A small update - Digital Animation

Hey, I'm using a new layout here, I think it's better than the super complicated thing that was before. It loads faster and you can scroll till the bottom, checking many posts at once.

And for today: Digital Animation, but the frame by frame type, so what is digital is just the medium. That is, no weird, great, uber-hi-tech involved on it.

I'm talking about the animation I began working on Photoshop the other day. The goat guy just standing there, when suddenly he sees or is told something, and then he goes away.

reaction
change of pose - weights
The beginning of a walk! - Yes, I thought that putting a character into a walking position was going to be a huuge deal, and it was not so bad at all.
Animation looks not so fluid for the last frames, I know, it just needs some more inbetweens, but I guess movement is already solved and understandable. Don't you think??

And now the next proyect will be:

SOME KIND OF DIALOGUE!
>I'll try to make some mouth gestures with a generic face :P
>But first I'll finish another walk cycle, this time a "double bounce" suggested by Richard Williams.


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As for sketching and drawing, I've been working mostly on concept art stuff, landscapes and such.

Couple of sketches just to remember how this guy looks. I think the one on the right is a little bit off the model, the left one is just perfect ^^. A young dude with an innocent look, yet somewhat cranky - doubtful. 

This are some of the things I've doing to improve my landscapes. The first one is a very quick sketch with color and light in mind. 

The second one is something far more elaborated. It was done with the Goat Guy's story in mind. I thought of the city where he may arrive, at mid-day, with the sun coming from the right. 

Image planes where really useful to give the illusion of depth. 

And adding those tiny figures at the bottom really creates magnitude on the scene! (something I've been trying to do for a long while, with no success at all)

Two new animations and a Portrait

The Goat Kid animation (that dude needs a name) is ready!! Here you have it:

I had a great time working with this one. And I learned a lot too, I had to re-think and re-draw his ears because they were moving too slow, I worked a little bit more with his jaw, even the animation is quite simple there. I also added that cloth on his neck, which adds a lot to the overall movement; its flow.



I tried to do some line cleanup by tracing each sketchy-frame on a new piece of paper. I usually do not do this, and even I do prefer to not do it at all. It does takes time and some effort, and its a process which does not has to do a lot with animation, at least that's what I noticed. The animation is already solved by the sketch stage, loose lines are good enough to show the viewer what the character does. The cleaning process is more an aesthethics thing, something more involved in finishing a product.

I guess it is quite useful for a production, but for a student, not quite. It does gives a nice look and an easy read, but again, I prefer to keep exploring and trying animation things, than tracing everything over and over again.

And here is another tiny animation I began working on the other day. It's done in photoshop and has yet to be finished. Just keyframes and another two frames are done, but I think the movement is clear enough.

I'm wishing to add a nice "idle" before the movement, as well as a settle down right after it. 

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And some non-animated stuff now.

I did some sketches just to practice poses, when the idea came to me: Why not interacting with the character while you draw it[him/her]???  

It's quite fun, at least it adds something extra to the poses excersice, while you work with the character's personality and reactions. 

Fun thing to do ;)

And here it is something I've been working on regarding digital painting:

Its an animated gif that shows the progress until now. 

I was thinking on adding a background and some more light.

Thanks for reading!!! :D 

Goat Kid animation progress

Hello again!!

Time for a quick update (I must finish writting an essay...)

I've been working on an animation which involves a little bit more complex character than the ones I've done before.
I'm trying to achieve:
-a methodology to animate complex characters without going crazy
-good expressions
-good movement by understanding that there is no need to draw a huge amount of frames for the movement to look fluid, but use animation fundamentals wisely. 
-Change in characters thought: curious - undelighted

What I like:
-I'm beginning to find really attractive and important the use of construction figures (spheres and cubes) to solve movement
-I could say my consistency from frame to frame has been improving
-his hands - simple = easy to understand

What I do not like:
-The overlap on the ears. When he is leaning forward, they take too much time to settle down.
-The end of the animation is too abrupt. I should draw some frames with his hands and ears overlapping, reaching a nice settling pose.


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This was a really quick animation in FLASH. It's quite nice to be able to check your animation on-the-go with the timeline playback, but yet, is not the same as animating on paper... There really is something special about it that digital stuff can't copy.
I can say, by trying out both techniques, why the industry has decided to stop making traditional animation... The sad truth is that it takes too much time to get it done right, from the acquisition of the knowledge to the production itself. I don't believe though, it is all lost, I like to think it is just the way animators are trying to be just like any other worker, the more they try to be like the others, the more the  industry look for ways to make their work, which is not work but art, play within the rules of a market that aims to sell consumer products, and not art.

Anyways, I'll keep working on both techniques, 3D included ;)

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As for the 2D (the one that doesn't moves), here it is an illustration I'm working on. It has to do with my weird story thing where the Goat Kid and the Dog dude are involved.
I'm beginning to notice that if you take a topic, a proyect, and use it as an excuse to explore different art techniques and aspects (animation, illustration, 3d, design, storyboarding, writting) you can stay interested and enjoy the ride, everything while you create something worth showing.