tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61467031697177802992024-03-14T09:11:43.583-07:00Cabanimation: Nic Cabana's AM blogNic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-79245631916504948732013-05-15T00:33:00.000-07:002013-05-15T00:33:03.036-07:00Life at SonyWow, so much has happened since I last posted. I was on hiatus from the blog and got caught up with work. In September, I accepted an offer to work at Sony Pictures Imageworks---and what an adventure and dream it has been so far!<br />
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Recently, I was featured on Animation Mentor's official blog and asked to write an article on my experience. So I thought I might post it here for anyone interested!<br />
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<a href="http://blog.animationmentor.com/from-student-to-sony-to-smurfs-an-animation-mentor-graduates-journey/">http://blog.animationmentor.com/from-student-to-sony-to-smurfs-an-animation-mentor-graduates-journey/</a>Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-61798289727243354562012-06-21T20:17:00.002-07:002012-06-23T03:07:54.625-07:00"What you know, not what you see"<br />
I'm certainly no draftsman. I can't stand drawing in perspective. And I don't draw as often as I used to. But I have immense appreciation for those who do, and do it well. At film school I was lucky enough to have my first experience with analytical drawing/life drawing. At the time, I didn't fully grasp the impact it would have later on--but I had fun with it. Valery, our teacher, was an incredible character, and one of the most influencial teachers I've had to date. He always told us: "Making a nice drawing isn't hard, making a correct one is." Boy is that true! To him, correct meant anything BUT what we see in front of us. When we were starting out he explained: "Don't draw the model. Don't draw what you see---look at her and draw what you know!" It took me almost two years to really understand that. It's one of the single most important things I've learned and I apply it everywhere.<br />
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Ultimately, that's what animators, and most great artists, do. We spend everyday studying. Trying to understand what's around us. And it's not necessarily on purpose either. I tend to rely a lot on memories and draw upon that knowledge bank I've built up from, well, living! I think my love of animation spurs from that. It makes life so much more fun! It's a way of life in which every day has something to give back to you. Learning keeps us sharp; keeps us young. Getting to a point where you can "know" what you see, or rather understand what's going on is the hardest step I think. And you'll never, ever, learn it all (sometimes that's a bit of an addiction)! <br />
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Once you can comprehend what someone is doing, then you can express your INTERPRETATION of that. THAT's what makes our work unique. That's my number one rule for finding appeal. It's about "action analysis" and accentuating it to make it interesting, to show what you feel is important, to give it life; to give the audience a reason to want to look at your work. If you just copy what you see, what's the point? Take a picture---I'm sure you have an iPhone!<br />
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When I tackle a shot, I tend to take video reference. While I may stay very close to that reference (in terms of acting and other details), it's a mere template. I look at a pose, and I figure out what is happening with the body in that moment. "Okay. Where's the weight? What are my hips doing? Why? What's happening with my shoulders? etc." From there, my next question is: "What's important, and how do I show it? How do I make this interesting?" Most importantly, what's interesting to me and what do I want to show to the audience? How do I make it come accross to them?<br />
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I can take what I understand and push those elements, draw the viewer's eyes to where I want them to be. It's very complex, and no one does it the same. But that's what makes it great! That's why we recognize the works of great artists like Picasso, or animators like Milt Khal and Glen Keane. Everyone has their own interpretation of life and that's a wonderful feeling---because there's no right and wrong.<br />
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It applies to "realistic" animation too. The guys animating big monsters and dinosaurs have a lot of fun with it. They don't just copy what other animals do. They draw inspiration from that, and come very close to the real thing. But it feels dead if you don't "push" and accentuate certain things.<br />
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To me, the art and how you translate your ideas is the most important category in the heirarchy of a shot. And you can have so much fun with it! Technicalities come after. It's simple to make a character jump. But it's a lot harder to say, well, yes, he jumps. But how? and why? What are my choices? When a person jumps, where can I accentuate the forces? How can I really show people this person is heavy? And so forth...<br />
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Find the elegance in "real life" and expose that in your work---give it "oomf!"<br />
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Being an animator is loads of work. But I've been incredibly happy since I began to practice the art. I strongly believe it is one of the hardest things to do---but incredibly rewarding. We are forced to study and understand so many other things: physics, dance, choreography, rhythm, film, acting, psychology, and a whole lot more! I can spend hours waiting at an airport and time goes by quickly. It's almost therapeutic. I'll watch people walk or do things and attempt to understand why they do certain things. A woman yells at her kid. How is that kid reacting? Why is that?<br />
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That's what's cool about being an animator. You can find joy in the smallest things in life. It's very hard to make others understand why we get so excited about these things that seem redundant to the average person. That's probably why many animators tend to be introverts, or misunderstood. <span style="background-color: white;">We've grown a certain affinty and appreciation for things that pass most people by. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Since my move to Vancouver, I've been lucky enough to hang out with some amazing people and animators. While we actually rarely ever talk about animation specifically, we tend to always be on the same page about things. We have a seemingly deeper appreciation for things and that makes for great conversation. I can spend a day with Maxwell, Dave, and Tania and learn so much about life. It's as if everything is interesting to us, and that's awesome! And a large part of the population will never be lucky enough to stop and experience life the way we do. It's our job to show them and to emphasize those little things! That's probably why animated films are doing so well and are on the rise. It's a different take on everyday life, and "what we see". It's about understanding all the little things and making it come together in an interesting way.<br /><br />_______________________________________________________________________________<br />So that's my two cents! My take was probably a bit philosophical. And I talked about this mostly for posing, but it applies to timing for sure, among other things! Mike Amos, a good friend and amazing animator wrote a post about "pushing" things on his blog, which is slightly more technical. And probably way better! </span><a href="http://action-analysis.blogspot.ca/2012/05/video-reference.html" style="background-color: white;">http://action-analysis.blogspot.ca/2012/05/video-reference.html</a> pop by and check it out :)<br />
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<br /></div>Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-4673643508346131692012-05-06T17:31:00.002-07:002012-06-23T02:51:26.073-07:00First demo reel! Featured in OnAnimation<br />
<a href="https://vimeo.com/39562448">https://vimeo.com/39562448</a> (hi res)<br />
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Yesterday night I finally posted up my rendered student reel, after a year and a half at Animation Mentor! Alex was incredibly patient and created some fantastic light setups for he shots, I can't thank him enough. He's a phenomenal lighter, and just as good at animating! (you can view his stuff here <a href="https://vimeo.com/33488899">https://vimeo.com/33488899</a>) <br />
