So, I’ve been doing some freelance from time to time over the last year, and I checked out my resume page…I hadn’t updated that in a substantially long time. So I have updated it here(and on LinkedIn) with some more information on some of the projects I have been fortunate enough to work on over the past year.
In addition to that I’m not sure I ever made a noise about my new Demo Reels. The animation reel has a couple of new shots from 2011, and there’s also a rigging reel! oooooh. I never had one before, but now I do. Shows some cool shit from The Ottoman project. Hopefully I’ll have some more soon! This has been a hectic crazy ass week including getting my ass kicked by my allergies, but I managed to update these things just so we’re up to date.
Happ new year. My resolution is to be more creative, draw more, study animation more than just practice, and hopefully not lose my shit as I get ready to get married this August!
I also hope to do more posts here more regularly. Happy New Year! May 2012 be prosperous and fruitful for us all.
CTN Expo has come and gone once again. CTN is a show that I was looking forward to, ever since…well last year. CTN is like just a small condensed amount of talent/awesome-ness, that It’s almost spoiled that I’m stuck in a booth all day. But let me recap my experience.
The perk of being an exhibitor is I just got to waltz right in mwahaha! So I walked in, and did a quick walkthrough. There’s just so many talented artists there, some people I’ve heard of ans some I haven’t. My regret is that I don’t have enough money to buy everyones book and enough time to talk with them about their progress. But alas, I did not.
So I got in on friday and I was starting off the show on the mainstage. Things were rocky. They didn’t have R13 on the bitchin Cintique, so I had to run it off of my laptop, which kind of sucked balls, because I was stuck working in 1024×768…I don’t know if you’ve tried to do that anytime recently, but it’s a real pain in the ass. But I made the best of it, just worked on an animation, and got some people to at least stare at the screen for a bit.
After that it was back to the booth. One of my favorite things about CTN, is you don’t get all the stupid “So what is 4D?” questions we often get at other shows. Though you still get the people who see stereo anaglyph glasses and assume what’s on the screen(the MAXON demo reel) is stereo as well. Well, surely everyone knows what an anaglyph preview looks like…but no they don’t. However, to combat some of that, I get props to the CTN folks for recognizing the fact that they are actually Steampunk. Two people said something and that’s more than any other time at a show for me.
The cool thing is that we were right next to Disney and Sony and just down from ReelFX. Three studios I would love to work at someday. I actually got to talk to some guys from Disney. Bobby Pontillas gave me some good feedback on my animation reel, and Chris Gallagher and I got to talk a fair bit and I got some feedback there about my rigging reel, which is cool. Turns out he actually was a C4D user way back in the day.
Last year at CTN I got a book by Tony White and Glenn Vilppu. Both were back again this year. But again, I’m poor, so I can’t buy everything I want. I’d buy more stuff from the both of them. All I ended up buying was The Art of Character Design by David Coleman. It was only 10 bucks and I have been eyeing that DVD for some time. I skimmed it that night and it was looking pretty good.
If you can afford it next year, you should go because the amount of creativity there is mindblowing. I saw so many talented artists, it just pushes you to try and grow as well to keep up.
Tomorrow(Wednesday August 31st) at like…10AM or 11AM I think it’s 11AM, I’ll be on Cineversity Live with Rick to talk about some of the new features of Release 13. I’ll be there showing stuff off like the new Visual Selector tags, Muscles, CMotion, Character object, all kinds of stuff. Come check it out and ask questions.
I’ll be showing off cool shit like some of these videos:
Life has been busy. Last week, MAXON announced CINEMA 4D Release 13. It’s probably the best version of CINEMA I’ve ever been a part of, and I have been a part of it since R8. It’s also the most involved I’ve been in a beta really. There’s just a great bunch of tools out there, the Physical Render makes some really sexy renders, as does the new SSS shader. There’s a bunch of stuff, but since I don’t render, it doesn’t appeal to me. But MAXON made a shit ton of improvements to both Character rigging and Character Animation.
For character animation they’ve implemented a lot of little things, F-Curve updating in the viewport as you adjust it, local axis manipulation(ie selecting all the joints of a finger, and rotating to make it curl), as well as locking or even limiting axes while animating(so you can only rotate on Y, or only move and not rotate an object).
