I got my acceptance email today, and it says that my first quarter in the 18 month program begins on September 25th, 2006.
To say the least I'm honored and excited to be working with people who share a similar set of goals and dreams. It's going to be a long and trying process at times, but overall I think I'm going to have an amazing time in the program and hopefully come out with some great material for my demo reel.
There is a new teaser trailer for the Transformers movie that comes out next year up on the official site.
A trailer for Snake on a Plane can be seen over at Yahoo right now, as well as a billion other places, I'm sure. Make sure you tune into our 10 Quick interview next week, as we'll be talking with Patrick Beaulieu who worked on the film.
I can't wait to see the new The Mantis Parable short. Click the link if you want to see a preview.
In case you hadn't heard, Pixar is now offering its short films for $1.99 each through iTunes.
It's a pretty slow day, in terms of conent so far. If anyone has anything related to 3D that they think others would be interested in, drop me a line at davesj[at]gmail[dot]com and I'll get it posted.
I'll try and dig up some trailers and such and get those posted in a bit to at least give everyone something to look at.
So here is the update on the jet bike. I added in some geometry on the front cover, re-made the seat tray, added some foot pegs, and also made some brake handles as well as brake lines. It's funny because, just like the flames on the jet, I went in and spent quite a long time wrapping the brake lines around the handle bars and getting them just right, only to unhide the layer that the cover was on and realize that it covered up all about 5% of the lines.
Again, this bike was created by following a really nice DVD by Digital Tutors, which can be found by clicking here.
If you've never cracked open Maya before, or if you are like me and haven't touched it in a year or two, this is a great DVD that explains many of the key areas of Maya for you as you create various parts of the bike. Like me, you'll wind up using some of the techniques far more often than others, but it's nice to know that they are there, should you need them for any reason.
I'm not sure if I'll stop modeling on the bike for now or if I'll add more details to it. I'd like to add headlights of some sort eventually, and also some rivets and other bits and pieces. I've also got to slap some logos on the cover at some point.
If you don't mind, allow me to gush a bit about the artist that we're conducting the 10 Quick with this week. His name is Jason Taylor, and he happens to have been one of the key members of the team that helped to create my favorite animation of probably the past 5 years, if not the past 10, Gopher Broke. This film has such a wonderful spirit to it, and the facial expressions alone are worth the price of admission... which happens to be free in this case. As I said, Jason was a big part of it, so I was really excited when he agreed to answer some questions.
Enough of the fanboy stuff though, let's hear from Jason!
1. Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you break into the business?
I'm a Vermonster! (one who originates for the state of Vermont) I guess that means nothing other than the fact that I love cheese, snow, and maple syrup. Growing up on a dirt road in the middle of the woods has it's charm, but not much in the way of computer animation. After high school, I packed up and moved to Philadelphia where I went to art school and lived the life of the urban skateboarder. Figure drawing class then a 50/50 grind down a long ten stair handrail. Ah the life!
In the last year of college, I really got into 3D animation and mustered up enough crude work to score a job at a small local production house called... "The Production House Inc." There I actually got paid (very little) to make CG animation. I started doing all aspects of production and eventually found myself gravitating towards character animation. At TPH Inc, we made everything from commercials, games, and even a 42 minute DVD title.
During this time I was animating my own stuff at night. One piece being the short film "Cookie Blues," which I made back before Shrek came out (to set the record straight.) It's pretty bad animation wise, but still a fun little piece. Some other animations were entries to the 10 Second Club. (www.10secondclub.com) To my surprise a few of those learning exercises actual won. After 4 years at TPH Inc, I was ready to move on.
I slapped together a small home office and started to do freelance character animation remotely. I got to work with some talented people from various studios during that time, but unfortunately they were half way across the country. That's the thing with remote freelance work... it's isolating and lonely. After almost a year of IMing most of my daily conversations, I took a character animation position at Blur Studio.
For the last 3 years I've been working at Blur. So many talented guys/gals work here. Everyday I'm amazed at the work I see on any given monitor in the studio. If you check out my links page on my site, (www.captainkeyframe.com) you'll see what talent I'm talking about.
2. Which of your work are you most proud of?
Much like Mr. Burke, I'm never happy with my animation either. When I look back at a piece all I can see are the flaws. So I guess I'm most proud of the pieces where I get to be creative... have some role in sculpting out the performance. It's the process that's fun for me. Get in there and do it. Thumbnail, act it out, try different ideas. That's the goods! Here's a little montage of me shooting video reference for various animations over the years.
3. What are the main tools and/or programs you use to create your work?
I've used almost every package at some point in my career. Currently I'm using XSI alot. It's got alot of great tools. The price is right too!
4. What's a typical day in your life like?
Pure joy! ;OP
5. Who or what are some of your artistic influences?
I'm not sure I have many conscious influences. Living life in this day and age we are constantly bombarded with images and ideas. They have a way of just seeping in.
6. Would you say that you're a 3D artist who dabbles in 2D from time to time, or a 2D artist who happens to work in 3D?
Well I've been drawing since I was a wee tot, but I've neglected those skills lately. So I guess I'm the artist formally known as 2D. I've been known to doodle little characters now and then. I love to turn them in to CG characters when I have time. Here's one of my more recent characters (1 year old), Rosco.