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I'm so grateful for everything I've learned from my peers and mentors. The community is amazing. To this day, everyone still helps out and checks in on how I'm doing. Mark was a fantastic mentor, and he's supported me like crazy since I finished! He's now at the head of the CG Spectrum program, which looks amazing!<br />
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This morning I was featured in On Animation, the leading animation blog. What an honour! I'm truly humbled and super excited! Thanks Dan :)<br />
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<a href="http://player.vimeo.com/video/39562448">http://player.vimeo.com/video/39562448</a><br />
<a href="http://www.onanimation.com/2012/05/06/nicholas-cabana/">http://www.onanimation.com/2012/05/06/nicholas-cabana/</a>
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This is my first ever animation reel, and serious dive into 3D Animation. Everyday, you learn something new---and I can't wait to start working on some new shots, and see what the future holds!Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-19493393087831528022012-03-31T10:36:00.007-07:002012-03-31T11:23:41.768-07:00Rendertest!Finished rendering the first acting shot on the reel!<br />
Huge thanks to Alex and Samir, and Genevieve for her fantastic colouscript!<br />
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We started with this idea of what we wanted for the look:<br />
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<a href="http://db.tt/K7yVL0GO"></a><br />
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To me, appeal is one of the most important principles. Your audience should be attracted to the shot just by glimpsing at a moment within the shot. If I can make someone smile or have an emotional reaction, especially when the video is paused, then I've done my job! This is something I learned early on when I was learning gesture drawing, and it's stuck by me ever since. If you aren't searching for ways to push things and really look for what feels nice, then what's the point?! I remember looking at my drawing instructor's drawings and being fascinated by how great they looked, even when it took him 10 seconds to make one. I thought to myself, if you apply those principles to every frame, imagine the possibilities! <br />
Part of appeal, to me, when animating, is readability. It's a comforting feeling to understand and be able to relate to the character, as an audience member. Ed Hooks taught me that. Feeling empathy is in itself an appealing thing! That's why we go to the movies. To escape through the characters on screen, and if we can't relate to any of them, we won't be hooked. This is why a lot of early student work sometimes feels off, or uncomfortable. The poses aren't pushed, and the emotions are lacking. Sometimes, you have no idea what the character is THINKING, regardless of the audio clip. (I like to animate the later passes with the audio turned off). A good practice is to find a frame in your shot, pause it, and ask yourself--or a friend-- "Hey, what do you think she/he is telling herself right now?" The marriage of strong posing and facial expressions should provide the base for that answer! (This is a start, because other principles that involve motion are also really important to sell appeal and emotions, like Timing!).<br />
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The eyes are VERY important. You should be able to hide the mouth and understand the character. Sean gave us wonderful lectures on eye animation at AM. Finding the appeal is a mix of how much "white" you show, and where the iris and pupils are with respect to the lids. There's a lot involved, and it takes practice. I recently discovered a great graphic novel, Lackadaisy. The artist was kind enough to post a lot of pages on her website, including some awesome reference drawings! Look at how appealing the poses and eyes are! <a href="http://lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=26">http://lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=26</a> It's this kind of stuff that I aim for, and hope to eventually achieve.<br />
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For this shot, I was very happy with the playblast (low quality set, no lights or colours) and raw animation. That had enough appeal. But when Genevieve showed me her take on what the colours could be (see the drawing), I HAD to see this shot lit! I strongly believe that the lighting, play in depth, and other cinematic tools can seriously help add appeal. Composition is just as important. When we see a movie poster, or a picture we like, why is that? Humans are drawn to certain symmetries, and asymmetries; and there are ratios we like, and some we don't. The trick is to apply these things to your work. This was the experiment, and I'm super happy with it!<br />
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(All animation done by myself, rig courtesy of AnimationMentor, modelling by Samir Mesbah, and lighting by Alex Ronco)Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-36201897204703491472012-02-17T20:45:00.000-08:002012-02-18T12:05:59.457-08:00The Finish LineThere are five weeks left. FIVE. I really never expected it to go by so fast. I've been absent from writing this blog for a very, very long time. Now that class is almost over, I'm going to start again. It was always a great learning tool--writing my thoughts about new material and animation. I shouldn't have stopped! Adam, I'm sure you'll be psyched about this one. Thanks for busting my chops. Call it nostalgia, because the end is near, but, dammit, I feel like writing! I want to make it clear how much all of it has meant to me, and the impact it's had.<br />
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Firstly, I've got to give a shout out to Bobby, Shawn, and Carlos. You guys have really made it possible for us to follow our dreams. The school has given me a whole new outlook on the industry, as well as my self. What an experience it's been. Bobby, you've always been super approachable during my stay at Animation Mentor. And you remember the individuals. That's a big deal. Your encouragement has meant a lot to me, man! I hope being a father has been nothing but a blessing so far!<br />
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I have to thank the alumni that have given their time so generously, and made me feel so comfortable with seeking out help. I look up to you guys, and your humility is inspirational. Jude, you are a total sweetheart. I can't stress that enough! Thanks for all the help, the partying, and tips :). Michelle, you rock! You were so cool about helping me out early on. I hope you're having the time of your life at Pixar. Nelson, I'm glad I met you man, it's always a blast talking with you! James and Kelly, you guys know how to have fun. Thanks for bearing with all those questions James! And I've learned a lot from you, Kelly. Fred, you're awesome man. Have a blast in Germany. You've seriously been like a pseudo mentor for me during the last few months. Here's to the beers to come! Dhar, it's always a pleasure to bump into you and touch base! Mike and Tony, you guys are nothing short of inspirational. Always willing to give a helping hand, I learned my fair share from you guys. Jarrod, your work is crazy---and your encouragement has really meant a lot to me man. Fes, you totally rock. Can't wait to see you again. Alexiss, you're a wild one! You totally knew how to make us feel like we belonged. Glad to see you animating again! Liz, we haven't chilled enough! But I'm sure we will. Congrats on Digital Domain. You deserve it. You really are an awesome creature animator! Mike (Schanbacher), you've been the best peer buddy a student can hope for! Matt, you're such a cool dude! It really meant a lot to me at the BBQ when you talked to me about my work, and took me around to introduce me to people. You really made me feel comfortable around people that I may have otherwise been intimidated by! You really included me, and I thank you for that. <br />
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The community at Animation Mentor is nothing short of incredible. I don't care what people say about online programs, this is WAY beyond that. I've had a seemingly unlimited pool of resources and help, and I've built the kind of friendships you'd think is only possible in person. In the spirit of things, this is an open letter to my classmates, and my friends. The day I work with one of you guys will be a dream come true.<br />
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Rusty. We're here. I am so thankful that I started the program at the same time as you, and that we decided to go to CTN, 7 weeks into our journey. I've found a brother, truly. Going to all those events with you was, and always will be, a total blast. I feel like I've known you since I was five. Here's to everything that awaits us in the "AM afterlife".<br />
