Sunday, October 9, 2011
Death of Steve Jobs
It's been 4 days since the death of Steve Jobs and it's still taking some time to sink in. One of the greatest and most innovative minds of our time. You will be missed.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Sparky Animation Co-Production
So here's a little bit of some local news. Sparky Animation in conjunction with Japan's Duckbill Entertainment, Baku Enterprise Inc. and Bandai Visual Inc. is set to produce a new CGI animated television program based on the best-selling Japanese book series, One Stormy Night. This deal represents Singapore's first animation co-production with three Japanese partners. Recent works that Sparky Animation has done include Dinosaur Train, with US-based The Jim Henson Company, and Mr. Moon with Skaramoosh (UK) and Title Entertainment (Canada).
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Reference Resource
Wow, this is something really exciting. Well at least i'm excited while typing this post out. It's a website with a database of totally awesome reference. Just happened to chance upon it while looking the net up for animation stuff. Hope it proves to be an invaluable tool for all animators out there. Enjoy!
http://www.referencereference.com/
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Pixar's lineup
So the latest on Pixar's upcoming lineup for 2012 and 2013 are, Brave and Monster's University respectively. I was looking around for information on the upcoming Brave and found it to be quite interesting. Well first off it's Pixar's very first fairytail-ish feature. Apparently, it's also a first attempt at moving a little away from the Pixar film norms with a slightly darker storyline and grittier plot. More information on Wiki.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_(2012_film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_(2012_film)
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Captain America
Hey people, just came across something that I thought i'd share. Was reading an article recently on Cap the movie and apparently, to get the effect for skinny Steve Rogers and the bulky one, they went all out with altering the image in post production...FRAME BY FRAME. Kudos to the studio that took the time and effort man....must have been a crazy ride. Full article can be found here:
http://www.awn.com/articles/3d/captain-america-poor-mans-process
http://www.awn.com/articles/3d/captain-america-poor-mans-process
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
The Last 10%
So what exactly is this last 10% a.k.a the polish phase that most animators refer to. Well it's the same thing that's been keeping me busy since the start of this last term of AM, hence a lack of presence on the blogs >.<
In any case it may be a little misleading calling it the last 10% as most of us tend to get the impression that it's simple cleanup house keeping etc. In reality, it can be anything from minor tweaks and cleanups to major overhauls and massive changes in your shots. Remember that feeling you got the last time you looked at your shot and went, "Geee...i wish i had changed how he got to that pose" or "hmmm he didn't looks quite like that was what he was doing". Yeah this is the time to make those changes.
I guess it's important to get yourself used to making big changes as working in the industry is no different. Director or supervising animator wants a change and bam you've gotta make that change. Don't be afraid to blow away large chunks of your animation, as this is all for improving the shot as a whole. Simple easy ways to manage the "bleeding" when you decide to "re-open the wound" would be to key all keys on the first pose just before the area of change and the last ok pose of that change, then WHAM delete everything and start fresh. This would mean doing the same things as before, blocking with nice solid poses splinning and pretty much the works.
You don't always want to re-renovate everything, at times working it through might prove to be the better option. Becareful however of "noodling" your shot to death (Reworking and adjusting things) You might end up losing important timing, accents and beats.
In any case it may be a little misleading calling it the last 10% as most of us tend to get the impression that it's simple cleanup house keeping etc. In reality, it can be anything from minor tweaks and cleanups to major overhauls and massive changes in your shots. Remember that feeling you got the last time you looked at your shot and went, "Geee...i wish i had changed how he got to that pose" or "hmmm he didn't looks quite like that was what he was doing". Yeah this is the time to make those changes.
I guess it's important to get yourself used to making big changes as working in the industry is no different. Director or supervising animator wants a change and bam you've gotta make that change. Don't be afraid to blow away large chunks of your animation, as this is all for improving the shot as a whole. Simple easy ways to manage the "bleeding" when you decide to "re-open the wound" would be to key all keys on the first pose just before the area of change and the last ok pose of that change, then WHAM delete everything and start fresh. This would mean doing the same things as before, blocking with nice solid poses splinning and pretty much the works.
