Author: AnimSchool Page 10 of 25

Creature Animation – Workflow Tips

With the rise of high quality VFX films and cinematics, there’s been a higher demand for creature animation. But, animating creatures is no easy task – you have to portray their animalistic behaviors while keeping track of 4 (or more!) feet and most likely a tail. It can seem overwhelming when starting to animate a creature shot, but as long as you keep the fundamentals of animation in mind, you can create awesome looking animation, too.





In this clip from our VFX class, instructor Tony Mecca talks about his workflow for animating a creature shot and tips for getting the smooth arcs he talked about in our last post (link here). Learn about how he approaches creature shots and deals with untangling the rigs!









These are the kind of skills you can learn in our online animation classes and animation workshops. If you’re interested in 3D animation programs, check us out at our website link below!









Start your journey into 3D Animation. Apply today! For more information about AnimSchool and our online animation programs, visit us at www.animschool.com

Creature Animation – Arcs



    With the rise of high quality VFX films and cinematics, there’s been a higher demand for creature animation. But, animating creatures is no easy task – you have to portray their animalistic behaviors while keeping track of 4 (or more!) feet and most likely a tail. It can seem overwhelming when starting to animate a creature shot, but as long as you keep the fundamentals of animation in mind, you can create awesome looking animation, too. In this clip from our VFX class, instructor Tony Mecca shows how you can take the familiar concept of arcs and use it in his “rollercoaster” method to get clean lines of action and flow of movement in reptilian characters.









    These are the kind of skills you can learn in our online animation classes and animation workshops. If you’re interested in 3D animation programs, check us out at our website link below!





Start your journey into 3D Animation. Apply today! For more information about AnimSchool and our online animation programs, visit us at www.animschool.com

Shot Planning, Part 3 – 3D Animation Acting Choices

Many professional animators believe that the planning phase is the most important part of animating a good shot, and take a good amount of time to plan even when on a tight schedule. We’ve discussed planning within your sequence and directing your audience, and now it’s time to work on what could make or break your shot – acting choices. As instructor Rahul Dabholkar mentions in our class clip for this post, your acting choices are what will set you apart from other good animators. Even an action as simple as sitting and reacting to what another character is saying can be acted out in hundreds of ways, and it’s up to you as the animator to choose the most appropriate, believable, and relatable way to portray it.
 





What are some ways you could act out a simple reaction shot? Rahul goes over a few ways to portray different characters in this clip from our Animating Appeal and Entertainment class:



 

These are the kind of skills you can learn in our online animation classes and animation workshops. If you’re interested in 3D animation programs, check us out at our website link below!





Start your journey into 3D Animation. Apply today! For more information about AnimSchool and our online animation programs, visit us at www.animschool.com

Learning UVs

In this clip, instructor Arvin Villapando explains the basics and the important information needed to start working with UVs.

Looking for the best 3D Animation schools? For more information about AnimSchool and our online animation programs, visit us at www.animschool.com

Shot Planning, Part 2 – Directing Your Audience







Many professional animators believe that the planning phase is the most important part of animating a good shot, and take a good amount of time to plan even when on a tight schedule. Last time, we talked about taking into account the emotional state of your character in relation to the surrounding shots in the sequence. Once you’ve figured out the flow of energy within your shot, you’ll want to be sure that you’re delivering your ideas clearly. What will help you here is staging, which is using the composition and layout of your scene to direct your audience to where you want them to pay attention. 


A great example of clear staging from an animation test for Pixar’s “Ratatouille”



As our instructor Rahul Dabholkar explains in this clip from our Animating Appeal and Entertainment class, getting a point across isn’t just about grand gestures and crazy movements. Sometimes, it’s best to keep things simple and subtle – especially when showing thought process. Watch as he acts out a simple example of showing off a pen: 











These are the kind of skills you can learn in our online animation classes and animation workshops. If you’re interested in 3D animation programs, check us out at our website link below! 





Start your journey into 3D Animation. Only 15 more days left to apply for Winter term! For more information about AnimSchool and our online animation programs, visit us at www.animschool.com 

Shot Planning, Part 1 – Knowing Your Sequence

Many professional animators believe that the planning phase is the most important part of animating a good shot, and take a good amount of time to plan even when on a tight schedule. As anyone who has acted out their own reference would know, there is a lot of work that goes into planning. However, many students are so used to animating their one main shot for an animation class that they can make a big mistake when animating for a production – not taking into account the flow of energy and emotions throughout the entire sequence that your shot is in.  



