Here's a quick update on my Steampunk gun draw animation cycle!
I gathered up and studied footage of professionals and non-pro's drawing a holstered gun, acted it out, shot video reference, and made my planning thumbnails sketches with key poses and breakdowns.
Today I began blocking out the shot with a game ready rig I found a while back on the web, I'm not sure who created it or where exactly I got it from, but I owe a big thank you to whoever made this sweet rig!
I should have all the poses blocked out by tonight as well as my first timing pass!
Since the iAnimate Game Workshop is only a few months away, I plan on finishing another shot while I wait! This next shot is a gun draw to gun holstered cycle. BANG BANG!
The gun prop model is Steampunk inspired and modeled in 3ds Max 2013. I couldn't find a reference that I liked, so I mishmashed a bunch of guns I did like together!
I recently submitted my demo to iAnimate and I am SUPER excited to announce that I have been accepted into the iAnimate Games Workshop starting in May 2013!!!
I have been constantly working on my demo reel and feel that iAnimate will help me push my work to that next level.
My instructor for Class 1 is David Lam, an AMAZING animator who has worked on numerous AAA titles for game studios such as
Activision, Lucas Arts, Bungie and Naughty Dog. Currently, he is a Lead
Cinematic Animator at Naughty Dog on a new exclusive PS3 title called
“The Last of Us”. His demo reel can be seen here.
While I wait for the workshop to start, I still I have a bit more freelance work to complete with theBasementTechnologies and I will continue to work on my new demo piece, this one has a Zombie in it! BRAAAAIIINNSSS!!!
I am SUPER excited to finally share another animation set for one of the awesome beasties I have been working on at theBasementTechnologies for our upcoming Tablet/PC game title.
As we get ever closer to our looming deadline for release, I will be able to share more of my work with everyone!
While I wait for my Supervisor to approve releasing footage of the shots I have been working on for the past few months, I thought I would share some of the stuff I have been working on after work hours.
These are some objects I modeled in 3DS MAX which will be used in an upcoming fight sequence animation. Lets just say the creature who uses these isn't to be trifled with!
My Animation Supervisor was kind enough to allow me to upload this Idle Set to my blog courtesy of theBasementTechnologies.
Production has been hectic as usual with tight deadlines to be met. We are really close to releasing the beta for this unannounced game for tablets and PCs and we are all SUPER excited to share it with the world!
I am SUPER excited to announce that I will be attending CTN-X 2012 this year! There are a ton of great workshops, talks and meet-ups about all things animation. I am especially excited for Victor Navone's talk "4 Different Approaches to Acting: Context and Creativity". Mr. Navone is a HUGE inspiration to me and agreat wealth of knowledge to the animation community. See his blog here: http://blog.navone.org/
It has been a crazy couple of months trying to sell our old home in Pennsylvania, flying out to California and looking for a new place to live. My
wife and I finally found this fantastic 1920s town home in Los Feliz close to downtown LA!
In other news, I just got my animation and recording studio up and running again and have been working with theBasmentTechnologies via email and Skype on their TBA tablet game! A special thanks to my boss Mr. Piscopio for his patience during my transition.
I saw this great documentary called, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, and I was so inspired by Jiro's work ethic and his success as the World's Greatest Sushi Chef!
Well into his eighties, Mr. Jiro Ono is still hard at work creating the world's best sushi.
This documentary really struck a cord with me in regards to animation. I strive for perfection in my work. It is a long and difficult road and at times can become frustrating when what you envision does not always match what you produce on screen.
Here is what Mr. Ono had to say about success:
Jiro Ono, the World's Greatest Sushi Chef
"Once you decide
on your occupation, you must immerse yourself in your work.
You have to fall in
love with your work.
Never complain about
your job.
You must dedicate your
life to mastering your skill.
That's the secret of
success and is the key to being regarded honorably."
A while back I uploaded some teaser pics of a character I modeled for an upcoming game soon to be released to a tablet and pc near you!
With permission from my employer theBasementTechnologies, I uploaded a 360 of the Hero Model. Soon I should be able to upload this little guy doing some hilarious animation cycles.
I'm all packed up and ready to fly out to L.A. from PA! It's a five hour flight and I am looking forward to catching up on some reading, Game of Thrones anyone?
Yes, it has been a while! I have been diligently animating creatures I modeled and rigged for the "Untitled" game produced by theBasementTechnologies! I has been a great deal of work, but a whole lot of fun! I have been filming reference, planning my shots with thumbnails and blocking out core poses.
As the Lead Animator on this project, it has been my job to make sure
all the creatures feel very distinct and unique from one another.
One of the animations I am currently working on is named "Idle Set Fire
Goon". This set is for a particularly mean and fiery looking NPC
monster who is standing about with nothing do. I decided to have this
creature take on mannerisms of fire. Looking at how a flame moves about
was great inspiration!
Because this creature is derived from fire, I wanted it to feel very menacing and aggressive as any self respecting flame-born bad guy would!
I am waiting to see if I have permission to release some footage of what I have been working on due to the NDA. I hope to have some WIP to share really soon!
Animating quadrapeds always seems to be a tough lesson to teach my students in my advanced animation classes. I found these great articles that have really great ways of breaking down the process for any animation student who finds themselves getting caught up in the details.
Here's a small Spiked Football prop I modeled in 3DS MAX to be animated in Maya with some awesome Robot rigs, Yomm and Lenny courtesy of Animation Mentor, for my latest demo piece Robot Football.
I just signed my NDA agreement for the theBasementTechnologies newest unnamed project. I can't disclose much other than this 3D Model I created and rigged to be used in an upcoming game soon to be released to the public.
The animation I have been working on for this game is really funny and has a lot of charm. Just take a look at this character I modeled for the game. Just try and resisit it's cuteness, I dare you!
Once the game is released I can upload my shots, I'm super excited for this game!