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Zach, Matthias, and Reed. You guys blow me away. The attention to detail you have, Matt, is nuts! You're a total polishing boss. Zach, your ideas have always been so great. And the stories on vent are always hilarious. Reed, you, sir, are amazing. You're going places. Thanks for all the support and notes you've given me when I needed it!<br />
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And Alex, I don't know how you do it, man. You've got kids!! And yet you find the time to amaze everyone. Don't worry about that visa, they'll get you one. Your work is inspirational. From the very first weeks I was always looking at your stuff, and learning. Manu, your energy and enthousiasm keeps all of us going. And your work speaks for itself, and reflects that attitude. Belen, it has been an absolute delight to see you grow as an animator. As of class 3, you really started to blow me away, and I look at the things you come up with nowadays and it's just crazy inspirational. You have such a great sense of appeal! Jamie and Ellen, I always look foreword to seeing you guys. You've got to be some of the most entertaining peeps around. I'm really thankful for you guys! Dana, you are crazy. In the BEST of ways. Thanks for all the hard work and dedication you've shown us. Jane, your hard work is really paying off! Svein, man, your work has gotten to such a crazy level of polish! I can't wait to chill with you again! Scott, thanks for the support and honest feedback. And Bob, thanks for being, well, Bob! You've been one of the most entertaining people at AM, keep up the awesome work :).<br />
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Ross, thanks for everything. You have been a big brother to me. I mean it. You are always there to support me, and I never tire of those texts and calls. I look up to you, I really do. I always look forward to going out with you and Rusty! If Ross is my big brother, I'd have to say you're easily the big sis', Alexa. I can't wait to see you guys down in Germany. Frankie, you're really something, you know that? I'm so happy you got that job at DD. The life of the party, but an incredibly hard working animator when playtime is over. You never fail to help, and those random texts are always entertaining. Agnes, you really take the time to help everyone. And your work is absolutely beautiful. (And your pencil tests are craaazzzy!). Thierry, I loved getting feedback from you! Thanos, I really hope to chill with you in Greece. Jen-Pin, thanks for all the notes you gave me. Can you believe it's almost over?! Boat (Thawatchai, for those who don't know), my gosh you're inspiring. You have an amazing style, and I have learned SO much from you. Aris, you're a master of cartoony animation!<br />
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Daniel, It was great to see you in VanCity. Keep going. I'm so glad you're back in action, cus damn you're good! Your animations are really entertaining. Thanks for all the random posts :P Dono, we need to hang out more--you're friggin' awesome! Good times ahead, i'm sure.<br />
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Botir and Stefanie, you guys were always giving me hell--in the best of ways. Stef, I could always count on you to kick my butt and make me feel like crap about my shots! Thanks for keeping me in line. That's something I needed. I am always so thankful for your brutal honesty; which is matched only by how incredibly sweet you are as a person. You have always been there to to lean on when things got hard, or when I wasn't sure---and that's everything. Botir: we always joke around and tease each other, but I think tonight I'm gonna take some time and get serious with you. You may not know this yet, but you're an incredible animator. You've improved beyond belief, and when you give us notes---you sound like a supervisor! You have this way of seeing movement and understanding it in such depth, it's crazy. You may be the young one in our group, but you've proven to be wise beyond your years. Don't doubt yourself, Botir. I'm sure there are many people ten years older than you that would look up to your work.<br />
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Marshall, you're a star. Since you started the program, I've been following your stuff. I may not have always commented, but I always watched your new stuff! I'm so happy you'll be graduating with us. Adam, your work has been stellar since the beginning. AM was totally the right choice, and I'm glad I convinced you!<br />
Here's a shoutout to my Montreal gang. Sebastien, I can always count on you to bounce ideas. It's such a pleasure working with you! Julie, you are a superb animator! I'm completely mesmerized by the quality you put out. Max and Sam, I can't stress enough how awesome it is to meet up and relax and brainstorm. Christine, You still have a long time left in the program, hang in there! Your work is great!!<br />
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I don't want to give one person more credit than another, but there is one that I absolutely cannot thank enough. Cheryl, I don't know where I would stand in this program without your support. If it wasn't for your constant encouragement, we would not have had the courage to do the things we've done, and speak to the people we've spoken to. You have been, and always will be, my West Coast Mom. You gave us the confidence to "go for it" and believe in ourselves in a way that I think no one else could have. I think I can speak on behalf of almost everyone when I say that every student that has dealt with you has fallen in love with your charisma, sincerity, and joie-de-vivre (love of life! For the anglophones) within minutes. I mean that. You've never failed to support me, and that has meant the world to me.<br />
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I can only hope to give back to a school that, in a mere year and a half, has given me so much. Confidence, unparalleled knowledge, support, and, above all else, friendship. I've had the time of my life. Thanks guys.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFplYYxjbacYWVpCVYq4mBEOBj7e5PiziVFXODl6ZrhDyqUm9Tk1NSdJg4mELNy3ztfGuYa3t4dhnpUB7-uFbRwqev2M5KBGYbjx6Mb_HndQDpKyX1CflXr46M_E1JqH6c53lf9vlfSio/s1600/382596_10150383921964072_700634071_8546856_537457030_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFplYYxjbacYWVpCVYq4mBEOBj7e5PiziVFXODl6ZrhDyqUm9Tk1NSdJg4mELNy3ztfGuYa3t4dhnpUB7-uFbRwqev2M5KBGYbjx6Mb_HndQDpKyX1CflXr46M_E1JqH6c53lf9vlfSio/s320/382596_10150383921964072_700634071_8546856_537457030_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-36910641698885825922011-01-27T10:20:00.000-08:002011-01-27T10:20:00.493-08:00On my way to San FranI'm currently waiting at the airport, anxiously waiting to end up in San Francisco later tonight. This morning, Rusty texted me that his flight was cancelled, and that he was transferred to a different flight. That meant one thing: we weren't gonna be on the same connecting flight---which we had planned! Not too long after, I got a similar call from my airline. Turns out I'm transferred to CHI instead of Phili, and I'll only arrive in San Fran at 11pm.<br />
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And here I was, planning to have SOME time to work on the polishing phase for my assignment in the hotel room tonight! Well, looks like I'm gonna pull an all-nighter again!<br />
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Tomorrow Rusty, Ellen, Belen, Jamie, Fes, Dana, and I are volunteering at AM HQ to help out for the Grad's industry night! (well Dana works at AM, so she's not really volunteering :P). Can't wait to see everyone again!<br />
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When I get to the hotel, I'll post a more thorough update, as well as my take on these first few weeks of class 2!Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-14849815671946540612011-01-13T03:12:00.000-08:002011-01-13T03:22:10.170-08:00Reflection on Class 1It's 5 AM, and I can't sleep (A pattern of late...). Class 2 (Psychology of Body Mechanics) began last week, and as of now I've got no reason to continue this hiatus from my blog! Since I can't sleep, I figure this is the perfect time for a fresh start.<br />
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I'd like to begin with a reflection on my experiences at Animation Mentor thus far, because I know that, years from now, I'll want to look back on this!<br />
