Fun Times

Hi everyone,

Here are the pictures from last night!  I had lots of fun.  Thanks for a great class, Victor!  Til next time....  :P

Reblock

Hey all!

I've done a re-block of the guy from Victor's notes.  I'm hoping they're more amped up and what the scene needs.  I dont have anything on the girl.  I didnt have much before, but somehow I deleted all the keys on her.  But they will change depending on what he's doing.

There's one thing I wonder though, the pose on 155, should I hold that longer to account for his quick breathing at the end and then continue with the poses out?

https://syncsketch.com/playground/8609e3c98751491293ee7f91660f47a0#135418

I would love to know what you think!

Thank you in advance! Ellen

Diana - Reaction Shot Polish

Hey hey!
In addition to working on the other shot, I've been switching over to this shot here and there. I applied your notes and tried finding more places to break up the movement/add polish. What do you think?

https://syncsketch.com/playground/1a3b407048d74308a79800646100bedd#135416

I hope you're having fun in Vegas, so if you don't have time to review this, I totally understand! :)

Thanks a bunch,
- Diana

Shot Idea

Hi,

I've had a shot idea for a little while, and I thought it'd be fun to start fleshing it out in lieu of my mental break from my current shot.

I realize this dialogue might be too long, but here's the idea:

News anchor introduces a segment and turns it over to his field guy for commentary.  You know how sometimes the audio seems to take forever to transfer over to the field reporter, so everyone's left staring in an awkward silence until it finally reaches him?  I want to show the two reporters in the same screen, with the field reporter up in the corner.  The anchor says his blurb, and meanwhile the field reporter is standing in oblivious, goofy silence.  After a couple of seconds, the anchor gets a little uneasy ("Can he hear me or not?") and shifty, but tries to maintain his professionalism.  FINALLY, the field reporter starts to answer, then cut.  I want to play up the length of the silence so that it's exaggerated but also realistic in comparison to how it really happens in the news.

I'm not sure if this could be entertaining or not, but I think it's something we all think when we're watching the news.  At least I do.  The point of the shot is to have subtle humor, but mostly an exercise in showing subtext and thought process.

Any thoughts?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4df9yiyys0zkqj1/Hey%20Will.wav?dl=0

Thanks a bunch!

Jamie

Inspiration Stuff!!

Hey hey!!

After last class, we talked a bit about inspiration and I thought I'd share some of the videos and things that help me and maybe helpful to someone else. This isn't really animation related but I thought hey why not share!

As I mentioned in class - this is one of the sports-like motivational videos I go to when I feel in a rut.



Also, Shine On You Crazy Diamond because we're all crazy and it tends to inspire animation epiphanies (at least for me). :) plus it's almost 20 minutes long soooo if you listen to it while animating who knows what will happen... given you aren't working on something audio-related.



 And a bit of Peanuts never hurts!!

I hope you liked some of this stuff/ it's somewhat helpful. Happy Animating :)

Links

Hi class, here's the "idea" video I referenced in class yesterday:
https://youtu.be/JPJ3oy-rWUk
And here are the notes from the Specificty lecture:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oeq9il0y4krhpp9/Specificity_new.pdf?dl=0

Diana - Reaction Polishing

Hey hey!

After Wednesday's class, I got really into polishing this shot out and trying to hit all the notes. I think I've been able to address most of them, however I've decided to leave the elbow fix til the end since every time I mess with the hand/shoulders it changes elbow work, so again please ignore the pesky elbow :)

https://syncsketch.com/sketch/120525#131785

What do you think? Feedback is welcome.

- Diana

ALSO, a friend showed me a way to create high quality playblasts that I wanted to share with everyone because it's super cool and can save time if you don't want to render but still want a high quality image for your reel or review.

I think this is mainly for Maya 2015 and above but I may be wrong - in the "renderer"setting, select the little box next to Viewport 2.0 and you can make image quality adjustments (I made a little image of some of the manipulations I use below) - also if you have lights and you can enable "screen-space ambient occlusion" to give some indication of shadows.

