar Binks!)

We (quickly and quietly) made a pit stop at Shawn Kelly's corner of awesomeness in the animator's lair.  It was COVERED (and I mean C-O-V-E-R-E-D) in action figures.  Apparently it is the work of not just him but a couple of other animators all occupying the same corner.  It was truly a site to behold!

And thus concluded a most epic adventure ...it was inspiring to see the people at work.  Just normal people doing their normal job.  A job in which ONE DAY I hope to be in.  It was a fantastic day that I have to thank mentor Travis for!! I don't expect amazing perks like this with every mentor, but I think it was good for my soul and ambition to have had the taste of things to come :) I feel this year is going to be challenging (of course) but still so much fun!! I can't wait for the next step of this journey and cannot wait to see what the future brings! Excelsior!

Class 1-Progress Reel

Looking back at those early animations I attempted to do, I feel that I've come a long way... well maybe not a LONG way but improvement nonetheless!  I can only imagine what the progress reel will end up looking like at the end of this most excellent adventure! But until then: enjoy the Class 1 Progress Reel !! Did I mention the most excellent adventure coming up next week ? ....

Zombie Ballie Wants Your SPLINES

Here it is!! The last week of Class 1. It's a bittersweet moment to say the least :( I've had so much fun (even through the frustrating times) and enjoyed watching everyone's work and progress! I've learned a lot also ...I feel like things are slowly starting to click into place.  The Graph Editor is still enemy number 1 but it is definitely getting easier and easier to understand :) Travis has been a most excellent mentor and has given some awesome feedback that will most assuredly help me with future projects!! I've decided that I'm going to really make the effort to keep in touch with all my mentors! I think it's important ...I mean, they've devoted twelve weeks of their lives to helping you become a better animator.  If nothing else, I figure a nice "how are you doing?!" or "oh man I'm SO happy you covered blah blah in your lecture or I would be lost!" might make them feel like their hard work was totally worth it also :) ...Which it totally is any mentor who may be reading this! Your hard work is TOTALLY WORTH IT! But yes ...I will be trying my darndest to keep in touch with my mentors :D

As for the last assignment: we had to spline the personality walk (tricky tricky tricky) and get it flowing nicely.  I like how mine came out although I KNOW there's more work to be done on it.  But still, all in all I feel good about it :) Below is the playblast of what I turned in.  There was also another Stu pose (nay, the final Stu pose) showing Balance.  After looking through yoga poses, dancing and gymnastics, I decided on one that kind of encompasses them all.  Oh, and there's also a revised Exhausted Stu below that!!

I'm scared and excited to be moving on to Class 2!! I don't know what the future holds but I just gotta keep a positive attitude :D Excelsior!

Something Wicked This Way Blocks

Last weeks assignment was to create a personality walk with the character Ballie. Now, it was a tough decision for me to choose what kind of walk I wanted to attempt but in the end, the zombies won out.  After filming a whole eight minutes of myself walking (moon walk, zombie walk, peg leg walk, walking in high heels, drunk walk, etc) the zombie leg drag was the clear choice! We only needed to do the blocking for the walk so it looks fairly robotic but you get the idea of whats going on here.  Below is the video I ultimately uploaded.  After watching the critique by Travis, there are things that will be changed to plus it but this is more or less the idea I'm going for.  The other half of the assignment was to pose the Stu character looking "exhausted".  The premise for this shot was that Stu (or rather, Spider-Stu) is napping on a bridge as he is just too tired to fight any more crime! Enjoy! Updates will be posted later :D Excelsior!

              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            Spider-Stu, Spider-Stu! Does Whatever A Spider ....Do!

Splining The Vanilla Walk

It was time to Spline the vanilla walk ...it gave me problems, as I'm sure it did for everyone. Popping knees and sticky feet aside, it was a fun little project :) After getting Travis' critique (took a page of notes!), I'm going to try and tackle it again to refine it even more and (hopefully) make it much better! Below is the playblast of what I turned in as the spline walk cycle.  We also had another Stu pose this week in which Stu had to convey "concerned". This was pretty difficult as Stu has no face and thus difficult to emote something as broad as "concern" but all in all, I'm pretty happy with how Stu came out :) Enjoy and happy animating!

Super Stu being more super!

