tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88281485870998554042024-02-08T07:21:18.987-08:00Kwame's BlogLife. Art. Games. Inspiration.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-42768488055773310362015-02-03T04:46:00.000-08:002015-11-13T05:22:09.411-08:00Making Mobile Games<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Two years ago, I started a full-time job as a Mobile UI Designer with Pocket App Ltd. With a games design degree under my belt and no one at the company with games industry experience, I seized at the opportunity to upgrade my position and within a few months I became Games Producer. Since then I have worked on many exciting and challenging mobile projects, both game apps and standard apps with gamification design.<br />
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All of our projects are produced specifically for a range of clients, including some big names such as Panasonic and Square Enix, so I'm restricted on the graphics I can share on the web. However, there are some sneak peaks on my new portfolio website, <a href="http://www.alxbanner.com/">www.alxbanner.com</a>.</div>
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As much as I love the challenge of creating exciting solutions based on a clients brief, I am eager to work on an original indie game before I hang up my gamepads. Whether I'm lead designer, UI/UX designer or a character designer, I really don't mind what role I have. The most important thing is that I have a talented team to bounce ideas off and collaborate with. I've already been in talks with some cool developers so watch this space!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-68830322727497910332014-02-22T12:10:00.000-08:002015-02-07T12:13:43.078-08:00Red, White and Blue: House of Cards<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Addicted to House of Cards and cannot wait until season 3. This started off as a doodle on my Samsung galaxy note 10.1 using Sketchbook pro, but then I got a little carried away :) Much prefer the version with harsh strokes and an absence of colour as it better conveys Kevin Spacey's ruthless character and is in line with the title of this post.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-29429816206635909892014-01-02T19:00:00.000-08:002015-02-07T05:06:14.365-08:00Coding for Dummies: Enter Playmaker<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.hutonggames.com/">Playmaker</a> is a visual scripting tool for use with Unity. Highly recommended by UK developers, Ninja Theory (when I attended Appsworld '13).<br />
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A great article over on Gamasutra provides inspiration for any of those games designers out there who don't have strong coding skills:<a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_292638651"> </a><a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/182860/suck_at_coding_but_make_games_.php">Suck At Coding But Make Games</a> That includes me!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-38575596159151261222013-11-16T10:36:00.000-08:002015-02-07T10:37:21.697-08:00My Visit to PlayJam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Headed over to PlayJam London offices on the top floor of Centre Point tower. My mission was to pick up a couple of their new android gamepads, GameStick, so the we (Pocket App Ltd) could test (read 'play') it and give feedback and ideas. </div>
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Easy to forget how awesome current generation mobile games can look and play on a big screen.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-81443561888956181092013-10-05T10:13:00.000-07:002015-02-07T12:15:36.294-08:00Sketch on a Plane<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A couple of biro sketches while on the plane to Sweden. I stumbled across the bearded guy in a magazine. Think he's a music composer. Totally forgotten his name :/</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-83176122308907961342013-09-25T04:06:00.000-07:002015-02-07T04:54:23.885-08:00Monetisation Funnel and Pyramid<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Funnel and Pyramid concepts that show how to successfully monetise your game and game business.<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Segoe, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><br /></span>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-677168379825100852013-09-07T07:30:00.000-07:002015-02-07T04:54:33.597-08:00Game Dev Inspiration<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Lovely story from a Ukrainian breakdancing games developer - Inspirational.<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Segoe, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><br /></span>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-25039225618883187562013-08-30T09:49:00.000-07:002015-02-07T09:55:44.879-08:00Zero to Hero<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A teaser of some character designs for a potential mobile game. A bit of a Tiny Thief influence here.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-90450333819483433422013-08-16T08:00:00.000-07:002015-02-07T04:52:22.576-08:00Android for Games Developers Talk <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Yesterday I attended the Android for Games Developers with Google at Skills Matter in London.<br /><br />The Google tech guys talked about Android 4.3 and it's new features and Google Play Games. Most of it was presented from a back end point of view so there was a lot of Java that went over my head, but I did pick up some key points.<br /><br />Android 4.3 now allows you to connect to low energy devices via Bluetooth LE. They even gave out bluetooth controllers during the event (No, I didn't get any. Prizes went to the geekiest members of the audience). However, there is no bluetooth android to android connectivity as yet.<br /><br />Another key feature of 4.3 is Restricted Profile which is music to the ears of parents that want to prevent their children from making unauthorized in-app purchases. This is currently only available on android tablets though. Developers can add restriction options in the back-end of their game and there are new class of restriction entries: Boolean type, Choice, and multi choice.<br /><br />Google TV now supports latest version of Android so we are advised to make sure our apps are TV ready. I think this is an important development, especially as the latest market research shows that a majority of users are playing mobile games in their living rooms.