How to add CHARACTER to your ANIMATION - part 2 - Example by Animator Zoey Chen

Character animators are focusing on... character, as the name says. How to animate a character and especially how to create a character is a daunting task and easier said than done! This clip shows the progression of how Academy of Art animator Zoey Chen has incorporated feedback and taken her animation to the next level. At the end of this FNA you will also find the critique I gave her for her 2nd version.

Spring AAU Semester is a wrap!

Haven't done a "Classes are done" post for a while, but yep, yesterday the 2nd out of the two classes at the AAU wrapped and it's been awesome as always. Good luck to all those who graduate!

There are no classes during Summer, but I'm still doing Animation Mentor and my online workshops are always open if anybody needs help and tutoring.

And Ritter Sport Hazelnut chocolate is the best. Boom.

Spring Teaching is done!!

Since I'm back at the AAU this Spring and doing workshops I'll lump both of them ending into one post, even though the last workshop session ends this Monday. Summer On-Site Workshops are still up in the air. I wasn't happy with the new place and I need to find something better before starting a new workshop. The Online Workshops are always open though, in case on-site animators want to continue that way.

It was a lot of fun coming back to the Academy and the poor class that had to endure my rants and insults were super patient and funny. ;)

Thanks guys for an awesome 15 weeks!

Frog Bar by Andy Wood

Head over to Kickstarter for more information!

Call for speakers - Tea time animation club

CALL FOR SPEAKERS

Tea Time Animation is looking for talented, dedicated professionals looking to give back
to humble beginnings and the future of our industr y – Students!

WHO WE ARE
WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU

The goal of Tea Time is to bring together current students and Alumni to discuss industry and department related news and concerns, facilitate
lectures by guest speakers, nurture communication between the student body and the Animation Department and finally, to provide an opportunity
for peer-to-peer critique. We are a networking resource for the student community.
A simple lecture, workshop or question and answer session with Tea Time members. Since the advent of Tea Time, we have hosted guests involved
in both freelance and large studio – i.e. Pixar, ILM, Tippett – environments. In the past, really successful talks have been based around the
speakerʼs own personal success story -- how it is they broke into the industry/got to where they are now. We've also had people come in and do
animation demos, where others prefer to talk about what professionals are looking for, and how our students can best tailor their reels and focus
themselves on work that is in demand right now.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO US

Standing outside and looking in, the industry can be incredibly daunting, even discouraging, at times. The opportunity to share in the life and
experiences of someone who has successfully achieved their goals – even just for an hour – is exactly the kind of push that students need to break
through barriers and the pressure that school can bring while baring down upon them. Not only does it give us the opportunity for an eye-opening
and insightful look “behind the screens” of the industry, it provides a pleasant change in the routine of homework, and gets everyone excited to
hop back to their monitors and drawing boards to create masterpieces of their own.

“WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?”

Besides spreading a little knowledge (and a little love) to the student body, this is the perfect opportunity for a little shameless self-promotion.
There are so many external organizations out there offering classes/workshops/lectures to students looking to get more out of their education.
Tea Time is the perfect place to market your product. In exchange for your company, we will do everything we can to help you get the word out.
With an online viewership of nearly 3000 views a month, and access to the entire student body at the Academy of Art University, we are an ideal
source to find some future Padawans. Not enticed by ulterior motives? Well you might just find yourself gaining a little bit of knowledge (and a
lot-a-bit of love), yourself.
Interested or looking to ask a few more questions?
We would love to hear from you.

AAUANIMATE@GMAIL.COM
All our best,
Tea Time

100 frame exercise - Fall 09

I know, I know, a bit late to post that one, SORRY! But here we go, the theme for that round was "Chase".

100x Exercise Animation - Fall 09 from Jean-Denis Haas on Vimeo.

Congratulations 2010 AAU Spring Show Nominees and Winners!

I attended the yearly Spring Show of the Academy of Art University and was really impressed by the work! Congratulations to everybody, you can be very proud! If you have a chance to swing by the exhibit, see the image for more details or go to academyart.edu.

