Saturday, December 22, 2012

Good Animation Reel


I like the acting here.

INSPIRATION

Definitely don’t have blinders on of ‘I just want to work at Pixar’
Basically get as much experience as you can, anywhere you can and do the best possible job you can. Ultimately you have to do the not-so-great jobs in order to get to the one you want.
Once you get complacent, that's the danger. You've got to always be pushing!
 With my department (animation) we’re looking for people who are great actors or that show tremendous potential. If they have some serious acting skills, we will take a chance. That’s half the battle you know, really finding those types of people.
Inspired by Andrew Gordon from Pixar.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Excited On Learning Animal & Creature Animation!

Recently i have finished my Animation Mentor training on Animal & Creature Animation Masterclass. I learned tons of stuff there. The most inspire me was the PLANNING!!

I admit that i know this PLANNING is very important for animation. But after this training i found out i can't animate without PLANNING. It is true! PLANNING is my friend now.

PLANNING let me clear my mind. Be confident, comfortable on what i should key. The most important thing is i know what i am doing on my key frame. Then i can break them easily later on. Break the rules. Exaggerate it! I got to get back my drawing skills! *Although it is not super good =)

Here is my PLANNING for my animation.

Cat Vanilla Walk Cycle.


Video Reference



Cat Walk Cycle Animation (Before)
 

In this version it's my first trial. A lot of mistakes there. Timing, body mechanics, stiffness and etc. Later on i need to fix these mistakes. Then i have a polish version.

Cat Walk Cycle Animation (After Polish)




Creative Bloq

It is a very cool art, animation, inspiration blog! http://www.creativebloq.com/animation

Mike L Murphy Blog

You can find out some good sharing at here. http://www.successfulanimator.com/animation-blog-for-animators/

How to get a job at Pixar Studios

http://www.creativebloq.com/animation/job-at-pixar-10121018

Animating the incredibles: Andrew Gordon on 15 years at Pixar

http://www.creativebloq.com/animation/andrew-gordon-interview-1012880

Movie Breakdown - Ratatouille

http://www.successfulanimator.com/animation-blog/breakdowns/movie-breakdown-ratatouille/

Movie Breakdown - Avatar

http://www.successfulanimator.com/animation-blog/breakdowns/movie-breakdown-avatar/

Monday, September 24, 2012

Blue Pencil



http://zurbrigg.com/blue-pencil

Blue Pencil

Sketchpad for Maya

Blue Pencil is a plugin for Maya that brings 2D drawing to the 3D viewport. It is a multi-purpose tool that is useful for, but not limited to:
  • Grease Pencil - planning, annotation and illustration
  • Animation - thumbnails, rough blocking and arc tracking
  • Model layout and topology planning
  • Shot review tool
  • Tutorials and screencasting

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

《勇敢傳說》皮克斯感動回歸 北美試映記者落淚




北京時間6月12日消息,由迪士尼影業發行,皮克斯動畫工作室出品的年度3D動畫大作《勇敢傳說》(Brave) 已經確定于6月19日內地與北美同步上映,影片上周末在美國洛杉磯舉行媒體試映場,觸動人心的溫情故事讓不少記者都感動落淚,《滾石》雜志的影評人甚至盛讚:“皮克斯再一次超越了自己。”

《勇敢傳說》是皮克斯繼大受好評的《機器人總動員》與《飛屋環遊記》後,暌違3年推出的全新原創作品。影片主要講述蘇格蘭高地的梅莉達公主因為叛逆魯莽釋放魔咒,給家人與王國帶來災難。她必須找尋到勇氣真諦,才有可能力挽狂瀾扭轉乾坤。影片不僅是皮克斯第一部以女性為主角的電影,也是第一次涉及魔幻題材,因此主創人員除了重點描繪等神秘魔幻元素,更著重筆墨展現了梅莉達公主與母親皇後的情感紐帶及轉變──這樣的心靈雞湯正是皮克斯所擅長,也是影片上周末在北美試映後大獲好評的原因。

從《機器人總動員》到《飛屋環遊記》,皮克斯已經用兩個小機器人的一見鐘情與一對老夫婦的相濡以沫打動過全球觀眾,賺取影迷無數眼淚。而今年的最新作《勇敢傳說》,皮克斯又要以兩母女從隔閡分歧到互相理解、彼此支持的真心轉變,再度帶觀眾踏足一場觸及心靈的感動旅程,而據上周末北美試映的效果來看,影片的催淚效果比起《機器人總動員》與《飛屋環遊記》也有過之而無不及。

