What an interesting couple weeks of ups and downs and not as much progress as I would like to have hoped for, but oh well, these things happen. I wiped out on my bicycle in some morning snow and sprained my wrist, not a serious sprain, but enough to hinder my animation progress to be sure. As well as suffering from a few computer related issues which will lead to a backup and reinstall as soon as this blog entry is done. So in terms of animation, I guess my greatest accomplishment was really hashing out, modelling and blocking my shot for the March 11 Second Club competition. I was able to give it a few passes and get a nice block-plus going and will begin splining early next week. If you're curious, feel free to check out the video below:
Other than that, I was able to experiment with the new werewolf creature rig and test it out to see it's limitations and how the controls really work. Basically just a run cycle but it was pretty eye-opening as to how to approach the real shot I want to do. So this is a gallop run done with the werewolf, admittedly it's meant for a lighter dog, but as I mentioned, it taught me an awful lot about the particulars of the rig and quadraped mechanics in general. I've been archiving footage from Twilight, Underworld, National Geographic etc to help narrow down a solid shot I want to do with this and I'm getting ever so close to finding the perfect one, will keep you updated.
This is the close to gallop test, and I stress it was primarily a test.
Game modding work has slowly picked up again, with the transition over to Unreal, I've finally gotten my hands on the rebuilt rigs and have been testing out their limitations as well. Also, due to my apartment being put up for sale by my landlords, I am moving into a quainter place across the bridge at the end of the month. As long as I can get my 11secondclub entry done, then I will be more than satisfied.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
February Schmebuary
Wow, pure insanity with the Olympics in Vancouver; it's been a very distracting couple of weeks. I haven't really done much Olympic persay except observe from a distance, I didn't feel like standing in really really long lines, but it was still pretty amazingly cool. I also just finished and submitted my 11second club entry, so I'll be interested in seeing how I do on it. I don't expect to win but it's not really about that anyways. I tried to go heavy on body mechanics with this one and learned alot from doing it. Not really sure if the idea makes sense, but hey, my gut told me to go with it. Here is what I submitted, if you vote, please still vote fairly and accordingly, I have the utmost respect for this competition.
I also chose a werewolf rig from Arconyx as part of my prize from Kenny Roy, I'm bouncing through a few different ideas for that at the moment, but that's my next project, as well as getting back to work on my short film. My Hiatus from it was perfect to give me the fresh eyes I need. Age of Chivalry has decided to switch over to Unreal from Source, in the big picture I suppose it's worth it, but it also means the animations I did for them are useless. Ah well, new models have to be rigged so I get some time off from that. It's all about the best end product and this seems to be leading towards that.
I also chose a werewolf rig from Arconyx as part of my prize from Kenny Roy, I'm bouncing through a few different ideas for that at the moment, but that's my next project, as well as getting back to work on my short film. My Hiatus from it was perfect to give me the fresh eyes I need. Age of Chivalry has decided to switch over to Unreal from Source, in the big picture I suppose it's worth it, but it also means the animations I did for them are useless. Ah well, new models have to be rigged so I get some time off from that. It's all about the best end product and this seems to be leading towards that.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Vive l'animation!
The last two weeks, though officially graduated and currently looking for work, has been busy and hectic, so that's fantastic. I could use this, and I've been tempted believe me, as downtime for a job well done, but I refuse to let that happen for two reasons: a) I'm in a productive routine that might be hard to get back into if I get out of it and b) this animation stuff is really fun anyways. There seems to be lots to keep me busy and keep me working on my skills and the more practice I get in, the more refined my skills seem to get; I guess it's a testament to the never ending learning curve in this industry and I have to admit, nothing excites me more.
I spent the majority of last week working on the uber shot for Mass Animation, which constituted of 16 characters, a bus and 7 seconds, most of which was bullet time. The payoff for this was a substantial reward, but more importantly to be a shining portfolio piece. Sad to say, I didn't win, but that's ok, I won for a game cycle in Phase 2 and already a trailer shot in Phase 1, so it will still compliment my resume nicely. It's funny as the reason I did the game cycle was to have a taste of the gratification of having an animation in game that is used by players, and to be quite frank, I didn't think I'd win that one, so the world works in mysterious ways. Since the competition is officially over, I'll post my uber-shot that I grueled over, as I'm fairly pleased with it, and I imagine I must have been close to winning, hopefully I'll finish polishing this regardless.
It's also been a good week for busting out cycles for Age of Chivarly; I managed to get all my sprint cycles done for the crusader character wielding a flamberge as well as an idle cycle. I'm fairly happy with those too, but I will come back and polish those, for the meantime, it's something to test their functionality in game. Next up on the list is attacks and parries (woo woo!) should be interesting as they are torso only animations, but regardless should be alot of fun. I was hoping to start work on those already, but there was a lot of backend stuff I had to learn (even deconstruct and rewrite code) to get these animations to import into the game properly, a fun challenge to be sure.
