When you get a slow day

It's odd that I'm posting so often, but just last week I ran into one of those slow days and this time I overcame it. Usually when I'm not feeling the shot or not sure what I am doing, I mess around ALL day and end up scrapping everything I did. But last friday...

I swapped the shot for 3 simpler shots. Easy as that.

My shot was 182 frames of one character piggy backing another and jogging. At 4pm, I decided to swap it for three 80 frame single character talking shots. By 8pm, it was done.

In tv, getting your quota done is number one priority. When you are stuck, it's a huge hit to your workload. Usually what I do is aim for a higher number of frames per day and factor in a slow day just incase. I think I will keep up with the extra frames per day (you never know when you need extra time), but next time, remember this. Swap it out!

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Add on: I also discovered that I could also spend the time setting up shots. Put the characters in layers, make sure I have everything I need, and pose the first pose based on the storyboards. This way, the next time I open it, it is all ready to go with a more inspiring start pose (cos you know the default layout pose is always super uninspiring and annoying to look at hahaha).

btw, the piggy back shot is now complete, I opened it on Wednesday and finished it a few hours later. I realise that, oh, by doing the start pose and just one other pose... I had all the ground work to quickly block it out. Quite a productive way to do things :)

My journey

This is more a post for me to read in the future than anything else, but I think it's quite important to remember how I got to where I am today. If anything, it'll help me remember what I have learnt over the years and things I should not forget.

2006-2007 Animalia
Basic acting
Quadruped animation (how to straight ahead animate a creature doing complex action)
Blocking in spline. Result of straight ahead animation.
Auto tangent and it's uses
Time management

2008 Zeke's Pad
Pose to pose animation, the workflow of doing a blocking pass and a spline/finishing pass
Cartoony posing and zippy action
Smear frames
Consistancy facial posing by using the pose library and making it my own

2009 Erky Perky
More care in posing, braver and using the rig to sweeten up the pose
Tighter lip sync
Using the top jaw control to animate lip sync
Crazy breakdown and inbetween (arcs)
Manually copying other people's poses in order to learn how they pose their characters so successfully (obviously I only picked the director's favourite shots)

2009 - 2010 Animation Mentor
I learnt the basics of everything in animation mentor, everything I was missing became clear.
Developed a workflow
Discovered detail and polish
Acting confidence
'movement in reality is not clean' sometimes it's better to break an arc in order to add energy

2010 Lil Larikkins
Weight shift, finger movement, feet repositioning. The details that breathes life into a character
Lead and follow
Really focus on posing (thanks to developing character sheets for the show)

2010 - 2011 Penguins of Madagascar
Follow storyboards and build on the strong foundation it provided (focusing on energy, strength and effort)
Blocking in all breakdowns, secondary action and moving holds
The importance of looking at a shot in it's entirety, taking a step back
The power of polish, really pushed everything to the limit on selected favourite shots

So... this is where I am right now. There is still a loooong way to go to even become good enough to be called a true senior animator in TV, but at least I'm heading in that direction. What I would love to discover next is:
*the way to successfully act within a pose, and make it look less pose to pose
*break away from simple actions like headshakes and explore other ways of moving to a new pose
*really push for great facial expressions

Goodbye 2010, hello 2011!!!

Wow! It's 2011 already? It's always like that haha, how the year fly by. 2010 has been a hell of a year, both good and bad. In terms of my animation education however, it's been one of the most exciting and progressive years ever. I've finished my Animation Mentor course and have successfully overcame my uncertainty in my ability to animate acting. I also learnt how to polish my work to a feature worthy degree (I'm thinking it is close because I was actually contacted by Sony Imageworks to work on the Smurfs feature! was quite stunned for a few days). Finally I have moved on to a new level of tv animation since working at Oktobor Animation. The Penguins of Madagascar Series has allowed me to exercise all the knowledge I've learnt during my AM education, in a series with great writing, great characters and very well drawn storyboards.

2011 will be another year of this great opportunity to exercise all that I have learnt. And here I must list what allowed me to attain the level I am at (time might make things hazy, but I wont forget if I wrote them here).

Tip Number 1:
Follow the boards and play with the breakdowns and transitions.

Tip Number 2:
Dont be afraid to PUSH the pose. If it means bending the rig to an impossible state to achieve the perfect pose and express personality, it's worth it! Oh but make sure you block in spline, it has to transition properly.