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After three months, I feel extremely confident. I've gotta admit how nervous I was starting AM--worried I wasn't ready, or that my work wouldn't keep up to standards. A lot of students come into AM with a lot of prior experience, and that can be intimidating for someone who has virtually none, like myself! Today, I know I'm ready to move on. The lectures were spot on, and Royce was a great mentor. I learned about the foundations and how important they are. I'm now ALWAYS thinking about the basics! You can't build anything without raw materials.<br />
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Three months go by quickly, but it's felt like ages! In three months, I've improved tenfold, and I've grown an even deeper appreciation for Animation.<br />
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I have met incredible, inspirational people; both online and in person! All this possible because of AnimationMentor. Early on in the program, a bunch of us class 1 students formed a tight clique, and since then, most of us have kept in touch everyday. There is no competition. Each and every one of us thrives to make the other stronger. We push each other's limits and, in the process, improve as a group. We brainstorm, we discuss, and we learn! I'm incredibly thankful for you guys!<br />
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In Los Angeles, I met Rusty, Jamie, Ellen, Belen, and Dana in person. We met with Alumni that made us feel so welcome--and made me realize that I actually can achieve my dream! Its intimidating when you first talk to these people, because they now work at the biggest studios in the world: Pixar, Dreamworks, Bluesky---you name it! But you come to realize that they're just like you, and they share the same passion. The Alumni keep in touch with us from time-to-time, and its great to see how happy they are working at the big studios. And I can't forget Cheryl, the student Administrator. What an incredible woman. Here is a joyous person, full of life (and stories!), and filled with this undeniable passion for what AM represents, and, of course, works so hard for the students. And Bobby and Carlos are such great people! I'm so thankful and proud to be a part of this family.<br />
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To top things off, I've been invited with Rusty (and the girls, but they already live there!) to fly over to the AM Headquarters and volunteer for industry night for this year's graduating class. I'll be in San Fran on the 27th of January !! Can't wait to see everyone again. (thanks Cheryl!)<br />
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Thanks for such a great start: Rusty, Botir, Reed, Matthias, Steff, Svein, Alex, Jamie, Ellen, Dana, Belen, Frankie, Rana, Aris, Jen, Ross and Fes! And thanks Cheryl, Bobby, Jude, Nelson, and Michelle for being so darn inspirational. You guys all rock!!<br />
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And Rusty, the day we work in the same studio, wouldn't that be something?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14417928/newProg_nicC.mov">http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14417928/newProg_nicC.mov</a></div>Here's my un-rendered progress reel. Thanks for being such a kickass mentor, Royce!Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-69844452964248143232010-11-29T19:17:00.000-08:002010-11-29T19:17:41.094-08:00Tangled....at the Disney Studios TheatreI almost forgot! As a bonus to top the incredible weekend off, we got invited to see "Tangled" at the Disney Studios, couple days before its release.<br />
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What an experience. What a priveledge. I can't describe the feeling, but I'll try my best. Here we are, prospective students who dream of working in the industry, who dream of bringing stuff to life, suddenly at the Disney Studios, THE studios, where it all began, about to see Tangled, which is about to put Disney back on the map as an animation superpower. It was amazing. We arrived at the studios and had to wait a while because they were checking ID's. After that, we had to trek through the studio back-lot to arrive at the theatre, which is essentially a screening room. Once there, it felt like airport security. They had scanners for cameras and we had to give in any electronics, understandably. But, from that point on, it was just...wow. The theatre was cozy, with old-school red seats, and bright red silk curtain, reminiscent of the old cinema rooms. While we waited for the movie to start, Disney music, and tangled music, was playing to hype up the ambiance.<br />
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When the movie started, they played the Steamboat Willie overture, and that really got to me. I thought to myself, "Wow. I'm at Disney right now. I'm at freaking DISNEY!! So much history was behind this place, and seeing the Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse show up on screen, announcing Tangled as the 50th motion picture, the feeling was unbelievable.<br />
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And the movie was just MIND BLOWING! It felt like a golden age Disney film, only it was in CG. Maximus, the horse, was, to me, a revolution in animation. I HAVE to buy the bluray and frame by frame everything!!! You guys have to go see the movie. Its a game changer for Disney.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2AdY3mRd1YXkIAKEYXz0wHyxeP8ZNcTd8Ka33ZlNH2uZ5gKBpjfL14me3ivmi6OqTtam2yZbLYkhe-11FahXXAOJrg5u9jp7Xy5wm_xH6tH_xp9ZbSDbCZdGBuAD1OGsvqW3F_hauWnc/s1600/IMG_3641.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2AdY3mRd1YXkIAKEYXz0wHyxeP8ZNcTd8Ka33ZlNH2uZ5gKBpjfL14me3ivmi6OqTtam2yZbLYkhe-11FahXXAOJrg5u9jp7Xy5wm_xH6tH_xp9ZbSDbCZdGBuAD1OGsvqW3F_hauWnc/s320/IMG_3641.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha1FtsJPckMjBJU-NsopWRMWJ1yLMuy0kRQxddb2_x6FMSsJq9bUPJXN9HxhWMYUb7z70vgqxZD97wuhB049_C2AfrOzvRPmkaOP_Qnzi1aFCVUGuZ9Y13oPyTdhQ6479mHGnT4orrS5s/s1600/IMG_3644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha1FtsJPckMjBJU-NsopWRMWJ1yLMuy0kRQxddb2_x6FMSsJq9bUPJXN9HxhWMYUb7z70vgqxZD97wuhB049_C2AfrOzvRPmkaOP_Qnzi1aFCVUGuZ9Y13oPyTdhQ6479mHGnT4orrS5s/s320/IMG_3644.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-25204884792037216332010-11-29T18:43:00.000-08:002010-11-30T01:20:32.854-08:00CTN-X 2010: Animation Expo in Burbank, CaliforniaHey guys. Man it's been a while! Sorry for the absence, but it's been so busy around here. I have a lot of writing to do in order to catch up!<br />
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Firstly, I'd like to talk about my experiences at CTNx this year. For my birthday, I flew over to Los Angeles, and head over to Burbank, where the annual conference and expo is held. I don't regret it one bit--quite the contrary. The experience assured me that there is no school or community more wonderful than AnimationMentor, and there is no industry cooler, exciting, and awesome than animation!!<br />
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I had planned to go early on with Rusty Gray, a classmate in Class 1 (mentor Tim Crawfurd). We've got different mentors, but have been "hanging out" (on skype, ventrilo, and other internet mediums). Its crazy how quickly you befriend people from AM. We all have the same passions, and that's probably a big factor.<br />
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So, originally, we had decided it was best to concentrate on our studies and go to events next year...but after seeing the attendance list and the speakers, we couldn't resist!! I've always dreamed of seeing L.A., and this was a great opportunity. Long story short, we ended up being 5 class 1 students in the same hotel room, and we all left as close friends.<br />
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Meeting each other was funny. Its like there was no transition, we just already knew each other, but had never seen each other in physical space. In essence, there was no awkwardness, and it was like "sup!".<br />
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It was such a great idea for the five of us to share a hotel room. We had this feeling of companionship given the fact that we were only 8 weeks into the program--simple class 1 babies! That brought us so much closer, and it made Bobby really happy to see another example of what he dreamed his school would achieve: bringing animators closer and building incredible friendships and networking. (He was also super happy to see so many class 1's go out of their way to come see the AM community).<br />
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So here we were: Rusty Gray, Ellen Michelson, Belen Gil-Palacios, Jamie Ryan, and myself, at the Burbank Airport Marriot Hotel, ready for an amazing weekend.<br />