據在洛杉磯擔任電影記者,並參加了該場試映的網友“愛魔法的懶貓”表示,“結尾處哭得稀裏嘩啦,全場觀眾大多數都在抹淚,母女之間的故事非常打動人心”。而北美的各大影評人也是好評如潮,《綜藝》的影評人彼得迪布吉(Peter Debruge)也將重點放在細膩描寫的母女關係上,他盛讚:“影片著重探討了梅莉達與皇後之間的關係,感人又真實,比肩《海底總動員》的溫馨父子情”,《好萊塢報道者》的影評人托德麥卡錫(Todd McCarthy) 則表揚了影片的技術與細節,他寫到:“全片幾乎都讓人欣喜,其中壯美的蘇格蘭自然景色、超凡傑出的配音、充滿活力及豐富細節的配樂皆令觀者印象深刻”,而《滾石》雜志的影評人彼得崔弗斯(Peter Travers)更是高分推薦,激動大呼“皮克斯再度超越了自己!”

《勇敢傳說》作為一部情節打動人心、人物刻畫豐富、魔幻感十足的皮克斯3D動畫電影,重點展現了蘇格蘭高地的秀美風光、神秘莫測的遠古傳說、富于張力的魔幻轉折,以及梅莉達與母親的情感紐帶及轉變。影片已經確定以中英文版本3D格式引進國內,將于6月19日上映。

 Links: http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2012-06/12/c_123271025.htm

Monday, June 11, 2012

The Captain Chantel DuBois!!

Recently I watch Madagascar 3. It is very entertaining and funny. I like this character very much. Because i still remember her until now. She is the Captain Chantel DuBois!! A character with super well built in personality. SUPER AWESOME =) Look at her expression, her lips!




Sunday, June 3, 2012

25 tips for selling an animated short | 3D World

25 tips for selling an animated short | 3D World

10 best animation tips & tricks | 3D World

10 best animation tips & tricks | 3D World

21 insider tips to enhance your career in 3D | 3D World

21 insider tips to enhance your career in 3D | 3D World

Every Frame Is a Drawing


By: Eric Scheur
Published March 26th, 2009
Once in a while you come across a piece of animation advice that completely reconfigures the way you think about animation. For me, one of the most earth-shaking refrains that was ever told to me is this: Every frame is a drawing.
Every. Frame. Is. A. Drawing.
Okay, so that's all fine and dandy--but what does that mean? "Every frame is a drawing." Well, "every frame is a drawing" means that you should make conscious decisions about what your characters are doing on every frame in your scene. Every time you pose a character, that is a drawing that will end up on the screen, from the angle of the hips to the crook of the fingers, from the shape of the brows to the direction the toes point in. Whether it's a breakdown, a key pose, and inbetween, or a blur-drawing, it will be on screen for 1/24 of a second--and believe it or not, that's a significant amount of time. Everything you key on that frame is part of that drawing.
Think about it. If you work in 2D, you know this almost instinctively. You have to draw 24 pictures in order to complete a second of animation. You have to take time and care to make sure that the pose reads, that the attitude is there, that the lines are clean, the silhouette is clear, and the line of action is solid.
Stop-motion animators are as meticulous about their frames as well; the puppet won't give them anything for free, they need to pose it exactly as they want it to appear on screen 24 times per second.
CG is a little different, in that you don't actually have to key anything on a particular frame in order to see your character move. If you have a pose on frame 5 and a pose on frame 15 then the computer can figure out those frames in between without you ever having to touch them.
(you know what's coming next, don't you?)
But the computer is horrible at figuring out how a character should move from one frame to the next. (we ran across this concept in the last Helpful Hints: We We Block) All of the things we think about when we're animating, the computer throws that stuff right out the window. And if we're lazy (or if we're new), we let it. We'll just let that computer throw in any flabbity-flu it wants to, and we'll say "Awesome! Look at my character move!!" Something about CG fools our eyes into taking a lot longer to see that it's not good at all. It's bad. Bad bad bad.
The reason that there is so much successful 2d and stop-motion is that the [successful] animators actually pay attention to every frame, every pose, every silhouette, every bit of spacing. These are the things we often overlook in CG when we're thinking about technical things like rotations, spline tangents, constraints, and IK/FK switches.
And so I've come up with a little game you can play to help make sure you're watching every frame. I call this game...

