It is true with all of us, we make excuses about our animation.
Someone that is trying to help us make some in roads into our animation walks up and says "wouldn't it be better if you did this instead of this?" and we just look at them and say "oh, I did that on purpose".
First off, you haven't got anything to lose by trying to implement change, actually it makes you stronger. You should constantly be seeking what is wrong with your work and try to improve it. I have heard more than one great animator say "ask people for a critique" and what is so wrong about taking advice anyway? the person is spending valuable time that they could be doing something else instead, like animating?
Also it doesn't take that much time to actually find if it will look good or not, if you are animating traditionally, just put a page on top and start roughing in the suggested changes if you really think that nothing has improved you go back to the old drawings. simple enough? If you are doing computer animation, just save your scene and then start working on what the person has said and then if you haven't thought that it is not right go back to old scene.
Don't shoot people down in flames, they go out on a limb to help you out and if you don't want to actually step out of the "lazy animator" and see if they might be right and then tell them "it was there on purpose" then sooner or later they will know that they are not wanted and will not give their opinion.
The role of the animator is always to be wondering "why? why am I doing this? why am I doing that?" by not doing this you are officially letting yourself down by letting the laziness creep in under the doormat and dominate your animation.
I am sure that none of the nine old men was ever happy with their animation, they would struggle for days roughing out one pose so it looked perfect, yell at animators if they had something wrong in their scenes, spent every waking and sleeping second, living and breathing the art of animation.
Just remember that your only boundary is yourself. Go out there, learn, fail and then get up and start all over again. Animation is not for the faint of heart and so challenge yourself not let others set the challenge for you.
Over and out.
Showing posts with label Something to Note. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Something to Note. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Is it Helping your Animation or Killing it?
We all have them, from as soon as we get up in the morning to as soon as we go to sleep at night.
What am I talking about? Habits.
The two ways that we learn, That we do something that scares us enough to remember not to do it again or by the force of repetition (Habit).
The way we approach our animation, if we don't rely on good and better habits then we can and keep relying on the "old" way that we know, then are we just pounding away with our head on the proverbial brick wall?
The thing is that animation is a time consuming task, no wonder we pick up so many bad habits when it comes down to it.
What we need to do is track them down and destroy them, write down on a piece of paper your perceived bad habits when it comes to animating and write next to them the new habit that you want to replace it with.
Here is some pointers when it comes to Replacing Bad Habits from pick the brain.com
One Habit For 30 Days – Steve Pavlina, popularized the 30 Day Trial. You focus on one change for thirty days. After that time it has been sufficiently conditioned to become a habit. I’ve used this as the basis for most of my habit changes. It definitely works to sculpt the automatic programs that run in the background of your mind.
Use a Trigger – A trigger is a short ritual you perform before a habit. If you wanted to wake up earlier this might mean jumping out of bed as soon as you hear the sound of your alarm. If you wanted to stop smoking this could be snapping your fingers every time you feel the urge for a cigarette. A trigger helps condition a new pattern more consistently.
Replace Lost Needs – If you opened up your computer and started removing hardware, what would happen. Chances are your computer wouldn’t work. Similarly, you can’t just pull out habits without replacing the needs they fulfill. Giving up television might mean you need to find a new way to relax, socialize or get information.
One Habit at a Time – A month may seem like a long time to focus on only one change, but I’ve found trying to change more than a few habits at a time to be reckless. With just one habit change you can focus on making it really stick. Multitasking between three or four often means none become habits.
Balance Feedback – The difference between long-term change and giving up on day 31 is the balance of feedback. If your change creates more pain in your life than joy, it is going to be hard to stick to. Don’t go to the gym if you hate it. Find diets, exercise, financial plans and work routines that are fun to follow and support you.
“But” to Kill Bad Thoughts – A prominent habit-changing therapist once told me a great way to nuke bad thinking. Anytime you feel yourself thinking negatively about yourself, use the word “but” and point out positive aspects. “I’m lousy at this job – but – if I keep at it I can probably improve.”
