AnimSchool Blog

We’re so excited here at AnimSchool. Our beta classes are starting today, with 24 students. That can only mean AnimSchool is closer to launching later this month. What an amazing collection of talent we have at the school! Stay tuned!

Dave

Here is a model change and some descriptions of how to pump this character with appeal!

Hey 3D Appeal’ers. Graham asked for a review of his animation, which can be found here:
http://vimeo.com/15760085
Here you go Graham. Go forth and animate!

This is a submission from 3D Appeal Blog Now. Until these sites get very busy, they will be posted here.

Michael asked for this 3D Appeal Makeover for this model and rig he’s working on.  Nice character!
(This character design is from Chris Ayers, who generously gave permission to allow Michael to use them in his student project. Special thanks to the character designer, Chris Ayers!)

Mike Thurmeier, co-director or Ice Age 3 and Ice Age 4, says of Dave:

“I worked with Dave for over eleven years, and without a doubt he’s one of the best modeler/character riggers in the business. He has an incredible eye for appeal and fun, and was instrumental in helping us achieve great character facial rigs for all of Blue Sky’s movies.

Well, let me hasten to mention that I’m *NOT* a character designer and my drawings skills are nothing special. But here are some solid ideas for Leon, our first 3D Appeal Makeover winner. We want to review:
models
animation
rigs!
But hey, this is our first one, so let’s give it a try.

Hi. We will be running two beta classes in October-November to test the AnimSchool system.

We are accepting 12 beta applicants for the 3D Animation class and 12 for the 3D Character class, which will focus on modeling.

We are looking for people who know a little about these subjects but want to interact with a Blue Sky Studios teacher for four weeks and try out the system.

There is a $50 charge to test the payment processing system and pay the teachers a little for their time.

Classes will begin about October 25, in the evening EDT and continue once a week for 4 weeks. Beta testers will be expected to devote about 10 hours per week to completing assignments. They can be of varied experience levels, but all testers should be familiar with Maya (or Softimage).

To request inclusion in the beta program, please send an email to
betarequest@animschool.com
Please include a link to any 3D animation/modeling/rigging work you have done.

See the AnimSchool FAQ for more about the school.

We at AnimSchool are here to help people in the 3D field improve at their craft. AnimSchool consists of dozens of super-talented animators, modeler, and riggers, ready to review your work and make suggestions.
Many AnimSchool instructors review the animations.
The character models are reviewed by Dave Gallagher:
“For about four films, I supervised the aesthetic and  performance aspects of character models and rigs at Blue Sky Studios, where I worked for nearly 11 years as an animator, rigger, and Character Development Supervisor. I often know how to make bad models and shapes good, and good ones great. I’m even pickier about facial expressions. And I’m a solid film animator too.

You retain all rights, but we will make a blog post about the changes –post pictures and/or video but not the actual file– and why we felt the new version is more appealing. By submitting the art, you grant us the right to show it and our Makeover version in our AnimSchool promotional material.

In-Progess Malcolm to Marnie Progression

I’m in the middle of modeling this character, Marnie, for AnimSchool. I decided to start from the geo of our other main character, Malcolm. I figured it would be a tricky task and that’s definitely been the case. This is not done yet, by far but I thought you might want to see the process.

I designed this girl as a female character for the school. I don’t even have the body designed yet, but I was anxious to get started on the face.

So, from here, read backwards starting at the bottom of this post!

There is still much work to do on her face, but it is starting to look nice with the hair temp-ed in. There is a tug of war trying to hit the art exactly because it is cheated side to side. When I drew it, I unknowingly introduced inconsistencies from left to right. If you make one side match up perfectly, the other side is way off. So there is a compromise of forms. So, she’s not done! Not nearly as nice as the drawing.  I will show you the next steps. Total time spent: 1 1/2 days.

Fine tweaking of the lips and cheeks. Shoulders. Adding eyelashes.

I started to get to a place where she was looking nice. In a way that’s bad because it means my eye is running out of ideas. To take it to the next level, I need to bring along some of the other elements. She needs to look more feminine. I have her some lipstick and fit the eyes in there.

I got past the ugly stage. I added rows to get the hard turns on the lip to keep form. I worked on the nose to get a dainty round upturned edge, like the drawing. 

I placed two pictures of the design in my scene, one to the left to be referenced always. And one exactly overlaid on the head, as a texture on a card, toward the back of the skull. I saved a camera position and would always return to this to evaluate. I set a hotkey to swap immediately between the drawing and the geo. So I couldn’t see both at the same time, but I could switch fast enough that it shows what needs to move. This is better than solely looking to the side.
(This is being modeled in Softimage.) I started to shove things around in symmetry modeling mode, with Proportional Editing on, constantly changing falloff distance.
Wow, did he/she look ugly for a few hours!