 

A (hopefully) concerned looking Stu

Dread Pirate Red Takes His First Steps

This weeks assignment was not only to pose Stu in a manner that depicted Physical Strength, but to also tackle : THE WALK CYCLE. I do believe I've done ... three or four walk cycles before Dread Pirate Red here (aka: Ballie) but that didn't help me out all that much ...I lie, it totally helped me out! This week was just to block the motion in so it looks very stiff and robotic. I also (as per my mentor Travis) added rotation in the hips (hopefully the correct rotation!) to give it a more lifelike appearance. And now ...without further ado ...I give you "Dread Pirate Red"

Also, I give you : Super Stu and his incredible feat of strength! ....hopefully!

Inspired by my main superhero squeeze: Superman (Action Comics #1)

Heads? Or Tails? ...Or Ballie?

So I feel pretty good about how I did last week ....that is, until I got my critique! I don't know what it is about critique day but I see every single flaw magnified after getting said critique!! That being said, I always love how much better my work gets after watching the critique and taking notes from it :) It at least makes me feel like I'm improving and not stuck in a rut!!

This week we are tackling the infamous WALK CYCLE.  This also meant we got introduced to our newest character in the arsenal: Ballie! The deal with Ballie is that he is supposed to represent hips and legs.  This week we're only doing the blocking for the walk cycle (which means it looks fairly robotic).  I have to say, I feel good about what I've got so far :) He isn't just bobbing up and down but also rotating the hips forward/back and up/down... I've done traditional style walk cycles but nothing has been as clean as this one is looking so far :) Hopefully its actually as nice as I think it is! Below is what I've got so far :D Also this week: we have another Stu pose! This weeks pose is PHYSICAL STRENGTH. My basic idea for this pose is from Action Comics #1 ...we shall see if I find any others I would like to do lol Excelsior!

Did Someone Call For A Tailor ?

Here he is folks! Tailor week 7 is in full swing! Now this week we got a choice to either animate Tailor (a ball with a tail) or animate a one legged rig (which I've used in Maya Springboard where he was named Pirate Pete... by me).  As I had already worked with Pirate Pete, I thought it better to sharpen my overlapping skills with Tailor.  The idea for this short work is from Super Mario (on NES).  It's simple (lots of bouncing/jumping) and yet I feel like it has the potential to stand out.  I'm sure the Super Mario Tailor bit has been done before BUT that isn't stopping me from doing it also :D Here it is: Monday, Aug. 8th. . . my first rough animation of Tailor in Mario Land (minus his tail)

I Can't Believe It's Week 6

Week 6! It has come and (nearly) gone. It was a lot less hectic this week trying to work on assignments ....I don't exactly know why last week was so gosh darn difficult but hey, it's in the past and I've ultimately learned from it so that's a good thing :) This week was all about the pendulum swing.  The animation principle being practiced was overlapping and follow through, both very important in giving character believable life versus stiff robotic movements.  I worked on that ...I wanted to make something more interesting than what I ultimately came up with but they do keep telling us that simple is better so ...as long as the animation looks good, right ?? The inspiration for the pendulum swing was from a scene in Finding Nemo: when Marlin is telling Nemo how to swim out of the anemone ("First we go out ...and then back in again. Then we go out ....and back in" ...). The color scheme inspiration should be obvious to NERDS out there :D So enjoy the pendulum swing! ((ps: below that are revisions of the devastated Stu pose and that dreaded obstacle course after putting in tips from my mentor)) Excelsior!!

 

What. The. Hell Week 5

So remember my last post when I said this week would be full of win ? That was a lie. It was a tough week ... a really tough week in fact.  The Stu pose came out superbly (I liked it very much!) but the obstacle course is a whole other story.  Besides having to figure out the mechanics of squash and stretch, there was also rotation and bounces.  I'll post the couple of animations I made, none of them all too thrilling (at least for me). It was rough but thanks to friends and family giving encouragement, I think I came out okay :) I'm ready for week 6 !

Poor Stu. It was a rough week for him too

Sketching inspired from "Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America"

And now for the not so awesome animations :/ The first is the one I ultimately had to turn in, the bottom being the one I was trying to make work ...and failed miserably lol

Need To Find A Sad Place ... ?

