Well not necessarily the VGA's but what was shown last night...WOOOOO man I'm totally jazzed for some coming games as well as the work shown! Here's a few videos that show why I get so excited about being an animator in the game industry!
First up, one of my most anticipated upcoming titles - Darksiders II - one of the best tag lines I've seen to tie in a pair of games - "What starts with War...ends with Death" SO AWESOME!!!
Now I will say I'm a bit disappointed in this video as it has zero in game anything and is just an actor in a sweet azz Death suit...it's still pretty killer.
Next up my most anticipated game EVA!!!! Diablo 3! As I lost like 4 years of my life to D2 I expect D3 to make my wife hate Blizzard! On top of the game itself this video has an amazing hand drawn style to it that I just love.
Amazing and OZSOME!!! I love it.
Last up the surprise announcement from Epic that just floored me!
A completely new art direction for the makers of Unreal and Gear of War 3, a game with an obvious zombie spin...I'm intrigued!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Deadliest Warrior Legends
So a few weeks ago I was surfing the youtubez for some caps of the game Deadliest Warrior Legends, wanted to see if I could find any of the work I was responsible for, and low and behold I found a huge compilation of it.
It just so happens that I did all of the finishing moves and with the exception of one, all of the introductions (Vlad drinking from his cup) and all of the victories in the game.
This video is a comp of the intro's and finishing moves, minus Joan of Arc and the basic victories. I also did the grapple and it looks like this video was made prior to the bug fix (they are offset and not aligned correctly).
This was a great first project and a whirlwind of work and effort!
It just so happens that I did all of the finishing moves and with the exception of one, all of the introductions (Vlad drinking from his cup) and all of the victories in the game.
This video is a comp of the intro's and finishing moves, minus Joan of Arc and the basic victories. I also did the grapple and it looks like this video was made prior to the bug fix (they are offset and not aligned correctly).
This was a great first project and a whirlwind of work and effort!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Holy Parody's Batman errrr Luxo Jr!!!!
This one might be a bit disturbing, but it's a solid little piece of storytelling!!!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Brave Trailer - YouTube
As announced few days ago, a new trailer just came out. That one is not a teaser but a proper trailer for Pixar forthcoming feature “Brave”. The movie is set to be releasedmid June in the US and around August in the UK. It is good to finally see those character designs in motion. The three Lords have so much character, it is great! We still haven’t seen the Wise woman though.
OOOO SO EXCITED!!!!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Sesame Street breaks it down on Vimeo
The Sesame Street gang bust out and crack down the Beastie Boys 'Sure Shot'!!!
This is siiiiick...watch it. Now.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Demo Reel Tips from someone who knows!
I've stumbled across some fantastic information and have pilfered the info and put it here without permission...please don't be mad Carlos!!! :P
DEMO REELS (Tips by Carlos Baena) |
Pixar is currently hiring animators and looking at Interns as well. I've looked at a bunch of student and industry demo reels this last month, and spoke with recruiters and supervisors regarding the subject as to what should be submitted/how/etc. So I thought it might be appropiate to pass something I wrote a while back along one more time. It's important to be mindful of company recruiters. To treat them with respect as they devote many long hours overseeing student work. So these are a few tips on things to think about when creating a demo reel. 1) Do NOT try to make a one-size fits all demo reel. This works in small companies, but for the main studios it may hurt your chances more than anything else. Make your demo reel specific to the position and studio for which you are applying. If you're applying as an animator to a big animation studio where departments are very specialized, then everything on the reel should say only "animation." It should not say "texturing" or "lighting" or "modeling." 2) You should NOT include everything you've worked on throughout the years. Keep it short. If you've been working in the industry for, let's say, 10 or 20 years, and you include every single shot you've animated, your demo reel will not be a reel anymore, it'll be a feature film that recruiters/supervisors will have to sit through. So keep the reel under a minute or two, even if that means not using all of it. Chances are that people, who are reviewing your reel, are looking at another hundred, as well. So, the easier you can make it for them, the better. You don't want to bore them. Instead, they should see your strongest work (even if it's only 30 seconds). Leave them wanting to see more. 3) Make the reel original on the inside, NOT on the outside. Human resources, along with actual animators, will be looking at your reel, and they don't care about how fancy the outside package looks or what you include along with the reel and resume. From key chains to toys, I've seen people include all kinds of things with their reels that do not relate to their animation skills. Put all of your originality into the actual animation content. Make it fun and original for people to watch, but don't overdo it. 4) Do NOT include stuff that is too distracting, whether it's music or fancy titles. If you have a reel with a dialogue animation test, and the music is too loud for people to hear the line the character is saying, or you have this mega-loud techno music going on throughout the whole thing, it will conflict with the purpose of the reel, which is to show your animation skills as clearly and simply as you can. Everything else should be secondary. 