Weeks and Days and Hours and Minutes

I'm Rising!

Anibots and how they work. Thank goodness for those tutorial videos, or else I'd have broken my poor little bot beyond recognition.

I guess I want to know

 I can't think of much I want to know. Just because I think I have to put something here, I guess I would like to know how the Anibot has various commands attached to single areas (like the rings and things that you click on to translate the parts as a whole)

I am irked

Rendering isn't working the greatest for me and it kind of bugs me. Also, I'm worried that I will mess little things up because 3D animating is so different from 2D animating. I guess it really takes practice, so I should shush up and start learning haha

Squee

 I am really looking forward to the results of the classroom competition. I can only image the great ideas my colleagues have concocted in their wild and vivid imaginations. I wish everyone the best of luck and may the best man win.



Link of interest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhUWUPpPk_k

It's pretty much a video about Hayao Miazaki's achievements in his field (and by that, I mean the movies he's directed in order from first to last). It's really a short video, since it doesn't get into fine detail, but I felt that it was a useful resource for my 5 page paper that is due on the 12th (which I really need to get moving on...). Speaking of which, good luck everyone! *cries internally*

Incredible!

Always good to know

Asking for help is always a reliable method to achieving a believable result. Even if it is asking a friend to draw a simple figure doing an action that you don't feel confident in drawing yourself, it will be a reliable resource to call upon and should be utilized when necessary (this is not, however, an excuse to bug people into doing your job/ being lazy, so I am trying to put an emphasis on "necessary")

 Videotape yourself doing what needs to be done (exercise common sense, of course. Stay within logic). Carlos Baena stresses the importance of keeping a keen eye on weight distribution so that the product will be more believable. Artists are only actors with pencils, so get up and get silly.

"It is important to try to not copy real life, but instead think of it as a chance to try to push movement and make a caricature of motion while still keeping the character with weight" 

Seems like good advise. Always good to keep in mind

What I think

This guy is hilarious xD He gives great advise and some of the videos were hilarious! I definitely liked the video with the camera test (I think it was a camera test anyways...) and also the final video where Carlos is flopping around on the floor. Very entertaining!

Excellent advise delivered in a memorable and entertaining way. Hey, if flopping around like a fish out of water is an effective way to improve ones skills, then EVERYONE DO THE FLOP! *flops*

Curiosity

Which method (storyboard/animatic, movie references, or personal shots) provides the most information? Which is the best source to rely on for movement references?

EVERYONE DO THE FLOP *flops*

gosh I love this guy xD

Going Digital

(Pardon my Spongebob reference haha)

Beep boop

I didn't even know that film was still used anymore. D: Dang! But this could be huge! If films went full out digital, movies could be shown more easily and efficiently, potentially making movie tickets less expensive. Yay! I can potentially go on more movie dates with my boyfriend!

Unfortunately, this could be bad news for smaller theaters that are having enough trouble as is. I guess going all digital (to quickly) could really hurt a group of people. :( People have already lost jobs because of film production industries going out of business and small theaters could possibly close. That's kind of upsetting if you really think about it.

Companies have been skeptical to take a step towards innovating movie theaters because they don't want to loose the parts of their market that can only screen film. This seems reasonable I guess. Business is business and the larger the market, the better. But ultimately, times will have to change eventually, so maybe it is better to take the step and hope the markets can eventually catch up. But, then again, I can see why that would be an extremely bad idea...

Beep boo boo bop

I think this is an amazing feat for the media industry. If movies can be streamed at a higher quality for a fraction of the cost, that would mean that more people would come to the movies and that has the potential to bring in even more money than ever.

Things like this make me ponder the progression of technology and when it will ultimately leave us all behind, just as it did with our parents and our grandparents. What's next? Movies being streamed directly into our heads? Oh my...

Boo boo bop

Should all film industries convert to this digital format? Do the pros outweigh the cons and will the damage be insignificant enough? Who will suffer the greatest from this dramatic change?

Weekly Drama

• Learned

3D holy sheet
Also 3D animating :3

• Want to learn

Hm... more 3D animating?

• Frustrated me

 Glitching D: I had a file that got corrupted and now I have to start over again :(

• Made me happy

 Having fun with all of my friends in a class I enjoy very much ^^ I love you guys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6GophSBWjo&list=WLkacLqVMWvwKZv5toKxfpFZX59OceDA7i

10 Things you didn't know about Pixar :D Fun fun fun! We probably know a few of the things, but there are a few that surprised me. Watch it and see for yourself!

Getting in Good with the Film Industry

If you're trying to get experience, or just trying to get in good with the higher-ups of a film industry, it's best to find a lower level position that will give you a window of opportunity to get your name in with your superiors. Give yourself an edge and make connections, because those connections might have connections with potential employers.

Knowledge is power, so don't fall flat when you can't answer a few basic questions. Do research on your company of interest and ask yourself questions like, "why am I interested in this company?" or, "where would I fit best?". The more you know and the more you have planned, the better the outcome will be.

Study budgets. Big budgets, low budgets, and everything in between. What is manageable and what is practical? Just because the budget is big doesn't mean that the movie will take off. It is important to figure out what kind of budget you have to kick off your film making career.

I thought this article was extremely helpful. It offers great advise and tips for success.

Very encouraging :) Revitalizes hopes of success

Do these tips also apply to animation jobs? Or are there a separate set of tips for that field?

