My Digital Corner

The Making of Tangled - Soho, London.

2011-05-29T15:55:00.000+01:00

What an absolutely amazing evening! These events rarely come by England, so it was something I couldn't help but get excited about - Walt Disney Animation Studios were in town!!! = D

It was an absolute pleasure meeting Clay Kaytis and Mohit Kallainpur. They gave a fantastic talk on the types of challenges the crew faced when making Tangled. Character development, shot progression videos, environment choices, light and colour direction, and a treasure trove of Jin Kim and Glen Keane sketches and draw overs.

Showing so much awe inspiring content, it was an evening of inspiration that I'll be carrying with me for years to come.

... i even got my book signed. ^_^

Me and Clay Kaytis (Animation Supervisor)

Me with Clay and Mohit Kallainpur (Lighting and Look Director)

Acting Test - "The Idea" (blocking)

2011-05-29T13:25:00.005+01:00

The Audio clip's in, and the blocking's finished! Have had some great feedback along the way so here's progress so far.

Next steps - the first spline pass!

The audio search begins...

2011-03-13T19:49:00.004Z

I've been wanting to complete an acting piece for a long time now, and although I've shoe boxed so many attempts due to time, I'm determined to finish one!

What I forgot, was how much time I need to invest trying to find a sound clip I find interesting, has enough juice to take further during animation, has clean sound, and hopefully contains an emotional beat change.

What I have found in my search though are these! A friend of mine at work passed them on to me as a suggestion. And my... they're pretty awesome! The main trouble I'm having with them though is the fast edits and background music. Making it very difficult to give enough padding at the start and end of the audio.

Still... they're funny to watch and great reference! I love the pained expression of Raleigh in the second video (22 seconds in) as he searches for the words in his head! He tries so hard to stay positive but his body language screams uncomfort. Brilliant.

So although these might not be packed full of theatrical performance, I love how genuine they sound and all the speech nuances as they mess up their lines, speaking faster than they can think.

Muybridge Exhibition Visit

2010-12-30T17:01:00.006Z

I'm glad I made time to visit the Tate Britain Muybridge Exhibition this month. It was great to see his work on a larger scale and read into his life stories. It wasn't long before my wrists were slapped by museum curators so not many photos unfortunately, I did however come away with a nice bit of holographic swag though! ^_^

CTN Animation Expo 2010

2010-12-28T15:50:00.021Z

What more can I say about this event apart from it being absolutely astonishing!!! A friend (Owen Williams) and I went over to LA to attend the event, never before did I imagine being able to meet so many of my heroes all in one place! The event was kick ass and filled with so many passionate people; I never thought I’d have the opportunity to hang out and catch up with animators from Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, Warner Bros, Blue Sky, Sony, ILM, and so many other great studios. Not only that but we made some great friends during our adventures. = )

Here are just some highlights!

Registration:

Us with Andreas Deja:

Me and Dean DeBlois:

Me and Eric Goldberg:

Us and Sergio Pablos:

Us with John Nevarez and his wife (nicest people ever!):

Dreamworks reception:

Inside Dreamworks with Steve Hickner:

Outside Disney Animation Studios:

Inside Nickelodeon with Oggy (what a cool guy!):

Some new friends!

-As you might guess, I can't wait 'till next year's event! = D

Kitsu - Hunted

2010-12-26T23:01:00.005Z

So here's as far as I took it!

As you can see a fair few things changed when compared to the blocking - proof that not everything ends as intended! It's not far off though.

I took a lot from this, but most importantly - a scene presented without context can definitely make or break how it's understood by an audience. Fact is in a piece like this the audience doesn't see the 'setup' (what happened before the scene - regardless of how much thought went into it). Feedback from others shows I should have went all out around the set theme to help ensure things are clearly understood and not too thought out.

Kitsu - Hunted (blocking)

2010-12-26T22:30:00.008Z

I figured it's about time i posted this stuff, it's been on my list a while. In an attempt to clear the sheet in time for the new year here's a quick overview of how this next test came about...At work we hold after hours animation sessions where we show inspiring work found recently, and talk about anything animation related. It was at one of these sessions we decided to set an animation exercise for us all to learn and strengthen our animations skills from. The rules were simple...