Critique - Angry Walk

Alright, the walk:

It still looks great! I see you tweaked the hips and even though I was hoping to see more hip up/down, I know that it's difficult to see with those shapes. It still works though the way you have it.
Did you tweak the thumb on his left hand? Still feels a bit wimpy with the thumb on top, give it another shot to create a nice looking fist (bring the thumb down to the side).
I like how you tweaked the feet during the passing poses, nice!
There's something funky going on with his left foot. Was that already there when you showed it in class? Sorry if I missed that. Look at x1 to x4. The foot doesn't travel back at all, it just sticks there, which doesn't work for a cycle. The other foot is correct though, so make sure it works for both.
During the plants on x1 and x14 it would be nice to get a tiny little head wobble/rotate down movement, to feel the impact and weight. No huge overlap, just a sign that the steps impact the head.
Last thing, keep a subtle body/root Y up movement after x8 to x12, as well as from x20 to x24. Right now the body goes up and then stops the up movement a bit too quickly and then stays in that position during the above mentioned range. Make that transition a bit smoother, don't flatten your Y curve too quickly.

Nice job!

Ukulele Trio - by Jorge Ruiz

Nice work Jorge! Watch the clip here.

What would JD do? - End of Semester Spring '09

[updated] Thanks Fu-Ling and Erik for the pictures!!

__________________________________________

Here we are. Another semester just flew by.

And another group of fantastic students is moving on. Yesterday evening they surprised me with a goodbye present which blew my mind. It was so unexpected, so funny, so well done, you guys just rule! The way it was presented was absolutely priceless. Thanks to everybody involved!

It's always sad to end a semester and yesterday sure wasn't easy. At least I'll see some of you in class again. For those who graduate, good luck and all the best!!

So what would JD do? The pictures will tell you. :)

Au revoir!
JD

click on this pic for more

- pic source

Critique - Scared of failing

Looking better and better! Definitely start to offset keys, add smoother transitions between poses, more mouth shapes, all that jazz. Here a few areas I'd look out for:

Guy on the left:
- change the timing a bit of how the ring box is closing, it's a bit linear. Those type of boxes have a very strong spring in it, so it's going to take some force to make it close, but it's going, it will snap shut
- slow down the hand that puts the box on the table around x79, right now it's too fast, I would ease out of that holding pose more. I would also work on the timing of how he pulls his hand back to his other hand, the arc is very flat, the hand locks once it's back on x98
- the fingers moves at the need the same sort of attention, make them less pose to pose, vary the timing, etc.

Guy on the right:
- watch out for fast movements or sudden stops that kill the weight and believability of the character, for instance the sudden upper body stop around x23 as he leans forward, same deal around x98 and especially the sudden hand stop on x130
- I would subtle head accents during "... as an excuse..", little ones though
- the transitions between eyebrow pose changes feel a bit soft in places, a bit slow, for instance during the x35ish area
- like you said, do another pass on the lipsync and mouth shapes; generally it's there, just focus on certain snappier parts and accents, but it's working well already

Hope that helps!
Cheers

I can animate, now what? - pt. 1

My first character animation class was in Fall 2002 at the AAC (before it was the AAU) with Lisa Mullins and she told me early on to think beyond the animation, to really understand and think about why the character is doing something as opposed to how.

I'm mentioning this for multiple reasons (which might not be important, I'm just mentioning it anyway):

Looking back at that first class and then fast forwarding to where I'm at now, I can see specific changes in my attitude towards animation and this job as a whole.

First, in school, it's all about the demo reel. You're spending tons of time in the lab or at home (or wherever your work computer is), with your fellow students and everybody is concentrated on their reel. You live for those shots and it's awesome.
Then, once you get the job, it's all about the first show and your shots. You're spending tons of time at work with your fellow co-workers and everybody is concentrated on their shots. You live for those shots and this time it's even more awesome, because those shots will be seen by tons of people, you'll have your name in the credits, your parents and friends will be proud of you and all that hard work is paying off.
After a while, you realize that the shots you're working on are not meant to be on your reel, they are for the client. And slowly but surely you're detaching yourself completely from the shots, in order to give 100% regardless of the complexity or the difficulty of a project or shot. You truly learn how to kill your babies (or whatever the saying is).

