spring cleaning

The old site design was starting to feel creaky. HD video is becoming more common online and I wanted a new template that allowed me to post HD from YouTube and Vimeo without needing to sample them down to fit the column width. So thus the new look. I tinkered with the design some, but I'm still not 100% settled. Heck, I'm not even 80% settled. Still I probably won't spend a ton of time customizing it. I figure at this point the blog is what it is and most folks probably come to the blog via a feeder of some sort, so the layout and graphics are not as big an issue as they once were.
In other house cleaning news, I've taken down some of my older obsolete links. The link to my animation examples has been removed since every bit of animation in that gallery was at least 5 years old, most of it much older. I will probably utilize YouTube or Vimeo more for stuff like that. We'll see. Short film links are removed as well because not a one of those is less than 10 years old and it's kinda pathetic to keep the links up I think. I seriously need to actually finish one of these 4 or 5 shorts I have in various stages of development. Maybe this year? Again, we'll see. Also I took down the FAQ's regarding my VTS subscription and APT training programs since those are pretty much in retirement now. Folks can still get older VTS videos from my AnimationClinic.com store (at a pretty good price, too), but I stopped making new VTS videos in summer of 2009. As for the APT, I have put that into retirement as well. With work and family it was just too hard to put in the proper time to teach the students the way they deserved to be taught. Another factor is that online animation schools have launched and it feels like that market is getting a bit saturated. Rather than expand the APT to remain relevant in the space I decided that it was time to move on. So with those facts in mind I figured I ought to take down the FAQ pages related to them. I may start up training efforts again in the future, but if I do I'd like it to be done differently than what's been done the last 6 years or so online. No idea what that would be, though. Not really worried about it, either.
OK, enough useless rambling.

APT registration is now open

This is for the October 2010 class. Here's the page to sign up. Hope to see you there. :)

APT October 4- November 6

As I mentioned earlier I will be holding an Animation Personal Trainer session this fall. The dates for the class will be October 4th through November 6th, 2010.

I will begin accepting student registrations on September 1st. As usual the student spaces will be provided first come- first served. Space for this class will be limited, so if you want to get in then sometime around midnight Eastern Standard time in the U.S. on September 1st you should go to this page to sign up. The cost of the class will be the usual $995 per student. If you have any questions about the APT and how it works be sure to check out my handy FAQ page, or email me if you're still filled with questions. I'm looking forward to another fun class.

upcoming APT schedule

I've had a number of folks email me about when the next Animation Personal Trainer session will be. At this moment I don't have a firm schedule, but I am expecting to have another APT class this fall. However because of my full-time job at Valve I won't be able to take on as many students as before, so space will be even more limited than usual (right now I'm thinking of limiting the class to just 5 students). So if you want to get in on the next session the best thing you can do is keep your eyes on my blog here, since this is where I will announce the class dates and when sign up will be available. I am also debating on having a portfolio review for the students I do take on. This would be a first for me. I haven't decided if that is what I will do, but I figure I should let folks know that it is a possibility. We'll see. Whatever I decide I'll be sure to make that clear when I announce firm dates for the next class.
You don't need to do anything yet, just keep watching this space for more info.

Thanks, shows, and head colds

First up- thanks to all those who have commented, tweeted, emailed, called or sent notes tied to rocks through my windows about my impending move to Valve. You guys make me blush as you're all too kind. Some folks have asked, so I'll restate it here: the VTS monthly video tutorials will continue. The Animation Personal Trainer (APT) courses will go on extended hiatus for the forseeable future. The APT requires a good deal more time and effort than the VTS, and since I'll be "at work" all day I don't think I'll have the time to properly devote to it. However, as in all things related to my life, I reserve the right to change my mind should conditions prove favorable to a future APT session. So... who knows?  heh.

As for the Otto & Schmitty project? It's still on. It's on like Donkey Kong, brutha. I'm about a third of the way through animation/rendering episode 1, titled "Date Night". It's about Otto's never ending quest for love. I'd be further along on it except I've had a nasty cold the last week. I doubt it's a piggy flu, but it has been gnarly enough to make it hard to sit at the 'puter and get anything done. All the cold meds made it hard to think and stay at it. I have no idea how other creative folk can work under the influence of pharmaceutical "enhancements". heh.
Anyhow, I'm about a week behind schedule. But the show must go on- and shall. Look for the first episode of the Otto & Schmitty Show sometime in early December.

Sunny's toon-shading breakdown

Former APT student Sunny Kharbanda (featured here and here on this blog) has a new post up on his blog. This time he goes pretty in-depth into how he developed a different kind of toony shading (but not a specific toon shader, per se) for this recent cartoon inspired animation work in Maya. I love his thought process. Definitely take some time to check it out, and then (if you're interested) see how you can expand upon the idea with your won twist.