<br /><br />Next hot topic was there recent release of the Google Play Games service. There are no two ways about it, you need a Google+ account to utilise this service but once you have that, all the features GPG offers are quite exciting. <br /><br />The obvious benefits are sharing Leaderboards and Achievements with specific Google+ circles. There is also Cloud Save, which allows the player to save level progress and for that to be synchronized across all their android devices. PGP is cross-platform so you can view achievements on iOS as well. However, my favourite feature must be Real-Time Multiplayer where you can have 4 player P2P action. With that there is automatic or invitation based matching. Other features were Custom Libraries, Anti-Privacy and Badging (based on usage). One tip for developers was NOT TO USE API CONSOLE when setting up your game for GPG.<br /><br />At the end of the conference, I asked if they had any tips for promoting the game. Creating YOUTUBE video seems to be the best way of making a wider audience aware that you have a great game in the play store. They also said that using Blogs to promote the game and Ad spending would be beneficial.<br /><br />If you have any questions or would like to share your game with the google guys here are there google plus accounts :) :<br /><br />+DanGalpin<br />+BrunoOliveira<br /><br />Also for sample code, go here:<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Segoe, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"> </span><br /><br /><a href="https://github.com/playgameservices">https://github.com/playgameservices</a><br /><br /><br /><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-80458476249141277742013-08-15T14:30:00.000-07:002015-02-07T04:54:51.083-08:00FPS Gesture Controls: The Drowning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Drowning's clever control system creates a more intuitive and smooth FPS experience on the iPad. <br /><br />I'm not sure these controls would translate so well on the smaller phone screens though. Sniping accurately with a two-finger gesture would be more difficult to pull off and probably frustrating.<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Segoe, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><br /></span>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-52947180645526374202013-08-07T12:35:00.000-07:002015-02-07T04:55:12.404-08:00The Evolution of Game Tutorials<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A collegue at work linked me to this interesting article about how in-game tutorials have changed over the past 15 years:<br /><br /><br /> <a href="http://kotaku.com/they-dont-make-tutorial-levels-like-no-one-lives-forev-664690827">They Don't Make Tutorial Levels Like No One Live Forever Anymore</a><br /><br /><br /> From my experience, most gamers are too impatient to follow games tutorials unless they're forced into one. Like intro cutscenes, they are more likely to skip them, get straight into the action and use trial and error. <br /><br />I like how many games nowadays integrate tutorials into the gameplay more seamlessly without it feeling boring or disjointed. Gestures or button graphics will flash up on screen to aid the player through the beginning of the first level and not bombard them with too many instructions. That's how it should always be. But it can be difficult to balance, especially in this new world of casual app gamers where attention is short and gaming trends change like the seasons.<br /><br />In recent memory, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XLBhlSxwX8">Portal 2's tutorial</a> was so seamless and playful that you hardly noticed it. All the best teachers have a sense of humour! <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-36649340756538092712013-08-02T11:27:00.000-07:002015-02-07T04:56:04.800-08:00Canabalt HD: Desperado<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The Godfather of endless runners, Canabalt HD, has a new update which includes new levels, two player competition and a female character.<br /><br />I've just had a play and 2-player mode is ace but the female character, apart from longer hair, is void of femininity and looks like Antonio Banderas in Desperado.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-49646538979097126512013-07-03T13:28:00.000-07:002015-02-07T04:57:10.586-08:00Corona Templates<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Handy websites for Corona templates I have found on the web.<br /><br /><b>Deep Blue Apps:</b><br /><a href="http://www.deepblueapps.com/category/corona-sdk-templates-source/">http://www.deepblueapps.com/category/corona-sdk-templates-so…</a><br /><br /><br /><b> License My Code:</b><br /><br /><div>
Don't be fooled by the app icons and graphics! These are true stripped down templates with quality 2D gameplay.<br /><a href="http://www.licensemycode.com/">http://www.licensemycode.com/</a><br /><br /><br /><b>T and G apps:</b><br /><br />Not as good as the templates on deep blue apps but could still come in handy.<br /><a href="http://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/28977-corona-templates-for-sale-t-and-g-apps/">http://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/28977-corona-templates-fo…</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-90830566052200433472013-07-02T11:08:00.000-07:002015-02-07T04:57:33.463-08:00Unity partnership with Microsoft<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Unity has recently announced a partnership with Microsoft and support for Windows 8, Xbox One, and Xbox 360. Windows Store Pro publishing add-on will also be free once it is released.<br /><br />The future is looking ever brighter for Unity developers.<br /><br /><br /> <a href="http://blogs.unity3d.com/2013/06/27/build-conference/">http://blogs.unity3d.com/2013/06/27/build-conference/</a> </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-89309128770578758212012-07-09T10:14:00.003-07:002012-07-09T11:07:14.176-07:00Ice breaking<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hey people!<br />
I've been away from the blogging for a bit so let me cut to the chase and tell you about some things that have been happening in my life...<br />
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<b><u>Dark Cow Rises</u></b><br />
In my previous posts you may have remembered I was working on a CG animation for a TV production company in Sweden. Well, production on that was suspended due to some major technical issues.<br />
The good news is that the Cow will return as all the technical shizzle is now sorted!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8r_Sq621S1c/T_rQM1OcvsI/AAAAAAAADkY/ZZtKwSDRgQk/s1600/cow_baseMesh3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8r_Sq621S1c/T_rQM1OcvsI/AAAAAAAADkY/ZZtKwSDRgQk/s320/cow_baseMesh3.jpeg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She's back! Much more to come!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><u>Graphic Design projects</u></b><br />