This week is going to be full of WIN, I have decided ....except for the "devastation" pose we have to do with Stu this week :/ I will be going to a sad, dark place now ...wish me luck

Two Balls, One Assignment

This weeks assignment is a fun contrast between a heavy ball and a light ball.  I had this idea for this assignment for awhile, not gonna lie.  I haven't decided yet if I want heavy ball to squish the light ball or hit it at such an angle that it kinda shoots off (which also makes the heavy ball roll a bit).  I think the deciding factor on that is whether or not I can figure out how to make the dang ball roll naturally!! Either way ....here's (already!) a couple of versions/revisions :)

 

First Attempt

                                         

Revision 1

 

Revision 2

 

Revision 3

The Dreaded Bouncing Ball

Every animation class has it ...the assignment to end all assignments ...the very foundation on which nearly every principle of animation is explored ...I am of course talking of : THE BOUNCING BALL.  I've done at least three variations of the bouncing ball: one in high school, one in community college, and now one for Animation Mentor.  The ball, on paper, is fairly simple (or at least I thought so).  Make it bounce with weight and believability.  Check. So I go onto Maya to take on this bouncing ball challenge and was immediately humbled.  It was indeed harder than it seemed. Through much critiquing and tweaking, I think (THINK) I've got the right balance in the ball bounce ...now to just add some rotation! Enjoy the bouncing ball ...let it teach you of its mysterious ways ...let it humble you and yet comfort you in knowing that it isn't as easy as it seems :)

 

First Attempt

 

Revision 2

There's Something In The Water

Not sure what it is about tonight but I am psyched to be going into week 3 !! We've got quite the workload ahead of us and for once my procrastinating hasn't kicked in yet :D I watched the Lecture video on Planning and Blocking (good stuff!! I'll have to post some pointers later on), took some good notes and am ready to tackle the ball bounce! ....tomorrow! The second half of this weeks assignment is to sketch some EXCITEMENT poses and then pose Stu as such. I think I took this assignment to heart as I made a 40 second video of me "being excited" to which I already sketched out some ideas :D Bad news is I can't submit my sketch work until tomorrow! Boooo :( But I feel good knowing I've got a little something done already!! Enjoy the sketches below :D

 

 Edit: Here is also the Excited Stu pose :D

Tis A Start

The first official assignment for Class 1 has been complete!! It is turned in and submitted (will have to do some tweaking before the final FINAL turn in I'm sure!).  I quite enjoyed being a creeper and sketching people except for the fact that it was ridiculously hot today :/ Ugh! But either way, I think I got a few good sketches in there! I'm a little rusty I found out .... which just means I will have to people watch a little more often now :) Below is a jpeg of my sketchbook (quick sketches) and the first official Stu pose :D Enjoy! Comment! Critique! **UPDATE** After getting some feedback, it has come to my attention that the Stu rig is sitting in a most uncomfortable position :/ feet flat? I think not! The last picture is of the updated feet position :) **UPDATE 2**After MORE feedback (always welcome!), I adjusted Stu's giant noggin, straightened the right arm a bit, rotated the left arm elbow out a bit and flexed the right foot! whew!!

Messin' With Stu

Our first assignment for Class 1 is to do some people watching and sketch! sketch! sketch! Once we find a pose we are particularly fond of, we then proceed to pose Stu in the same manner. Now, like all kids and kids at heart, the first thing "we" do when "we" get a new toy is to of course play with the new toy, even if we have no idea how it works.  Well that's what I've done with little Stu-ee :) A couple of just super random poses to help me get the feel for his controls ....nothing fancy so far! Hope to have the sketchbook thumbnails plus a posed Stu by the end of the week! Have fun animators!!

Let It Begin!

First class of the official Class 1 at Animation Mentor is complete! It was great "seeing" and meeting everyone for the first time, including our awesome mentor Travis Tohill ! This is actually his first class too (as a mentor!) so it will be a fun learning process for all of us :D I'm very excited to be on the way! I know it's going to feel and sound like a loooong time until the "end" of this journey but I have an optimistic feeling that everything will be working out :) I cannot be more excited to get this party started!

Excelsior!

One Day Before It's Official!

