Author: AnimSchool Page 4 of 20
Disney Modeler and AnimSchool Instructor, Brien Hindman gives Mohannad Hussam Al Ratroot his weekly critique in AnimSchool’s Environmental Modeling Class.
We’d like to welcome Animator Muhammad Irfan Farooq. First of all, Congratulations on your 11 Second Club June win!! Can you tell us a little about yourself, how long you’ve been animating and what made you want to get into this Industry?
First of all, I am very thankful to AnimSchool for giving me a chance to share my thoughts and knowledge.
Since I was a kid, I loved to watch and draw cartoons, unfortunately we did not have any art school in my country, Pakistan. However, while doing my Computer Science degree in 2002, I saw “Shrek” and “Jurassic Park”. I wondered how they created them, so I bought a computer and installed 3Ds Max and Maya at first chance and I learned some basics of the software. Luckily, in 2006 I got an internship in a studio where I learned a lot about character animation and very soon I found out animation was my dream job. Now I’ve been animating for 5 plus years.
Which Artists/Animators do you look towards for inspiration and what stands out to you about these artists?
Honestly, for inspiration I search randomly on the internet every day. If some animator does something unique and fresh, I study his/her animation over and over again. The animation style for AnimSchool promo was one of my favorites. I love to study cartoony stuff like Tex Avery, Chuck Jones’ stuff.
While studying cartoony animation, I look for the sense of timing, transitions from one pose to another, how they lead the action, and how other body parts are following it. I also look for smear frames and how they’re used effectively.
For acting and performance, I watch live action or TV series (Friends, Seinfeld, etc) and big studio movies (The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Hercules etc.)
Irfan–11 sec –June 2013 from Irfan on Vimeo.
In the past, you’ve entered the 11 Second Club with a variety of Rigs. Why did you decide to use AnimSchool’s Malcolm Rig for both your characters in your June entry: “Love to Play Games”?
For my June entry, I used AnimSchool’s Malcolm Rig for both characters because this rig was the best fit for the style of animation I wanted to do. I wanted to exaggerate overall performance of characters. One character was super energetic; I wanted him to be more quick and snappy. The other was more composed and calm; I wanted him to be more still. AnimSchool’s Malcolm Rig looks great for both types of characters.
What was it like working with the Malcolm Rig? Did it meet all your expectations? What did you enjoy most about it?
Whenever I get free time and want to practice some really fun/ over exaggerated animation, Malcolm is the only Rig I want to use. I love its flexibility and appeal.
Making smear frames, using the face and body is my favorite part using Malcolm.
Could you tell us a little about your animation process for your animation: “Love to Play Games,” from planning/reference to splining?
For 11 second compilation, I approach dialogue a bit differently than usual. After listening to the audio hundreds of times, I jumped into the planning stage.
Planning:
Rough Idea: While listening to the audio, I draw some thumbnails to get the basic understanding about what I’m thinking about the character and his/her performance.
Rough Timing: I get rough timing by animating a box in Maya. I think about big vs small accents of the body and transition from 1st position to 2nd.
Rough poses and timing: It’s time to see the character with rough poses and timing based on the above steps. I copy that box animation to the spine of the character and do some rough hand animation to see if it’s going to work or not. Sometimes I import a preview into 2D software and draw over it to get a better understanding for poses and timing.
Refining:
Refining poses: Now its time to refine my Key Poses and make them stronger and more clear. I push the line of action and work for better silhouettes. Putting in expressions is a great way to get the right emotion out of the character. I also add strong finger poses before jumping into the next step.
Refining Timing: While refining timing, I put breakdowns, 2nd breakdowns, anticipation, moving holds, ease in-outs and overshoots where needed. I also take care or arcs and paths of action for every body part. I always use auto tangent at this stage.
Lip-sync and facial : I also put basic expressions and lip-sync during this phase.
Polish:
Polishing body: It’s time to check the character as a doctor. I start with hips and go upwards to the spine, neck and head. Then shoulders, elbow, hand and fingers. At the end, legs are easy to polish. Don’t forget to look for breathing and weight shifts.
Polishing Facial: Polishing facial is the fun part for me. I start with eyebrows and eyes together, then I move to lip-sync and expressions. I look at the face as a fleshy part and make it feel soft.