For rigging, they gave you the Character Object and Component tag, which I have been a part of since…gosh a while ago. The system is, in my opinion the most flexible system out there. Others may prove me wrong, someone mentioned Biped and CAT in Max and the CDK in XSI, the former 2 i believe are not as flexible but again, I might be wrong and if I am, please lemme know with some examples, but hold your thoughts til the end of this, please.
This system is those two objects i mentioned above. Well, one object, one tag. Basically you have a template file stored in your library. This can either be one that came with the app that you shouldn’t touch, or a custom one you create yourself. In this template file you use the Component tag to define and control everything.
The Character Object then reads these template files, and based on the Component tag setting allows you to create “components”. The Components represent elements of your rig, spine, legs, arms, hands, etc. The Component tag dictates when and where a component can be created. So you can go nuts and make it possible to add arms to your head, or make it more restrictive so it behaves more naturally, it’s really up to the template designer(me I prefer the latter the majority of the time).
Here you can see the Object Manager showing the Character Object as well as 2 components that have been built. The Attributes Manager below lists the template as well as components that can be created.
Once you’ve built your components, you then can then switch to Adjust mode, which will simplify your viewport to these circles that are handles. You can just click and drag to move the handles to match the appropriate parts of your mesh.
On the left is the rig when you switch to adjust mode. The right shows the rig adjusted to the character
Then, you switch to the Bind tab, drop the objects you want to be bound, and because the Component tag has it all set up, it knows which joints to weight, so if you are using something like an IK/FK Blend with 3 chains, it knows which chain to bind properly, because the template designer set it up. The Adjusting is really quite insane, that it knows how to handle such complicated setups. The rig in the pictures for instance uses IK/FK Blend for Arms, Spine, and Legs, as well as a Bendy/Rubber Hose type setup for the arms and Legs, SplineIK for the Spine, FK Arm orientation(ie to follow the collar or remain independent), Head Orientation(follow the Head or Neck), footroll and all sorts of stuff. To adjust before you’d have to disable tags, remove goals in some instances, find all the joints move them all, make sure they all match, put the goals back in, and turn expressions back on. For such a process to be simplifies to those simple circles is mind blowing, and when I switch out of Adjust mode, the rig is correct and ready to go!
This is all, like I said, handled by the Component tag, which is a complex beast. Making your own template takes time, it takes patience, and some know how. But it’s also fairly intuitive. Tabs, are pretty well named to know what things do(for the most part). You have control over where things get inserted(Insertion Tab) what elements from the template get included when a component is created(Include), what joints get bound(Bind), and setting up your Adjustment rules so the rig can be adjusted properly(Adjustments).
But like I said, I think the true power of this system is its flexibility. Yeah it can make just about any rig you want(It comes with bipeds, quadrupeds, bird rig, fish rig, etc.) but you can make your own rigs. I have a face rig I have been working on in my spare time for instance.
Big deal, so do other systems right? Yes, they do, and like those other systems, if the template is set up properly you can mix and match these templates to create a mythical creature of some kind. If you want a good example of this check out Chris Korns 2011 Siggraph video. His lobster creature is badass.
The nice thing is as I make changes to templates, they update, much like an Xref would(those are new too by the way). For example, The Ottoman project, I’ve been making a template for us to use on it. The idea being, we have 1 template I have to adjust, and all of our main characters would be updated when I make changes. In terms of rigging, I honestly don’t plan on NOT using this. I am now looking at making sure I am always trying to use this system, because I think it is amazing, and for people who have wanted to do Character animation but struggle learning Rigging, this helps tremendously. I lowers the learning curve to just needing to know how to do weight painting, which while a time consuming and sometimes difficult to get looking good, is not a tough thing to understand HOW to do it as opposed to like setting up proper forearm twists and up vectors and all that stuff that I’ve been learning over the last 4 years….you lucky bastards…you’re welcome.
But this system isn’t limited to just characters and or rigs which is why I think it’s incredibly powerful. Using the same objects(Component Tag and Character Object) I can create lots of custom presets. For instance I can easily set it up so I have buildings for components, so I can quickly make a city, or trees, or pipe systems. Check out this Pipeworks example video. Note the custom icons to make it look real professional
With the Component Tag having python it just opens possibilities. I could script an entire rig so it doesnt have anything in the template file except the code. I don’t even have to use multiple components, I could do a 1 click rig button that will make the whole rig both sides(did I mention it does all the mirroring for me?)