I've been designing publications for a few businesses. It has been a worthwhile experience and challenge (especially when working on an office PC with 1gb of RAM!) and I've met some truly wonderful people. My most proud achievement was creating and designing a mascot for the children's cancer charity, Neuroblastoma Alliance UK.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xxy2D4UKvNg/T_rVxu281II/AAAAAAAADkk/FYxRiS2ke2k/s1600/presentation_ThumbnailToIllustration.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xxy2D4UKvNg/T_rVxu281II/AAAAAAAADkk/FYxRiS2ke2k/s320/presentation_ThumbnailToIllustration.gif" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mascot for Neuroblastoma Alliance UK</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LZ8OOhyCLco/T_rlYYkFCvI/AAAAAAAADlM/6DTij6Sd1I8/s1600/eleSketch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LZ8OOhyCLco/T_rlYYkFCvI/AAAAAAAADlM/6DTij6Sd1I8/s320/eleSketch.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Character development</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eEC_Q4pzaCY/T_sbNyS_yAI/AAAAAAAADmg/rj9K4mO52vU/s1600/Neuro_Logo_3D_05_perspective.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eEC_Q4pzaCY/T_sbNyS_yAI/AAAAAAAADmg/rj9K4mO52vU/s320/Neuro_Logo_3D_05_perspective.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3D version of their logo for possible 'bouncing ball' animation</td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
<b><u>Drawing, drawing, drawing</u></b><br />
Recently, I've been asked to design a tattoo of an Egyptian sphinx (the part female, bird and cat one). Surprisingly, I haven't designed a tattoo before so it's a new challenge that I'm excited about completing.<br />
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FGYAKOMNgWY/T_rddsETShI/AAAAAAAADkw/YlH3b2j4_wM/s1600/IMG_0002_tattoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FGYAKOMNgWY/T_rddsETShI/AAAAAAAADkw/YlH3b2j4_wM/s320/IMG_0002_tattoo.jpg" width="311" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Initial design for tattoo, flying lady with deadly sharp nipples</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eNNF08ZzlmI/T_rOR4p7ftI/AAAAAAAADkI/0rDKa8UOS0w/s1600/findingMyself.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qXUFHhEqDUM/T_refD1hHzI/AAAAAAAADk4/-xnDnXb6N6k/s1600/twilightHeart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qXUFHhEqDUM/T_refD1hHzI/AAAAAAAADk4/-xnDnXb6N6k/s320/twilightHeart.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Team Edward' cartoon. What's life without humour?</td></tr>
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<b !important;="" 1em;"="" 1em;="" clear:="" display:="" inline="" left;="" margin-bottom:="" margin-right:=""><u>Run Forest, Run!</u></b><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee;">I've always been keen on fitness and challenging my physical limits but never keen on going for runs outside as a supplement. I usually preferred running on the treadmill in the gym as it put less strain on my body. However, since the beginning of 2012, I've totally scraped the gym and decided to go for regular runs outdoors as well as use breakdancing techniques to stay in shape. It's much cheaper anyway!</span></div>
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I'll also be dancing at the Paralympic ceremony (missed the main Olympic auditions) and rehearsals have been a lot of fun and met some cool people. That's all I can say on the subject at the moment because it's proper top secret and I'll be kicked out if I reveal more!</div>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eNNF08ZzlmI/T_rOR4p7ftI/AAAAAAAADkI/0rDKa8UOS0w/s1600/findingMyself.jpg" imageanchor="1">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eNNF08ZzlmI/T_rOR4p7ftI/AAAAAAAADkI/0rDKa8UOS0w/s1600/findingMyself.jpg" imageanchor="1"><br /></a></div>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eNNF08ZzlmI/T_rOR4p7ftI/AAAAAAAADkI/0rDKa8UOS0w/s1600/findingMyself.jpg" imageanchor="1">
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</a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-660ZUjNZ8Uk/T_sQ9XVerJI/AAAAAAAADmM/uCVuiv6SEtA/s1600/breakPark_kwame5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-660ZUjNZ8Uk/T_sQ9XVerJI/AAAAAAAADmM/uCVuiv6SEtA/s320/breakPark_kwame5.jpg" width="214" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HkgAPstUUVI/T_sQOA8nvOI/AAAAAAAADmE/NcJ9XY3Dk6Q/s1600/breakPark_kwame3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="121" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HkgAPstUUVI/T_sQOA8nvOI/AAAAAAAADmE/NcJ9XY3Dk6Q/s200/breakPark_kwame3.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div>
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<div>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sPabLSMMZP4/T_sJlqhAcFI/AAAAAAAADlw/DbRUWEO0fkA/s1600/breakPark_kwame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sPabLSMMZP4/T_sJlqhAcFI/AAAAAAAADlw/DbRUWEO0fkA/s200/breakPark_kwame.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dtjupaitk38/T_rluzoemhI/AAAAAAAADlk/LwZZSnibCas/s1600/parkRun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dtjupaitk38/T_rluzoemhI/AAAAAAAADlk/LwZZSnibCas/s320/parkRun.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">taking a breather after a run in the local park</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NEC1fVXrbiw/T_sPg5yTeVI/AAAAAAAADl8/aajOv7bzLYs/s1600/strawberryPicking_kwame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NEC1fVXrbiw/T_sPg5yTeVI/AAAAAAAADl8/aajOv7bzLYs/s320/strawberryPicking_kwame.jpg" width="259" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">strawberry picking my way!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qdELKSoF5sw/T_rlWw1YenI/AAAAAAAADlE/aY0ibFzRqD4/s1600/DSC_0937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qdELKSoF5sw/T_rlWw1YenI/AAAAAAAADlE/aY0ibFzRqD4/s320/DSC_0937.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3 is the magic number!</td></tr>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-33278116869244982882012-02-12T05:11:00.000-08:002012-02-13T02:34:42.164-08:00Sidetracking - MusicMusic is so powerful that it has at times dictated my mood, saved me from woe, or been a catalyst for my emotions and expression.<br />
<br />
There is also a beauty in silence. Sometimes I will turn off the music in my headphones and save it as a reward. Like with all good things, they're best to be taken in moderation.<br />
<br />
I like to believe I have some sort of music juice in my blood. My dad is a renowned guitarist/musician back in Ghana and my mum used to be a backing singer in the 60's and 70's. I never really had the discipline to stick with the piano or guitar, but dancing and art has always come more naturally to me<i>. </i>They all go hand in hand in my opinion - artistic forms of expression.<br />