5) Do NOT include stuff that other people have animated. Be very clear and honest about what you have done. The industry is very small, people go from company to company and they are very familiar with other people's work. Always include a credit list of the shots on the reel and what you animated for them. In the event that a shot is actually shared by two or more animators, you should clarify the work that you did. 6) Bring your own personality to the reel. Ultimately many people can learn the techniques. What's interesting to see and what recruiters look for, is also the personality, the actor behind the reel. Don't include things/tests/shots that are basically based on what other people have animated. We don't want to see a "Pixar" reel. Instead, we are looking for the talented actor that can help Pixar (or any studio for that matter) make our movies more distinctive. 7) Find out what to submit and how. In the case of Pixar, go through the site and find out exactly what they need from you before you apply. This applies to any studio. Chances are, they may need you to submit a form before you send anything in some cases, or they may ask you to send your portfolio in a particular way or format. 8) Label your Disc/Case. In talking to one of our main recruiters, this seems to be an issue. If they like your work, but the contact information is only on the resume, and this gets lost in the pile of other reels, there is no way they'll be able to contact you. So label everything. Put at least name, phone number and email address on the case and disc. Even if it's with a sharpie. You can also label it at the beginning/end of the actual content. 9) Be respectful with the people looking at your work. It doesn't help you and your case if as soon as the Studio gets your reel, you call/email the recruiters/animators a dozen times a day. Be considerate with their time, and most important, treat them with respect. They are here to help you and their job is not easy as they have hundreds of reels to go through. So keep it in mind if you send a reel, and you don't hear from them inmediately. I hope this helps. Carlos. You can find the original HERE on CARLOS BAENA's blog!!! Please visit!!! He's a genius!!! |
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Mike Stern - Checklist
The information below is what Mike Stern uses as his checklist for shots - such an amazingly detailed compilation, it NEEDS to be reposted! I'm sure you'll add some or all of it to your own checklists just like I did!!
What is on my animation checklist? I have a series of things that I need to consider at each point during the shot.
I don't always take all of these steps on every shot, but this will work as a nice master list to pull from depending on what is expected.
At the launch, my checklist is a series of questions. Most of the time, these questions are answered as we walk through the sequence with the directors.
If these questions aren't addressed, I ask about them when my shots are reviewed.
Checklist of Questions at the Launch:
1) What is the context? What happened directly before and what is going to happen directly after the shot?
2) What are the main story points that need to come through in the shot?
3) Is there a particular emotion that we should be feeling as audience members watching this shot?
4) How much room is there to work the idea? Some shots need to stick pretty close to the boards, while others leave a lot of space for the animator to work with. It's our responsibility to know what type of situation we are dealing with.
If I know the answer to all of these questions, than I am ready to start planning my shot.
Checklist for Planning my Shot:
I use different methods for planning out an acting shot versus a physical shot. For a physical shot, I will try to find some good reference of the movement and then jump right into thumbnailing.
For acting shots, I like to spend some time analyzing the line. My checklist is as follows:
1) Go for my gut instinct. I like to get my initial instinct out on paper and possibly on the camera. I may come back to this, but I may not. Sometimes it helps to get my idea out there so that I can clear it out of the way to make room for better ideas.
2) Analyze the dialog. There are a few things that I look for in the dialog when I am planning my acting:
Dynamics: Find the places where the line has inflections. These are great places to hang acting ideas.
Phrasing: I try to assign specific verbs to go along with parts of the line. If I can assign a verb to describe what the character is doing or thinking, it is easier for me to create a pose that communicates properly.
Meaning/Subtext: Many times, characters say something that implies something more meaningful. Digging out the true meaning of the line can lead to some really fresh acting choices.
