Character Animator - MIke York

Warriors Lair

2012-01-27T14:52:00.001-08:00

The game Im currently working on just got featured on IGN.com and Im really stoked to see it as one of the best games to come out in 2012!

http://games.ign.com/articles/121/1217267p1.html

Hedone Gameplay

2011-11-08T08:12:00.000-08:00

Biggest Surprise at E3

2011-06-15T23:55:00.000-07:00

Really excited to say the game I have been working on just WON an award for The Biggest Surprise in a FPS at E3. Super honored to receive this and proud of the crew here at Acony Games.

http://www.fpsguru.com/features/41/The-Best-of-E3-2011-Awards.html

Press Release

2011-06-01T03:13:00.001-07:00

Im excited to show our first press release for our game here at Acony called "Hedone"
Huge props to the whole team over here that has been working overtime to get this game ready for E3 and for the public.

*Make sure you use Google chrome or translate the page ;)

Here is the LINK

Featured Animator of the Day !

2011-02-27T05:08:00.000-08:00

I was informed today that I was one of the featured Animator's of the day on a website calledYouanimator.com - Its a really neat website that showcases Animation Work from all over the world.

ACONY Games

2011-02-13T23:09:00.000-08:00

I've been working at a new job lately at a company called Acony Games. We are working on a FPS MMO and it's Free-to-Play. I mean cmon free to play who doesn't like free right :)

I am really enjoying myself here. Acony is located in Germany and I can't wait to see the rest of Europe while I am here. I would like to stay for at least a year or longer if they extend my contract. I've been learning a ton of new things here like the Unreal Engine which is a complete pleasure to work with. Its a great engine I think and Im amazed at all the things it can do. The group of artists I work with are very passionate and I think that's the best thing a company can have when trying to make a game or a film for millions to enjoy. Everyone seems to get along very well I am looking forward to a year filled with key frame awesomeness and a mix of traveling. Ohh and did I mention they have yummy food here hahah all sorts of places to get home cooked meals and every single shop is different. Run by simple family mom and pops style places. Love IT !!

My 1st week in Germany

2010-11-28T01:58:00.001-08:00

I have arrived at my new job in Germany at Acony Games. The flight really threw off my body and I am still getting adjusted to the time change. But the team here has been great welcoming me to the project. They are a great group of people and I am really looking forward to creating a awesome game with them. It was funny the other day the whole crew was hovering over me watching me animate and I didn't even notice until my lead Pete said " Hey Mike...No Pressure" and I turned around and the whole team started laughing LOL. I had no clue they were there I was in the ZONE.

They put me up in a hotel walking distance from the studio and here is a little pic
Over the weekend I decided to take a trip down to Switzerland to check out the country and to see some new things while I am here. Its all apart of the adventure :) here are some pictures from my little trip.

Character Animation Reel 2010 - Mike York

2010-11-13T12:21:00.000-08:00

Game Credits

2010-11-13T12:15:00.000-08:00

Wahooooooooooo finally got my name officially in the credits of the new Goldeneye 007 game for the Nintendo Wii. So excited about this I can't even put it into words. Now go out and get the game so you can see my shots silly goose.

Get the game HERE

Animation Mentor Newsletter

2010-09-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

I was featured in this months Newsletter over at Animation Mentor! I am really honored and the video they made came out really awesome.

Egg Story Digital Arts School Animation Test

2010-09-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

I recently got done doing a 3 day animation test for a school out in Singapore. Im applying for a Animation Instructor position and the test is to animate a 10 sec dialog in maya in 3 days. Here is what I just turned in :) Wish me Luck!

Gameloft Animation Test

2010-09-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I did a Animation test for Gameloft out in Montreal and I was given 5 days to animate Rafael Nadal doing a tennis serve. Here is the result after 5 days work. I wasn't able to finish the ending to my liking and get that part polished but I think it's pretty good for 5 days work. I hope I get the job I really need it and Montreal would be a amazing place to live and work.

Trailer for the game I just got done working on

2010-08-26T17:23:00.000-07:00

I was a contract animator for Eurocom where I did the keyframe animation of motion capture data for the final cut scenes and some in game actions and sequences. hope everyone enjoys it this game is a classic.

im on the internet !! Animation Mentor

2010-05-07T10:49:00.001-07:00

Looks like im on some little video on the Animation Mentor website hahah kinda cool feel free to check it out and to see how the school works if you are thinking of becoming a little animation ninja.

Freelance Work

2010-05-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

Lately I just started working for Eurocom where I will be animating on the final cut scenes of the game and adding in the final polish and hand-animating anything that is missing (excluding facial.) Ill most likely only be working on this project up until July or so. But I am really excited to be working again and to be animating on a really exciting project.

Weekend Snowboard Trip to Remember

2010-04-11T16:52:00.000-07:00

Wahooooooo I had a blast this weekend up in Winterpark. Our first day we went riding and it was soooo nice out that I didn't even need to wear a jacket :) The snow was all slushy but we didnt mind lol Here are a few pics from the Trip.

Visit to Purdue !!

2010-03-31T10:39:00.000-07:00

This past week I was out in Indiana to give a lecture at Purdue University and I was really amazed to see how much the universe can bring you great things if you just let it hah. There was something special about this trip I met some amazing people that I will know for the rest of my life and feel like I was meant to go out there in some weird way....

