[qt:http://animation.redforty.com/uploads//2008/11/freesamples_351lg.mov 640 480]

I had to simplify it quite a bit. Going from blocking to spline is a horrible transition that I’m still trying to manage. A silver-bullet technique would be quite helpful here, but alas, there is none. You just have to roll up the sleeves, toss back a redbull and stay up till 8am the next morning to get it finished.

As you can see, I changed a bunch of the poses. Toward the end, he was getting a bit too out of control with the head swinging everywhere whilst getting sick. Last week’s Q&A, Bruno mentioned that everyone know he’s going to get sick after he drinks the concoction, so the faster it happens, the better. So, now it goes from a reaction (the slowdown) to a straight-up “omygodimgonnapuke” pose – then release.

Other actions were removed. Like looking back at the sign while stopping, looking back at the sign while getting sick, rolling the head around, sniffing the drink before drinking, and probably more. Simple is better in this case. The audience must be able to read everything going on easily. When I splined it, it got really muddy.

Anyhoo, I’m done vomiting my changelog. Here it is:

[qt:http://animation.redforty.com/uploads//2008/10/freesamples_333lg.mov 640 480]

Here’s the first blocking pass. By the way, I’m getting faster at this. This one took about 6 hours and 4 revisions. I won’t post the revisions here; just the major milestones. Little revisions are too small to notice. Like the way his arm moves would be the cause for a revision.

So here’s the first final blocking pass:

[qt:http://animation.redforty.com/uploads//2008/10/freesamples_321lg.mov 640 480]

The purpose of this post is to revise my idea for this assignment. My last idea didn’t read all too well. And while it’s “kinda good”, it’s not really great. With that in mind, I move onward and upward to make sense of the situation and possibly fuck it up.

Here’s the revised idea:

[qt:http://animation.redforty.com/uploads//2008/10/dudegags_v02.mov 480 360]

And here’s the summary pose so far:

It always comes back to planning!

Here it is:

[qt:http://animation.redforty.com/uploads//2008/09/heavyobject_3112lg.mov 640 480]

Here’s the results:

[qt:http://animation.redforty.com/uploads//2008/09/heavyobject_2102lg.mov 640 480]

[qt:http://animation.redforty.com/uploads//2008/08/heavyobject_291lg.mov 640 480]

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.

[qt:http://animation.redforty.com/uploads//2008/08/thelift_01_640.mov 640 480]

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:

[qt:http://animation.redforty.com/uploads//2008/08/thelift_02.mov 480 360]

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

And here is the first blocking pass:

[qt:http://animation.redforty.com/uploads//2008/08/heavyobject_281_lg.mov 640 480]

[qt:http://animation.redforty.com/uploads//2008/08/chasmleap_272_r40.mov 640 480]

.  .  .

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

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

[qt:http://animation.redforty.com/uploads//2008/08/chasmleap_262_r40.mov 640 480]