3) Research:
Character Reference: I always try to think about the character. How would they react to this situation? If this character has been animated already, how did other animators handle this type of acting?
Film reference: See if this type of situation has been handled in other films. Sometimes this will help to inspire acting ideas in a different direction.
4) Video Reference. Now that I have analyzed the scene some more, I shoot some reference. I leave the camera running until I feel comfortable. I switch it up between acting and doing. When I am "acting" I am trying to feel the line out and see what comes naturally. When I am "doing" I have a specific idea in mind that I try to imitate with my body.
Get other animators involved in the reference. I find that if can get direct feedback as I am acting, it can help the ideas develop faster. I take turns acting and directing.
Analyze the reference, find the truths. Sometimes it helps to cut together a super take with what you feel are the best choices for each part of the shot.
Make your choices. At this point I usually pick one or two ideas that I like best for each beat and start to prep those ideas for blocking .
5) Apply the Principles. I look for places to add physicality, reversals, lead and follow. I make sure to exaggerate the ideas in my reference and push the things that the reference is hinting at.
6) Thumbnail. Depending on the shot, I thumbnail instead of shooting reference. On certain shots, I thumbnail after doing the reference to make sure that I am pushing the poses and the physicality.
Blocking
At this point, I have a pretty good idea of what I am going to work into the shot. It's time to start blocking. For most shots, I work in stepped mode for my blocking. This enables me to do detailed poses that communicate clearly without having to worry about the in-betweens.
1) Block in my keys.
These will be the main storytelling poses in my shot. I don't have any limit to how many keys I set on my first pass of blocking, but they tend to be pretty sparse. Sometimes I will leave as many as 10-12 frames between poses. I will block in a full pose including rough ideas for the hands and face.
2) Test it and time it.
I playback my pass of keys and move them around on the timeline until the beats feel like they are in the right places.
3) Break it down.
I add my breakdowns as a part of my blocking pass. I tend to break a shot down until I have a key on about every 3-4 frames. When I add my breakdowns, I think about which key that breakdown should favor. At times I even favor different body parts to different keys. I am also thinking about my paths of action.
Once I have a pass of blocking, I will ask some questions again:
1) Is it clear? Will someone get the idea of what I am going for without any explanation?
2) Did I push the posing and timing enough?
3) Do I like the idea? I try to be the first judge of my work before I get the supervisor and directors involved. Chances are, if I don't feel good about it, then they won't either.
Get Feedback
After I am happy with my blocking, I usually take one or more of these steps before moving into a first pass.
1) Show my peers. I will send out my work to other animators working on the film to get their opinions and check to see if the idea is reading clearly.
2) Show the animation supervisor. I always show my blocking to the animation supervisor to get feedback before showing the directors.
3) Show the director(s). Once I incorporate any blocking notes from the animation supervisor, I put my work up in front of the directors.
I present my idea through my blocking and see if it is in line with their objectives for the shot.
First Pass
If I get a buy-off on my blocking, or even if I receive some minor adjustments, I take my animation into a first pass.
During the first pass my checklist is as follows:
1) Switch my curves over to a version of spline and preview the animation.
2) Push full poses around to work out the timing.
3) Adjust full poses to work in some more overlap and try to solidify the mechanics as much as possible.
4) Tie down the curves. At this point I take a look under the hood and see how the curves are looking. I clean up the flow of the curves and any obvious hitches to ease the process of cleaning up the animation.
5) Keep my keys organized. At this point, I am still trying to keep my keys clean and aligned on full frames. Since the directors have only seen the shot once there is still a chance that I may get some feedback that will require me to rework parts of the animation. If I keep the shot clean, I can easily make those adjustments.
4) Face pass. I take a pass on the face at this point. I add the phonemes for my lip sync and start thinking about how the expressions will translate from one to the next.
Get More Feedback
Once again, when I have taken a first pass across my shot, I show it to the animation supervisor. Once I get the go ahead, I move the shot into polishing.
Checklist for polishing my shot:
So now that I have buy-off on the idea, I can feel comfortable taking my shot past the point of no return. I will use a series of different animation techniques, including layering and some straight ahead, to get the physicality working in my shot.
During the polishing phase I start to work heavily with curves. To make things more focused I crop my animation timeline and focus on 50-100 frames of work.