Write it Down – Don’t leave commitments in your brain. Write them on paper. This does two things. First, it creates clarity by defining in specific terms what your change means. Second, it keeps you committed since it is easy to dismiss a thought, but harder to dismiss a promise printed in front of you.
30, 90, 365 – I’d like to say most habits go through a series of checkpoints in terms of conditioning. The first is at thirty days. Here it doesn’t require willpower to continue your change, but problems might offset it. At ninety days any change should be neutral where running the habit is no more difficult than not running it. At one year it is generally harder not to run the habit than to continue with it. Be patient and run habits through the three checkpoints to make them stick.
Get Leverage – Give a buddy a hundred bucks with the condition to return it to you only when you’ve completed thirty days without fail. Make a public commitment to everyone you know that you’re going to stick with it. Offer yourself a reward if you make it a month. Anything to give yourself that extra push.
Keep it Simple – Your change should involve one or two rules, not a dozen. Exercising once per day for at least thirty minutes is easier to follow than exercising Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays with yoga the first day and mountain biking the third day, except when it is raining in which case you will do… Simple rules create habits, complex rules create headaches.
Consistency is Key – The point of a habit is that it doesn’t require thought. Variety may be the spice of life, but it doesn’t create habits. Make sure your habit is as consistent as possible and is repeated every day for thirty days. This will ensure a new habit is drilled in, instead of multiple habits loosely conditioned.
Experiment – You can’t know whether a different habit will work until you try it. Mix around with key habits until you find ones that suit you. Don’t try to follow habits because you should, but because you’ve tested them and they work in your life.
What am I talking about? Habits.
The two ways that we learn, That we do something that scares us enough to remember not to do it again or by the force of repetition (Habit).
The way we approach our animation, if we don't rely on good and better habits then we can and keep relying on the "old" way that we know, then are we just pounding away with our head on the proverbial brick wall?
The thing is that animation is a time consuming task, no wonder we pick up so many bad habits when it comes down to it.
What we need to do is track them down and destroy them, write down on a piece of paper your perceived bad habits when it comes to animating and write next to them the new habit that you want to replace it with.
Here is some pointers when it comes to Replacing Bad Habits from pick the brain.com
One Habit For 30 Days – Steve Pavlina, popularized the 30 Day Trial. You focus on one change for thirty days. After that time it has been sufficiently conditioned to become a habit. I’ve used this as the basis for most of my habit changes. It definitely works to sculpt the automatic programs that run in the background of your mind.
Use a Trigger – A trigger is a short ritual you perform before a habit. If you wanted to wake up earlier this might mean jumping out of bed as soon as you hear the sound of your alarm. If you wanted to stop smoking this could be snapping your fingers every time you feel the urge for a cigarette. A trigger helps condition a new pattern more consistently.
Replace Lost Needs – If you opened up your computer and started removing hardware, what would happen. Chances are your computer wouldn’t work. Similarly, you can’t just pull out habits without replacing the needs they fulfill. Giving up television might mean you need to find a new way to relax, socialize or get information.
One Habit at a Time – A month may seem like a long time to focus on only one change, but I’ve found trying to change more than a few habits at a time to be reckless. With just one habit change you can focus on making it really stick. Multitasking between three or four often means none become habits.
Balance Feedback – The difference between long-term change and giving up on day 31 is the balance of feedback. If your change creates more pain in your life than joy, it is going to be hard to stick to. Don’t go to the gym if you hate it. Find diets, exercise, financial plans and work routines that are fun to follow and support you.
“But” to Kill Bad Thoughts – A prominent habit-changing therapist once told me a great way to nuke bad thinking. Anytime you feel yourself thinking negatively about yourself, use the word “but” and point out positive aspects. “I’m lousy at this job – but – if I keep at it I can probably improve.”
Write it Down – Don’t leave commitments in your brain. Write them on paper. This does two things. First, it creates clarity by defining in specific terms what your change means. Second, it keeps you committed since it is easy to dismiss a thought, but harder to dismiss a promise printed in front of you.