Day 1
I showed up at the airport anxious as ever not knowing what to expect from the week. When I got to the airport I was shocked to see these cool little luggage chair's made from really old suitcases I had to snag a picture of it and sit down.

After I got picked up from the Airport me and Ray went down to a Italian and my plate was sooooo huge I ate left overs 2 times off of it. The portion sizes out there were huge like I was in Texas or something.

Day 2
Was a day of fun in the sun. My lecture wasn't until the the 3rd day I was out here so I decided to do some exploring around campus and there was a TON of stuff to skate and good thing I didn't get busted by the cops because this place was epic and I really enjoyed skating there. Here is a little something I skated while I was out there it was a huge sculpture in the middle of the campus hah.

__ ___

Day 3

This was the day I gave my lecture. I was overwhelmed by the response from the audience and how many emails I received shortly after speaking. I met some really amazing talented individuals that day and almost couldn't leave the building just chatting it up with everyone from all sorts of different artistic backgrounds and discussing what they want to do with their future. and what steps I think they should take. It was a honor that these people even wanted my opinion and I couldn't believe I was actually there to begin with it was a very humbeling experience.

Day 4

Went to the famous Burger and Root Beer place you can go to called the XXX

this place was awesome and you could tell it was the local favorite place to eat. There were only a few spots open to sit down at because of how crowded it was. ALso a HUGE dissapointment :( they are famous for their Rootbeer and they were all out HAHaha what kind of crap is that.. Umm you fail XXX maybe you should turn into a gentlemens club instead lol

Day 5 - 6

Both of these days were amazing and I shared it with a Amazing person and I think she knows who she is :) Life gives you moments Ive realized lately that you can't ignore and even if you may never experience that moment or feeling again you just have to be thankful for the moments you did have and how special they felt. I love life and its days like these that make me ALIVE!!!

Day 7

At this time I was running on 2 days with about 1 hour of sleep hahahah I felt like a zombie going out to the airport LOL everyone was looking at me like OMG that guy looks like he's gonna die from sleep deprevation or he's still drunk from the night before or something hahah.

I was very spoiled when I was out there and stayed in my old bosses house in their spare bedroom and If they ever read this blog someday I want them to know I appreciated every single thing they did for me. His wife Shandora was sooo kind to me and was a great hostess and I shall send them a thank you card for everything they did. They let me use their car and I even brought it back late :( I felt soooo bad but soooo appreciative of everything. Thank you Purdue and Ray for bringing me out there on a full paid extravaganza and Im really looking forward to going back again someday.

Animation Lecture coming up!!

2010-03-18T14:49:00.001-07:00

In the next few days I will be flying out to Indiana from the 22nd to the 29th to give a Animation Lecture at Purdue University. I was completely honored to be contacted by Purdue to come out to their school. I can't even describe the feeling of accomplishment and it also makes me realize how much harder I want to push myself and do even better. I will talking about my journey through animation since I graduated college a few years back and the obstacles I jumped over with my skateboard along the way hahah :)

I have no idea what to expect when I arrive there or how many people I will be speaking in front of. But we'll see how it goes.... I am very comfortable with presenting to large groups and crowds but I am definately overwhelmed and humbled to go out there and Wow what can I say it's Purdue !! Who would have thought I would be giving a lecture at Purdue someday LOL it just goes to show you most my teachers in middle school and in high school couldnt have been more wrong about me :)

GDC 2010

2010-03-13T07:35:00.000-08:00

This week I had the chance to go out to the Game Developers Conference and every moment of this weekend felt like it was meant to be and I was completely in the NOW...I don't think I could have had a better time out there. Not only was I in my favorite city but I learned a TON of stuff this year about how to start up my own video game company and met some really great contacts to make it happen. This week I felt like I was surrounded by people that I was supposed to be around.....really hard to explain....everything just felt.......RIGHT

There is no better feeling than this. I live for it and it feels great to be back in the now completely. Times I have felt centered and connected to the flow of the universe but now more than ever its frickin Oozing out of my ears HAHhahaha Feels like I am on cloud nine and I never want to get off or break out of this groove. I met with some amazing people from Ubisoft and even got invited to their private party : ) I was totally getting tugged both ways to go to Toronto and Montreal by all of the staff and crew there hahah I would love to work for Ubisoft and hope to hear back from them . It would be a DREAM call to get. I am super excited right now and really look forward to what might be coming up next for me in the future.

Behind the scenes Uncharted 2

2010-02-28T18:16:00.000-08:00

I found a cool video of a behind the scenes footage of a game I had the opportunity to work on. I cleaned up motion capture data for the main girl character Chloe and a also cleaned up animation of some of the background characters and guards.

Enjoy :)

http://www.youtube.com/user/Vicon100#p/f/4/Bnru0qLBHRg

Miru Kim's Artwork and Talk on TED

2010-02-23T19:25:00.000-08:00

I watched a very inspirational video tonight on TED, This woman by the name of Miru Kim investigates left-behind industrial spaces, infiltrates them with her camera, and then photographs herself in the space, nude. The presence of her small body brings these massive, damp and dirty, unknown spaces into a new focus. Check out the video and here is a link to her artwork as well.

http://www.mirukim.com/

Great New Book !!