June 27th is fast approaching! ...and by fast approaching I mean it's tomorrow!! This means the start of the classes at Animation Mentor and the start of my first official classes :D I'm terribly excited to start this most epic of journey's.  I'm ready to learn and absorb and see everyone's work and be inspired! I'm going to be so very tired by the end of this first class but it will all be worth it :) It's always worth it when you work for something you've wanted for a very long time and I have wanted this for a very long time :) I've been happier now than I have been in quite awhile and get a sense of completion in my life. I'm working towards my goal!! A goal I didn't think I could or would ever achieve! And while this is barely Class 1, I really have faith in myself to do the best darn job that I can do that will hopefully lead me to inner peace (which = a kick ass job that I love!). On we go fellow AM'ers! To our destiny!!

Excelsior!

Gotta Keep Busy Somehow!

All right! In an effort to not forget all I've learned in Maya Springboard, I've been doing random little animations. They are by no means pretty but they help me exercise and refine what little skill I have so far :) Pirate Pete is still Pirate Pete and below are his two latest adventures! Enjoy and comment!

 

*Pirate Pete Gets Into A Sticky Situation*

*Pirate Pete Learns of Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust*

What To Do With 23 Days ...

 Even though this section is complete, there is always work to be done :) I'm going ahead and tweaking (when I can) my Pirate Pete jump to try and clean it up more and more. Leave comments! It isn't 100% yet, but I feel it's starting to smooth out :)

ps: my mentor and my classmates were all fantastic! thank you all for the comments and inspiration! can't wait to see everyone next class!

So Sad ...

Today was my last day of Maya Springboard :( It's very bittersweet to say the least .... The good news is most of the people in my class are either going on to Class 1 this summer or are coming back in the fall :) So I shall torment them evermore ! MUHUHAHA! ...So anyway, the last class assignment was to make a one legged creature (I'm going to call him Pirate Pete ....because I can) do a jump! It was simple enough, although I haven't cleaned up the animation yet.  Pirate Pete let me practice the powers of the graph editor ...I'm slowly starting to feel more at ease with it. And now, my last animation for Springboard: Pirate Pete!

With That Out Of The Way ...

Tackling constraints will be an ongoing battle, I can tell already :/ But all in all, the more practice I force myself to do, the better things are coming along.  Maya Springboard is coming to an end and I have to say I'm both excited and scared.  Granted there are a few more weeks left but June 27th is approaching fast and I'm just not sure if I'm ready for it (ready for it in the "do I understand Maya" sense).  But like most things I decide to take on in life, I like to just jump in and see what happens :) So we shall see what happens! I am excited to be able to expand to the bigger AM community (Class people get to chat/see more than Springboard people) so I can be in awe of other peoples work and be inspired by them also! I'm also excited to be continuing this journey with some of my springboard classmates. This will make that transition easier I think!! Anyways, below is my "cleaned up" robot arm (version 3). I'm quite proud of it! I'm excited to see how much I grow as an animator with this school :) The people I've met that go to the school have all been really helpful and encouraging.  Everyone seems really genuine and I feel very fortunate to have found a "school" as unique as AnimationMentor.com !

The Beast That Is Constraints

This weeks assignment was to actually make our little robot arm pick up the green can/cylinder and move it over to the platform.  This also involved using constraints to allow the can to move with the claw of the robot arm ....and then allow it to be dropped onto the platform.  It was a task to get it (as choppy and unpolished as it is) to this point. I'm happy I got the darn thing to go over to the platform but I hate the process to do it ....a lot lol But it's necessary to know and I get that, I just hope it will get easier with time and practice! Enjoy my little robot arm :) ((ps: I changed up the robot arm as I had lost the ability to move the claw in my previous model :/ so this little guy is sleepy instead of scared :) ))

Mr. Roboto

The second assignment for this week is to block out a robotic arm's action of picking up a cylinder and dropping it off on the other side of the screen.  I think my idea for this "scene" is that the robotic arm is slightly apprehensive to the cylinder at first and picks it up like I pick up a dead spider ....as far away from me as possible! And then he (yes, I've decided the robot arm is a boy) gets startled when another cylinder appears behind him :D At least, that's the plan! Not sure if it's going to end up like that, but at least I've got a PLAN! Excelsior!

And Now ...

This weeks assignment (according to the syllabus) is to create two bouncing ball scenes and merge them together thus creating one scene containing two bouncing balls (at different speeds, etc.).  I felt slightly compelled to attempt such a feat before going into the Q&A.  Below is my very rough draft of that assignment! Comments are always welcome and appreciated :)

A Different POV

This weeks second assignment was to have a sphere go in a circle ....that's right, sphere + circle = assignment. I've a rough first draft done that I will share below.  It is going to take some getting used to working with the Graph Editor but I feel like with more practice and more training it will start to come easier and easier :) Here's to the future!!

