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.
We’d like to introduce Sungmin Hong. Min, can you tell us a little about yourself and what 3D experience you’ve had before AnimSchool?
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.
What inspired you to get into animation? What do you enjoy the most about animating?
My first inspiration was the movie ‘The Lion King’. It was the first movie I
saw in the cinema. And, it was a whole new world, from there I started
drawing 🙂
saw in the cinema. And, it was a whole new world, from there I started
drawing 🙂
My second inspiration was the movie ‘The Incredibles’. I watched this movie like… a hundred times…
As
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.
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.
Which Artists inspire you and what do you love about them?
Honestly,
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.
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.
With every AnimSchool test comes new challenges. Out of all the tests
you’ve completed, which one has been the most challenging and why?
you’ve completed, which one has been the most challenging and why?
With
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.
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.
First, it was absolutely challenging to extract the character I wanted for the
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.
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.
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| 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.
The last
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.
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.
Can you talk a little about the process of your dialogue test from the
Character Performance class, from coming up with the background story,
your video reference, to splining.
Character Performance class, from coming up with the background story,
your video reference, to splining.
-audio:
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.
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.
-reference:
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).
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).
-blocking: I normally do 3-4 main story poses for the shot. Then
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).
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).
-splining : I just spend time adjusting the curves.
-polishing:
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.
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.
Your class 6, Facial Performance test is a great piece, what were some
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.
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.
First of all, the shot is still in progress.. I didn’t have enough time to
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.
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.
I remember he said the pose for the ‘Personality’ part was too broad in terms
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.
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.
In my reference, I was sitting on the chair acting it out in front of the
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.
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.
How has your experience been at AnimSchool?
Great!
As I mentioned, it was the best turning point of my life. Without
Animschool, I could not have been here sharing my experience.
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?
Everything.
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.
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.
Most
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. 🙂
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. 🙂
What advice would you give other students that are just getting into animation?
See. Think.
See people on a street. How they walk, what they do in certain situations.
Think why they do that? What makes them do that?
Thanks for giving me such an honor to share my experience with the public. Once again, thank you 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.
Come join all the students learning online at AnimSchool. Apply for the Fall Term now!
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.
We would like to introduce Ricardo Puertas. Ricardo, can you tell us a little about yourself and what animation experience you’ve had before AnimSchool?
For as long as I can remember, drawing, video games and films have fascinated me. So, when I had the opportunity, when I was 17, I started to study Illustration at an Art School.
I had never had drawing or art lessons before, so it was very difficult for me, but I was very grateful to learn. In school I learned much more than before, because in the past I had always taught myself. Those years, I learned so much about my passion of drawing, and I finally had the opportunity to start 2D animation.
After that, I had a course in Animation at the University of Balearic Islands. This gave to me the opportunity to better know the 3D world. In the course they taught us a bit about the process of creating an animation short, so we learned a bit of everything, modeling, rigging, and animation. Then each of us focused on what we were interested in for our final project. Obviously, I decided to go into animation. My final project was selected for several national and international festivals, and I won some awards.
Thanks to that, I had several opportunities to begin my career as an animator, and I finally started to work in a little studio dedicated to making Films and TV Spots. I have been working and enjoying animation for about 7 years. In the last few years, I have mostly been working in video games. Most of time we animate the body, making cycles, transitions, etc. I felt that I needed to improve on the acting of my characters, I was a little rusty in that aspect.
For this reason, I was interested in learning from better professionals of the animation world. I know that this world is a continuous learning cycle. For this reason, I decided to apply to AnimSchool to improve my knowledge in animation hand in hand with great professionals of the animation industry.
Student Ricardo Puertes – Class 4 Body Acting from AnimSchool on Vimeo.
What inspired you to get into animation?
I remember one day when I was 5 years old, while I was having lunch with my grandmother, I saw the Woody Woodpecker show about how to make animation. I liked drawing so much, and this gave me the opportunity to see all these people drawing, and giving life to the characters who fascinated me. At that moment, I said to my grandmother: “Grandma, I want to be an animator.”
What stands out the most to you when you’re watching an animated film?
