New Mini's for Etsy!

I finally got around to updating my Etsy shop! It only took a few months, but I got a bunch up there. There's still a ton more minis sitting in a cardboard box that I still need to photograph. If you want to check them all out, head over to https://www.etsy.com/shop/DesignByLJ Here's a sneak peek of what's to come!

Class 01 Animation Basics Final Reel!

It was a rough semester but it's over! Now I can finally have a weekend off to update all of my new mini Etsy paintings to sell!  Between working two jobs, getting used to only working on this class in all my spare time, going out of town so much, and my laptop completely breaking and having to buy a new computer...but it's done! This is basically how I feel right now...haha

My demo reel is officially turned in and completed! This is how it turned out! If you want to see a better version, you can view it on my portfolio site at http://www.lindseymjones.com/animation-mentor/

My next class starts on Sunday, which is basic body mechanics. My mentor for that class is a senior animator from Blue Sky Studios. I'm trying to hit a different studio for every class to guarantee different styles of animation. My mentor for class 1 was very cartoony and exaggerated. You can tell because he worked at Sony. This is a link to Joe's IMDB to see what he has worked on. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3309484/ I guess this means it's time to apply for jobs again...oh joy.

Personality Walk Splined

This is my final submission for the personality walk. For this assignment, we had to spline it out, and create all the in-betweens. I ended up going pretty far from my original blocking, and ended up with this crazy walk.

And for our poses, we had to show balance. I wanted to get a bit of ungracefulness in there, because everything I saw was either ballet or gymnastics or yoga. Characters perfectly aligned, doing great things. So I wanted to go with more of a person standing on a rolling chair, and it starts to spin around type feel. So these are the sketches I came up with.

Then I thought about how I was little, and would always try and stand on the fire hydrant, waiting for my school bus. I could never balance myself on it, because there was only room for one foot.

and now this is my final render

Personality Walk Blocking

For this assignment, we had to block out our personality walk. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to go with. I shot a lot of reference video, and ended up doing one walk in particular. It was almost a double bounce walk, with the feet leading toe first. This is my planning for it.

And then this is my walk. I got a lot of feedback about how the mood was confusing. It looked like a sneak, and it looked like a stomp. I needed to go with a certain idea, which I didn't really do. I kind of just combined a bunch of different aspects of the walk, and there's no clear emotion here.

Our pose for this week was to pose out exhaustion. I could definitely relate to this one. Especially having to work 2 jobs, take these classes, and still end up with no money by the end of the week. These are all of my ideas for the pose.

I really wanted to go with the stair one, but his head was just way too big, and his body looked funny on stairs, unless they were massive. And now this is the pose I submitted for it. I ended up using a lot of pictures of homeless people as reference. I was thinking about exercising, and if you were running around the park, and needed a break. Which led to homeless people sleeping on park benches. 

and based on my mentors critiques, this is my final render!

Vanilla Walk

For our assignment this past week, we had to complete our vanilla walk. I splined him out, and added all of the in-betweens. This is my final result.

And our pose for this week, was to show concern. It was kind of tough being original with this one. My sketches came out either depressed, or excited. I was originally going to go with more of a stressed out, pacing back and forth idea, but that came out kind of hard to read. 

So the next best thing? Kids! Kids always bring out the concern in parents. So I figured adding Ballie in, would be the only way to convey that properly. So here is how my pose ended up.

And here is how my final render turned out based on my mentors notes!

Vanilla Walk Blocking

It's finally time for a walk cycle! This past week at Animation Mentor, we are doing vanilla walks. I chose to use the character Ballie. We are only blocking out the shot, and then next week we are splining it together. This is what i did for the blocking.

And then our pose for this week was to show physical strength. I originally wanted to do something along the lines of an egyptian building the pyramids, or a firefighter holding the heavy hoses. I even found a to of suitcase reference images, which I can relate to myself for always overpacking.

 I ended up using Stu lifting up the couch to try and get Tailor out from underneath. There have been so many times I was trying to find my rabbit when she was still a tiny bunny. She almost always ended up underneath the couch or bed. 

And now this is my final render.

