My Oscar Opinion

Last night, millions of viewers tuned in to watch the longest show in the universe. Can they make it any longer? I feel like they could have at least started earlier...or cut some of the fluff. Oh, I know. They should just cut out all the categories that they will definitely start playing music to signal its their time to leave the stage and cut them off sooner. They only need 5 seconds, right? Why even give them the chance to thank people if you are just going to play them off, or simply cut them short. Very rarely do they cut the audio from the mic. They usually play the music so loudly that the winner has to scream. 

Granted, usually the thank yous run too long anyways, and someone starts rambling or its just not a good acceptance speech. By far, Ben Affleck's was the best acceptance speech. Why? Cause yes he thanked people, but he also brought an emotion that just lacks from most of the winners last night. Not so much an emotion, now that I think back, but he added just a little bit more of him. The whole part about how he never thought it would happen again. It was a story about his journey and how honored he was by this award. Why can't everyone make acceptance speeches like that?

There were definitely a few surprises last night. Animated Feature was a close one. What should have won was ParaNorman. It was technically amazing, visually beautiful, and had a good story. What I thought would have won was Wreck-it Ralph. It had the story and that Disney pizzazz that everyone loves. Instead, Brave won. Yes, its beautiful. Yes, its a testament for technical achievement in animated films. But the story. It was alright. But it was a film that started with a very serious note and a darker theme, and then they 'changed' directors and they wound up making it more funny and slap stick. I kinda wanna see Brenda Chapman's version. I think it would be awesome!

For Animated Short, Paperman was a good, safe choice. I liked it. The story was great. But the other shorts were great too. I really liked Adam and Dog. And Head Over Heals pulled at my heart strings. But I am happy with what won.

As for Hair & Make-up, did they think that they go actual Dwarves from Middle-Earth? Almost every actor in The Hobbit had prosthetics on their face. But whatever. Maybe they thought they should just wait til the 3rd movie to give it its recognition. 

And now for the VFX award. Won by....Life of Pi! No big surprise at all. It was a film that was largely shot on green screen and brought to life with amazing effects. No one can argue it wasn't justly won. But something happened last night that is kinda bugging me and a lot of folks I know. The Jaws theme played to usher off the VFX guys! Really? Lets give time to everyone else, but not to they guys and the hundreds of artists who made that film even possible. Imagine doing Life of Pi practically. No CG whatsoever. You can't! Even if they had a real tiger, you can't just sink a ship like that. Or create a storm that immense. Or have a whole zoo under water (there would probably some horrible animal abuse to get those shots practically). Its just not possible.  Below are two blog posts that probably sum up what us artists are feeling right now. 

Actors get paid millions and get residuals. The average VFX artist gets an unstable job and lives paycheck to paycheck, project to project. If you think they get paid well, you're just kidding yourself.

http://blog.sfgate.com/thebigevent/2013/02/25/biggest-oscars-snub-a-shark-attack-on-the-vfx-industry/

http://thebigsocialpicture.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-oscar-protest-that-you-didnt-know.html

Gifts that I love!

I meant to blog about this about a month ago. You know, when it was more relevant (with all those holiday gifts and all). But since I forget to do these things, I'll just tell you now.
Christmas gifts are always fun and useful in my family. Its stuff that I'll use and enjoy. Even if I don't make a list, my family knows what I'll like. This year, I got some fun movies and games. 

Cinderella: Oh man. I had told my fiancé that my favorite Disney movie growing up was Cinderella. With that information, and Disney's silly Vault scheme keeping certain movies on and off the shelf, Cinderella came out just in time for him to get the perfect gift. It also made me realize that he listens to me :D

ParaNorman: I just loved this film. It was a great movie to see in theaters and I absolutely loved watching it again. This time I have to thank my grandmother-in-law. 

Dance Central 3: So this isn't an animated movie, but who doesn't love dancing and games? So what if I didn't work on this one, I'm still gonna tear up the dance floor. 

