Brad Bird Notes on Composition

I recently came across 'Brad Bird notes on Composition' from animationmeat.com. In his notes, Brad Bird explained about his view on creating better compositions. Looking through the notes, it's undeniable that you can get tons of insight on how to really improve your work, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who has the slight interest in either storyboarding or story-telling.

Another source of study would be the book 'Shot by Shot'. You can check it out from any local bookstore or through Amazon.com.

'Ratatouille' - Nothing Short of a Masterpiece

It's simply that. A masterpiece. Not only does it excel technically, this movie has a great cast with great characters, and underlying all those wonders is a great storyline. There were moments in the movie where I thought things are going to work this way or go that way (no spoilers here) but what I didn't expect was that things usually aren't as smooth as they were thought out to be. Reality always sinks in. It's up to how the main characters are going to make it to be. That is what makes it so intriguing. I want to know what happens next.

I do believe that Pixar has set a standard in terms of story-telling in the animation field that no other company comes close to it. They have always strive for quality and it shows in all their films. I just hope that other companies will follow their footsteps in providing quality work for their audiences too. Don't just think of making money.

Click here to read CG Society's featured article on Ratatouille.

'Surf's Up' Is One Enjoyable And Inspiring Journey

Surf's Up is a documentary styled movie that journeys through the life of a surfing penguin. I know that it's about penguins again and many people will probably be tired of it. But not only is the story good and inspiring, the take on a documentary style (mimicking a reality show) is a fresh twist to it. On top of that, the script is well written and the jokes nicely laid out.

I personally would like to see it having more publicity so that more people would take a chance at watching this great film, although it seems unlikely to be that way. The moment it's out on DVD, I'll be one of the the group of people who'll get this movie. It's that good for me.

Click here to read CG Society's featured article on Surf's Up.

Podcasts

In the recent few years, there has been a huge increase in popularity within the podcast community. Spending a day going through and downloading quite a number of them through iTunes, I immediately found two great podcasts sources: the Animation Podcast and Spline Cast (featuring Brad Bird). Be sure to check them out for amazing and inspirational interviews there.

'El Dorado': An Amazing Feat of 2D Animation

This movie didn't have a great review when it came out. After this movie, Dreamworks went to create Sinbad which didn't do well in the theatres. Soon after that, Dreamworks decided to stop 2D films and focus on 3D...

As I watched this movie a few days ago, it still looked as great as when I first saw it. Story-wise, it probably could have been longer with a bigger climax towards the end. But technically, it was downright amazing! The flow, movements, acting are top-notch. And yes, the acting was perfect! For animator fans, this movie is highly recommended.

Starcraft II Cinematic Trailer

Blizzard has released their much anticipated Starcraft II cinematic trailer. Again, as in World of Warcraft, they have created another high quality CG work. For those who like to collect game video clips, there's a HD version which can be downloaded from GameTrailers (it's about 110mb in size).

Understanding Lighting (General Lighting)

Cesar Montero has posted links to his tutorials on understanding lighting within Lightwave. This is great for 3D users who's trying to grasp an understanding on how 3D lighting and shading works. Although the tools used are taken from Lightwave, the concepts are universal.

Click here to access to his tutorials.

Digital Paint

This website has great information regarding how light works in the real world, and how we can apply it into the 3D world. It goes deep into its explanations with both text and visuals. Although the author didn't finish it yet, it still is worth checking out. Click here to access to the webpage.

Character and Clothes (General Modeling)

Tony Jung's character modeling technique is one of the best found on the internet. He uses Silo for the tutorial, but his method can be applied to all the other 3D packages. Click here for the tutorial.

For creating clothing details (especially on tight fitting clothes), this tutorial by Angel Nieves will help beginners out. Click here for the tutorial.

'Tofu Thriller Dance'

Amazing animation done by Richard Lico! This was posted in SpinQuad, a Lightwave 3D forum. Below is his explanation of his approach in making this animation:

"To answer some of the questions, it's completely hand keyed. That includes the brains (chunck of tofu) and the zipper. I could have done dynamics on those, but I have more fun animating such things than trying to get a simulation to look right.

The whole thing took around 40 or so hours. I spent about 4-6 hours each Sunday for 7 weeks, except for the last weekend, where I must have done a solid 10. But to be honest, I wasn't paying much attention to the time as I worked. Having too much fun. (but VERY happy to have my Sundays back)

I used a hybrid pose2pose/straight ahead method. I'd pose2pose out a Sunday's worth of work, and bring it to completion that same day, not knowing what moves would be next. I relied on Mr. Jackson for inspiration. I watched a section of the thriller video for how he moved, then put my own spin on the whole thing. Not a very accedemic way of working, but I find it more fufilling.

Michael's dance style is one which purposely defies what seems real to people. Like the moonwalk for example. It's meant to make you think it's an illusion. And animation may not be real, but strives to give a sense of believeability. I had no idea just how difficult it would be to do a complete 360 like that. Trying to make a moonwalk look realistically unreal was a fun challenge.

Another challenge was proportions of the 2 characters. Michael was long and skinny in that video. Tofu, not so much. I had to take a lot of liberties with Michael's poses. Like when he arches his arms over his head... Tofu can't do that. Thus, much improvisation occured."

Click on the above image to view the high-res version of the 'Tofu Thriller Dance". Although there's a YouTube version (link), it doesn't do justice to this amazing animation. It's too small, and the colors are off. To view his dancing rig, click here.