Character Animation
This is a continuing thread I've been exploring since my youth, doing cel-animation on paper and then on Autodesk Animator (256-color 2D animation), finally culminating in studying character animation at Animation Mentor. There are stories I believe can only be told most effectively in this medium. Obviously, my aptitude in this area comes to play in the rest of the work I do.
- Dialogue Test (3D)
Animation Mentor, 2009
Download Quicktime Video (4 MB)Our assignment was to create a scene and acting out of a found piece of dialogue. A "playblast" from Autodesk Maya, audio clip taken from The Shop Around the Corner (the original film that You've Got Mail was loosely based on), models provided by Animation Mentor.
- My first "Walk Cycle"
Download Quicktime Video (19 MB)The character "Forrest the wise ferret" is based on an assignment to create three original characters for "Little Red Riding Hood." Enlarging the pencil strokes for the trees gave it a surprising watercolor look. There are ten layers composited in this shot.
- Walk Cycle character only
Download Quicktime Video (1.5 MB) Closeup of the character only, and a much faster download.
- My first "Head Turn"
Download Quicktime Video (8.14 MB, only a few seconds long)This served as my first compositing test and subshading test. I'm not happy with the jitteryness, but being my first major animated segment in ten years, I was happy with the look and expression of the character.
- "Defining color areas as you draw" Download Acrobat PDF (2.4 MB)A document aimed at high-schoolers (and adults) in the CCOC Animation class that explained step-by-step how to color at drawing time, a workflow pioneered in Japanese animation, and not well explained anywhere, even in the documentation of the Japanese software we were using. It was also my excuse at picking up Adobe InDesign. You can see my head turn at various stages of coloring.