<br />
These are a few music tracks I'm listening to at the moment for work & play :<br />
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After a hard day's work, I escape to South America...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/zSkOfljKtgE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-35301282324319543262012-02-11T12:05:00.000-08:002012-02-13T02:32:18.146-08:00Quad-biped cow designsSome more character development for that cow that has now invaded my dreams.<br />
Research on quadruped anatomy, not just cow anatomy, was essential.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3p_C4F7wJ7A/TzbIp9dvuII/AAAAAAAACtk/Js3ToAJyEFw/s1600/concept4.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3p_C4F7wJ7A/TzbIp9dvuII/AAAAAAAACtk/Js3ToAJyEFw/s320/concept4.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8gnwxr9VfQ4/TzbI1U1oi6I/AAAAAAAACts/5PQbeFlArPE/s1600/concept1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8gnwxr9VfQ4/TzbI1U1oi6I/AAAAAAAACts/5PQbeFlArPE/s320/concept1.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sR0OKkvRerU/TzbJA-RcVeI/AAAAAAAACt0/hgqFuQYLExM/s1600/concept3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sR0OKkvRerU/TzbJA-RcVeI/AAAAAAAACt0/hgqFuQYLExM/s320/concept3.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BG6Ab0H65Eg/TzbJHNzpuQI/AAAAAAAACt8/OorsbUnsz9U/s1600/concept2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BG6Ab0H65Eg/TzbJHNzpuQI/AAAAAAAACt8/OorsbUnsz9U/s320/concept2.PNG" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">closer to final design</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-5839669761002599332012-02-11T09:59:00.000-08:002012-02-13T03:11:14.040-08:00Cockney CowCow concept art for a recent project. <br />
A cow with the personality and style of Pat from the British TV soap, Eastenders. A bit muddy and rushed, but just a concept. 'Av it!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2PVYZbRNFMc/TychOexshFI/AAAAAAAACsA/Y0byE9Ku3OI/s1600/patEastenders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2PVYZbRNFMc/TychOexshFI/AAAAAAAACsA/Y0byE9Ku3OI/s200/patEastenders.jpg" width="155" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iYBcPSfv070/TzarNU-sauI/AAAAAAAACsM/WshRSm1EABA/s1600/cowconcept3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iYBcPSfv070/TzarNU-sauI/AAAAAAAACsM/WshRSm1EABA/s400/cowconcept3.PNG" width="205" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-63529930972690230132012-01-25T10:03:00.000-08:002012-02-13T02:34:12.199-08:00Steaming turdI've recently been doing a lot of research on cows. A hell of a lot.<br />
The Coleman's advert has been a good source of reference for how to make a quadruped move like a biped. It was created by Aardman and shows off their animation prowess. Judging by the way it moves (no pun intended), it looks like they are using a biped rig and possibly some corrective blendshapes for the hind legs due to it's rotations at the leg root. Would love to see some behind the scenes footage...<br />
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<br />
BUT<br />
<br />
As much as I'm impressed by the animation, the commercial as a whole leaves a little less to be desired.<br />
I can't help but feel that the bull that leaps out of the hot gravy is too reminiscent of a steaming turd and this makes me feel uncomfortable as it bobs around. Also, the song 'I like the way you move' sounds cheesy and dated. The 'urban' dance moves are intended to be playful and humorous, but don't even match the rock/pop music.<br />
The character animation is comical and believable; the commercial is obviously trying to get down with the kids, but this contrived piece has me reaching for the sick bucket rather than a jug of gravy.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-81161060906737938482012-01-18T11:27:00.000-08:002012-02-13T02:33:12.567-08:00Moo cow - caricatured designsThese are my early character designs for a recent project. The initial project brief didn't specify the characteristics for the cow so I explored many ideas. None of these will be developed further as we have now gone for a more realistic look.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5M4k8860mlA/Tza-0w9-IlI/AAAAAAAACsk/SdSFI5Z3mfw/s1600/conceptA.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="207" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5M4k8860mlA/Tza-0w9-IlI/AAAAAAAACsk/SdSFI5Z3mfw/s320/conceptA.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g5qSWDYYaRY/Tza-6yypylI/AAAAAAAACss/yNt2XoAPEkM/s1600/conceptC.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g5qSWDYYaRY/Tza-6yypylI/AAAAAAAACss/yNt2XoAPEkM/s320/conceptC.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">very animatable</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XCw0oHlm08s/Tza_I17PQ5I/AAAAAAAACs0/7FetgugXHNo/s1600/conceptE.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="219" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XCw0oHlm08s/Tza_I17PQ5I/AAAAAAAACs0/7FetgugXHNo/s320/conceptE.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, it looks more like a pig</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sKmf_zGwQVw/Tza_OOa_L0I/AAAAAAAACs8/_Y2zTqwG7vQ/s1600/conceptB.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sKmf_zGwQVw/Tza_OOa_L0I/AAAAAAAACs8/_Y2zTqwG7vQ/s320/conceptB.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">??? Odd, but one of my fav designs</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uil7nkscSF0/TzblOUq6BTI/AAAAAAAACuU/eSjFB4WW_zo/s1600/concept5.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uil7nkscSF0/TzblOUq6BTI/AAAAAAAACuU/eSjFB4WW_zo/s320/concept5.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">safe</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-72912740542648918762011-12-22T13:23:00.000-08:002015-01-14T13:31:15.408-08:00Andy Schmidt Pixar talk 2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Andrew L. Schmidt is a senior animator with Pixar Animation Studios. He has worked in the animation industry for twenty years and has a long list of credits in both traditional 2D animation and CG animated films.</b><br />
<b>Andy discussed the making of Disney Pixar's 12th animated feature film Cars 2, and revealed some of the process and pipeline used at Pixar to develop their films. </b><br />
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Admittedly, I wasn't overly enthused about the prospect of a talk about Pixar's Cars 2; Cars 2 didn't set my world alight. But Andy Schmidt proved my reservations were misplaced. The presentation was entertaining, insightful and inspiring. <br />