Irfan–Progression Reel– 11sec June competition ! from Irfan on Vimeo.
What was the most challenging part when animating this dialogue? How did you work through this challenge?
Working with two characters while sharing the same shot is always challenging. After finishing the first character’s animation, I was afraid to over-animate the other character. I toned it down, so I wouldn’t draw attention away, while still keeping the character standing there alive. Luckily, I succeeded without much effort.
Lastly, what advice would you give to students who are just beginning to study animation?
As a beginner, I always would get stuck in technicalities, thinking of better work-flow and formulas. But soon, I realized it’s all about studying life, feeling it and putting it into your animation. Don’t be afraid of work-flows and technicalities, just choose one and work on that actual part. The tough one is “The Feeling” part. If your character has the feeling, you can make anyone feel happy, sad or whatever you want them to feel. Then Hurray! You did a great piece of animation!
Dave Gallagher goes over Dennis Borruso’s character design that Dennis is planning on modeling in 3D. In this Review Dave discusses line flow, straights vs curves, and the spacing of facial features.
This clip is from one of AnimSchool’s General Review sessions.
AnimSchool offers General Reviews for 3D modeling, rigging and animation
students several times a week, for those who would like an extra
critique.
For Immediate Release
Orem, UT United States – August 20, 2013 — Animschool
announces today their new character, Coach. Coach is a fully
articulated character rig, similar in quality to what a student would
find at top animation studios, capable of a wide range of expression.
Coach is exclusively for AnimSchool students.
Like all AnimSchool character rigs, Coach is designed for maximum
flexibility and appealing poses. Using the most refined, advanced
characters allows AnimSchool student
work to stand out among competitors. AnimSchool Character students can
use Coach to learn the arts of high-end modeling and rigging.
Coach has clothing options: shirt, collar, cleats, shoes, pants or gym shorts, and UV’s for textured rendering.
AnimSchool characters are used by more
than 15,000 users worldwide, and have been used to win numerous
animation contests and for commercial needs. AnimSchool is known as the
most trusted name for appealing 3D characters.
Now with over 200 students, AnimSchool
was founded in 2010 to bring character-focused 3D animation instruction
to students all around the world through live online sessions with the
very best film professionals.
Contact:
Isaac Nordlund
AnimSchool
admissions@animschool.com
560 South State Street, Suite F3
Orem, UT 84058
801 765-7677
###
In Part 3 of AnimSchool’s Webcast with Blue Sky Senior Animator Lluis Llobera, Lluis discusses the relationship between Nigel and his human partner, Marcel.
Coming up in Part 4, Lluis breaks down a shot in Rio from Layout to Polish.
Since
I was a child, I have been into Manga and have drawn my own comic series in
which me and my buddies were the main characters. I naturally realized
that this was something I was good at. However, as I entered into high
school, I was forced to study many subjects other than Art. Of course, because I
neglected my drawing skills, I couldn’t get in the top
animation university, so I chose Design as my major at my college.
Unfortunately, 2 years of studying Art wouldn’t get me anything after
graduation, so I quickly decided to go abroad to make myself a bit
more fluent in English.
While I was in Toronto, I found out there was a 1 year
Computer Animation course at Sheridan College, so I jumped in right away.
I believe that was the first important turning point of my life, where I got to
learn 3D software ‘Maya’. It was an intense course, but very worth it. I
learned all aspects of the program. I can model, rig, animate, light and render. These
are the good benefits of working in a small studio where you have to know a
bit of everything 🙂 While in the course many of my
classmates told me that I specifically had potential in animation.
After the program, I got a job as a 3D Artist. It was fun and nice to get to know many great people in the gaming field, but I realized that I really needed to amp up and better myself. Shortly I enrolled in AnimSchool.
And, I gotta say, ‘It was the second most important turning point of my
life’.
Student Sungmin Hong – Class 4 Body Acting from AnimSchool on Vimeo.
saw in the cinema. And, it was a whole new world, from there I started
drawing 🙂
many people in the Art Industry do, I was wondering if Art was a direction for me,
because I couldn’t draw nor paint well enough. But, I trusted that there
must be something other than drawing and painting. I found out I had
a good eye for things, I could observe how things move, how people move, and how to make
it more interesting. After that, I realized it was the Animation Industry I would like
to pursue for my career. And, 3D helps me to overcome my drawing skills.