You don't always want to re-renovate everything, at times working it through might prove to be the better option. Becareful however of "noodling" your shot to death (Reworking and adjusting things) You might end up losing important timing, accents and beats.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Updated Animation Reel
Well folks, just thought i'd drop a note about my updated reel. Feel free to check it out at the Animation Reel section of my blog - http://oneframesnap.blogspot.com/p/animation-reels.html
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Was She Deaf (Polish Phase)
Alrighty so here's that Deaf clip that I was working on in Polish phase. Still have a few things left to tweak but the dates due so, what the heck.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Portal 2 Investment Opportunities: Boots
Really awesome clip from Valve's Portal 2 Investment Opportunities Series. The whole packaging of the clip really sells well and has a really feel good thing going on.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Dying by Jean-Denis Haas
My classmate posted this on facebook and I would like to share this piece of awesome animation with you guys. This subtle animation short is done by Jean-Denis Haas. The emotion is really strong in this piece.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Just watched RIO
I managed to catch RIO today, gotta say it was pretty awesome. It looked sweet and the animation was crazy good. I think they nailed the atmosphere and the whole feel of the show. Music was spot on and characters were nicely developed. Nigel the Cockatoo was especially nice due to his flamboyant nature and attitude. Would have been nice to see him develop just a little bit more. I think probably the only thing not as wow-zers would have to be the general plot is quite expected and normal. Nothing extra ordinary or special happens in the story that you'd already expect.Overall I think I enjoyed it more than MegaMind but probably still not as much as Tangled. Well....just my thoughts on it. Excellent show though, so for those thinking of catching it, you probably should.
Sebastians Voodoo
A voodoo doll must find the courage to save his friends from being pinned to death.
Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at Aniboom
Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at Aniboom
Humans!
Simple and nice animation about human destroying Earth.
Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at Aniboom
Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at Aniboom
Monday, April 11, 2011
Monsters Inc 2 pushed back to 2013
Author of Howl's Moving Castle has passed away
Diana Wynne Jones, author of Howl's Moving Castle film of 2004 by Miyazaki has died at the age of 76 on March 26. Details can be found here @ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8414429/Diana-Wynne-Jones.html
Friday, April 8, 2011
"It's not about the what, but the who."
Haven't been posting for a while now. But learnt something pretty useful today and thought that it's good to share.
It's thinking about, "It's not the what, but the who." in either story development or character development in animation.
Basically to rip of Chuck Jones example in his book "Chuck Amuck". He basically talks about, you having a situation. For example, someone slipping over a banana peel, that is the what.
The stuff that gives it more bang for the buck is, the who. For a comedic effect, you could have a proud, know it all snob, sashaying down the sidewalk and he slips and fall. Take that and compare it to a feeble old man, walking down the sidewalk with a bag of groceries and he slips and fall. That could make you want to sympathize with the old man.
Sometimes "the who" could even give you an idea of "the what".
So remember to keep it mind "the who" before your next piece of work=)
It's thinking about, "It's not the what, but the who." in either story development or character development in animation.
Basically to rip of Chuck Jones example in his book "Chuck Amuck". He basically talks about, you having a situation. For example, someone slipping over a banana peel, that is the what.
The stuff that gives it more bang for the buck is, the who. For a comedic effect, you could have a proud, know it all snob, sashaying down the sidewalk and he slips and fall. Take that and compare it to a feeble old man, walking down the sidewalk with a bag of groceries and he slips and fall. That could make you want to sympathize with the old man.
Sometimes "the who" could even give you an idea of "the what".
So remember to keep it mind "the who" before your next piece of work=)
Friday, March 25, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Thunder Cats Remake
For those of you who were excited at the He-man remake, here's the latests on the anime-ish remake of Thunder Cats...looking quite cool.
Latests Cars 2 Trailer
Spy movie of the year. Always looking foward to the next Pixar movie...just because all their work tends to be AWESOME!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
The illusionist
Nominated along with Toy story 3 and How to train your Dragon for best animated Oscar.
Very very nice animation. Most impressed.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Personality
So today in my A.M QnA, we were on the topic of personality and how it helps us improve our animation and take it to the next level. Often time we hear the age old complain of "the rig doesn't allow me to show my character's personality." Personally, i think saying that is not being really fair to yourself. We talked about how something as simple as a bouncing ball can have a huge array of different personalities, be it sadness, excitement or disappoinment. When all that's been said and done, a ball has only one controller and is a basic shape. Pushing the boundries of what your rig can do will really help with pushing your poses and passing the "rig is the problem" mark.
Personality also helps differentiate one character from another. You may have pegged a certain character you're animating with a trait. Let's say he's a grumpy person. Animating your character being a generic grumpy person will only get you so far. What helps you get past cliches and stand out above the rest it to be specific. Perhaps he's a grumpy person who has a chicken and egg problem. He wants more friends and because he has none he is grumpy...which is why he has none. Sooo adding this in means that not only will he's poses be grumpy, there will be instances where he would probably try to make some kind of effort at being friendly but still being grumpy all at the same time. Your poses will change accordingly along with mannerisms and acting choices for that character.
