Today I made something I have wanted to make for ages - a Post-It animation!
I didn't expect to get very far with it and so didn't put as much effort in as I would have liked, but I now plan to do more. Anyway, as crappy as it is, here's my first one:
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
Going-a-Travelling
Well it is just under two years since I decided to follow my dream of becoming an animator, and one year since I got my first media related job. I now have some very exciting news:
As of May 12th, I will be starting work as a proper animator! I have accepted a job at Traveller's Tales, a games company owned by Warner Bros that has been going for years and recently made the popular Lego Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman video games. It's a junior animator position and represents a big leap up the career ladder for me.
In my present job I have been animating (I use the term loosely), but it has been on projects that do not interest me and don't allow me to improve as an animator. So I'm extremely excited (and nervous) about this new opportunity. I apparently sparked their interest with a couple of 3D animations I made using the soundtracks from the movies Uncle Buck and Father of the Bride (follow the links to see the animations).
I'm so grateful to Traveller's Tales for giving me this opportunity as I have learned from experience how difficult it is to get any animation position when you lack both experience and qualifications.
As of May 12th, I will be starting work as a proper animator! I have accepted a job at Traveller's Tales, a games company owned by Warner Bros that has been going for years and recently made the popular Lego Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman video games. It's a junior animator position and represents a big leap up the career ladder for me.
In my present job I have been animating (I use the term loosely), but it has been on projects that do not interest me and don't allow me to improve as an animator. So I'm extremely excited (and nervous) about this new opportunity. I apparently sparked their interest with a couple of 3D animations I made using the soundtracks from the movies Uncle Buck and Father of the Bride (follow the links to see the animations).I'm so grateful to Traveller's Tales for giving me this opportunity as I have learned from experience how difficult it is to get any animation position when you lack both experience and qualifications.
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
Walking
I found a great blog some time ago written by people at Michael Sporn Animation but haven't yet got round to writing about it. It's got some great images from the world of animation past and present and I have spent quite a while browsing through it.
Amongst other things, there are some great break downs of walk cycles from Disney's 101 Dalmations. The author has helpfully grabbed each frame from the walk cycles, cleaned away the backgrounds and put the frames back together to create an infinite loop to study.
There are also fantastic storyboards and model sheets galore, along with all sorts of concept art, background art and any other kind of art you can think of. So go have a look!
Amongst other things, there are some great break downs of walk cycles from Disney's 101 Dalmations. The author has helpfully grabbed each frame from the walk cycles, cleaned away the backgrounds and put the frames back together to create an infinite loop to study.There are also fantastic storyboards and model sheets galore, along with all sorts of concept art, background art and any other kind of art you can think of. So go have a look!
Monday, 21 April 2008
PopEye Catching
After weeks and weeks of waiting and lost packages, my copy of the Fleischer Popeye shorts DVD finally arrived today!
I had worried that it wouldn't be worth the wait, but was pleasantly surprised on watching the first few episodes. There are some great moments in there. Pure cartoon moments that you just don't see in animation these days. One particular example that stood out to me is the following clip. Watch the great way that Olive Oyl uses to get across the river to Popeye.
I really want to study these cartoons and get some inspiration so that in the future I may be able to do some funky stuff in my own work.
I had worried that it wouldn't be worth the wait, but was pleasantly surprised on watching the first few episodes. There are some great moments in there. Pure cartoon moments that you just don't see in animation these days. One particular example that stood out to me is the following clip. Watch the great way that Olive Oyl uses to get across the river to Popeye.I really want to study these cartoons and get some inspiration so that in the future I may be able to do some funky stuff in my own work.
Thursday, 17 April 2008
Fairy Dust
Well as predicted, many sites are giving their little dedications to the late Ollie Johnston, but I feel that one of the best is from Cartoon Brew. They asked Brad Bird, director of films such as The Incredibles and The Iron Giant, to give his thoughts on the great animator. I suggest you go read it. The reason I'm bringing your attention to it is because of his great description of "the real Disney dust". It made me smile.