As an animator, I can’t avoid looking at animator’s timing, poses, etc. I’m always looking and focusing my attention on the character’s movement. I don’t know if this is the best, but I can’t avoid it. After that, when I have the opportunity, I always buy the movies. I can’t stop myself from watching some scenes hundreds of times. I go frame by frame to see how it’s done. I love it!
Student Ricardo Puertas – Class 6 Facial Performance from AnimSchool on Vimeo.
With every AnimSchool test comes new challenges. Out of all the tests you’ve done, which one has been the most challenging and why?
The most difficult part for me was my beginning with lip sync. In video games, most of time, we’re animating the body, making cycles, transitions etc. Some times we get to animate the face, but I never had the opportunity to go too far with facial animation in TV or film. So, when I started my facial assignment, I was really exited to learn and go further with my character.
Can you talk a little about your process for your Facial Performance class shot, from selecting the dialogue to polish?
It was a lot of fun. The most important thing to me at this time was to enjoy the assignment, so I wanted to select funny audio to work with to have fun all term.
All the pre-production was really fun: sketching, searching for and making video reference… this was crazy. But, the most important thing for me was to enjoy it. When I had my sketches, planning and references ready to start, all went easy.
To begin with the blocking, it is very important to have a clear idea. You have to keep in mind all key poses. In this aspect, I had it in my mind from the beginning. In this process I needed to make some changes and to adjust the timing, obviously. But once timed, I passed into splining and it was simple enough to fit and polish the rest.
It’s very important to spend your time in good planning. You can save a lot of work.
What is your favorite part to work on within your process, why?
Obviously, all the phases are a lot of fun. The searching of ideas, the first sketches, when you start the blocking and you can see how your character starts to become alive… But, I think that the best part is polishing your shot, because you can play around and add the little spark of life to your characters.
Student Ricardo Puertas – Class 7 Animating Appeal And Entertainment from AnimSchool on Vimeo.
How has your experience been at AnimSchool? What is your favorite thing you’ve learned?
First, I want to thank all my teachers, Anthea, Mike, Tim, Tony, Stewart and JP, and all the teachers and people who make AnimSchool possible. Especially Dave, for creating this fantastic school. Many people haven’t had the opportunity to learn animation in their city, and thanks to AnimSchool, they’re making their dreams come true. I want to give thanks to my wife too, for supporting me from the beginning in all of this, and my baby, for always being there laughing at his father while I’m recording video reference.
To me, applying to AnimSchool has been one of the best decisions that I’ve made recently. I’ve learned many things each term, but I think in the beginning, I learned a great important thing that I’ve used in every term. In Term 2, with Anthea Kerou, she taught us that the most important thing is that the character, as simple as it can be, has to always, always, always, have one story that motivates him to do what he does in the shot.
What advice would you give to students just starting out?
For the people who are starting in the world of animation, I would say to them that they should be persevering in their work, and go forward. Do not be afraid to show your work to other people, this is very useful. Sometimes you spend many hours working on a shot and it’s not possible for you to see some issues by yourself; other people can indicate those to you.
When someone gives you a critique, this isn’t a bad thing, quite the opposite. It’s the best thing that can happen to you, because you always learn new things from your mistakes. Another thing is, you should keep your eyes open and look at the world with “animator eyes.” 😉
In part 2 of AnimSchool’s webcast with Lluis Llobera, Lluis goes over his process of animating the villain, Nigel.
Coming up in part 3, Lluis talks about the relationship between Nigel and his human partner, Marcel.
In this episode we conclude the conversation started in Episode 04 with seven animators from the Dreamworks production crew of “The Croods.” Their positions rank from Character Animator up to Supervising Animator.
Podcast | Right Click to Download | Play in New Window | (48.0 MB)
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Gabriele Pennacchioli
Character Animator
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Thomas Grummt
Character Animator
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Jennifer Harlow
Character Animator
IMDB profile |
Liron Topaz
Character Animator
IMDB profile |
We’d like to introduce Eyad Hussein. Eyad, can you tell us a little about yourself and what 3D experience you’ve had before entering AnimSchool?
