AnimSchool Contest: Marco Rig

pose by AnimSchool student Arturo Rosado

Announcing!

AnimSchool Contest February 12 – March 13, 2020 (voting until 18th)

We are giving away four licenses to use our exclusive character rig Marco for personal, non-commercial uses (two per division).
There are two divisions, Novice and Professional, each one with a prize for 1st and 2nd place.

Enter the Novice Division
if you want to compete against Beginners and more basic early
professionals. The prize is one license for our character rig Marco for
personal, non-commercial use for 1st and 2nd place each.

Enter the Professional Division
if you want to compete against more advanced pros. The prize is one
license for our character rig Marco for personal, non-commercial use for
1st and 2nd place each. And for 1st place, the rig AND a $600 discount
off an AnimSchool class (if the recipient is eligible to be a student at
AnimSchool. To see residency restrictions see this link and other steps here.)

You
could win one of two licenses per division to use our exclusive
character rig, Marco for personal, non-commercial uses for the BEST animation using AnimSchool’s Malcolm rig you can download here. You can post one you have ALREADY DONE or a new animation you make for this contest.

Animation
must be 30 seconds or shorter in length and AnimSchool’s Malcolm rig
must be shown, animated, within the first 5 seconds of any entry. Any
additional rigs you use must be be licensed to be used in a contest like
this.

The
animation must be your own. No group animated projects. Individual
participants only. 3D animation only. G/PG-rated content only.

This contest is open to the public as well as AnimSchool students.

Winners
will be determined as follows: AnimSchool’s Review Board will select
the top two winners per division from the top ten entries (the ones with
the highest votes). Voting starts now, runs through the contest and
ends 5 days after the contest end date shown above in the contest
description.

You
don’t have to enter the contest to vote. Vote based on the best
animation (ideas, posing, fundamentals, weight, appeal, acting,
execution, polish). Do not vote based on render quality since this is
not a lighting/rendering contest.

More Details here: AnimSchool Contest Site

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

Reacting is acting

“The thought process reveals the feeling. Sometimes it can be shown with a single, held drawing or simple move. Other times there should be gestures, body moves, or full action. Determine which is best in each case.”

(The Illusion of Life, p. 507)

When animation acting shots, many animators struggle when deciding how to pose a character. One of the mistakes newer animators do is to have the character always moving. But sometimes the best acting choice is to let the character react; to either the situation in the environment, or another character.

When working on a dialogue shot, animators should think of your character’s reactions, and not just actions.

“There is an inherent danger in animating scenes of inner struggle, because most attempts to achieve clear, concise communication cause the character to overact badly and lose credibility. “
(The Illusion of Life, p.482)

For a better understanding of how to built up a good reaction, check out this lesson from our Animating Appeal and Entertainment instructor, Mitch Yager.