Animate a 120 frame piece at 30 fps around an agreed theme - 'Hunted'.

This was my blocking (not properly timed):

And some failing reference - proof that animation can CAN be dangerous! = D

Felicity Loveshot - Jump Out

2010-05-18T21:21:00.005+01:00

This anim turned out pretty close to the blocking actually. I just wish I'd explored more ideas with other people before starting on the piece. There were a lot of good suggestions thrown around from altering how she might jump out, to alternative ideas on her final pose. I guess that's the beauty of these tests, I learn a little more with each one! :)

Felicity Loveshot - Jump Out (blocking)

2010-05-12T23:29:00.006+01:00

Having done my last few anim tests using models I'm not allowed to show publically yet doesn't really make much for a blog... = S
So I decided to do another one using Felicity! Some thumbs and a blocking pass will do for now...

Milt Kahl: The Animation Michelangelo videos

2010-01-24T01:32:00.005Z

I really love hearing and reading stories about Milt and the other eight old men. I'm only half way through, but there's an intresting set of vids based on the Milt Kahl tribute over at The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Felicity Loveshot - Walk Cycle

2009-12-28T00:52:00.005Z

Meet Felicity Loveshot!

Some friends at Blitz put this character together in a couple of days, therefore it's completely Blitz owned. I just rigged and prepped it for animation in MotionBuilder ("Why not Maya?!" Well, I wanted to develop my hand key skills in the app). I think she's such a great, appealing character!

I had a lot of fun animating this cycle. I tried to give her a sexy walk with a little attitude to try and fit her character. Admittedly I'm not completely happy with it, but I probably won't take it much further as I'd like to get started on the next anim test. = D

- Felicity character courtesy of BlitzGamesStudios.

Sergio Pablos Line Tests

2009-10-11T12:11:00.004+01:00

This honestly makes me wanna give up and cry...
But I'm not gonna do that. Instead, I'll continue to strive to become this good. Amazing, beautiful work done on Disney's Treasure Planet.
I absolutely adore line tests like this, there's still SO much to learn.

Find more at the Pencil Test Depot.

BlitzTechRobot - Fight Combo 01

2009-09-09T20:47:00.007+01:00

I remember working on the pre-dev for Invinsible Tiger being so much fun! Which is why I decided to try an anim test based around a similar theme but in a vastly different style. The test was just a bit of personal fun really, so I only decided to take it so far without it looking too crappy. Not completely happy with it and a few things stand out as not being very effective, but it'll do for now. Learnt a couple of useful things from it which is good enough for me!

Sketch book additions

2009-08-18T21:51:00.005+01:00

A few more pages from my sketchbook. Although this time I composited a couple together to save space and clickey time. These range between 2-4 minutes.

Still need a lot of work to try and stop myself drawing the same line over and over, hopefully in practise i'll be a little more economical with them.

...and yes, this guy seriously did stand on his head for 4 minutes. not bad for a 60+ year old man eh!?

Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao

2009-08-13T21:09:00.006+01:00

Check it out!!! Han Tao is soon to be released!

I didn't work completely on the game, but i did help pitch for it, and support the team with some rigging work!
One of my anims feature in the trailer, it's the one under the opening titles. = )

So get ready to push your fist through someones face with this retro style beat em up!

More 'fu' here: www.invincibletiger.com

BlitzTechRobot - breathe_2_sprint

2009-08-10T20:36:00.007+01:00

I'm noticing there's not a lot of animation on this thing... I figure I should start dumping some work on here. I'll probably do it slowly over time but to start, here's an in-game test asset created for BlitzTech.

more soon...

The beginnings of a sketch book

2009-06-15T21:22:00.030+01:00

I don't claim to be any form of traditional 'artist', nor that I'm any good at it. But if there's one thing I'd like to get better at apart from animation, it's drawing (which some might say is closely related ;)).

I've been recently inspired by a few good things really, both of which I wish I'd acted upon sooner.
The Walt Stanchfield books (vol.1, vol.2) are an amazing collection of notes, and both an interesting as well as relieving insight as to how drawing for animators can differ from what you might expect in a figure drawing/anatomy class. 'Gesture Drawing', an effective way to record, analyse, exaggerate, and even cheat poses you see before you, to make them into expressive statements.