Now, with my first show as a lead animator, I'm getting a fascinating insight into how team work really has to play out. You're always aware of how each discipline depends on each other from the moment you start your first job, but obviously there is much more to it and it's really interesting to go through that experience. Personally, I'm surprised to see myself being ok to animate less and to help out more. Not that I don't want to help, far from it, but I love animating and I expected myself to really miss the animation workload. But the new responsibilities are a lot of fun and I'm learning a lot, so there's definitely no room for complaints.

Now, what does that have to do with "I can animate, now what?"?. Well, it relates to your learning process as an animator. Just like a job path is structured and goes through phases, you will realize that your learning experience goes through phases as well.

First, you start your first class/semester/learning session and you're discovering what is needed to animate your character. You're spending tons of time reading everything related to animation in order to get a grasp of the principles (and software, unless you use another tool). You live for animation and it's awesome. :)

So at first it's about the technique, the tools, the principles, etc. etc. but there will be a moment where you'll have mastered the technique. You'll obviously keep learning and perfecting that technique, but once you reach that phase, you're free to think about performance only. To me it's like where the major feature companies currently are. Every studio has insanely talented animators. I haven't seen Monster vs. Aliens yet, Bolt was the last one and the opening shot with the puppies was just AMAZING! So now that the animation quality is the same, it's all about the story.

It's really exciting to reach that level where you really have to think about performance only. It's also really cool to see how my students reach that level. It's so liberating for everybody when "all" you have to say is "Give this head turn a bit more intensity." and you don't have to explain how to go about that. It's all about the why, not the how. And that's what's what, once you know how to animate. :)

Now your primary question is: What is my character thinking?

It's easy to be lazy at this point and just care about arcs and polish. Push yourself to go beyond movement! Always think about who your character is, what happened before and what will happen after your shot, why is your character doing what he/she/it is doing, etc.

This really applies to every move you animate. If a guy is grabbing a glass, that animation will be different if the guy is drunk, nervous, angry, tired, etc. etc. Don't just animate a head turn, think about the timing of it, how it will change the feel. Again, what is the character thinking during that moment?

- pic source

Critique - Santa Lift

So about the Santa Clip:

You probably kept on working on this (I'm a bit late with the feedback), but here my 2 cents of that current version. I like the setting, the idea is great and I love that he jumps into the chimney, so it's not just a weight exercise. Overall it's working well, I especially love that he's looking at the chimney with that head turn around x127, because it shows that the character is thinking (and even thinking ahead). I would say keep going with these areas in mind:

- being on a slope, you want to incorporate that into your animation (otherwise why choose that set?); so once he's carrying the bag, let his feet slide down a bit on the snow, forcing him to readjust his footing and balance
- while the bag gets off the sled, add some rotation and compression on the sled, as if he's lifting that bag off a truck
- for a more complex or "different" way of putting the bag on top of the chimney, maybe go beyond the simple lift up and throw, but more of a roll. By that I mean, look at x174. On that frame the bag could be pushed up the side wall of the chimney which would break the momentum of his upward swing. Because of that he would have to start pushing/rolling the bag over the chimney's edge (I hope this makes sense). Not as a big, second part of the exercise, but just for added complexity and variety. You can still have him push down on the bag at the end for the final push. For that though, I would, if you can, make it look like he's really pushing into the bag, making the bag look soft (see some compression on the bag first before it goes down).
- the jump is cute, just watch your timing: first, from x220 to 248 I would have him lean forward instead of back, as if he's looking down the chimney to see if the bag made it down. The area between x266 and 274 (roughly) feels slow. The way he goes down just feels a bit off. He accelerates down at the end to a more believable speed, but before that it's a bit slow.
- detail: would be awesome to have snow foot prints. :)

Hope that helps!
Cheers
JD

Upcoming AAU classes

[updated 07/16/09] 

Spring '13 class: ANM 462 03 Character Animation Studio, Room 350, Thursday 7 to 10pm

_____________________________

I've been receiving emails from students asking about future classes. The answer is always the same so I might as well post it here in case people are looking for answers on this site.