2010-02-22T20:09:00.000-08:00

Ive been doing some reading lately and I came across a really awesome book I wanted to mention..Its called A Village Life by: Louise Gluck. I have heard its even a Pulitzer Prize Winner and I can definitely see why. Page after page of great poetry is just oozing out of this book and with every single line I read it gave me some great ideas for animated shorts and Overall was a really good read. If you get a little free time on your hands pick this book up. Its very short and very cheap I think I payed $20 for mine lol

BIOSHOCK 2

2010-02-12T20:30:00.000-08:00

Ive spent the last 3 days in the lost underwater city of Rapture fighting off evil splicers and saving little sisters hahahah. If you haven't played Bioshock 2 yet I suggest you get your tooshie over to a video game store as soon as you can and pick yourself up a copy.

Bioshock 2 was by far the best game I have played this year. The story was awesome and super creative. I was glued to my seat and felt creeped out at almost every corner. It was VERY refreshing to play a game that wasn't just about killing innocent people... Lately almost every single game in stores is a first person shooter and the story plots have failed to impress me to say the least. I love to play games for the adventure factor and the ability to play it the way YOU want to.

There is something special about this game..... It feels very elemental and as the player you feel in control of all of these things. Choosing to set fire to an enemy or send him flying into the air using a wind storm and tornado you manifest on the ground using "Plasmids" hahah... It feels like I am talking in a different language now after playing that game lol. Overall playing this game was a great experience and I got almost all of the achievements. I really enjoyed searching every crevice of this game and I cant wait to play their next one. I would love to have the opportunity to hopefully work on a creative project like Bioshock. I give huge props to everyone at EA all of the talented artists that worked on this. Thank you for a awesome gaming experience that I will never forget.

Steve Cady's Interview on Avatar

2010-02-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

My Class 2 Animation Mentor got a Interview lately and he discusses his work on Avatar as a Animator. Check it out there's some great stuff in there :)

New Animation in the mix

2010-02-06T10:42:00.001-08:00

So I just started planning out my new animation. Here is the audio choices I rounded up and I ended up choosing line #3

When choosing a new piece of audio for animation I am usually VERY picky esp if I can be. If it is for a personal project, then you have all the freedom in the world to choose... This can sometimes be a problem...TOO many choices and you find yourself planning and searching for that perfect piece of audio for months when you could have animated it already HAHAH

The reason for posting this is to show my process and work flow when it comes to making a new animation and choosing what I do. In this case I wanted to create a new dialog piece for my Demo Reel I wanted to find something that was around 8-10 seconds long...something short and sweet. When I am about to start a new animation I usually take a look at where I stand in my skill level and what I need to work on to become a better animator. Sometimes it's as simple as looking at my demo reel and finding my weak points.

I feel its good to take a step back from your work time to time and look at it as If you are looking at someone elses Demo Reel. Usually when I do this I will find all sorts of stuff wrong with my animations that need to be fixed.

So at this point in my career I feel I have a pretty good grasp on body mechanics but I feel I am lacking in my acting skills. I usually watch a ton of movies and browse online places like www.hulu.com where there are 100's of movies and tv shows you can watch and stream from you comp. I use SnapZpro for snagging all of my audio and reference online.

There were probably 10 pieces of audio that I eventually narrowed down to 4 choices and this is where I like to get a feel for what the MASSes think.... I post my audio ideas online in forums and chat rooms anywhere I can to get feedback. This is one of the most important stages in the process I feel. It's when you find out what works and what doesnt and the overall opinion on whats the best audio to choose.

Not to say that you shouldn't be confident and just choosing everything on your own and going with it. Sometimes great ideas and art comes from the spur of the moment of gut instincts and happy mistakes.

Sketches while waiting at the Airport

2010-01-28T11:49:00.001-08:00

Animation Mentor Graduation 2010 !!

2010-01-21T07:16:00.000-08:00

Wow words can't even express how much of an amazing time I had last weekend in San Francisco. I recently graduated from the school I have been wanting to go to ever since it opened. I met some wonderful individuals that I feel will remain great friends until the end of my time. I was shocked and humbled to find out that I even WON a Student Choice award !!

It was for best personality in the live Q&A's hahaah kinda a funny award but I'll take it :) I loved the Q&A's they were probably one of my favorite parts of the Animation Mentor program. Being able to ask a professional animator anything you want blew my mind and it was something I always wanted and didn't have when I was going to college. Interacting with the other students and getting feedback is how I think I grew so much as an artist and person over my time at AM.