30, 90, 365 – I’d like to say most habits go through a series of checkpoints in terms of conditioning. The first is at thirty days. Here it doesn’t require willpower to continue your change, but problems might offset it. At ninety days any change should be neutral where running the habit is no more difficult than not running it. At one year it is generally harder not to run the habit than to continue with it. Be patient and run habits through the three checkpoints to make them stick.
Get Leverage – Give a buddy a hundred bucks with the condition to return it to you only when you’ve completed thirty days without fail. Make a public commitment to everyone you know that you’re going to stick with it. Offer yourself a reward if you make it a month. Anything to give yourself that extra push.
Keep it Simple – Your change should involve one or two rules, not a dozen. Exercising once per day for at least thirty minutes is easier to follow than exercising Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays with yoga the first day and mountain biking the third day, except when it is raining in which case you will do… Simple rules create habits, complex rules create headaches.
Consistency is Key – The point of a habit is that it doesn’t require thought. Variety may be the spice of life, but it doesn’t create habits. Make sure your habit is as consistent as possible and is repeated every day for thirty days. This will ensure a new habit is drilled in, instead of multiple habits loosely conditioned.
Experiment – You can’t know whether a different habit will work until you try it. Mix around with key habits until you find ones that suit you. Don’t try to follow habits because you should, but because you’ve tested them and they work in your life.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Something to Note-The underrated Bouncing Ball
For a few weeks now, In the morning, everyday now. Before I get into animating what current project I'm doing at the time.
I sit down and animate a Bouncing Ball, yup, that's right. The most useful thing to actually practice your animation teeth on. I take about an hour to do a 70 to about 200 frame, Bouncing Ball.
It is good, it short enough to keep up the interest, it breaks up the day by introducing something new, and you can do anything you like with it.
And for the people who are actually tired of working with a boring ball, what about one with a tail? Click hereOr if you want to throw facial animation into the mix? Click here
And who says that bouncing balls can't be cool?
Obviously hasn't seen this animation from Cameron Miyasaki. Click here to view it.
And lastly some of the examples of Bouncing Balls, from yours truly.
I hope you enjoy them. :)
I sit down and animate a Bouncing Ball, yup, that's right. The most useful thing to actually practice your animation teeth on. I take about an hour to do a 70 to about 200 frame, Bouncing Ball.
It is good, it short enough to keep up the interest, it breaks up the day by introducing something new, and you can do anything you like with it.
And for the people who are actually tired of working with a boring ball, what about one with a tail? Click hereOr if you want to throw facial animation into the mix? Click here
And who says that bouncing balls can't be cool?
Obviously hasn't seen this animation from Cameron Miyasaki. Click here to view it.
And lastly some of the examples of Bouncing Balls, from yours truly.
I hope you enjoy them. :)
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Something to Note - The Door to The Unknown
The Door by Cassandra Ward
It's funny but it is very true, no matter what course you are from they don't tell you about how different it is to cope after you have graduated. The thing is that you step out into the real world and suddenly your looking very unsure.
The thing is to set up the basic steps before leaving the safety of the course that you are in.
Update everything and establish a good presence online.
It might be quite strange but a lot of people forget this. Look at your stuff, update your Resume, write up a Shot Breakdown for your Showreel, write out a basic Cover Letter and then put it in a file and then put it somewhere on the desktop of your computer and possibly on your flash drive that it easy to Access when you have to submit anything for a job. If you're having any trouble with this, Pixar has got a really good tutorial on this. Click here to see it.
For you're presence online, Make sure that your Demoreel is Uploaded, that you post with regularity on your blog and you join a networking site like Linked In For example. Take time to set up some Job Alerts so that saves you time looking everywhere at once and I also signed up to The Animation Magazine online and also the The Animation Mentor E-Letter and last one is The Women in Games mailing list.
Establish Connections and a Network outside The Course.
