Bouncing Ball Test 2 Final

Here is the final rendered version of the bouncing ball test I 've been working on. I'm really happy with the results considering I have no clue as to what I'm doing sometimes. Major thanks to Sidd for the great tips on how to set up the scene for rendering in Mental Ray! :)

Hope you guys like it!
Jose

Lock & Loaded!

The wait is over! I finally started Animation Mentor's Springboard program!  The first 3 weeks will be more like an orientation to get acquainted with the campus, new available tools and our mentors. The orientation video section consists of videos on how to get the most out of  your Animation Mentor experience along with technical tips and other helpful material that's going to help us along the way. I strongly suggest going through every video at least twice. It's a lot of information to absorb. Between reading the syllabus, looking at videos and navigating the new added campus content, I was a bit overwhelmed at first. Just take a deep breath, take your time, go through the videos and make notes of important info you might find helpful. I also printed out my Springboard Syllabus just to have something to reference back to if I'm not around the computer. Lots of fun projects and material would be covered in the following weeks. Couldn't be more excited! GOOD TIMES! :D

Let's do this!!!

It's Coming!

Sketching Marathon Day 5

Today I couldn't make it to the 50 poses. Kinda disappointed! But I did managed to sketch up the last 10 poses I owe everyone at the Draw Now! since the sketching marathon started. Kenny Roy also gave me a huge compliment when I posted my sketches earlier today on Facebook. It's not everyday you get compliments from an artist and animator of his caliber. That made my day and it was a great boost of confidence! A clear reminder that practice and persistence always pays up. :)

Keep on sketchin' guys! 

Jose

Sketching Marathon Day 4

I missed today's 40 pose mark at today's Draw Now! marathon by only a few. I did manage to get 36 skeches! I don't think I've ever done this many sketches in one hour and I didn't even think it was possible! At this point, I ended up dropping all details and decided to stick with "stick" figures (pun intended) HA! :)

Cheers!

Jose

Sketching Marathon Day 3

Here  are my 30 poses for today! You'll notice a big difference in the details and line quality of the sketches. Trying to keep them as simple as possible without losing the action and personality. Most of the poses were sketched between 15 to 30 secs each.  That was the only way I could make it to 30 poses in less than one hour. *Phew! I can't even imagine what day 5 would be like! Everyone at Just Draw! is doing an amazing job. Just after three days you can see everyone's progress.

Cheers!
Jose

Sketching Marathon Day 2

Yesterday was Day 2 for the sketching marathon at Draw Now! We were supposed to have 20 poses by the end of the day. It was tough! I only managed to get 13 poses down but I was very pleased with the outcome. I'll be posting Day 3 sketches later on today. :)

Cheers!
Jose

Bouncing Ball Test 2

Here's a second Bouncing Ball Test I did last night. As I keep doing these simple tests, the more I fall in love with animation. I love it! Can Animation Mentor start already? :)  I'm also starting to understand Maya's Graph Editor a bit more and my time with Maya has been a lot more enjoyable these last few days. I still got some minor tweaks to work on tonight but for the most part I'm really happy with it. I'll post a video update later tonight along with a snapshot of my translate Y curves for everyone to see.

Sketching Marathon Day 1

Today, along with other students from Animation Mentor, I started a week long sketching marathon. We started with 10 sketches (today) and we'll continue to do 10 more each day until we reach a 100 per day. YIKES!  Hopefully, by the time we all start Class 1 we're all feeling more comfortable with sketching and planning out our poses for the projects. The skill level in the group is so diverse that we can all learn from each other's feedback as we post our sketches everyday. It's really inspiring and humbling to be part of such a pool of talent, eager students and support! Feel free to join us at our Facebook group DrawNow! if you're interested in sketching with us. :)

15 Seconds Gestures

Here are some of my 15 seconds gestures that I've done during my commute to work for the last 3 days. Just trying to bring more spontaneity back into my sketches. I'm actually preferring this method of sketching over my previous one. I also ditched the pencil and switched to a pen, which it's forcing me to quickly analyze the pose before I start sketching. No eraser! YIKES! I'll be posting more soon! :)

1st Bouncing Ball In Maya

My 1st bouncing ball test in Maya! Yay! Great way to practice timing, spacing and weight!  I'm almost done (to the extent of my abilities and knowledge, of course). All I need to do is tweak the graph editor on the Y-axis and fix the timing as the ball drops to the ground. I'll post a revised version soon.

My Morning Doodles Project

Here are some of the sketches from my Morning Doodles project. I've been sketching every morning and evening during my train commute to work as I get ready to start my journey with Animation Mentor. I'll be posting some of the gestures from way back, very soon! Can't wait for all of you to see the progress!

   

Animation Mentor: Night At The Cartoon Museum

One of the many perks of living in San Francisco! Animation Mentor is hosting an event at The Cartoon Art Museum, Friday March 9th. Can't wait to finally meet the staff, students, alumni, mentors and industry professionals!

My 1st Walk-Cycle

Only a few weeks left until I start Animation Mentor's Springboard!  I've been working on my first basic walk cycle with the help of How To Cheat in Maya 2012. It's been a blast! Such a great book! I definitely recommend this book for anyone who is serious about learning animation in Maya. The graph editor can be really intimidating at first. But this book really does a great job explaining the reader how to understand splines and the different methods on how to approach them.

24 Hour Live Animation Marathon with Kenny Roy!

Kenny Roy has been doing a 24 hour animation marathon through Livestream. He's animating the first scene for his upcoming short, The Little Painter. Such a great experience to have a glimpse of his entire animation work flow. Make sure to visit The Little Painter for the short's Kickstarter page or KennyRoy.com for the Livestream.

2D Bouncing Ball Tests

Here are my two first attempts in creating a bouncing ball. I was having a hard time understanding about timing and spacing so I decided to do a quick test in Flipbook. I was surprised how this simple exercise could help me visualize the concept of timing and spacing. The animation it's not perfect by all means, but it did helped me a lot to understand  how some of the principles of animation work. I never thought creating a bouncing ball was going to be so much fun!

And Then There Were Two!

I finally had a chance to setup a dual screen workstation at home. Yes, I know! About time! Honestly, I can't believe I went for so long without one! After I started using Maya, I always thought there was too much going on for a single screen. Editing in the Maya's graph editor was a nightmare with just my iMac. Now I can dedicate and entire screen to the graph editor. Way too cool! :)

If you're still considering a second monitor for your animation work flow, I definitely recommend getting one.

Cheers!

Jose

Maya Springboard Spring 2012

I finally signed up for Animation Mentor's Maya Springboard Spring 2012 last night! I've been preparing for Animation Mentor for almost two years now and I can't believe it's around the corner! Only 26 days left! YIKES!

I've also started to meet some really cool people in my Summer class along with others in Classes 1 and 2. Such a fun group! I'm so impressed with everyone's positive energy and level of enthusiasm. Imagine a group of people from all over the world just sharing their love for animation in one single place. Such a great feeling! March 26th can't come soon enough!

It's going to be a FUN and CRAZY ride! :)

Cheers!