The End of an Era

1)

   I took this class because I really like cartoons, have many ideas for my own cartoons, and after seeing some animation software I realized it was within reach.

2)

   This will sound really cheesy and cliche, but my favorite part of the class was the people in it. It's nice to be around people I can relate to rather than the insane testosterone junkies on the bus I ride here.

3)

   The thing that I abhorred the most was the 3D tutorials, especially the helmet. I also really, really, really hate the deadlines

4)

   My favorite project was the final project. I really like being able to interpret scripts to make my own unique thing.

5)

   I did not paticularly enjoy the helmet tutorial. The helmet was so time consuming and boring.

6)

   8/10, my questions always got answered and I've learned a great deal, however I feel that the demos were long and pointless.

7)

   The most valuable lesson I learned was time management. I hated the deadlines, but now I can crunch.

8)

   Absolutely, this work I can do. If I can't star a multi-billion dollar entertainment company I can still live my dream by doing low-budget stuff on the Internet

9)

   Less demos and tutorials, more projects!

10)

   I look forward to next year

Final Project Blog

Interpretation

My idea for the script was to have two aliens discovering a cake dropped by an astronaut. I picked interpretation because I really liked the idea and it would allow an opportunity to reuse my character from the beginning of the year.

Principles

I utilized secondary action while Lulz (character 1) was tinkering with the cake by having Lil (character 2) look at some frosting that got on her hand whilst expressing concern over Lulz's actions. I also used overlapping action by having the frosting getting skewed by a tongue. I used a lot of straight ahead animation on the mouths to keep the flow of their words consistent, but I used pose to pose on the characters to help keep proportions correct and alleviate the workload. I figured exaggeration would be good for the reactions described in the script, so I had the object be mundane, but do miraculous things only to be stopped by another mundane object. I also used appeal in developing the characters, Lil is spontaneous and nonchalant as well as energetic and outgoing, so I made her skin a loud green and made her clothing very bright and colorful to help express her youthful energy and minor ignorance. Meanwhile the more toned-down Lulz who is quicker to recognize potential and outright danger as well as an ego I gave a more subtle skin tone and fashion sense that's upscale for his self image, but not something so flamboyant as to make him look adventurous.

Highlights

I feel I greatly improved on body language. Before I just did still images with moving mouths, but 've put more expression emotion in my characters that I am proud of, the best examples are the "I didn't know THAT would happen" and " let me try this" scenes. 

Improvement

I feel that the weakest part of my animation is the audio editing. There is a sudden cut at the "and how about this" line that makes me sad. There are also a few scenes, the "are you sure about that" scene most prevalent, where not much movement happens that leaves a stagnant feeling that I'm not fond of.

Overview

I think this my best work in 2D this year. While it's not perfect, I still like it and think its pretty good. My strategy worked very well considering this is my best 2D narrative and I finished ahead of schedule. Next time I'll do more work at home to prevent stagnant scenes and pay much closer attention to the audio.

Deez Comments Bruh

I learned to always check your bag for important things this week, because the low point is that I forgot my flash drives at school over the weekend so I couldn't do didly squat with my final. On the upside I used that freed up time to grind in Fallout and become ridiculously powerful. Ok, I stand corrected, THIS is the high point of my week!! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p7hMoxCIe44

Science? Avengers? What's Going on Here!?

So there's some science taking place behind the heroes and their abilities. Maybe not from Marvel, but scientists are defending our heroes! First is the material of Ironman's suit. First it was iron, heavy and not maneuverable. So he upgraded to what eggheads can reasonably justify as nitinol which is strong and lightweight. Furthermore what may sound like comic mumbo jumbo with Stark combining elements to make an element has actually been done a few times by scientists. An explanation that was thought up for the healing abilities of Wolverine, Captain America, and Black Widow came in the form of souped up macrophagecells that handle antigens and rebuilding after an injury. The final theory didn't try to relate their powers to the real world, but instead applies real world physics to Captain America's oppression deflector. It was theorized that the energy that vibranium "adsorbs" is converted to light energy.
I always like it when fiction is theoretically probable! Unfortunately I can't analyze much from an analysis. Their theories weren't stupid and far fetched. They were put in a way that everyone can understand what they mean without feeling stupid. Overall a well thought out, well executed analysis of possibilities in Marvel's fantastical universe. I guess that's why I like Marvel more than DC, they have fun then let smart people sciencify certain parts later, while DC tries so hard to explain everything that the story is lost to exposition.

Game of Ro Sham Bo is Still Better than this Freaking Show

So this article is all about the dragons and how they're made in HBO's golden goose. The rigging and animating is outsourced to a studio in Germany where they... have the guy from Amazing Spiderman and Hunger Games call the shots... Don't get me wrong, the guy is pretty decent at his work, but these three things? Seriously? This guy has worked on the three most painfully average things, with nothing that hasn't already been done better elsewhere, that get hailed like gods that change things. They don't! But I digress... Let's see their toys that shape animation's future. Okay... it's their technique, kinda... So the dragons rigs were simple pretty much lizard rigs at the beginning, but as the dragons get bigger and beefier more controls pivots and features are added. The rigs are rebuild each season (yikes) and get more controllers, now they're at around 400. Bet everyone LOVES playing with it. They have controllers for the back spikes, frill, and much more. Next season there will probably controllers for each individual scale. While they go through the effort of building a new complicated rig each season they do play favorites. They build one rig from scratch and change some colors and sizes. Before you say "oouuoouu building rigs is hard" just remember: Four Hundred Controllers. Beyond that they also hide stuff they want to animate, like the rest of us. They also use bats for reference and several other animals which is genuinely insightful. While most of this bantering nothing new that is pretty useful. Honestly the rest ain't worth the time analyzing, we've heard before.
I don't want to sound mean, but article is not really all that special. While there was some decent advice it's the same basic techniques being regurgitated as if they were revolutionary. Come to think of it... This studio has a bit in common with their movies...

Finale References #5

Weekly Spanking Comments

I learned that I'll really need to cut corners on my final project if I want to make the deadline. I wish I could learn how to make my computer not lag so much on AnimatePro. The best part of this week was discovering a pretty awesome comic. The downside was reading that little turd's article. I figure I extend my high point of the week to you with my link! http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/
Enjoy!

This Freaking Guy...

Let's set the record straight. Animation isn't an art. Neither is film. Music isn't art. Literature is also not art. They are tools, techniques, ways to MAKE art. What I'm saying is animation in off itself isn't an art, but AN animation most certainly is. Now to buckle in for my rant on Charlie Kenny's rant.
He says that as long as animation has been around there has always been "disposable" animation. He categorized as cheap cash ins with no impact. He said that the "disposable" animations of the past may have cult followings, but aren't true classics. He shows how one-sided (or stupid) he is here with that claim. If something has a cult following then those people probably hail it a classic. Something doesn't have to be flawless to be significant. He even had the audacity to call Hanna-Barbera an institution of "disposable" animations. The company that held animation in such high regard that they didn't do anything else. Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters are household names and they have revolutionized animation just as much as Walt Disney did. But oh, they were on a budget and cut corners. Their cartoons were low quality and cheap so they're garbage. But I digress, the inspiration for him to infuriate me was born from the rise of amateurs that came from animation software and the internet. He sees the influx of new cheaply made shorts as a sort of plague on the medium. Poor quality shorts whipped as fast as possible. He feels that it brings animation down and ends by asking where the next Walt Disney is.
I'll tell you where the next Walt Disney is: He's us. We use animation as our tool to make our point in our style. Charlie might think he's got it figured out but he has less respect for animation than any amateur animator. He wants one type of animation and the rest he dismisses as trash. He has no respect for diversity and is utterly close minded. Disney was indeed great, but the old ways were pricey, the new ways are cheap. The new amateur animators don't need to pay off production costs. They can make exactly what they want without compromise. Nothing off limits, any message or story can be told, but this guy doesn't respect animation as a way to convey a message. He wants perfect, polished animation, not an interesting message, not an engaging story, not memorable characters, not an original style, no, he wants "classics" his subjective "classics." So his opinion doesn't matter. Animation is more than a smoothly moving picture, it's a stylistic choice by the artist to get their point across, and those who don't respect that don't get to pass judgement on the creations of those who do.

Deja Vu

The stop motion dudes at LAIKA infiltrated our blogs again. This time it be about 3D printing and it's impact. 3D printing itself is pretty awesome, it can houses, cars, limbs, and just about anything else! You could probably make your own Legos with one too. Moving on... in the old days you had to make each stop-motion prop by hand with tools and what not. But 3D printing is quicker, more efficient, more reliable, and more convenient. LAIKA has taken advantage of this for their films, the possibilities of 3D printing have allowed to create 1,875 times as many faces as Jack Skellington from The Night Before Christmas had!
Overall this pretty nifty. I like it when stuff from the blogs resurface. One of my mom's friends actually has a 3D printer. While there is a certain aesthetic to hand made sets, it comes more from how it's built rather than how the pieces are built. Ultimately I don't see any downsides too 3D printing in animation! Nice to enjoy this blog, because the other one ohhh...