Find out if there is a group of Animators or just Creative people that group that you can go to meet other animators. For Example these are ones where I live, There is a Creative Group that meets once a month called Digital Laborers Federation and there is also Liquid Head, regular short film screening in Brisbane.
Also Email other animators if you want to get in touch with them, to ask them a question or two or to get them to Critique your work.
Find some more Resources so you can keep on learning after you have finished your course.
Now this is probably the most important out of all the steps. Always have time to learn more since you can only apply what you know, to your work. When you have finished of a new piece of animation actively seek out someone to show it to since that will help you find the little flaws that you need to fix in the way you animate. Try to get more then one person since everyone will see different flaws that other one has missed.
Invest money into growing your collection of Animation Books and other rescourses to help you grow in your knowledge of animation. Try buying volume one and two of Drawn to Life by Walt Stanchfeild or the Jason Ryan Animation Videos or attend his Webninars every month as well as the Keith Lango Tutourial Service and this list could go on forever if I let it. Just keep learning and applying it.
Always take your sketch pad and draw people everywhere, buy sketchbooks en mass and try to get the cheapest that you can. I can't believe how much I have actually gained in knowledge about animation this way.
Last point look for valuable resources on the net when you happen to be online, true there is a lot of junk out there as well as good stuff but there is some treasure too!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Something to note no.4
Getting the Right Frame of Mind.
As an animator, I find that it is very easy to lose your positivity, creativity, even lose that sense of confidence in yourself to feel like you will never get any closer to being a reasonable or maybe even a awesome one if even you put the effort in.
The truth is, that animation on any given day takes a lot out of you. It wouldn't be so much fun if it didn't. It zaps your persistence, patience, peace of mind, emotions, motivation and so the list goes on.
The thing is to understand that you as the animator have to put the effort into being in the right frame of mind.
Be highly positive about your day in general and see how much that impacts on your animation and it also feels really great. :)
Have belief in yourself as an animator, that by failing you are succeeding (I know, it's sounds rather silly to a human being, since we are conditioned to want to win). I.e. that by attempting to experiment and pushing things to breaking point while animating, that even if doesn't have effect the that we needed, that we have extended our boundaries and therefore have become better animator and can create better animation through the experiences we have gained.
Keep an open mind and adsorb what is happening around you, I as you might not know, work nearly the whole day on Thursday at a small takeaway in a busy shopping center. Today when I had my break, I sat down to draw the people that passed me, I only had a few seconds before they walked past me and so I had to nearly had to sketch down my first impression of them. It was kind of funny as what was in my sketch book was some funny squiggles of outlines of people and with nearly an oval for a head every time, but I could tell that they were all different people, different genders, and their poses were different too since I was just copying what I seeing onto the paper as fast as I could. The thing is by capturing the world by sketching or adsorbing little moments of someone else's life as we watch them is valuable since we draw on this as animators in any future animations that we create.
Have a understanding that things are not going to happen overnight and that you need to persist if you want to get anywhere (oh boy, this is a hard one!)
There is a world full of people that have never felt the joy of animating or actually attempted to actually step out of the boundaries that they have been comfortable in and actually tried to live by their own terms.
You might ask why this might have a point to what I trying to explain, let me elaborate on this. Animating is like running a marathon without totally finishing, you make the laps and clock in better then the lap before and then you keep on running.
You learn and then that knowledge gets put into your animation and then you have to keep on striving, a critique later, a little bit more knowledge gets added too and we keep on going.
The thing is that we never know as much as everyone else and to pretend would be useless and a waste of time. You or I, will never wake up morning and create the most perfect animation in the world, to even think this is just plain kidding yourself.
You as the person in the chair there, reading this, you need to put your future in your hands (the teachers or the the rest of the world are not there to keep pushing you to extend yourself, you alone have to do that for yourself), work as hard as you can, and keep on working, never give up or give in because this your life and what do you want do with it?
I don't know about you, but I know what I want to spend my life by...