I hope this is helpful!! See you all Wednesday

lip sync

Hello!

So this post is just the lip sync.  I hope I've taken care of all the notes. Please let me know what I can do to make better!

I did also amp up the root t-y and t-r.  As well as adding that tiny look at the beginning.  It's kept nagging at me to put in. It's roughed in, but please let me know if it is working and I should leave in.

Thank you all in advance!

https://syncsketch.com/playground/95e95ceb83a44574b6a8ac7145db5ad2#131321

Polishing

Hi everyone,  I'm working on finishing this shot up and I could definitely use some fresh eyes!  If you get the time I'd love to hear any thoughts =]

Thanks!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wb4cxktwoq2q7br/YourSon_0016.mov?dl=0

Second pass

Hey everyone, here is my second pass. Please let me know what do you think . Thanks!

http://www.syncsketch.com/playground/642a38692b6148a5a25900c8e566baf1

More blocking from Janel

Heeey everybody! Hope you're all having a good week, here's my updated blocking for my texting shot. Still rougher than I'd like, but I think it's sort of starting to shape up. Posing is still pretty rudimentary in places, I just focused more on timing and working out the beats (the face is still quite rough as well) Let me know what you think!

https://www.syncsketch.com/playground/b19e710e7a894cdab72c8374c031bac4#126933

here is a dropbox link (looks like syncsketch compressed it a lot and made the text look wonky)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5833592/AnimC2016/texting_week9_midweek.mov

Also, I know that Malcolm's "neck thicken" control was mentioned in class, does anyone know where it actually is? I couldn't find it...

Hey guys! I thinking about my next shot and here is my first quick blocking. So what do you think?

http://www.syncsketch.com/playground/64461d79bbe94473803386181ab7b2d0

Hey everybody! Please take a look on my progress, work on both characters try to polish overall. Thanks!
http://www.syncsketch.com/playground/a79d1c900ee94620aa6f70fa19d25bf2

Passions of Santos - Progress

Hey everyone!

Here's my shot thus far....please let me know what you think. I'll be working on the set and the writer while I wait for your feedback.

http://www.syncsketch.com/playground/c87fafd543fb4a3994019f3b863cf54c

Dropbox link just in case:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9arqadbe2dlmu9y/passionsOfSantos_v03_04.mov?dl=0

Thanks and have a great rest of the week/CTN/Thanksgiving!

Jenny

Last class...

By the way, since we have no class this week, that means we would have to have our last class on Dec. 21, assuming we stick to Wednesdays.  Is everyone available that night, or do we need to pick another day?

Reminder: No class on Wednesday, Nov. 16

Just a reminder that there is no class this week or next week (Thanksgiving).  As always, feel free to post work here.  See you all on Nov. 30 if I don't see you at CTN!

-v

Constraint Demos I mentioned in class

Hey guys! I wanted to quickly post some links to the constraint demo videos I mentioned in class, luckily they weren't too hard to find, here's the first one:

https://vimeo.com/35335133

It's pretty basic, but I HIGHLY recommend watching the rest of the videos in his series on constraint demos, they are great and he does a really good job of explaining things in a clear way. Here is are his other videos:

https://vimeo.com/dlatour/videos

he goes over doing a simple hand driven-single prop setup in the second video, and then moves on to some more complex setups like the prop driving the hand, and various two handed setups. All really useful stuff.

Also, I mentioned the video capture software I use a few weeks ago but completely forgot to post it, sorry about that! It's called Open Broadcaster Software:

https://obsproject.com/

It's really great for capturing video and audio from Netflix/Amazon video/etc if you want to capture a specific scene that you can't find on Youtube. You can set it to capture your whole desktop, just a specific window, or just a specific space on your display.