Tip Number 3:
The personality is in the DETAILS. Adding in the expressive hand pose, subtle weight shifts, eye movements or body spine shapes, is what gives the animation the extra factor.

Tip Number 4:
Changes is good! Critique changes or feedback notes is an opportunity to make the animation better, do not half arse it! Always do exactly what the note is trying to change, for example when the director gives notes on how to change something to give the feeling he/she wants in the story, do the note to address the 'feeling of the story' not just the note.

Tip Number 5:
Body mechanics is the main thing to address when going from blocking to splining. Fix that, address the arcs and weight, then add in the details. My workflow is to
1. put in all the moving holds
2. add extra breakdown poses if needed. The more information you put in the better it will be
3. add in 'acting within the action' poses. Fully body keys here still
4. sweeten up all the body mechanics. Dont lose it here, the biggest problem is auto piloting and turning your animation to mush, only fix what is needed.
5. add in the final details as I said in Tip Number 3.
6. finish off! tidy the ears, tails and intersections

Tip Number 6:
Education is in critiques. The saying (or perhaps from the Tarzan song) 'In teaching you will learn', if you are able to spot problems in other people's work, you will also spot it in your own work and fix it. Also, other people's successes can inspire our own shots. Very very true.

Tip Number 7:
After 5 years in the industry, I finally worked out that having fun and taking breaks is essential to how you will perform. Stay inspired, active and motivated. If you're not feeling it, go play some nerfs or make some iced mocha with the others, that will fix it quick smart :)

2010 has been a really tough and progressive year and I believe 2011 should be a year I take the most advantage of what I've learnt in the hill climb of a year. Keep at it, and who knows, maybe I will get an opportunity to advance to the next level and direct something ;) For the moment, enjoy animation and enjoy life. Good luck!

Some notes!

Always find places to add energy and accents in the animation.

Dont be afraid to break the rig to add an accent. But do it in the right place, you need to feel it and not see it.

Don't need to always see every contact. Only show the most important things. Simplify and focus on beats and how it reads.

good ref: "The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr. Toad", Disney movie. In fact any old Disney movies

acting within a pose

Intro to Acting

So I'm starting the acting class this term and I'm feeling a bit nervous but at the same time quite excited. I've done acting shots before, quite a lot in my work, but I really CAN'T act and we have to shoot references for this class (that's why I'm nervous). Anyway, it will be fun and I'll learn lots. Here are some interesting notes

Pay attention to the sounds, breaths and noises that the actor makes in the track
Animate the phrase, animating word for word looks unnatural.
Act within a pose is always a good choice, make the overall pose really good, really readable.
Explore personal space.

Animate what the character MEANS

Animate what the character MEANS, rather than what the character SAYS.
-Animation Mentor Planning Packet

It's so easy to literally interpret the dialogue and then choose poses based on specific words... but humans rarely say what they mean. When a little girl goes 'lets go climb a tree' what she could mean is 'come with me'. To make the animation less typical and mechanical, think about what they mean (how they feel, what they're thinking and what they want to achieve). The end result will be more thoughtful and less puppet like.

I think I get confused when I have to figure out what the character is thinking, I've done some shots with full inner dialogues written out, but it doesnt really help. 'Means' is the key word here. What does the character mean when it speaks?

Some cool notes from Ollie Johnston

found on the Frank and Ollie official site

Animation Tips > Animation Notes from Ollie Johnston

by John Lasseter, Pixar
Reference: SIGGRAPH 94 Course 1 - Animation Tricks

"When I was an animator at the Disney Studios, I had a xeroxed list of simple notes from one of the great Disney animators, Ollie Johnston, pinned to my drawing table. The list was originally written down by another great Disney animator, Glen Keane, after working as Ollie’s assistant for a few years."

"These notes have been an inspiration to me for years. Even though they were meant for hand-drawn animation, I believe that they still apply to computer animation."

1. Don’t illustrate words or mechanical movements. Illustrate ideas or thoughts, with the attitudes and actions.
   
   
2. Squash and stretch entire body for attitudes.
   
   
3. If possible, make definite changes from one attitude to another in timing and expression.
   
   
4. What is the character thinking?
   
   
5. It is the thought and circumstances behind the action that will make the action interesting.
   
   Example: A man walks up to a mailbox, drops in his letter and walks away.
   
   OR
   
   A man desperately in love with a girl far away carefully mails a letter in which he has poured his heart out.
   
   
6. When drawing dialogue, go for phrasing. (Simplify the dialogue into pictures of the dominating vowel and consonant sounds, especially in fast dialogue.
   
