A quick update for everyone, especially SCAD students. GENERATE (or as they call it GENER24E) will be this friday (tomorrow), and I plan to participate in this particular event. It is really exciting because Turner is hosting the challenge, with a focus (from what I heard) on Cartoon Network! I am really looking forward to this. it will be my first time trying it, and I hope to have a lot of fun.
If you'd like to know more about Generate, check out their website.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
A Slew of Pencil Tests
Today I'd like to thank everyone so far who has helped me out with getting into SCAD and helped me in Georgia. I would like to welcome all my new readers, and hope you all enjoy my Blog, and my "occasional" appearances on 7th Row Center. You may be seeing more of me up there, but for now check out the latest podcast at www.7throwcenter.com.
Now for more cool animation stuff! Today I'd like to present not one, not two, but 3 pencil test animations. The first I showed last week was intended to be looped (which i never figured out with YouTube), while these are not.
The first is a short pencil test of a bouncing ball. I've done this exact exercise before, except in a computer using Adobe After Effects. While After Effects works great with this type of situation, it kills the entire point of the exercise. You will notice in this one that there is a "squash and stretch" involved as the ball bounces. When played at full speed it looks natural, but frame by frame it looks odd. This is a standard technique to show movement in animation, and mimics how a photograph or live action film blurs movement. The important thing here is to get the timing and make a realistic looking bounce. Doing this in the computer lets the the computer do ALL the work. You give it a few commands, it does the rest. But by doing it by hand, you really have to learn how to draw, how to figure out the timing, how to adjust the speed of the ball, etc. One thing you have to do here is learn when and how to use Ones and Twos in animation. (see previous posts about Ones and Twos).
FINALLY... This last one is a pencil test of Timothy the mouse from Dumbo. All the Key frames (which are the most important frames showing the extremes of the motion) are photocopies of the actual pencil tests of the character. All the inbetweens are drawn by me. In total, I drew 10 images out of the set of 16. It is my favorite of these so far, and is really exciting to see.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to the character, Timothy is owned by Disney. I have posted this as a student project in the pursuit of studying the animation. As a Disney employee, if anyone has issue with this, please contact me directly.
Now for more cool animation stuff! Today I'd like to present not one, not two, but 3 pencil test animations. The first I showed last week was intended to be looped (which i never figured out with YouTube), while these are not.
The first is a short pencil test of a bouncing ball. I've done this exact exercise before, except in a computer using Adobe After Effects. While After Effects works great with this type of situation, it kills the entire point of the exercise. You will notice in this one that there is a "squash and stretch" involved as the ball bounces. When played at full speed it looks natural, but frame by frame it looks odd. This is a standard technique to show movement in animation, and mimics how a photograph or live action film blurs movement. The important thing here is to get the timing and make a realistic looking bounce. Doing this in the computer lets the the computer do ALL the work. You give it a few commands, it does the rest. But by doing it by hand, you really have to learn how to draw, how to figure out the timing, how to adjust the speed of the ball, etc. One thing you have to do here is learn when and how to use Ones and Twos in animation. (see previous posts about Ones and Twos).
Next is a variation of the same thing. Instead of just being a bouncy ball, it is a Bob-omb, with a cute twist ending. I took a loot of effort to get the roll of the bomb just right, and I think it works out well in the end. UNFORTUNATELY... youtube is crap, and has managed to destroy the file. You can not see the joke, or even half the animation. What you are suppose to see is a match fall on the left hand side of the screen just before the bomb is thrown. Then as the fuse goes down, the match explodes instead of the bomb, waking up the bob-omb who is confused by the whole thing. Sorry for the bad quality, I'll see what i can do to fix it later.
FINALLY... This last one is a pencil test of Timothy the mouse from Dumbo. All the Key frames (which are the most important frames showing the extremes of the motion) are photocopies of the actual pencil tests of the character. All the inbetweens are drawn by me. In total, I drew 10 images out of the set of 16. It is my favorite of these so far, and is really exciting to see.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to the character, Timothy is owned by Disney. I have posted this as a student project in the pursuit of studying the animation. As a Disney employee, if anyone has issue with this, please contact me directly.