Although, I still think having good 2D Drawing skills can be very helpful.
I got into animation late, but it’s been a couple of years since I
searched and viewed Glen Keane’s pencil tests and lectures on Youtube. I
couldn’t believe my eyes that he was making magic on paper. Of
course, I love everything he’s made, but I especially love when he uses a
shoulder to express the feeling. I think it was when the Little Mermaid is singing
on the rock and Glen pushes her shoulder all the way up to her face. It was very appealing and expressive. His thought on every single
pencil move has a lesson for me, so I watch his videos when I feel I need
some inspiration.
you’ve completed, which one has been the most challenging and why?
no hesitation I would say the ‘Character Performance’ shot where a
sassy girl argues on the couch. The shot was the most known shot among
mine, but surely was very challenging. It was certainly hard to come up
with the acting, so I decided to study a friend of mine who likely
matches the character in the audio and it worked. We came up with a
great reference and my first blocking was great. But there were 3 major challenges in my blocking and reference.
shot. After the first blocking, I felt a lack of character, even though I
liked the hand and leg movement. After struggling, I got the solution from
instructors that I needed to use her neck, not just to layer the movement,
but to give character. So, I made sure she pushed her neck as she spoke more and it helped in terms of accent and character for the shot.
 |
| Reaction before ‘nah ah’ |
Secondly
at one part, I had the character reacting quickly when the line starts (when she says ‘nah
ah’). It was too fake and unnatural, as if she knew what she was going
to say before hearing what he says. As instructors suggested, I fixed
it so that she reacts (facially) before she says ‘nah ah’. This became a lot more
believable and natural.
issue was the timing and transition between poses. Because in the
reference, I picked 3 favorites from each part and edited those together. So between
the edited parts, I had to figure out a nice way to transition, especially
the last part where she readjusts herself with her legs pulled more inward.
In that part, poses between the cut was too broad, therefore it felt too
fast. I had to spend lots of time getting the right timing and fix the
acting a bit.
Character Performance class, from coming up with the background story,
your video reference, to splining.
I picked two audio clips from the movie ‘Juno’ because I thought her
voice was very unique and had a strong personality, so that I could come
up with the character better.
As I mentioned, I invited my friend and had a little lunch and
conversation with her. As Jeff Gabor did for Linda in the movie ‘Rio’, I studied her
movement, every little detail. I even found out that the way she sits on a
couch was very interesting, so I used it. After the conversation, we
discussed what kind of gestures or acting she would do in this shot. She thankfully
did a few shots for me and it was great. One
thing I was glad about, I didn’t watch the movie. It ultimately
helped me to not limit my thoughts on the character of the shot (in my
shot she seems a lot more active than Juno in the movie).
breakdown and do more breakdowns. All of my instructors (mostly from
Blue Sky) have taught me to do the blocking in stepped mode. At the end of
the blocking stage, I have keyed every 2-3 frames. So, when I do a playblast, I
could see how it feels when it’s splined. (I spend more time in blocking
then in spline).
I focus on facial details and little things like fingers and accent and so
on. This is where I spend a lot of time trying to give extra life to the
character. Example: I
gave more of an accent on the ‘Punk’ part by opening the mouth in 1 frame to give
more ‘Pop’ feeling. This little detail can really fix the spliny feeling of
the shot.
of the challenges you had with this shot? Can you share some of the
feedback you received from your instructor that you found valuable to
the piece.
polish the shot, since I had to move out to a new place 🙂 But yeah, my
instructor ‘Melvin Tan’ helped me so much the achieve the quality I have.
of the transition between poses at ‘you got a’ and ‘Ah.. that’s so
rich’. Because previously in the blocking I made him leaning backward into
the chair and that made his spine straighten up too much so that there was
no space for him to go backward for the ‘that’s so rich’ part. And it
felt too dynamic for the ‘personality’ part, so Melvin’s suggestion was to move his spine a bit closer to the previous pose helping the audience
see other parts like facial and fingers. It’s also more clear to see him
leaning back on the chair in the end.
camera. Then, Melvin suggested to put his legs on a small chair or
something to convey his dominating position in the shot and it worked
out very well. It helped not only the personality of the character, but it also
looks good in terms of the silhouette.