It's also useful if you use a webcam for shooting reference, I do this sometimes and loop the audio in maya while I'm shooting ref, and this software captures the audio straight from maya rather than picking it up secondhand through a speaker, which is nice. (Though be aware that if you have desktop audio capture turned on it will capture ALL the sounds on your computer...almost didn't realize this once and put up some game capture along with the Beyonce song I was listening to in front my whole department at my old job)

Diana - Reaction Shot Update!

Hi!!

I thought I'd check in, I tried addressing all the notes from Wednesday. I worked out more of the spine issues as well as loosening up the head and neck. Tracking the nose revealed a bunch! I also moved the weight more SR when he does the shift, and adjusted the SR elbow to be less foreshortened. How's that working?

Also, how is the overall timing of the reaction at the end? I added a bit more love to that movement but I'm having a hard time seeing if it needs more or less time before he reacts for thought process.

https://syncsketch.com/playground/437260a906574ef697a78d0a56f24ee2#122181

Moving forward: I plan on sweetening the timing and movement of the wipe of the mouth. I've been antsy to do that but wanted to get all the larger movements fixed first.

Let me know what you all think! Thanks a bunch :)

- Diana

Working it out

Hey All!

So I'm just working through the shot.  I think I've gotten to all the notes from class.  I've also done some more work with the dude from the first 60ish frames.  Doing keep alives and such.  As for her, I redid the phone, so the rope is a little haywire, will get to that soon.  

I've added that flutter in her eyes at f96, however I feel it should be before the big blink. What do you think? Her screen right arm is now in FK and I've just roughed in that.  Next pass will consist of lip sync and more refining.  Thank you in advance for any and all comments!

https://syncsketch.com/playground/3d81c55205d74a458cc8c27b41b70a3a#122178

New Ending Idea

Hi everyone,

I've been racking my brain, trying to come up with a funny ending to my shot.  This may be too wacky, but I've roughly added something in to see what you think.  Main character is still very crudely splined.

Do you think this ending could work?  I'm also concerned about the staging, and if people will buy that the main character has enough room to walk and sit like he already is.  (For the record, there's no contact/geo crashing in the set up, but the camera angle can be deceptive!)

Thanks in advance,
Jamie

https://syncsketch.com/playground/9bc4c96744d047f4aa164cc4fe44b986#122173

Think I'm Ready for Splining

https://syncsketch.com/sketch/113932#122169

Here are my changes based on class notes from this past week. I ran into some issues with setting up parenting constraints for the hands/cartridge/controller, so I might use snapping instead. I think I'm ready to begin splining, but wanted to get some feedback before doing so. Thanks!

  - Ryan

Diana - Reaction Shot Progress

Hello!!!

First of all, thanks everyone for being so supportive and candid in class about the struggles with animating. Hearing you all express going through similar phases was reassuring - that it's all a learning process! :)

I've been working out the physicality issues mentioned in class as well as tone down the final reaction take. Moving forward, I hope to spice up the timing/spacing more throughout. As well as do a solid pass of hand animation overall. What do you all think of the progress?

Since we talked about eyes and blinks in class, I worked on that too - what do you all think of the blinks in terms of placement in time, kind of blink, etc?

https://syncsketch.com/playground/1de502325b224d7a82e48e0b44bf274f#119386

Thanks a bunch

Lecture notes

As promised!
Eyes
Acting part 1
Acting part 2

Dialogue!

Hi Everyone!!

I've been on the dialogue hunt and I've found a handful of clips that may work..  I would love to hear any thoughts and feelings you have on them before I choose one =] My hope is to have premises and planning and hopefully even blocking by this weeks session if I can get to it.

Right now I'm leaning toward "Victim Card." I think it would be really fun to do (in the most masochistic sense) and it's something I'd love to work on with the help and direction of the class.

"You Know It" is a long monologue that has a lot of cool opportunity in it but I don't think it would be doable within the time frame that we have.

Anyway, I'd love to hear what you guys think!