It was also frickin awesome to meet Justin Barrett TD Director over at ReelFX. The guy you see in the picture with me. LOL hillarious guy we were making a few funny voices and had some really great conversations about the Bizz and life in general. I had no clue me and him had so much in common :) hope I get the honor to work with him someday soon. How sweeet would that be.... Ohhh man I mean Justin created the Tween Machine one of my fav and most used animation tools inside maya. I use it everyday and I dont know how much time that guy saved me over the years with his kick ass tool haha

But back to the AM Graduation..... I definately met all kinds of people there. Carlos Baena, Bobby Beck, Sean Kelly, Ohh don't let me forget I got to meet almost all of my past mentors. Michelle Meeker and Nicole Herr and also got to talk with Charles Alleneck. KInd cool me and him grew up in Colorado and then moved out to SF to pursue animation and our passions. Its great to share so much with all of these talented individuals I feel completely honored to be apart of such a great community and family of Animator's. WERE GONNA TAKE OVER THE WORLD !!!! hahah

So now It's time to send out all of these demo reels and see where the universe wants to take me next. Wish Me Luck i think I might need it this time

AM tour and Job Fair

2010-01-16T09:28:00.000-08:00

Wow it was great to take a tour of the Animation Mentor building and offices its like a studio there and it was great to meet everyone I haven't seen in person before. We played Nintendo Wii and ping pong and I asked some questions on camera for Bobby Beck and signed the epic Alumni wall of awesomeness.

The Shag Lounge

2009-11-16T16:51:00.000-08:00

Been in Colorado lately visiting family and friends and went out last night to a awesome place called The Shag Lounge. The crowd there was perfect for my style and I had a really good time. It made me realize and see how important it is for people to be around a crowd they all get along with or share common goals and hobbies. Everyone was skaters and snowboarders and people who enjoy art. I cant wait to go back and maybe bring the whole crew down there.

Mocap Clean Up Reel 2009

2009-10-05T16:21:00.001-07:00

If you want to see the full size quicktime version please click (HERE)

Toronto Vacation

2009-09-27T13:38:00.001-07:00

I recently went on a lil vacation to Toronto Canada and I had a amazing time. The city is really awesome and there is soooo many walks of life walking around and it feels like San Fran in a way which I really liked. There was some sick graffiti on every single street corner and alley and I had to stop and check out almost every single one hahahaha

(Click image below to see graffiti slideshow of all the pics I took)

I also went to the amusement park and the Zoo as well as the CN tower also this huge castle called the Castle Loma the building was beautiful and we found all sorts of lil hidden spots throughout the house and it was kinda crazy. The garden in the back of the castle was pretty nice as well. Overall it was a great experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat I guess its time to get back in the groove now and start work tomorrow on our new Project shhhh .... I cant tell.....he heeeeee

Ohh Canada here I come

2009-09-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

OK its official I head out tomorrow morning to take a much needed vacation and a break away from the computer. Time to have some fun and enjoy myself

2 Person Dialogue

2009-09-06T22:46:00.000-07:00

Been working on cleaning up and polishing my Class 4 assignment

If you see anything that jumps out at you that I should fix please tell me I wanna try and make this a strong piece in my reel

Animatic for Animated Short

2009-09-02T08:28:00.001-07:00

Well its been a little while since my last post and I thought I would show what I am working one behind the curtains hehe This is my latest animatic for my short film called No Skateboarding

Transformers 2 LIVE Q&A

2009-07-21T07:26:00.000-07:00

Ohhh wow I had an awesome time in the Transformers 2 Q&A last night it was funny as hell Shawn Kelly and Rick O Conner and this guy Scott all animator's from the new movie from ILM. We got to ask all sorts of really great questions and they even told us some industry secrets about the movie shhhhhh.. I cant tell anyone mouth is zipped closed what happens in the Q&A stays in the Q&A hehe dont you wish you were there to meet these guys hahahah

AM BBQ

2009-07-14T08:15:00.001-07:00

Wow this years Animation Mentor BBQ was soooo awesome I got to meet alot of people that I have been wanting to meet in person for a long time now I had an AMAZING weekend and it the BBQ was a nice relaxing day with fun and games as well and of course GREAT food hahaha Ohh and yummy cake. Here are a few photos that I seen lurking around with me in them. I got to meet Bobby Beck and saw him at the Death Cab for Cutie concert I went to it was soooooo good. Until next time folks hehe

4th of JULY on Pier 39 was AMazinG!!!

2009-07-05T00:53:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a AMazing night out for the 4th of July in San Francisco at Pier 39 it was alot of fun and there were sooooooo many people I was in awhh of how many their really were LOL this city is frickin awesome and I cant wait to live here for a while this is gonna be a blast I can tell and this is just a tiny little taste of what this city has to offer :)

The Saboteur

2009-06-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

This is a game I had the pleasure to work on while I was a Animator at Vicon House of Moves and it was for Pandemic Studios. I cleaned up mo-cap data on several shots for the game and Im kinda bummed all of the crew isnt getting credited by name in the credits I guess only the studio VICON gets creditied as a whole.... but ohh well I was soo glad I worked on this game it was a awesome experience and the guys over at Pandemic deserve HUGE props. Espicially Fabio, Marcelino Newquist, Ben Leiu, and soo many more.

All of my animations are in game but please enjoy the trailer that just came out.

Night out on the town at PIER 23

2009-06-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

Went out last night to a place called Pier 23 to see what all the hype was about hahah and I liked it alot they had some really chill reggae music they played throughout the night and the view was VERY NIaaaacce! lookout on the ocean and the SF bay area. Looks like a good place to go in the future :)

Class 4 is Over :(

2009-06-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

Wow time seems to be flying by lately hahah Class 4 has just ended and I cant believe how hard acting really is I am amazed at all of the lil details that need to go into animations to make the feel alive and fleshy and so the audience believes what the character is feeling or portraying. I have learned soooo much over the last 11 weeks and I am super excited to now start my 1st animated short... So many ideas so little of time to choose LOL

Nicole is really a great mentor and friend now and If your hiring she's looking for work and her DEMo Reel is frickin awesome !! She's worked on some amazing projects for Sony and I cant wait to hopefully work by her side some day down the road :)

Living in San Francisco NOW!!