7. What are 3 of the best things about your job, and what are 3 of the worst?
Best: Being creative, having talented co-workers, and a chill environment.
Worst: Working so close the beach and having to work inside all day, dealing with mocap from time to time, and getting shot in the face with a rocket during mid-afternoon Quake3 games.
8. I have to turn into a fanboy a bit here and tell you that "Gopher Broke" is my favorite animation of any kind to come out in a long long time. What was your involvement with that short? Is there any truth to the rumor that we may be seeing a full-length movie based on "Gopher" sometime in the future?
Well first off, Jeff Fowler deserves all the praise for Gopher. He wrote and directed it... t'was his vision. I had a few different roles on the project. I animated something like 13 shots, rigged a few of the characters, and with the help of the talented Remi McGill, developed a new facial animation system. We used this to really push the facial on this short and other projects since.
Ah yes... the Gopher feature topic. Nothing is final, but a Gopher feature is in development. Not much more to say... stay tuned!
9. How has it been working for an up-and-coming studio like Blur?
Blur is a great studio. There are alot of opportunities at Blur that no other studio would ever let you have. Every year there is a script contest. Any employee can submit a short film idea. Supervisors vote and one is picked. Blur then produces and enters that short film in to festivals. That's how Jeff got Gopher Broke made and it was nominated for an Oscar. Pretty cool deal I say.
10. Professional skateboarder, professional musician, or professional animator. If you could only do one, which would it be?
Hmmm... how about professional icecream taster? :O)
A big thank you to "Captain Keyframe," Mr. Jason Taylor for answering these questions for us. Make sure you stop by his site and check out all of his wonderful creations.
I hit a few small snags tonight, so I didn't get as far as I had hoped, and wound up just slapping some quick lighting up for the heck of it.
As I said, the lighting isn't right at all, and has caused that weird looking gradient thing on various spots of the bike, but I'm tired and I need to get to bed. I'll work on it some more tomorrow night.
As a side note, I added the flames onto the actual jet engine with the front shield hidden. I thought they looked awesome until I turned the shield back on and realized that half of them were covered. Oh well... trust me... they look really neat under there!
A really charming little short by Dony Permedi called "Kiwi!":
I really liked this short for some reason, even though I thought it was a bit sad. It's really odd because I thought when he produced the little wings they would grow bigger and he would fly away. I almost would have liked to have seen that, or no wings at all.
However, that small crit aside, I think the short was wonderful. I love when he suddenly stops to scratch himself.
So I worked some more on the Digital Tutors DVD last night that I mentioned in a previous post. Since the DVD is intended as an intro of sorts to Maya, it touches on all forms of modeling, from extrusion, to lofting, to the sculpt geometry tool.
So for example, the front "shield" was created by extruding edges on a plane. The gas tank is a squished nurbs sphere, and the seat tray was done using the sculpt geometry tool.
I like this approach, but I will definitely go back in and remodel parts when I'm done with the DVD. Everytime I use the sculpt geometry tool, my models always come out looking really lumpy, no matter how much I smooth them.
So while the modeling portion of the DVD is done (I'm now moving on to texturing the bike), I'm certainly not finished with it. I plan to add little details like brake grips, rivets, and holes in the exhaust, among other things.
In case you have yet to see the trailer for Dreamworks' new "Flushed Away," here it is:
I have always like the Wallace and Gromit series or anything else that Aardman does for that matter, but the simple fact is that I miss the clay. I know that I'm a 3D guy and I'm supposed to love all things 3D, but there is just something about the clay that adds an element to the films, whether it's the texture or the light reflection, that seems to be missing from "Flushed."
Five Fast is a segment of the blog in which fresh grads or people with brand new demo reels can show their work and give others a bit of insight into what they had to do to create the reel, and where they plan to go with it.
1. Tell folks a bit about your reel. What are they going to see when they click that shiny "Play" button?
Hopefully animations they will like. It's my animation demo reel comprising mostly of animations I did while taking classes at AnimationMentor.com.
2. What's the one thing on the reel you're most proud of?
That would be the very first animation on my reel. I think I started off with a pretty cool idea and it was allot of fun working on the animation as well as building on top of my original idea. Originally, I had the character fall down right after the teapot hit him on the head. Then I thought it was a bit too cliché and boring. So I made him struggle a bit longer with the blue box.
3. What's the one thing on the reel you struggled the most with creating?
I couldn't decide what to do with that teapot from my very first animation after it hit my character on the head. I tried several things and nothing worked or looked right. Jean-Denis Haas suggested that I have the teapot do what it does in the final piece. That was a really cool idea to keep the teapot part of the rest of the animation and also end with it. Thanks allot Jean. J
4. Why 3D Animation? What is it that appeals to you about this industry, and what made you head down this road in the first place?
I think it's the accumulation of allot of 3D art that I saw online as well as comic books, special effects and video game animations that convinced me to do 3D. As I learned more about animation, I grew more and more partial to it. Right now, there is no doubt in my mind that I want to concentrate on character animation. I still love to do modeling and enjoy some rigging as well.
5. What would be your absolute dream job?
I would love to be a character animator working on projects that allow me to challenge myself and grow as an artist. It would be a huge bonus to be surrounded by people who love what they do and be willing to help each other. I really think that a team of such people can create much better end product than individuals working by themselves.