I just see so many possibilities with this system, not just as an autorigger which it does a damn fine job of, but also as a method for creating preset rigs and elements for other developers. For instance, Nick Campbell could port his HDR Light Kit over to use this system, I could make a library of Trees, that you can pick the ones you want. I just see this versatile thing being like an open canvas that I’ve already begun exploring ways to create more things like the pipeworks example.
This is my favorite feature of R13, and there’s A LOT for me to love in it. You’ll find out more in other posts I’m sure, but I just wanted to share about this, because I’ve been working on it for a couple of years now, and because something I created with this system comes with the new release, I’m like a proud papa. Expect some tutorials covering those two objects once R13 is out on Cineversity.
For an excellent list of some of the new smaller features that might go under the radar, I suggest checking out Sebastien Florand’s blog:
http://fluffy4d.com/?p=636
http://fluffy4d.com/?p=695
For some Video demos of the new tools check out Siggraph rewind videos below. The ones pertaining to what I’m talking about are Sebastien Florand, Chris Broeska, and Chris Korn. Click the Videos tab to the left of where it says Chat:
http://www.maxon3d.com/siggraph2011/
I have been feeling like I am in a bit of a creative funk lately. I do a lot of diving back and forth between technical things like rigging and scripting, and artistic things like drawing, painting, and animating. I was expressing these feelings to a coworker and we decided to start a daily sketch blog which is located here: http://sketchatronic.blogspot.com/
It’s pretty silly themes so far(Koala Herder, Narwhale Mentalist, etc.) but it’s been good for various reasons:
I haven’t been drawing steadily for over 3 years when I was in college
It’s allowing me to get more used to a WACOM which is still very greek to me
It’s bringing me back to my comic strip days of having to come up with an idea/gag every day which is awesome. Being able to come up with ideas quickly is good!
So I hope to do this for at the very least all of July. I have this thing with giving myself month-long challenges. If I could come up with some demerit system to penalize me for not succeeding, I’d do them more regularly, but alas I don’t :/. But this should be interesting, as we’re already only 5 days into the month and I’ve found myself trying to challenge myself with different styles of drawing/rendering. The key question is will this keep up or will it become a chore and I just want to try and get the damn thing out the door?
In other news, I finally sort of have a spot to paint again. After visiting my family for the 4th of July, I managed to grab all of my painting supplies. So now I have the possibility of being able to paint on our balcony(and hoping and praying I don’t make a mess or my fiance will kill me). I have not painted anything since probably last….year? Last June, July, or August I want to say. I painted a black and white portrait of my fiance and I. Before that, I stopped painting to focus on Animation Mentor. So now the thought of getting back into painting, coupled with sketching regularly, suddenly I feel the arts flowing through my veins MWAAHAHAHHAA.
Unfortunately, I do still have other duties that have to come first. Things that have been on hold for far too long. This first month at the new place has been interesting, but also hindering my freelance workflow, so I need to now get back into the swing of things and focusing on my tasks at hand.
..but when I have some free time I’m going to paint the SHIT out of something.
Sorry for the lack of updates as of late. Life has been busy. First off the ventura county rugby club went to national playoffs in chula vista. This means we were one of the top 16 teams in the nation. Unfortunately we lost a heartbreaker to not make it to the second round.
I have been keeping busy with various work on the side. None of which i can really talk about except for The Ottoman project. The others are a rigging job and some animation for an upcoming pc game. The game animations have been pretty interesting getting a slight look into the game industry. I’ve recently gotten a character to try and animate which is proving to be a bit of a challenge(a monkey character) but i am up for it.
Then on top of all of that, my fiance and i just moved to our own place. The move has been very long. Almost every last thing is gone from the old apartment but our new one isnt fully organized. We also got a cat named Maebel(but we call her maeby ala arrested development).
