Incredibles DVD, Sutdent ID, and Bobby "Boom" Beck live chat

Well, it's a been a big animation day for me. I got my AM Student ID in an email today, so I'm officially logged into the system. Cant' access the website til the 28th though (classes got pushed back a week).

At work I've been listening to the director/producer and animators' commentaries on The Incredibles DVD. Lots of great information there. I was encouraged by something Brad Bird said; that it's been one of his "causes" to give inexperienced but talented animators challenging scenes. I think Cameron Miyasaki's scene of Helen and Voilet outside of the cave is what triggered the comment, which reminded me of the Finding Nemo DVD extras where Dylan Brown said how Cameron, one of the new guys, did great animation on the anemone. Quite a leap, going from animating tentacles to a key acting scene with poignant mother-daughter exchanges. Now, I know he did more on Nemo than that (some really great shots, actually), but Brad's point was that he likes to throw the new guys into the deep end and not cut them short by assuming they are not up to the task.

I think it would be daunting, for sure, but such an honor at the same time. It's like someone handing you their newborn baby and saying, "Take good care of her. I'll be back when she starts to speak." Aacck!! The responsibility!!

A lot of the guys on CGTalk (an online forum for CG animator types) that are AnimationMentor students have been busy, busy, busy - recreating and animating primitive models they have seen on the website... A LOT of bouncing ball tests, trying to get personality and entertaining movement in simple objects. I haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet.

Why? I guess there are a few reasons. I am going to dive in quickly and deeply when all this starts, and know that will take most of my time, so I want to get other things done before that happens (like paint the house, spend time with friends). I see it like I'm going off to boot camp (a fun boot camp, but still a lot of work). In the past, I would be animating bouncing balls with the rest of them, trying to get ahead, worrying that I would be left behind if I didn't maniacally eat, sleep, and drink animation. But I've turned over a new leaf. I trust them to teach me how to do this stuff RIGHT. I don't think I need to practice blindly. When they teach, I will take and apply the information. I'm encouraged that the tools will be already set-up. I don't want to waste my time figuring out what controls I'll need to get the results I want. That's not what I'm paying $2,000 a class to learn.

So I've taken a chill pill and am just getting ready mentally. I already know Maya, the program we will be using, so I don't have to worry about that.

What I have been doing is going through Richard Williams' book, The Animator's Survival Kit - I'm on page 145. I'm no longer thinking in terms of software, but trying to get the principles and mechanics of animation, of movement, down in my head. I drive to and from work acting lines of dialogue out in my head; observing the gestures I make with my hands, how my face and head and neck emphasize what I'm saying, trying the same lines other ways, whatever resonates and seems to fit the best; I notice where I put weight when I walk, or where my center of gravity is; I pull out my sketchbook at the gym lobby and quickly sketch out the unique qualities of the people around me.

That's the kind of homework I'm doing.

Tonight there was a live chat with Bobby "Boom" Beck, one of the founders of AnimationMentor and something that stood out to me was the importance of planning, planning, planning. He even quoted The Illusion of Life: Spend half your time planning and half your time animating. Bobby said you're ready to animate when you've worked everything out already on PAPER. Paper, not the computer.

I love that the "new" guys are emphasizing the "old" guys from the Golden Age of Animation (earlier Disney classics). It's very heartening. Walt's dream hasn't died with Disney, Co. thank goodness.

I'll post my personal critique of Robots from Blue Sky Studios soon (I saw it in Vegas over the weekend)...