A friend of mine forwarded a forum thread to me the other week, one which I was taken back and astounded by. Some of you may have seen it before, 'Journey of an Absolute Rookie'.

It goes to show that a lot can be achieved in the space of a few years, and it's never too late to start!

Both of which have urged me on to create and keep sketch book journals. I'd like to see how far I progress before the end of the year, by trying to draw at least once a week (which in respect really isn't a lot!). I'll fill and keep my sketch books as a record.

Without blabbing much more, here are a few scans of my sketch book so far. They start out crappy, but I'm expecting them too. :)

Click the banners to see the full page.

Above: First drawings in three years. Also makes a good comparison image for future sketches.

I try to keep my drawings at around 2 minutes. I'm aiming to have the ability to sketch something in movement. Over the first few weeks I can already see an improvement in my speed analysis and line quality. The first and last banner have the same amount of drawing time involved 4-5 minutes.

Box Move: Pose Test

2009-06-07T22:33:00.004+01:00

I managed to test the rig out this weekend to see whether it was capable of hitting the more extreme images seen in the layout/thumbnails (the last pose is pretty lousy. = S). It seems to hold up alright, there are a few weak areas such as the width/height of the shoulders when raising his clavs for certain poses. Having the shoulders overlap the head seems to help sell 'effort'. Still, I think I'll go with it as is.

You might need to scrub the timeline to look at them porperly, I kept the poses reltively short to try and cut down on the video size.

This test already seems like it's going to be difficult to pull off, especially if I'm to sell the box's weight and try keeping it's trajectory comfortable. I like a bit of a challenge though. If it doesn't work out, what the heck! That's the whole point of the test! As long as I learn something! = )

Box Move: Planning/Layout (cont.)

2009-06-05T13:36:00.009+01:00

Idea 04

A much cleaner, shorter cut. I took most of the previous actions out as I've become aware of how little time I'll have animating (not to mention the other ideas floating around in my head I want to start working on! ; )). There was also a personal decision to remove the acting, I find body mechanics a more fundamental area I'll continually want to work on, which is why I have him interacting with the table a lot more for Idea 04.
I'll leave the acting for my next anim test I think, and roll with this.

Box Move: Planning/Layout

2009-05-31T22:45:00.009+01:00

Okay, so I've been tinkering around with drawing over the environment screen grabs and I gotta say, it's been pretty handy. Not only has it helped explore variation in movement and choices, it's also outlined how much I suck at 2D.

I wouldn't say these are a direct representation of what the final timing and posing will look like, but more a visual way to show idea.

Idea 01

My first idea went nowhere. A classic example of how drawing things out and not jumping straight into Maya, takes minutes without wasting days. Not only was I not happy with the way this was heading, I also felt too much time was being spent (not all shown) on the 'intro' instead of the main action. Which is why I didn't even bother to finish it, NEXT IDEA!

Idea 02

A completely different take on camera. One I thought worked better (although I'm no expert on composition). Too many objects and his reaction to the photo feels like he turns away and shivers in disgust. Not really want I wanted. I wanted a more subtle 'realisation' without it being an animated 'take'.

Idea 03_a

So this one was mainly to test how it might look if he picked up fewer items, with the second being the photo. You'll also notice that he picks up the photo first before getting up. I had a comment that it looked too 'silhouettey' with the lean over reach, as if I was trying to use silhouette for the sake of using it. Which was true in a sense. I've always been a true believer in not using the principles for the sake of using them, but I guess I too also fall into the trap every now and again. = S

Idea 03_b

Version 'b' isn't really much different from 'a', the only change being the character not 180'ing too blatently when looking in the direction of where he plans to carry the box (another 'silhouette' phase I think...). Instead, he looks under his shoulder to give an impression of where he's going to take it.

I'll need to finalise my idea soon, shoot some reference then do some pose tests. More coming soon (hopefully).

Box Move: Thumbnails

2009-05-09T12:09:00.007+01:00

Although I've been busy in other areas, I'm back on with my personal project! and I've been giving it a lot of thought...

