RedForty - Animated » Class4

Q&A Notes – 4.9

Daniel — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:08:11 +0000

Q: What about tiny spine movements while acting within a pose?
A: Small tiny movements are mostly not blocked. Movements that are sooo small that they are “felt” and not seen are never blocked (by Nicole). Just add all that during polish.
In the subject of how far to take blocking before splining, on “I am legend”, Nicole had to animate the entire deer sequence just to show blocking to the director (crazy amounts of work).
Some animation directors can take sketches to approve blocking for a shot, some need entire animation without blocking. It all depends.

Character arcs and performance:
Some people were critiquing Doc Manhattan’s performance, rather than his animation. Good job!

Talking about what it takes to have a character act within his story arcs - going from happy to sad, etc..
It doesn’t happen over 1 or 2 shots (unless that’s the intent). It usually takes a lot longer to make that internal change. But the most important thing here is that each shot hooks up to the shot before and after. Not every shot is a beautiful snowflake. Some are only paths to the next and are not that important for “important acting choices”.

When working on the character performance, really listen to the audio. Sometimes you can tell certain mannerisms from the audio. Like, you might be able to hear the person say the line with a smile or in pain. Inflections are really really important to pay attention to. Also, method acting for your character performances

Don’t get married to video reference. Definitely don’t get stuck in it. Some people can’t seem to animate without it and then you end up with Polar Express. Really stiff animations with no exaggeration. Use it for a guide for natural lines of movement and motion.

Look up a local acting class and take one! There are even acting classes for animators out there (especially in LA). If you’re in LA, look up ASIFA. Check out “Inside the actor’s studio”, “Who’s line is it anyway”, etc… Go see Muppet Up.
You have to know acting to further your animating performances. It’s not just body mechanics. You need to have better performances.

Use video reference to explore different possibilities before sketching! If you’re not sure how the dude is standing on the curb while calling the taxi, go act it out! Shoot yourself doing everything you can think of the flag the taxi. You might see things you would have never though to sketch. Oh, if you have a shot that has 4 people in it, go grab 4 friends! If you are animating a female, get a female!!! If you’re animating a fat guy, GET A FAT GUY! See the pattern? lol

In I am legend, Nicole had to animate a rat. So they all piled in her car and cruised down to a pet store and filmed a rat. Borrowed a rat even and filmed it for a while to get the reference.

**bathroom break**

You can cheat cuts. When characters are acting from scene to scene, it is possible to cut into movements. Like, if a character had a hand that was moving down toward out-of-frame in one shot, the next could have the hand gone. It’s fine as long as the audience can’t tell.
Gotta make sure it’s NEVER noticed.

This week: Make sure your hookups WORK. Start facial animation.

Voltron – Blocking v2

Daniel — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:32:37 +0000

So, yeah. It’s blocking plus. I didn’t add the props this time. No textures yet. I’m ditching the gun toss in favor for more spinning action with a miss-holster in the end.

[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

I can’t wait to tear it apart and start over… again. Sheesh.

Voltron – Blocking

Daniel — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 15:02:41 +0000

Week2 of this shot:
[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

More to come

new shot, New Shot, NEW SHOT!

Daniel — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 04:10:06 +0000

I’m so fracking STOKED! I get a new shot!

/cheer

Ok, so now the scary part. This new shot involves 2 actors. TWO!

/feint

So, vote. Vote on your favorite line:

[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

Just Bring It – for the last time, already

Daniel — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 03:58:23 +0000

For the last time EVAR:

[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

Q&A Notes – 4.2

Daniel — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:26:26 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2giX7ghrTY

Jaw movement is not only rotation but rotation and translation.

If the audio is not lining up, change the audio offset rather than offsetting all your keys.

Eye darts - in a straight look at another character, eyes dart across the face at different intervals.

Eye shapes - Always bigger in the direction looking. Even close the opposing eye ever so slightly.

To help with the dialogue, type out the text in Maya. Hide the text until the word is said. Like Karaoke.

Moving forward with the last shot

Daniel — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 05:55:23 +0000

So, my first assignment is to take my last shot of last term, Just Bring It, and add facial animation.

/headdesk

I hate that shot so much! I’ve worked on it for a month and a half! UGH! This is truly a test of tenacity.

First pass:
[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

Class Four Begins!

Daniel — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 05:49:03 +0000

Advanced Acting, here we come!

I’ll write more later.

*reserved*