Well that is all for now. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know. I hope to soon post a review of the Lion King in 3D, with a focus on the stereoscopic 3D, but also on the movie as a whole. Be sure to check out Dumbo on Blu-ray and DVD! Till then...
Sayounara!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
7th Row Center podcast
I am still having some technical difficulty with my latest YouTube video... I apologize for not being able to see the short animation. I will fix it as soon as I can figure it out.
Until then, I'd like to let everyone know about a few things that are happening.
First, Check out "7th Row Center" to hear a podcast all about animation, or more specifically about Disney, featuring yours truly. I'd like to welcome everyone who was directed to my humble blog thanks to the podcast. Feel free to leave comments, questions, or anything else int he comments section below or through email (cptgreedle@gmail.com). It is an excellent podcast, even when I am not in it, and will keep you entertained and informed about movies.
Next, I have 2 new animations to post, but I will do that on my next update. I only hope to fix the issue with youtube before I post them.
I should have another animation or 2 next week as well, including a test involving Timothy the mouse from Dumbo. I still need to make sure it is ok to post it, but I'll post something.
Also, anyone that might be tuning in from SCAD, if you are reading this, I hope you are interested in animation, and perhaps in the animation field. If so, be sure to check out the SCAD Atlanta Animation Society (SAAS), which will be having its next meeting soon. It is a worthwhile society for anyone interested in going into animation.
There is a chance that I will also have a very good short video to show next week, as part of a collaborative project, which I will post more details about later.
That is all for now, thanks again for tuning in, and be sure to check out Alex "Da Movie Guy" and his podcast at www.7throwcenter.com/
Au Revoir
Until then, I'd like to let everyone know about a few things that are happening.
First, Check out "7th Row Center" to hear a podcast all about animation, or more specifically about Disney, featuring yours truly. I'd like to welcome everyone who was directed to my humble blog thanks to the podcast. Feel free to leave comments, questions, or anything else int he comments section below or through email (cptgreedle@gmail.com). It is an excellent podcast, even when I am not in it, and will keep you entertained and informed about movies.
Next, I have 2 new animations to post, but I will do that on my next update. I only hope to fix the issue with youtube before I post them.
I should have another animation or 2 next week as well, including a test involving Timothy the mouse from Dumbo. I still need to make sure it is ok to post it, but I'll post something.
Also, anyone that might be tuning in from SCAD, if you are reading this, I hope you are interested in animation, and perhaps in the animation field. If so, be sure to check out the SCAD Atlanta Animation Society (SAAS), which will be having its next meeting soon. It is a worthwhile society for anyone interested in going into animation.
There is a chance that I will also have a very good short video to show next week, as part of a collaborative project, which I will post more details about later.
That is all for now, thanks again for tuning in, and be sure to check out Alex "Da Movie Guy" and his podcast at www.7throwcenter.com/
Au Revoir
Friday, September 23, 2011
Pencil test 1
Hey everyone. I have finally finished my first 'official' hand-drawn 2D animation. It is only a pencil test, and can be a little hard to see. It is not inked, so it is rather light, but you get the gist of it. The point of an exercise like this isn't just to draw something animating, but to understand the importance and dynamics of timing, shape, arcs, and the concept of "Ones" and "Twos". To put it simply, if a single drawing of an animation goes by in one frame, and is following by a new drawing in the next frame, that drawing is on a "One", meaning it lingers for one frame. If that drawing is on 2 consecutive frames, then it is one "Twos", meaning it lingers for 2 frames. You can actually have a drawing linger for as many frames as you want, but for the illusion of movement, you should try to avoid anything less than a 2 unless the movement of the object as stopped.
I'm trying to get YouTube to loop this video. I've seen a looped video before, so if anyone can tell me how to do it, let me know. Thanks!