I use tons of checklists when polishing a shot. The all-encompassing checklist is as follows:
1) Find the driving force in the shot. In most cases, it is the center of gravity at the root of the character. I make sure to get the root movement working well because everything else depends on it.
2) Work from the root up and the head down. Once the root is working properly, I work my way up the torso into the chest, shoulders, neck, and then the head. I make sure that any movement on the root follows through these joints. If there are certain accents and inflections I want to hit with the head, I will animate those directly on the head, and make sure that movements are either led or followed by the rest of the torso.
3) The limbs. When I have the torso of the characters working correctly, I focus on the limbs. Sometimes the adjustments that I make to the torso can disrupt the original animation on the arms and legs. At this point, I feel comfortable blowing that old animation away and approaching the limbs straight ahead.
4) Additional Layering. At this point I should have the majority of the movement working properly. I go back through and do some additional layering to make the movement feel organic. I do this by comparing curves and offsetting. For human characters I like to take a layering pass on the shoulders and hips. For non-human characters this is where I consider overlapping on tails and wings etc.
5) Facial animation. I take a pass and really focus just on the face. I get into the eyes to make sure that the eyelines are correct. I like to get very specific about the eye movements by using linear curves and editing my darts down to the frame. Once the darts are working, I add lid movement to support them. I plus the shapes in the lip sync and make sure that the rest of the face is supporting the lip sync movement. I tend to treat the face as a unit. When the mouth opens and closes with the sync, I make sure that the cheeks, lids and brows are all affected. When I focus on the lip sync and facial movement, I also include the head in this equation. I add more texture to the movement of the head to fully support the beats in the sync.
6) Details. At this point, I should have the majority of my animation working, but I still make sure to take another pass for the things that take a little more love, such as areas of contact or IK switching. Sometimes I frame through my broad movements and see if I can add some scaling to enhance the way things transition.
That was the big list. Now I start to use some smaller lists.
I play my animation back and list out the things that still need more attention. There are usually a couple of things that are screaming pretty loud, so I hit those first. I continue to watch the animation, make a list of things to fix, fix them, and then repeat the process.
Pushing for final
Now that I have taken all of my passes on the animation, it's time to show for final. Once again, I hit a checklist to make sure that I have covered all of the bases:
1) Is there anything that stands out as unbelievable or possibly distracting from the point of the shot?
2) Does it still have all of the ideas from the approved blocking?
3) Is the physicality pushed far enough?
4) Is there enough texture in the movement?
5) Am I happy with it?
Now it’s time to show for final. I run it by the animation supervisor and then put it in front of the directors.
Ship it
Alright, I got the final call in dailies. Nice. There is just one more list I need to run through, and then this shot is headed down the pipeline.
1) Run and check all the simulations. If the character has hair or a tail or if I am using any type of simulation, I want to make sure that it has been run with the latest animation and is looking good.
2) Check the render. I run a full resolution render of my shot on the render farm to make sure that everything looks right. Sometimes environmental elements load differently in the animation software than they do on the render farm.
3) Save and check in all of the files. I check all of the files into the server so that they can move on down the pipeline.
4) Let 'em know. Once everything is in the right place, I let the production staff know that the shot is ready to be sent on so that the next artist can start their work as soon as possible.
There you have it. These are some of the lists that I follow when working on a shot. By keeping these things in mind, I am able to keep my workflow organized and make sure that I am delivering my best animation in each shot that I take.
I don't always take all of these steps on every shot, but this will work as a nice master list to pull from depending on what is expected.
At the launch, my checklist is a series of questions. Most of the time, these questions are answered as we walk through the sequence with the directors.
If these questions aren't addressed, I ask about them when my shots are reviewed.
Checklist of Questions at the Launch:
1) What is the context? What happened directly before and what is going to happen directly after the shot?
2) What are the main story points that need to come through in the shot?
3) Is there a particular emotion that we should be feeling as audience members watching this shot?
4) How much room is there to work the idea? Some shots need to stick pretty close to the boards, while others leave a lot of space for the animator to work with. It's our responsibility to know what type of situation we are dealing with.
If I know the answer to all of these questions, than I am ready to start planning my shot.
Checklist for Planning my Shot:
I use different methods for planning out an acting shot versus a physical shot. For a physical shot, I will try to find some good reference of the movement and then jump right into thumbnailing.
