Gobelin Animation

Damn, I love these guys – what they produce is just outstanding. The simplicity in character design, yet it has such beautiful movement. A lesson to us all - keeping it simple at every layer of development, and bringing these layers together helps to reach a true sense of depth and dimension.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6ZmMjMdrqs

Superb Rig by Josh Burton

If you’re like me, don’t have much of a life, strange looking and find yourself back on maya animating evenings and weekends – but unable to find a decent free rig, so you try making your own, only to break down in a fit of frustration – crying and screaming and then you accidently run over your neighbour’s cat because your too distressed at the thought of reskinning for the billionth time because maya’s tools are poo?!?! Well look no more… this is an incredible free rig! Especially great if you’re learning animation and need a decent rig to cut your teeth on (or like to learn rigging and enjoy looking what’s under the hood). Plus check out the site for other hidden gems such as Josh’s development on the rig, how he has approached and solved problems and various useful scripts.

If you do happen to use this to some degree, and able to spare a few pennies then please drop a small donation via the link, the time invested in a rig of this quality is enormous. Thank you Mr Josh!

http://journal.joshburton.com/

Express yourself !!

Sometimes its easy to forget that animation, much like many other art is expression... its ideas...and most of all its opinion. When planning an animation, either to dialog or a mime, we are fundamentally making a statement about how we perceive and understand (creatively) the driving force of the scene and its characters. Its a little like writing a visual diary. Of course, its important not to go off willy-nilly expressing anything and everything… we need to be selective, and faithful to the scene / movie /story / character, but if there is ever a moment when you are given the opportunity to freely express what you feel – grab it! This is why many artists tend to have personal projects on the go - never underestimate the importance and fun of exploring your own ideas and opinions. Recognise that your artistic path does not have to be the same as everyone else’s. This can help us to develop our own personal style and flavour, and make our work unique. So if you have a good idea, or an interesting opinion.... say it loud and animate it proud – because who knows, it may be the next best thing.

Finished: Shower Power

Well i guess i really should post this up on my blog by now. This is the completed version of my short movie Shower Power. I must thank the guys for all the wonderful responses ive had so far and i was even lucky enough to be feature on Bobby Becks blog. Its usually pretty tough squeezing these projects into our personal life but i found if you pick something that truely gets the animation jazz playing in your own mind – its a little easier to see it through to the end. Enjoy!!

Whats to Come for 2010...

Greetings and Happy New Year to you ;) How to go into the new year with a bang? Rendering and fighting maya I tell you! I’m sure there is a better way but if your like me, strange, weird and a sucker for the keyframes then this picture below may give you some idea of where ive been for most of the holiday. It’s a little silly I know, but heck – its just animation ;)


Still some development to come, animation fixes, sound design, water effects… all that madness.

Changes in the wind...

changes changes... much has happened since my last post (10billions years ago). Firstly, Animation Mentor Graduation. Thats right folks, i made it to the end - and what a ride. As anyone who does animation will tell you its never easy but the rewards can be great. To finally meet my fellow students face to face was a real treat. I was lucky enough to pick up the award for Best Silent Acting, it briefly crossed my mind to do a mime for my speech but nerves had taken hold and reduced me to a stiff lump of wood. But in all seriousness the experience was incredible, and the AM events were full of heart and enthusiasm as always. There is something very special about meeting so many optimistic artists and mentors, great memories indeed and certainly more to come. During my visit I was also fortunate to get a tour and lunch at Dreamworks - what can i say to that?!?! - incredible! quite literally amazing, and once again i thank all who made that tour possible.

The second piece of good news, i'll be starting over at Double Negative this September. These guys are one of London's biggest VFX studios having done work on Hell Boy2, Dark Knight, Harry Potter... and more. Starting with 30 people and grew to 500 employees its definitely going to be a change from the small teams im used to in games, but i nervously and eagerly await the challenge! That's does mean i have to say goodbye to my buddies at Rare, who i'll miss dearly. Rare gave me my first shot as a professional animator for which i'll always be thankful for, i really do wish them all the best in their future endeavours. Goodbye my friends, but im sure we will meet again.

Animatic Madness...

Hey chaps, just a quick post of my final animatic for my short. It was great fun doing this, so much so that i plan on doing a little 2d animation sometime after AM. Getting back into the swing of drawing is such a refreshing change in a world of 3d animation, for granted these are hardly amazing sketches but i hope it sells the vibe and feel of short. Enjoy! (hopefully...)

Linky Link