Wohoo. I got into Animation Mentor! Yes! Some people might be skeptical about it, but I've done my research on it and it seems like a really awesome course that could help me progress greatly as an animator.
So the only bad news there is money. It's USD and it costs a lot. So I definitely need a job asap so I can save up for it. I've been accepted into the Aussie Winter 2009 term; but I think I'll end up deferring 'til Aussie summer 2010. That way I can save up heaps for it so money won't be an issue when I start, and I can self-teach etc myself for a year to get as far as I can by myself. I am very keen to be a financially independant person.
Really exicited. Can't wait to do it :) And as a wise person once told me, the decisions your heart tells you is the right one. And my heart likes this plan. Yay!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
iiNet Get Animated
I decided to enter my Honours film, BlackOut!, into the iinet Get animated competition. Mainly because I thought it'd be nice to get some exposure. I'd be cool if an employer watched it, saw some potential in me, and asked me abord their team :) But nah, it's fun being part of something like that. Can't wait to make something better - that is, something which I really really like and feel proud of. Meaning, something where I don't feel I could have done more. Is there such a project?
Anyways, if you wanna check it out it's at: http://www.iinet.net.au/getanimated/
I was very annoyed at my computer because it's seems its too outdated to play those movies with sound. I guess I'll have to watch them somewhere else later...
I also found the 2008 cofa annual site at last. it's at : http://annual.cofa.unsw.edu.au/2008/
Can't wait to get my portfolio/show reel to date out of the way so that I can just animated/draw/job hunt/have more fun :)
Anyways, if you wanna check it out it's at: http://www.iinet.net.au/getanimated/
I was very annoyed at my computer because it's seems its too outdated to play those movies with sound. I guess I'll have to watch them somewhere else later...
I also found the 2008 cofa annual site at last. it's at : http://annual.cofa.unsw.edu.au/2008/
Can't wait to get my portfolio/show reel to date out of the way so that I can just animated/draw/job hunt/have more fun :)
Monday, December 15, 2008
Randomness
Hm, now that uni is over I've been messing around a bit with my toy keyboard. Yes - toy keyboard. Wasn't one of those privledged kids who had instruments pushed in their faces and probably complained about it. No I was the kind of kid who loved all things music and did what she could with what she had. Used to make up a lot of songs and such. Ah, good 'ol tape recorders.
Anyways, I really like this whole instrument thing. I've always wanted to learn an instrument and soon I'll be able to afford too :) I've been making up random tunes on the keyboard and today I started learning some real songs. Simple ones of course.
I dunno, music and I just really click. My brain loves it. That got me wondering though. Yes I'm definitely planning on using musical things as my outflow to keep me sane in the future; but it got me questioning yet again my 'love' of animation. Ok, if you ask me right now, I'd have to say that I have more fun when I'm doing music stuff (in general - not just my toy) then when I'm animating. Music doesn't feel like work. Animation does. Is that bad? I mean, all jobs feel like work at some point right?
It's just something I'm going to ponder and chew on for a while. And this week I am gonna get back to animating. It's the only way to find out how true my passion for it is. At any rate, animation is a whole lot harder. Music is challenging, but a lot easier.
Anyways, I really like this whole instrument thing. I've always wanted to learn an instrument and soon I'll be able to afford too :) I've been making up random tunes on the keyboard and today I started learning some real songs. Simple ones of course.
I dunno, music and I just really click. My brain loves it. That got me wondering though. Yes I'm definitely planning on using musical things as my outflow to keep me sane in the future; but it got me questioning yet again my 'love' of animation. Ok, if you ask me right now, I'd have to say that I have more fun when I'm doing music stuff (in general - not just my toy) then when I'm animating. Music doesn't feel like work. Animation does. Is that bad? I mean, all jobs feel like work at some point right?
It's just something I'm going to ponder and chew on for a while. And this week I am gonna get back to animating. It's the only way to find out how true my passion for it is. At any rate, animation is a whole lot harder. Music is challenging, but a lot easier.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Beginning is always hard
Word is that starting is always the hardest part. I find this very true of myself with creative things. But nothing is to be gained by delaying, and the more you do it the easier it'll get.
So today I formally began strand b of my journey: getting better at drawing. Another saying is that to get better at drawing you draw. True - practice helps with all things. But I think there's more to it. Principles. There's some helpful tips and handy knowledgs that master draftsman/artists know which I think can help a person to speed up their improvement in drawing.
One such master is Betty Edwards with her book 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.' Mingled with her research and theories are a bunch of activities which she suggests one does in sequence. I've decided to do them and read the book because it promises to help a person perceive the world better and therefore draw better.
First up she gives a bunch of task to before introducing us to a new way of drawing. So her first exercise are the 3 below. It's intended to document how we draw before we do the course. I'm interested to see what the after drawing look like.