Thanks so much in advance!!
-Ben


Mantra:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zrpanvw6oqcj4x4/Mantra.wav?dl=0

Great Time:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p99tqe2l5viu6as/mix.wav?dl=0

Quit:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y53ywwwzkeiyn6e/Quit.wav?dl=0

Robot:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a5eq0j6x981rwd7/Robot.wav?dl=0

Victim Card:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6rjnjl41tkhpwv5/VictimCard.wav?dl=0

You Know It:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ruutajr125bqqxc/YouKnowIt.wav?dl=0

More Blocking

Hi all! Keeping dry I hope! LOVE all the rain!

So I've added the notes suggested in class.  I've also flushed out the guy more fully.  Trying to get the attitudes right.  I would love any and all feedback! Caveats include: I still have NOT shaped the eyes (wanted to make sure everything else is working), I'm going to change his plate of food to a more english food (havent decided yet) and I'll also add more wall hangings behind him for depth.

https://syncsketch.com/playground/8d04632e2f46481fbbd0ef7c34dbdb24#114162


I also have an addition to the beginning, her looking off/outside the booth.  However, for some reason, the audio did not stay in the right spot. I'll fix it if this is approved. I also want to clarify if this is how you wanted me to add the look off, Victor.  Or did you want it to start on the line (at "so") and then move into the rest of what I have. (Ihope that made sense)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1ds9xjhaesyhjga/nexttime_PB_03-beginning.mov?dl=0

Thank you in advance! Ellen

Diana - Blocking Progress

Hello!

This is my first pass in blocking for the reaction/listening shot. Moving forward, I'll be adding more breakdowns.

Small note: There is a snap on the coffee mug since I'm keying the visibility of 2 mugs to avoid constraints - that will be fixed as well as the way he places the mug down. (that area could use more love)

https://syncsketch.com/playground/ec45a8b1622845ee8638cd8d5702fc4b#113959

Here's my reference from last class for a little reminder:

What do you all think? I'm at a good place for feedback so don't hold back :)

-Diana

Sunita - Facial Change

Guys, sorry I have had a crazy couple of weeks. I missed the class last week and couldn't contribute to the blog.

Finally, I have something to upload. Here is my facial change shot. Would love some feedback. Thank you guys!


https://syncsketch.com/sketch/107048#112348

Fyi, I used poses #18 - #19 - #20.

Passions....

Hey guys!

Finally shot some reference. I have two different gestures I like for this one part, so would love your opinion on which to go with. The part I underlined below is the portion I'm debating on:

Line: You can't have the "Passions of Santos," without Santos. Then it's just "Passions" and that show failed!

Ref1: the hand gesture is stronger and I feel more Latin

Ref2: the chest is the power center, also feeling more Latin

PLEASE HELP! Thanks in advance

Jenny

Diana - Shot Ideas

Hello!

I was thinking of a few shot ideas that I may want to try out. I envision them to be short 3-5 seconds since I want to finish it. :)

After looking at the sheet of suggestions here are a few ideas:

1. (Listening) Rock Star enthusiast listening to his favorite song on his BIG headphones while on bart or caltrain. Maybe I could use an audio track from saaaay Queen or something and muffle the sound as if coming from the headphones - and time his actions with the music. He could be drumming along or bobbing his head. He's in his happy place!

2. (What's in the box?) Birthday girl opening a present from sister seeing a meaningful object in the box and reacting with love and sincerity.

3. (What's in the box) Teenage girl opening present but receives a joke gift from older brother. Rubber Chicken kind of gift. This sort of thing happens all the time to her! She laughs.

4. (Mundane, everyday situation) Girl brushing her thick, curly, knotty hair with a lot of effort and ends up breaking the brush in half... brush half is left stuck in the knot.

These were some of the ideas I wrote down earlier today. I'd love to hear what everyone else might think. Suggestions are welcome!

