The Post-Grad Life and the Mars Landing

Phew, this blogs has been dead for awhile. Since school ended I've been mostly working on some personal projects (none of which are finished... yet).

The last few months I've had the pleasure of working as a freelance graphic artist and modeler for Star Acer Academy Inc. with Luke Gustafson where we are in the midst of putting together a educational space exploration tool for elementary grades. I have been helping rendering comics, assignment pages, and making a CG model of the StarAcer HQ (the BZT). If you would like to see all this and more, visit their site at: http://www.staracers.com/
It's really shaping up to be something great!

On a related note last night the Mars Rover Curiosity successfully landed on the surface of Mars. We developed a short comic to commemorate the complex landing, which was layed out by Luke Gustafson and illustrated by myself. I hope you enjoy!

I'll be trying to keep this blog alive from now on with random artworks once I have some down time.
Stay tuned!

Portfolios Ready! Almost Time!

The winter semester is back in full swing, and I've mostly had my hands full with getting ready for our 3rd year group film, and prepping for my internship application. Related to the latter, on the side I have been working on a couple of additional art projects that I have managed to include in my demo reel and portfolio site, which you can view HERE. For the sake of explanation, I'll post my newest work here. Most of my free time the last two weeks have been spent working on a model of the chef lip sync character I animated last summer (see July 2010 post). The idea was to not only include a model demo for my portfolio, but also get a personal model completed for the character rig assignments in this semesters 3D animation class. Sufficed to say, the model is now done, and the rigging can commence. Here it is for your viewing pleasure:







Here's the textured/coloured version that is ready for the rig.

And just for kicks, here's a proper turnaround demo of the alien character I modeled over last summer.


I have plans for this character, but my first attempt at rigging fell flat. For now I'm focusing on rigging my chef model, but when the alien character has a functional rig, I do intend to animate it.

Break Time Again

Semester one has wrapped up until January, so here is the last bit of work from the term. Of course my action analysis assignment that has been in development since September is now completed. I'm quite happy with the result, despite the nitpicks I have. But overall, the amounts of work I put into it has given me a pretty nice (and pretty lengthy) portfolio piece. I guess a lot of diligence and care to produce a great animation is what the medium is all about.


In case you were wondering it's animated and cleaned up traditionally with the paint and two-tone shadows created in Flipbook Pro, with the ground shadows produced in Adobe After Effects.

Here's the animation cut into the final leica reel. Enjoy!


And just for giggles, here's a drawing my characters in marker and pen: I also have a performance animation produced Maya (using a Sheridan model and rig). the line is from Back to the Future part II. This project was quite fun, I do so enjoy animating character performance.


This next bit are are some new 3rd year film designs I did for the rough design pack. We plan to refine some of these over the break and in January, as well as may other things.




And finally here's an on location drawing that I sketched at my local Timmies.

That's all from this semester, but i have several portfolio projects lined up for the break in preparation for my summer co-op placement. I'll post each project upon its completion.

Happy Holidays.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

So the August that I planned, as I previously stated, has so far not been and layout/painting heavy as it should be. I have done come concepts, but not sure how many will get to the painting stage. The reason for this is I have mainly spent my time actually finishing other projects, the priority being the rigging stage of the Alien character in Maya and finishing the Bear animation I had completed keys for last week.

On the plus side, after only two days animating and two afternoons for touch-ups, the bear sync has been completed. A record effort for me, I must say.



This leaves the next weekend to do a quick run and walk cycles before turning in the animation desk before school. Everything is falling together nicely!

I still have to push myself into layout over these last two weeks, so hopefully I'll get a couple nice paintings done before the term start-up.

And for your satisfaction, here is a still of my currently rigged character in a random pose to show off the mechanics. I still have a little tweaking with the weights and the limits to make this fully mobile, and hopefully before school I'll have time for an experiment in animating him.


Many more projects are on the go at this moment, so stay tuned for a final cap to the summer artwork.

Productivity!

Alright! So it's just past the mid-mark of summer, and this year I've actually gotten quite a bit of art done. Having seen demo reels from the recent graduates, I am inspired to complete a top notch demo reel for this year. Doing so requires major advances in animation and drawing ability, which appears to be going well this summer! I have my goal, PIXAR IN TWO YEARS! I am determined to have it work out that way!

As such, I have lined up a bunch group and individual projects over the last couple months to keep me busy. Here is some of what I have managed to do since early May:

First the main attraction. Having been dissatisfied with several of my animations this year, especially the Human and Muzzle sync projects, and seen what quality animations should be like upon grad, I have take it upon myself to redo a few of them. So far, I have finished this one involving a Chef and a line from the film Snatch. This animation I am very satisfied with. Doing it I have learned so much, not just about animating, but also drawing in general. To all my animation friends, I HIGHLY recommend doing mini animations on your spare time!



Following this, I have started keys for three other animation projects to be completed (hopefully) before school starts up. Two of them are Muzzle Syncs, one involving a bear and the other beavers. I have keys shot, but i choose not to post them. instead, enjoy keys from the third! This one is an experiment in squash and stretch, and subtle action. Look familiar? This sequence is an extension of the final character project from last semester. I am fixing and animating it as we speak. I'll post the result over the next couple months.