Is it a Lithograph?

The idea is this: You've seen the lithographs that are available from animated movies, right? Or cel drawings that can be framed and hung on a wall? Sometimes it's not even a complete character (Mickey Mouse from the waist up, fading out at the legs), or a fully realized pose (it's an inbetween, somewhere between one pose and the next), or an unused drawing from a pencil test (uncolored and smudged). If you have, no matter if the drawing was a major point of the scene, or just an inbetween, I'll bet you thought "Hey, this is pretty cool! It looks so recognizable and professional!" You would be proud to own that lithograph and hang it on your wall.
When you play Is it a Lithograph? you should look at every frame of your animation and ask yourself if a collector would hang it on their wall. I know this may sound intimidating, especially if you're just starting out. It may seem impossible to make every frame look like a work of art. But it can be done, I promise you. To prove this, I've looked through a bunch of animated clips (stop-motion, hand-drawn, and CG) from my hard-drive and randomly selected a frame from each of them. Some of these frames are key poses, but most of them are likely to be inbetweens. Whatever they are, I'd be thrilled to have each one as a framed cel hanging on my wall--they're that pretty. Check it out:


















Very nice, huh?
Again, all of these frames are chosen randomly. I didn't carefully come through a clip trying to find the prettiest frame, and I didn't exclude any because what I found was too unpleasant. All of these frames look pleasant to me--they all tell the story of the scene and you can see what's going on with the characters whether it's their emotion, their movement, their overlap, their anticipation, or all of the above.
If you were to choose a random frame from one of your own personal CG scenes, how confident would you be of its appeal? If you're like me, you're likely to have some ugggly ugggly frames in your animation and your brain has told you "Ah well, it's the rig" or "Ah well, that's how the computer wants it to be," or some other lame excuse like that. But it's nonsense! You have the control! You can set keys on every body part on every single frame if you want to!!
I want you to listen to me carefully here, and cover the kiddies' ears: Screw the computer! The computer doesn't know you, and the computer doesn't like you. It's not your friend. It is absolutely okay for you to go against the computers' will and move your character's limbs wherever you want to. You'll thank yourself for it later.


Good luck, and happy animating! :)


- Eric

Share from: http://www.11secondclub.com/helpful_hints/every_frame_is_a_drawing 

Andrew Stanton: The Clues to A Great Story

What Separates the Good Animator From the Bad Animator?

I would say, from a supervisor’s point of view, that a good animator is one who shows great attention to detail and won’t hand in work that is clearly mediocre or worse, accompanied by a myriad of excuses. They are aware of the thought processes of the characters they are animating, and are conscious of communicating that to the audience. A good animator creates interesting rhythm in their shot, and isn’t afraid of using moments of stillness to accent both the rhythm and the communication.

There are also some elements of detail that I find really separate good animation from bad. One element is shoulder movement. Bad animators will not use the shoulders very much in their animation, when in reality, shoulders have a huge amount of articulation and really connect the arm movement into the torso movement. I’ve seen lots of stiff or non-existent shoulder movement in bad animation.

Good hand poses are another element that take good animation to the next level. Hands are incredibly emotive and communicative, but it is also painstaking to animate all those digits. A good animator will put the work in, not only to make the movement work, but to make the poses interesting visually, appealing, and connect those poses to the character’s acting and emotion.
Other than those particular things, it’s just a mastery of the principals of animation--paying attention to all of the elements that make a great shot! Great posing, great timing, body mechanics, great character acting (and this is something that is very difficult-- mastering the body language and personality of a particular character versus just moving a character around generically).

Something I can’t emphasize enough is the importance of having strong body mechanics. Whether you’re going more realistic or more cartoony, if the body mechanics aren’t “buyable” the character will never really take on life. If they don’t have that illusion of life, that makes it very difficult for the audience to empathize with them, and it will be much, much harder to draw the audience into the story and maintain the suspension of disbelief.

Share from: http://www.animationtipsandtricks.com/2011/08/what-separates-good-animator-from-bad.html

What Are the Top 3 Types of Scenes to Include on a Demo Reel?

I think it is important to show a bit of everything on your demo reel.

If I had to pick 3, I would go with: a body mechanics shot, a pantomime acting shot, and a dialog Linkacting shot. Those scenes cover a pretty decent area of animation and will go a long way toward showing your chops. Including these scenes will also hold the attention of the viewer, whether that is a recruiter, a supervising animator, or your mother.