And more recently, I've spent the past couple days on and off working on my entry for the 11 Second Club this month. The audio clip this time around is so... unique, it provides such an interesting challenge. I thought of a few different ideas, but I kept coming back to one in my head so I went with my gut instinct on it. At a glance it seems rather weird to me, but with refinement and a properly modelled set, I think it will all come together. Regardless, it is a chance for some super fun and polished animation, but here's my first pass blocking thus far. I plan to spend time this weekend going back and pushing the poses and checking my arcs to see they are on track.
I spent the majority of last week working on the uber shot for Mass Animation, which constituted of 16 characters, a bus and 7 seconds, most of which was bullet time. The payoff for this was a substantial reward, but more importantly to be a shining portfolio piece. Sad to say, I didn't win, but that's ok, I won for a game cycle in Phase 2 and already a trailer shot in Phase 1, so it will still compliment my resume nicely. It's funny as the reason I did the game cycle was to have a taste of the gratification of having an animation in game that is used by players, and to be quite frank, I didn't think I'd win that one, so the world works in mysterious ways. Since the competition is officially over, I'll post my uber-shot that I grueled over, as I'm fairly pleased with it, and I imagine I must have been close to winning, hopefully I'll finish polishing this regardless.
It's also been a good week for busting out cycles for Age of Chivarly; I managed to get all my sprint cycles done for the crusader character wielding a flamberge as well as an idle cycle. I'm fairly happy with those too, but I will come back and polish those, for the meantime, it's something to test their functionality in game. Next up on the list is attacks and parries (woo woo!) should be interesting as they are torso only animations, but regardless should be alot of fun. I was hoping to start work on those already, but there was a lot of backend stuff I had to learn (even deconstruct and rewrite code) to get these animations to import into the game properly, a fun challenge to be sure.
And more recently, I've spent the past couple days on and off working on my entry for the 11 Second Club this month. The audio clip this time around is so... unique, it provides such an interesting challenge. I thought of a few different ideas, but I kept coming back to one in my head so I went with my gut instinct on it. At a glance it seems rather weird to me, but with refinement and a properly modelled set, I think it will all come together. Regardless, it is a chance for some super fun and polished animation, but here's my first pass blocking thus far. I plan to spend time this weekend going back and pushing the poses and checking my arcs to see they are on track.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Graduation Blues? Hardly
Well Graduation just happened this last weekend and the only word for it really is... speechless! So many elements of it was fantastic and surreal it's hard to know where to start. The actual ceremony itself was creative and entertaining, done in the style that only Animation Mentor could pull off, but on top of that, meeting most people for the first time that I've only met before through webcam or even text was an amazing experience. Especially being harnessed as such a global community and knowing how far people travelled, just... wow! There was also a career fair the day before in which I was able to introduce myself to numerous recruiters, I consider that to be the most important element rather than simply prospects of finding work, though that plays into it as well. And being able to do all the touristy things that San Francisco offers with friends from literally around the world was just as exciting. 5 days was not long enough.
Although I was nominated for 2 student choice awards, I didn't end up winning either, but I wasn't disappointed, as both people who won them were entirely deserving of those awards. I did however, get to meet up with my last mentor, Kenny Roy who's an awe inspiring individual, but having won his class award, I received a 3D maquette of one of my film characters. All I had to do was send him a pose in a maya file and the rest was his; I plan on painting it, but it was an honor to receive it.
So I guess it's official, I'm now a full fledged alumni, but the work doesn't stop there. After graduation, a group of us got tours of ILM and PDI Dreamworks and both places were just amazing. So many good vibes that I definitely feel rejuvenated on finishing my short film, even sooner than later. So I've begun work on that as well as continued to bust away work for the Age of Chivalry mod I'm part of now. Mostly working on Sprint cycles at the moment, and I'm realizing how challenging cycles can actually be. It is definitely a good test of... well darn near everything and a really good learning experience. Hopefully I'll post something soon.
Also, one of my shots for the new Mass Animation contest was chosen as a finalist and I had a skype call with the director Yair Landau earlier today. Offering me some feedback on how to improve it and getting me set up for working with ReelFX to push it up to finalized production quality. It's a very exciting prospect and I can't wait to start to finish it (sounds ironic I know). I've decided to do one more entry for the DCUO contest, this time a game cycle. If it gets chosen, it would be an interesting sense of achievement seeing some of my animation in game being used by players and NPCs alike.
So all in all, even tho becoming alumni would seem like a bit of a denouement, the animation wheel keeps on turning, and I'm glad I have enough to keep my plate full until the next studio job comes my way. :D
Although I was nominated for 2 student choice awards, I didn't end up winning either, but I wasn't disappointed, as both people who won them were entirely deserving of those awards. I did however, get to meet up with my last mentor, Kenny Roy who's an awe inspiring individual, but having won his class award, I received a 3D maquette of one of my film characters. All I had to do was send him a pose in a maya file and the rest was his; I plan on painting it, but it was an honor to receive it.