Peter's Reel:
Really well done, Pete!
Make sure you swing over to Peter's website to check out more of his fine work!
If you're in a similar situation to Peter, and have a demo reel you'd like to show off here, drop Dave a line at davesj[at]gmail[dot]com!
Though my degree is in computer animation, I took around 3 years off from it completely. During that time, I didn't touch Maya once, and so I was very worried when I started back up again that I would have forgotten everything.
It was amazing how much it was like riding a bike though, and I quickly found myself remembering all of the old tricks that I used to know.
However, things have changed a great deal in Maya in the past 3+ years, so I went ahead and ordered some DVDs from Digital Tutors just to brush up on what is new and different.
Since I had already modeled this head once in the PLE, I decided to take a break from it and crack open my first Digital Tutors DVD. The DVD I chose to start with is called Introduction to Maya, and while I was able to skip most of the UI tutorials, I am running through the modeling ones, even if I already know the technique being taught. This has worked out great, as it has taught me new tricks and tips that I don't normally employ when modeling. Anyway... after the first night, this is what I have to show for it:
By the time I'm finished with the DVD, I'll have a fully modeled, textured, and animated jet bike. I'll make sure to post updates here, so that you can see the progress being made.
I never watched Hoodwinked when it was released in theaters. Frankly the film just did not appeal to me. The character models weren't attractive visually, the animation looked rough, and after watching the trailer for the film, it just seemed like a rush job.
So last night it arrived in my mailbox (Netflix) and I sat down and watched it.
If you head over to the official Hoodwinked site you can read how the filmmakers made this "independent film" in the Philippines, with a team of "top notch animators." Now while I applaud the concept of an independent film and anyone who makes one, I don't think that's what Hoodwinked really is. Hoodwinked, to me, feels more like a group of investors who saw how hot the 3D Animated Film market was and set out to make the cheapest one that they could. I can almost hear the board room meetings...
"We'll hire outside of the States and get a bunch of artists to work for peanuts. 3D animated movies are HUGE right now... we might as well be printing our own money!"
Now Hoodwinked could have been much worse, and overall is a film that I'm sure the average kid would probably enjoy somewhat, but that doesn't mean it's anywhere near the quality of the other 3D Films currently on the market.
PLOT Hoodwinked revolves around the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Think of it as kind of a narrowly-focused Shrek, in which the story of Red is twisted around and modernized. Granny (Glen Close) is a snowboarder, the Wolf (Patrick Warburton) is a reporter, and Red (Anne Hathaway) is a wise-cracking, sarcastic Red.
The film begins in very much a storybook way, with Red on the way to Granny's house. Once there she encounters the wolf in Granny's bed, Granny springs from the closet all tied up, and a woodsman (Jim Belushi) jumps through a window screaming and swinging an axe.
From there, the police are called in, and a detective frog begins to unravel the mystery of why they were all in Granny's house, and who has been stealing the recipes from the local food shops in the area.
It's a decent plot, and I actually liked how the film worked to re-tell the events from the perspective of each character. That being said, I felt like many of the gags fell very flat, mostly due to timing, and the way in which some of them were animated, but we'll get to the animation later. Additionally, this felt very much like a side story to Shrek, since "turning the Fairy Tale on its ear" thing has already been done, and done much better.
Plot Grade: C+
Characters/Cast
As mentioned above, with the likes of Glenn Close, Anne Hathaway, and Patrick Warburton, the voice talent was actually much better than I expected going into the film.
I especially liked Andy Dick in the roll of Boingo the Bunny. I really enjoyed his work back in the day on "Newsradio," and it was good to hear his voice again. While I don't want to give anything away, I think his character had some of the best scenes in the movie, especially towards the very end.
Another great character in the film was Twitchy, who was a speed-talking little squirrel who was the obvious slapstick comic relief of the film. I actually did have a hard time understanding him at times though, due to the speed at which he spoke.
Overall, no complaints at all about the acting, but I thought some of the characters were a bit weak.
Characters/Cast Grade: B+
Art/Animation
This is one of the areas where I really struggled with the film. The character models seemed to be all over the place in terms of quality, and the animation was REALLY stiff in most areas. I never could quite figure out if they were going for a look similar to the old "Rudolph" and "Frosty" stop action TV Movies, or if it was simply a matter of poor animation. Some models were good, like Boingo and the detective, but others were just ugly, like Granny. The Wolf even had a strange animation when he spoke where his cheeks would puff out at seemingly random times, and this turned out to be quite distracting.
The animation, as mentioned, was very stiff. Scenes like Red running through the forest were obviously shot from the waist up for a reason. Japeth the Goat was another exception, as again I thought his model and animations were pretty good, but for the most part, the models and animation were not up to the levels I would expect in a full-length film.
To top it all off, I thought Red was pretty ugly. I just didn't care for her model at all, and never saw here as a little girl. Instead she almost looked like a child's doll of some sort, and overall felt very plastic.
Art/Animation Grade: D
Audio/Music
I guess you'd call Hoodwinked a musical, as characters do break into song here and there, but thankfully it's kept to a minimum. Overall the songs weren't terrible, and in fact I kind of liked Japeth's songs.