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We really didn't know what to expect, and we thought that as Class 1 students, we would possibly feel left out. Boy were we wrong---oh so wrong! If anything this helped us! Where a lot of people had attended as individuals, we were "The group". Everyone was truly amazing. We got to hang out with Victor Navone, meet Carlos Baena, talk with Bobby Beck, and the whole crew! We had amazing talks with Cheryl Hoke, the student administrator, and an incredibly inspiring person. The people at animation mentor care so much about student life and education.<br />
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There is such an amazing sense of belonging when you're part of the AM clique. I would pass by "random" people wearing the Spike logo on their t-shirts, and when we would spot each other's shirts, we'd have this understanding, nod, and smile. Their was no awkwardness with anyone. Everyone seems to have this love for what the school represents: following our dreams, and achieving them. We met so many alumni and co-students!<br />
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The parties and AM events were great! It was a chance for people to meet and greet with students and alumni. It's funny how many times you'd run into someone, see their demo reels (normally on an iPad, go figure!) and be like "oh, YOU did this! I loved this shot!" . At the party at Lucy's 51, Bobby talked with us for what seemed to be ages, and he was just such a cool person. This guy cares so much about animation and teaching it!<br />
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During the hotel party, we met so many great people. Among them were Jude Brownbill, who was, and still is a "Spotlight Alumni". She was a total sweetheart, and incredibly humble. We also got to meet Danny Gonzales and Cat Hicks, who work at Pixar with Jude, and they were sooo cool! I spoke to Nelson Brown for a bit, and we talked about what it was like to start work at Dreamworks, and animate on Megamind. What awesome people. Here we were, surrounded by happy people living their dreams.<br />
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We all went to eat at the grill attached to the hotel and spoke about all things animation! What an experience.<br />
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I'm also forgetting Dana, who is a class 1 student, and also an intern at AnimationMentor, working as part of the video team. She's a funny and energetic person, and it was great to meet her too.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipXAvd-BcL-it3scxtMhOKl-MjlZTP5P3vVdhwqM9j1fm4ABnOvLFSc03vi75x-7lyu6bvIKum3FKHo8j92aW0Ry5DKpZFDx_1O8DLBcZDNY1LEfnYwjAnSU07NnLIYGKfcGJiziMCgjo/s1600/IMG_2825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipXAvd-BcL-it3scxtMhOKl-MjlZTP5P3vVdhwqM9j1fm4ABnOvLFSc03vi75x-7lyu6bvIKum3FKHo8j92aW0Ry5DKpZFDx_1O8DLBcZDNY1LEfnYwjAnSU07NnLIYGKfcGJiziMCgjo/s320/IMG_2825.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH93cp8Q9ELaUiPocXoHAagDleP_e7qmy3w3H3CPf9mMXacvcVjWKVwHKs2I2ZtairafYuB12k5o-5iXdCwbz16XuctPYiKy6ZErKtiq0oZdLNFBqMWty2sF_epeEogf-u8PFDCSh9_L4/s1600/IMG_2973.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH93cp8Q9ELaUiPocXoHAagDleP_e7qmy3w3H3CPf9mMXacvcVjWKVwHKs2I2ZtairafYuB12k5o-5iXdCwbz16XuctPYiKy6ZErKtiq0oZdLNFBqMWty2sF_epeEogf-u8PFDCSh9_L4/s320/IMG_2973.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> from left-right: Michelle, Belen, Jude, Myself, Rusty, Jamie</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheDljjmZsNWrefbbf52Y6BL2dSkBq4XCAK-NmHzpaXrIiCwSjaT0fzNg_44E8nv7lbZnISsQCbP-vhiL5qP1qzEI7zxFmN7gZnVcBK_8j8QU2nV-nbDIvh0f8QLdTRwcYRu3tNVvlQWTw/s1600/IMG_2979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheDljjmZsNWrefbbf52Y6BL2dSkBq4XCAK-NmHzpaXrIiCwSjaT0fzNg_44E8nv7lbZnISsQCbP-vhiL5qP1qzEI7zxFmN7gZnVcBK_8j8QU2nV-nbDIvh0f8QLdTRwcYRu3tNVvlQWTw/s320/IMG_2979.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Victor Navone!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirFDTmGCY2lQ0Es7tStrVSLfgAMURqxsvz18aEWtPJBkTLyxB49IvnjS3txoXQ-HqHoB_FElJHa_DYAxQdR6ZtivX5OTUIn9M2iTM7XOmpzldSM8yepAA6hQYf5PxqNi81fzyoclvJxZ4/s1600/IMG_2982.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirFDTmGCY2lQ0Es7tStrVSLfgAMURqxsvz18aEWtPJBkTLyxB49IvnjS3txoXQ-HqHoB_FElJHa_DYAxQdR6ZtivX5OTUIn9M2iTM7XOmpzldSM8yepAA6hQYf5PxqNi81fzyoclvJxZ4/s320/IMG_2982.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30OJz9yIr36JURhTeB0QU2xYxJPMR75Xul96bWTljIBoGXMf2KSnFt5kFK91jqpS7F5PR1LZekxovKpc3Rn_Zx5t-DT-D3E25T196Rj8wjrXzoNEQex-5LoLVW7DNe5GVhqWS07GO9fQ/s1600/IMG_3056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30OJz9yIr36JURhTeB0QU2xYxJPMR75Xul96bWTljIBoGXMf2KSnFt5kFK91jqpS7F5PR1LZekxovKpc3Rn_Zx5t-DT-D3E25T196Rj8wjrXzoNEQex-5LoLVW7DNe5GVhqWS07GO9fQ/s320/IMG_3056.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The group with Carlos Baena</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3SN-YaiRVgZcyVJC-EWLq8JQH1aEXSskIdNg6HLdlst6MpTwHYNIKRQnavWcrS0DcOM3xLvDYKyKn_5zdiPnYST9dJJ76GLz0FXW2oPk68baFnF5pV_2EcvKBwA36Qq0ie78ObXbsi9A/s1600/IMG_3342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3SN-YaiRVgZcyVJC-EWLq8JQH1aEXSskIdNg6HLdlst6MpTwHYNIKRQnavWcrS0DcOM3xLvDYKyKn_5zdiPnYST9dJJ76GLz0FXW2oPk68baFnF5pV_2EcvKBwA36Qq0ie78ObXbsi9A/s320/IMG_3342.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> An absolute legend, Disney master-animator Andreas Deja, giving some insight to Rusty and Belen</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6PbZ10uQrsxLKXMb8Y408C3SI0GqzqFI0Y0lnEXWiJl8cKeX3fI6nF3S6U4_rmc93pgeSb5iQoEJ6jNoxhDuhVBytjrFiGmbAmJ0fhtTppKU_dCi31HN2A1uMNM8M69hAug9wlUtG3U4/s1600/IMG_3367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6PbZ10uQrsxLKXMb8Y408C3SI0GqzqFI0Y0lnEXWiJl8cKeX3fI6nF3S6U4_rmc93pgeSb5iQoEJ6jNoxhDuhVBytjrFiGmbAmJ0fhtTppKU_dCi31HN2A1uMNM8M69hAug9wlUtG3U4/s320/IMG_3367.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The gang, with Cheryl Hoke</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUedr9fAvaAzj4pd08gD6QC-dsaL9Bfn-h2T6ywQJRrnaZian0ztAkQLyckiJ3UH8DMovl69avQIH2hCzFC3URhOotDSkkoY1z_eYZMTvmqjdPh4udf1zC09nJ_JJWWWTUlbAg0Cn80Q/s1600/IMG_3072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUedr9fAvaAzj4pd08gD6QC-dsaL9Bfn-h2T6ywQJRrnaZian0ztAkQLyckiJ3UH8DMovl69avQIH2hCzFC3URhOotDSkkoY1z_eYZMTvmqjdPh4udf1zC09nJ_JJWWWTUlbAg0Cn80Q/s320/IMG_3072.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> us with Andreas Deja</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1SAbZWieaxM6_wKAH9EfgIYo4YPAWIdd5qv92kJgEgIHxHr0_cf_D3I1uKQxHDgobI020V2yh2DAvG427845cmasL3itV3-f0KwinIrHIbak9mtJY18E0G9DCkrBcSOs_8oXUJaFFOg/s1600/IMG_3149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1SAbZWieaxM6_wKAH9EfgIYo4YPAWIdd5qv92kJgEgIHxHr0_cf_D3I1uKQxHDgobI020V2yh2DAvG427845cmasL3itV3-f0KwinIrHIbak9mtJY18E0G9DCkrBcSOs_8oXUJaFFOg/s320/IMG_3149.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Bobby Beck, AnimationMentor founder and former Pixar animator</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWLywf7JFRNuTuX-_SUj3_AnYTrBQrYr6fB4NCtNFKigVPqwF9SHxRlLs6dG_r2SFzC9f6Gz-prN-xy06tBuaSSLjUPW4vvOr2TbJgFuAPm1EQwHj7xg5I27vJy2X6VTrrBQU2NiXqZaM/s1600/IMG_3527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWLywf7JFRNuTuX-_SUj3_AnYTrBQrYr6fB4NCtNFKigVPqwF9SHxRlLs6dG_r2SFzC9f6Gz-prN-xy06tBuaSSLjUPW4vvOr2TbJgFuAPm1EQwHj7xg5I27vJy2X6VTrrBQU2NiXqZaM/s320/IMG_3527.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Myself, Cat Hicks, Belen, and Danny Gonzales</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF4_XsFCNsDdpwCEp7J_72fgLGP9xMGN9KqA2fwyGO7R7b-uleJYdqZ3tFluOAhcc1hbMlxVs_fQqKdwbIbNWjbA5gRYsjHp3CHU8EkCM2KB6UjekJErO0iqIZ_KN2IbWCl5pXDeHk0yc/s1600/IMG_3532.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF4_XsFCNsDdpwCEp7J_72fgLGP9xMGN9KqA2fwyGO7R7b-uleJYdqZ3tFluOAhcc1hbMlxVs_fQqKdwbIbNWjbA5gRYsjHp3CHU8EkCM2KB6UjekJErO0iqIZ_KN2IbWCl5pXDeHk0yc/s320/IMG_3532.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> AM students, always working...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAksz7RW647vH3Eog_NURZ9ObOCwx2hsObTaRDdcILZcUyxBvbOaU221U28SW5TH3OFn1nBCugPYFLzL3bkjiABWTMycE4PFMUoMw5aFtx0Kfc9CtjpZpvm1JA60Eo7kA-NzR6kL0l6FE/s1600/IMG_3577.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAksz7RW647vH3Eog_NURZ9ObOCwx2hsObTaRDdcILZcUyxBvbOaU221U28SW5TH3OFn1nBCugPYFLzL3bkjiABWTMycE4PFMUoMw5aFtx0Kfc9CtjpZpvm1JA60Eo7kA-NzR6kL0l6FE/s320/IMG_3577.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Eric Goldberg. THE Eric Goldberg, doing an animation demo. He's the guy behind the Genie in Aladdin.</div>Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-7866352296136769742010-10-31T03:39:00.000-07:002010-10-31T03:39:29.003-07:00Week 5: Antics, Squash, and StretchSo far I think I can say Animation Mentor weeks are nuts in every good way possible, without fear of being rebutted anytime soon. They're also challenging, and exhausting---particularly this week.<br />
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The focus was on the importance of anticipation, and applying squash and stretch. Shawn hosted the lecture. It truly is amazing how much more complex than what I thought these principles are. Anticipation has always been a no-brainer for me. It is the mechanical buildup of force, and it doesn't make sense to omit antics, unless, of course, you do so with intent and for comedic purpose(or anything). A human jumping, for example, will squash down to anticipate the jump: he will build up the energy required to fire himself up in the air.<br />
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But anticipation can be so much more than a boxer winding back for a punch. In the lecture, they talked about how even a blink can anticipate an action. We have at our disposal a tool that can be so powerful in its subtlety.<br />
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Look at this example I came accross this week:<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT5TKk1EqG0&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT5TKk1EqG0&feature=related</a><br />
This is part of a bunch of marketing videos for Disney's "Tangled" (which looks unbelievable, really pushing 3D animation!). <br />
At the very end of the clip, Rapunzel's hair falls on Flynn, and the horse laughs. Look closely, if you can, at what happens before the laugh. The horse has a very subtle, sudden shrug before bursting into a laugh. That's what gets us laughing. The punchline is being built up by the shrug, which tells us it's gonna be one hell of laugh before we know it.<br />
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An example I hadn't thought of, and proof of just how complex this stuff is, is anticipation in walks. If we look at what happens with the waist, it's incredible how this principle applies to everything. When a person steps into the next foot, his waist will move back and twist in the opposite direction just before lifting the foot of that leg, and then travel along with it as we expect. This blew me away. There's an explanation for it too. Locomotion requires weight shifts. The waist pulls and twists back to peel weight off the planted foot, kind of like pulling on it. Once that happens, the foot is triggered to lift, and the waist can now move forward. So, we can think of the waist as a sort of pulley.<br />
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The lecture was also about Squash and Stretch, because it relates to Anticipation. We learned about creating different compression zones in the body, like expanding and compressing the legs. This is considered squashing and stretching. It's really everywhere! We can use the line of action and silhouette to convey SS.<br />
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Finally, they left us with an amazing tip, which I used a lot in my latest assignment. <b>It is much easier to push an action too far at first, and then tone it down.</b> If you end up deciding later that you want a bigger action, but you've been animating small actions, you'll end up with too much counter-animating and graph cleaning to do.<br />
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Royce gave us a great Q/A. He spent a lot of time answering questions, much to our delight, about what it is like to work at Pixar. He also went through some shots he did and showed us his ways of applying squash and stretch, and the importance of rythm.<br />
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<b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">ASSIGNMENTS</span></u></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzjQVTK97YMf30DKb753w3ZsNLa696C8zVi59s5sSpSdphiW3-Jnr7g8v4jSSaDzunrAakx0rYkunPRo6Jktg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My approach was to great a strong sense of rythm and beat to the animation. I spent a lot of time working out the spacing and the timing, as well as the squashing of the ball. Planning this shot was hell! I had writers block, so to speak. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikG69N0cFEFVdcXbcB8Lu_67prIgOhp-LQuGIsQNhaTiPI3H9ZLSVkLei7dLSgg_7As7b_urAePF3mStpMyUtGvAidt5LL6LDIRD-XDiR0jklZiUDyHtQZ0h0QLciQwUtRq_zjOs1g_M4/s1600/NicC_week5_sketchbook3_05.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikG69N0cFEFVdcXbcB8Lu_67prIgOhp-LQuGIsQNhaTiPI3H9ZLSVkLei7dLSgg_7As7b_urAePF3mStpMyUtGvAidt5LL6LDIRD-XDiR0jklZiUDyHtQZ0h0QLciQwUtRq_zjOs1g_M4/s320/NicC_week5_sketchbook3_05.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is my posing homework. We had to portray "Devastation"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLiDOtirAjACS7tSMqK12OdMS25b1kNQr0zcUMI3bgQzvekGNNO5lVBSIJPn9BKqIL68R-Erc7RNm60cs8KczigOnWgM-i2RUmnGOQz6h2Pv-OsdTP8bq11l3rhOumX5sZok80luY5Kv4/s1600/NicC_week5_sketchbook3_golf_02.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLiDOtirAjACS7tSMqK12OdMS25b1kNQr0zcUMI3bgQzvekGNNO5lVBSIJPn9BKqIL68R-Erc7RNm60cs8KczigOnWgM-i2RUmnGOQz6h2Pv-OsdTP8bq11l3rhOumX5sZok80luY5Kv4/s320/NicC_week5_sketchbook3_golf_02.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw8b7Z-2pt5O-5ODIQIKxKGmwRXvWNH8kqoivqTFs7SMeObg921d7UQ-s-vEzqiYdFm1AyjtwefqTPHrJid-g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here is my revision for last weeks assignment.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Maybe I wrote a bit too much this time around! Thanks for reading, and I'll post my revisions for the week after word from my mentor.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cheers!</div>Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-36702776690724358562010-10-26T21:19:00.000-07:002010-10-26T21:20:46.373-07:00Animation Station.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Replicas and goodies on my desk.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMBXe6xsnPLbfW_33b75uJWcLoK_yiJEhpxxgbHTFpb-ua5UYIgBv_0SwKjF4T_pj9r4Gl3PFEnyB1Unjdm44xd8Q5aS98ZAu-6daefOGjlC0OimWyxSnUEWVS0JFkNQQR-oqY33Bwl0I/s1600/Picture+36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMBXe6xsnPLbfW_33b75uJWcLoK_yiJEhpxxgbHTFpb-ua5UYIgBv_0SwKjF4T_pj9r4Gl3PFEnyB1Unjdm44xd8Q5aS98ZAu-6daefOGjlC0OimWyxSnUEWVS0JFkNQQR-oqY33Bwl0I/s320/Picture+36.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Saw this Steamboat Willie, hand carved, and I HAD to get it.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioP1iqq97yfpIh0SJeirrtr-WK-tDkNnWq8T5iyaXj5WAB324YrqneMqAq6IEw_79G4GNtxjMUit6S7J9FzcXeylVBahmxQe8Z2YSN8DzIfzCn_9aXtqYRjyje_8eAK_4xuZGJQSEN0F4/s1600/Picture+39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioP1iqq97yfpIh0SJeirrtr-WK-tDkNnWq8T5iyaXj5WAB324YrqneMqAq6IEw_79G4GNtxjMUit6S7J9FzcXeylVBahmxQe8Z2YSN8DzIfzCn_9aXtqYRjyje_8eAK_4xuZGJQSEN0F4/s320/Picture+39.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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The all-important Animator's (TRUE) Survival Kit: The espresso Machine!! (I figured I should get one that had some funk to it ;) )<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMzAgP_YcY8f9uK9Hlb-viBUvSPubw3UODk3NC-PJLxwvu_psz-6Ty5J2KYoLUPOyBsthIs6DE33r_G-p479JSgpcqOdg5SM4BBxyjN3ePD_DSW7DoIbNrNG7k94Grm4nY8Bne21GVw0Y/s1600/Picture+41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMzAgP_YcY8f9uK9Hlb-viBUvSPubw3UODk3NC-PJLxwvu_psz-6Ty5J2KYoLUPOyBsthIs6DE33r_G-p479JSgpcqOdg5SM4BBxyjN3ePD_DSW7DoIbNrNG7k94Grm4nY8Bne21GVw0Y/s320/Picture+41.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-69137840704312304492010-10-24T23:20:00.000-07:002010-10-24T23:20:40.871-07:00For Old Time's Sake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This was an assignment I did last year while studying at Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. During second year, students are forced to try a lot of experimental styles. We had to do a short animation using charcoal, under-the-camera. For those of you who don't know what that means: I had to erase and draw over every single frame! Enjoy (it's not entirely finished)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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At the time, I dreaded the idea of doing this. Looking back on it, I certainly learned a lot about principles. When you have no way of testing your shot before doing it, you have to learn to have a feeling for what you're going to end up with. It allowed me to think and plan a lot before I went ahead and drew my frames, and to trust my gut instincts on timing and the fundamentals!Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-47107999591240668812010-10-22T17:55:00.000-07:002010-10-23T21:03:33.985-07:00Week 4 updatequick revision after comments from a lot of students:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw0w6RTPV6SmkXtGGiiZ02tv_PijIWvtzlfYwlagX1alM1GBiDqXryiutlQcaZG0z3_yCA4nCvSuQRYP9yJ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-22282366477585868612010-10-22T00:20:00.000-07:002010-10-22T00:22:10.240-07:00Week 4: Heavy and Light balls (and week3 revisions)Just finished my assignments and I'm about to pass out! This week was just awesome. Shawn Kelly held a q/a session and based on his 2 hour talk with us (yeah, he went an hour overtime) I've concluded that this is gonna be the funnest job in the world!<br />