2009-06-11T13:34:00.000-07:00

I have now settled into my new place to stay in San Fran well its actually not exactly in SF its in a lil town called Alameda,CA . But I like it a lot so far my 2 room mates seem to be VERY chill and yesterday we went and had sushi and sake.. Wow maybe a lil 2 much sake!! hahahah

GO see UP

2009-06-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

Wow holy smokes!!!! Pixar makes the most beautiful entertaining movies. I loved every single second of this film and they blew my expectations away. Every scene was animated very well and I really like how many emotions they wre able to bring out of me. Some of the parts in the film were VERY sad and really hit you hard. Props to all of the crew over at Pixar going to see this film just makes me realize again how much I wanna workd for a wonderful place that makes these great stories.

Giving back @ The Art Institute of Colorado

2009-06-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

So today I am honored to go stop by my old college and be able to give back to the place that taught me soo much about 3d and getting me ready for this career I love sooo much. Im stopping by two of my old teacher's classrooms Tom Flanagan who was kinda like my mentor while I was in school and I took everything he ever said to me to heart and It made me push myself farther than I ever thought I could be pushed. I owe him a lunch :) Im also stopping by Wes's class man..... I havent seen him in sooo long he was my teacher for one of my 1st animation classes at AIC. Its crazy how fast time flys by and how much has changed and happed to me over the last few years.

New FAce POse

2009-05-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

Monster's VS Aliens Q&A

2009-05-16T08:59:00.001-07:00

So thank god my awesome classmate Karen Trieu reminded me of the Q&A the other night it was frickin awesome. It was great to meet Morgan Kelly and ask him some questions. I got to ask 6 questions and I got some really good responses. One of the things I was asking was if location has anything to do with the hiring process over at Dreamworks. He pretty much summed it up as NO not at all. Bottom line is if you have a good demo reel no matter where you are in the country odds are the studio will do whatever it takes to get you down. What made me ask this was Pixar is now opening up a new studio in Vancouver, Canada.

I was wondering why that was. But apparently it's to go soak up the talent pool in Canada. So in conclusion its not where you live and it makes no difference...Sure it helps :) but dont go thinking just cause you live next door to the studio and bug them all the time that its going to get you in th door. The best way in is a good demo reel PERIOD.

Blocking +

2009-05-09T21:51:00.001-07:00

Ok here is my blocking plus pass for my latest assignment for AM. Nicole Herr my mentor had some really good feedback for me last week and it really changed this shot for the better. Never think you know what your doing when it comes to this stuff you can always learn so much by implementing someones critique and feedback into your work

Off to San Francisco

2009-05-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

WOOT WOOT!! I got an awesome phone call the other day from Shaba Games http://www.shaba.com/ and it looks like Im gonna head off to work in San Fran :) I am SUPER excited to go out there and join the crew in the bay area. From what I know so far I will be hired on as a Animation Intern but Im not gonna do whatever I can in my power to land a full time gig once my contract is up.

I will also get the chance to meet up with a bunch of AM classmates once I get up there. Hellz yeah !! Things have been slow the last few months so it feels great to get back in the groove of things and start aniamting full time again. Wish me LUCK !

2 Person Dialog Layout

2009-05-03T13:32:00.000-07:00

So it's time to start a NEW animation WAAHhhhooooooo I am soooo excited I can't even put it into words. I am really looking forward to this next animation. I shot some reference footage and put together my first rough layout pass. Any suggestions you have on changing the camera angles or cuts let me know. Thats the goal of this week to layout the camera angles and cuts to the shot.

So here is what I have so far

1 Person Dialog Final

2009-04-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

More Expressions

2009-04-17T15:42:00.000-07:00

Facial Expression

2009-04-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

This week at Animation Mentor our assignment was to find facial expressions from photos we have taken and some we find off the internet and magazines. The object of the assignment is to try and match the facial expression as close as possible to your found image. I had a lot of fun doing this assignment we only had to create 2 of these but I think I made like 10 today hahahaha

The images below are from pictures of my friends back home im gonna show them these lol I bet they will get a kick out of this. The 1st image is Ashley and the 2nd one is Aaron.

This is from one of our snowboard trips. I told him turn around real quick and give me a silly face lol this was GREAT :)

Special Lecture - Kenn McDonald, Animation Supervisor on WATCHMEN

2009-03-20T17:13:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, I got to ask the Animation Supervisor from WATCHMEN some questions, How frickin cool is that.. I also got to learn about what went into animating the WATCHMEN’S Doctor Manhattan..

It was a short lecture and Q&A but it was well worth every minute. There were sooo many animation mentor students there it was crazy. The site bogged down a tad but not on my side so that was cool. He was saying there were over 300 animation controls on the Doc's face and they only had a crew of like 7 animators for the entire project. I was really shocked to hear that. Overall another great Q&A and it's so incredible to get the chance to talk with all of these people I look up to and strive to become. I am so glad I entered Animation Mentor Its a wonderful learning experience.

