Here’s the sixth step in my Top Down Animation, Work in Progress series. In this video shown below I rough in the critical step of setting up the parent contraint of the hand to the chair. In doing so I verify that the character can reach the chair and also the he can comfortably pull the chair back as far as I have it going.
Step Six – Hand Attach:
Again, if you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or send me a Tweet (@escape_studios)
Here’s the fifth step in my Top Down Animation, Work in Progress series. In the following video I now rough in the animation of the feet. I need to do this at this point to verify that the stride length and number of steps will work to get the character the distance he needs to go. I am easily able to make any changes to the root at this point too. I also set up the grouping and parenting needed to constrain the root to the chair when it tips over.
Step Five – Feet:
Again, if you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or send me a Tweet (@escape_studios)
Congratulations to all the finalists of our CG Whiz competition. We had a great time at the Reveal Event last night, meeting the future stars of the CG industry. As we’ve said before, we were overwhelmed by the sheer number and quality of the entries we’ve received.
It’s clear that there’s a lot of talent out there, but there could only be one winner – Adam Droy (spikeycactus)!
Adam excelled across the board. His showreel highlighted his creative flair whilst demonstrating a sound understanding of the techniques involved. We’re very much looking forward to Adam studying with us at Escape next year, and wish him the best of luck during his work placement at The Mill.
The two runners up should also be commended, having fought off stiff competition from over 130 entrants.
Ronan McMeel’s (MrMeel) showreel earned him the runners up position, impressing the judges with his creativity and incorporating a storyline throughout his work.
Marco Baratto (smileandwave1987) also wowed the judges with a technically sound showreel – inspired by the “HP Hand” commercial.
Ronan and Marco – we hope you enjoy Escape Studios’ online courses and exclusive tour of The Mill.
For those of you that missed out this year, or didn’t get around to entering, don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for information on next year’s competition. You’ll hear about it here first.
Not sure how many of you have been following this story, but a whopping 20 feature films have been submitted for the Animated Feature film category for the upcoming Oscars. This is great news for the industry as it means we’re well on track to getting five nominees qualifying for the category at the awards next February (we normally only have 3!).
The list goes a long way to show what a great year the industry has had, with hits such as “UP” (which might also be nominated for Best Picture), “Fantastic Mr Fox” and “Coraline”.
We’ve seen the impact this has had on our course sign-ups too – we’ve definitely been struck by animation fever, and it looks like I am going to be kept very busy in the coming months. But it’s not too late to sign up for one of our animation course if you’re still interested.
If you want to find out more about what’s in our Animation Course, then feel free to drop me a line.
Check out the full list of films being considered at Wearemoviegeeks.com and let us know what you think. For my money, UP has to be the front runner – but which film do you think the academy will select?
We have just made a great new free tutorial available to you all: Advanced Lighting for VFX Artists. This is ideal material for VFX artists who wants to improve your lighting skills.
It goes without saying that to produce convincing 3D and visual effects work, you need great lighting skills and an understanding of the various methods used in post-production. This advanced lighting tutorial explains how you can illuminate your scenes with sophisticated lighting techniques.
To access this tutorial all you need to do is register or login on our website and access our online learning centre. Once inside, select the ‘FREE AREA’ from the drop down menu in the ‘My Courses’ tab.
Would be great to get feedback from you on what you thought of this tutorial, so please post your comments here.
Oh, and by the way, we have a special discounted price on our Advance Lighting and Shading Online Courses… You can save up to 20% until the end of November.
Hi all,
I recently caught up with Paul Hilton, Senior Lecturer BA (Hons) Animation at The Arts University College at Bournemouth. AUCB recently purchased our online Maya coursware for themselves and their students, so I asked Paul how they were finding the experience:
“For me personally the courseware is excellent, the step by step short format videos are just right. Each process is dealt with slowly and methodically making following them easy. The tutorials are all of a manageable length, not too long that you have to spend an hour in one video to find the information you need, but long enough to concisely deal with the subject. The tutors are really clear and the information is delivered perfectly.
The elements such as models and rigs that are being used as examples within each tutorial really helps in explaining the particular subject, these make good points of reference for use within our own teaching as they summarise the particular subject really well. The symbiosis between what we deliver and what is demonstrated on the videos works well for the students, making it feel like a big learning environment.
