The Birds Have Flown : Industry Questions Sent Out

I sent out industry questionnaires last night to about 10 animators. The questions are below. The participating animators thus far are noted in the links section with an asterisk...Thanks guys for sharing your work and for helping me with my project.

There are 26 questions total. Many are fast and all are geared for a general overview of professional practices in the industry regarding animation character emotion.


Background:

* Where did you study animation? And how long have you been animating?

* Where do you currently work as an animator?

* What is your primary animation platform? And which software do you use most often?

* What props, toys or objects do you have around your work area to help with inspiration?

* Is there an animation that you have worked on that you are most proud of? Why?


Influence:

* Do you have a favorite animator that you continually draw inspiration from?

* In learning animation, do you have a favorite animation exercise that you consider invaluable? Please describe.

* What are your top 3 favorite animation DVD's? And what reasons do you have to make them the top of your list?

* Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny? If neither, who?


Industry Questions:

* Do you specialize in a particular type of animation (i.e. character, realistic, inanimate objects, animals, visual effects shots)?

* How much footage do you choose to work on at any one time (if you are able to choose), and how long do you give yourself to work on this footage?

* Animation is a complex process, what types of questions do you ask yourself in order to clarify what you are about to animate?

* After the above has been established, how do you go about animating?

* Which is your primary software, and is there a feature inherent in the software that you are using that you just love and that you cannot live without? What does it do?

* In what ways do you see the animation industry changing?

* What is the most difficult part of animation?

* What do you love most about what you do?


Animating Emotion:

* How important is emotion to your animations?

* Is there a technique or habit that you employ that helps ensure great emotion animation?

* Have you ever animated something, only to find that people felt something else other than what you had originally intended?

* Have you found a resource that has helped you in become better at animating character emotion?


Advice to Students:

* What is the biggest downfall students make when it comes to presenting their portfolio/demo reel?

* What is the biggest downfall students make when it comes to animating character emotion?

* What type of advice would you give students to improve their abilities in animating character emotion?

* The animation process is long and tedious, and its not unusual for the mind to wander. What do you do stay awake, sharp and focused on your work?

* In order to continue further study on the subject, would you recommend another animator who you know would be interested and available to answer these questions?

Interview with animators Bobby Beck, Shaun Kelly and Carlos Baena

A great interview conducted by Tim Fornica of some of the best animators in the industry. The interview took place at SIGGRAPH 2007. They talk about their website which helps promote and teaches character animation (Animationmentor.com) as well as their experiences in the industry.

If you are aspiring animator, its well worth your time. The interview can be watched by clicking the link below. Thanks Tim for posting!

http://one.revver.com/watch/369585/flv/affiliate/77944

Blue Guy "Generi Rig" : by Andrew Silke

If you'd like to give animating emotion a shot, there are numerous free character rigs on the Highend 3D site. A very nice rig is the one by Andrew Silke and it features a pretty cool control system that is both visual and intuititve. Thanks guys for posting this online.

You can check the site by clicking the link below.

http://www.andrewsilke.com/generi_rig/generi_rig.html

Pascual Animation Process

Below is a link to Ruel's animation process. He covers planning, stepping and cleanup in Maya.

Click here to view the tutorial.

John Lasseter on Using Tradional Animation Techniques for the Computer

Came across a website that has lots of great advice from John Lasseter of Pixar. In it, he gives great examples on the following:

• Keyframing Tips and Tricks
• The Thinking Character
• Weight and Size
• the Moving Hold
• Emotion (I got to read this one)
• Readability
• Story Tricks

Definitely worth reading if you are an animation student and have not read this yet.

http://www.siggraph.org/education/materials/HyperGraph/animation/character_animation/principles/lasseter_s94.htm

Citation:
Lasseter, John. Principles of Traditional Animation Applied to 3D Computer Animation. July 1987. Computer Graphics, pp. 35-44, 21:4. 03 June, 2007.<http://www.siggraph.org/education/materials/HyperGraph/animation/character_animation/principles/lasseter_s94.htm
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Computer Animation Portal Links