So this is a very useful pencil test, and I should have 2 or 3 new animations up next week!
Till then
ADIOS
I'm trying to get YouTube to loop this video. I've seen a looped video before, so if anyone can tell me how to do it, let me know. Thanks!
So this is a very useful pencil test, and I should have 2 or 3 new animations up next week!
Till then
ADIOS
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
SCAD so far
Well my first week of the fall quarter at SCAD is complete, and I must say I am enjoying all my classes! My first class is an introduction to 2D animation. I have done 2D animation before at GMU, where I used After Effects to animated a bouncy ball, a scrolling background, and even a walk cycle. Problem is, it taught me next to nothing about actual animation. The computer did almost all the work. I just told it what key frames to use and it did the rest. In the real world of animation, if you don't have a solid foundation in hand-drawn animation, you aren't going anywhere. This week, we've already drawn a swining pendulum. This was a simple timing exercise but it is essential for new animators to learn how to time an animation and how to make something flow smoothly. It wasn't as much work as I was expecting it to be, but I did have experience in animation, music, and timing before.
I've had a great time drawing it out, and once I grab a copy of the simple pencil test animation I did from the computer at school, I will post it here.
My next class is an introduction into screen design, aka making it look good. This is about the layout of objects on a screen, how to make a cinematic experience really work, and the rules of camera work and so on. We are studying movies and animations to get an idea of how to make a scene logically flow, as well as the tips and tricks film makers use to achieve the desired effect. Watching the opening scene of Laputa, Castle in the Sky, we learned in the first class how important these tools are, and how effective.
Finally, the history of animation class finishes my day. Literally.. all my classes are the same day, and give me almost no time between them. Nonetheless, I finish up with history of animation which is fascinating and has more to do with film and actors like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd than you'd expect.
I will be viewing the Lion King later, and will post something reviewing the new Stereoscopic version in theaters this week.
ADIOS!
I've had a great time drawing it out, and once I grab a copy of the simple pencil test animation I did from the computer at school, I will post it here.
My next class is an introduction into screen design, aka making it look good. This is about the layout of objects on a screen, how to make a cinematic experience really work, and the rules of camera work and so on. We are studying movies and animations to get an idea of how to make a scene logically flow, as well as the tips and tricks film makers use to achieve the desired effect. Watching the opening scene of Laputa, Castle in the Sky, we learned in the first class how important these tools are, and how effective.
Finally, the history of animation class finishes my day. Literally.. all my classes are the same day, and give me almost no time between them. Nonetheless, I finish up with history of animation which is fascinating and has more to do with film and actors like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd than you'd expect.
I will be viewing the Lion King later, and will post something reviewing the new Stereoscopic version in theaters this week.
ADIOS!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
In for the long haul
Howdy all!
If you haven't heard yet, I've added a Facebook page for my blog, which you can access by searching for Weakly Animated on Facebook, or clicking the link on the side of the page.
I am also going to e in an episode of the podcast SeventhRowCenter, which I will be adding a link to soon. If you are into movies, or want to know what is worth your dollar, this is the podcast to see... err... hear.
This will be a short post today. Tomorrow I start up fall classes at SCAD, with a focus on animation (yay!). I will be sure to post a lot about how my classes are going, what I've been learning, but also more movie reviews.
If you are interested in hearing about something specific, let me know!
Adios!
If you haven't heard yet, I've added a Facebook page for my blog, which you can access by searching for Weakly Animated on Facebook, or clicking the link on the side of the page.
I am also going to e in an episode of the podcast SeventhRowCenter, which I will be adding a link to soon. If you are into movies, or want to know what is worth your dollar, this is the podcast to see... err... hear.
This will be a short post today. Tomorrow I start up fall classes at SCAD, with a focus on animation (yay!). I will be sure to post a lot about how my classes are going, what I've been learning, but also more movie reviews.
If you are interested in hearing about something specific, let me know!
Adios!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)