I’m twenty eight years old and I grew up in Amman, Jordan. Since my early childhood, I’ve had a passion for character drawing, and like most artists I started by drawing with pencils, because it was the cheapest and the most available medium. I was obsessed with writing short stories, and while in primary school I developed my first short story by the name of Narcissus and most of the characters for it. After graduating from high school, I obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts at Yarmouk University. During my university years I started learning Maya and used it as a tool to continue developing the Narcissus characters.
Career wise, I worked as a graphic artist in small studios until I got a job offer to work as a Photo Editor at Front Row, the pioneer publishing house in Jordan, where I was responsible in developing, creating and editing photos for six international and local magazines. Shortly after, I decided to focus more on animation, so I applied for a 3D Rigging Artist position at Rubicon Group Holding, the lead animation studio in the Middle East, and got accepted.
Sabine Heller, one of AnimSchool best instructors and a Character Technical Director at Blue Sky Studios, motivated me to join the school. Back in January 2012, when I was struggling with some advanced rigging issues, I got in touch with her and she encouraged me to join AnimSchool. In summer 2012 I got accepted in the 3D Character Program.
Which artists inspire you?
Most of the time, I get my inspiration from movies, video games and people who work in the industry. I love all of Disney and Pixar creations, Tangled (2010) and Brave (2012) are my favorite movies. Three months ago I was very lucky to visit Blue Sky Studios in Connecticut, US, where I met four of AnimSchool instructors who inspired me – Sabine Heller, Chris Pagoria, Ignacio Barrios and Dave Gallagher. I also met the talented people who are responsible for creating the amazing 3D movie Epic (2013).
I always buy books from “The Art of…” series and use them as reference. The last book I bought was The Art of Epic. I would like to say that it’s really amazing, very different from many other books. I like how it presents the character development stages from 2D concept to final 3D rendered character.
I like all of Tim Burton movies and how he develops the characters inside his works. I also like Capcom style, and especially Mega Man. Because I studied Fine Arts, I like to look back into the history of art. I get a lot of inspiration from Roman and Greek sculptures and paintings.
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| AnimSchool Introduction to Rigging assignments, by Eyad Hussein |
How did you become interested in 3D Modeling and Rigging? What do you enjoy the most? Why?
I was fascinated by Final Fantasy VIII (1999) from Squaresoft and how amazing their 3D characters looked. One day I saw a “making of” for the game on the TV, where they mentioned that they used Maya to model and rig the characters, so I started learning Maya and translating my 2D characters into 3D space.
The thing I enjoy the most when I do modeling is making the character’s face, because the face is the most prominent part of a character’s body, it is where all the emotions show, the first thing people look at. The thing I enjoy the most in rigging is posing the character and making it look alive, which gives it a personality.
What did you find the most challenging about modeling the character, Jane from your Intermediate Modeling Class?
For me, the main challenge in 3D character modeling making the character look as appealing as its prototype in the 2D design sheet, so that for people it’s love at first sight! 2D artists often cheat in the proportions when they do the posed concept for the character, so another big challenge is to match the 3D model to the 2D concept, or at least give it the same look and feel of the concept. The mission is to put a soul inside the character, so you can feel the personality and the weight of a character when you pose it. You have to make people believe that it’s really alive, and not just a bunch of polygons.
To know more about my process of modeling 3D characters please visit “Winter 2013 Review” at my blog: http://www.eyad.tv/blog/?p=575
As a modeler, how much do you model in ZBrush vs Maya? Can you talk a little about your process using both programs?
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| Chel- El Dorado ZBrush sculpt, by Eyad Hussein |
Before I start modeling, I like to gather some information about how the character would be used. What would be the purpose of developing this 3D model? Is it a demonstration of a character in 3D space for the movie director? Or is it for paint-over? Or is it going to be used in animation?
If it’s for the director, I mainly use ZBrush, it’s the fastest way to get a result. The director want to see shapes, volumes and the character personality in a pose, so you don’t have to worry about the technical details at all. I used to sketch the character in three days: a day for the head, a day for the body and a day for polishing.