Below is a link to a portal site on ACM.com containing a lot citations and resources related to computer animation.

http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=37401.37407

The Illusion of Life by: Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston

Perhaps the most important book about the craft of animation from two of its originators. Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston were two of the Disney's 9 Old Men, animators who molded the early Disney empire through their animations, character designs and storytelling through the 1930's - 1960's. Below are notes from their text "The Illusion of Life" specifically related to the topic of emotion:

"Conveying a certain feeling is the essence of communicating in any art form. The response of the viewer is an emotional one, becaus art speaks to the heart. This gives animation an almost magical ability to reach inside any audience and communicates with all peoples everywhere, regardless of language barriers." (15)

"It is one of animation's greatest strengths and certainly one of the most important aspects of this art for the young animator to study and master." (16)


Citation:
Thomas, Frank and Ollie Johnston. "The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation". New York. Hyperion. 1981.

Sage Journal Site

http://online.sagepub.com/

Thanks Ron!

Animator Sites and Blogs

Mark Mayerson
Mark Mayerson, a professional animator presented his MFA thesis about "Acting and Animation" to an audience in New York. His presentation is presented on his blog here.
The blog was interesting, and because of the format, people are allowed to share anonymous thoughts and comments about his topic. From the replies, you get the feeling that these are other animation professionals working in the field. I learned a lot by reading the repies.

The blog discusses the role of the animator within a character. It mentions different processes to get ideas across, examples from animation history and how character animation is compared to traditional stage acting. In his blog, Mayerson discusses the notion of typecasting in animation. In traditional stage or film acting, this works well and he uses the Marlon Brando example to illustrate that it was Brando's brain that created the character of Vito Corleone.

http://mayersononanimation.blogspot.com/2006/11/collaborative-nature-of-animated.html


Tim Kallock
Is a talented animator whose strength is in is posing and emotions. His blog can be see here.
http://www.timkallok.blogspot.com/

The Physics of Cartoons

A project created by a group of animators inspired by the cartoon shorts of the 40's and 50's.

http://better-mouse-trap.com/physics/home.htm

"Acting for Animators" Site

"Acting for Animators" by Ed Hooks
http://www.actingforanimators.com/

Emotion & Character Acting

Character Acting:
Listed on this wikipage are different types of roles for actors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_acting

Emotion:
In its most general definition, is an intense mental state that arises autonomically in the nervous system rather than through conscious effort, and evokes either a positive or negative psychological response. An emotion is often differentiated from a feeling.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion

UMI Dissertaton Site

Go here to search a variety of dissertations and theses.

http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/

An example of an Abstract/Citation is below:

She, Ying Ying. Real time animation of walking and running using inverse kinematics.
Concordia University, Canada. 2006
http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/fullcit/MR14335

Computer animation technology is a rapidly developing topic in computer science. Realistic human motion, such as walking and running, is an important part of computer animation. However, the simulation of walking and running in articulated human figure is difficult, especially in real time simulation. Fortunately, recently, Inverse kinematics algorithms provide an approach to simulate human motion in articulated figures. In this thesis, I analyzed Jacobian based Inverse Kinematics algorithms that allow theses methods to be used as an efficient real-time inverse kinematics simulator. I describe the implementation of a human motion simulator, which mainly focuses on using inverse kinematics algorithm to simulate (wounded) walking and (wounded) running motion in an articulated body. With the assistance of inverse kinematics algorithms, the animator merely gives the desired location of certain chosen points on the body and relies on the algorithm to automatically compute a set of joint angles that satisfy the end-effectors constraints. This kinematics simulation approach can be used for real time animation in articulated figure without any motion capture data. In addition, the thesis shows that it is also possible to simulate human animation by using purely mathematical techniques without physical considerations.