I'm eager to go back to the "ol' box lift", which is why I've decided to shrink down what was a 'Mahoosive' create in my previous thumbs. Hopefully this'll be a decent exercise for practicing weight (you can never have too much practise!). Just because something's been done in over a thousand showreels shouldn't mean it should be avoided (not always anyway. As long as they show the right things, done well). Schools must be doing it all around the world for a reason right!? I just wanna put my own little take on it (at least that's the intention...).
I'm hoping to play with the weight, not just have the character move something heavy, but have that heavy object move 'him' as well.

In true tradition, these thumbs probably don't make much sense to anyone other than myself! But you can have a go at trying to decipher them anyway. I haven't a clue why I drew the main action on the left with the action prior to the lift on the right. Guess I wanted to draw the main actions whilst I had them fresh in my head.

The environment's currently being blocked out. Once I have a rough scene and cameras I'm keen to try something new and draw over screen shots to try and stage the action appropriately. It should also prove a decent layout test I think. But who knows... = S

It's worth noting that the image drawn in black was actually a friend of mine, I find it hard drawing little figures. As simple as they might be, it's great to try and get second opinions on things for how to 'show' something. I'm pretty certain I'll end up replacing one of my own images with this one.

Cheers Daz.

Exploring an Idea

2009-03-08T22:51:00.013Z

'Planning'... something often missed or rushed in animation, and admittedly it's something I'm guilty of myself!!!
Knowing this, it's an area I'm keen to work on and I'll be taking advantage of the opportunity to improve my thumbnail skills (they're pretty shocking at the moment). It's nice to be able to see ideas on paper, and it's a good way to keep track of what you've already thought of!! It seems to give a better visual clue of which actions might flow together nicely, as well as the added advantage to show your ideas to others before spending hours in Maya.

'Idea Exploration' will be an area I'll be concentrating on with my next animation test and I'm keen to not rush into things this time (without taking too long hopefully!). When thumbnailing, it's not only the action choices I'm hoping to layout but also develop my understanding of how to improve/strengthen poses. Asking myself things like "How can a pose be made more appealing? What is the character trying to do? What's his intent? Does it read? Where does the line of action lead? Can it be made to communicate it's purpose more effectively? Is it dynamic? Does it need to be? How am I applying squash and stretch? Does it show stress/tension in the right places? Is there a better way to do this? etc, etc".

I'm hoping the advantage of training myself to find answers for questions such as these will help me hit 'story telling poses' without the restrictions of a CG rig. And from these, perhaps adapt a rig to strengthen the images I'm trying to put across, aiding my understanding of animating loose, appealing shots.

I've recently been inspired by Eric Goldberg's book. This guy truely is amazing, and I'd recommend his book to anyone in the medium. I'm sure exploring ideas through thumbnails will be an exciting learning process for me, and essential if I'm to improve my pose work (and I can already see improvements).

SAND 2008 update

2009-02-28T11:07:00.015Z

Having completely forgotten to mention how our talk went at SAND last year, I figured now would be the best time having found some release photos of the event on their website.

The talk itself went really well, Ollie started, who covered character animation in games, involving how animations should not only look, but 'feel' as well. I followed up with the topic of character deformation and how to solve problem areas using simple, efficient rigging techniques. The content was by no means rules of any sort, more of an explanation of how certain problems 'may' be solved using creative thinking. Our intention was to help them achieve stronger, more expressive human character deformation. We see bad deformation all the time in showreels (even other games!) and it seemed a good opportunity to share how they might be easily solved.

Overall we had some excellent feedback from those who attended, and hopefully passed on some useful advice to those who are looking to graduate this year.

-----
Their website also features multiple webcasts of selected talks which are well worth a watch if you're looking to get into the games industry. One from Rare on Character Animation in games.

Anim Test: Fence Climb

2009-02-10T00:33:00.007Z

Okay! It's taken some time but better late than never I guess... ; P

It took a little while to complete, and was very on/off but I'm hoping to keep the consistency going on the next one (I have to admit, it was a bit of a conscious decision). I wanted to use my time to learn MEL instead of animate so I could help develop and streamline some dev team pipelines. It's paid off though, so everybody wins!! (^_^)

I'll post some more info on it tomorrow, had a long day today - I'm in the mood to relax. = )

...and into 2009...

