Dust off the tablet and get those animation gears turning again...

Hello, World!

It is good to be back, and posting again on here. First of all, let me say happy holidays to all, and best wishes towards the New Year!

I have now finished my time at IMAX and I am back at home working on more animation yumminess! I am, of course, still trying to learn as much as I can to become a better animator, so please bare with me if things may seem a bit rough. :P (It has been awhile after all.)

But before I get to what I did today, I just want to first mention a website I have found very useful so far in my pursuit of knowledge. I am currently learning from some of his tutorials found online and and I'm finding them very helpful and inspiring. The website is www.jasonryananimation.com , and oddly enough, his name is Mr. Jason Ryan. He is a supervising animator for Dreamworks, and I believe he just finished working on the last Shrek movie. If you have the time, or better yet just make the time, check out his site and some of his work. Very nice stuff all around.

Anyways, here's two quick clips of a simple exercise I did today to ease back into animation. It also let me test out some new software I found to help doing planning and layout of a shot before even going into a 3D package. The software is FlipBook and sorry for the watermark over top of everything, but I currently just have the trial version.

2D Planning and Layout in FlipBook


3D Animation in Maya


Well, there you have it. Please let me know what you thought. As always, all comments are welcomed! With this post I hope to get back into somewhat of a regular consistency with these posts, so please leave comments to let me know it is worthwhile to keep up on my work! :D

Thanks again for stopping by, and see you next time! Muahahahahahahaha!

Onwards towards the future!

Well, looks like it's been just over a month since my last post...yeah, sorry about that. November was a crazy busy month for me. IMAX was super busy with the rotoscoping work I was doing there, but it looks like things are coming to and end there soon as the project comes closer to an end with each passing day. Soon I'll be on the hunt for another job. Hopefully things have opened up a bit in the industry since the last time I checked the job boards within the area. I, of course have plans to get back to working on animation pieces and refining my skills, but a source on steady income would help further those efforts for sure. I also attended the CTN Expo down in Burbank, CA during November. I was down there for a week, and wow, there is some serious talent down there. I found it all very inspiring and motivating to see so many skilled animators in on place, and willing to give talks to everyone about theirs experiences within the industry. I could write a whole another post on just what it was like at the show, but I don't have the time right now. I have a feeling I'll have some free time real soon, so maybe I'll get to do such a post.

For now though, I just wanted to say that I will be out of work soon and will be on the hunt for something new to experience. Hopefully, it won't be too tough to find my next animation job.

Finally, an update! And a job...

Greetings all!

It's been awhile since I've updated the blog, but that was since I was using it strictly as a place for studios, and possible employers, to come and view my resume and demo reel online. After a long search, I finally got contracted for a job at IMAX Productions, in Toronto, as a Digital Artist Trainee. It's not in animation, as I would have liked, but I am learning about rotoscoping with Shake, and how 3D IMAX movies are made. Interesting stuff for sure. As I stated before, this is just a contract job, and it looks as though it may last me until around Christmas time. After that, I'll be on the hunt again for an animation job. Hopefully, there will be one out there waiting for me! :D

I have a feeling that this IMAX job will be keeping me busy for awhile though, so I might not be getting to continue animating as much as I'd like to be, but I'll try to sneak in at least something once in awhile. For now, I have a simple little clip of an animation I made while job hunting. It is one of the few I actually finished during this time, and I think it turned out pretty neat-o. I'm also trying to design a business card for myself, for when I meet others within the industry. Anything to help them remember me would be great.

So please check out the stuff below, and please let me know what you think about it all. Criticism is welcomed as always!

Peace out!

Probe Animation:

Business Card Design #1:

PS: Almost forgot to mention, I'll be heading down to Burbank, CA on November 19 to 25 for the Creative Talent Network Expo! It's their first year of operation, but there is going to be a slew of amazing talent and information down there. Plus, it's in the Toon Capital of the World! I cannot wait!

If you are interested to find out more, visit here: http://www.ctnanimationexpo.com/

Daniel Man - July 2009 - Demo Reel

Here is a link to the final version of my recent demo reel:

http://www.vimeo.com/5784529

Please feel free to leave any feedback after checking it out. It would be greatly appreciated.

And here is my current resume breakdown:

Daniel Man
Home: 905-728-2129 Cell: 905-767-6092
Email: dan.man.86@hotmail.com
Blog: http://nerdwerks.blogspot.com/
1049 Beaver Valley Crescent, Oshawa, ON, CA L1J 8N2

Career History

Character Animator for Keyframe Digital Productions, 2007 – 2008

• Pinky Dinky Doo: Season 2

Responsible for character and prop animations within weekly deadlines, along with:

· Creating assets for production, such as new character and prop texture maps
· Organizing the viewing of dailies in the edit
· Filled in for our group’s lead on occasion
· Kept open communication between other departments, such as Design and Technical
· Kept a positive atmosphere throughout the studio

Other Experience

· Stockroom Coordinator/ Sales Associate, The Bombay Company, 2004 – 2007
· Inventory Counter, RGIS Inventory Specialist, 2005 – 2006
· Deli/Bakery Associate, Kendalwood Price Choppers, 2003 – 2004

Software

Maya 6 - 2009 3dsMax 2008 Final Cut Pro Photoshop 7 - CS Flash 2008

Education

3 Year Advanced Diploma, Computer Animation, 2004 - 2007
Durham College, Oshawa, ON

Interests

Video Games – Cartoons – Reading – Movies – Board Games

Warhammer 40K – Vinyl Figurines – Toys/Action Figures


References Available Upon Request



Cheers, and thanks for stopping by!

Let's try this again...

Here's a NEWER pass at my demo reel. I think this one is getting close the the final. Some small tweaks here and there. As always, please let mek now what you think : D

Finally here, for your viewing pleasure!

Here's my first first official pass at a new demo reel...finally.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Push it...Push it real good...

Quick post. Just a Heavy Push here i finished today. Nothing too over the top, just more of a test to see if I could convey believable weight and resistance. Let me know what you think! Other than the last piece I did, the Weight Lifter, I've never tried these kinds of aniamtions. Despite how fundamentally important they are : P