Homemade Minis Case

Well, I never painted these dear minis, but I DID finally get a proper case for them.  With some left over foam from a computer parts shipment, a Sucrets container from last cough-drop season, and some clean knifework (and not-so-clean markerwork), and little Nassa and normal-dwarf-sized Loren have a safe home.

Sleep tight.

Dungeon World, where cool players do cool things

"The story I tell will never ever compare to the story we all tell together."



We are a couple months into the campaign, and I've come across two moments that really made Dungeon World shine. I get it now.

Click Read More below for the stories:

iAnimate Games Workshop 1 - walk and run (and sprint)

This assignment was to do a run cycle. I've done a number of walk cycles already, of course, so I wanted to do something other than the standard humanoid I'm used to. This cute turtle ended up being an unexpected challenge. (Perfect!)

I knew I wanted to do multiple walks/runs from the beginning. I started with a walk, a run, and a sprint; which was more like a meander, a tired gallop, and a run. You can see the sprint in the progress reel, though I ended up taking it out before it went to far. Because of the size of his legs, it ended up being a little too similar to the run, and I had to do all of it in about 8 frames per step. I cut it out so I could focus on the longer walk and run, and get into all of the fun little details.

One thing that I am still not too sure if I made the right call, is the shell deformation. I had the option to leave it rigid, make it really soft and pliable, or what I ended up doing, hit somewhere in the middle. I did a number of tests just to see which one felt the most natural. Since he was not specifically a game model, I had some nice controls to make up for the fact that he isn't really designed to move in a full sprint.

Here's the scrapped WIP sprint, for good measure (of course, I didn't get too far):

Dungeon World, the adventure begins!

I just started DMing a new system called Dungeon World, and I'm in love. It's very narrative focused and the events play out like a conversation. Or at least that's how it's supposed to work.

We're still getting our feet wet and getting used to the system. It has allowed the players to contribute their own improv onto the world, which I think is just amazing. The downside is, as the dungeon master, I have had to be on my improv game a lot more too. Easy for the 3 players, they don't have to be speaking for a collective 60% of the time. This game lets them talk way more often than others though, which is appreciated all around.

So far, they've avoided some of my combat hooks, but the one that they did come across, while traveling between cities, played out in a very interesting manner. The back and forth between players and DM was pretty natural. I jumped back and forth between players, usually in an order, but I wasn't forced into the same order every round. Hell, there weren't even rounds. I'd declare something that was happening, and they'd react to it, sometimes diving behind a tree, or risk trading blows by trying to get the shot off first. Neat.

Our players are Radagast the mage (played by Aaron), Fuln the druid (played by Sean), and Meatball the ranger (played by Anthony).

iAnimate Games Workshop 1 - a turn

This seemed like a really simple assignment, but at the same time, just like the poses, I was really surprised at how many little corrections Brett did that made a huge difference. There were a lot of areas I could push it and smooth it out even further. The final version just looks nice and clean.

iAnimate Games Workshop 1 - poses

The instructor this semester is Brett Pascal. We started out this semester with a couple of poses. I had a moment of clarity when I just did them. I didn't have to stop and think too hard about the steps. Something is getting natural in there. And yet, Brett knew how to push everything even further. It seemed so slight, but watching him as he did it, it made so much sense by the end. Also live reviews are absolutely amazing. It makes such a big difference than someone watching a video.

CTN was a blast

CTN was fantastic!  I was expecting something more like GDC, but I was overwhelmed by how friendly absolutely everyone was.

Biggest thing I learned there is that I love game animation, without a doubt.  I am strongly considering trying out iAnimate games workshop, rather than more Animation Mentor.  Just seeing the reel for their Games Workshop; I mean sure, I look at AM reels and say, that's really nice work; but I stared at the iAnimate reel and said, that, THAT is what I want to do.  There is something really visceral and reactive about games animation that I can't help but love.  But enough gushing about animation.

Speaking of gushing about animation, it was weird to see Eric Goldberg randomly start signing autographs, and be so kind to every single person.  I would have joined them, but I was already on my way to getting a copy of Blacksad signed by Juanjo Guarnido.  I even got a smiling picture with him with my own I-don't-know-what-I-am-doing awkward smile.  I'll chalk that up to being star struck, why not.  (He was a cool dude.)

That's a starstruck face.

Also, I got a Stitch.  I don't impulse buy anything, but Stitch was calling to me.  CALLING, I SAY.  No regrets, he totally kept me company while I was in the air on the way home.

That's the face of love.

I can't wait till next year, and I'll see you all then!

Those are the tired faces of a CTN well done.

CTN is coming!

Ah, once again, I haven't had the chance to update my blog. But I am excited, because CTN is coming up very soon! I'll be heading off to the Creative Talent Network conference in mid-November, down in Burbank, California. A week following that, I'll be at ITSEC in Orlando, Florida, doing some artist presentation for my work.

Once again stay tuned, I have a number of back-posts to post, and I'll get to that after my conferencing dies down. I've been super busy, if not evidenced by the fact I haven't made posts in several months. Sorry if I'm late in receiving comments or updating. Between work, contracts, and taking classes with Animation Mentor, I'm going to be pretty swamped for a while.

Stay tuned!

AM3 and AM4 wrapup

I really enjoyed class 3, though I didn't as much care much for class 4.  I liked working on the pantomime shots in class 4, and I think it's highly important to understand.  But I've found I'm really drawn to the action of video game animation.  It's interesting, because the first film I worked on, Flower Story, was all about the emotion.  I know I could do that now, hundreds of times better, yet I still look back on it with an approving nod.  But that's also not where I want to be anymore.

Knowing the difference between strict body mechanics, and the more subtle pantomtime, has helped me realize what I want to do in animation.  Of course, they are of equal importance it comes to animation fundementals, but I can see myself focusing towards one over the other.  I can really appreciate watching animation that is focused on acting and pantomime, but it's those over the top weighty animations that really get me excited.

Onto the next adventure, I suppose!

Animation Mentor Class 4 - Lipsync with a flustered office worker

Ugh, I did not like working on lipsync.  The sound clip just gets lodged in my head, and eventually, it just went flat.  Moreso than other animations, more I hear it and see it, the harder it is for me to view my work critically.

I think that picking out the sound clip was also very difficult for me.  It's easy for my mind to go with pure fantasy and just imagine a really cool fighting combo, or a cute interaction, or a broad motion.  But when the sound came first, and without context, it was really difficult to put a scene to it, let alone with a camera, environment, and subjects.  If it already went through visualization, I bet it would have been much easier for me to make the animation itself.  But layout and storyboarding a dialogue piece was far more difficult than any other piece I've done.

I don't think I'd call this demo-reel material.  It was fantastic practice, and it was really helpful at telling me what I enjoy working on (or don't.)  It just seems to lack the interesting bits that are in many of my older animations.

Progress reel: