Animation Breakdowns

Check out this awesome blog entry by Tim Rudder showing how different animators used spacing to break up actions:

http://www.timrudder.com/animationmentor/animation-breakdowns/

Mindbender is a great little studio in Sweden, they do great work making CG rigs look more like stop-motion rigs. I've been looking at their latest animation. It's great to step through, using multiples and pops. Just shows what you can do when you stop thinking of the rigs when you sculpt every frame. Would love to get my hands on that rig.

Look at their latest work:

The Food Thief - Teaser Shot from Mindbender on Vimeo.


The rig they used:

The Food Thief RIGG - Technical breakdown. from Mindbender on Vimeo.


The animatic:

The Food Thief - Animatic from Olov Burman on Vimeo.


Previous work:

Meindbender Showreel 2010 from Mindbender on Vimeo.


The Duplicator Rigg from Mindbender on Vimeo.

Really nice Twin Peaks animation from The Black Lodge:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1020091692861489152

DisneyToons and Beyond

DisneyToon Studios has closed down. This place was home to me for the last seven years. I worked as an Animation Supervisor. It was a great job, worked with a lot of great and talented people.

It was a pretty unique situation. I was working directly with a lot of talented people I normally wouldn't have access to. There was a lot of access to a lot of training programs and talent development (boy howdy did I take advantage of that).  I was involved with a lot of talent development, working with studios all over the world. I also worked on developing characters, story and of course as Animation Supervisor I supervised a lot of animation.

It was a unique experience. I learned a lot. The studio produced 47 film including The Goofy Movie (Film still doesn't get the credit it deserves). I was disappointed to see it go.

I have a new website, you can find it here:

www.ethanhurd.com

I'm going to keep this blog, in fact I'm going to update it more often. I'm also planning on looking into Artela it's something I've been interested in but never had the time for. Looking forward to what's next.

Welcome Dan & Kat Listeners

Hello all you listeners to the Dan & Kat podcast.
This is my animation blog. I try and update it as often as I can, that is to say not very often, but I do the best I can.

If you have any questions about animation or how to be an animator feel free to leave a comment or contact me through Google+ and the Twitters

If you are interested in books on animation here is my recommended reading list:
http://ethanhurdam.blogspot.com/2012/09/books-on-animation.html

Slow motion Cheeta Run.

Cheetahs on the Edge--Director's Cut from Gregory Wilson on Vimeo.

Very cool look at a the fastest land animal on earth. Notice how still and steady his head is. Helps him see his pray. Very cool.

One More Beer!

Great short film, nice acting.

One More Beer! from pedro conti on Vimeo.

Back in 2009 I bought a copy of Sita Sings the Blues from Nina Paley's website. I did this mainly because of Roger Ebert's review:

I began. I was enchanted. I was swept away. I was smiling from one end of the film to the other. It is astonishingly original.

 It was surprising for me, I don't tend to like this style of animation, but the story was really good so I enjoyed the film quite a bit. So now I find myself looking forward to her new film  This Land Is Mine:
 For more info, including a list of the characters who kill each other, check out her site: http://blog.ninapaley.com/2012/10/01/this-land-is-mine/

Two-Headed Cop Update

There's been an update to the Two-Headed Cop page, it includes the final version of the "Jail" sequence, check it out:

http://www.twoheadedcop.com/post/32742534820/the-jail-sequence-and-other-updates#.UGsmNcWmdn8

Using Video Reference in Animation

Animation Addicts has a couple great posts about using video reference when planning out your animation. Couldn't have said it better myself:

http://www.animation-addicts.com/2012/08/02/carbon-copy-animation/

http://www.animation-addicts.com/2012/06/01/step-1-honesty/

Song of the Sea

Tomm Moore, the director of "The Secret of Kells" is busy directing is second feature film "The Song of the Sea" and just like when directing Kells he has decided to make a production blog. It looks every bit as good as Kells does:

http://songoftheseamovie.blogspot.ie/

Here's the concept trailer (if you haven't heard about it):

Class 3 Progress Reel - Siddhant Mehta

Some nice work from Siddhant, a student of mine from last semester:

Eclipse

Another great short film from Gobeilens:

Stewpot Rhapsody

Another stunningly good short film from the students at Gobelins.

I really like everything about this one. The designs, the way the animation is timed to the music, the animation. A real stunner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41JpCEeOdhA&feature=share&list=UU-vrN89jIox3XqAKbEMeFgQ

Getting An Animation Job

Animation Addicts posted a great post about the pressure being put on students looking for that first animation job then vs. now. I thought it was really good and wanted to highlight it here;

http://www.animation-addicts.com/2012/09/17/making-it/

Truely Amazing

I found this on You Tube and it blew my mind.
This is a seven second shot, and it's truly amazing. Staging, clarity, form, solidity, weight I don't thing you can name a principle of animation that doesn't show up in these seven seconds. Not a line is out of place or is unnecessary. It's also a mini short film. The conflict and character is there and is clear. It has a beginning middle and end. And the best part is it looks so simple, I don't mean it's simple to do, but simple in the sense of you don't think there is any other way the shot could be done.

Jamie Hewlett on Drawing

Ever sense I discovered Tank Girl I've been a big Jamie Hewlett fan. His drawings are unbelievably good. Not just the craftsmanship but the play on shapes, proportions and over all attitude.

 I don't know much about the actual guy, so it was nice to see him being interviewed about drawing:

How To Steal Like an Artist

This article is fantastic. It's by Austin Kleon, who's known for creating Newspaper Blackout poems. He recently gave a talk about being an artist, and then published said talk on line. It's very good, I highly recommend it:


How To Steal Like An Artist

Medusa by Nick DiLiberto

Really nice short:



I like how this is an action film with a very unique look. It starts in action and never lets up. I kinda wish we got a better read on the Medusa at the beginning but the rest is really good. Awesome work.


Found on http://www.captainyolk.blogspot.com/

Drawing Inspiration

Here's a great short called Drawing Inspiration:

Drawing Inspiration from Wesley Louis on Vimeo.

Even better is the production blog: http://drawinginspirationproduction.blogspot.com/

The thing I like about the blog is how it developed. The main wino character changed pretty dramatically from the beginning to the end. I love the page of faces that he did, trying to find the face. I think he made a great choice going with a more stylized look.

Great stuff.