Animating awesome animation.
Who is with me?
As an animator, I find that it is very easy to lose your positivity, creativity, even lose that sense of confidence in yourself to feel like you will never get any closer to being a reasonable or maybe even a awesome one if even you put the effort in.
The truth is, that animation on any given day takes a lot out of you. It wouldn't be so much fun if it didn't. It zaps your persistence, patience, peace of mind, emotions, motivation and so the list goes on.
The thing is to understand that you as the animator have to put the effort into being in the right frame of mind.
Be highly positive about your day in general and see how much that impacts on your animation and it also feels really great. :)
Have belief in yourself as an animator, that by failing you are succeeding (I know, it's sounds rather silly to a human being, since we are conditioned to want to win). I.e. that by attempting to experiment and pushing things to breaking point while animating, that even if doesn't have effect the that we needed, that we have extended our boundaries and therefore have become better animator and can create better animation through the experiences we have gained.
Keep an open mind and adsorb what is happening around you, I as you might not know, work nearly the whole day on Thursday at a small takeaway in a busy shopping center. Today when I had my break, I sat down to draw the people that passed me, I only had a few seconds before they walked past me and so I had to nearly had to sketch down my first impression of them. It was kind of funny as what was in my sketch book was some funny squiggles of outlines of people and with nearly an oval for a head every time, but I could tell that they were all different people, different genders, and their poses were different too since I was just copying what I seeing onto the paper as fast as I could. The thing is by capturing the world by sketching or adsorbing little moments of someone else's life as we watch them is valuable since we draw on this as animators in any future animations that we create.
Have a understanding that things are not going to happen overnight and that you need to persist if you want to get anywhere (oh boy, this is a hard one!)
There is a world full of people that have never felt the joy of animating or actually attempted to actually step out of the boundaries that they have been comfortable in and actually tried to live by their own terms.
You might ask why this might have a point to what I trying to explain, let me elaborate on this. Animating is like running a marathon without totally finishing, you make the laps and clock in better then the lap before and then you keep on running.
You learn and then that knowledge gets put into your animation and then you have to keep on striving, a critique later, a little bit more knowledge gets added too and we keep on going.
The thing is that we never know as much as everyone else and to pretend would be useless and a waste of time. You or I, will never wake up morning and create the most perfect animation in the world, to even think this is just plain kidding yourself.
You as the person in the chair there, reading this, you need to put your future in your hands (the teachers or the the rest of the world are not there to keep pushing you to extend yourself, you alone have to do that for yourself), work as hard as you can, and keep on working, never give up or give in because this your life and what do you want do with it?
I don't know about you, but I know what I want to spend my life by...
Animating awesome animation.
Who is with me?
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Something to note no.3
Ok, over the days I have been furiously animating over and drinking copious amounts of coffee. I found a big side effect of doing lots of computer animation.
Dry Eyes.
THIS is not a good thing, I was wondering around work with my eyes feeling like they had gone on a trip to mars and back.
What causes it is, not blinking enough while in front of the computer and other environmental factors like air conditioning to boot. It effectively does what it's name suggests dries out the surface on the eye, leaving you with very sore eyes.
Although there is a very easy cure. Eye drops:)! and trying to remember to take breaks every 5 minutes and blinking more often.
So if you are deciding to do lots of animating in a stint, be forewarned and follow the steps above. :P
Dry Eyes.
THIS is not a good thing, I was wondering around work with my eyes feeling like they had gone on a trip to mars and back.
What causes it is, not blinking enough while in front of the computer and other environmental factors like air conditioning to boot. It effectively does what it's name suggests dries out the surface on the eye, leaving you with very sore eyes.
Although there is a very easy cure. Eye drops:)! and trying to remember to take breaks every 5 minutes and blinking more often.
So if you are deciding to do lots of animating in a stint, be forewarned and follow the steps above. :P
Monday, March 30, 2009
Something to note no.2
Hi, to anyone who might read this.