Melvin gave a lot of directions for the mouth shapes, which was great because, I
had been struggling with the facial expressions for the shot. Since the
shot was very sarcastic, he wanted me to push lots of his mouth and
facial poses. A good example is when he says ‘Personality’.
Previously, his mouth shape was small and moved only up and down, but
Melvin told me to use the arc and even the forward and backward of the chin.
I didn’t even realize how much it would give the character by simply
moving his jaw forward and backward. It was literary one of the best
critiques on facial expression I have got through the course.
As I mentioned, it was the best turning point of my life. Without
Animschool, I could not have been here sharing my experience.
What’s your favorite thing you’ve learned so far?
I was really new to this animation world and in every class I learned things I
have never known before. After talking with students from other online
schools, I realized how lucky I am for choosing Animschool over others.
There is one great thing about the school, the
lecture is given from your own instructor from each class. It is not
pre-recorded, which means every instructor has their own style and
things to focus on during the lecture. For example, I have learned how
to use tools and scripts. How to block from
Michael Richard. How to analyze reference from Tony Bonilla. How to give
more expressive character from JP San. Important things to consider in
each stage from Garrett Shikuma. And, briliant acting lesson from Melvin Tan.
importantly, at the school I’m making my own network! Nowadays in the Industry, I believe having a good connection is always helpful. I can’t
emphasize enough how lucky I am to get to know the people in Animschool. 🙂
DreamWorks Supervising Animator, Hans Dastrup reviews AnimSchool student, Jilmar Altamirano. In this review, Hans goes over Jilmar’s first blocking pass, making sure each pose supports the story being told.
This clip is from one of AnimSchool’s General Review sessions.
AnimSchool offers General Reviews for 3D modeling, rigging and animation
students several times a week, for those who would like an extra
critique.
We would like to welcome back, March 11 Second Club winner, Camille Campion. Camille are there any artists or animators that you look towards for inspiration?
I’m not a good follower… I don’t have a list of famous animators. I spend time looking for all the good animations I can find, sometimes from a famous animator, from a big american studio, and sometimes from a student’s short film.
I’ve had the chance to work in different places with talented animators. My inspiration, many times, comes from my colleagues. They don’t necessarily need to be very experienced or extremely talented to be inspiring for me. Sometimes regulars animators just have that good idea for their shot that makes it awesome.
I have special thanks for different people who’ve really improved my animation level- Yoshimishi Tamura who was my first “mentor” when I start working, Drifa Benseghir my second director of animation who transmits her good energy to me, and many colleagues in Kandor, French and Spanish!
Could you tell us a little about your process for your animation “Interview” from planning/reference to splining?
My planning for this animation was a bit rough. I didn’t have much time to do it, that’s why I didn’t use any video references or thumbnails. I usually don’t use a lot of video reference in my animation process, but to find more ideas when I’m in an inspiration crisis.
For my animation “Interview” I dedicated one day to write the idea, think about characters, and the staging, two days to make the two different versions of malcolm I use, prepare the props and the background (modeling and rigging) and compose my shots, and five days of animation.
11 second club March 2013 – Animation Process from camille campion on Vimeo.
First, I started making golden poses in the step I name “Rough”. I work fast and think only in narration and posing. Next, in the “Blocking” step, I start working on the timing, and how I can improve my narration. The first splining step is the part I don’t like, the boring technical moment. That’s why I develop a very strict methodology to do it as fast as I can. First, I clean a bit my curves. Then, I modify the timing just moving my poses in the timeline and adding some breakdowns, to be sure about the energy. Next, I use motion trail in the camera view, following the mass hierarchy of my body, first I clean the Root (the hips), next the chest, the head etc… The objective is to have something working efficiently without noises.
When I have this first splining pass, I can look at the rough version of the animation, change some details, refine curves and arcs, improve the timing, refine the lip-sinc to make it Final.
What was the most difficult part when animating this dialogue, and how did you work through it?