2009-02-08T17:12:00.007Z

So I realised I was rubbish at posting animation last year, and although I'm pretty busy with work and all, I need to be a little more strict on myself if I want to get better at this animation thing...

So I'm gonna start the first post of 2009 with an old walk cycle I done to test my Archie rig. I found a few things that needed to change which I thought would make animating with it a little easier, turned out in a later animation test that it made it worse.

I'll post that test later in the week.

Anyway, enough of my waffle. Here's that generic walk cycle complete with cliché arm movement!

SAND 2008

2008-10-19T20:54:00.005+01:00

I'll be talking at SAND this year, and now that details have finally been updated on the official website, figured I could finally blog about it!

I'll be sharing a slot with my mate Ollie, he was my mentor when I first joined Blitz who's now a project manager on the Blitz Arcade division (great guy). He'll be covering a section on animation and I'll pick it up half way through with some game rigging Tips 'n' Tricks!

I've already started to put the talk together, although it seems a lot of the stuff will need to be taken out due to time restrictions. It's a shame, I think a lot of it'll be pretty interesting to those attending - just needs to be concentrated to what feels most important that's all!

So... here's a little more information on what we're doing!

'Talk Blurb' - for the lowdown on our talk.
'Dodgy photo + Biog' -for a dodgy photo of me and a little personal bio!

5th Grader is GO!

2008-09-15T20:12:00.008+01:00

Last week we had the champagne party for "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader"!!!

Developed under Blitz's Arcade division I helped the team with the character rigging. Unfortunately I didn't get to animate on this project, so I can't take any credit for my mates' work. I did however get to squeeze in some lipsync and a couple of cool fish animations!!! lol! (not bad for a two joint rig!!!).

We're currently not sure when the release date'll be but it'll be released before the end of the year. In the mean time here's a group photo of the people who developed it, including a lot of my old (and very talented) Tru-Sim team members!

Here's a toast to Jeff Foxworthy! "CHEERS!"

Still here!

2008-08-23T17:57:00.008+01:00

Nope, I haven't given up on posting, I've just been away for a while... This blog isn't a failed project yet!!!

Had a little wonder down to the Saxon Mill with my housemates this afternoon to make use of the good weather - coming home took a little longer than getting there. (^_^)

Pixar Comes To Blitz!!!

2008-07-15T20:02:00.007+01:00

What a day!!! It's rare for artists in our medium to be given the opportunity to meet, and talk with one of the industry's leading animators!

The 20-odd animators of Blitz were given an Animation Master Class last weekend by Andrew Gordon. He covered several topics, each slide presenting tiny nuggets of animation gold. It was great to see some of the early Pixar animation tests, I was geeking out entirely!!! It was easily one of the best days of my life, and I even got a dedicated doodle of Mike Wachowski signed by the animator himself. (^_^)

We were also given the opportunity to see 'Presto', Pixar's newest short movie which Andrew animated on. And I have to say, it's pure magic...

I was a little upset to hear the photos taken that day came out blurred, I think the exposure setting must have been incorrectly set from earlier shots taken during the presentation. = S Before you ask, none of his slides were photographed due to copyrights which is understandable, and it's only fair to respect the guys wishes right?!

Andrew's been at the studios for 11 years and has worked on nearly every feature animation title, he is currently working on Toy Story 3 and is one of the co-founders of the 'Spline Doctors' website.

I think it's clear to say my inspiration has been thoroughly boosted!

"Do you want to learn kung fu!?!"

2008-07-06T22:21:00.005+01:00

I know I do! What a great movie!!! I was literally jaw dropped and in stitches through out.

I can deffinitely say Kung Fu Panda is one of my favourite contemporary animated features. Beautiful characters, beautful animation, enjoyable story, great acting and no annoying pop culture references to boot! If you haven't seen this movie yet, you gotta go see it!

Hats off to Dreamworks, it's a movie that everyone can enjoy, and aspire to (i know i am). ; P

'Bolt' Trailer!

2008-07-03T21:41:00.007+01:00

A new Bolt trailer has been released! Click the image above to watch it, or simply follow this link for some info and a REALLY big picture!