What did bother me a great deal is that, at least on the DVD, the volume levels were all over the place. I had to keep my thumb constantly on my remote's volume button as half the time I couldn't hear the characters and then suddenly a song would come blasting through the speakers and rattle my windows. I don't know if this was an issue with the DVD or if this is how it was in the theaters too, but it made the film tough to watch at times.
Audio/Music Grade: C+
Overall
As stated, Hoodwinked is not a terrible movie, but that doesn't mean it's a good movie either. In fact, it's slightly above average on it's own, and far below the bar when compared to other animated films currently on the market. Whether it's the case or not, Hoodwinked feels like a film that was made purely to cash in on the hot trend in filmmaking, by keeping the bottom line as low as possible.
I guess when it comes down to it, Hoodwinked is like the Wolf dressed as Granny: On the surface it sort of looks like the other animated films you know and love, but it doesn't take long before you start noticing what big eyes it has, and then you only see the ugly side from there on out.
I've got a few 10 Quick Interviews in the bag and ready to be posted each and every Thursday (as long as artists continue to agree to answer my dumb questions!)
That being said, I think it's important to also see things from the other side of the fence, which is why I'm starting up "5 Fast." It works just the same as 10 Quick, only it's 5 questions with budding artists who have a demo reel but no job. Think of it as a place for those just starting out to highlight their work for everyone to see.
Now some may be saying, "But, Dave, if you're going to be trying to get a job in this same industry down the road, isn't it kind of silly to highlight the work of others that may be better than your own?"
My answer is simple: Seeing the work of others, whether it's better than mine or not, not only shows me where my bar needs to be, but also inspires me a great deal.
You should never intentionally hide your competition, but should instead embrace it and use it as a motivational tool. Afterall, the end product is what's important, and you never know what you might learn from the work of others.
The one thing I do ask is, if at all possible, please have your demo reel on YouTube.com so that I can post the embedded link here. I want people to be able to view it on this site as they read your answers. This is certainly not a make or break request, but it sure would be helpful if possible.
So if you have a reel and don't mind answering 5 fast questions, drop me a line at: davesj[at]gmail[dot]com
You never know who is watching!
Disclaimer: Please note that not all demo reels will be accepted. In the case of those that are accepted, the artist maintains all rights to the work contained in the reel and can remove it or edit it at any time.
A really nice little short from Paul Yan, called "Egg Hunt":
Overall it's a great piece and quite amazing for a student film. I would have liked to have seen the second character (with the hair) actually replace the main character, but that's simply my preference.
CGSociety recently posted an interview with Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson, the driving forces behind Dreamworks' new short "First Flight," which shows before "Over the Hedge."
It's a really interesting article/interview, and provides some good insight into what goes one when making a short. One of the most tell-tale portions of the article is this line, "“We were getting started when the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy started on “Two Towers”. Then “King Kong” was released on DVD, and we were still working on a seven-minute short. Peter Jackson is our hero,” Cameron laughed."
3Dave.com, known to many as 3Dave's Digital Art Goodness (the blog you happen to be reading), is always on the lookout for fresh and exciting new content in the world of 3D art. If you have any links, images, movies or scraps of paper that you think would make a good story on this blog, please send them my way. I promise to give you full credit for submitting the story, and a link to the origin of the content.
Please send all submissions to: davesj[at]gmail[dot]com
Specific things I'm always on the lookout for:
Pre-Release Movie Reviews - Did you get to see an advance screening of a 3D movie of some sort? Got an opinion on it? Send it my way!
Shorts - If you've found a fantastic short some where on "the net," send me the link and I'll post it here.
Artist Sites - Have a favorite 3D artist? Send me the link to his/her website, and not only will I link it, but I'll try my best to get them to participate in our "10 Quick" series of interviews!
Demo Reel - Have a demo reel that you think is the bees knees? Whether it's your reel or a reel you've found that you think is amazing, send it on!
Movie Trailers - If you see that a new movie trailer has been posted somewhere on the net for an upcoming 3D movie, I'd sure appreciate hearing about it.
Now those are just a few examples. However, even if you have an idea that isn't in one of those categories but still relates to 3D art, I'd like to hear about it. Send it my way, we'll do lunch, and maybe it will wind up right here for everyone to see!
I'm starting to get more and more excited to see this film, and this review adds even more fuel to that burning fire. In the review, Harry likens the film to "The Goonies," "Explorers," and "Stand By Me," all of which are films I happened to love as a kid and still do to this day (who doesn't own a copy of "The Goonies" on DVD?).
Please note before going to read the review that there is some language that some may find inappropriate. After all... it wouldn't be an Ain't It Cool review without 30 f-bombs.
Box Office Mojo has a really interesting set of stats being updated daily over at their website that show exactly how Cars is doing compared to Pixar's other films.
So don't cry for Pixar at all on this one, folks. The film, which is great by the way, is holding it's own just fine against their previous releases. While it's certainly off the pace set by "Finding Nemo," or "The Incredibles," it has still managed to haul in $156 million. Add to that the fact that the film reportedly cost around 70 million to make and it's easy to see that this one is going to rake in plenty of money.
If you ask me, this is as it should be: A quality film making a boatload of money.
EDIT: So according to Box Office Mojo, "Cars" had a production budget of $120 million, yet The Numbers website has it listed at $70 million.