 

EDIT: i didnt change much to my little animation, but i did make it loop hopefully to give it a bit more time to register in the mind :) enjoy!

A First Attempt

This weeks first assignment was to create OUR FIRST ANIMATION FOR ANIMATIONMENTOR.COM! I was very excited for this moment! ....that is, until I tried creating a simple ball animation :/ I'm not pleased with how it came out at all but after battling problems with my mouse (or lack of one ....but our mentor Arnie helped me fix the one I had so that it will work! better still, he saved me 30 bucks!) and other such incidents, I at least came out with my simple bouncy (no squash or stretch) ball. Disappointing but not disappointed :) It can only get better with more knowledge!!

What A Glorious Feeling

This weeks second assignment was to light a scene.  I had a little bit of a hard time with this one, I'll admit.  I like (for the most part) how the scene came out but I feel like it could have been pushed so much more. I now know that lighting is not my strongest skill :/ But that's okay! I also played around more with adding texture and "glow" to the scene (as well as some "rain"!).  Overall it came out well, just not as well as I was really hoping for.  Who knows? This IS the first pass ... might get some feedback to help me plus it :)

EDIT: After posting this entry on the Facebook AM site, I was given the suggestion to add a background picture and toy around with trying to make "moonlight". . . so I did!! Below are the renders of my scene complete with background and a little blue moon light :)

Notice the rain is a different color/different direction :/ I fixed that later on

fixed the rain! hopefully its more cohesive

To Infinity, And Beyond

This weeks first assignment I knew was going to be a fun one (for me). It dealt with a lot of experimenting and colors and a bit of "special effects" and while I am eagerly awaiting the day to actually animate something, the shading/lighting is probably my second favorite part! I'm not much of a modeler (especially compared to some of the amazing work coming out of AM!) but I tell you, I'm proud of how I threw myself into this project.  In about two days, I worked hard to create my most epic scene yet. I give you ... Who You Gonna Call?

This is just a taste of what the whole composition looked like. I'm very pleased with how it all came out and as an only child, I hope it earns me some praise from my mentor! ... I like being praised!

Stay Puft! Or Else...

This weeks first assignment was to deal with shading/materials.  Up to this point the work in Maya has been rendered in a most dull shade of gray. This week we learned how to jazz it up with color and shading effects! My mentor went through the process of coloring each object which was easy enough.  The color scheme in my shot isn't extreme but gets the point across nicely.  I struggled trying to connect things together that weren't really being very cooperative but in the end, I think the (almost) final product came out to my satisfaction.  ((ps: Arnie the mentor also explained how to use the "glow" tool and make certain colors/objects glow in render!!)) Below is the render of my first attempt at shading and color ... you will see my awesome use of "glow"! I'm going to be adding more to this scene I think but so far so good! Huzzah!

Who You Gonna Call?

The Power of Command+D

A new favorite tool shortcut in Maya that I am loving is 'duplicate' which is achieved on a Mac with the command+D keys. It has made life a little easier :) This weeks second assignment was to play around with different camera angles and poses of our character (or we could make new characters).  My first attempt is pretty safe/cookie cutter. It's my character reaching for a mysterious floating orb ... A basic pose and basic camera angle. The second is parent character holding the hand of a smaller character I created through changing the scale through the attribute editor with a similar camera angle as the first. The third scene is hard to tell from the angle but I created a toy box with three "dolls", one of whom is reaching up for the main "life sized" character. The camera angle is that of the dolls in the box. I quite like how this one came out ... It is a little hard to read as you can't tell from this angle that they are in a toy box but I still like how it came out. The last picture is a little snapshot of a great movie moment from Singin' In The Rain !! I "built" the simple lamp post and positioned my guy on top. The camera angle is pretty straightforward as I wanted to be able to see the entire scene clearly. That's it for this week! On to the next !

What A Glooorious Feeling! Part2

What A Glooorious Feeling! Part1

Breezing Through ... Yeah, RIIIGHT!