So I guess it's official, I'm now a full fledged alumni, but the work doesn't stop there. After graduation, a group of us got tours of ILM and PDI Dreamworks and both places were just amazing. So many good vibes that I definitely feel rejuvenated on finishing my short film, even sooner than later. So I've begun work on that as well as continued to bust away work for the Age of Chivalry mod I'm part of now. Mostly working on Sprint cycles at the moment, and I'm realizing how challenging cycles can actually be. It is definitely a good test of... well darn near everything and a really good learning experience. Hopefully I'll post something soon.
Also, one of my shots for the new Mass Animation contest was chosen as a finalist and I had a skype call with the director Yair Landau earlier today. Offering me some feedback on how to improve it and getting me set up for working with ReelFX to push it up to finalized production quality. It's a very exciting prospect and I can't wait to start to finish it (sounds ironic I know). I've decided to do one more entry for the DCUO contest, this time a game cycle. If it gets chosen, it would be an interesting sense of achievement seeing some of my animation in game being used by players and NPCs alike.
So all in all, even tho becoming alumni would seem like a bit of a denouement, the animation wheel keeps on turning, and I'm glad I have enough to keep my plate full until the next studio job comes my way. :D
Friday, January 8, 2010
A Whole Decade Later
Huzzah! It's a new year, new decade even, and even better than that, I can proudly display this awesome new logo! That's right, I've graduated, and I am officially an Animation Mentor alumni woohoo! Well, to be fair, the actual graduation ceremony is next week, but barring some absurd technicality, I'm feeling pretty confident I'm a graduate. It was a pretty mad push up to the end, but well worth it's weight in learning and goldness. Though my short film is not complete, I'm feeling happy with the shots I worked on and feel now I have something far more competitive than I did in the past. Plus the relationships I've nurtured over the last year and a half are practically worth it on it's own, socially and otherwise.
The Xmas break was good, but ultimately too short as per usual. I got to go home to see family and also use that time to enter the new Mass Animation DC Universe Online contest. I wanted to challenge myself with one shot, a hard one at that to prevent getting rusty and really, it was the only time I would be able to work on it, as I have quite a full plate going on at the moment. Anyways, working on a laptop for a change was quite the experience, and though I don't feel my shot was complete or as good as it could have possibly been, I gave myself a time restriction and handed it in. I'm not hell-bent on winning, I just wanted to participate as it was a chance to animate Batman, that in itself was worth it to me.
On another front, my work with the Age of Chivalry dev team is ramping up and I'm busy creating cycles for them as well. It's a very exciting project and a fun crew to boot. Already I'm learning alot, including quickly mastering (I'd like to think) 3DS Max, so even another piece of software under my belt. Not sure if I'm allowed to post animations from that, I imagine it's ok, but I'm going to check first.
If you haven't noticed, also I've manage to compile a new reel together on the main page, updated to the max! Unrendered as of yet, but I'll get around to it; I've also had some dynamics simulation problems, mostly with the software crashing, but I'll overcome that hurdle as well.
So in the very least, I guess I can say I'm glad I'm keeping busy in the new year and not allowing myself too much downtime; one resolution I've stuck to so far hehe. Now if I can just keep up more regular blog postings. THE FUTURE IS NOW! :D
Friday, December 4, 2009
I'm Not Dead I swear
I realize it's been a while since my last post. This is largely due to the Class 5/6 phenomenom I've noticed, that most students choose not to publish short film works in progress in a public domain and I'm adhering to that as well. It may come back to haunt me in terms of film festivals if it actually does become a festival piece who knows. With that said, it's been an amazing learning experience, that is absolutely no lie. As of now there is only 2 1/2 weeks left of class 7, then I will be ready for the almighty and scary class 7! (Class 7 being a colourful euphemism for the real world industry). Exciting and a bit scary at the same time, but mostly exciting.
Against my original plan but not against my better judgement, I will not complete my short film this term. At the start of class I made a verbal contract with my mentor that I would only tackle 30 seconds of my short film, so I can make those 30 seconds as best as I possibly can, instead of 1 minute 17 seconds of less-than-awesomeness. At most CG film studios where 3 seconds / week is expected, that's about right on par, plus I'm still a student learning and more than polishing out my animation also polishing out my workflow mistakes. That has been the real power of this class so far, I've really developed my workflow into something very functional through experimentation and trial and error. On top of that, I've also increasingly developed my eye into seeing finessing on an even more detailed level as well as a series of "aha!" moments, which are so gratifying.
