Alyssa's Animation Mentor Blog » Q&A’s

Term 3 Kick-off

aleeCO — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:35:30 +0000

Tonight I had my first Q&A of term 3. My new mentor is Drew Adams at Dreamworks. Nice, small group of us again (11 of us). I want to try a more cartoony animation style — specifically, techniques like shmears. Drew will be a great fit for what I what to develop, so it looks like another great 3 months ahead of me!

WoA Q&A

aleeCO — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 00:17:38 +0000

I hosted a couple hours of the WoA today. Those references for moving holds we discussed are:

http://www.keithlango.com/tutorials/march05/movingHold.htm

http://www.carlosbaena.com/animation/animation_misc_ts3.html

Also key points I should note:

**To vary up poses in an animation play with the see-saw or teeter totter lines (any lines of the body that can be tilted to give a new feel). This includes the eye line, shoulder, and hips. These lines can also be varied in terms of Y-translation throughout animations.

**REALLY exaggerate the poses. Force it past where you think it should be because you can always tone it down.

**Watch the camera angles, if the action is too lined up with the camera, the shot will feel flat.

Critique week 3

aleeCO — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 03:43:58 +0000

The critique with Peer Lemmers gave me a better understanding of the concept of spacing. He gave me some great tid bits to think about — really helped watching him go through frame by frame and draw on the screen. I’m actually glad we’re going into such depth with bounce animations — makes it easier to understand and solidify the essential concepts and principles.

I’ll be making tweaks to all of my critiqued works, so they’ll be tighter for my progress reel in the fall. I’m picking up so many little things from the mentors (both Peer and others), other AMers, alumni, and others currently working in studios. And, oh let me tell you, how important the small things and insights are!