Here is another pass on my animation file. I’ve reworked some of his acting and adjusted some of his poses so that he looks more exhausted after rolling these monster snowballs around. Everything is still evenly timed out so I will speed up some of the parts to add more “texture” to the scene. What I mean by texture is adding more contrast between fast and slow motion within the shot. What keeps things interesting and entertaining are the changes. If everything continues at the same pace it might appear too monotonous. Like a song with no “change ups” in it can tend to get boring. “Texture” can also be applied to composition, posing, lighting. It’s referred to as variety in this case. You can click on the image to watch the animation play. Thank you to Jean Denis for some great feedback with his workshop and really good animation tips on his blog.
Here is my second blocking pass for this animation. It was suggested that I think more about who this character is . The whys? In my mind he’s an ambitious character who’s really excited about the years first snowfall. He wants to build a massive snowman since conditions are so good for it. But he’s taken on a bit more than he can chew and really wishes he’s and a bit more stamina for the task. Make of it what you will, it’s helped me out in shaping his behavior and his actions. I asked myself why is he building this? why is he so excited? why is he getting tired? …and on and on. I’m working in a linear mode where the poses move straight forward from one to another. There are no ease ins or outs yet. I’ve roughed in some of the facial expressions, but as you can see, there are no blinks in there yet. I’m excited to hear what Jean Denis has to offer for feedback. It should be up on here shortly.
This is the blocking stage of an animation I’m working on for a Jean Denis online animation workshop. I got some reference off of youtube, and acted things out, then created a bunch of thumbnail sketches of the poses. I spent the last three nights working out the poses on the computer, in linear mode with the keys. I like working linearly because it gives me a better sense of timing from one pose to the next. Some people prefer stepped mode, where the image holds until the next pose, but sometimes the popping becomes too much for me. But I’ll experiment with both processes, nothing is concrete. The next pass, I’ll work out the timing more and add in some breakdown and extreme poses. Those will better illustrate how he gets from one pose into the next. I’ll add updates as it progresses
Last year I helped my friend Delaney Ruston by providing her film with some animation. It’s a great documentary on schizophrenia and how it can affect people’s lives. More information can be found by going here. Here are the animations I did for the film. It was a lot of fun experimenting with the style. We went with a loose charcoal look and feel. I think it came out pretty well and Delaney made it fit nicely into the film. I highly recommend checking it out.
On March 5th, Julia and I closed on a new home in the Broadview neighborhood of Seattle. we celebrated with tequila. Shots! It’s a great place for us, with lots of yard, a view and plenty of space to grow into. We’ve spent the last three, maybe four, weeks now trying to upgrade things;removing old carpeting, popcorn ceiling, old paneling, etc. It’s coming along nicely, so far. Throughout most of the house is nice hardwoods that we had refinished to a nice new luster. The popcorn removal was a messy task, but not too difficult to handle. There is a tool for every job. Thankfully, most of the ceilings were in great condition, and only one required a skim coat and a slight texture spray to cover up the defects. Shots!
The back room, pictured here was a fun project to take on. We removed old paneling and tore out the drywall. With it all exposed, I really wanted to insert ceiling lights. I rewired the floor outlets and tied into another existing power line for the new lights. The toughest part was crawling through all the fluffy insulation in the attic. Three way switches are always tricky to wire but I got it figured out. Shots! I’ve also got ceiling speakers which I think will ROCK for movies and music. Todd has done a fantastic job taking care of all the finishing details. The trim looks great. The help him and Steph have given was invaluable. We’re “over the hump” and hope to be moved in within a week. But there is still a mile long list of things to do to the place.
We also owe a great bit of gratitude to Carol, Gary, Chris and Sarah for giving us a place to stay and taking care of Cora through all this. Thank you.
This is an walk cycle I did with my character, Milo. I recently finished modelling, rigging and weighting him. I’ve still got some work to do with his textures but I’m pretty happy with the rig. The walk might need some work, and I’m open to suggestions too.