Recording devices and cameras were strictly prohibited during the talk so I had to up my note taking speed to get all the good stuff. Enjoy...<br />
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Pixar do CG animation, but Andy reassuringly reminds that it is not the only type of animation that is good and should be done. He has experience with traditional animation and is fond of stop-motion and other forms of animation. The technique you use for your animation depends on the film you are making and what works and what does not.<br />
Andy broke the ice at the beginning of his talk with a light-hearted look at Pixar studios. He began showing photos of the exterior and interior of Pixar studios built in 2000, followed by a shot of the hundreds of employees at Pixar.<br />
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"The building is just brick and mortar; it's more about power to the people."</div>
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At Pixar, they promote extra-curricular activities. They have a full bar in the animation department and their offices have their own personal touches. John Lasseter’s office is full of cute toys. The employees even got together and created an elaborate Micheal Jackson Thriller dance during Halloween. There was also an “ugly contest” towards the end of the production of Nemo where they would dress up in the most off-putting clothes and make-up.</div>
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"We work hard, but we have to play hard too."<br />
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<b><u>Cars 2: Pixar's process for making films</u></b></h3>
<b><u>Cars</u></b><br />
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"This was a dream come true for John Lasseter."</div>
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Cars combined a couple of John Lasseter’s greatest passions: cars and animation. He grew up around strong car and art influences because his father worked at a car dealer ship and his mother was a high school art teacher.<br />
Cars was conceived after John had completed three feature films back to back. After he had worked on both Toy Story films and A Bug's Life he found himself in a situation where he felt he was missing out on key experiences with his children during their childhood. He decided to go on a road trip with his family across the US in a huge camper van and a lot of those personal experiences that he had while he was travelling inspired the idea of the movie, Cars.<br />
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<b>JOHN'S RULES OF RELATABILITY</b>:<br />
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•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Telling a compelling story that keeps people at the edge of their seat<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Populate the story with appealing and memorable characters<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Putting that story and characters into a believable world - not necessarily a realistic world<br />
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<b>Story</b><br />
Cars was influenced by that family road trip and to some extent, Cars 2 was also influenced by a road trip. When John was doing publicity for Cars, he was going to different countries and he felt “like a fish out of water.” Then he asked himself, "What would Mater do?" And that was one way the story started to develop for Cars 2.<br />
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Another development was an early concept for the character, Finn McMissile. When they did Cars, there was a scene that was cut where McQueen and Sally go to the movies for a date. They see a spy movie and there's a character there called Finn McMissile. This was developed by Joe Grant and Rob Gibbs two story writers at Pixar. This landed on the cutting room floor, but at the same time it was too good to pass up, so they kept this character alive for the sequel.<br />
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“Another impetus in Cars 2 was the case of mistaken identity.”</div>
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The idea of this bumbling character travelling around the world was influenced by the Hitchcock mistaken identity character as seen in North by North West, The Man Who Knew Too Much or Foreign Correspondent.<br />
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<b>Believable World</b></div>
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With the believable world, the environment is going to affect how the characters move such as the kitchen environment in Ratatouille or underwater environment in Finding Nemo.<br />
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<b>Memorable Characters</b></div>
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There were already characters from the previous Cars film such as Doc Hudson, McQueen, and Luigi but Pixar needed to introduce new characters. McMissile, voiced by Michael Caine, was a slow mechanical type of car using 1960’s technology. With the female car, they tried to strike the balance between curvy sexy female without being sexiest. Another key character was Francesco, voiced by John Turturro. He was the cocky athlete or “the movie star who likes to walk around with his shirt off.” He was an open wheeled F1 racing car to indicate no sleeves.<br />
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There were many logical loops that Pixar got stuck on with the cars such as “Why do they have door handles? Who’s inside the car?” or “Why is Francesco kicking a football? He doesn’t have feet!”</div>
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<b><u>Pixar’s Production Pipeline</u></b><br />
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It takes about 4 years for Pixar to make a movie from beginning to end. All of these phases in production are supported by a number of people who develop the tools and keep things running.<br />
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<b>Development – Story – Art (broken down into Character and Sets) – Model – Layout – Animation – VFX – Lighting – Render </b><br />
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Development – This is where all the fun research takes place. Members of the Pixar team will travel to various locations to collect their research first-hand. For Nemo, they went Scuba diving. For Ratatouille, they did a lot of research in busy Paris kitchens and even took cooking classes. They would study behavior and where and how objects are situated/placed within the environment. In Up, they brought in an Ostrich to study how the large bird, Kevin, would move. For Cars, they took part in motor sport racing to experience the feeling of g-force and how much strength and balance it takes to drive these vehicles at these high speeds. This meticulous research was essential for creating believability in their films.<br />