If the production cost was in fact $120 million, that will obviously make a big difference in profit since, according to Box Office Mojo, "The Incredibles" cost $92 million and "Nemo" cost $94 million.
Either way, "Cars" is still considered a massive hit, but it's always interesting to see how the numbers shake out.
The trailer for Everyone's Hero went up early last week, and frankly I don't know what to think.
On the one hand, I kind of like the character designs and the facial animations. On the other, the premise doesn't seem up to par with most of the other major animation releases that are coming out, and the film has the "Whoopie factor," which will often keep me from seeing it.
If you can get past the horrible looping music on the Everyone's Hero website, you can take a look at the trailer for yourself.
My copy of Maya finally arrived this past Friday, so I celebrated by banging out this head using the Gnomon tutorial I referenced in a previous post. He's not finished, but at least he doesn't have that watermark across his face that you get with the Maya Personal Learning Edition.
Next I get to give him an ear, which is my least favorite part of modeling a head. I think it's just because each time I do one they wind up looking different, and I never know why...
I'm also on to phase 3 of what I understand is a 3 phase acceptance process at the Animation Mentor School of Animation. Redundant titles aside, I submitted my stuff, including an essay, and had it reviewed (phase 1). I then had to complete an online aptitude test for the California Board of Education (phase 2). Now the results of that and my original application will be reviewed and I should have an answer by the end of next week (phase 3).
I'm really excited and hope that it all works out. Working 40-60 hours a week and then doing night school an additional 20 hours a week is going to be tough, but I'm up to the challenge and since classes wouldn't start (should I be accepted) until September, I'd at least get to enjoy a bit of summer before I had to buckle down.
Once I get the head completed above, I'm not entirely sure if I'll take the time to texture it, or if I'll move on to the Monkey model instead. If you remember right, my last one was just a practice run while I waited for my full copy of Maya to show up.
Finally, I've been working with an art mentor at work, and I couldn't have asked for a better experience so far. I'm sure he'll guide me on what to work on next, so one way or another, you'll be seeing more from me.
Sony has a new trailer up for "Open Season" over on The Sony Site and it's quite long. There is some impressive animation in it, as well as some nice colors and such. I'm still holding off judgment on the movie in general, until I see it for myself, but I wanted to pass along the info on The Trailer at least.
Well this little blog is taking off, and I'm really excited to see it growing!
When I first started it, I envisioned it as being an all-encompassing 3D site that would cover all aspects of the 3D world. However with each new post, I realize that my focus seems to be narrowing a bit to what I like, which is much more of the cartoon-style 3D animation found in movies like those from Pixar, or shorts like "Gopher Broker" from Blur.
That's not to say that I don't think the more realistic stuff lacks artistic merit or anything, because that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm just simply the type of person that would much rather see a cow squash a gopher, than marvel at how realistic the cape animates in the new Superman movie.
So I'll probably stick to that for the theme of this blog, but that doesn't mean that I won't occasionally post the more realistic and/or serious stuff. An example of that would be Blur's amazing Rockfish movie:
So from time to time, expect things like that, but I'll probably stick to the more cartoon/comedy type stuff when possible.
Finally, I have a couple of requests:
1) At the bottom of each post, there is a "Comments" link, and if you have time, please post a comment or two. I think it's really important to a site like this that readers begin to build a dialogue, not only with each other, but with me about what stuff they do and don't like. I encourage it very much, and try to respond to comments whenever I can. So feel free to leave your mark. You don't have to register or anything like that, you just have to have something to say!
2) If you enjoy what is going on here, please pass the word on to others. In return, I'll do my best to keep fresh content up. We had our first 10 Quick go up yesterday which featured Mr. Andrew Burke, and I've got one more in the pipe and ready to post next week and at least three more artists who have committed so far. I'll also post link, reviews, and any other shorts, stills or info that I can.
I've included a couple of banners that you can feel free to throw around as you see fit:
This blog is really a great deal of fun to run, and I look forward to posting new content, so I hope you'll continue to read and tell your friends.
Though this one has been around for a while, it's worth showing again. "Bath Time" is a really charming little piece that every dog owner out there who has ever had to give their little rugrat a bath can relate to.
This movie is a great example of how you don't have to have the most fancy models in the world, or any dialogue at all, and still convey a story with a lot of emotion.
Welcome to the first of what will hopefully be an ongoing series of interviews with 3D artists throughout the industry. I hope that people learn from these Q&A sessions, and share them with others as well.
Andrew Burke is our first participant, and he provides some great insight into the world of TV, Movies and Games. With credits that include, "The Ant Bully," "Jimmy Neutron," and most recently, the new Half Life 2 episodic expansions, Andrew has acquired a great deal of experience.
So let's get this thing rolling!
1. Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you break into the business?
My name is Andrew Burke and I’m a character animator currently working at Valve Software in Seattle. I’ve been in this industry for almost 8 years now, with most of my experience being in film and television. I’ve recently made a switch into games after wrapping up on my latest project “The Ant Bully” at DNA.
Jurassic Park is to blame for my career choice. I was always a sucker for a good creature feature, I grew up on old Ray Harryhausen films like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and Clash of the Titans. It really wasn’t till Jurassic Park though, that I was floored by how realistic creature FX could be. I new after watching that movie I wanted to do CG animation for a living.