I usually find things that inspire me or or other animators advice on the net all the time. I print them out and tack them on my wall where I can read them when I'm passing by.
The Quote I like most, that sums up animation goes like this;
"Here's to the joy of learning and growing as an animator. Always be brutal, always hear what others have to say (with no prideful stiff-necked rejection of it), always tear your stuff apart, always adapt and grow."
-Keith Lango http://keithlango.blogspot.com/
I try constantly to try harder to get a better quality of acting in my animation. Also to take risks to extend myself further by trying to understand what other people are bringing to the table as fully fledged animators. Lastly and the most important thing of all...
To ask these people to show me what they have done.
What do you lose by emailing someone and asking if they have time to help you to become a better animator?
Nothing.
The worst thing is they can say no, but what if they say yes? you have got a extra chance to become a better animator. You, have a chance to ask someone who might inspire you and the best thing of all?
You might actually learn something. :)
Aliensong Victor Navone 1999
An Interesting article on the Making of Aliensong.
The Making of Aliensong
I usually find things that inspire me or or other animators advice on the net all the time. I print them out and tack them on my wall where I can read them when I'm passing by.
The Quote I like most, that sums up animation goes like this;
"Here's to the joy of learning and growing as an animator. Always be brutal, always hear what others have to say (with no prideful stiff-necked rejection of it), always tear your stuff apart, always adapt and grow."
-Keith Lango http://keithlango.blogspot.com/
I try constantly to try harder to get a better quality of acting in my animation. Also to take risks to extend myself further by trying to understand what other people are bringing to the table as fully fledged animators. Lastly and the most important thing of all...
To ask these people to show me what they have done.
What do you lose by emailing someone and asking if they have time to help you to become a better animator?
Nothing.
The worst thing is they can say no, but what if they say yes? you have got a extra chance to become a better animator. You, have a chance to ask someone who might inspire you and the best thing of all?
You might actually learn something. :)
Aliensong Victor Navone 1999
An Interesting article on the Making of Aliensong.
The Making of Aliensong
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Something to note no.1
Hi, I thought I might post this up on my blog.
Up to recently, like most students I thought I would get better animation if I kept on churning out animation and then wonder why wasn't improving.
You may ask "why?" wasn't I doing the right thing? You must get some results, right?
Wrong.
One day it hit me, why weren't I improving? simple answer.
I was rushing my animation, simple fact. As students we rush to the point it looks like animation then rush to to the end and then step back and wonder why it looks crap.
You need to get nice poses, but nice poses don't work without nice timing and spacing, and then it looks only half alive without secondary action, overlap and drag etc.
You also have to give each of those time, don't rush it since if you slack out on even one of these the whole thing crumbles to dust.Coupled with attention with detail your animations should look better for it.
Give animation the attention it deserves and you will get results.
Image from:
http://anim.tmog.net/pics/108.jpg
"I spent about 100 hours planning, sketching, blocking, refining and polishing this shot." michalmach.com
image from http://www.michalmach.com/media/AM/showcase_shot_thumb.jpg
Up to recently, like most students I thought I would get better animation if I kept on churning out animation and then wonder why wasn't improving.
You may ask "why?" wasn't I doing the right thing? You must get some results, right?
Wrong.
One day it hit me, why weren't I improving? simple answer.
I was rushing my animation, simple fact. As students we rush to the point it looks like animation then rush to to the end and then step back and wonder why it looks crap.
You need to get nice poses, but nice poses don't work without nice timing and spacing, and then it looks only half alive without secondary action, overlap and drag etc.
You also have to give each of those time, don't rush it since if you slack out on even one of these the whole thing crumbles to dust.Coupled with attention with detail your animations should look better for it.
Give animation the attention it deserves and you will get results.
Image from:
http://anim.tmog.net/pics/108.jpg
"I spent about 100 hours planning, sketching, blocking, refining and polishing this shot." michalmach.com
image from http://www.michalmach.com/media/AM/showcase_shot_thumb.jpg
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)