As our instructor Rahul Dabholkar explains in this clip from our Animating Appeal and Entertainment class, it’s important to think about the state of the character within the entire sequence and how the character is feeling in comparison to the previous and next shots. You can do this by visualizing a graph of the character’s emotional state across the different shots and communicating with your fellow animators about what would be the best way to approach this part of the sequence. By doing this, you’ll be able to make your shots flow seamlessly and put on the best performance for your character.




These are the kind of skills you can learn in our online animation classes and animation workshops. If you’re interested in 3D animation programs, check us out at our website link below!






Start your journey into 3D Animation. Apply today! For more information about AnimSchool and our online animation programs, visit us at www.animschool.com

Blocking Plus Workflow – Part 4 (Multiple Limbs and Smears)





So you’ve blocked in your poses for your animation – now what? You could hit spline, but you can already imagine the cringey, floaty movement that will come out of it. How about taking another pass at your blocking and getting it to blocking plus




If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at instructor Jean-Luc Delhougne’s blocking plus workflow in Maya (from our Body Mechanics animation course). He takes a blocking pass of a jump from basic poses to a well-timed blocking plus pass with arcs and natural movement. In Part 4, he goes over a quick and easy way to add multiple limbs and smears in Maya if you don’t have the tools for them.




If you missed Part 1 (Timing), take a look here:
http://www.animschoolblog.com/2019/05/so-youve-blocked-in-your-poses-for-your.html

Part 2 (Arc tracking) is available here:
http://www.animschoolblog.com/2019/06/blocking-plus-workflow-demo-part-2-arcs.html

Part 3 (Breakdowns) is available here:
http://www.animschoolblog.com/2019/07/blocking-plus-workflow-part-3-breakdowns.html

These are the kind of skills you can learn in our online animation classes and animation workshops. If you’re interested in 3D animation programs, check us out at our website link below! 







Start your journey into 3D Animation. Apply today! For more information about AnimSchool and our online animation programs, visit us at www.animschool.com

Blocking Plus Workflow – Part 3 (Breakdowns)

    So you’ve blocked in your poses for your animation – now what? You could hit spline, but you can already imagine the cringey, floaty movement that will come out of it. How about taking another pass at your blocking and getting it to blocking plus?




    If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at instructor Jean-Luc Delhougne’s blocking plus workflow in Maya (from our Body Mechanics animation course). He takes a blocking pass of a jump from basic poses to a well-timed blocking plus pass with arcs and natural movement. In Part 3, he fills in missing information in his blocking animation by adding breakdowns and controlling how his character will move from pose to pose.







If you missed Part 1 (Timing), take a look here:
http://www.animschoolblog.com/2019/05/so-youve-blocked-in-your-poses-for-your.html




Part 2 (Arc tracking) is available here:
http://www.animschoolblog.com/2019/06/blocking-plus-workflow-demo-part-2-arcs.html






    These are the kind of skills you can learn in our online animation classes and animation workshops. If you’re interested in 3D animation programs, check us out at our website link below!









Looking for the best 3D Animation schools? For more information about AnimSchool and our online animation programs, visit us at www.animschool.com

Start your journey today! Fall term begins September 29th.

Learning Joint Orientation

In this video from the “Intermediate Rigging” class, instructor Daria Jerjomina shows how to orient joints and why these must be done in a certain way to maximize efficiency.

Looking for the best 3D Animation schools? For more information about AnimSchool and our online animation programs, visit us at www.animschool.com

Blocking Plus Workflow Demo – Part 2 (Arcs)











So you’ve blocked in your poses for your animation – now what? You could hit spline, but you can already imagine the cringey, floaty movement that will come out of it. How about taking another pass at your blocking and getting it to blocking plus?




If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at instructor Jean-Luc Delhougne’s blocking plus workflow in Maya (from our Body Mechanics animation course). He takes a blocking pass of a jump from basic poses to a well-timed blocking plus pass with arcs and natural movement. In Part 2, he uses arc and angle tracking in different parts of the body to improve parts of his blocking that feel a little off at first glance.









If you missed Part 1 (Timing), take a look here: 
http://www.animschoolblog.com/2019/05/so-youve-blocked-in-your-poses-for-your.html






These are the kind of skills you can learn in our online animation classes and animation workshops. If you’re interested in 3D animation programs, check us out at our website link below!





Looking for the best 3D Animation schools? For more information about AnimSchool and our online animation programs, visit us at www.animschool.com

Page 10 of 25