Game of Thrones Season 1: Okay. Not exactly an animated series, but there are definitely some awesome visual effects shots. It also doesn't hurt that I absolutely love A Song of Fire and Ice.

I just loved my gifts this year (didn't list them all, these are just the animation related ones). I hope everyone loved what I got them as well. 

Updates, on what I'm working on

Its been a couple of weeks since I last updated. Maybe more. And I kinda feel like I need to update you all on what I'm working on. Nothing big, just some ideas.
I've had a bunch of free time as of late and its been some time since I worked on my own personal projects. And there are a few that I'm always touching base. Recently, I talked with a friend about how sometimes we need a little push. You have all these ideas and you need someone to just say 'Start Here'. Well, we made an agreement. We decided to just give a nice little reminder to work on something specific. My next little project is short and sweet. And will hopefully make it onto this blog soon. I'm working on animating a character jumping over a gap. Simple.
I'll update you all very soon on how this is going. Maybe even post a WIP for you.

Recap!

It has been a few weeks (maybe months) since I've updated this. I really try to keep this updated...I swear. My life just gets too busy. I like updating this, even if I'm the only one to read it. Reminds me what I've been doing and how I've felt about certain things. Hopefully, I stay on the topic of animation.
Since September, I've been working pretty consistently at Edgeworx Studios. They do get some awesome projects. In November, we delivered a project called 'Bones of Turkana' for National Geographic. It won't be airing until April. My co-worker, Edmund, really took those challenging renders and made them manageable. And the renders came out beautifully. I won't give away too much, because I think you should watch it. Its pretty interesting if your into science and history. Really gives you some incite into our history as a species.
The project I'm currently working on is a Titanic special on how the Titanic actually sank. Apparently, James Cameron got it wrong. As far as the sinking goes, that's all I'll say. I'm trying to get you interested in tuning in. Its a lot of fun working on modeling and animating something that everyone has heard of. This project is still in progress. It'll be airing in April (100th anniversary and all).
I'm not sure of the exact air date of these projects. TBA (the air date is probably already set, I just can't announce it if I don't know it). There are also some exciting projects coming up on my roster that I'm pretty sure I can't mention. Just know that they are cool, because I said so.
I've also started the People & Polygons NYC group. So far, we've had pretty good turn outs. We'll be planning our next meet-up soon. Aiming for early February. It's been a pretty solid turnout so far. I've met some cool people and have managed to get friends working at different studios to come out and meet other friends they hadn't met before. If you're interested, leave a comment and I'll get you the info. Or you can email peopleandpolygonsnyc@gmail.com.
That's been it really. Not too interesting. Hopefully, I'll get some more animations and art up on here. Its been too long. I'll have to make a more conscience effort.