If it’s for animation, it’s almost fifty-fifty. Most of the time I switch between Maya and ZBrush – I sketch up a quick volume in ZBrush, do retopology in 3D Coat, take the model to Maya and start cleaning the mesh, and then I send the model back to ZBrush to give it the final touches.
What have you found the most challenging in the Rigging process? How did you work through the challenges? Did you discover any tips/tricks?
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| AnimSchool Introduction to Rigging assignment, by Eyad Hussein |
The rigging itself is very enjoyable if you understand the concept, the challenge is always “Efficiency vs. Time”. I think rigging is the art of finding an efficient solution for a specific problem in a period of time.
I get through challenges by following a few important steps. First of all, you have to understand the problem – a problem well stated is a problem half solved, as they say. Second, you have to do a research, which is collecting information to solve this problem. After that, you should try different solutions and pick the most efficient solution for this particular problem. Finally test it! Let other people test it too, so you get feedback.
My advice is “Understand, research, try and test!”
To know more about my process of rigging 3D characters please visit “Fall 2012 Review” at my blog: http://www.eyad.tv/blog/?p=458
How has your experience been at AnimSchool? What is your favorite thing you’ve learned?
The AnimSchool experience is amazing, especially because the most talented people in the industry are teaching you all of the secrets for creating successful animated movies. I’ve been self-learning Maya for long time, but the amount of knowledge that I got from one year at AnimSchool is almost equal to what I have learned in many years of self-study, so it’s without any doubt a shortcut.
Self-learning is great, but the problem is that there’s nobody to evaluate and criticize your work, so you don’t improve much and eventually bump into a dead end. But as a student in AnimSchool, you receive a lot of constructive criticism from the instructors, which inevitably moves your work to the next level. This is my favorite thing at AnimSchool.
What advice would you give to other artists that want to get into a 3D Character Program?
My advice is to focus on the two sides, modeling and rigging, at the same time because they are so related to each other. To do good appealing rigs, you should be a good modeler. Never give up, keep trying and always share your work with others.
To view more of Eyad Hussein’s work visit:
Website: http://www.eyad.tv/
Website: http://www.eyad.tv/
Blog: http://www.eyad.tv/blog/
Photography Gallery: http://www.eyadness.deviantart.com/gallery/
Photography Gallery: http://www.eyadness.deviantart.com/gallery/
Come join all the students learning online at AnimSchool!
http://www.animschool.com/Members/NewStudent.aspx
Summer Term begins July 1st
For Immediate Release
Orem, UT United States – June 10, 2013 — For Summer Term, AnimSchool is offering two new 11-week live courses Introduction to 3D Lighting and Environmental Modeling using Autodesk Maya software.
Introduction to 3D Lighting
For the introductory term, Introduction to 3D Lighting students are team-taught by TWO feature film
professionals in approximately 3 hours of live web classes each week, lighters Brandon May and Michael Murdock of Blue Sky Studios.
The class covers the basics of 3D lighting in Maya. Learn the principles of light, shadow, color, composition, and
staging. Learn how to render great images using Maya’s tools.
This
course is designed for AnimSchool animation or modeling students, and also for
students who may want to pursue lighting and rendering as a career path.
The instructors appear on a web camera and share their desktop, so
students are able to see the instructor explain concepts, and can
ask questions as they go.
Environmental Modeling
Environmental Modeling is AnimSchool’s new course to go deeper into hard-surface modeling and learn environments. Students learn how to make sets for their characters.
For this first term, Environmental Modeling is taught by Disney/Blue Sky Studios modeler Brien Hindman, Environmental Modeling Lead for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.
In this new course, students learn best practices for production modeling, naming, breakout and asset management, and previs, cameras, lights, and resolution handling. Students learn the secrets of set modeling, with instruction in UV’s, Cloth
simming and particle distribution of elements, as well as working in a visual style.
Brien Hindman Environmental Modeling from Brien Hindman on Vimeo.
Introduction to 3D Lighting and Environmental Modeling are offered for Summer Term, July 1 – September 14. Prospective students should apply at:
http://www.animschool.com/Members/NewStudent.aspx
AnimSchool characters and tools 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 and animation.
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
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