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Game Animation Test: Jonathan Cooper

Have you ever had to do a test for a studio? I’ve done a few and been on the receiving end of many at my time here at VV. I know that studios take some serious time and effort in putting together a test that will help gauge whether or not a potential candidate will be a good fit. (more on this in a future post)

It can be a fun and sometimes nerve racking experience for an animator but Jonathan Cooper an vet in the game industry has a great post where he lays out some of the do’s and don’t to follow while working on a test.

Take a look at his post over at his site GAME ANIM

Some really great insight
Enjoy!
JP

Dumbo_BillPeet_Feat

Animation Workflow: Phrasing

Just read up on a post over at the Animated Spirit blog all about Phrasing in animation. James Chiang does a great job of breaking down what makes Phrasing so important when planning your shots out. Not only is James able to communicate his thoughts on phrasing in animation in a way that seems effortless and easy to follow but he also shows off some great examples.

Dumbo_BillPeet
 
“Phrasing is the effort to present ideas through a series of movements. Well-planned and expertly-transitioned phrasing makes for animation that is both entertaining, beautiful and natural – you’re convinced of its believability while awed by its beauty.”
Head on over and give a once over. Maybe two or three times 🙂
Enjoy!
JP
Ken Fountain

Ken fountain: Why animating “scenes” is good

Some more insightful thoughts about animation process from Ken Fountain. He talks about what he feels is important to animating multiple characters in a scene rather than the lonely one character shots.

Ken Fountain
“Handle multiple characters across multiple shots – “acting is reacting”.
You’ve produced plenty of single character test shots up to this point – enough lonely rigs spouting soliloquies in front of the camera for no particular reason. It’s now time to do what real film animators are tasked with every day: communicate relationships. The body language shared between your characters on screen is your most important tool in telling the story. It’s time to get that part of your tool set polished and ready for the big leagues.” Ken Fountain.
Also check out his AnimTips page for some great stuff including this on observing animation.
Enjoy!
JP

Animators Resource Interview – Andy Conroy – Full Interview

I always have a really great time with these interviews. Here is my full interview with Andy Conroy over at Long Winter Studios. Andy gives some fun insight to his thought process behind creating appealing rigs and animation. We also chat about some of his workflow and he follows that up with a really nice eye and brow demo!


Animators Resource Interview – Andy Conroy – Full Interview from Animators Resource on Vimeo.

Hope you all enjoy!
JP

Animators Resource Interview – Andy Conroy – Polishing Brows and Eyes

This is a small snippet from my full interview with Andy Conroy where he uses Argus to gives us some tips on polishing your brows and eyes. Pay attention to how he uses the Mesh! Stay tuned for the full interview!


Animators Resource Interview – Andy Conroy – Polishing Brows and Eyes from Animators Resource on Vimeo.

Check out more at:
longwinterstudios.com

Avocados and Eyes: Ken Fountain Podcast

Avocados and Eyes: Ken Fountain Podcast

What a great analogy and that is why Ken is a great instructor. He always thinks about animation in every aspect of life. Here in his latest podcast, he likens the Eye attitude to an avocado…and shows off just how simple it is to convey different attitudes within the eye.

So head on over to his site SplatFrog if you havent already and soak up some animation goodness.
Great episode Ken!

Enjoy!
JP

Workflow Tips

Workflow Tips

Hey Everyone

I wanted to share a quick link some workflow tips. One of my co-workers Dave Vasquez post a bit ago with a tip about IK Arms and how to speed up some of your blocking. Now he talks about switching IK and FK Arms. Most if not all rigs in the industry have this switch and i believe that most free rigs are equipped with it to so just look into it. If not try to get a rigger into adding it for you, but I think it’s pretty standard now. So if you get used to it in school or at home it will only help in the industry.

Check out Dave’s site too, he has some great stuff up there.
Enjoy