Having a good backstory is also a good way to come up with acting choices that define the character's personality. If you have a character that is supposed to be annoyed, it could be for many reasons that may not be present in that shot you are animating. It could be because he already has been bugged for the 100th time today. Or maybe he's just had a fight with his wife. Perhaps he's trying to concentrate on something. All these reasons give life and change to the acting choices that you decide.
Personality also helps differentiate one character from another. You may have pegged a certain character you're animating with a trait. Let's say he's a grumpy person. Animating your character being a generic grumpy person will only get you so far. What helps you get past cliches and stand out above the rest it to be specific. Perhaps he's a grumpy person who has a chicken and egg problem. He wants more friends and because he has none he is grumpy...which is why he has none. Sooo adding this in means that not only will he's poses be grumpy, there will be instances where he would probably try to make some kind of effort at being friendly but still being grumpy all at the same time. Your poses will change accordingly along with mannerisms and acting choices for that character.
Having a good backstory is also a good way to come up with acting choices that define the character's personality. If you have a character that is supposed to be annoyed, it could be for many reasons that may not be present in that shot you are animating. It could be because he already has been bugged for the 100th time today. Or maybe he's just had a fight with his wife. Perhaps he's trying to concentrate on something. All these reasons give life and change to the acting choices that you decide.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Tips and Tricks by Mike Stern
some tips on workflow by Mike Stern, on animation mentor's tips and tricks=), check it out here!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Secondary Actions
Hey guys! It's January the 25th 2011 4:26 pm over here in Aussie land. Today's topic will be about Secondary actions. So wat exactly IS secondary action? Most people tend to get it mixed up with actions like: Arm dangling after and huge action. Tail dragging along. Hair trailing behind the head, etc. So just to clear the air, secondary actions are actions undertaken by the character that are seperate or apart from the direct action of the said character. Most often, these actions tend to either show the character's mood, habits, characteristics or thought process.
For example, if i would to say, animate a character saying "Hi" to someone. I could do this is many many different ways. I could have him be embarassed while saying hi. To show this i may have him rub his elbows while saying hi (Secondary action being rubbing elbows). Another example would be if a character is greeting some friends while he's adjusting his tie. (Secondary action being adjusting his tie. Maybe he's trying to appear neat)
Secondary actions are a really neat way of helping you phrase your key poses together. It ties in the action from one point to another all the while keeping the character focused on what state his mind or thoughts are on. It's always good to add some form of secondary action in your animations as this will really bring your characters to life and convince the audience that what they are seeing isn't an object moving but rather a character in a show or movie that is believable and one that can be empathized with.
Becareful however so as to NOT distract the audience with too much movement from your secondary actions. If it starts to move the focus of the shot away from it's original intention, then you've probably taken it too far.
For example, if i would to say, animate a character saying "Hi" to someone. I could do this is many many different ways. I could have him be embarassed while saying hi. To show this i may have him rub his elbows while saying hi (Secondary action being rubbing elbows). Another example would be if a character is greeting some friends while he's adjusting his tie. (Secondary action being adjusting his tie. Maybe he's trying to appear neat)
Secondary actions are a really neat way of helping you phrase your key poses together. It ties in the action from one point to another all the while keeping the character focused on what state his mind or thoughts are on. It's always good to add some form of secondary action in your animations as this will really bring your characters to life and convince the audience that what they are seeing isn't an object moving but rather a character in a show or movie that is believable and one that can be empathized with.
Becareful however so as to NOT distract the audience with too much movement from your secondary actions. If it starts to move the focus of the shot away from it's original intention, then you've probably taken it too far.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
The Tadpole
Nice and cute animation by Passion Pictures Paris. Love the animation and the asthetics look and feel of the clip.
Passion Pictures., The Tadpole directed by Bonzom , 2010.
The Tadpole from Passion Pictures on Vimeo.
Passion Pictures., The Tadpole directed by Bonzom , 2010.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Ice Age FOUR
Will it ever end? Probably not. This is the latests teaser for the next installment of the Ice Age series labelled Ice AGe 4 COntinental Drift. It's more of a short than anything else, starring everyone's favourite Ice Age character Skrat. It actually has a really nice err story, the short i mean so do check it out.
Pantomime - Just a noob thought
This is my first post! I am so excited~
Just a thought about animating pantomime, robot/mannequin dance move and popping /locking dance move, I, personally think that it is harder than animating normal body mechanics. Reason being that, when these movements are made they are done with the intention to imitate mechanical movement and pretend actions, so, doesn't that means that it's easier to animate since then the clip do not require overlap/ follow-through of normal body-mech, since they're suppose to be mechanical/"blocky"!?!
*Pls don't spit on me, that was me before I know how to animate...*
BUT then I realise it is even more challenging to do a good mime shot or dance move shot(esp. those mention above), simply because when being animated, the shot is suppose to show subtlety of human movement yet it's made to look mechanical.