I have a couple of 3D things to show while I'm here. The first is an odd sort of walk/run/skip cycle I made. Ages ago I read on John K's blog about how he loves the walk cycles used in the old Fleischer Popeye cartoons. They were quite different from the norm. I decided to try something different too. I started with a fairly standard run cycle, and then exaggerated the movements of the upper body. I then decided to double the speed of one leg so for every one step a leg takes, the other takes two steps.
Weird isn't it? Incidentally, I ordered the new-ish Popeye DVD from the US weeks ago and have been eagerly awaiting it's arrival, but four weeks later, I hasn't come! They are sending me out a new copy as it must have got lost in the post. I hope these cartoons are worth the wait! Why oh why don't things ever get released here in the UK??!!
I also made a quick render of the small section of my "The Audition" short that I posted a few days ago. I can't go into why I rendered it right now though.
I have a couple of 3D things to show while I'm here. The first is an odd sort of walk/run/skip cycle I made. Ages ago I read on John K's blog about how he loves the walk cycles used in the old Fleischer Popeye cartoons. They were quite different from the norm. I decided to try something different too. I started with a fairly standard run cycle, and then exaggerated the movements of the upper body. I then decided to double the speed of one leg so for every one step a leg takes, the other takes two steps.
Weird isn't it? Incidentally, I ordered the new-ish Popeye DVD from the US weeks ago and have been eagerly awaiting it's arrival, but four weeks later, I hasn't come! They are sending me out a new copy as it must have got lost in the post. I hope these cartoons are worth the wait! Why oh why don't things ever get released here in the UK??!!
I also made a quick render of the small section of my "The Audition" short that I posted a few days ago. I can't go into why I rendered it right now though.
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
Ollie Johnston 1912 - 2008
I feel sad today as I just found out that my number one animation hero has passed away at the age of 95 - Ollie Johnston.
He's on the right in this picture of him and his close friend and colleague, Frank Thomas. Apart from saying he was the last of Disney's 'Nine Old Men', I won't go into Ollie's career as there will be many sites talking about that, written by people who actually knew the guy. All I want to say is that Ollie's work has made a large contribution to how I grew up, even before I knew who he was. Since finding out about the great man, I have come to be inspired not just by his work but by his enthusiasm and ethos. I cannot claim to have known him, but from what I have found out, he was a wonderful animator and a beautiful human being. Beautiful is not a word I use too often when describing people, but in this case it is appropriate.
It's a sad, sad loss.
He's on the right in this picture of him and his close friend and colleague, Frank Thomas. Apart from saying he was the last of Disney's 'Nine Old Men', I won't go into Ollie's career as there will be many sites talking about that, written by people who actually knew the guy. All I want to say is that Ollie's work has made a large contribution to how I grew up, even before I knew who he was. Since finding out about the great man, I have come to be inspired not just by his work but by his enthusiasm and ethos. I cannot claim to have known him, but from what I have found out, he was a wonderful animator and a beautiful human being. Beautiful is not a word I use too often when describing people, but in this case it is appropriate.It's a sad, sad loss.
Sunday, 13 April 2008
Sneak Peek and a Beak
A while ago I mentioned that I was starting my first animated short, which is hopefully going to make up the main part of my animation showreel. I said back then that I wanted to keep it a secret for fear of the idea being stolen by someone else, but have since decided that it's not really that amazing that it warrants being hidden, so I'm going to show a bit more of it.
The last offering I made was a brief animation test of a coffee cup.
That cup made it into my scene and can be seen in the first test of my short, which is called "The Audition" (subject to change). I have spent quite some time over the past months looking at other animators' showreels on YouTube, and have come to realise that they are very similar in the sense that they consist of a load of clips from different projects edited together with a music track over the top.
I thought that it might be cool to animate a scene specifically for my showreel that showcases all the different aspects of animation, from broad gestures to facial animation and from acting to walk cycles. The scenario of an actor auditioning for a film should hopefully allow all those things to be covered. So anyway, here are the first 37 seconds of my short. I would like to make clear that the animation is VERY rough and will be smoothed out and tinkered with in the future. This is merely the first stage of the first part of the scene. So be kind with your judgement!!