Next up is a 3D character model I'm working on for a mini group project. This model is my own design, and in it's current stage has just been rigged with basic bones. Having just started learning Maya this past semester, I have the means and feel the need to learn more to get a leg up for 3rd year, and to also get something good for my reel in case Maya frustrations have this model land flat on his one eyed face. One the model is rigged, I'll be doing animations. Assuming the film doesn't get finished, I'll still have at least a facial expression and walk cycle done for all to view. Hope you like it so far!


The following kitchen related designs and story concepts are some of my work from a "film" other members of my class are currently putting together. Without giving away too much, it's about a waiter and his struggle against his natural needs. The story was mainly designed to allow different types of animation and art directions so that we may practice/get work for our upcoming portfolios. I should have some animations and coloured layouts done for this over the next couple months.


That's all for now, I'll likely update one more bulk just before September. Hopefully the quality of my work increases even more within that time!

I hope you enjoyed!

Titanic!

Here's a quick post showing off a digital rendering I did for Nicole Kozak a few weeks back, as we share an interest in the Titanic. As for the piece itself, it is yet another pass at photoshop painting. Most of the deck portions were done using the pen tool, which I figured out is really useful for static rendering. Still working on the photoshop skills.

Buddy Cops get a new home.

I bit of layout done using the Walk-Run assignment from last semester. The artwork was done completely digitally, which is not my preference, but it was fast enough to be sure. First is the artwork and cells to plan the panning process, and second is the panning done in after effects.

Haven't posted anything in a while, so I got a lot of stuff to post. Here's the first bit. These are some digital paintings done in greyscale first and coloured using the adjustments tool rather than pure coloring. Not the best way to paint, but I suppose these turned out as well as they could have.






Also, here are a couple more 3D models I did in class: A Star Destroyer and the Enterprise (because ships are easy). I still don't know the program very well, but I understand the basics now. Maybe someday when I'll learn how to render I'll make these more epic.






More to come soon.

Here we go again!

Semester two has seemed pretty busy so far, even though the projects are not really overwhelming. Maybe just getting back into the swing of school.

Anyway, here's my lip sync animation. This projects took a while and several frustrations to get started, but in the end it wasn't so hard to accomplish. Enjoy!



Also, here are some quick 3D models done in class. Simple, nothing extravagant. I'm not used to 3D modeling in Maya, so I don't have any know-how when it comes to the program. But I'm sure I'll get used to it soon enough.

Lineage

Hello all. So I've spend the good part of my free time since the start of the semester notably NOT doing homework in hopes of completing a personal photohop painting for practice in digital artwork. I chose for my first of a series of fan-like art to do a homage to the Assassin's Creed series.



I really like how this turned out, especially for my second official photoshop "painting." I think at this point I've gotten used to the program and honestly, even though I still prefer traditional art, I find that photoshop is forgiving enough to allow for major practice and application and is still a great art medium. Sweet!

Now... BACK TO DOING REAL WORK!

2010!

Hello all! Back to school today after a long break. First break in a while where I was busy for reasons other than work (of which I am currently low on cash...). For the most part, I spent the break ACTUALLY doing artwork of sort. Digital painting i a practice that has been lost on me so far, but I managed to create some digital work, majority of which were Christmas and New Years gifts for friends.

So here be some of my digital paintings the made for a busy busy break.

These first two are Christmas/New Years gifts made for Stephen Good and Ashley Lane



This one was a secret santa I did for someone in another class. This was my first real attempt at painting more realistically (and with a painting style) in photoshop. Not what I would consider a success, but I learned quite a bit about the program doing it.


Here's to a rockin' 2010 that HOPEFULLY won't suck! Woo!

Merry Christmas All!

I have dabbled quite a bit in photoshop over the break, and one of the first projects I did was, not surprising, a Christmas card! Because I'm poor, I need to give something out, right? :P

Hope you're all having a great holiday!


(Pretty much sums up my financial situation this year)

The Last of Semester 3

Well, second year semester one has drawn to a close, so here's the last of my major projects. First, my final animation for the semester, and expression change. The requirements were a short three expression animation, but I decided once again to work above the minimum and opted for a full narrative. Only a little actual animation, but it was done on only two weeks and the face was the most important part, so I think it turned out well.

Enjoy!



I also had yet another leica reel done for sound design. I can't upload it properly tho', don't know why. Anyway, basically it used the Fidgety Philip boards from earlier in the semester and used pretty much the same requirements as the Not Prepared leica. I'm dissatisfied with it mainly because of the poem voice sync I had to throw in there. For such a long poem, it couldn't fit within the whole story as it is told, so I cut a lot of it out. Oh well... if i can manage to post it in the future, I will.

Over the break, I hope to post more stuff as well. Hopefully some nice sketches will follow, and I also have some caricatures and figure drawings from this semester to post as well.

Stay tuned!

The Many Works of Pre-Production

So the semester's coming to a close, and all of our projects are actually all related. I've done this "I Am Not Prepared" story to death, but I'll admit, it's quite enjoyable to see you original story develop in this mimic of pre-production.

