Demo Reel

My demo reel as of December 2012.



Breakdown

1.Ogre Fleeing - Maya - Animation
2. Flitting Fairy - Maya - Animation
3. Dragon Chase - Maya - Animation
4. Bipolar Dialogue - Maya - Animation

One Day 30 Day Challenge Exercises: Assessment

So November is over. Obviously I never quite caught up, and I missed a few more days...

Overall, I'd say this went very differently than I planned. It went very differently than I expected. Even still, it achieved far more than I anticipated. I'd say not all of the ideas that went into the jar were quite right for this format, nor were all the shots I planned based on them. Have to remember to keep it simple!

So while not a complete success, as I did not achieve everything I outlined at the start of this adventure, I'm still calling this experiment successful. Much was realized, and much was learned.

Onward! I will definitely continue mini-tests like this as I proceed...

Nov 24: bouncing basketball

Nov 23: two word dialogue

Nov 22: i love that!

While I realize this test is arriving a few days late, I have been working on it- so I didn't technically miss any days animating. Just haven't had alot of time...so it's been a few minutes here and there.

Oh! I love that! Yay! lol.

Nov 21: turn around

Yes, yesterday makes 3 days missed....well here it is, a day late...

Nov 20: step (closeup one one foot)

One foot, quadruped, just before planting to just after picking up.

Nov 19: biped landing

biped landing. Jumped off my bed, got some good reference.

Nov 18: bouncing ping pong balls

Bouncing ping pong balls. Pretty self explanatory. I started each one from scratch so as to have 3 goes at it within this one shot. Tried to capture different stages of the bounce as well. Back on track!

Nov 17: sudden sound reaction

omg what was that?! Well he sure wasn't expecting it is for sure. All caught up! onward-

Nov 16: blinking

blinking! Just once actually, but with little darts etc, just kinda chillin listening to someone, not overly interested or not...

Nov 15- down on one knee

down on one knee. Tried to keep it a little simple to make it more manageable for what I'm trying to do with these. Still playing catch up...

Nov 14: smile!

Smile! Whether you are having a stare down or not, camera is coming to take your picture...some are happier for it than others lol.

Nov 13: look up

Looking up! What's up there? Something sure must be lol.

Nov 12: don't do it!

So this little guy really wants to fly, but he's really just wayyyyy too small yet... He's perched near the edge of a rather large cliff and though flapping alot, doesn't go anywhere- thankfully.

For some odd reason, youtube made this blurry...but here it is...

Nov 11: full body push

This is by far the worst thing I've posted yet. There are two versions here, but it's important to note that these are not separate attempts at the same shot- the only difference between the two is some foot timing. Yikes, I kind of can't believe I'm posting this awfulness, but here it is nonetheless.



I think I will definitely be revisiting this shot, but as a complete do over, when I have plenty of time to hurl myself at a door repeatedly.

daily tests

I am slowly playing catch up, stay tuned...

Nov 10: breathing

Used my max of 50 frames. Wanted to go for a more normal breathing rate, so he only gets part of one inhale and the whole exhale in that time. Since he's big shouldered, I left it more pronounced than I normally might since he'd probably take bigger breaths.

Nov 9: one word dialogue

I realize I am a little behind in posting this. I am currently playing catch up again...oops... :(  I missed Saturday all together...so that's 2 days so far I have failed on, but I'm not going to let that stop me.

This test, I did start on Nov 9, but as I was playing catch up already that day, and trying to finish my homework, it didn't get finished until Sunday. Regardless, here it is. (and I WILL catch up on the missed day, and get back to doing that's days on that day again, never fear)

Nov 8: tailor settle

draw was "tailor settle"

The idea of this shot is super simple. Take just the end of a typical tailor bouncing shot, so I could focus on the tail settling out. Tails are tricky little things, especially when there's personality mixed in. This iteration has just a little emotion...mostly follow through.

Nov 7: grab dinner

that day's draw was "grab dinner"

This proved an interesting struggle between the quick wing beats of the awesome reference I found, and the weight/size of the character I used. Definitely not feeling the weight...here it is anyways.

oops...

So Nov 8 proved a total fail. Did not animate at all... With what little time I did have, I worked on my Lighting Workshop homework.

Playing catch up now...

Nov 7

I know this is where today's shot should be. However, I promised myself I'd get off the computer at a certain time today, and I am sticking to it. Therefore, today's shot isn't finished yet. It's started, and I will finish it as well as tomorrow's, tomorrow. Stay tuned...

Nov 6: one leg hop

Today is "one leg hop"

Decided to go simple and stick with a side camera. Managed two versions today, yay! The first one I did first, the second with green platforms, I did second.

