Weekly Comment

Halloween is coming up, which is one of my favorite holidays. i love everything about the fall weather, light jackets, pumpkin spice, and the best part, everything scary.
Well i believe that proves that this week i am excited about Halloween, but i am not looking forward to handing out candy at my dads. However all hope is not lost because i FINALLY got my drivers permit. The only thing truly frustrating me is Trig as of late, but eventually with hard work I'm sure I'll get it.

  For my link of interest something that might help with that four leg walk cycle. I know what it actually is and honestly i do it to torture you guys but regardless it is informative and might help with whatever you choose to do.


YES IT HAS PONIES HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Picture perfect

  In every scene of every movie there is some tactic behind the angle, direction the character is facing, height, and many other factors. These different tedious shots can help to emphasize a characters power or lack there of. Once again proving that there is more to what is going on than what the observer first notices. An angle of the camera above the characters head gives that character the illusion of lacking power or significance, where as an upward one of the same character gives the opposite feeling.
 Angles, size, and who is in what scene at what time will all help the director to give a representation of what is going on, even if the audio is muted. This can also be used in animation, still images, or any other form of media, to help further captivate an audience.

The little things

  as the title suggests it really is the little things, the attention to detail or the mechanics of and object that make that object its own. Ron Henderson (a contributing scientist to a new Dreamworks film) is a prime example of what kind of dedication time and effort can go into something as simple as a bubble.
  Of course the first step to giving a perfect artists rendition of a bubble would be to study them, so Ron spent time overlooking drawings, previous animations, and actual bubbles for an entire year.

"What we're doing here is creating tools for artists," Henderson said. "I think it's going to be a success."Quote from. 

Ron has awards for his research and development  on a fluid simulation system called "flux" and has a doctorate in Mechanical and aerospace engineering. His dedication and time in the scientific field give him an astounding background to be working on projects such as the most current one mentioned in the article.

 Ron's hard work really resonates with what an artist or animator or even an engineer will have to commit to if he or she wants to produce high quality work. In short, effort.

weekly comment

animation continues to be all that i thought it would, I'm still learning a lot and hope to continue this way. The trip to Villa Maria was Awesome and helped give me a little perspective on college.
This week i learned that i'm still bad at math (according to my 5 week report) and that if anyone needs help with american history or English i'm the guy to see. And to rap it up and get back to the game of Starcraft 2 i currently have tabbed I'm finding myself looking forward to 3D and Maya now.

Can't wait for this movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkILifGifzE

Hiding mics

Although it seems this would be more useful next year, COUGH COUGH, it is still none the less interesting. there are several different ways that someone can hide  a  lav mic.
one way is to put it backwards on a tie, another way is to place it under the collar of your shirt. most of the ways depicted involved taping the cord or the mic itself down behind some article of clothing.

While this is useful this is not my most favorite of topics...

10 Insights from a Game of Thrones and Guardians of the Galaxy Creature Animator

  Nicole Herr has spent her fair share of time working on creatures in many movies easily recognizable throughout the past two decades. During an interview she first explains what peaked her interest as far as animation goes. her dream started when she saw the film the little mermaid, she says it helped her to realize what she wanted to do. But the real tipping point for her was when she received a letter from a senior animator that worked for Disney out of Florida.

   Next in the interview she goes over some of her favorite shots that she has worked on. some of which include Fantasia 2000, Sphere, Stuart Little 2, and Sucker punch. next up Nicole talks about realistic animation vs animation with her characters. to cover this she goes into a lengthy explanation about how she makes each one come to life. for regular animation she will record herself in poses and review them to get a feel for how the character should be moving. and for the realistic animation she studies the textures shapes and anatomy of the creatures she is trying to replicate. then in the next two questions she covers her usual workflow and the amount of time she has to complete it. 

   Nicole then finishes off the last few questions going over common mistakes new animators make such as over complication and how the can fix them like acting out a scene yourself or understanding the characters motion.

Nicole really provides a unique perspective on this topic and gives some cool advice mixed with some of the other suggestions we have heard over and over again. In a general sense I enjoyed the article, even though im not personally a fan of game of thrones.

Dat weekly comment doe

  What a week, between fire drills making my ears bleed at what must be an unlawful decibel to having enough work time to make any animator giddy. The projects are getting more involved and I am enjoying it all the same, though I now find music a necessity to help focus in class. COUGH *Patrick* COUGH!! ugh, better watch out that Ebola will sneak up on you. Any how I really am happy with the work we have been doing lately, but yet again I am still looking forward to when we will be adding audio and story line! Well to finish things up for today I'll add something that may come in handy in the future involving lip syncing (yes I know we have an auto-lip-sync feature)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMWiYIVoDis&list=LLtjpWback3AxT4dobdRDkag&index=6

Following the patterns in movie making

  From the set of Iron Man 2 movie makers and directors share just how they do what they do when an audience is looking at the screen. Little details such as cgi and animation is used on the parts of the screen that the average person is not looking at, the cool part is that your brain automatically makes the connection. Similar to the way we are currently learning how to animate, your brain behaves the same way having its attention brought to exactly what the artist or director wants you to look at. Lots of time ans studying are involved in the physics of objects in order to make them seem more realistic. to rap this up in a quote from the director of iron man 2 “Everything you’re looking at is real, and everything you’re not looking at is fake,”.

 I can't wait to apply these tactics to my own work in order to keep the viewer focused on what I want them to see.

Tips from Rockstar's former art director

  Ian Bowden former art director for Rockstar games (creator of the Grand Theft Auto series) shares his thoughts in this article as he transitions from your 50 inch plasma to your 5 inch phone in terms of game design. Bowden discusses important marketing aspects and tools an artist must naturally have equipped at all times. The first thing he mentioned in the article that stuck out to me was the use of a sketchpad. Bowden recommends carrying a sketch pad everywhere you go. Seeing as I personally already attempt to do this it helped me to feel as if I'm already on the right path. Another topic discussed was the watching of current trends in games, movies, and advertising. looking at all of these things not just as a consumer but as an artist. For example what colors stick out, is there a theme in terms of style or shape, etc. Bowden also talks about the importance of not skimping out on the smaller details. Since he himself is switching to creating apps and games for mobile devices he talks about the quality and visuals used in the work itself. Just because the screen is smaller doesn't mean the amount of work should be either. Finally Bowden finishes up with experimenting with new ideas and being humble, both of these concepts can help to get you out of ruts or slumps as well as carry you farther in the workplace.

 I think we can take a lot from Bowden's point of view. Though some of it seems like we have heard it a thousand times in the past, I still find it useful. The same information from multiple sources has credibility right? Well at least I can respect that.