So, the first half of the final projects for semester one, year 2 is a Leica reel of my I Am Not Prepared story, synced with music and sound effects, a selection of painted boards from the storyboard, and finally, an interior design of the Saloon used in the story.

Enjoy!









The last bit of the semester end projects will be up in a couple days.

Animation Galore!

A slew of video related projects today! The last of the pre-break semester is completed! I'd be thankful for break if I hadn't so much to do for when we get back.

Oh well, here I've posted my first REAL character animation, a character I'll remind is original and of my own design! (see three posts below) Woohoo! The project is about weight and balance, where the character is to lift a heavy object and toss it. I loved this project, as I am determined to get good at character animation! I've been waiting three years to do this stuff!



Next we have a sound effects animation for sound design. IMPORTANT NOTE: the animation was not created by me (I believe it is called the Bulgarian Cowboy), so I have no credit to the video portion. As well, the sound effects are taken from the Sheridan SFX library. I did however arrange the sounds to correspond with the actions. Not bad, but could be better.



Finally, I have a sound scape from my wave-boat-sack animation. The sounds are credited to the same source as above, but the animation and arrangement are my own doing. It's no without it's flaws. There are some mistakes I noticed after viewing it later, but I was low on time, and it was my first arrangement with an original animation. Overall, it was quite enjoyable.

Here's a quickie... of a fishie

Finally, a post that doesn't revolve around my school work. Anyway, here's my first real personal project.


While this was actually a tattoo design I worked on for a friend, this did allow me some experience with photoshop, and the result wasn't poor to say the very least. I can say it helped with photoshop colour theory.

Woohoo! I can do a simple design in photoshop! Next step, FULL RENDERING!

Last Post of the Year!

Well this is it, the last of my work from my 1st year in animation. It was a good run! I most definately learned a lot about the work that I am getting myself into, and about the years ahead... and it is most definately something I want to be a part of. Over the next few years, I hope to improve just as much as I have over this year, and hopefully dish out a great 4th year film that really wows the audience... but I'm getting ahead of myself...

The last projects were standard fare. My final animation for the year, and my final painting project, which I did digitally in photoshop.


I got a lot of laughs out of this one, as you could probably tell. as good as it turned out, I couldn't really get into this project like I did the others, dispite that this one offered more freedom than the rest... end of the year lazyness, I guess.


Now honestly, I'm not happy with this turn out, but that was pretty much expected. I recently got a tablet, and since we were allowed to render the last painting digitally, I saw it as an invitation to experement a little. So seeing as this was my first photoshop project with a tablet, it was pretty much what anyone could expect. But I was given some helpful advice on how to use the tablet and photoshop. This is important since the industry pretty much uses digital background over traditional ones. I need to find tutorials, because this summer is going to be used to learn photoshop inside out!

Well that's all for this year... of school. Hope you enjoyed the work from my 1st year! :D

Stay tuned tho', summer's here and my goal is to practice techniques in art that I need improvement in. First and foremost: Photoshop, but I'm also planning to do some paintings and painting studies, caricatures (perhaps of you!), extra animations, and of course numerous sketches and colour renderings of some sketches! Also I'll post some of my life drawings up later too!

It' gonna be a busy summer! Hope to see ya here again soon!

I wanna live in a yellow submarine!!!

Here are the final vids for this semester.

First up is my digital animatic, and I must say this project was FUCKING AWESOME! It was fun, and allowed us to be genually creative.

It is based on a storyboarding excercise we did for the opening of Oliver Twist and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back earlier in the semester. We had to recreate the scenes digitally and process a moving animatic with the animation technology we've been taught.

Being the dork I am, I chose Star Wars... but made some very tasteful results!

Enjoy!


Also, my hand-drawn ball and tail animation.

I really half-assed this one, due to time constraints. But it turned out well enough. With a little more time, it could have been better... maybe.



Thus ends my animations of first semester. Next semester, they'll be even better! ;)

Peace!

... I need some booze

So the semester is entering it's busy stage, and everything is being piled on together. I'm not even sure if I'm up to the challenge... the only thing that comforts me is that this is not as bad as I hear next year will be... oh shit, that's not comforting either! O_o;

Anyway, I do have some new stuff. First: a landscape painting!

Frankly, I think this is the single best painting I've ever done! It's far from perfect, but it is promising! :)


We also dabbled in After Effects this week and got some cool results!



Animal drawings will be up soon!

A Sign of the Apocalypse?!

Cool beans today, folks! In Digital Tools class we did this background, and if the technology we used to make it doesn't signify that computers will someday take over the world, I don't know what does!

Haha! But seriously, it's a Multi-plane background, meaning the elements, ie. foreground, middleground, and background, are layered and ultimately spaced apart to create depth. This was sooo cool when it came out! We fooled around with the camera, looking at a full 360 of the layers, and creating a 3D pan shot as seen here!



It's witchcraft, I tells ya!!!


... On a related note, I also managed to finally get my digital created Coloured Ball animation up here too. This project predates the Coloured Bowling Ball animation (see previous post) by a few weeks. Still, both turned out well!



We be 3D Animators!!!... almost!