Mike Belzer Q&A on BOLT

2009-02-21T22:25:00.000-08:00

Hahaha Great Q&A last night with Mike Belzer he is a great guy and it was a complete honor to meet him even if it was over the webcam. I got to ask some really great questions that were burning in my brain lately and also the questions I forgot to ask other students nailed them and my pen was flying a mile a minute trying to jot down as much as I could. If your into animation and you don't know who Mike Belzer is you have to check out his work ... Great stuff :)

Ohh yeah I grabbed a lil screen cap of him at one of his most hillarious moments lol

Week 4 Polishing

2009-02-01T22:32:00.000-08:00

Wow after 4 weeks of working on this assignment I am really amazed to see how far it has come. It seems like just a few days ago it was only a idea :) Its great to see my idea come to life and to think that I was the one who created all of this.......man...... I love this work I love animating :)

So here is my Final Version I am turning in today. I still see a few things I need to fix now that I watch it again but ehh I am never satisfied with my work I think it could always be a liiiittle better lol

Publish Post

Class 3 - Pantomime Assignment

2009-01-14T19:09:00.001-08:00

Here is the rough 1st blocking pass of my pantomime assignment for class 3 at Animation Mentor. feel free to lay into it and give me some critique.

Mentor for Class 3

2009-01-13T09:36:00.000-08:00

So I just started Class 3 at ANimation Mentor last week and my new mentor is Jay Jackson

Here is a little screengrab of me and him chattin it up :)

As a CG animator at Sony Imageworks, he worked on Open Season, Monster House and The Aviator. Recently, he returned to hand-drawn animation on The Simpsons Movie. Then he helped animate The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios. He's currently animating the prologue for a live-action film. Jay Jackson has worked as an animator on 25 films since he moved from Kansas City to Los Angeles in 1979. After training under Eric Larsen, one of Disney’s Nine Old Men, he started on The Fox and The Hound. In his 15 years at Disney, his favorite assignments were animating scenes of Sebastian the crab and the dance sequence “Under da Sea” in The Little Mermaid, and supervising the Ape Family in Tarzan. At Turner Features, he was a co-lead animator on Danny the Cat in Cats Don’t Dance.

I am really excited to learn from someone so knowledgeable and well known in the industry. I am really looking forward to finally getting into the acting shots with dialog :)

Projects at work

2008-12-14T21:06:00.000-08:00

So I just started finding some material that I can probably show that relates to what I am working on over at my new job :-) I have been doing Motion Capture Clean up for the below projects...

Chadam

Drakes Uncharted 2

New Imac

2008-12-05T08:13:00.000-08:00

I am VERY excited that I finally got the computer I have been wanting for sooo long now :) I got the 24inch monitor set up with 4gigs of memory holy shit... did I just say 4gigs Wahooooo. I am looking forward to seeing my animations play full speed in the viewport for once without playblasting lol. My old computer took a dump on me last week and It was the third time since I had been out here in Cali. Also it was kinda out dated so.. Out with the old in with the new. Ohh and by the way I watched Wall E on it last night and I must say this screen is visually stunning !!

Bolt Screening in LA

2008-11-23T10:16:00.000-08:00

WOW!! What a Amazing movie and story I was entertained all the way until the last credit rolled. Bolt was a awesome movie and when it comes out it is a must see for everyone and the family. I was honored to be able to meet the Director and Co-Director of the film both Chris Williams and Byron Howard. Both of these guys were very humble and great to meet. I got to ask them some questions that have been brewing in my mind :) Also got some pics with them and some stuff signed Helllz YEah !!

New JOB!!! @ Vicon

2008-11-16T00:13:00.000-08:00

I am really excited to share some GREAT news.. Im finally working somewhere that I enjoy and its a awesome studio enviornment. All the people there are cool as hell and I can see myself staying here for a while. We are currently working on ALL sorts of exciting projects. Hush hush can't say much now but to sum it up I am cleaning up mo-cap data and animating for a unreleased PS3 Title.

Check out their showreel. Hellllz YEAH !!!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu4aAu0aElk&hl=en&fs=1]

Wompkee's Trailer

2008-11-10T09:40:00.001-08:00

Well it looks like the animated film I got the opportunity to work on has finally released it's 1st trailer to the public. Also looks like it's going to play on MARVISTA Entertainment

View Trailer in Low Bandwidth (3.71 MB)

Bobby Beck Interview

2008-11-09T09:36:00.000-08:00

If you get some time you might want to listen to one of my favorite animator's latest interview over at Pixel Heads Network. His name is Bobby Beck he is one of my mentor's at Animation Mentor as well as one of the co founders of the school. He also works at Pixar :)

http://www.pixelheadsnetwork.com/2008/10/21/bobby-beck-animationmentorcom-ceo-all-about-animation/

Bobby Beck, Animation Mentor Founder; Interview Questions:

1. Tell us about your gig at Pixar.
2. How much creative freedom do animators get?
3. Do you prefer full creative freedom or director guidelines?
4. Tell us about Animation Mentor.
5. How important is it for animators to learn quickly?
6. What applications should an animator be familiar with?
7. Is creativity or application knowledge more important?
8. How important is acting to animators?
9. How important is it to be a life observer?
10. How competitive is it for animators?
11. What one quality does an animator need to stand out from the crowd?
12. How hard is it to impress experienced animators today if you are starting out?
13. What are your thoughts on animation for the web?