Besides that i am waiting for the internet to be hooked up(not for another week). The iphone has been keeping me sane allowing me to stay up to date on the projects i am working on. The nights are long and strenuous(up and down 33 steps 5-10 times a night while carrying a lot of heavy shit) but hopefully everything should calm down soon.
I was thinking back about myself, how I got to where I am and what got me into the creative world. It brought me back to the thing that started it all. Comic strips.
I know most animators have preferred, or at least spoke more about comic books than comic strips, but looking back comic strips absolutely shaped my life to the path I am currently on. The earliest memories I have of comic strips were what I can only assume was sometime around 1st or 2nd grade. It was a small private school, and we had some books on the shelf. I THINK(listen I have a horrendous memory so I could be wrong) I started off with peanuts(I mean really who didn’t?), but the first BOOK, the first comic strip BOOK I actually remember seeing, holding, reading, was Garfield. Which Garfield book? I could never tell you. But I remember when we had to sit and read, if I wasn’t playing this cool game with Pennies(I’ll show you sometime if you ask) I was reading Garfield books.
That school only went to 5th grade. My brother is 3 years older than I am so when he was in 5th grade I was in second and when it was time for him to get to 6th grade, it meant I was changing schools too. Now, I believe when I was in 2nd grade, my brother and I bought books from the book….store thing that came to schools. If memory serves, which it doesn’t, I bought one of the “I Spy” books, and my brother bought a book that has stayed in my head, and in our house, ever since.
The book was Gary Larson’s Cows of our Planet. I read through it after my brother and I enjoyed it, everything seemed correct you know? Nothing looked bad, or wrong or anything. I mean jeez I was in 2nd grade, so all I cared about was the fact that there was a Cow wearing glasses which I’m sure I thought was hilarious. My brother would explain some of the other jokes to me which were still funny.
Now, as I said, when my brother finished 5th grade I had to move to a different school.This was a pretty big moment in my life. I was a shy kid who sat in the back, didn’t know anyone. Most of my classmates had all gone from kindergarten to 3rd grade together. Sometime that year, I found the book that did indeed change my life…
Scientific Progress Goes ‘BOINK!’ This book was in the bookshelf in my classroom. It turns out my teacher, Mrs. Boston loved Calvin and Hobbes. Had them all. So in my spare time, I read that whole book and I fucking LOVED it. Looking back, how the hell does a 3rd grader understand some of the jokes in that strip? They were pretty advanced, but I thought it just looked awesome, and it was an awesome message. A Boy and his imagination.
That book store/fair that came every year, you bet your ass I was looking for any Calvin and Hobbes books I could find. I think the second book I read was It’s a Magical World, which ironically was the last book in the series. I didn’t know for a long ass time though.
Calvin and Hobbes shaped me so much I used to buy tracing paper all the time and trace the characters all the time. It lead to me beginning to wonder about how to make comic strips, and eventually, I did make comic strips. For 3 years or so I did my own comic strip online trying to be like Bill Watterson, just without the talent I guess. I wasn’t as good at drawing, but damnit my mom thinks I was funny.
There was just something there, and I’m sure fans of comic books have the same feeling, that seems so alive about comics. I mean, I am literally looking at a piece of paper, it is not moving, nothing on there is moving, but when I was reading the books, I was always THERE. I was always WATCHING these things happen. In other words, I was immersed in the environment, and I forgot that I was reading a comic. It’s something we try to do in animated films, fool the audience. Man was I fooled when I would read Calvin and Hobbes.
Anyway, I write this because thinking about that made me look online at the books, and merely SEEING the covers of each of the books just brings me back to that time. It reminds me of my childhood. It jogs memories into my brain which is normally a black hole for memories. I hope to never grow up. To never lose this feeling as I grow older, and I hope my kids someday learn to love Calvin and Hobbes like I do. I hope you guys reading this take a minute to think back to what got you excited as a kid, and I hope you go revisit it. I know a lot of times when you do that you realize how bad it was(usually going back to your old favorite movies as a kid is not as pleasant as an adult), but do it anyway. Find that thing that got you going on your path now, remember it. Embrace it. Love it and don’t ever forget it.
I'm Bret. I'm an Alumni at Animation Mentor, and I work at MAXON. I like to animate and to make art. I also like Rugby, riding bikes, drinking beer, and blackjack.
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