Nov 5: be my guest

Today's draw was "be my guest"

I had a very short amount of time today, so here's today's- verrry simple. But I think the idea still comes across...

Nov 4: flap while grounded

Today's draw from the jar was "flap while grounded"

Seems I bit off more than I could chew today. Took me a long time to find reference I liked, and when I did, I went with it despite the number of characters.

This is incredibly rough. Drew some sketchy thumbnails from the reference and then built my poses off that. There's only super rough posing in there right now. I think I will probably revisit this shot at some point in the near future to see it through completion. I really like the idea and direction of this shot, just way more than I could do in a day with any justice.

So here's the WIP. Rough blocking.

Nov 3: finger tapping

Tonight's draw from the jar was "finger tapping"

So the first test with the grey table is basically me going two frames in the reference, and "matching" two frames in Maya and keying. For the second test with the green table, I stripped it out back the first pose only and did alot of copying and pasting with just a few major keys, and in a fraction of the time.

This is interesting because while the first test looks much better, it's easy to see how I could get there much faster with just a little more time spent refining at the end making it snappier and getting more variety (which I did not do today, as I am down to the minute).

Nov 2: that's not what i expected

Last night's draw was "that's not what i expected"

Time is getting away from me lately. Ok. Here is yesterday's test, finished today...

Nov 2

Today proved to be a bit of a bust. Got the shot started, but only the setup and a few poses. Simply wasn't enough time left today. I'll complete this one in the morning, and then proceed with tomorrow's later in the day. Stay tuned...

Nov 1: Weight Shift

Today's draw from the jar was "Weight Shift."

Unfortunately, I only managed one go at this shot today, and its a mess. Could it be better? Of course! Will I spend anymore time on it? No.

There it is. An exercise, and its "done." Slow start to this challenge, but a start none the less!

One Day 30 Day Challenge Exercises

My series "One Day" is coming back with a new focus. I am combining my current goal for the series of starting and finishing the shot in one day, with Bobby's 30 day challenge , and ideas from Kenny Roy's October Lecture.

So the plan is to start November 1. Each day of November, I will draw one paper from the jar that I've pre-populated with 30 shot ideas. Shots will be 50 frames maximum. Every day dedicate roughly an hour or so as able or necessary/appropriate. The shot will be started, finished, started again, finished again- 3 to 5 times I'm thinking per paper per day. I'll string all the finished shots together in order of creation and post the results each day.

The next step

In other news, I will be starting AM's Lighting Workshop on Monday! Very excited about this.

So now when I have a decent shot for my reel, I can take a few minutes and give it that extra touch. Yay!

One Day: Ugh...what have you done

Since my time was limited to just a few hours today (due to work), I decided to go way back to basics. So here's Ballie turning around. Disgusted goth Ballie lol.

One Day: Dragon Takeoff

Well, here is the first animation in my "One Day" series. True to form, I came up with this idea this morning, and finished the shot just a moment ago (just in the nick of time).

I don't want the beach ball, understand?

New shot! Just a little idea that came to me when I was thinking about going back to basics. Worked on this off and on over the last week or two. There isn't any squash and stretch on the ball, as with this rig I basically had to choose between rotations and squashing. For this, I decided rotations were more important. Shot complete.

New Series: One Day

One Day is a new animation series I will be starting shortly. The mission: Start and finish a simple shot in one day or less.

These shots will be short exercises to create a more efficient workflow and focus on getting a shot completed looking respectable in a reasonable amount of time. These will NOT be "demo reel shots," but merely exercises to help work out some of the kinks, focus on something in particular, and return to basics.

Rough Blocking

I added a few more poses so it would read and adjusted the timing a little.

So! Here is the rough blocking pass. This pass is on the body only and mostly for overall posing and timing purposes. The only thing done on the faces thus far is to keep the eyes in their sockets. This is in stepped mode at present just for clarity of posing. Camera placement is rough but approximate.



A note about this shot. I really liked the clip for this month's 11 second club! However, I am about 99% sure that I am not going to submit this. Just doing it as an exercise. Let me know what you think!

New shot!

Good news! I have started a new shot! Actually, I did the video reference on Saturday night and Sunday. And I did most of the rough blocking yesterday, yay! So I just need to check a few things, and then I will have a rough blocking pass to show.

New plans. New goals.

I realize I haven't been very active lately, but not to worry. I have some new plans and new goals. Details to follow shortly...

Update

Fell a little behind this past week, but updates are still coming! Hang tight...

One Week

Game Plan: Fix the last shot from each Creature Class. Have both posted in one week from now at most.

REBOOT!

Alright 2012. Let's see what you've got. Bring it!