Above is my *final* shelf project! After getting some helpful critique's from fellow AMers and becoming more comfortable with the controls in Maya, I feel this final shelf render is better than my previous ones! It was a lot of fun and a lot of work but it finally all came together :)

This week will have two assignments. The first is a hierarchy figure.  We are supposed to create a whole body rig/model that has assigned joints and such to it.  The idea is to show how to group things together in a realistic fashion (if you move your elbow, your forearm+hands go with it, etc.). I feel like I've done an adequate job, especially since I only have one day to complete it (assignments are done the day before the next class).  The fun part of the project was modeling a head. I tried to use Phillip J. Fry from Futurama as my inspiration (the only part that came out Fry-esque is the hair, but at least I know who it is!). Behold Fry Phillip Jay!

Who's Up For Round Two?!

Most excellent! Being the semi-ambitious person that I am, I went ahead and did a second shelf :) I like how this one came out! It isn't much different from the first one but I did add a couple of things to make it more of a character than a complete copy of the homework assignment. I think I'm ready to build a face/body!


Excelsior!

I have successfully (I hope!) completed my first Animation Mentor project! I'm very happy and excited to continue on! Thanks to everyone for the help!!

Our mentor Arnie gave a lot of tips and tricks with working with the NURBS for this project (nurbs=shapes on shelf). One that I've found very helpful already is scaling down objects, like the cones, by typing in the decimal of how much smaller you want on object. The other, more difficult way (for me anyways) was using the "scale" tool :/ Typing in how much smaller it needs to be is a ton easier! I'm ready for project #2!

Excelsior!

The Official OFFICIAL First Class

Yours truly just completed the first class of Maya Springboard! Our mentor was great (Arnie Mecham).  He was really nice and ...wait for it .... super nerdy about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Muppet Babies (of all things!) so I'm sure this will be a most interesting 8 weeks!

The first class consisted of introducing ourselves to the rest of the "class".  I think we've got a good, diverse group that will be fun and productive! Everyone is super nice. The youngest of the group is 19 and the oldest being 43 (I think?!) so I'm smack dab in the middle :) The real test will come Wednesday when we start working in Maya and messing around with the software. . . Speaking of which, I ought to get to making that shelf!

Excelsior!

The Time Has Come!

First official class starts next Monday at 5 p.m. and I am beyond READY! Plus, I finally got to find out who my mentor for Maya Springboard is : The "Hamburger Guy" Archie Machem!

http://arniem.com/reel/

He has some pretty hilarious work on there :) I'm ready! First step HOOOOO!

A quick pencil test from Beauty and the Beast by the amazing Glen Keane... is it sad I'm happy computer animation is a tool as I don't think I'd be able to catch this kind of heart and emotion with my piddling little doodles :/ But thanks to Glen Keane for giving me hope!


Here's another pencil test from Ollie Johnston (one of the "Nine Old Men" of Disney) for Pinnochio.  Also amazing work that shows the great skill of an amazing animator!

Two works of inspiration while I sit and continue to wait for Maya Springboard to begin!

Wait ....What?! But I'm Ready NOW!

So apparently the Maya Springboard class for Animation Mentor doesn't officially begin until four weeks into this semester. . . I am slightly bummed. But there is always a silver lining! In this case the silver lining is I get Maya Autodesk (the computer software used by most animation studios) for FREE!! Yes! I said it! FREE! I like that word ... a lot. So in my four weeks waiting for my first official class, I shall be messing around with the program and see what it has to offer. I've already constructed a face, so to speak (I don't think it's done correctly but from a front angle it looked great!) and can't wait to continue learning!! Exciting!

In other animation news, the big deal from Pixar this year is Cars 2. I am of course excited for the action packed sequel to come out this year but I found out some even better news! One of my favorite and underrated actors is lending his very sexy voice for American Spy car Rod "Torque" Redline: BRUCE CAMPBELL!

Cars 2: Rod "Torque" Redline

Check out the link and enjoy the sleekness that is Torque aka Bruce Campbell.

It's Official!

Here it is: March 25th, 2011 and I am an official AnimationMentor.com student! Receiving my email today confirmed it, and I cannot be any happier to start on this fantastic journey! I'm happy to start this blog in an effort to allow others to see my work and progress and to also allow me to remember how excited and happy I am at this moment (for future reference on those frustrating days!).

I hope you enjoy this blog and I hope others can learn a little about me, a lot about animation and maybe a bit about the AnimationMentor.com program! Feel free to comment and message away!

Excelsior!