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Our focus was specifically on timing and spacing for Week 4. Carlos Baena gave a great lecture on different ways to approach timing and how much it makes a difference in your shot. I learned a truck load working on this assignment. We had to animate two balls that contrast in weight. I decided to make them interact in a fun way, and it was quite a challenge. I spent so much time on the graph editor trying to clean out the spacing and make it feel natural.<br />
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Royce gave a great Q/A. He took us through an approach to animating bouncing balls and how to tackle the curves to clean up the shot, and what details to pay attention to.<br />
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Because we don't yet have a squash channel on the ball rig, and Royce doesn't want us to use one, I lowered the beach ball into the ground and forced the balls into each other, or walls, on impact for one frame to give the feeling of squashing.<br />
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WEEK 3 REVISION:<br />
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I've never had a teacher that goes into so much detail when it comes to correcting, critiquing, and guiding me to push my animation to be the best it can be. Even this week he admits he was very picky, but our class just loves that. He's got the Pixar touch ! I'm really learning to look at my shots in a different way, and how important small details are. Maybe you don't see those extra two frames, but you sure feel them! In the end, you'll get that extra "oumf" factor.<br />
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's my corrected basketball:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And for my pose, Royce suggested I be less forceful with the silhouette, because I sacrifice a lot of force in the pose by doing so. As long as the pose remains clear. The body was a bit off balance, so I rotated the spine to the screen-right a bit. I pushed the left arm in to give a stronger "Yes!" feeling, and I straightened out the arm holding the club to give more power, among other changes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_N-CsE6IePc0HWefY55gDxZW2-QjClpufRLSRrW-dEPeTzBKqE8wHg3wajUgI5fs-1Ugfvir2aYRnHBlmAS_VphNHGE96qw0qjRwwgSyYg7eJRklTyiaODvgJKicRex9ZCUKxYhMuWmE/s1600/v2.2_revsion2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_N-CsE6IePc0HWefY55gDxZW2-QjClpufRLSRrW-dEPeTzBKqE8wHg3wajUgI5fs-1Ugfvir2aYRnHBlmAS_VphNHGE96qw0qjRwwgSyYg7eJRklTyiaODvgJKicRex9ZCUKxYhMuWmE/s320/v2.2_revsion2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-67971991582013709832010-10-16T21:21:00.000-07:002010-10-17T01:51:40.379-07:00Week 3: Planning & Blocking methodsThis week we learned about different ways to plan out a shot, and the importance of doing so. We also learned a lot about different blocking methods and how it relates to CG.<br />
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Our main assignment was to do a 50-100fr bouncing ball that felt like a basketball. Seems basic enough, but it was a lot harder than you'd think! The arcs are easy enough to figure out--the real challenge is the timing and spacing. Here's what I got:<br />
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I learned a great deal doing this shot (and I'm sure I'll learn a lot more when Royce takes a swing at it!). An interesting thing was having the wall there.<br />
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Originally, my ball was unobstructed, but I was forcing the stop in order to keep the ball in the shot. There was this really nice post from a capus mentor that helped a lot. A common mistake--my mistake-- is to have a nice feeling off the start, but then to force a feeling that the mass of the ball changes dramatically. You lead the audience on to accept that the ball is a certain weight, but after a couple of bounces, it seems to get WAY heavier. Here was my first attempt:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After looking into this problem, I decided to add a wall to solve the issue of keeping the ball in the shot. When the ball hits the wall, I treated it as if the wall became the floor (when looking at the horizontal translation curves in the Graph Editor). It makes no sense for the ball to slow down before hitting the wall, so I made sure to break the tangents and bring them close together. However, when the ball hits, it is going downward. The friction of the wall is directed upwards to oppose the motion of the ball. So, instead of keeping the vertical speed of the ball the same, I lowered it just a tiny bit! I also took away from the horizontal speed after hitting the wall. Here's my final product:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lastly, our Posing assignment this week was excitement: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzbebBEKr88AA67T44E8rs3gwXseKF-iVM8K6nB1Nf9BUB7UDwhyphenhyphenonllVryc6SERtf5wChatmYZAg2V2vUR95EevVKmYGVVXnRtA89cDmZeo4f_2wvLHxn84f61h2akbSRX9cmijoMOCU/s1600/NicCabana_week3_sketchbook2-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzbebBEKr88AA67T44E8rs3gwXseKF-iVM8K6nB1Nf9BUB7UDwhyphenhyphenonllVryc6SERtf5wChatmYZAg2V2vUR95EevVKmYGVVXnRtA89cDmZeo4f_2wvLHxn84f61h2akbSRX9cmijoMOCU/s320/NicCabana_week3_sketchbook2-2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcggHsKCf5tqHa_hR2NR3L885gHwnUgnUBdRQhMg8chRAOqmirbJNPQ_zRQALy8UL3ZkXdY-a1gvaqpTN9oxFqCbOD6HUioLwW9nperdn4L5BnEzPcRvqqCk01MvFurFs5M2vzYPh_L3c/s1600/v2.2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcggHsKCf5tqHa_hR2NR3L885gHwnUgnUBdRQhMg8chRAOqmirbJNPQ_zRQALy8UL3ZkXdY-a1gvaqpTN9oxFqCbOD6HUioLwW9nperdn4L5BnEzPcRvqqCk01MvFurFs5M2vzYPh_L3c/s320/v2.2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Hole in one! I think his head and eyeline could be better, but let's see what Royce thinks!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-72602169925441147722010-10-12T20:45:00.000-07:002010-10-12T22:48:54.755-07:00Week 2: RevisionGot my first critique from Royce on monday, and I have to admit, the guy is extremely helpful. He goes into so much detail during his critiques and you really end up with an in depth knowledge of where you can improve, how to do it, and most importantly, why. Also, he's generous with times. Most people in my class had almost 15 minutes of correction time with him, and I spent most of the day watching my classmates' critiques and I learned a ton!<br />
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Royce went through the sketches and suggested that I take poses from real life drawing and accentuate, exaggerate them--and see how far I can push certain poses. In essence, this'll let me explore different ways to make poses interesting.<br />
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As for the pose I did with the Stu character in 3D, Royce suggested I take the feeling of having the ditsy, young girl and pushing that a lot farther. I had been concentrated almost entirely on silhouette, and he explained that things don't need to be separated all the time (like the small empty space between the arms and torso that i had forced in there!) : <b>things can overlap and interact, as long as the silhouette is clear.</b> He suggested I accentuate the line of action and, to make her seem more like a young, careless girl, push the top of her body back a bit. Instead of having her head fixed to the phone in a very cliche way, I could then tilt it the complete opposite way to enforce that feeling of "ditsy". It keeps the feeling that she's fixed to the phone, but it makes the pose so much more interesting, and readable! The arms should be kept against her body as support, because no one holds a bag, regardless of its not very head, without having some kind of hooking against the body. I learned so much from his critique and I'm psyched to have Royce as a teacher.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">and after some playing around and using Royce's input, this is what I came up with:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I think this is so much better than what I had. Hopefully you guys think so too (Gen! ). She really feels young and princess-like. I might play around with it a bit more, but first I hafta get started on my homework for Week 3.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This week we're learning basic planning, thumb-nailing, and we have to animate a Basketball doing some basic bounces to learn about timing and spacing.</div>Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-54490066669723399832010-10-10T00:46:00.001-07:002010-10-10T01:02:39.203-07:00Bird Animation tips and analysisWas cruising the AM forums and I bumped into an amazing link that takes an in depth look at bird flight animation: <a href="http://www.brendanbody.co.uk/flight_tutorial/index.html">http://www.brendanbody.co.uk/flight_tutorial/index.html</a><br />