When to use Motion Capture

The question. When is it better to use motion capture over hand keyed animation?
-Many people are under the impression that mocap is a faster way to get animation done. - If everything goes according to plan and you use the mocap as is, without splicing together clips, then sure. But no one wants to just use the mocap as is. The actors are usually different sizes than the characters the actions will be placed on. An animator will have to go in and make adjustments to the file in order for it to look natural. In reality, most of the mocap I've cleaned has been anywhere from 50% to 85% there. That's anywhere from 15% to 50% of cleaning and retargeting.
-It looks real and it doesn't require a good animator to make sure the movement is correct. - Well, in some alternate reality, that might be the case. Here on earth, you can always tell when a good animator worked on a mocap file or a mediocre animator. In my experience, the animator behind the scenes makes or breaks the motion. An advanced animator can clean up to 10 times as much as someone just starting out. Rule of thumb, an animator can average about 10 seconds of animation a day.
-Mocap gives you the freedom to work with many different takes before settling on the final one. - Here I agree. The actor can take on a scene in any number of ways. A good director will now how to get the actor to perform well. If there is no direction on set, however, the actor will most like produce poor movements or do things incorrectly. I don't know how many times I've seen shoots where the clients came ill prepared and expected the studio holding the shoot to play the role of director. As clients, they know more about what they want then the guy sitting behind the capture station. His job is to capture the files and organize them so that it won't be a headache to go through them later.
 Its like real acting. You can't just stand there and say to the actor 'Go, do the movements'. Every time that has happened, the actor just stood there, and shrugged. There was no walk through, no direction. How would they know what to do? Knowing what is needed is key. A script, a shot list, and a goal.
-Mocap is used for every game out there, it must be easy. - Ummm, that's not true at all. Depending on the video game, some of the studios out there have preferred mocap. But not every game is made with mocap animation. Yes, its a great tool to use for characters walking or interacting in a certain way. Have you played any games lately? I really don't think that anyone has a big enough stage to capture certain leaps, dives, bounds, swinging from trees, rafters, etc. Some of that motion might be mocap, but no one can mocap a person flying. People don't fly by themselves. An animator has to go in there and make it look like we can fly. My hat goes off to them.
-Mocap seems like a pain in the a$$. Might as well just pay an animator to do it by hand. - I do love animating key poses. Its a lot of fun. But sometimes mocap is just a better solution. If you want real movement, like super realistic, mocap can be a great asset. You'll need good actors and a solid director to get the motion you want. And not to forget, a great mocap team. If you want a more cartoony look, well, you're better off staying away from mocap. Mocap really is for a more realistic look.
-"I have this great idea for a short/show/pilot. It's about this ::insert animal here:: and takes place in a ::insert scene here::. I've been thinking about maybe using mocap for the main character who is a ::insert animal here::. It would probably be easier to mocap a person, right?" - LMAO. I'm not gonna say how many times I've held back tears when someone has asked me this because of how hilarious this seems. No. You cannot ask a Human to walk around like a specific animal. No matter how many times you try to get them to move like a cat or a dog or an elephant, it just isn't happening. Yes, Andy Serkis has been a great actor, but I really don't think you realize how much of a budget comes with him and his type of service. There are very few humans who can move around like animals. Mostly because we have different skeletal structures. Maybe we can do Apes and other primates, but a horse? Are you kidding me? If I really have to explain the differences, I might just cry.

I think I got most of the obvious issues when people think of motion capture. It really is its own art form. Mocap has some great advantages. People just need to educate themselves a little more when they think about using mocap.

Animation Test I did recently

This is an animation test I did recently for a job. Any feedback is welcome.

The ESPYS

Anyone going to watch the ESPYS tonight? Well, if you are, you'll be in for a treat. Along with some fellows over at Mocap NYC, I worked on cleaning the mocap for some cool character stuff. I'm not exactly sure when you'll be able to see the pieces I worked on.
Here's the info for the ESPYS: http://espn.go.com/espys/#!/behindProduction/video=6764850/
It was a fun project and I enjoyed working with the fellows over at Mocap NYC.

Ideas!

So, I've actually been playing with this in my head for a little, and I think it'll make for a great short animation. It's pretty much a modern take on a classic dance scene starring Fred Astaire and some dancing shoes. Having a background in dance, I've always had an admiration for Astaire's handsome footwork. So smooth and confident.
Anyways, here are some images of what I'm thinking of doing as far as the style of the shoes go.

These are a pair I saw on that were nice and clean with some great color (black is cool too, but I'm really feeling the color). You can see more angles on this blog: http://www.indigofan.com/tag/shoes
I am also playing around with the idea of woman's shoes.

Aren't these shoes darling? I thought so too. Maybe I'll do a dancing pair of shoes.
If your having trouble trying to figure out why just shoes, here's what I've been watching over and over: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xsddz_the-best-of-fred-astaire_fun I wish musicals would make a big comeback, the choreography is always awesome to look at. And when you have dancers like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to stare at, its always a great show.
Well, that's all I have for now.

Lip Sync

So, I started this with the intention of actually finishing it. It's not, but I think its a pretty good start. Again, this isn't finished, just showing you what I got so far.

Comments are very welcome!

P.S. I will be doing some body animation. I'm taking a break from this animation and working on some walks. Feel like I need to brush up on that.