The adaptation when you are discovering a rig is the most difficult part for me. Next, as I said before, the blocking is a real pleasure, there is no part more or less difficult, it just takes time. I need more motivation for the first splining process…
Your hand motion felt very fluid. How did you come up with those particular hand gestures and in general how do you approach animating hands?
I don’t have a specific treatment for the hand. Hands are include in the blocking process composing the silhouette of the character, I try to make it cool and appealing. In the splining process, I spend time cleaning the curves frame by frame, improving the spacing and the timing when I can. Many students make the error of systematically having the hand follow the chest, but the hand expresses many emotions like the eyes or facial expressions. Many times your fingers nervously react before the rest of your body
Lastly, what advice would you give to students that are just getting into animation?
You have to find your method, your way to animate for fun and pleasure. The better shots are made by happy animators. We need to have fun during the full process.
Animate and animate and animate again, this is the practice that we find all of this and how we can improve our level. Try to find people who can give you advice, and feedback on your work. If you’re a student, ask your teachers and the others students. If you are working, ask your colleagues. And, if you’re alone in front of your computer, try to contact animators by vimeo, linkedin etc.. to asking for feedback on your work (there are many generous animators in the world).
We were excited to see that AnimSchool’s Malcolm was featured in 8 of the top 10 animations from June’s 11 Second Club Animation Competition (the other 2 of the top 10 were 2D animation entries).
AnimSchool founder, Dave Gallagher said: “Before there was such a thing as AnimSchool, I had a personal dream: I wanted to make very flexible, appealing, and expressive characters that people all over the world could use for free.”
Over 15,000 animators from all over the world have downloaded the Malcolm rig. We can’t wait to see what the animation community does with AnimSchool characters next!
Here’s what past 11 Second Club contestants have said about Malcolm:
Camille Campion, March 2013 winner
“The first important thing for me is the model, the design and appeal.
Malcolm looks good, his design is simple, but with potential- I like
that. The rig is very complete, the facial rig is superb and powerful.”
Aju Mohan, September 2012 winner
“I was blown away by its flexibility, and I knew instantly, that Malcolm was the one for my shot! “The Malcolm rig is fantastic for facial expressions, actually now when I
look at my shot again, I think I could have pushed the expressions a
bit more.”
Aulo Licinio, April 2012 runner up
“I looked at other animations and his flexibility looked amazing. I just kept imagining all the things I could do with it.”
Tim Kallok, March 2012 winner
“I would like to thank AnimSchool for making such an awesome rig
available for public use. I really love Malcolm’s design and his overall
flexibility. He can be pushed and pulled further than any other rig
that I have used. His facial setup is awesome; it’s really easy to get
appealing shapes and expressions. Because of the nature of the
competition’s dialogue, I didn’t get to utilize the rig to its full
potential, but for my shot, the IK elbow pinning and the IK/FK switching
came in very handy.”
Peter Nagy, January 2012 winner
“Malcolm is the best rig I have ever worked with! (And I’m not only
saying this because I won with Malcolm) Until now, I have always
thought that there are no bad rigs, just weak animators, but I have
found out, it is crucially important how much latitude a rig can
give to the animator. At first I got frightened by seeing the amount
of controllers, but with a little practice, it can easily be seen
which controller should be used to which action. It was a great help
that I could change body position by moving the hip or the abdomen,
and the shoulders kept their position at the same time. I loved that
I could handle the arms in arch and that I could stretch the
character. These are very important factors on a rig for a nice
cartoony animation.”
Will Sharkey, September 2011 winner
“The thing about the Malcolm rig is there
are also lots of additional controllers for specific situations (e.g.
elbow pins, hyper extend), things that aren’t essential, but really help
when animating. It took a few poses to work through the controllers
but Malcolm Rig is very light weight, so all that extra control isn’t
slowing the rig down. All these details really speed up animation and
makes things a lot more fun.”
Featured animation images from 11 Second Club June competition animators. In order from top to bottom: Muhammad Irfan Farooq, Ozan Basaldi, Sean Liu Jian Woei, Kiran Jay Babla, Muhammad Zohaib, Josiah Haworth, Linus Gan, and Kenta Lee.