Weekly comment

  This week was crazy for me, between changing my scheduled at school around and the damn chicken I have been exhausted. I am a little bit more confident in maya though and hope to do better on the 3d short. I loved learning about editing and found it to be surprisingly entertaining. I'm a bit stressed though because this coming week I will be having extensive interaction with the military to explore my options. After all thats happened this week I find I'm really looking forward to editing next year! tedious as it may be, it is equally entertaining. Lately I have been doing a lot more physical activity as far as exercise goes so heres my link for the week, enjoy! Don't be lazy its easy!

5 friends + camera and editing techniques = 1000's of people?

  1 man versus 100 men seems a bit unfair for several obvious reasons, but at least with todays technology we can make it seem as if the odds are a little bit more fair.

  This article goes over the possible use of software and programs such as After Effects, and various other editing programs. Though it may seem tedious it can be surprisingly easy to duplicate one person several times to trick the audience. The article recommends having your friends stand in multiple places wearing different clothes, after that all that you need to do is copy the footage into the scene and make sure they don't overlap. With those easy steps you suddenly have A MIGHTY ARMY! or zombie invasion.. sometimes there will be a problem with the audience recognizing the trick you are attempting to do. Don't have your extras stand in the same spot in different rooms, also having people cross closely in front of or behind the character will provide the illusion of a crowded area. Use of Long lenses and close ups also give the illusion that there are more people than there really are.
 Now you can save money and not break your budget with extras! yay!

Inspiration, Innovation and Location, Location, Location.

This weeks article provided by jack was a very interesting one, I love seeing the behind the scenes action when it comes to production and animation. A lot of work goes into (almost) everything we see on t.v and the internet, I love watching different peoples processes and applying it to my own work.
This article featured two behind the scenes looks at one of the famous super bowl commercials regarding the good old fashioned rabbit, hare, and car? Using multiple programs in coordination with live action shots the talented Robert Stromberg created this ad for Mercedes Benz. The first thing I realized when I watched the videos was how much prep work went into the animated characters. Going through tedious phases of sketch, paint, color, texture, photoshop, maya, etc. There was a hinted time period of several months alone in planning and development of the characters, not to mention that every step of the way each superior would have to "ok" the work.

 If I take anything away from this article its that I should start developing characters of my own in preparation for when I might need them. Saving myself the trouble of being un-prepared and unskilled at drawing and replicating my own ideas.

Weekly comment

  Yay tests... well test. seeing as I only have an english test tomorrow it won't be all bad. I am finding 3d very difficult and constantly have to go back over my notes to recreate something usable for the "chicken" project. Ugh. Regardless the highlight of my week so far other than successfully dropping my problem class, would have to be the end of it. This past week was killer, and felt slower than usual. The highlight/disappointment? That would have to be the movie I saw last night American Sniper. I only say that because yes the movie was good, I was even moved to tears at the end, but not as good as the slightly older movie it is constantly being compared to Lone survivor. I don't think the movie was all its cracked up to be, but that shouldn't stop anyone from seeing it and judging that for yourself. I'm looking forward to the independent study project so I can go back to the familiar warmth of Animate pro. I have some plans for the final project as well that should prove to be fun.
 Anyhow heres the link of interest for this week, enjoy! ( Not a trap. )

Sweet mother of render...

  3d has brought about many new challenges to animation but my least favorite to traverse would be rendering, simply because I can only sit back and tweedle my thumbs waiting for it to finish. Just looking at all of the complex  mechanics and sims running in the battle of the five armies movie made me want to cry imagining what it would take for poor Maya to crank that out in mental ray. But thankfully there are different programs specially developed for the job. Having hundreds of creatures and people battling it out on one screen is nothing to scoff at, the production and set up for something on this scale is absolutely ludicrous though it has been done before. Other movies such as The previous lord of the rings movies and Dawn of the planet of the apes, require the special attention of the high tech programs used at Weta Digital.
  All I can really say is that the process for a movie like this is incredible and complicated to no end. I am glad I only have to deal with a fraction of this on a minor scale.

Michael Bay has good advice?!

   It surprised me too when I read the article this week to find out that Michael Bay has more to his directing style than just explosions. The notorious filmmaker has laid the groundwork for many aspiring filmmakers in terms of action movies and sequences.
  There were a few things in particular I picked out from the interview with Mr. Bay, the first being how he used grand scale shots vs close ups. This would allow the audience to take in the enormity of what was happening while transitioning into the characters personal emotions and reaction to the event. Another tip I picked up on was the use of real "Large moving objects." that would also ad an element of realism to the shot. The last tip I noticed was director Bay's use of a tennis ball in order to gauge (haha...) gravity. Tossing it up and using its air time to reflect that of a character to help get a tough shot.
  Actually learning something from Michael Bay was a surprising experience but I will actually find some use for his recommendations in both my animation and future camera work.

Dat weekly comment doe

  Holy crap another week and I haven't put my fist through my monitor yet...just kidding I love it to much for that, but regardless as promised with the arrival of 3d his lesser known and hated by all sibling "crap load of work" is faithfully at his side. I never expected it to be easy but damn is it un-cooperative when i need it to be. Well, the good part about this week is that I will finally be able to drop my problem class without repercussion, ~yay. Although my sleeping schedule is severely jacked up. Im glad that we have started learning 3d but I will miss 2d very much so. Now all of my passion is focused on the final project, I already have a few ideas for it and I refuse to disappoint.
 Welp to wrap things up here be my link of interest--> As of late I caught up to an anime called Tokyo ghoul which in my opinion is the best anime so far in 2015. It is notoriously gruesome and should not be looked  at lightly, especially if you don't like blood, but that is my exact reason for watching it. I like to pick out how the blood is animated, though most of it is censored I still have learned a lot. If you have a strong gut and don't mind blood and broken bones, then this is a tremendous anime, I highly recommend it.