I had no idea how to break into this industry. Being in Halifax, Nova Scotia I was so tucked away from it all I had no clue as to what would be the appropriate path. After a strange detour as an on air production assistant in radio, I finally found a local school that had a digital media program. I graduated top of my class and ended up getting hired by a smaller local studio called Cage Digital which unfortunately has since closed it’s doors. I was paid next to nothing and loved every minute of it. Luckily with every project I’ve been able to grow artistically opening more and more doors leading me to where I am today.
2. Which of your work are you most proud of?
Funny story. I hate everything I do. I wouldn’t hire me. I leave work some nights depressed at the crap that I’ve spent the entire day keying. Fortunately, I’m my worse critic, people seem to like the work that I do and I end up staying employed. Out of all my work I think the shot that I am most proud of is the snippet in the teaser trailer for “Ant Bully”. I just had a lot of enjoyment doing it and I think I created a fun emotional arc within the piece. Give me a few more months though and I’ll probably hate it.
I also did a few short films back in high school I dig up every so often to embarrass myself by showing people. “Star Wieners” The entire Star Wars trilogy retold with Hot Dog puppets. I think it fits into a “so bad it’s good” category. If you’re a reader of Toy Fair I won first place in the design a Star Wars toy contest they held a few years back with the cast. God I’m a dork, it’s such a lame thing to be proud of.
3. What are the main tools and/or programs you use to create your work?
I use Maya now but I’m a firm believer that it’s the artist that’s important not the tools. This is such an evolving industry tools will change. Hell you could be a Maya guru lose your job and end up getting hired into a Lightwave shop. Focus on your skills and allow yourself to be adaptable to the ever changing technology.
4. What's a typical day in your life like?
The great part about working at Valve is there really isn’t a typical day. We run off of a flat management system so I don’t go to work get handed a list of stuff to do and report back when it’s done. Everyone is equal, there’s no directors, no manager’s, just a group of talented people making kick ass games. There’s a lot of involvement in the development process from everyone, which is fairly new and exciting to me coming from film. I love sitting in meetings being able to contribute to idea’s that may be used in the product we’re developing. It’s a nice change from the dictatorship of film and TV.
5. Who or what are some of your artistic influences?
I really can’t say that I’ve had a big influence from any one individual. There are animators whom I have an appreciation of there work, but I really can’t say that I’ve tried to emulate anyone in particular. I think I’ve mostly been influenced by films that I’ve seen. It’s that wow factor in some shots and performances that just blows my mind and sits in the back of my head for the rest of my life to draw inspiration from.
I have such an eclectic taste in film there’s a smorgasbord of inspiration to draw from. Jurassic Park, The Red Line, Mean Creek, Steamboy, Bambie, Night of the Living Dead, Nightmare Before Christmas, Goonies, The Birds, Twister, FLCL, Wonderboys, T2, Rushmore, Time Bandits, Best in Show, Rock n Rule, Thank you for Smoking, Josie and the Pussycats, Toy Story 2, Iron Giant, Stevie, ah the list just goes on and on. Comics are huge for me as well. I love the story’s of Walking Dead, Invincible, Powers and Y the Last Man. For comic book artists you really can’t beat Humberto Ramo’s sense of style. God he rocks, I miss his Spiderman. Ok I guess you caught me. I named one influential name.
6. Would you say that you're a 3D artist who dabbles in 2D from time to time, or a 2D artist who happens to work in 3D?
I’ve actually been pretty bad as of late and hung up the pencil for a bit. I used to draw a lot but lately I just haven’t had the time. Being married with dogs doesn’t leave one with a lot of downtime once you get home from the office. I do sit down and doodle every now and then still. Unfortunately I’m more of a 3D artist now who dabbles in 2D less then he would like.
7. What are 3 of the best things about your job, and what are 3 of the worst?
Don’t want to answer this. I really don’t want to bitch about my job online.
8. You recently made the switch from film to videogames. I've heard from people that the film business isn't all it's cracked up to be, as you can spend months animating a set of curtains. What was the reason for you personally to make the switch?
To tell you the truth I really didn’t want to make a switch into games until I talked to Valve. I really thought of it as a step back until I saw what this studio is doing and what they have planned for the future. It’s an exciting place to be involved with filled with so much talent. I’m working with animators from Disney, Weta, Sony, ILM. It really feels more like an all star film team then your typical game group. Funny story, I actually had an opportunity at Pixar which I turned away to come here. Crazy but true.
Games are evolving. There’s a lot of quality stuff being done. Look at the cinematics of Blizzard, Square or Capcom. Beautiful stuff. Or the performances in Jak and Dax. Incredibly fun. Working on a film can be great. Being a 3D animator on a CG feature is very rewarding. I do think people need to be open to exploring other opportunities though. There are a lot of great jobs to be had all over this industry. I think so many people have there mind set on the glory of feature film and sometimes that sort of leads to tunnel vision in there career choices. Don’t be afraid to explore other opportunities. You may find that hidden gem of a job. Personally I’d rather be doing character performance in game cinematics then animating a tentacle on Doc Oc. But hey, that’s just me.