A new month

So, I attempted to try and do the 11 second club for October. Didn't really finish the lipsync let alone the the animation. I'll finish the lipsync part and do some body blocking, maybe tomorrow...or maybe Wednesday. Tomorrow is election day. Gotta get out my vote and maybe visit my parents in the process.
I was animating a few minutes ago, but animating while tired doesn't really turn out good animation. I'll probably go back and fix some of the lip shapes when I open the file again. It's really a push to do this on my own. No one is paying me to produce a product and I have no deadline except the ones I set myself. I think that's why I'm not doing more...I have no personal deadline. I'll have to set up a schedule. It's funny how you forget these things. Producers are the ones that tell you when they expect things done by, and how much there is to do by whatever date. When you do it all yourself, you forget that you kinda have to act like the producer/director/writer/everything. I'm an animator. None of those other things usually concern me. And that, I think, is the issue.
This time I'm doing it right. I'll download the clip from 11 sec club, block out how long animation should take, then block out animation. And this time I'll do it in time to maybe submit.

When I'm right...I'm right...

I'm a good judge of character. When I first meet a person, they're whole appearance effects my views on them. Not just how they are dressed, but how they carry themselves, how they enter into conversation with others or try to exit a conversation. Starting to close a door before a conversation is completely over tells me that you have no respect for me. Your life is more important than mine, you control the flow of a conversation. I stick my foot in the door, figuratively, all the time. I don't necessarily lay down and take it. It all depends on the situation.
For instance, our new neighbors downstairs have that annoying habit of playing their music too loudly. It was louder today for some reason. Holly knocks on her way out. The music doesn't lower. After a few minutes, Holly returns and a conversation goes on about how the music is so loud that they can't hear the knocking on their door. Fed up, and trying to work on some animation, I go down to ask our friendly neighbors to turn it down. Knock on the door once. The music lowers, I figured they got the message. I walk away. Before I even get back to the steps, the music is raised to its original volume. I walk back over, knock again (loudly, because it wasn't heard clearly the first time), the volume lowers, I knock again, loudly. The clicks of the lock means someone is finally acknowledging my existence. Its the girl who doesn't smile. I ask that she turn down her music. She nods and starts to close the door before I finish. I explain that we can hear it throughout our whole apartment. Her response was that the stairs were noisy. WTF!? I go on to say that it can be a noisy place if we make it that way (with a look on my face that was probably very bitchy after I was trying to be very nice).
Really?! The stairs are noisy and you hear everyone come in...so in response to all that noise you blast your crappy dance music? Walking up stairs in my building takes less than a minute. They creak, because they are old. The building does not look new. It looks like its old. If you do a simple search of an address online, you can find out what year a building was built in. Try it. Where ever you move, you should do some research of the neighborhood and building you are moving to. Who knows, maybe your house was built on a swamp. You move in and you start sinking. The foundation cracks and you start to get flooding. Mold starts to build up. Would you have moved to that house if you had known about that swamp? Or is ignorance bliss? I hope you don't think that. Because ignorance leads to people making assumptions about things they shouldn't. There would be a lot more smarter people out there if they didn't choose to be ignorant.
Unless you move to a condo, creaky steps and floors probably exist in your abode. Get used to it, or move into a friggin' condo.
So after I got all flustered on that whole situation and I settled back down to animate, I got to know my rig a little better. Took me awhile of playing around with the controls on the face to figure out what I was doing. I haven't used Maya in awhile, so I forgot that Ctrl d was Duplicate and not what it is in MotionBuilder (deselect). I made a whole bunch of copies of controls. Silly me. I think I'm gonna try to do something for 11 second club. I really like the clip this month: Star Trek. The idea is to start with some strong facial animation, then build out some strong poses. (I always have started with the facial stuff, at least when it comes to lipsync. Its easier to focus on when you don't have body parts moving around it. I probably should try working the other way to see if I like it or if I produce better results).

2009 Reel

This is my reel with work from 2007 to the present. And as always, it continues to be a work in progress.