Exercise 1: Draw a self-portrait
Exercise 2: Draw a someone from memory (my nephew Jesse)
Exercise 3: Draw your hand
I also have a theory, that although cartoon-style drafts-people learn realistic drawing first, their techniques could also offer much to helping one learn to draw. Particularly to stylise and exaggerate reality.
As for strand A - Animation, I haven't animated anything new as yet. I'm more scared of it then I am of drawing. With drawing I have a bit of confidence in myself. I know that I can do it decently and could get really good if I stuck with it. Something I've believed all my life. But animation is a little more tricky. Every time I read something about animation i have this little urge to go hand-drawn. Hand-drawn seems to have the advantage that it is not limited by the constraints of the rig. You can do anything you like so long as you're skilled enough to draw it. Plus it seems that animators recommend that we make thumbnails first before we touch the computer, and sometimes my drawing abilities get in the way of that.
The other issue I've been having is just where do I start? Albert and Tim recommended going straight to the 11 second club. But that's full body acting. It definitely will be helpful especially with the feedback I would get, but I really just wanna start from the absolute basics. And that's what confuses me. Should I just be focusing on one animation principle at a time, or should I do little exercises that combine them all. Is it wise to 'copy' an exercise like Richard Williams' (as I was doing earlier) to try to understand it better; or is it better to choose something similar, but different, so that applying the knowledge - thereby learning also through problem solving?
This kind of frustration draws me more to the wonderful online school called Animation Mentor. I've been anting to do it since the beginning of the year when I first read about it. I have since applied for the sake of seeing if I have a chance at making it in and read their catalog. I've read their curriculum and it sounds so helpful. I'm almost 100% convicted in wanting to do course.
Anyway, the reality check is that even if I make it in, I can't afford it just yet. It costs US$17 000, and that's heaps in AUD. You can pay term by term, but I'd still like most of it (if not all) saved up before going for it. So my next move then is to get a job - any job. If it's in this industry - great. if not, that's fine. But if it's not than I want it to be the typ of job I can leave behind me when I get home. Something that doesn't need my spare time to train myself just so I can keep up. My spare time (a good % of it at least) will be devoted to animation and drawing.
So back to the problem of animation. I've discovered that the resources and knowledge base out there is endless. I've chosen a few to regularly tap into for both insights and motivation. Loyal to Animation Mentor as I am, I'm going to keep look at their 'Tips and Tricks' articles and start listening to their Animation Podcasts on the old ipod that my brother donated to me. I'm sticking with the animation books I have - 'The Illusion of Life', 'The Animators Survival Kit', and 'Timing for Animation.' I've also got to keep reading up on animation history, you-tube watching them and researching the animators I'm interested in.
And as for the all important animation exercises. Well, I think i just have to try a number of approaches and keep up the ones that o find helpful. That's the final barrier that needs to be broken down. I think I should do 3D consistently and try simple things like the ball and sack in 2D. I'm sure that when I do get to Animation mentor in time, many more exercises and ideas will be added to my means of practicing. In the meantime I hope to learn as much as I can from what I currently have access to and to practice as much as I can. Especially while my maya licence is still valid.
So today I formally began strand b of my journey: getting better at drawing. Another saying is that to get better at drawing you draw. True - practice helps with all things. But I think there's more to it. Principles. There's some helpful tips and handy knowledgs that master draftsman/artists know which I think can help a person to speed up their improvement in drawing.
One such master is Betty Edwards with her book 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.' Mingled with her research and theories are a bunch of activities which she suggests one does in sequence. I've decided to do them and read the book because it promises to help a person perceive the world better and therefore draw better.
First up she gives a bunch of task to before introducing us to a new way of drawing. So her first exercise are the 3 below. It's intended to document how we draw before we do the course. I'm interested to see what the after drawing look like.
Exercise 1: Draw a self-portrait
Exercise 2: Draw a someone from memory (my nephew Jesse)
Exercise 3: Draw your handI also have a theory, that although cartoon-style drafts-people learn realistic drawing first, their techniques could also offer much to helping one learn to draw. Particularly to stylise and exaggerate reality.
As for strand A - Animation, I haven't animated anything new as yet. I'm more scared of it then I am of drawing. With drawing I have a bit of confidence in myself. I know that I can do it decently and could get really good if I stuck with it. Something I've believed all my life. But animation is a little more tricky. Every time I read something about animation i have this little urge to go hand-drawn. Hand-drawn seems to have the advantage that it is not limited by the constraints of the rig. You can do anything you like so long as you're skilled enough to draw it. Plus it seems that animators recommend that we make thumbnails first before we touch the computer, and sometimes my drawing abilities get in the way of that.