Thanks,
- Diana

Hey Ellen, here is a link for rope rig:

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxk4-IhMKvIcODBfVHBZRmJzLVE/view?usp=sharing

 let me know if any problem with download. Also I just remember here is a link for phone rig it's not free and i don't know how good this rig, but maybe it's help.

 http://joel3d.com/cartoonTelephone.html

Andriy

Diana - Head Turn Update!

Hey hey!!

I worked on addressing the notes from last class. I'm having a hell of a time fixing the spacing of the elbows so that note still being addressed. I added more polish to the face, and I also found a lot more tangents that I fixed but I'm a bit intimidated to tackle the top tuff of his hair - any advice/suggestions?

http://syncsketch.com/playground/0918aa652b2a4a5ab75d1770033f3f6f#109990

I'd love to hear what you all think! :)

Thanks a bunch,
- Diana

Hey everyone, please take a look on my progress. http://www.syncsketch.com/playground/9d0f48328da44481adf9399f8e66b31e Thanks Andriy

Scene Ideas

Hi everyone,

I'm a little torn as to which idea I want to go forward with, so I'm wondering what your thoughts are.  The links to the audio we narrowed down in class are below:

Scenario 1
Botflies or Burrowing Spider audio

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i2s9prxn5vbp3c9/Botflies.wav?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/00dvmq8bmcisn29/Burrowing%20Spider.wav?dl=0

Because I'm lacking physicality in my reel (and humor), I thought it'd be funny to have a guy who's had a long day at work, just sitting down at the kitchen table for dinner.  TV is playing in the foreground, and the guy starts to eat and hears the TV.  Without any noticeable reaction to the audio (or maybe some reaction - haven't worked that out yet), guy immediately gets up and dumps his food in the garbage.

Scenario 2
Naked Grandma audio

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4cyxtommayphi15/Nekkid%20Gramma.wav?dl=0

As a play on the words themselves, a burglar has broken into someone's house and is rummaging through some stuff.  The TV is on in the room, and while the audio says, "Something a burglar would not want to see when he breaks into a house," the burglar laughs to himself as he carries about his business.  Then, realizing the irony, he becomes paranoid and quickly looks around, worried. (Possibly then running out of the room, if there's time)

I'm worried that having a burglar scene may be cliche, but because the audio is unique, it could be fun.

I'm still brainstorming scenarios and gags that would be unexpected.

I'd love your thoughts!

Thanks in advance,
Jamie

Working out ideas for shot

Hey all!

So of the 2 clips from class that were the most workable, I tended to gravitate more to the clip where she tell's him she loves him. audio clip

I've worked out a couple set ups, I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions! Thank you in advance!

Option 1

Option 1,

She had been thinking about what he had told her.  He had said he loved her, and she did not reciprocate.  He's at home, upset.  She finally comes to the realization that she does love him too, and does not want to lose him.  She rushes to the nearest phone she can find to call him.  She gets his answering machine (I've decided on the 80's cuz I wanted the visual cue of her leaving a message and him sitting there listening).  I want the lower/side half of screen camera to start the answering machine and during the declaration, it slowly pans to him. 

Option 2 

Similar backstory to the above, but she rushes to his house instead. I do want to play with weather.  (even with my limited maya skills, lol) But show it in her hair, her clothing, if possible.

Option 3

He told her he loved her right before he goes to University, expecting her to immediately tell him she loves him too.  He's dejected and waiting at the trainstation.  She meets him there and "pleads" her case.

Option 4

I wanted this to be a play on class.  Set in 1910-ish. She comes from wealth and him not so much.  They had this torrid affair behind her family's back.  He told her he loved her.  She didnt say anything because he is NOT who "a well to do" woman should be involved with.  She decided, she doesnt care what her family thinks.  She loves him! She goes to see him at the stables, embarrased, and tells him exactly how she feels.  

I have not shot the ref yet. It may change depending on the consensus is of the scenario.  