Week 6 (Body Mechanics)

2008-11-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

WOw I have spent a TON of time polishing this shot over the last 2 days and It really pays off :)

Great to see Friends Succed

2008-11-07T19:24:00.000-08:00

So I've been thinking lately how proud I am of my 2 room mates Tyler Robinson & Caleb Turner both are classmates from my college and grad school from The Art Institute of Colorado. Recently they have been getting their feet wet and getting some serious credits and have been testing Activison's latest releases.

Tyler Robinson - 3d Artist - QA Tester for Activison worked on the latest Guitar Hero

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Caleb Turner - QA Tester for Activision (3d Artist) Worked on the latest Call of Duty Release

aniBoom 2008 Awards Vote FOR ME

2008-11-04T23:07:00.000-08:00

Not sure if anyone even reads this long lost blog but.... I got a random email the other night from one of the people that run the aniboom.com website and they saw one of my old animations and thought it would be good for the competition they were running so I entered it in

http://www.aniboom.com/

If you get the chance Vote for ME !!! :) My animation is called "Best Day of My Life"

Pole Jump 1st Blocking Pass

2008-10-29T23:01:00.000-07:00

Body Mechanics - Week 5

2008-10-26T22:37:00.000-07:00

Here I am at Week 5 at AnimationMentor.com and the experience has been amazing so far and I have learned soooo much in the last few weeks from my new mentor. I will share some of his tricks and secrets later on... :-) but for now I am planning my new animation shot. This weeks assignment is animate a character jumping from one pole to another and here is what I have so far...

Week 4 (Final Polish)

2008-10-26T20:56:00.000-07:00

This week we polished up the assignment that I have been working on for the past 2 weeks. I am really thankful for all of the awesome feedback on this shot from my mentor Steve Cady. The more I incorporate other people suggestions and critique the better my animation gets. It's really exciting and it really pays off show your work to others around you. So as of now no more pulling tangents and sliding keyframes around in the timeline Im gonna have to call this dones as of now :-)

Class 2 (Body Mechanics) Week 3

2008-10-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

I decided to skip one week of the blogging because I was really busy at the new studio I have been working at :) Hush hush. .. I will say more at a later time but for now here is what I have for my animation shot of the character kicking the ball. Decided to change the ending because I was trying to do some difficult movements that just looked very awkward... So I kept it more simple and decided to use the idea of him falling and slipping instead of stubbing his toe.

Also decided to try and get a rendered look going for the shot so once I got to render this for my progress reel I can just hit the "batch render" button :-)

Class 2 (Body Mechanics) Week 1

2008-10-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

So I am officially back at AM and this weeks assignment was to plan out our animation first before setting key frames in Maya and this is the idea I have so far. I am going with the character kicking a ball and stubbing his toe.

Animation Mentor BBQ

2008-06-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

I had a amazing time over the weekend and drove down to San Francisco to go to the annual Animation Mentor BBQ. It was a awesome experience and I wish I could have stayed longer and got some photos. I was stoked to finally meet Carlos Baena he is one of my favorite animator's to date. His shots are the most memorable in Pixar's films from The Incredibles all the way to finding Nemo... I had to tell him how much his stuff was an inspiration to me over the years and it was hard not to be all "gitty" and star struck... BUt once we started talking it felt like I had known him for years.....we laughed about everything from skateboarding to animation to life n general... I didn't speak with Bobby but he was an awesome energy to be around and I look forward to meeting him when I go out to Siggraph... I was pretty bummed that I didn't talk and mingle with some of the people I wanted 2 :-( I didn't want to break up some on going conversations. I guess I felt a little intimidated and shy for the first time in my life. So I found one pic with me in it that was on Carlos's website and I hope I get the picture I took with him when we met. Im gonna bug him about that one :-)

Class 1 Progress Reel

2008-06-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

So after a short but awesome 10 weeks at Animation Mentor here is my progress reel..... Hope you have as much fun watching it as I did creating it. My experience at AM has been amazing so far and I am really excited for class 2 but until then.

Basic Foundations Week 10

2008-06-24T09:40:00.001-07:00

This weeks assignment was to create a walk with personality
I think this one needs a lot more work as far as polishing it
goes. I only got a day or 2 to work on this because I was in
between LA and Colorado. Its been a crazy week or me.. But
here is what I have so far....

Basic Foundations Week 9

2008-06-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

Heck yes ! I just got done my polished version of my vanilla walk
and it was a very hard to get it to look like vanilla Ice cream :-) Its
so funny that they call it a vanilla walk. Why not a basic walk?... Who
knows... I like chocolate :-)

Thanks for viewing

Basic Foundations Week 8

2008-05-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

Yo animating junkies,

Here I am at Week 8 at Animation Mentor and this weeks assignment was to start our first walk cycle. they call it the Vanilla Walk which basically means a basic everyday walk. I learned a lot from this assignment since I always animated walk cycles in place and now I get the real hang of things.