   
7. Lift the body attitude 4 frames before dialogue modulation (but use identical timing on mouth as on X sheet).
   
   
8. Change of expression and major dialogue sounds are a point of interest. Do them, if at all possible, within a pose. If the head moves too much you won’t see the changes.
   
   
9. Don’t move anything unless it’s for a purpose.
   
   
10. Concentrate on drawing clear, not clean.
    
    
11. Don’t be careless.
    
    
12. Everything has a function. Don’t draw without knowing why.
    
    
13. Let the body attitude echo the facial.
    
    
14. Get the best picture in your drawing by thumbnails and exploring all avenues.
    
    
15. Analyze a character in a specific pose for the best areas to show stretch and squash. Keep these areas simple.
    
    
16. Picture in your head what it is you’re drawing.
    
    
17. Think in terms of drawing the whole character, not just the head or eyes, etc. Keep a balanced relation of one part of the drawing to the other.
    
    
18. Stage for most effective drawing.
    
    
19. Draw a profile of the drawing you’re working on every once in a while. A profile is easier on which to show the proper proportions of the face.
    
    
20. Usually the break in the eyebrow relates to the highpoint of the eye.
    
    
21. The eye is pulled by the eyebrow muscles.
    
    
22. Get a plastic quality in face — cheeks, mouth and eyes.
    
    
23. Attain a flow thru the body rhythm in your drawing.
    
    
24. Simple animated shapes.
    
    
25. The audience has a difficult time reading the first 6-8 frames in a scene.
    
    
26. Does the added action in a scene contribute to the main idea in that scene? Will it help sell it or confuse it?
    
    
27. Don’t animate for the sake of animation but think what the character is thinking and what the scene needs to fit into the sequence.
    
    
28. Actions can be eliminated and staging "cheated" if it simplifies the picture you are trying to show and is not disturbing to the audience.
    
    
29. Spend half your time planning your scene and the other half animating.
    
    
30. How to animate a scene of a four-legged character acting and walking: Work out the acting patterns first with the stretch and squash in the body, neck and head; then go back in and animate the legs. Finally, adjust the up and down motion on the body according to the legs.

Phrasing

Whatever you do, you have to think about it (consciously or unconsciously) before you actually do it. So in order to show that in your animation and communicate the idea as a whole, have actions lead into the next action by having the eye look in the direction of where the character is going, or have the hand reach towards something before actually touching it. A really good way to help decide on what pose to have.

lecture notes from Randy Haycock

Worksheet

New little worksheets for planning animation. Print and plan away!

There are 2 layouts, choose the best one for you.
Animation Worksheet 1
Animation Worksheet 2

Just a note, this planning sheet is intended to be used on a tv production schedule where the deadlines mean there is little or no time to do any planning. The simple act of filling in these sections can help a lot and because they are such small sections it's not too overwhelming (for people like me, if you like drawing then you wont need this hehe).

Details: Write all the shot details, date started, dialogue (if any) and director's and/or personal notes

Ideas: Explore all possible poses (using what you imagine, reference material and acting reference as a guide).

Final: Choose your favourite poses and draw the final in sequence, mark which ones are keys and which ones are breakdowns. Detail movement notes can be drawn in or made note of.

Workflow

Rhythm: establishing (so audience can catch onto it) and varying tempo
Texture: Variations of timing within a scene (give weight and presence)
Readability: so audience can understand what is going on

Spacing: the closer you put your frames together, the slower the action (based on the spacing charts in traditional animation).
Spacing is the distances between each pose.
convinces audience that the character is alive
Relates one frame to the next in a fluid way

First Phase:
Storytelling poses: the most comfortable poses that the audience can settle on and understand
Planning for readability
Adding timing planning to workflow
The poses and timing should convey enough to the audience.