Tailor Assignment

For this weeks assignment in Animation Mentor, I had to animate a ball with a tail. I decided to use the Tailor rig, which looks like he has a squirrel tail. All we had to do was make him bounce a few times, so we could learn how to use the wave principle for the tail. A lot of people have him jumping to different platforms, off cliffs, through obstacle courses, etc. so it was hard to get an innovative story with him. Eventually I decided to have him jump from one cliff, onto a rock. That rock starts to shake from his weight, falls over, but then lands onto the other cliff, as he jumps onto the other cliff. This is my planning for the story.

I did my assignment, and the concept of the tail was so hard for me to grasp. Just working the wave principle and the shapes into the tail was rough. It kept coming out too choppy and slow. So eventually I talked to someone else, whose animation came out gorgeous, and he said he used the grease pencil, and it helped out a lot. So I decided to start over doing the sketches only.

And then this is my final animation that I have turned in for this week.

Pendulum Assignment

For this week in Animation Mentor, the study was overlap. We had to animate a pendulum moving around the screen to create overlap. This was what I turned in for it. We had to make a figure 8 motion with the pendulums movement. I think the movie turned out pretty boring, and I would like to create another one, experimenting with object interacting with something else. I saw a really cool one, where rocks were falling off a cliff, and it was catching them, and transporting them across. When I have time, I'm going to make a much more creative storyline for it.

Our pose for the week was devastation. I figured this one would be easier, and all I had to do was look at numerous Disney princesses throwing themselves onto things and crying hysterically...

However, with such a big head for Stu, that idea was not going to work at all. These are some of my ideas for him. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs was a big inspiration in this idea, because their poses for Flint are so exaggerated. It's so obvious that he's depressed, and it reads so well.

I ended up going with more of a modern approach. My laptop screen completely broke apart the other day, and so this is the pose that came out of that despair. I got some great feedback, and I am pumped to start my revision for him.

And now this guy is my final render.

Ball Bounce with Different Weights

So for this past weeks assignment in Animation Mentor, we had to animate another ball bounce. This time however, we needed to have two different balls, both with varying weights. I chose a bowling ball verses a beach ball. There were numerous reference videos online I used for the bowling ball, but I also went out and bought a beach ball to film my own reference. I dropped it form many different angles, across screen, and studied it for more than the amount of time you should allot to staring at a ball. So, this is what I came up with! It's pretty rough since I had to leave town, and couldn't work on it much. But I did already get my critique back, and am working on some fixes now. It was pretty tough to get the beach ball to feel right, since it's so floaty. And no matter what I tried, I couldn't get it to feel right in the amount of frames we had to work with. This one might take quite a few passes
to perfect.

I'm not sure if I'm quite happy with it yet, the timing feels too slow and the same throughout with the beach ball. I might try this assignment again, but with a more dynamic set up. Maybe the two balls falling between a tight space, and the beach ball being forced to bounce on top of the bowling ball?

Mini Palooza!

So I just took avoiding homework to a whole new level last night. I made a whole stack of mini canvas paintings for my etsy shop. You can view them all at http://www.etsy.com/shop/DesignByLJ I will be posting them up there to sell as soon as I have some free time. They were all done with acrylic, and I started to branch off a little more from my detailed animals, and twitter birds as you can tell. I think my favorites are definitely the monsters.

While you're at it, you can check out my fathers shop. He does watercolors, and has a studio in downtown Sanford Florida. His shop is, http://www.etsy.com/shop/StewartJonesArt He also has a blog that you can follow as well, which is, http://stewartjonesart.blogspot.com And then if you're really up to checking out more on etsy, my best friend Adrienne Nicole has a shop too! Hers is http://www.etsy.com/shop/AdrienneNicoleDesign

Assignment Two: Soccer Ball Bounce

So the other section of this weeks homework is to animate a soccer ball bouncing. The whole lecture was about timing and spacing, and observing the world around you. Below is the thumbnail planning of my animation. I was nervous about this at first, because I haven't taken basics in over 2 years, and I had to pretty much relearn the way I do everything. They showed us arcs that I've never even seen before. It was very eye opening.

So after all my planning, I animated my soccer ball. It comes in pretty fast and then bounces, then rolls off the screen. So I went out and bought a soccer ball, and shot numerous reference videos of it bouncing around, and the way it settles on the floor. I probably looked like a crazy person throwing a ball around, then chasing after it. But when I started to animate in the way they taught us, it was unbelievable how easy it was, and I realized how hard I was making everything for the past 2 years. I also had to learn everything about the graph editor. I've never used it before, and it's literally the only thing I used in making my animation. So, starting from ground zero, here is the 

soccer ball bounce!