For those interested in seeing what it might look like in the end, here is a quick render I made a month or so ago. I have actually rendered section of the animation, but I'll save that for another day.
On a separate note, here is another little Flash animation of that bird. As with the last one, this was just me getting to grips with Flash a bit more.
The last offering I made was a brief animation test of a coffee cup.
That cup made it into my scene and can be seen in the first test of my short, which is called "The Audition" (subject to change). I have spent quite some time over the past months looking at other animators' showreels on YouTube, and have come to realise that they are very similar in the sense that they consist of a load of clips from different projects edited together with a music track over the top.
I thought that it might be cool to animate a scene specifically for my showreel that showcases all the different aspects of animation, from broad gestures to facial animation and from acting to walk cycles. The scenario of an actor auditioning for a film should hopefully allow all those things to be covered. So anyway, here are the first 37 seconds of my short. I would like to make clear that the animation is VERY rough and will be smoothed out and tinkered with in the future. This is merely the first stage of the first part of the scene. So be kind with your judgement!!
For those interested in seeing what it might look like in the end, here is a quick render I made a month or so ago. I have actually rendered section of the animation, but I'll save that for another day.
On a separate note, here is another little Flash animation of that bird. As with the last one, this was just me getting to grips with Flash a bit more.Friday, 11 April 2008
Bird
Not much to write really, I just thought I'd post this little Flash animation I made of a bird. I'm trying to get used to using Flash so ended up doing a very simple cycle.
Sunday, 6 April 2008
Leggy
I feel like I have been neglecting my blog recently as I haven't posted very often. It's due to a mixture of work wearing me out and using up all my spare time learning new things.
I have been concentrating on quick sketches over the past few days as I feel like they are really my weak point. I normally don't get many opportunities to draw people as my workmates don't do much and I try to steer clear of crowds at the weekend because I find Manchester people depressing! Of course if any Mancunians are reading this, I don't mean you!
Anyway, yesterday I got a great opportunity to draw some people. A comment on my last post was left by a reader called dwestburg who suggested I should draw in shopping centres. My girlfriend was going into the city centre to have her hair done, so I figured it would be a prime opportunity for me to get a load of drawing done. After a slow start, I started to get more confident and produced some drawings that I was pleased with. I won't include all my drawings here as there are a rather large amount of them.
My (poor) mentor Jay seemed to like them too which was a confidence boost for me. As he has pointed out, I often have trouble drawing legs for some reason, so I need to concentrate on them a bit more.
I have also done a bit of 3D animation. I haven't got much in the way of cycles in 3D, so I sat down and had a go at making one:
Don't ask me what I was thinking with the hands - a very odd movement. I haven't had time to fix them yet. I also did a run cycle:
Both of these cycles were done very quickly, hence they are a bit unpolished.
I have been concentrating on quick sketches over the past few days as I feel like they are really my weak point. I normally don't get many opportunities to draw people as my workmates don't do much and I try to steer clear of crowds at the weekend because I find Manchester people depressing! Of course if any Mancunians are reading this, I don't mean you!
Anyway, yesterday I got a great opportunity to draw some people. A comment on my last post was left by a reader called dwestburg who suggested I should draw in shopping centres. My girlfriend was going into the city centre to have her hair done, so I figured it would be a prime opportunity for me to get a load of drawing done. After a slow start, I started to get more confident and produced some drawings that I was pleased with. I won't include all my drawings here as there are a rather large amount of them.
My (poor) mentor Jay seemed to like them too which was a confidence boost for me. As he has pointed out, I often have trouble drawing legs for some reason, so I need to concentrate on them a bit more.I have also done a bit of 3D animation. I haven't got much in the way of cycles in 3D, so I sat down and had a go at making one:
Don't ask me what I was thinking with the hands - a very odd movement. I haven't had time to fix them yet. I also did a run cycle:
Both of these cycles were done very quickly, hence they are a bit unpolished.
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