Second Phase:
Secondary Keys: how the character get from one pose to another (lead and follow, arcs and reversals),
add new ideas (like the secondary action in searching, in the lecture animation example)
What you need to define the action
Think about the character's feelings that influence the pose for the action
Think about the timing allocated and make the pose suitable/readable in that amount of time (like how much of an antic is needed)

Third Phase:
Breakdown Poses: add in how the character is feeling, eg tired, so make the breakdown pose incorporate it.
The weight must be very apparent in the poses.
Lead and follow
In the spacing, look at the line of movement and vary the shape to show the feeling and weight
Try and stay away from a very even spacing- dont just stick a pose in the middle.
Take before a take. Make the character look like they're thinking, registering what's the character is seeing, processing the information
Add in variation in the different parts, how can I make the parts contribute to the overall action and mood?
You could have the audience feel the rhythm before jumping out of it
Overshoots

Final Phase:
Inbetweens: Can be mechanical, but in some parts of the shot you can add a bit more interest
While most of the body action can be a direct inbetween, you can choose parts like hands and appendages to add eccentricity
Lead and follow, drag, overshoots, favouring the poses on either side.
Variation in the timing in certain parts, like have the hands stick and flourish

You can have the character do extreme, very dynamic poses in the breakdowns to help convey a feeling
Then you can have the character settle into a more normal pose.

notes from an Eric Goldberg lecture.

Spine

What I've noticed about most cartoony 3d rigs is the torso doesnt move all that much when you rotate in a twisting motion. The only indication is you've moved the head, shoulders and arms. But what if you rotate all the joints and then counter rotate the top control back to default position? Then you've got yourself a hidden problem.

As with all counter rotation, translation or any animation, it's such an easy thing to do, but to keep yourself young and sane it's best to avoid at all costs. Remember what you've done and zero out as often as possible (except for the main rotation). This is also very important for any spine, shoulder or head controls that are translatable.

For example with a spine, most of my poses uses the rotate forwards and backwards axis. I usually try and keep any twisting or side to side bending to a minimum (that's not to say I dont use it, whatever is required for the pose should be used but remember it's there). When a character has positive and negative values on the same axis on various spine controls, but looks like it should be a relaxed default position. Clean it up! It's very easy and it's usually very quick to return the character to it's original pose but with a much cleaner, workable spine.

Rigging was my first job, and while I was very junior and have no idea how to script anything, I did learn from my lead, Oyvind Nostdal, how to keep a scene clean. While I have comitted all of the animation crimes above (and still do when I'm rushed or not paying attention), keeping an eye on these things have kept me sane.

Arms and legs

I came across a really REALLY frustrating problem over the weekend while trying to finish my animation mentor homework. Gimble... nuff said.

My personal method of avoiding gimble is to try and keep all the rotation values under 100. Having 1 axis go over is fine, but any more than that it becomes a problem. So in blocking, it's essential to keep an eye on the rotation values. And TURN ON GIMBLE DISPLAY MODE. All the other rotation displays (local or global) lie. Gimble shows exactly what is happening and when two axis become gimbled. Also, zeroing out the values constantly helps too, if things become confused. This works well with arms and legs.

Second, and probably should be considered first before starting blocking, is to think about what direction the character is facing most of the time, so you wont have to rotate the hands and feet to compensate.

Third, work out what the rotation order before starting. What is it? If you turn on gimble display mode (double click on the rotate icon in Maya, the attribute editor pops up and check the gimble option) and rotate each axis one by one, you'll see what moves what. The axis that moves a second axis to match the third, is the one you should move last.

The key is to keep it clean, and think it through before starting. I was in a rush two weeks ago and now I'm paying for it with gimble all over the place. I wish I could start again.

Animation Tips & Tricks: How Do You Animate a Fight?

Animation Tips & Tricks: How Do You Animate a Fight?

This is a really good article about one of the most complex situations in animation, fighting and/or dancing. Shawn Kelly suggests blocking all the important moments first with both characters in the scene, then turning one off and work in the details individually.

Would love to try a dance animation using this method. A lovely waltz, Beauty and the Beast style :)

Eyes

Eyes can tell the audience a lot about what the character is feeling and thinking.

Darts: small little movements without blinking. Eyes hardly ever stick to a spot and not move, use it to give life to the character. Use the darts to lead into another eye direction. Darting back and forth in one small space can show rapid thoughts. Think about spacing in timing.

Blinks: aside from adding a blink when looking in a different direction, use blink to show thought. Rapid blinks mean something different to slow blinks. Read this EXCELLENT post by Shawn Kelly about blinks here

I mostly use stepped tangent. Always make sure that when the character is looking at something or someone, they are actually looking at them. Weird eye direction confuses the scene and the character's intention. Makes them look blind or stupid or like they're not paying attention.

Keep feet moving

Wherever possible, try adding little shifts in the feet to give that area more life. Foot rolls, ball twists, rocking, or even small tranlsation or rotation when shifting weight make a lot of difference. Still, planted feet can make the character look stuck. DO NOT USE IT RANDOMLY

- learnt and used on Lil Larikkins.