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Brett Parker!

2009-03-30T12:09:00.001-07:00

Oh man, my new Mentor is Bret Parker!!!! So excited! For those who don't know Bret Parker works over at Pixar. She has worked on most of the features beginning with Bug's Life. She was also the lead (and Voice) on the character Kari from The Incredibles. This is gonna be so sweet!

Am Class 3 Progress Reel

2009-03-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

Well its been a long and challenging term. Things aren't really going one way or the other, but they are going. I found my true passion, which is in creating the ideas behind the animation. I like telling the story. I think I will strive towards directing, and creating. But that aside, here is my class 3 progress reel. Enjoy!

Class 3! Week2.

2009-01-17T22:41:00.000-08:00

SO I am in Class 3 of AM now! Woo Hoo! Introduction to Acting. This is what it's all about. The real meat and potatoes of animation. This is going to be great. I have a new Mentor, Nick Bruno who has worked at Blue Sky Studios since Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. He has worked on Ice Age 2, Horton Hears a Who, and Ice Age 3, as well as their secret upcoming title (he hasn't told us so don't ask...). So for our first assignment in our introduction to acting class we needed to come up with a small story that shows a character going through two different emotional beats. In my scenario I have my character fairly relaxed, then scared, then depressed. Here is the blocking for this scene.

AM Class 2 progress reel

2008-12-17T23:25:00.000-08:00

Here is what I have done thus far at AM.

If that quicktime file is giving you problems here is a link to a youtube version of it: Class 2 Progress Reel - Youtube Version

Bret Parker talks about The making of Wall-E

2008-11-10T20:49:00.001-08:00

Today AM held a live webinar with Bret Parker. It was so cool getting to meet her. Shes super nice and had some good advice about being a student. She was also the voice of Kari the babysitter in The Increadibles, and so much of her perosnality shone through in that movie. Really cool.

Class 2 Week 4

2008-11-05T23:10:00.000-08:00

So here is the last assignment I completed. This is the fruits of weeks 1-4 of Class 2 at Animation Mentor. The assignment was to have a character do a 180. So I came up with this hopscotch piece. Hope you enjoy!

Stay tuned for my next assignment which will be completed in a couple weeks: Jumping a Chasm.

Animation Mentor- Basic Foundations- In Review

2008-09-18T00:31:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys! SO I know I've missed a couple weeks here. But I've been busy, and my personal life has been in turmoil. But I made it through, and finished Class 1! Its so exciting. I had such a great time getting to know all my classmates, and I learned sooooo much this term. It was truly an amazing experience. So to recap here is all the stuff I did this term, from newest to oldest. Many of the pieces has been updated from what you've seen here previously. The encode quality isn't the greatest, but its not my demo reel, its just to show you all quickly what I've done.

If that quicktime file is giving you problems here is a link to a youtube version of it: Class 1 In Review - Youtube Version

Week 9!

2008-09-03T19:58:00.001-07:00

Week 9 was pretty fun. Finished up the vanilla walk, got it all smoothed out. And did a pose representing the concept "Concerned".

And here is the final Walk:

Week 8 over and done...

2008-08-24T00:14:00.000-07:00

Week 8 was pretty killer. A "Vanilla" or basic walk cycle and a "Physical Strength" pose...

The walk is only half way done. Its in what we refer to as stepped keys mode, which is just the key poses with no inbetween poses. Its jerky, but that is because the key pose is being held over multiple frames, ensuring we see only the work we have done with no computer assistance. Next week we add the inbetweens, tweak it, and finish it up.

Here was my planning for each:

And here is the final results of what I've turned in:

Week 7, Tailor

2008-08-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, Wow, time sure flies when you are having fun. Its week 7 now, and we've got a new character. Everybody meet Tailor, or bouncing ball with a tail. This character allows us to utilize everything we've learned so far about motion. Our assignment is a simple 3 bounces with nice overlap on the tail. Simple...I took it a little farther trying to incorporate a little sense of character...

Week 6

2008-08-07T20:12:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I'm in week 6 now. Working on a pendulum assignment. We have the option of doing a basic start stop, or any kind of crazy motion we like. I went with the basic start stop this time because I really want to nail the principle of overlapping action and I think I will best understand it in its most basic form. THere is time to play later ;-) So what do you guys think?

2008-08-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

Fixed an area around frame 48 where the ball hovered at the apex of his jump. Good for really exagerated cartoony stuff but it didn't fit with the rest of the piece, took some frames out and added tem to the front where Ive added a hop to help sell the distance he is able to travel on his first jump.

2008-07-31T23:52:00.000-07:00

Added some squash and stretch on the ball, adjusted the antic, and the settle. Does this feel right to you guys?
Also working on the Stu poses. Trying to find an angle where the silhouette is decent, and the pose is decently broken up (that is to say both arms aren't exactly the same, or both legs, etc.).

2008-07-31T00:34:00.000-07:00

I've now gone to spline with the Obstacle COurse animation. I haven't layered much Squash and Stretch on it yet, just focusing on the timing and spacing and the arcs of the movement.

Devastated...

2008-07-30T00:15:00.000-07:00

Did some work on the devastated pose..I'm definitely leaning towards the first one.

2008-07-29T23:40:00.001-07:00

Alright, took it a little farther with further breakdowns. I also went into splined animation for the begining and end as I feel these two moments will be the two most crucial parts of the entire animation. They aren't perfect yet, but at least I've started on them.
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2008-07-29T23:04:00.000-07:00

Here is the rough blocking pass on my obstacle course animation. Just the keys and breakdowns, no inbetweens. Mainly focusing on the timing of the entire piece. THe end is abrupt and I'll have to steal some time from elsewhere to give me room to settle realistically, because we have a 120 frame limit on the assignment.

2008-07-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

Here is my initial plan for the obstacle course...roughly timed out in my head and sketched as quickly as possible with dry erase marker. No I didn't have to use dry erase I could have rendered out an image and digitally drawn on top...but I love the feel of real sketching, and this was faster :)

Site Upgrade!

2008-07-28T08:52:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone. SO my site just went through one hell of a backend overhaul. The result is the same pleasing design you've all grown to love. BUt now movies load in a shadowbox as well as images, for seamless media navigation. I'll be updating the old links to reflect the changes shortly, but until then enjoy!

Week 5...Devastated pose, and obstacle course.

2008-07-27T23:58:00.000-07:00

This week we have to make a ball propel itself through an obstacle course, and sketch out a single pose to convey the word "Devastated".
Here are my initial sketches for devastated.

Week 4 Final

2008-07-26T23:52:00.000-07:00

Here is what I'm turning in to be critiqued this week. Hope it looks good to all of you. I've been working on it so long I've lost objectivity.

Week 4, a heavy and light experiment with spacing.

2008-07-26T00:02:00.000-07:00

So its week 4 already, and we are learning about how spacing effects the physical properties of an object. The assignment is just to have 2 balls bounce, one heavy and one light. Here is my take. Let me know if anything feels off about it.

Pose: Excited!

2008-07-19T18:49:00.001-07:00

For our pose this week we are trying to capture in a single pose the word "Excited". Here are my sketches that I culled from watching The Price is Right.
And here is my second pass, picking a few favorites and playing with subtle differences, seeing what works best.

Week 3, bouncing ball and Excited!

2008-07-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

SO here I am in week 3. Working on the basic no frills bouncing ball (with hopefully the weight and feel of a basketball).

Class 2 FInal Sketches and pose:

2008-07-12T19:22:00.000-07:00

Here is what I'm turning in for Class 1 Section 2.