The students now have a method for dropping in on subjects they are not sure about remotely, and when staff are away from the studio. The tutorials are filed in logical order and the screen grab of the interface on the scratchpad makes identifying the right tutorial easy. This really frees up tutor time to spend on the core academic and aesthetic side of their project work”.
Would you like to try the courseware for yourself? Then just click here and follow the online instructions.
If you are an academic institution and interested in finding our more on how our courseware can help you, please respond to this blog with a comment and I’ll get straight back to you.
We’ve got a couple of exciting new online courses coming up for slightly more experienced CGers. The Advanced Lighting and Advanced Shading modules are aimed at people with a bit of Maya knowledge, having completed the Maya Core program.
Derived from classroom modules, these courses are ideal for shading and lighting professionals looking to expand their skills and take their career to the next level. Slightly longer than our usual online courses to reflect the added detail, the courses allow people to work at their own pace, without impacting the quality of the teaching. They’ve been created by the same guys that create and teach our classroom courses, so you’re guaranteed our highest standards.
The Advanced Lighting course combines both production level tutorials with artist and technical perspective explanations, covering lighting theory, the art of lighting, night and artificial lighting, image based lighting, photographic lighting and gobos and cookies.
The Advanced Shading course is the perfect partner to the lighting course, helping people to build realistic shading networks and teach them how to use utility nodes to create rendering effects. It also contains 12 different Maya scenes.
Want to know more? Drop us a line.
We’re halfway through the competition and we’ve already had 49 entries – a great response, but we’re still keen to see what everyone else is working on.
For those of you still umming and aahing, perhaps a reminder of the prize will help sway you: a place on one of Escape’s world class 3D training courses, plus a much-coveted work placement at Oscar-winning visual effects company The Mill. There are also two 12 month online Maya courses and a behind-the-scenes tour of The Mill on offer for the runners up, plus subscriptions to leading industry magazines 3D Artist and Shots. How could anyone resist? You can take a look at all of the entries by clicking here.
To enter, simply submit your portfolio as a video response here.
Need some tips or pointers before you submit your work? Check out our free resources centre.
Our CG Whiz competition has got off to a fantastic start – we’ve already had an impressive 27 entries but there’s still time to submit your best work.
Remember, for the chance to win a place on one of our fantastic Visual Effects training courses, plus a work placement with The Mill, all you need to do is post your animation or graphic illustration portfolio as a video response to our YouTube video below by the 30th October 2009. That’s it!
Check out the entries we’ve received so far: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN3cr8TGReI
There’s some awesome CG talent out there, and some of these entries look like the work of professional CG artists – but please keep in mind that we can’t accept entries from the pros, we want to give others a leg-up into the world of films and visual effects.
What’s your favourite entry so far? As always we’d love to hear your feedback – either share it here on our blog or on our YouTube channel.
For full details, see the competition homepage at: www.escapestudios.com/CGWhiz
We’re delighted to announce the winner of our competition with Computer Arts Project: Matt Long. We received many applications to this competition, and the overall quality of the entries was very high, but Matt impressed the judges with an original and well-executed character design. He wins a copy of Maya, access to the online Maya Core course, and a 6 weeks intensive Characters Course with us at Escape HQ in London.
Matt says “I often enter competitions to keep my skill levels up, and winning always feels fantastic. The great thing about this competition is the prize. The opportunity to have access to Escape’s courses is the icing on the cake.”
Matt Long’s Competition Entry
A late comer to CG, Matt is currently a part-time lecturer and student mentor in Wales. “I’ve tried my hand at almost everything to do with CG and design, from graphic design to website building to 3D design. My passion is for character design, and my dream would be to work in the industry. Winning the Computer Arts Project competition and getting to go on an Escape Studios course can only help fulfil that goal.”
Thaddeus Maharaj and Habib Niazi were runners up in the competition. Thaddeus came second with a well executed idea that has potential but the judges felt needed refining. Habib was third with an entry that impressed with the basis anatomy, although some areas needed further development. Each received an online Maya Core course.
Matt’s work can be viewed on his blog, Sinzalot.
Thaddeus Maharaj’s Competition Entry
Habib Niazi’s Competition Entry