Share from: http://www.animationtipsandtricks.com/2011/09/what-are-top-3-types-of-scenes-to.html

Taking Control of your Animation

Here’s a question that I get quite a bit in my classes: Why does my animation look bad when I take it out of stepped mode into splines for polishing?

The answer for me is relatively simple. Don’t let the computer do your animation. If you don’t like the inbetweens that your computer is giving you, don’t let it do the inbetweens! Control the arcs of your character, the way a head turns, the speed at which the arms move, how much space the body goes through.

I like to say that if your computer looks like computer animation it’s because it IS computer animation. You, the animator, haven’t put enough inbetweens or enough love in your splines (whichever method you like to animate).

Ask anyone in my personal life. I’m a control freak. I have to be in control. I’m learning, through tons of therapy, to get better but the fact still remains. This comes in handy when I’m animating. I will usually put a keyframe every 2 frames or so. Sometimes I’ll even drop one on EVERY FRAME. I trust my computer to crunch numbers extremely fast. It knows the difference between a one and a two. But, it doesn’t know anticipation. It doesn’t understand arcs. So I have to put that in there. I have to let it know that on frame 46, my head is going to do this and my left arm is going to do that.

I make sure that I put that keyframe on EVERYTHING. Not just the head or the hand, but EVERYTHING. Let me say that one more time with feeling. EVERYTHING. I do this because I do like to work in stepped mode to finesse my animation and see where the keys are. The last thing I want is to hit that magical spline button, and everything falls apart. Why is that not moving? Why IS that moving? Believe me, I’ve yelled that at the top of my lungs before. If I put a key on everything, it doesn’t do things I have no control over. It doesn’t do things I didn’t anticipate.

It does what I wanted it to do.

Silly computer. Animation’s for animators…

Share from: http://www.animationtipsandtricks.com/2011/12/taking-control-of-your-animation.html

Six Key Skills to succeed as Animator

Here are six key areas of personal development I’ve seen in those who succeed as animators:   


  1. Be humble. Attitude plays a MAJOR role in your success. Who wants to work with a jerk? I don’t, and I’m sure you don’t. This does not mean that you need to let someone walk all over you, either. Build confidence in who you are, share your thoughts, and respect those of others. Remember, there’s more than your way to tackle a challenge.
  1. Be thirsty. I LOVE this one. It’s also been called “the beginner’s mind.” At Animation Mentor, we call this Continuous Improvement and it’s one of our core values. Never feel like you have “arrived.” There’s always more to learn. When you get stuck, look for ways to pivot your thinking and you will find renewed inspiration.
  1. Share everything you know. There’s a famous quote that states, “It is in giving that we receive.” I really love this and find it so applicable. Those who give comments and share their knowledge are those who seem to accelerate quicker. Those who hoard information only go so far. When you learn something that accelerates your skills — share that knowledge. You’ll be surprised at what comes of it.
  1. Never give up. Don’t lose focus, it’s just a matter of time. This may be easier said than done, yet remember that you cannot ever stop learning, practicing, and growing. Be sure to water your mind and feed it goodness whenever possible.
  1. Beware of the “gremlin voice.” Most likely, there will always be a "gremlin voice" in our heads that expresses our insecurities — and most likely, there’s no way to ever fully turn off that voice. So think about "turning the volume down." If it's blaring at 10 max, then what would it be like to turn it down to a 5? Or even a 7? Over time, learn to identify the voice and slowly begin to turn it down.
  1. Nurture balance. The life of an animator should not be all about the latest animated movie. Those who succeed have a passion for life just as much, or more, than they do for animation. Be sure to cultivate YOU.


    Article from animationtipsandtricks.com Bobby Beck
    This is quite inspiring!
     Link:
    http://www.animationtipsandtricks.com/2012/04/six-key-skills-to-succeed-as-animator.html
     

Pixar带来的感动

Pixar带来的感动_论Pixar动画短片的故事创意及内涵




Link:
http://www.docin.com/p-56118524.html

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Writing Complete Stories (For story makers)

Psst! Hey, buddy….wanna know the secret to Pixar’s success?








Link:
 http://storyfanatic.com/articles/story-structure/writing-complete-stories

Upcoming Pixar



 Upcoming Pixar. You can get more info & updates through this blog.