For acting shots, I like to spend some time analyzing the line. My checklist is as follows:
1) Go for my gut instinct. I like to get my initial instinct out on paper and possibly on the camera. I may come back to this, but I may not. Sometimes it helps to get my idea out there so that I can clear it out of the way to make room for better ideas.
2) Analyze the dialog. There are a few things that I look for in the dialog when I am planning my acting:
Dynamics: Find the places where the line has inflections. These are great places to hang acting ideas.
Phrasing: I try to assign specific verbs to go along with parts of the line. If I can assign a verb to describe what the character is doing or thinking, it is easier for me to create a pose that communicates properly.
Meaning/Subtext: Many times, characters say something that implies something more meaningful. Digging out the true meaning of the line can lead to some really fresh acting choices.
3) Research:
Character Reference: I always try to think about the character. How would they react to this situation? If this character has been animated already, how did other animators handle this type of acting?
Film reference: See if this type of situation has been handled in other films. Sometimes this will help to inspire acting ideas in a different direction.
4) Video Reference. Now that I have analyzed the scene some more, I shoot some reference. I leave the camera running until I feel comfortable. I switch it up between acting and doing. When I am "acting" I am trying to feel the line out and see what comes naturally. When I am "doing" I have a specific idea in mind that I try to imitate with my body.
Get other animators involved in the reference. I find that if can get direct feedback as I am acting, it can help the ideas develop faster. I take turns acting and directing.
Analyze the reference, find the truths. Sometimes it helps to cut together a super take with what you feel are the best choices for each part of the shot.
Make your choices. At this point I usually pick one or two ideas that I like best for each beat and start to prep those ideas for blocking .
5) Apply the Principles. I look for places to add physicality, reversals, lead and follow. I make sure to exaggerate the ideas in my reference and push the things that the reference is hinting at.
6) Thumbnail. Depending on the shot, I thumbnail instead of shooting reference. On certain shots, I thumbnail after doing the reference to make sure that I am pushing the poses and the physicality.
Blocking
At this point, I have a pretty good idea of what I am going to work into the shot. It's time to start blocking. For most shots, I work in stepped mode for my blocking. This enables me to do detailed poses that communicate clearly without having to worry about the in-betweens.
1) Block in my keys.
These will be the main storytelling poses in my shot. I don't have any limit to how many keys I set on my first pass of blocking, but they tend to be pretty sparse. Sometimes I will leave as many as 10-12 frames between poses. I will block in a full pose including rough ideas for the hands and face.
2) Test it and time it.
I playback my pass of keys and move them around on the timeline until the beats feel like they are in the right places.
3) Break it down.
I add my breakdowns as a part of my blocking pass. I tend to break a shot down until I have a key on about every 3-4 frames. When I add my breakdowns, I think about which key that breakdown should favor. At times I even favor different body parts to different keys. I am also thinking about my paths of action.
Once I have a pass of blocking, I will ask some questions again:
1) Is it clear? Will someone get the idea of what I am going for without any explanation?
2) Did I push the posing and timing enough?
3) Do I like the idea? I try to be the first judge of my work before I get the supervisor and directors involved. Chances are, if I don't feel good about it, then they won't either.
Get Feedback
After I am happy with my blocking, I usually take one or more of these steps before moving into a first pass.
1) Show my peers. I will send out my work to other animators working on the film to get their opinions and check to see if the idea is reading clearly.
2) Show the animation supervisor. I always show my blocking to the animation supervisor to get feedback before showing the directors.
3) Show the director(s). Once I incorporate any blocking notes from the animation supervisor, I put my work up in front of the directors.
I present my idea through my blocking and see if it is in line with their objectives for the shot.
First Pass
If I get a buy-off on my blocking, or even if I receive some minor adjustments, I take my animation into a first pass.
During the first pass my checklist is as follows:
1) Switch my curves over to a version of spline and preview the animation.
2) Push full poses around to work out the timing.
3) Adjust full poses to work in some more overlap and try to solidify the mechanics as much as possible.
4) Tie down the curves. At this point I take a look under the hood and see how the curves are looking. I clean up the flow of the curves and any obvious hitches to ease the process of cleaning up the animation.