Sweet CGI in Sleepy Hollow

All problems can be solved with a little creativity and determination. If one desires to film a headless man without needing to hire a headless actor, apply some ingenuity, measurements, knowledge of CGI, and green hoods to make that head come right off! No gore or legal fees required!

• Film the actual actor in the Headless Horseman's place
• give him a fancy green hood and a special collar (fancy fancy)
• and finally, take the scene into a computer and digitally chop his head off

Making guys explode like a crumbling statue was another task that the Sleepy Hollow staff had to overcome. First, they took a shot of one of the Acolytes jumping down a few steps, then they digitally removed him and replaced him with a cluster of rocks and dust. I didn't even know that was possible to do with a real person D:

Last but certainly not least, the team had to give life to the dead (well, a nonliving object really, but close enough)! The task was to animate the Phiale and make the little skulls move around. The process was:

• The scene was shot with the inanimate prop built by their art department
• A photogrammetry model was made of the item to use as a base for animating
• The prop was animated to look like it had skulls that move

I thought that the whole process of the headless horseman was my favorite, because it took a lot of creativity to come up with that solution (and I thought the Headless Horseman looked kinda cool). The headlessness looked pretty convincing and it was an entertaining scene to watch.

The process of making the Phiale seems really confusing (and I'm not 100% on if I even got the steps right ^^; sorry). Turning a 3D inanimate object into a 3D CGI animate object seems like an almost unreal task (based off of my extremely limited knowledge of 3D animation) but somehow, they did it :D Congratulations Sleepy Hollow team!

How do you make a photogrammetry of something? Does it get scanned and uploaded to a computer or something like that?

As The Weeks Go By

3D is turning out to be an interesting learning experience. So many things that can go wrong may go, but when everything goes right, you find that you have produced a masterpiece that has several dimensions. I have learned that just because I had a bad experience with 3D once doesn't mean that I'll necessarily have it twice when a new program is introduced.

I would love to learn more about creating 3D models. I am also eager to get into 3D animating. I wonder how the inverse kinematics will work in Maya

3D takes an excessively long time. I suppose one can't rush perfection, but it is still a little annoying. Also, as I have stated, whatever can go wrong might go wrong and it's not quite as easy to undo your mistakes. Time and patience are key (and I've been told that I am very impatient).

Maya is turning out to be fun, mostly because of how detailed the models are looking. Also, since I realize that this is the first comments blog since we went on vacation, so I want to say that my Christmas was very fun. My boyfriend's parents were very kind and got me MLP related stuff xD A hoodie, a stuffed animal, and a plastic figurine. My boyfriend commissioned a custom, hand made pony hear pillow and it is so incredibly soft! >w<

Link of interest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ffwDYo00Q&list=WLkacLqVMWvwKZv5toKxfpFZX59OceDA7i

Because who doesn't love animated cat videos?

My boyfriend constantly complains of his kitten waking him up in the middle of the night, so when he showed me this video, I could only think of Jasmine. It is a wonderful thing that cats are unable to wield baseball bats! Haha!

CGI Changing Cinematography

Cool story bro

• CGI is changing the way movies are being made (<--which isn't the actual thing I learned), but some believe they shouldn't be judged the same way as traditional movies (ones with sets and props and stuff).
• Conversely, others believe that just because they are made differently, they shouldn't be judged differently if they yield the same result. If they have the same emotional impact, can they really be considered different from one another?
• Technology is "changing the definition of cinematography and that the core principles remain intact". It changes how movies are being made and it is changing the skills and talent needed to make them.

Opinions

• I personally believe that they should be judged separately pretty much for the same reason that there is a separate award for best male and female actor. They're both the same (human/cinematography), yet they are clearly different.
• I believe that they should also be separated because I feel that CGI provides more creative freedom than traditional movies. Fantastical tales of humans floating around in space just can't be achieved through traditional means. Children and tigers coexisting would be so extremely risky, that CGI proves to be the safest option. In my opinion, CGI has an unfair advantage over traditional cinematography.

Curiosity
How much longer might traditional cinematography last? How long before technology completely changes how we crank our films?

Minions! Assemble!

Learnin'

• Despicable Me uses freelance storyboard artists. That's pretty awesome actually! It seems unique (mostly because I've never heard of another situation like this), and I almost understand why they do this. They want to incorporate a lot of talented ideas into the melting pot for the best results (and it seems almost more cost effective, but I'm not 100% on that). It's a gamble, but sometimes it greatly pays off in the long run.
• There was the potential for a very morbid "joke" about Gru killing his neighbor's dog, but it was quickly scrapped when it killed the humorous mood that the animators were trying to establish. 
• The best way to cut down on costs is for everyone to get their heads in the game and finish the movie as efficiently as possible. 2-2.5 years is considerably better than 8-10 years of work, and a lot less costly.

2 opinions

• I thought this was a very interesting article, considering that I am very familiar with the movies in question. They were great films and I'm glad to have a bit more insight on one of the greatest film series ever.
• I agree with the change of the Minions. Hulking ogres are much less entertaining than little yellow beans that practically worship Gru like a god.Gosh I love those little guys! >w<

Why was the movie based on a villain instead of a hero? Who came up with this brilliant idea? I always enjoy movies that are from a villain's POV (and I understand that the movie wouldn't have been able to progress as it did unless he turned good, so I shall forgive this... for now)