9. How was your experience working in television land (Jimmy Neutron) vs film (Ant Bully)?
I consider TV animation to be the equivalent to boot camp. On Jimmy there were weeks we were banging off 1000 frames a week. You learn pretty quickly how to effectively use your time to deliver a believable performance. You just have to chose your battles. It’s a lot of fun though despite all the work. You usually get tons variety in your shots every week and more input into the performance choices.
Film felt more like being in catholic school. Everything is held under a microscope with a slap on the wrist with the ruler every time you do something wrong. You get a lot more time to do your shots but you focus on so much more detail it’s almost as challenging as having the ridicules frame count. One nice thing is you have way more time to plan, which I loved. I would spend a good day before tacking a shot filming myself in the acting room, sketching out poses and letting myself get into the scene. I couldn’t do that in TV and usually had to jump right into the work. I found the pre-planning really helped in delivering a more honest performance. It was defiantly fun working on the movie, and I was a lot happier with the shots I did on Ant Bully then Jimmy.
10. I notice you have an Xbox 360 avatar on your site. What game are you currently finding that you play the most?
Right now I’m sort of in limbo waiting for any good games to come out for the 360. I’m a fan of story driven titles like Resident Evil or Final fantasy and those are sort of lacking at the moment. I have Burnout, Fight Night Round 3, Tomb Raider, GRAW, Kameo, and Perfect Dark 0 on the plate. Looks like the next title that I may buy is Dead Rising.
Luckily I still have my PC, PS2, PSP, and DS to keep me gaming. Guitar Hero, World of Warcraft (4 Level 60’s, ya I’m a dork), New Super Mario, Kingdom Hearts, Brain Age and Daxter are all keeping my thumbs in shape.
Again, I want to extend a huge "THANK YOU!" to Mr. Burke for agreeing to answer hese questions. Please feel free to leave a comment and let him know what you thought, or swing on over to his website and check out some more of his amazing work!
I know this is a 2D post, and I did in fact post it over on my 2D Blog, but I think you can see why it applies to this site as well...
So this past week I stumbled upon a job posting at Pixar for a testing position that they currently have open. Having been in test for the past 6 years, I figured I'd throw my hat in the ring, and my mind begin to dance with the thoughts of working at Pixar. I'd work my way up from a tester and win over an animator or two who would take me under their wings, and in no time I'd be animating The Incredibles part 12!
Then I got the phone call from their HR department, and it went something like this:
If you can't tell from the drawing, here is a breakdown of each pose:
[Answering phone, thinking it's someone who has the wrong number] "Hello?" "Oh! Hello! Why yes, this is the Dave Johnson that applied for the test position!" "Oh... the position requires Linux experience?" "Well no... I don't have that." "I see... thank you too." "Sigh."
But don't cry for me just yet folks. I've got a pretty good thing going on here in the Emerald City, and with a little bit of luck and some help from the right people, I may wind up animating The Incredibles part 12 after all someday.
If you guys have some spare cash lying around and are looking to get trained in just any 3D program that's currently hot, I'd suggest you check out The Gnomon Workshop.
I recently finished up this DVD:
It was easy to follow, and I wound up with a decent looking head for a first effort. My only beef with the DVD is that at times the instructor tends to say, "Check this box, and turn this on," but doesn't tell you why you're checking the box or turning an item on or off. This doesn't happen often though, and overall the experience was worth the time and money spent.
This is one of the posters offered on their site that I thought was too cool not to post.
So if you want some training in 3D but aren't sure where to start, you should check out the Gnomon Site and see what you think. Between this and the free Maya Personal Learning Edition, you can get a real taste of 3D without spending nearly as much as you would on a college course.
This is a really nice short from a company calling itself Bonsai Entertainment. I really don't have much more on this one, as I couldn't find any kind of a link to the folks who made it, so if you've got any info, please let me know.
The pacing is a bit slow at times, but I really like what they did with the videogame theme part way through the short. The character designs are unique, and the animation is well done.
Again, if you've got any info on the people behind the short, please don't hesitate to let me know and I'll post it here.
For those of you who have never heard of it, you're not alone. I just found out about it this morning, and spent the first half of the day reading all about it. It's basically a school that teaches animation using Maya. You are given a video to watch each week, as well as an assignment. Your assignment is then critiqued at the end of the week by industry professionals (mentors) and you hand it in on Sunday.
The course is 18 months long, and requires 10-20 hours of work each week.
As far as the mentors go, 13 of them are currently employed at Pixar, and the are from similar companies like Blur, ILM, and Blue Sky.
The school does NOT teach modeling or rigging. You use their existing rigged models and animate them according to the assignments.
As I said, I've only just applied, so we'll see what comes of it, but it sounds like it could be quite exciting!
You know... I'm not sure what to make of The Ant Bully. On one hand, it looks like it uses almost the exact same model as "Ants" for the characters, and looks like (at least from the trailers) that it borrows heavily from "A Bugs Life." On the other hand, it has Tom Hanks attached to it as Co-Producer. Not that he means much in a Producer roll, but I generally like things that Hanks has something to do with.
Either way, here a trailer for the movie:
Head over to the film's Official Site if you'd like to see a couple more trailers, as well as a few other film-related goodies.
