A Bunch O'Stuff

Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been putting this off for some time now, and because of that I have a multitude of stuff to post, which I will divide up over a few different posts.

For now, I have my newest development work for my action analysis assignment. Only a few weeks are left to work on this, and of course besides animating the character in full, the FX animation, cleaning it up, and adding the final layout, I also intend to make the story boards much neater and more presentable. I got a lot of work ahead of me... Here's the newest pass on the lieca with character pose test.



And for your convenience, here is just the pose test section.


I also did some additional character poses to explore my designs over the reading week. This was mainly just for fun.

And here is a nicer scan of my rough pan layout. I still have yet to clean it up, but soon enough I will have that done along with some colour concepts.

For the rest of this first bit of artwork, I have some 3D work. The first is a turnaround of the Alien model I have been working on since the summer. The rig is nearly complete with only some technical bugs to work out. It's close to being animatable now! The other is a walk cycle project for my 3D animation class.



I hope you enjoyed my work so far. I still have a lot more on the way. They should be posted by the end of this weekend. Stay tuned!

In Memoriam to my dearest friend.

Today, my best friend John passed away. After a very sudden admittance to the Toronto General Hospital the week before, I was informed that he was having severe heart complications. Tragically, the doctors could not perform any operation to save his life. On November 2nd, 2010, John Huynh passed away in the hospital. He was a dear friend to me, by buddy whom I known for over 15 years and have had a very close friendship with.


John was, like myself, an aspiring artist. His passion was always video game media and just this September had enrolled into the game design program at George Brown College in Toronto. His talent in the field would never be known to the world because of this tragic passing, therefore I hereby dedicate this blog and all of my future work to the dream that we both shared.




His passing was a very sudden and very shocking, but in his life I can never forget the good times we shared over the years.

Rest in peace, my dear friend. The world will miss you, as I certainly will.

3rd Year Production Thus Far

Sorry for the lack of updates so far this year. We've been busy with early production art for the semesters two primary projects: the action analysis assignment (AAA) and individual idea pitches for the 3rd year film story (pitching is on the go, the groups will vote their story choice within the next couple weeks).

The following is some of the preliminary concept work and leica reel for my action analysis. The action analysis I chose involves 'pulling a prop' and a bit of dialogue, which the scene will be fully animated, cleaned up and coloured by the end of the semester. As well, we need a camera movement and final layout, which in my case is separate from my actual action. Hope you enjoy the process art.

AAA Leica - First Version (yes, that's my voice over... silly ain't it?)


AAA Leica - Revised

*I'll likely add sound effects to this soon


Preliminary Colour Scheme



Scene 1 Workbook & Shot test



Scene 3 / Action Analysis Workbook

This next bit is work I've done for my 3rd year idea pitch. Under usual circumstances I would be unable to post work from the film due to group effort and secrecy. However, this year the process is different than previous years in that each student comes up with their own idea to present before the group chooses one for the film. So therefore, what I have to offer at the moment is my own original work for my film idea.

The premise is about a monk who is bothered by noise. I think an interesting art design could certainly come out of this if it were to develop further.




With the pitch over at this point, story revisions are in the works. I'm trying to complete some colour keys to help reinforce the revisions and the existing story to help sell it once again come voting time. I'll post the colour keys over the next couple weeks, provided my film idea is not the one picked.

Other projects are in the works as well. More to post soon.

3rd Year Start-up!

Third year has started up, and even the first day has been a great experience so far. Aside from the exciting group films, the lesson plan for this year seems like it's going to be really intense! Which also means very fun!

I was expecting to have more work from the last month of summer to post, but many of the projects have yet to be completed. I still intend to work on them in addition to the school work, so they shall appear at some point between now and mid-semester.

For now, I only have a new walk-run cycle animation I did on the fly in late August. Enjoy!

Business Cards 2010

Considering the professional status that is creeping up on me these days, I figured I'd whip up some business cards. I have two designs here, please let me know which you think is better.



*Update* I have complied the best features of both versions for what may be the final I'll go for printing. Thoughts?

Canadian Landscape

This weekend I was up in the beautiful cottage country around Parry Sound with my friends, at a lovely house that backed onto the water of Lake Manitouwabing. We were treated to beautiful weather as well. While up there, I worked on a quick watercolour painting of the view over the water from the dock behind the house.

Artistically, I can't say I worked really carefully on it. The process was more of a splish-splash of colour and trying to capture of the atmosphere of the lake around the setting sun, hence why some of the lighting and shadows might seem off... because they are! The painting part was quickly done over maybe a half hour to an hour, and given the right amount of extra time to work I could probably have planned the colour palette better and put in finer details. Oh well, at least I managed to fit a quick painting while out in the wilderness.


*note: I added the greyscale in photoshop just because it shows off the range of the palette, but it is not it's own painting*

I would like to know if you feel this piece is successful as it is, or what techniques I can try doing next time to enhance the atmosphere.

Otherwise, it was a very good weekend! :)

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.

Revision is the backbone of Success

Hey all, just a quick update. Yesterday I was redoing/revising the key's for the Bear muzzle sync (see previous post). I felt the action I had developed last month needed some work; it jumped around a lot and it was likely going to be difficult to fit the frantic actions within the frame constraints of the dialogue.

So here is the new result. I hope it reads better. Unfortunately, I was hoping to experiment with leg placements and staging, but better to do something realistic over something eccentric.



I have more of a drive to get this finished now. I'll do my best.

Summer Transition

So begins the month of August. Through most of July I have been working on the Dog Sequence I posted keys for on my last entry. The animation is done, and is my longest animation to date. The sequence is about 27 seconds, and not counting the holds involved, spans 240 drawings. WOAH! This one took a lot out of me. But honestly, while the result isn't bad, I can't help but feel it fell short of my expectations. Probably due to comparing it to my better chef sync. tho', to be fair, this was an experiment and I would be lying if I said I didn't learn anything to help improve in the future. Hope you enjoy!

*note* There was a problem with flipbook in making the background elements pan, so I decided to pop them in and out as needed. If I manage to correct this problem, I will re-post this


There are some minor corrections I might make in the future, such as the awkward jump, and the shuffle/drop, but for now I am taking a break from taking a break from animations during August, with the exception of my redo Muzzle Sync which I only plan to work on during spare time (that is, time not spend doing other work). I hope to have it done by September anyway, but for the time being, I just some work-in-progress keys for it.



As a bonus, I also have another muzzle sync I was working on with two characters interaction. Like the other muzzle, I only have some keys done. Considering time constraints, I likely won't be able to work on this over the rest of the summer. If I have time during the school year, I'll do my best to finish it.



To end off, I just have some other drawing from the earlier summer months, mainly to do with the films I'm working on: Character rotation for my 3D Alien, concept page for the chef sync, and some character poses and additional concepts from the film Waiting.


Now that August is here, my goal is to focus on other modes of art that i have before been struggling with, namely layout and digital painting. On top, I want to get into sketching (a practice I oddly enough had never gotten into beyond high school) and some traditional painting just for fun/colour exploration.

I'll update as I go. Look forward to it! :)

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!