It always comes back to planning!

Here it is:

Here’s the results:

My mentor’s major crit was to spice it up by adding more movement to the piece. Previously, he was trying to move the TV from the same side, just changing his hand positions. Now, he starts from one side of the TV and works his way around. I didn’t have time to add the jump to the back (try to wedge between the wall and the TV). Err, time as in “Frames”. I definitely like the roll in better now. It’s a lot sharper and quicker.

I also stretched him out in a couple poses to really push him far out there. I could should push it more, I think.

And here are the sketches:

So, this entire last week, I’ve been trying to come up with a more interesting scene. I needed a schtick. A thing. Because the more we get into the lessons (and I’m talking about the practical application in the workplace), we learn that our work should always carry personality and appeal. It must be at least somewhat interesing. So, screw the “pick up the box and put it on the shelf”. We want something at least halfway decent.

Enter the TV-Thief. This is the schtick, “Guy tries to steal a TV that’s too heavy for him”. Lol! It’s that easy!

This idea and execution is fueled by imagination more than reference (I’m not going to pull over a bigscreen tv). So the reference is super, super basic. But it gives me the essentials. Form, weight, nuances of movement, direction of hips, etc… All the poses are pushed/exaggerated in the sketching and even further in the blocking.

Here’s the simple reference:

And here are the [hastily done, over simplified] sketches:

And here is the first blocking pass:

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OMG, It’s been a week since last post! Aaaaack!

Here’s the latest turn-in for this week (week6) of Class2:

.  .  .

My first blocking pass for “The Leap”.

*edit* This is the third time I’ve uploaded this draft. Everytime I do, I keep seeing something I could fix. Ugh, it never ends! You can’t perfect something that, by definition, is never perfect! Such is the life of the animator…

But in a lighter note, I’ve been reading up on different animator’s preferences for reference footage. This is a good one to check out.

If you’re still reading, there’s also a book by Wayne Gilbert called Simplified Drawing for Planning Animation. I ordered a couple copies for myself and my friend.

Really work with timing as much as possible before splining. If you need to hold a pose, make sure you duplicate the keyframes for the end of the pose from the beginning.

The Lecture references tonight:

• Animator Glen Keane lecture part 1
• The Monk and The Fish
• Aaron Hartline
• Pyrats
• Burning Safarie
• Team Fortress 2 on CG Society