Head Turn - Revised

Hey gang! If anyone has a chance, could I get a second set of eyes on my head-turn revision?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jjr40qotzkw1ya5/ryan_week03a.mov?dl=0

Thanks,

Ryan

Fred drawings for assignment #2

Hi Class, I've uploaded a zip file to the Dropbox containing the individual drawings of Fred for use in the facial expression assignment.  You can also download them from this link.  Enjoy!

Diana - Head Turn Blocking

Hi!!

This is my latest pass of my head turn for this week. I'll be polishing it out in the next couple days as well as add a little better set dressing.

What do you all think? Is it reading?

Here's a syncsketch of it:
http://www.syncsketch.com/playground/f0960451f0fe43caac4471f8bdad375e#108054

Basically, my inspiration for this came while I was watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off and wanted to do a "take"... on it. :)

Let me know what you all think and ways to plus it!

Thanks
- Diana

Dialogue Options!

Hi everyone,

Here are a few of the dialogue choices I like.  I'd like to do a "listening" shot, where there is a character offscreen, talking, but a couple of these lines, though, aren't really set up for a shot like that.  I'm open to the possibilities!

I appreciate any feedback.  :D

Thanks,
Jamie


1
https://www.dropbox.com/s/29nj88iruj0j5sy/Can%20Suck%20It.wav?dl=0

2
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yo5oatn5gpb4hnj/Fine.wav?dl=0

3
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dxor4uvbfk50o3b/Is%20that%20what%20you%20wanna%20hear%3F.wav?dl=0

4
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n89zyx4xizqz7vr/Picked%20up%20the%20phone.wav?dl=0

5
https://www.dropbox.com/s/433uzs6kr9nfpkp/They%20don%27t%20need%20you.wav?dl=0

6
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g8qoasuf0hu4zyw/You%20think%20it%20was%20easy%3F.wav?dl=0

Dialogue choices

Hi all! Hope you're surviving the heat!

Here are some dialogue clips I have so far.  A couple are too long, but I thought I'd throw them in there anyways.  Lemme know which one you like.  I havent any idea how I'd act them yet.  I have a favorite, but I'll refrain to get unbiased choices :P

1
https://www.dropbox.com/s/c7d9xkxkj4xvymu/talker.wav?dl=0

2
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rrb1ysfp621prma/notadoctor.wav?dl=0

3
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ka4tyygrk6u1uim/ihateyou.wav?dl=0

4
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hkm96oid9g6dg8e/empty.wav?dl=0

5
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rn1jewlud0uhfd9/1stpatient.wav?dl=0


Thank you in advance!! Ellen

Dialogue Options for Janel

Hey guys! Fished around for some dialogue options today, wanted to get some feedback before I decide. Here are my options:

1

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzfSIO28VytIMTI2QUlvd1lNRVE

2

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzfSIO28VytIdnNyN2VkOW1Mbkk

3

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzfSIO28VytIRmR1cGlZY0V6NjA

4

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzfSIO28VytIUWJ4SGVEenpRX3c


I'm leaning towards number 1 right now because I have the clearest idea of what I want to do with it (and I like the subtext and contrast between the two) but I think 2 and 3 could be fun as well.

I'd really like to tackle a multi character shot, but I threw number 4 in there because I'm also intrigued by doing a character on some kind of stage, presenting in some way rather than just normal dialogue. I realize it's long, I'd probably do only one of the lines.

Love to hear thoughts from everyone! Have a good weekend.

- Janel

Welcome to Fall 2016 Session!

Hi Class, I'm looking forward to seeing you all this Wednesday night. Don't forget to have your demo reels ready, even if you're repeating my class!

This is a private blog on which you can share your work with me and your classmates in between classes.  I encourage you to leave feedback for each other.  I will add comments as my schedule allows. 

Here is a compilation of my very first animation exercises at Pixar, back when I started in 2000.  It was a simpler era...

Pixar Training from Victor Navone on Vimeo.

You can see my more recent work on my Vimeo channel, though it needs to be updated.