Link:
http://pixarplanet.com/blog/

The Creative Process of Creating Films

The Creative Process of Creating Films

There’s no debating Pixar’s success: Up, Toy Story, WALL-E, and nearly all of its other animated films have been critically acclaimed box office successes. Once led by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Pixar has been a model of consistency and success.

How do you build a company that can continually innovate in terms of technology and creativity and consistently deliver success after success? Mr. Catmull spoke about the building blocks of any movie: the team. He spoke about the company’s culture and the difficulty of finding the right people. He sometimes gives potential film directors tests in the form of short films, although they are vastly different beasts than feature-length films.

He also spoke about management, and how as a manager of a creative company, things are chaotic and happen out-of-order. He can’t possibly know everything that’s happening within Pixar, so he relies on training good managers.



He believes in the old saying “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask permission,” but his corollary is that it’s better to fix errors than it is to prevent them, something that he believes many mangers do not get. In fact, Pixar looked to Toyota’s manufacturing process for inspiration in terms of structure and bringing diverse skillsets together to create a strong company.
Mr. Catmull said that the biggest struggle though is between the commercial and the artistic. If Pixar films were entirely about the art and paid no regards to what the audience wants, Pixar would fail economically. If it just made movies geared towards audience trends and commercial success, then it fails in “soul” and loses its magic.

The key, not only to making great films but to anything in life, is to balance both sides and find a good place in the middle. Fundamentally successful companies are “unstable,” in the sense that they allow for the battle between art and economics and time and tech. He allows artists to be free of the stress of “success” and protects their vision by giving them the ability to lead. Success can make people cautious and conservative, which is something he wants to avoid.

The Key Points

Overall, it was a fascinating Q&A, but it really boiled down to a few key points:
  • Great companies need to balance art with economics. Tension isn’t necessarily a bad thing if it leads to a great product in the middle 
  • The need to control and know everything as a manager can stifle innovation. Having great people you trust is a far more scalable method. 
  • Playing it safe doesn’t lead to long-term, consistent success; staying in the middle — the “unstable” place where new ideas are formed and art, economics, time, and technology are all being balanced — does. 


Article from: http://mashable.com/2010/03/24/ed-catmull-economist-pixar/

 



The Inside Story: 5 Secrets To Pixar’s Success

The Inside Story: 5 Secrets To Pixar’s Success



Link:
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665008/the-inside-story-5-secrets-to-pixar-s-success

The Secret Of Pixar's Success


 The Secret Of Pixar's Success
How to make great movies and billions of dollars

Link:
http://www.empireonline.com/features/secret-of-pixars-success/p1

皮克斯的“七大创意原则” Creative Principles of Pixar

为你揭秘:皮克斯的“七大创意原则”

Link:
http://www.docin.com/p-55666323.html

English version link:
 http://2nfactory.blogspot.sg/2008/10/7-creative-principles-of-pixar-by-john.html







The Story of Pixar

皮克斯总动员(动画帝国崛起之路)

Link:
http://www.docin.com/p-48099386.html


皮克斯动画的成功因素分析

Link:
http://www.docin.com/p-195729133.html


皮克斯成功之原因分析

Link:
http://www.docin.com/p-225168432.html

皮克斯动画短片创意分析 《partly cloudy》

皮克斯动画短片创意分析 《partly cloudy》




Link:
http://www.docin.com/p-351433488.html

皮克斯动画讲故事有高招 细数诀窍八大要素

皮克斯动画讲故事有高招 细数诀窍八大要素



Link:
http://www.docin.com/p-27531300.html

Wedding Cinematography

I like the way they shoot this video. The cinematography is nice! It inspires me want to shoot some videos.

皮克斯动画屡创经典的成功要素析

皮克斯动画屡创经典的成功要素析



Link:
http://www.docin.com/p-317423930.html

Pixar's “故事”、“角色”、“世界”

动画电影除了3D电脑特技外,艺术的创意与想象力才最关键


Link:
http://money.163.com/11/0729/02/7A3ISFNP00253B0H.html

皮克斯动画成功秘笈


“创意比技术更重要”     只有追求高品质,才能产生高效益

Link:
http://book.qq.com/a/20120428/000025.htm

Richard Gunzer Animator's Showreel

Look at his facial animation. I can feel his animation. I love the last clip cowboy dialogue acting. Cool!!

Animator Louaye Moulayess's Blog.




http://louayemoulayess.blogspot.com/

An animator's blog. He worked as internship in Pixar.