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Story – After collecting all the research, they would get down to writing the story. Sometimes they would employ story writers but usually Directors at Pixar, such as John Lasseter, would write their own material. For Toy Story 3, they hired the Oscar-winning writer behind Little Miss Sunshine, Mike Arndt. Storyboard artists would efficiently draw sequences based on the script and pitch it to the Director. Previously, such as in Cars, Storyboard artists would use traditional pen and paper to draw the sequences but this has now made way for a digital method using tablets. Digital storyboarding has been found to be a more efficient than traditional storyboarding although Andy admits he misses using paper.<br />
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<li>Art – With reference to the Development and Story phase, artists will begin creating tons of drawings and designs. They would use a range of different art mediums such as pen, pencil, watercolor, digital art and clay for sculpting. Designs will develop and improve based on continuous feedback.</li>
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<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Character – Once the character designs are complete, all characters are sculpted to see whether their appearance and expressions maintain their appeal in 3D space. </li>
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<li>Sets – “The biggest hurdle of Cars 2 was the sets.” </li>
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Entire environments were built of London, Paris, Porto Corsa (Italy) and Tokyo.</div>
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In Cars 2, they already had all the complete character designs and models from the previous movie so they decided to use ‘Car-ification’. This is where elements of the car design would be injected into the designs of the environment such as grills and headlights. The effect will be similar to how you can sometimes make out familiar shapes in clouds and rock faces.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-35940328964817975222011-12-22T03:41:00.001-08:002012-01-30T14:49:10.203-08:00Interview with Matthew Stephenson - Bradford Animation Festival (BAF)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><b>[Interview date: 9/11/2011]</b><u><b><br /></b></u></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Matthew Stephenson is a freelance character
animator from the UK with 7 years industry experience under his belt. He most
recently held the role of Principle Animator on Disneyland Kinect Adventures
(Microsoft) for Frontier Developments. </span> </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">I caught up with Matt at BAF Game where he
held a talk about his work on Kinectimals and Disneyland Kinect Adventures. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">University of Bradford has been a BAF venue
for many years. Could you tell me a little bit about your time here as a
student and why you chose to become an animator?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">I studied at the University of Bradford from
1998-2002 on the EIMC course, before it split into different parts. We got
introduced to 3D stuff in that course. It was quite a small part of the course,
but enough of a taster for me to decide that it was something I'd like to
pursue a bit more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">While I was a student here (Bradford), BAF was
definitely part of my inspiration to become a character animator. I saw Richard
Williams, the guy who wrote the Animator's Survival Kit and lead animator on Who
Framed Roger Rabbit, speak here. He was really inspiring and brilliant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Also, as a student I spent a lot of time not
doing work, but acting at the theatre in the Mill; therefore along with the
graphics stuff, I found a way of combining these and so character animation
became the career I wanted to pursue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">After graduating, I worked for a year then
used that money to do an MA in 3D Computer Animation at Bournemouth.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Do you have a 2D/traditional animation
background?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">No. Drawing is probably my weakest point as an
animator. I draw thumbnails sometimes, but</span><b><span style="color: #004dbb; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">I'm
much more likely to get up and act something out and use other kinds of video
reference for my animation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">I've started doing 2D work more recently; I do
a bit of stop-motion work in my spare time and I've done some silhouette
cut-out animation. It has been really good fun and an eye-opener trying to do
an animation that is both 2D and is also straight -ahead.</span><b><span style="color: #004dbb; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">You've got to plan what you're doing quite
meticulously and know everything that's going on every frame. It makes you look
at your 3D animation in a different way because you start framing through it
and being a lot more fussy about every frame of that animation. This is a good
thing.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">You mentioned BAF being an early inspiration.
What/who inspires you now?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[laughs] There are so many! Obviously, Disney is
really inspirational. They invented all the rules and discovered the techniques
that we now use and still struggle to re-create.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">At the other end, I really love animators like
Michael Dudok de Wit who did the Monk and The Fish and The Triplets of
Belleville animator, Sylvain Chomet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">David O'Reilly does some really disturbing
animation that uses a lot of pop culture and video games culture references
which makes you feel empty inside, but in a good way!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">...How about Pixar?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">CG animators can get stuck in a Pixar rut so
they don't see the broader world of animation beyond that. It's one particular
thing making a feature film with these lovely expressive characters that the
whole family can enjoy, but that's only part of animation; the Pixar style is
only a small subset of what you can do and what potentially could be done.