Cartoon CG fun

 

A former APT student of mine, Sunny Kharbanda, has really been diving into the whole 'cartoons in CG' experimenting. It's a lot of fun seeing him find new things. Since we're both tinkering in this area we communicate a lot, sharing what we find works, what doesn't, etc. Sunny just posted on his blog about his process for developing the backgrounds to work with his animation tests (you can see those here and here). Cool stuff. Check it out.

one APT spot remains

A spot has just opened up in the next APT class due to a student needing to back out for personal reasons. If you're interested in taking part in the next APT class (it starts next Monday and runs through Spetember 11) then send me an email and let's see what we can work out.

APT Student Profile: Gary Macarevich

Here's another look at a student of my Animation Personal Trainer program (see previous APT student spotlights here, here and here). This time I want to highlight the work of Gary Macarevich. Gary had been working as a professional animator, but wanted to improve his skill level. He first took the APT last summer and then took a follow up session in January. His progress has been steady and solid and his hard work has been well rewarded. First here's a quick sample of some of Gary's work before he participated in the APT...

I determined that Gary needed to work on loosening up his characters and add weight to the animation-- a problem all too common in CG animation. Stiffness and a lack of weight tend to go hand in hand. Thus the plan was to liven up his character's movements by adding more drag and overlap, putting some balance and weight in the torso posing, along with cleaner arcs. Gary also wanted to focus on acting since his reel was a bit short on that. So by putting all that together we made a custom curriculum that targeted Gary's weaker areas while developing his acting skills at the same time. After his time in the APT here's what he was able to accomplish...

Definitely solid improvement. There's a lot more weight and flow in the performance. The tracking on the arcs are clean and add a lot of strength to the motion. The torso is looser and filled with a sense of life. His drag and overlap are much better and the acting picked up, too. As with everybody (myself included) there's still room for improvement, but Gary is definitely on  the way.

Gary's progress shows why I enjoy coming up with customized lesson plans for each animator that comes to the APT. Targeted training is a powerful teaching method and I think it's a great way to get a lot of growth and improvement in a short amount of time. Here's what Gary shared with me after his second session..

I've noticed an improvement at work and find myself finally realizing why my lead was getting frustrated trying to explain and re-explain concepts that just weren't sinking in.  Some "ah ha" moments for sure. Thanks so much Keith, please keep me in the loop on upcoming APT's... I'm definitely interested in doing this again.

If the Animation Personal Trainer sounds like the kind of animation training experience that you'd like to try,  now is a great time for you. I have a new session starting in a few weeks, and due to some late cancellations I have a few spots available. So if you're interested take a moment to email me to learn more about getting involved in the next APT session.

APT Student Animation: Sunny Kharbanda

Sunny Kharbanda first took his first APT session this summer. He wanted to improve pushing his poses, add some texture to his phrasing, make better acting choices as well as tighten up his polishing skills. Here is one of the better pieces that he made before the APT...

click here to play

I like the boldness and willingness to take chances with such a challenging clip. But there's a few things here and there that could use some help. The poses are awkward at places, alot of the poses are the same intensity so the texture is lacking and the arcs, eases and overlap need more polish. It's not terrible, but it has areas that could use improvement.

After 4 weeks in the APT this is what Sunny was able to produce...

click here to play

The polish is much stronger, the acting is interesting (and funny), the phrasing and texture are more defined and his poses feel more comfortable while at the same time being stronger and more graphically appealing. Overall it's a solid improvement.

Sunny is currently wrapping up work on his second APT session. Wait until you see what he's done in this latest class- it's really, really good. I can't wait to show it to everybody when it's done.

APT Student Animation: Anand Kumar

Anand Kumar is one of my favorite APT students. Anand has been in my APT twice, both times focusing on learning more extreme cartoon animation style. The first time was definitely a learning process as he broke out of his comfort zones as a Cg animator. During his second class I could really see that he was "getting it". He was beginning to think like a cartoon animator.

Here is a nice sample of what Anand was doing before this latest APT class...

Not bad. There's some nice stuff going on. It's a little lacking in some technical polish, but overall it's pretty solid. However it doesn't stand out- I don't think it's unfair to say that it's pretty typical of most CG scenes you see.

Now here are two scenes that he recently completed in APT. First an acting scene...

Kumar_toonActing.mov

And now a more 'technical' motion exercise...

 

Kumar_toonExit.mov

Now that's a different way to go. I really like seeing this style being explored in CG. It's been a lot of fun teaching this stuff. I grew up watching cartoons- it's what made me want to be an animator in the first place. Not surprisingly Anand felt the same way. He wrote me...

I will be doing more of this stuff :-) its fun and challenging to do.  ... This APT has really been an eye opener for me . ... I wanna do moreeeeee... :-)

So congrats to Anand for a job well done. I'm sure he's only going to get better and better at this sort of thing.