Animation with a moustache

The animation with a .... je ne sais quoi!

Category: Friends

Smallriders first teaser 3

Animation / Friends

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Smallriders first teaser

Smallriders

Joan Delmont and Chloé Bocktaels, two of the animators I worked with on the Chico Chica Boumba pilot last year are finally releasing the first teaser video for their personal project: “Small riders”.

“Small riders” is a series of animation featuring two very appealing cartoony characters, Camille Beaumaison and Eugénie Schlhert, a michievous skaterboarder and an angry inline rider who share the same passion for skateparks.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qMUVbZkGLo[/youtube]

“Small riders” is produced by Zeilt, the good people behind the very quirky Mr Hublot, and they are hoping to find some financial backing if “Small riders” generates enough response.

Come on, show your love for “Small riders” and get updated when the next teaser comes out!

“Small riders” on Facebook

Related posts:
Back from Angoulême
Chico Chica Boumba pilot

“The Gruffalo” making of 0

Animation / Animation Mentor / Friends

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“The Gruffalo” making of

I meant to write a very long post on that brilliant shortfilm by Studio Soi but never found the time to start working on it. The release of a making of for “the Gruffalo” will be a new opportunity to feature Soi, one of my favourite animation studio since I discovered “Ernst Im Herbst”, a CG shortfilm using watercolour looking background, “Strasse Der Spezialisten”, “Olis chance” and “Tom and Lily”. I hope one day Soi will make a compilation of all their work.

The Gruffalo is a great shortfilm with a very fresh look and purely british quirkiness and I am even more proud to share with you the making of as several of my Animation Mentor classmates and fellow graduates worked on it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uFld7yatGo[/youtube]

and don’t forget to check Studio Soi’s new blog!
http://www.studiosoi.de/blog/

Related posts:
There is no such a thing as a Gruffalo
Studio Soi computer love
Harald Siepermann
Maciek’s planning

Rise of the Zombians 0

Animation / EA / Friends

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Rise of the Zombians

Neil Parkinson, my lead from EA just posted a short animation piece he has been working on for a bit during his rare spare time. Check it out it is really cool.

Neil didn’t just animate the shots, he also came up with the designs, rigged the characters and rendered the shots…. pretty impressive if you ask me!

I am also posting his 2010 showreel where you will be able to see some of the great projects he worked on at EA: a longer version of the shot he animated for the Spare Parts trailer I posted a while back, some Zubo animation and some other really funny Western inspired personal animation.

Rize of the Zombians
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCiRNlplbkA[/youtube]

Neil Parkinson 2010 showreel
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG9pxDLDA9E[/youtube]

Related posts:
EA category

Animation Mentor 2010 showcase 0

Animation / Animation Mentor / Friends

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Animation Mentor 2010 showcase

Well it’s out! Some really really nice work from my fellow graduates and ex coworkers.

http://www.animationmentor.com/showcase2010/

Some of them have already landed top animation jobs and others will very soon.

And while we are at it, let me introduce you Bishop 2.0, the latest version of my favourite Animation Mentor rig. I haven’t had a chance to test it yet but this looks very promising and I have to mention that my friend the awesome Keith Ribbons helped out with the facial rigging.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WT7_F5wsQk[/youtube]

Related post:
Dan Carey “Shower Power” short film

Lee Sullivan 1

Animation / EA / Friends

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Lee Sullivan

An other really talented artist working on my team is Lead Artist and Senior Lighter Lee Sullivan.

Until very recently Lee had Lou Romano’s “Up” colorscript on his desktop so that should give you an idea about some of his inspirations and the kind of quality he is aiming at.

http://www.chameleoninc.co.uk/

A while ago, with Neil Parkinson, they were running a pretty cool blog. Check it out
http://wishingwellstudios.blogspot.com/

Related posts:
“Shower power” short film

Working at EA Brightlight 1

Animation / EA / Friends

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Working at EA Brightlight

I just found that old video which will introduce you to some of the cool people I work/worked with.

[update] I have been told that the original videos can’t be viewed outside UK so here is a low res Youtube version
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSJJ5LC8Hrc[/youtube]

While I am at it. What about an other video about our neighbours, Little Big Planet creators’ Media Molecule?

Related posts:
“Shower power” short film

the “Motion Capture animation style” 0

Animation / Friends

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the “Motion Capture animation style”

I have had a very healthy Facebook conversation on animation style with my friend Samy for the past few days and we were trying to define the Animation Mentor style and compare it with other style of animation.

Personally I love all animation styles, and Michael Dudok de Wit throughout his work encapsulated the whole range of styles I respond to. From the abstract “The Aroma of tea” to the over the top oscar nominated “The fish and the monk” through the delicate “Father and daughter”.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9abaZwPNLA[/youtube]

I love all animation style but one style I have a problem with is the “motion capture style”. I am definitely not a big fan of motion capture but what I want to talk about today is something a bit different.

You might have come across shots that were so well animated that they looked well … “motion captured”. Shot that were keyframed but looked so real that they looked like they were captured by computers.

The motion capture look is perfect when you work in VFX and want to blend the CG animation with “live plates” but it is not so great when you work with cartoony characters.

My friend Tomas posted a great animation on his blog sometime ago. A shot that really impressed me for someone who just graduated from Animation school but I felt that something wasn’t quite right. I wasn’t able to tell him what to improve until my ex mentor Kevin Koch, recorded a very enlightening eCritique for my friend Nedy’s February “11 second club” winning entry.

What he is suggesting Nedy to get rid of that motion capture feel is to simply push the poses and timing.

Check this out

Kevin Koch’s february 2010 ecritique