Going to animation festivals is always a big eye-opener. It always makes you
realise how narrow you could become in what you think is good animation and
what it means.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">What is your opinion on government tax breaks
for the British animation industry?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m in two minds about the whole thing because
it's obvious for the British games industry and the animation industry, as
Aardman have pointed out recently, that tax breaks would help a great deal.
It's becoming cheaper and easier to do animation in other countries where
labour is cheaper or in countries that have tax breaks themselves. So if a TV
company is going to fund you to make a program or a games publisher is going to
fund you to make a computer game they're going to say, “Well, you can do this
animation in Thailand or Canada for cheaper, so why don't you do it there?”
There's no real answer to that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Britain’s strength is that we are extremely
good at what we do. But other countries are also getting really good and
there's absolutely no reason why they won't get better than us. So part of me
believes that we need it but another part of me thinks, “Who am I to say that
the people of Thailand don't get to make games and television programs? What right have I to say that it will only happen in my country?” So I'm really torn about
it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">You can make a very solid economic argument
for having those tax breaks: If we have these breaks it can bring more work
here doing that particular thing that we are good at and make more money out of
it rather than it getting lost in tax revenue. But there's a broader moral
question about those tax breaks that I don't think anyone has dealt with, but I
have no solution. It feels like the government largely ignores the video games industry, which is weird because the country is getting a lot out
of it and you feel like you should have at least some acknowledgement that they
recognize that we exist. We are an enormous industry and they don't seem to
want to talk about it. I think it's partly because electorally it's not
popular. The majority of the electorate probably see games at best 'a bit fun'
and at worst,' a dangerous waste of time.'</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Any advice for budding animators trying to
crack the industry?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">The only reason you’re going to be employed as
an animator is because you are a good animator. And that really is it. So
you’ve got to do animation that you are happy with and that other people are
going to respond to. On a very basic
level, that is all you need.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Your CV is important, but your showreel is a
million times more important than your CV. It is really important to have good
showreel which shows that you can do the sorts of things that would suit the
type of job you are going for. If you
are going for an animation job in games then they will want to see some runs,
walk, jumps, lifting things, putting things down, climbing and some
performance. It is important in games as well as TV and film that you can make
a character appear to be thinking about things. If you are going for a job in
films, you really need to push your performance animation work and fill your
showreel with beautiful scenes with characters talking and interacting with
each other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s also important to get feedback from your
work. That is a reason why the Animation Mentor scheme has been so successful.
The more feedback you get for a piece of animation, and even if it isn't from
some genius at Pixar, the more you can improve it and the better it will be. No
matter how good you are, your own eyes let you down after you've watched the
same thing hundreds and hundreds of times. I've worked on animation for days
then I'd show it to someone else and they'd point out a flaw that was so
obvious, but I didn't see it myself. So getting other people’s eyes on your
work is really important.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Would you say having a degree in animation
gives you the edge over other animators?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">No, not at all. But I have not met many people
who have had the staying power to put enough effort to working on that graft
without that structure around them. So higher education gives you two things:
It gives you the time and space to do animation; It can be very difficult after
a hard day at work to sit down, look at a screen and start animating, but if
you are at university you have more of your own time that you can dedicate to
it. The other thing is that you have people around you that are potentially
pursuing similar goals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">One of the great things about my course at
Bournemouth, in the National Centre for Computer Animation, was that almost
everybody on that course was really dedicated to animation and we all pushed
each other. And that makes all the difference. If I had been sat at home working
on my own, I would never have got that experience. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">With something like Animation Mentor, you get
the feedback from your mentor and the people who are on the scheme with you.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Were you on the Animation Mentor scheme
yourself?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">No, but at Frontier we employed quite a few
people who had done Animation Mentor. It's a good scheme but if you do
Animation Mentor, try and get something that isn't Animation Mentor onto your
showreel. At first, it was a massive novelty in itself and when the first
Animation Mentor graduates started coming out, we were like, "Ahhh wow
this is amazing! This is amazing too! This is ... the same. This is the same
too..." They tend to come out at a fairly high standard, fairly uniformly,
so you think that's great, but once you've seen a lot of them you start to
think, "But what can they do on their own?" When they work in the games or animation
industry they're almost certainly not going to have a mentor of the calibre
that they had on the Animation Mentor scheme. They're going to have to be able
to be self-critical and use the feedback from just their peers. It's not clear
from their showreels whether that person is capable of that and you only find
that out once they start working. So it's always good to see someone who has
completed Animation Mentor and then done a couple of other things afterwards,
but still be really good. That clinches it. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">What is your opinion of performance capture
animation, like that in Tintin?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Oh yeah, those creepy people running around in
latex suits! WithTintin it's like my brain doesn't know what it is looking
at, but I hear that kids really love it; they don't get freaked out by that,
but I get freaked out by it. There's a fundamental problem there that if
everything about the style is caricatured apart from completely realistic
movement, then the movement is going to sell itself short. So you need to
caricature the movement. If the characters, lighting, models and everything
else is stylized then the movement has to be stylized too. And that's why it looks,
to my eyes, pretty strange.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">I think that those performances in the film
would have worked better as a live action film with those actors acting or as
an animated film that animators have animated. I don't object to performance
capture. Probably computer games are its most useful application because in
computer games you want to look at performance from all different sides. For
films, it has yet to totally convince me although it can work as special
effects for live action like in Avatar.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">What are you working on at the moment?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve just done some stop-motion animation that