Please ask your advisor because I am usually the last person to find out what type of class I will be teaching. The moment I know anything, I post it as a mini message on this site above the regular posts.

I have students e-mailing or coming up to me saying: "Hey, cool that you're teaching such and such classes on such and such day!" That's usually how I find out. So you guys are much better informed than I am. :)

That's not a complaint btw.

The list of possible classes comes out towards the end of the semester, but the confirmation about which type of class and on what day it wil be, arrives much later. The moment the class is in the system your advisor will know about it. And the moment I know about it, I'll post it here as always.

The only difference now is that this Spring semester might be my last one at the AUU. But either way, look for a notice at the top of the page above the posts for any class announcements.

Thanks for asking though! I appreciate the interest!

Cheers
JD

Do you use archived posts? Feedback needed!

Yesterday Dr. Makarewicz mentioned a great resource site for graph editor scripts by Aaron Koressel. Go check it out, you'll like it.

I was curious to see if I posted about that and I found a link to it on my pre-Spungella site Academy Animation. It was part of two-post heads-up to check out Mr. Blake's Art Diary. Here's part 1 and here's part 2.

This made me think about the older site.

Should I re-post useful posts from the AAU site?
Should I just post quick reminders to a few older posts?

Or is that not needed because you check out the "Post Archives" and "Best-of Spungella" links?

This might sound mean (but it's not intended to be), but I'm always assuming that people are lazy (me included). That's why I created the AAU blog, Spungella and Animation Buffet in the first place. So people don't have to spend/waste time looking for things all over the web, they can just come to a centralized spot that redirects them, a spot that does the looking for them.

But since people are lazy, are they actually going through older posts? What do you guys do and think? Please leave a comment. I'd like to make this site as streamlined and useful as possible.

- pic source

Rhythm & Hues at the Academy

School of 3D Animation/VFX & INDUSTRY ON CAMPUS PRESENTS

RHYTHM & HUES
Oscar winning character animation, visual effects,
live action and design studio

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24TH
79 NM THEATER, 1st Floor
1:00 PM sharp!

Exclusive creative panel discussion for
Academy of Art University students only!

Hear and ask about:

How to get hired
Working at Rhythm + Hues
Recent projects

Sweet tutorials by Lango and Baena

Head over to Jeff's blog which points to great tutorials and workflows by Keith Lango and Carlos Baena.

Animation Track Meeting

There will be an Animation Track Meeting on Wednesday, February 18, at 7pm in the Theatre at 79 New Montgomery.

(NOTE: This meeting is geared towards Animation students specifically. The more general, department-wide Town Hall Meeting will be announced soon for all Animation, VFX, and Gaming students.)

Students are invited to bring their input, comments, and questions. Come learn about the future of the Academy’s Animation classes from the people who have the answers, including Department Directors Chris Armstrong, Tom Bertino, and Sherrie H. Sinclair.

All Animation instructors are also invited to attend.

100 frame exercises - Fall 08

click on image to play movie

Here's another compilation of the "100 frame exercise", this time courtesy of the Fall '08 class. The topic for this class was "Unreachable Goal". Again, nice job guys!

100 frames exercises - Summer 08

click on image to play movie

I'm very late posting these, sorry about that!

A few semesters ago a student suggested that I should give them an exercise which had a 100 frame limit. That sounded like a good idea and the class ended up getting that exercise on week 14, due in a week for the last class. We came up with different topics and through elimination voting decided on the final one to animate to. The students decided on "Dying" and so they had one week to come up with an idea, block it out and polish it as much as possible without any feedback.

It was great to see the final results and the students went above and beyond with their assignments. No grey, default characters in an empty set! :)

Well done!