Here is what I have so far... Feel free to leave me some critique and feedback its still in stepped key mode.

Basic Foundations Week 7

2008-05-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

This week's assignment was to animate "Tailor" the ball with the tail from AM. This is what I have so far. Feel free to leave me some feedback and critique.

Basic Foundations Week 6

2008-05-08T20:07:00.000-07:00

WOw time flies by when you are animating a new scene and shot every week. This place really gets you ready for the industry.... So here I am at Week 6 of my online classes at Animation Mentor and this weeks assignment was to animate a pendulum so here she is :-)

Basic Foundations Week 5

2008-05-08T19:57:00.000-07:00

Its week 5 and this week's assignment was to create a pose that portrays " DEVASTATION "

Also we got a obstacle course and I changed it and had their main character hold it up :-) The main goal of the assignment was to have the ball bounce through the obstacle course realistically
after it jumps and falls....

Here is my planning sketches

I had the most fun with this animation so far out of the bunch. I also decided to send a crazy amount of private messages to all sorts of students and peer buddies to get as much feedback and critique as possible. It really paid off this week and my mentor's critique was awesome. ANy whoo here is what I have so far...

Basic Foundations Week 4

2008-05-05T15:57:00.001-07:00

I need to catch up with all this blogging craziness.... Week 4 is over and this weeks assignment was to create a animation that showed the difference between a heavy ball and lighter ball like a tennis ball or soccer ball something like that...... I got some great feedback and a awesome video critique from my mentor Martin Hopkins. I want to watch his video critique again and re visit this shot but for now here is what she looks like :-)

Basic Foundations Week 3

2008-04-25T17:46:00.000-07:00

So here I am at Week 3 at AnimationMentor.com

I must say this place is all in what you put into it. If you are self motivated this is the place for you and you can grow more than you can ever imagine. Its only my 3rd week but being open to everyones critiques and suggestions REALLY makes your animation stronger. I have also noticed its getting pretty tough to keep up with all of the stuff there.

This weeks assignment was to portray excitement with just a pose as well as animating a simple bouncing ball with the weight of a soccer ball or basketball. I decided to try and animate a soccer ball bounce. All of the students in class 1 were also given Stu one of the animation mentor characters to use and pose for the assignment.

You really have to be on your toes here at AM. I am starting to see that planning is one of the most crucial parts in animation. You really need to have a clear idea of where you are going to go before you lay in any key frames into the computer. I ended up making several sketches planning out this weeks animation assignment.

Here is my planning sketches :

Here is the animation

Feel free to give me some critique and feedback on my work..... I am constantly learning..

Basic Foundations Week 2

2008-04-25T17:35:00.000-07:00

So I have started my 1st classes at Animation Mentor and this place is blowing my mind right now ... There is so much you can learn and so much is at your finger tips. So during week 1 our assignment was to go out in public and do quick sketches for a pose that have to create with Stu the blank faced character at AM. So after sketching and going to Best Buy the skate park and school and many other places as well as a yoga center :-) Here are my sketches and here is the pose I chose to convey. Feel free to critique or leave your own comments as well because I am constantly learning from others these days.

1st Q&A with my Animation Mentor Martin Hopkins

2008-04-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

Wow my 1st Q&A was amazing it was a little nerve racking on the webcam side of things but I was very honored to meet and greet everyone in my class. This Dennis guys is a character and I am soo stoked to be a part of this and be able to be apart of such a great bunch of individuals.

This is gonna be soooo awesome wish me luck

Started Animation Mentor

2008-04-01T11:57:00.000-07:00

So I got to find out who my mentor is for the 1st class his name is Martin Hopkins

Here is a little bit about my mentor

Martin Hopkins has been in the animation industry for 12 years. He attended the Classical Animation Program at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. After graduating he worked breifly at Lacewood Studios in Ottawa, Canada on a kids show titled "Katie & Orbie" where he did character posing.

In Feburary of 1996, He was hired at Chuck Jones Film Productions. A small crew was brought together to produce new Looney Tunes theatrical shorts. It was a dream job that ended way too soon! After CJFP closed its doors in 1997, He was hired at DreamWorks Animation on "The Prince of Egypt" and he hasn't looked back since. In his nine + years at DWA he went from the clean-up department to rough animation and finally made the leap to the 3D world on "Shark Tale." He is currently in production on "Monsters vs. Aliens".

I am SOOOOO excited to be learning my basic foundations and fundamentals of animation from such a great animator and mentor. I want to soak up as much as I can from him and make sure I take as much notes as possible when I do my 1st Q & A that is tonight at 9:00pm to 10:00pm.

I am gonna post my progress on my assignments as soon as I can I want to keep this blog up to date as much as possible. That way I can record my progress and laugh at myself later :-)

If you have any critiques or comments on my animations feel free to leave a message or email me.

Starting Animation Mentor Soon!

2008-03-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

Ohh boy ohh boy... I am SOO stoked that I am about to embark on a animation learning experience that I will never forget. I hope to learn as much as I can in the next 18 months
and this is where I will record my progress and sketches.

If you are a AM student feel free to drop me email or message don't be shy :-)