will be projected onto the sail of a boat behind the band, Sharks Took The Rest,
during their gig in Newcastle. I’ll be over in there this week to check it out!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Here is a link to Matt Stephenson's personal
website: </span></i><a href="http://www.mattstep.co.uk/"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">www</span></i></a><a href="http://www.mattstep.co.uk/"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span></i></a><a href="http://www.mattstep.co.uk/"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">mattstep</span></i></a><a href="http://www.mattstep.co.uk/"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span></i></a><a href="http://www.mattstep.co.uk/"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">co</span></i></a><a href="http://www.mattstep.co.uk/"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span></i></a><a href="http://www.mattstep.co.uk/"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">uk</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Kinectimals: </span></i><a href="http://youtu.be/6KKgtN4T8V8"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">http</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/6KKgtN4T8V8"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">://</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/6KKgtN4T8V8"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">youtu</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/6KKgtN4T8V8"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/6KKgtN4T8V8"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">be</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/6KKgtN4T8V8"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">/6</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/6KKgtN4T8V8"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">KKgtN</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/6KKgtN4T8V8"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">4</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/6KKgtN4T8V8"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">T</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/6KKgtN4T8V8"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">8</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/6KKgtN4T8V8"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">V</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/6KKgtN4T8V8"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">8</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Disneyland Adventures Kinect: </span></i><a href="http://youtu.be/1-zI_-DCXt0"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">http</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/1-zI_-DCXt0"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">://</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/1-zI_-DCXt0"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">youtu</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/1-zI_-DCXt0"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/1-zI_-DCXt0"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">be</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/1-zI_-DCXt0"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">/1-</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/1-zI_-DCXt0"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">zI</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/1-zI_-DCXt0"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">_-</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/1-zI_-DCXt0"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">DCXt</span></i></a><a href="http://youtu.be/1-zI_-DCXt0"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">0</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></i></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-84534236941126313602011-12-20T04:25:00.000-08:002012-02-12T05:16:49.244-08:00Mad worldFor the past month, I've been subjected to a continuous stream of bad news. This is the main reason why I haven't blogged for so long. Most of us go through it at some point, but the most important thing is to hold no grudges. Forgive, forget and move on.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qLW4R07XwdQ/TvMhkiYgA3I/AAAAAAAACZQ/qaZS0n_S7OY/s1600/Untitled-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qLW4R07XwdQ/TvMhkiYgA3I/AAAAAAAACZQ/qaZS0n_S7OY/s320/Untitled-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-79416514790859952382011-10-30T04:58:00.000-07:002011-12-22T04:56:25.841-08:00Animation Inspiration - International Animation DayOn the 28th October it was International Animation Day and it got me thinking about which animations inspired me to become an animator or just simply enjoyed the most.<br />
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Recently, I finally got to watch the movie, Kung Fu Panda 2. Being a Kung Fu fan, my review of the movie will be slightly biased but personally it's one of the best animated movies I have seen in a long time. The story was simple and moved along at a fast-pace but the entertainment factor, art direction, and quality of animation were off the scale. Oh, and the jokes were spot on too.<br />
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I watched many cartoons during my childhood, in fact you could say cartoons and video games were my addictions. There were not many CG animated cartoons on TV back then, but there was one that I will never forget. Reboot was a fully CG animated kids TV series. Admitedly, the actual animation was quite terrible but that was probably due to the limitations of the software and hardware back then. Still a highly entertaining show nonetheless!<br />
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One particular animation brings back fond memories. It was a Scotch video cassette ad from back in the 80's and created by Aardman animations. The music was so catchy and once the skeleton got into his groove, I was up on my baby feet and doing my own little jig. My mum would remind me how my face would light up and how I'd dance across the carpet every time the advert came on the TV. <br />
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Last by no means least, here are a couple of my favourite FMV's from the video games of my youth.<br />
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For more information about International Animation Day here's a link to an article I wrote for Skwigly magazine <a href="http://www.skwigly.co.uk/happy-international-animation-day/">http://www.skwigly.co.uk/happy-international-animation-day/</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03511762812804376930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828148587099855404.post-28868016882205283532011-10-30T03:46:00.000-07:002011-10-31T05:55:53.830-07:00Character Animation - Francis Walk cycleRecently I've been going back to basics and practicing walk cycles for various rigs.<br />
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The walk cycle in this post was created using my own Maya rig, Francis (featured in my Arnold Schwarzennegger lip-syncing animation <a href="http://youtu.be/jgxBRFdHzyY">http://youtu.be/jgxBRFdHzyY</a> )<br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/jgxBRFdHzyY"><br /></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Francis the 'Baby' - minus the face paint and lion suit</td></tr>
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This is a regular paced walk on 12's (half a second per step). I blocked in the four core positions (contact, down, passing and up) using stepped keys, moved to splined curves then continued to build from there. I left most of the overlapping action until the keys were splined to avoid it getting too complicated early on.<br />
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Below are a couple of playblasts of the blocked walk and completed walk. Could do with some more tweaks and the head looks like it's just nodding up and down. May add some side nod overlapping action from the head through to the spine to add some more weight as well.<br />
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