5) Keep my keys organized. At this point, I am still trying to keep my keys clean and aligned on full frames. Since the directors have only seen the shot once there is still a chance that I may get some feedback that will require me to rework parts of the animation. If I keep the shot clean, I can easily make those adjustments.
4) Face pass. I take a pass on the face at this point. I add the phonemes for my lip sync and start thinking about how the expressions will translate from one to the next.
Get More Feedback
Once again, when I have taken a first pass across my shot, I show it to the animation supervisor. Once I get the go ahead, I move the shot into polishing.
Checklist for polishing my shot:
So now that I have buy-off on the idea, I can feel comfortable taking my shot past the point of no return. I will use a series of different animation techniques, including layering and some straight ahead, to get the physicality working in my shot.
During the polishing phase I start to work heavily with curves. To make things more focused I crop my animation timeline and focus on 50-100 frames of work.
I use tons of checklists when polishing a shot. The all-encompassing checklist is as follows:
1) Find the driving force in the shot. In most cases, it is the center of gravity at the root of the character. I make sure to get the root movement working well because everything else depends on it.
2) Work from the root up and the head down. Once the root is working properly, I work my way up the torso into the chest, shoulders, neck, and then the head. I make sure that any movement on the root follows through these joints. If there are certain accents and inflections I want to hit with the head, I will animate those directly on the head, and make sure that movements are either led or followed by the rest of the torso.
3) The limbs. When I have the torso of the characters working correctly, I focus on the limbs. Sometimes the adjustments that I make to the torso can disrupt the original animation on the arms and legs. At this point, I feel comfortable blowing that old animation away and approaching the limbs straight ahead.
4) Additional Layering. At this point I should have the majority of the movement working properly. I go back through and do some additional layering to make the movement feel organic. I do this by comparing curves and offsetting. For human characters I like to take a layering pass on the shoulders and hips. For non-human characters this is where I consider overlapping on tails and wings etc.
5) Facial animation. I take a pass and really focus just on the face. I get into the eyes to make sure that the eyelines are correct. I like to get very specific about the eye movements by using linear curves and editing my darts down to the frame. Once the darts are working, I add lid movement to support them. I plus the shapes in the lip sync and make sure that the rest of the face is supporting the lip sync movement. I tend to treat the face as a unit. When the mouth opens and closes with the sync, I make sure that the cheeks, lids and brows are all affected. When I focus on the lip sync and facial movement, I also include the head in this equation. I add more texture to the movement of the head to fully support the beats in the sync.
6) Details. At this point, I should have the majority of my animation working, but I still make sure to take another pass for the things that take a little more love, such as areas of contact or IK switching. Sometimes I frame through my broad movements and see if I can add some scaling to enhance the way things transition.
That was the big list. Now I start to use some smaller lists.
I play my animation back and list out the things that still need more attention. There are usually a couple of things that are screaming pretty loud, so I hit those first. I continue to watch the animation, make a list of things to fix, fix them, and then repeat the process.
Pushing for final
Now that I have taken all of my passes on the animation, it's time to show for final. Once again, I hit a checklist to make sure that I have covered all of the bases:
1) Is there anything that stands out as unbelievable or possibly distracting from the point of the shot?
2) Does it still have all of the ideas from the approved blocking?
3) Is the physicality pushed far enough?
4) Is there enough texture in the movement?
5) Am I happy with it?
Now it’s time to show for final. I run it by the animation supervisor and then put it in front of the directors.
Ship it
Alright, I got the final call in dailies. Nice. There is just one more list I need to run through, and then this shot is headed down the pipeline.
1) Run and check all the simulations. If the character has hair or a tail or if I am using any type of simulation, I want to make sure that it has been run with the latest animation and is looking good.
2) Check the render. I run a full resolution render of my shot on the render farm to make sure that everything looks right. Sometimes environmental elements load differently in the animation software than they do on the render farm.
3) Save and check in all of the files. I check all of the files into the server so that they can move on down the pipeline.
4) Let 'em know. Once everything is in the right place, I let the production staff know that the shot is ready to be sent on so that the next artist can start their work as soon as possible.
There you have it. These are some of the lists that I follow when working on a shot. By keeping these things in mind, I am able to keep my workflow organized and make sure that I am delivering my best animation in each shot that I take.
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