So simply put, animator have to make something mechanical(the rig) behave like a human trying to act mechanically like a human doing it....if not properly done, it will not look convincing to audience that the animated character is human!
Anyway, below is a clip that i thought was pretty good for learning a little more about pantomime.
These clips are not bad too - check it out if u have the time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRfREJBv7yw&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiFuXeo7MoI&feature=related
*I will aim to animate pantomim for the new clip...i think...*Grin*
Okay so that's about all the ranting i have for my first post. Constructive? Pls forgive me if it doesn't gel with the rest of the boys' post. See... it says in the title, I am a noob.
P.S will try to improve on the content of my post in near future.
Just a thought about animating pantomime, robot/mannequin dance move and popping /locking dance move, I, personally think that it is harder than animating normal body mechanics. Reason being that, when these movements are made they are done with the intention to imitate mechanical movement and pretend actions, so, doesn't that means that it's easier to animate since then the clip do not require overlap/ follow-through of normal body-mech, since they're suppose to be mechanical/"blocky"!?!
*Pls don't spit on me, that was me before I know how to animate...*
BUT then I realise it is even more challenging to do a good mime shot or dance move shot(esp. those mention above), simply because when being animated, the shot is suppose to show subtlety of human movement yet it's made to look mechanical.
So simply put, animator have to make something mechanical(the rig) behave like a human trying to act mechanically like a human doing it....if not properly done, it will not look convincing to audience that the animated character is human!
Anyway, below is a clip that i thought was pretty good for learning a little more about pantomime.
These clips are not bad too - check it out if u have the time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRfREJBv7yw&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiFuXeo7MoI&feature=related
*I will aim to animate pantomim for the new clip...i think...*Grin*
Okay so that's about all the ranting i have for my first post. Constructive? Pls forgive me if it doesn't gel with the rest of the boys' post. See... it says in the title, I am a noob.
P.S will try to improve on the content of my post in near future.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Setting The Background of your Character
This week i thought it would be nice to delve a little into how to make your acting clips more believable. An important aspect of this i believe, is setting the background and/or backstory of your characters. How the audience percieve your animation as believable or not is mainly based upon whether or not they empathize with it. It may be something that happened to them that was similar or to someone they know, that makes it real. Or that the scene brings out certain familiar emotions that people can relate to.
So here's just a little bit from something i've learnt of an easy way to setup your character for your acting shot.
AGE: How old is your character? This will have an impact on how he/she behaves.
Ethncity: Asian? Coacation? African? etc... Cultural variations
Occupation: Defines outlook of life? Stress levels.
Core personality traits: Timid, Bold, Crafty, Selfish, Helpful etc...
Next comes the context of your shot
Where does your scene take place?
When?
What did your character do before entering the scene?
What is the long term goal of the character?
What is the character's wish? What is his scene specific goal that brings him closer to achieving his long term goals?
The Conflict: What does he have to overcome to achieve that goal?
Actions: Actions taken that describe the shot.
These are just a few examples on how you can break down the planning stage of your shot to help things along.
So here's just a little bit from something i've learnt of an easy way to setup your character for your acting shot.
AGE: How old is your character? This will have an impact on how he/she behaves.
Ethncity: Asian? Coacation? African? etc... Cultural variations
Occupation: Defines outlook of life? Stress levels.
Core personality traits: Timid, Bold, Crafty, Selfish, Helpful etc...
Next comes the context of your shot
Where does your scene take place?
When?
What did your character do before entering the scene?
What is the long term goal of the character?
What is the character's wish? What is his scene specific goal that brings him closer to achieving his long term goals?
The Conflict: What does he have to overcome to achieve that goal?
Actions: Actions taken that describe the shot.
These are just a few examples on how you can break down the planning stage of your shot to help things along.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
New Year
Welcome one and all to the new year of 2011! I hope everyone had a fruitful and fun transition into the new year. Really excited and looking foward to this year...i've got a feeling it's gonna be good!
Just wondering if anyone has any new year resolutions, especially ones related to ANIMATION! Like: "This year i'm gonna animate my butt off", or "This year i plan to get into a big animation studio!" or "This year I plan to up my animation level by 100%!" etc you get the idea!
Well whatever your resolution is, let's try to strive for our goals and get there as soon as we can!
Just wondering if anyone has any new year resolutions, especially ones related to ANIMATION! Like: "This year i'm gonna animate my butt off", or "This year i plan to get into a big animation studio!" or "This year I plan to up my animation level by 100%!" etc you get the idea!
Well whatever your resolution is, let's try to strive for our goals and get there as soon as we can!
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