Motion Capture Shoot

2008-06-25T19:09:00.008+01:00

I directed my first motion capture shoot!!! = D

Well, kinda... it was only a test shoot and I was filling in for a mate at work as he was ill. Still, it was a great learning experience! There was a lot of preperation reading, but the whole activity goes hand in hand with what I'm working on in Tech at the moment (one of many things tbh), so was greatly beneficial! I started to really get into it, acting along side, calling out reaction timings, I even gave myself goosebumps when trying to demonstrate a 'disgusted' emotional body state! (I know, it's sad...) = S I deffinitely think getting stuck in makes the experience a lot richer, and it shows in the end performance. I'd advise it on anyone directing a shoot for their first time.

From what I've done so far, tests are going well and hopefully we'll get the opportunity to do another shoot! It was deffinitely a good day, and I owe thanks to everyone involved - I'd say we all came out a lot wiser. = P

The job role in general is going well actually, I love the opportunity to learn new things, which in tern will have an impact on the company's pipelines.

On an animation note, once I get time I'll upload a boring little walk cycle I did using my Archie character... = )

New Job Role!

2008-06-03T20:34:00.006+01:00

So I started my new role last week as an R&D Animator! Where I'll be helping out Blitz's Tech Team with various animation related things I'm probably not allowed to talk about? - better safe than sorry eh!? = P

It does however give me the opportunity to work on some really challenging stuff, which will hopefully make a difference to the company's animation tools and pipelines. There's a MASSIVE learning curve, and so many areas I wanna explore, therefore it's taking up quite a lot of my time (which is the main reason this blog has gone on hold a bit).

I took this role knowing it'd take a hit on my personal animation work, but initially it's only for a 6 month sabbatical period from my old team, which i'm sure will be majorly beneficial to both myself and the company. It was too good an opportunity to miss out on!!!

I'll be doing my best to allocate a little time for personal character animation every now and then, but until I can do that. I've got a lot of learning to do! = D

Company Day Photo 2007

2008-05-21T11:38:00.009+01:00

Whilst routing through my computer, I found last years' company day photo!

Meet the Blitzer's of August, 2007!

Good beer, good BBQ, good wheather, good people...

High kudos to the people who find me!!! Although, i'll give you the option to cheat. = P

Nearly there Archie!

2008-05-17T18:12:00.008+01:00

Meet my newest character! I've been trying to finish rigging this guy for a while actually, I've had a few things distract me from completing him but I'd say he's ready to start animating with now!!! woot!

Of course, I say 'ready', but I'm sure I'll be making improvements to the rig as I go along, fixing bits and bobs - I'm not totally happy with him.

So this is him, happily named 'Archie' by a good friend of mine (thanks Mazie!).

I'm really not a fan of free downloadable rigs, although they are amazingly versatile with very talented people working under their hood - there's nothing wrong with using them. I really didn't want a character that I see on showreels all the time. Anyway, this'll give you some idea on what i'll be carrying out my anim tests on over the year. Can't wait to try him out! The first walk cycle will no doubt bring up a few 'issues'. = P

Brief techy stuff:
He started out as a bit of a test in all areas tbh, so his body is purely rigged with joints (meaning the rig can import into a game engine more economically than if blend shapes were used) apart from the squash and stretch. But as progress went on, i figured he'll only be used in rendered anim tests for myself which is why I opted for a morph driven face.

Antoin Antin

2008-05-16T20:50:00.007+01:00

Okay, I couldn't add this guy to my sidebar without giving him a plug in a new post!

He's an amazing traditional animator with great timing and really solid drawing. He manages to incorporate beautiful curves into his characters and movement. He's well worth checking out!!!

Everybody loves Scrat.

2008-05-16T13:41:00.008+01:00

Not exactly 'new'... But looks like he's up to his old tricks again!

In theatres July 4, 2009.

Animatronic WALL-E!!!

2008-05-15T21:50:00.004+01:00

So to kick start my first proper blog, I thought I'd post the first animation related link, an animatronic WALL-E video clip!

In case you have no idea of who this character is (shame on you), view one of Pixar's realeased trailers!

My First Blogging.

2008-05-15T21:03:00.000+01:00

Wow, so it's this easy huh? I didn't think blogging would be so straight forward!

Not a Iot I can do now but to see how this baby drives... ; D

More soon... = )