The other issue I've been having is just where do I start? Albert and Tim recommended going straight to the 11 second club. But that's full body acting. It definitely will be helpful especially with the feedback I would get, but I really just wanna start from the absolute basics. And that's what confuses me. Should I just be focusing on one animation principle at a time, or should I do little exercises that combine them all. Is it wise to 'copy' an exercise like Richard Williams' (as I was doing earlier) to try to understand it better; or is it better to choose something similar, but different, so that applying the knowledge - thereby learning also through problem solving?
This kind of frustration draws me more to the wonderful online school called Animation Mentor. I've been anting to do it since the beginning of the year when I first read about it. I have since applied for the sake of seeing if I have a chance at making it in and read their catalog. I've read their curriculum and it sounds so helpful. I'm almost 100% convicted in wanting to do course.
Anyway, the reality check is that even if I make it in, I can't afford it just yet. It costs US$17 000, and that's heaps in AUD. You can pay term by term, but I'd still like most of it (if not all) saved up before going for it. So my next move then is to get a job - any job. If it's in this industry - great. if not, that's fine. But if it's not than I want it to be the typ of job I can leave behind me when I get home. Something that doesn't need my spare time to train myself just so I can keep up. My spare time (a good % of it at least) will be devoted to animation and drawing.
So back to the problem of animation. I've discovered that the resources and knowledge base out there is endless. I've chosen a few to regularly tap into for both insights and motivation. Loyal to Animation Mentor as I am, I'm going to keep look at their 'Tips and Tricks' articles and start listening to their Animation Podcasts on the old ipod that my brother donated to me. I'm sticking with the animation books I have - 'The Illusion of Life', 'The Animators Survival Kit', and 'Timing for Animation.' I've also got to keep reading up on animation history, you-tube watching them and researching the animators I'm interested in.
And as for the all important animation exercises. Well, I think i just have to try a number of approaches and keep up the ones that o find helpful. That's the final barrier that needs to be broken down. I think I should do 3D consistently and try simple things like the ball and sack in 2D. I'm sure that when I do get to Animation mentor in time, many more exercises and ideas will be added to my means of practicing. In the meantime I hope to learn as much as I can from what I currently have access to and to practice as much as I can. Especially while my maya licence is still valid.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Humble Beginnings
Welcome to my newest blog. I won't be continuing the old ones as they represent 2008. This blog is intended to track my journey as an artist and animator post-Honours.
Now that I have finished university (save for the graduation ceremony), I have decided that I really need to specialise in something. The degree was great and I learnt heaps, but I feel I'm currently just a generalist. I gained foundation knowledge in a number of disciplines including web, sound and video, and focused myself on 3D - but there just wasn't enough time to master animation. I thought I might be able to by making films - and I made 2 short animated films over the past 2 years; but as a wise friend of mine (Timmy Gaul) reflected: in making 3D films most of your time goes into planning, such that you don't get much time to actually animate. Especially if you're doing it alone - as I did. Fortunately I could source out some of the work for my later film particualarly, and that served to enhance the product.
I think collaboration and filmmaking is great, but on a personal level I'm putting that onto pause. From now on, I'm dominantly focuing on just animation and drawing. The area I chose to specialise is animation, and the career path I have chosen is to become a character animator. And I'm not going to stop until I get there.
The plan for the present is to get a job and work through several animation and drawing books in my own time for a bit of self-improvement. Then, once I have a safe amount of funding behind me - I plan to do the pretigious Animation mentor 1.5 year online course to push myself even more. So then, by say 2011 - I'm hoping to be pretty damn good at animation. At any rate, I'll be a lot better than I am now.
Now that I have finished university (save for the graduation ceremony), I have decided that I really need to specialise in something. The degree was great and I learnt heaps, but I feel I'm currently just a generalist. I gained foundation knowledge in a number of disciplines including web, sound and video, and focused myself on 3D - but there just wasn't enough time to master animation. I thought I might be able to by making films - and I made 2 short animated films over the past 2 years; but as a wise friend of mine (Timmy Gaul) reflected: in making 3D films most of your time goes into planning, such that you don't get much time to actually animate. Especially if you're doing it alone - as I did. Fortunately I could source out some of the work for my later film particualarly, and that served to enhance the product.
I think collaboration and filmmaking is great, but on a personal level I'm putting that onto pause. From now on, I'm dominantly focuing on just animation and drawing. The area I chose to specialise is animation, and the career path I have chosen is to become a character animator. And I'm not going to stop until I get there.
The plan for the present is to get a job and work through several animation and drawing books in my own time for a bit of self-improvement. Then, once I have a safe amount of funding behind me - I plan to do the pretigious Animation mentor 1.5 year online course to push myself even more. So then, by say 2011 - I'm hoping to be pretty damn good at animation. At any rate, I'll be a lot better than I am now.
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