Phew...

Well then, that was a refreshing month. I finally finished my entry for 11 Second Club this month. I think it turned out pretty good. But I sure did learn a lot through the process of it. It had been a while since I had used Maya for animating, as well as done some acting, and it felt good to get back into it. Take a look at the entry below and let me know what you think :D

As for what's next, I've got some things planned. First, I'm looking forward to seeing what May's audio track will be for the 11 Second Club. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would love to take a crack at it again. So we'll see what happens with that next post. Secondly, I'm planning to get down to some more learning. I've been reading up on some animation notes, and have been learning a lot from them as I get further into them. But I've always been a more visual learner, so I've decided to purchase some video tutorials from Gnomon Workshops and Digital Tutors. I want to make sure I keep on top of my "animating game", and want to learn as much as I can on my "down time," so I figured this would be a good way to accomplish that. I first batch will be:

"Facial Animation & Lip Sync"

"Acting & Lip Sync"

I figured I could use some boning up on my acting animation the most, and I was never really taught but about lip sync with a 3D rig in school, so I could due with more knowledge on that topic anyways. Hopefully, they will prove to be most helpful, and I'll let those of you who stop by, know how they turn out.

Well, I think that's it for this week's post. Oh, and I almost forgot : S Thanks to Mike & Mack for taking the time to stop by and post. It is proving to be very difficult to get others to do so. So I greatly appreciate guys. I mean it.

Take care all, and I'll see you on the flipside!

Shifting Gears...

Greetings again all, or should I just say Mike?

Anyways, another two weeks have flown by and that means hopefully I've got some work done.

There's a mediocre amount of work this post. I've got a video showing a collection of the Soldier animations I worked on for the past couple months. It's cool to see them all together. There are some clips missing from it however, since I didn't think they were quite up to snuff yet.

I'll also post the fixes from last post's clips. This pretty much marks the end of the Soldier stuff though. I've posted the collection video on some other forums to get additional feedback though, so I'm sure to revisit them at some point.

The main focus this month though, is my return to what I like to call, "acting animation." I decided to make an attempt at an entry to the 11secondclub, like I stated last post. So, it will probably be the primary focus of my animation for the remainder of the month. I've done another pass at blocking, but there's still a good amount of work to be done. I'll be busy, busy.

So thanks to all who have stopped by during the Soldier work. Your comments were all greatly appreciated.

Now it's time to move on...

Fixes

Grenade Roll

Knife Drawn from Sheath

Stealth Walk

Soldier Collection

Second Pass at Blocking April Entry

Update: 04/23

Here's a more recent pass at this month's entry. It is only focusing on the machine for now. Enjoy!

Looky, looky!

Aloha All!

This week, I come bearing fixes to the March, Regular Throw, and Roll. As well as, two new clips: Knife Drawn from Sheath and a Stealth Walk.

Thanks to Salty, Mike and Keith for stopping by. I appreciate the feedback as always, but was a little extra excited to receive feedback from a non-animator :D

Onwards and upwards, my friends!

FIXES

March

Regular Throw

Roll

NEW

Draw from Sheath

Stealth Walk

PREVIEW of Things to Come...
Ballet WIP* Still in the very early stages, as I'm sure you will notice the jerkiness and snapping...

And as one final thought, I've also decided to try my hand at entering the monthly contest at 11secondclub.com

Check out the site and this month's audio clip to find out more.

UPDATE 04/07:

Here is the Blocked Version I've whipped up for the contest. Please let me know what you think:

Until next post, keep on rocking in the free world :P