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this is DEFINITELY worth checking out for all you animators!<br />
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Check out his blog <a href="http://brendanbody.blogspot.com/">http://brendanbody.blogspot.com/</a> . Some of the best tips and tricks for animation I've seen in a whileNic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-15289964411803431572010-10-09T20:23:00.000-07:002010-10-09T22:30:14.621-07:00Week 2: Sketching and PosingThis week our job was to go out into public areas and sketch people doing everyday things. It was definitely awkward at first, but you get used to it! Among our sketches, we had to take our favourite, most appealing, and pose STU (our first rig) based on that sketch. I drew a girl who was busy texting while holding her shopping bag in a super ditsy way.<br />
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Here are the sketches. They're pretty rough because people were just walking around and moving, so the point is to draw really quick sketches with the general idea of the pose.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYlGSwLGGlZ8nno82K0BxmCl0AVV07hZdCNrLAdDYILaqtR1GHtwZY-nL9OOhncSFZwLbCMEbLjqk8647BzyKxPlNHFgLOzUDrZMaAddTJIYMD-6b3K5mDh9B6FyTJW8bnnHOemWWNeg/s1600/NicCabana_week2_sketchbook1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYlGSwLGGlZ8nno82K0BxmCl0AVV07hZdCNrLAdDYILaqtR1GHtwZY-nL9OOhncSFZwLbCMEbLjqk8647BzyKxPlNHFgLOzUDrZMaAddTJIYMD-6b3K5mDh9B6FyTJW8bnnHOemWWNeg/s320/NicCabana_week2_sketchbook1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
and here's Stu, posed like the circled sketch.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcSwZspwLk4TQ3X_mWNZ4xTJx5shCAii7dLTEwxFXmb7rhyt0ngyld2BK5a5qHVrOn1sGUwQe6zRmV6MIyGULKhoFJ7WHj_bzKHHtZQZ_MR38xUoIjnDVihrMCSFbL1MvkRXv9fGjOoXk/s1600/NicCabana_week2_sketchbook2_05.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcSwZspwLk4TQ3X_mWNZ4xTJx5shCAii7dLTEwxFXmb7rhyt0ngyld2BK5a5qHVrOn1sGUwQe6zRmV6MIyGULKhoFJ7WHj_bzKHHtZQZ_MR38xUoIjnDVihrMCSFbL1MvkRXv9fGjOoXk/s320/NicCabana_week2_sketchbook2_05.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-32151404471995193732010-10-03T03:21:00.000-07:002010-10-03T03:21:31.026-07:00First Week Done!I'm speechless. What a week it's been. AnimationMentor is everything you expect it to be and a whole lot more! When the campus was finally opened to us new class 1 students, we were all pretty much amazed at how detailed it was. I am completely blown away by the campus and by the resources available. It really is a school, only it's all on the internet. It feels like there's nothing they forgot, and the tech/student support is extremely efficient. The <b>library</b> and <b>training videos</b> sections are awesome! I feel so lucky to have access to these amazing interviews and videos by animation legends.<br />
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On monday, I watched the first lecture and I found myself smiling through the whole hour and a few minutes. Shawn Kelly was incredibly inspirational, can't wait to meet the guy! The lecture itself was like a big introduction to what we can expect, and it included all these industry animators talking about animation. At one point, Shawn warned us about building our basics and foundations before doing anything else by showing us something he animated early on as a student, skipping the basics. It was hilarious (sorry Shawn :P ).<br />
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On the importance of critiques and second opinions: I'm a huge fan of critiques and letting other people see my work. It was always for personal improvement, but now I see it as something completely different. During the lecture Shawn explained that critiques are so important because <b>you're creating something for an audience!</b> I thought that was such a great way to put it.<br />
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I'm so happy to be a part of this. All the students share my passion for character animation. I was surprised that most of the students were on the same boat as me: we went to film school and the school offered a training that was too broad and seemed to teach anything BUT character animation. To me, animation is such a powerful art. We quite literally give life to things that aren't real! On top of that, its always different and exciting. The mentors talked a bit about how animation is a life-long learning process and that's such a wonderful aspect of our job.<br />
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<b>"you can never learn everything there is to learn about animation. Thats one of the coolest thing about our art--you can't learn it all!!" Shawn Kelly</b><br />
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The second part of the week to look forward to was the Q/A sessions, where we would meet our mentors. Mine was with Paul Allen, and we actually went passed the limit by 20-30 minutes. It was awesome. It really felt like a classroom. At first, you're nervous because you don't know what to expect, but the mentors are here to guide and help you.<br />
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My schedule was originally at 10-11PM Est. I applied to swap into a morning class and got switched into <b>Royce Wesley</b>'s q/a. He's an incredible animator, originally from Blue Sky, now working full time at, yes, Pixar!!<br />
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Check out his website / demo reel by clicking on his name in my "mentors" section<br />
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I'm psyched to start learning next week! BRING IT<br />
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</div>Nic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146703169717780299.post-14147746132081270782010-09-27T02:14:00.000-07:002010-09-27T02:28:56.742-07:00Less than a DayThis is it! About two months ago, this day seemed so far away. I remember how much of a shock it was: pressing the refresh button on my GMAIL, thinking "you've already refreshed 10 times in twenty minutes, Nic, this one won't be any different;" but there it was, out of the blue---a new message from AnimationMentor.com. "<i>Congratulations! You've been accepted as a student at Animation Mentor</i>." It didn't feel real; I was way too excited! Ever since I bumped into the website and saw the first student reel I've been dreaming of being priviledged enough to someday attend; and now, my AM journey begins in roughly 10 hours, and I've no idea how I'm going to get some sleep!<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I've heard of former AnimationMentor students who didn't keep a blog or diary and regretted it, and I'll be avoiding that. I want to remember this experience and be able to look back on the things I learned and how I tackled assignments. Here, I will post my thoughts on lectures, and my take on certain aspects of animation, and just about anything AM related. I will definately post assignments. A couple of us students started a weekly drawing challenge for AM students, and i'll be sure to put some drawings in here (shout-out to Katie Better for creating <a href="http://amsketchsquad.blogspot.com/">http://amsketchsquad.blogspot.com/</a> , you can look up her blog by clicking her name in my "classmates" section). I'd like to thank you in advance for following this blog, and I hope to see some comments! I've already met a lot of students through orientation, and we're all on the same boat, filled with excitement. It's truly incredible to be able to learn with people from literally all over the world. Everyone has been great. The staff is super approachable and the students are cool. Although it'll be a lot of hard work, i'm positive that the next year and a half is going to be incredibly fun! We're in for a hell of a ride.<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I am truly excited about being a part of such an amazing industry. As character animator we get to breathe life into characters and become actors---how cool is that?! I hope to someday have the honor of working for one of the big film studios and be able to bring the characters we love to life on the big screen! Until next time, see you all on campus! (Now off to get some sleep--if that's a possibility!!)<br />
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Cheers,<br />
Nic CabanaNic Cabanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214652937933190176noreply@blogger.com2