I went ahead and mirrored him and cleaned him up just a bit, and I extruded out some simple arms. He's good enough for now, since I can't really use him outside the Maya PLE. When I get the full version, I aim to model him again, only he'll have some clothes on so that you don't see his "junk." Sorry if anyone was offended by that. I just thought it was kind of cute.
This is a model I've been working since last night for a character from my old comic strip. His name is Monkey, but he's all man, ladies!
I'm happy with the way it turned out, but now I wish I had waited for the full version of Maya to show up before I modeled him, because of the lame watermark. I modeled him from a box, using the Gnomon Head Modeling DVD as a starting point on his head, and then just extruding edges on down through the rest of the body. I need to finish sculpting his chest, and add in some arms and hands, but I like his look so far, and it's been a great learning experience.
Here's a little sample of Monkey in action from the old strip:
Have you checked out the amazing work of Daniel Martinez Lara over at Pepeland yet? If not, you're really missing out.
Daniel blends really nice animation with an almost Muppet-like model quality and it works quite well. Check out his various animation samples, and his model work as well.
I could tweak on it for days, but since it was created with the Maya Personal Learning addition, the file can't be used anywhere else. So there isn't much of a reason to spend hours making sure it's just right. As an FYI, for those wondering, this model took me roughly 6-8 hours to complete.
It was fun, and I'm excited for my full version of Maya to arrive so that I can really start creating!
It's really awesome to see all of the small studios around the world that are kicking out such amazing work. Blur Studio is an example of just such a company. On the surface they seem to share the philosophy of many similar companies, which is to create game trailers, TV ads and web applications to pay the bills by day, and then to use that money to make amazing Academy Award nominated shorts by night.
However, one read of the company bio, and you'll find that the company also seems to have its priorities much more in order than many of its peer companies. Rather than throwing as many freelance artist at a job as they can until it's done, they seem to instead prefer to hire on full-time people who share a similar vision, and it shows in their work.
It's also really amazing to see the growth in terms of their output. It's somewhat obvious as to which of their works came early in the life of the company, and which came later, with the latest stuff rivaling that of Pixar's shorts.
Do yourself a big favor and swing on over to Blur's Website to see all of their work in action. I've posted the YouTube version of their most recent short, "Gopher Broke," below, but you really need to check out their entire body of work to appreciate just how much they've accomplished in 10 years.
Well, my Maya head is no longer deaf, as I fitted him with a shiny new pair of ears tonight! Have a look for yourself:
Tomorrow he gets some teeth for what will most certainly be a charming smile.
I did a real quick mirror of his head, just for the sake of the screenshot. In the final version, he won't have that odd line running down the center of his face.
In case you have yet to see it, here is the trailer for Sony's upcoming "Monster House":
While it looks better than "The Polar Express," the characters still have some of that really creepy, almost lifeless look about them. It seems to be that the movie straddles that fine line of looking almost real, yet cartoony, to almost looking too real and flat out creepy.
The movie seems like it's going to be a lot of fun though.
Visit the official site for high-res versions of the above trailer, as well as stills and other production items.
My order of Maya got delayed, and may not be here until next week, though I'm hoping for late this week. In the meantime, I continue to sculpt this gentleman's head to pass the time with the free Maya Personal Learning Addition (hence the lovely watermark):
The clip below is well worth a viewing. If you like it as much as I did, swing on over to the fantastic Gobelins Animation School gallery and check out some of the other amazing animations like this one for example.
While you're at the school's site, you can also view much higher-res versions of the "Burning Safari" movie too.
Not quite sure what to think of this one from Sony Pictures Animation. It seems like it might be decent, but throwing Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher in a movie together isn't necessarily a sure-fire recipe for success in my book. Those two on their own can come off as pretty abrasive at times, and I'm not sure that I'll be able to watch an entire film starring both of them together.
Anyhoo, here's the trailer... see what you think:
Feel free to leave a comment and let people know if you're interested in seeing this one or not.
While I'm waiting for the copy of Maya that I ordered to show up (should be here tomorrow), I went ahead and started dorking around with the free personal learning addition of Maya.
If you aren't familiar with what the personal learning addition is, and you have even a remote interest in learning 3D, I highly suggest you swing over to Autodesk's Homepage and check it out. It's basically a fully functional, yet 100% free, version of Maya with a few small limitations that keep you from profiting from anything you make with it (see watermark in image below). This allows you to learn the program and everything that makes it one of the two leading 3D programs today, while not paying a dime out of pocket until a huge Hollywood movie company hires you!
I've been using the Gnomon tutorials, along with the PLE to create a human head. He still looks like an alien, due to his missing ears and nose, but I'm through with the first disc of two in the tutorial and so far pretty happy with the results. He looks even better when smoothed out a bit, but I thought I'd show the rough version here.
Once I get the full version of Maya, I'll probably start over, but it's been a great learning experience to say the least.
For anyone familiar with my old comic strip, my mentor has actually asked that I model Monkey next, so look for a 3D version of him sometime down the road!
- 53%
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"10 Quick" is a feature here on 3Dave.com where we feature 10 Quick Questions, or "10 Quick," with artists currently working in the industry. If you're such an artist, or you know someone who might like to participate, have them get in touch with Dave!
10 Quick interviews will be posted every Thursday, as long as Dave can talk someone into answering his silly questions!