I got a lot of great feedback from my mentor and other numerous people. One of the great things about Animation Mentor is that all of our work is up for anyone in the school to see. Not only current students, but alumni and other mentors as well. The CEO commented on my ball and gave me a critique on it too! It was such a pleasant surprise, and great to get feedback from someone that has been there.

Assignment Two: Excited Pose

For this weeks assignment in Animation Mentor, I had to do a pose with Stu that conveys excitement. It was so difficult avoiding cliche. Either jumping in the air, or having a fist raised high, everything I tried seem to be overdone. It didn't help that when I googled excited poses, literally image that popped up was from past Animation Mentor assignments and blog posts. So for the first part of the assignment, we had to sketch out poses. These are the drawings that I did.

 I really liked the top left one on the first image, but it was tough getting a nice silhouette with such a big head of his. So the one I decided to do is circled right next to it. That seemed like it showed excitement and still was an interesting take on it. Below is how my finished pose turned out. I already got my critique back, and my mentor liked it quite a bit! There are a few things I need to though.

and now this is my final render!

Animation Mentors First Assignment!

I got my very first assignment with animation mentor! I had to go out and create sketches of people, and then fix my character into one of the poses that I liked. It was pretty tough drawing people in public, and finding a person posing interesting enough to replicate. Most people were just sitting on their phones and hunched over. I even got desperate and went out to UCF's campus, and sat by the giant fountain expecting some greatness. But nope. just more people sitting around on their phones. These are some of my sketches, and I circled the pose I decided to replicate.

I got some great feedback from my mentor. Like pushing the right leg over a little more to balance him out some, and to twist his hips with the body a little more. But other than that, I think it came out pretty good for my first assignment! I am pumped to get my grade and critique for the next one now. 

and now this is my final render!

I have 3 other classmates from UCF that are in this program with me. They all post their Animation Mentor assignments as well. It's pretty cool to see how each person has a specific style, and how they bring that into their animations. We are all critiquing each others work every week before we turn assignments in. It's nice to get some feedback from others. Especially after staring at the same thing for so many hours, a fresh eye always helps. If you want to check out some variety their blogs are: 

http://justjoshinart.blogspot.com 

http://cstewart-art.blogspot.com

http://posetopost.blogspot.com

http://falconeanimation.blogspot.com 

Goodbye Sony, Hello Canda!

Well, it's official. Sony Pictures Animation has officially announced that they are moving the American branch to Vancouver. It's going to be rough growing up in Florida. I guess this means I'm going to have Canadian children now eh?

 I went this past fall and worked at SIGGRAPH,  in Vancouver. I fell in love with the city the second I got there. SIGGRAPH is a computer graphics convention. It's a week long, and there's all these different talks daily about movies and processes. For example, I saw the How to Train Your Dragon 2 talk, and they showed their character concepts, rigs, storyboards, and talked about specialized techniques used throughout the production process. It took place in Vancouver, and everyone that attended worked at big studios. It was so eye opening to be just completely swallowed in the media, having all these great accomplished people talk to you, and even give you feedback on your reel.

There was an event one night called the Studio Crawl, where a bus would take you to all the different big studios in Vancouver. Just to name a few there was Industrial Light and Magic, Rhythm and Hues, and of course....Sony. So naturally, I had to go to the Sony studios. As soon as I walked in, my eyes lit up. It was like a dream come true just being in their vicinity. Every person I met, I treated like a movie star. I was taking pictures of everything there, i loped like such a tourist.

One of the best parts though? Getting a render man teapot from Pixar!

Animation Mentor

I got accepted into Animation Mentor!!! I'm so pumped to get started and continue my studies in the field. I'll be posting my assignments up here, to see the progress I make overtime throughout classes. All of our teachers work in the field at different big name studios, which is awesome to get direct insight from. My teacher for my first class works at Sony, and worked on Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2. Clearly I was biased in choosing my teachers. =]
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0829256/ is his imbd, and you can view his reel at http://animationfreelance.com/3dreelv2.html