Sooo much more to learn I feel incredibly humbled by how much there is yet to know, but that's also the very exciting part of the whole industry as well, I will keep growing and learning and pushing myself, and I freakin' love that! With the end of AM so nigh, I will gratefully look forward to my xmas downtime, but much work to be done before the actual graduation in mid January; namely polishing up other shots and compiling a new and improved demo reel. I don't want to jinx anything too much but many new extracurricular projects coming up as well; namely Mass Animation 2, 11 Seconds Club and some Crysis game modding so much to stay busy with.
Also, this week marks the 26th issue of Andy-Mated, my webcomic I'm doing for www.vancouveranimation.ca. In other words, that's 6 months of drawing a web comic and everything that entails. Not only has it been a great commitment but a great way to keep my creativity flowing and improve my artistic and photochopping abilities. Each week it grows slightly stronger so I hope to keep this up.
Against my original plan but not against my better judgement, I will not complete my short film this term. At the start of class I made a verbal contract with my mentor that I would only tackle 30 seconds of my short film, so I can make those 30 seconds as best as I possibly can, instead of 1 minute 17 seconds of less-than-awesomeness. At most CG film studios where 3 seconds / week is expected, that's about right on par, plus I'm still a student learning and more than polishing out my animation also polishing out my workflow mistakes. That has been the real power of this class so far, I've really developed my workflow into something very functional through experimentation and trial and error. On top of that, I've also increasingly developed my eye into seeing finessing on an even more detailed level as well as a series of "aha!" moments, which are so gratifying.
Sooo much more to learn I feel incredibly humbled by how much there is yet to know, but that's also the very exciting part of the whole industry as well, I will keep growing and learning and pushing myself, and I freakin' love that! With the end of AM so nigh, I will gratefully look forward to my xmas downtime, but much work to be done before the actual graduation in mid January; namely polishing up other shots and compiling a new and improved demo reel. I don't want to jinx anything too much but many new extracurricular projects coming up as well; namely Mass Animation 2, 11 Seconds Club and some Crysis game modding so much to stay busy with.
Also, this week marks the 26th issue of Andy-Mated, my webcomic I'm doing for www.vancouveranimation.ca. In other words, that's 6 months of drawing a web comic and everything that entails. Not only has it been a great commitment but a great way to keep my creativity flowing and improve my artistic and photochopping abilities. Each week it grows slightly stronger so I hope to keep this up.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Musings From Within the Time Cube
First day of Class 6! I just found out my mentor is the wonderfully inspirational Kenny Roy and I'm quite pleased. He's got a great enthusiasm about him and seems quite knowledgable of cartoony style as well, which will be unbelievably helpful for me this term in particular. Woo! Pre-production and layout of my short film is complete, and you can see the more final version below:
In other updates, PAX was great, although I caught the infamous PAX flu, and at least was able to poke fun of it with my webcomic. There is a very real possibility that it was H1N1, but I was advised not to get tested and stay away from public unless it starts to affect my respiratory system in a serious way. Regardless, it surely knocked me down on the floor and recovery was slow. Well over it now, so that's great and now I can go forward out into the world with my super-human immunity.
I finally was able to get my Art page on my website pseudo-functional, tho the proportions are still funky and I apoligize for that. At Siggraph, I had the privelage of having Disney review my reel and they're predominant suggestion was that I plaster my website with drawings of all sorts. And thusly I've been trying to draw with a passion, including weekly life drawing classes. One of the most amazing things is that life drawing has become substantially more enjoyable than before. Anyways, examples can now be seen under my art section, and I hope to categorize them soon appropriately (ie. Quick Sketches, Creative, Longer Studies, etc). Nonetheless, content should be progressively added. Right now though, it's all about getting into the grind, Class 6 goes by fast I'm told, the first day's not over but it's going fast already!
In other updates, PAX was great, although I caught the infamous PAX flu, and at least was able to poke fun of it with my webcomic. There is a very real possibility that it was H1N1, but I was advised not to get tested and stay away from public unless it starts to affect my respiratory system in a serious way. Regardless, it surely knocked me down on the floor and recovery was slow. Well over it now, so that's great and now I can go forward out into the world with my super-human immunity.
I finally was able to get my Art page on my website pseudo-functional, tho the proportions are still funky and I apoligize for that. At Siggraph, I had the privelage of having Disney review my reel and they're predominant suggestion was that I plaster my website with drawings of all sorts. And thusly I've been trying to draw with a passion, including weekly life drawing classes. One of the most amazing things is that life drawing has become substantially more enjoyable than before. Anyways, examples can now be seen under my art section, and I hope to categorize them soon appropriately (ie. Quick Sketches, Creative, Longer Studies, etc). Nonetheless, content should be progressively added. Right now though, it's all about getting into the grind, Class 6 goes by fast I'm told, the first day's not over but it's going fast already!
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