Planning for stop mo

In 2009 the first year animators showed a real interest for stop motion animation. The interest in animation styles varies from year to year.

The big question was; "How do you plan a stop motion animation?"

I noticed that in the process of discovering the joys of tangibility and sense of touch in creating animation that most of the animators had an idea in their head and animated straight ahead with it. And it worked. To a degree. They just wanted to get their hands dirty and "start animating".

It was a bittersweet scenario for an animation teacher who has the job of teaching 3D animation. It was sweet to see them dive in and imagine, discover and explore. It was bitter to see the concept of planning we were applying to our 3D work be cast aside for something that seemed more immediately satisfying.

It is all part of the evolution of an animator. The misunderstanding that animation happens in front of the lens is a magical dream created by watching beautiful finished work without ever seeing the evolution of it through planning. Eventually animators discover an important truth that good animation doesn't happen inside one's head. Often it remains trapped there. An animator has to find their way to get it out of their head and into the world. And good animation doesn't magically happen in front of the camera. Magic is a term for not fully understanding something. Sorry to be a wet blanket on anyone's Disney dreams. As an animator grows in understanding they realise good animation is crafted in the planning.

Planning an animation roughly on paper is such an important part of the craft for animators studying a course based on animation principles and the foundations of traditional animation skills.

To help illustrate this idea I have found some clips. The Big Story is a short film. It is directed by Oscar nominated, BAFTA winning, MAD magazine artist (pay attention to the cartoon artist use of caricature), film maker David Stoten.

Lip Synch and Facial Animation

This is an 11 minute tutorial for the first year animators as they start to lip synch their dialogue.

BigFish Fest - Animation Fieldtrip

These are a few digital sketches I made while at the exhibit today.

Please provide feedback in the comments on your thoughts about the excursion to the Powerhouse and meeting the animators from BigFish, Igor and Sheldon.

Kyle Balda 3D Masterclass - Character Dialogue

When I was in Paris for the Gobelins summer school, we were lucky enough to attend Kyle Balda's 3D masterclass. He has posted an "Acting Tutorial highlights" clip so you can get a taste of the process he uses to animate in 3D.

2nd year animators take note on what Kyle says about the root control of a character. It is something we have been covering in the walk cycle exercise. See how animating from the root can be used as the foundation of any body movement, be it in locomotion or acting.

[*Transform hippy metaphor huzzah!*] A tree can't sway without a solid root. Nor can you expect to move an audience without good animation at the core of your character. Always think of the root.

Flipping and Rolling an animation skill

The first year animators are planning some character animation and experimenting using traditional techniques. Once they start flipping out, it's hard to stop them.

Above is a video clip of Argentinian animator Ignacio Ochoa animating (in colour erasable pencil, like Will. I would like everyone animating with 6B lead pencils. [link] If it's good enough for Glen Keane, it's good enough for first year animators).

This is a link to Mike Nguyen's blog, he taught animation at CalArts and animated on Brad Bird's Iron Giant feature film. In his case he is 'rolling'. Thanks Michelle for pointing out this post.

Student Animation Blogs from Canada

A post and film featured on Mitch's Animation Anxiety Attacks has inspired this post.

The film was by a 2008 graduate from the animation course @ Sheridan College in Canada (4 year course).

One of the animation teachers from Sheridan has an unofficial blog, much like this one, that links to student blogs for Sheridan College.

I think it is a good idea for students to assess their own animation development by comparing their output and animation results with their peers (other animation students). That way they can see and seek to improve.

How does your animation compare?



Because some of my students don't seem to fully understand my teachings, but have an amazing grasp of anime, I have translated the above post for them using online translation software:

Mitch, so the post and the film which become the feature. The insecure seizure of the life of Mitch urged this post. The film Canada (course of 4 years) kept depending on 2008 graduates from the university of Sheridan of course of life. The one of life teachers from Sheridan is connected to [burogu] of the student for the university of Sheridan, in the same way as this 1, it has that informal [burogu]. I think of that what assesses the development of their itself lives the equal person (the other life student) thing by comparing the result of their outputs and life is profitable step for the student. The method of seeing because they improve, being possible to endeavor. How it compares your life?

While you are checking out student work the 2009 AnimationMentor Student Showcase is worth a look.

Chish and Fips

After the lecture roadtrip adventure to QUT, the animators settled down for a feast of chish'n'fips!


Does anyone else have publishable photos of this excursion?

Aaaarrrrrgh! Max is caught in the fog!

When Max for Maya is opened, he is a massive rig and sometimes disappears in a grey wall of 'fog'. This is how first year animator Braden taught me how to fix that problem.

Alan Dewhurst - Brisbane Lecture ~ Peter and the Wolf

Peter and the Wolf is a short animated film that won a 2008 Academy Award. Alan Dewhurst, one of the producers, gave a lecture on May 27th 2009 at Queensland University of Technology.

The film took about 4 years to make and over 250 people are credited in its production.

The three main people involved were: Producers Alan Dewhurst and Hugh Welchman, and director Suzie Templeton.

The film was eventually made in Poland in association with Se-ma-for Studios. It was shot using cameras lifted from Berlin at the end of World War II.

The film is strongly influenced by eastern European themes and music. It's foundations are from the story by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. The design of the film was based on the central relationship between the visual presentation and the music.

The darkness and seriousness of the film has given it distinction but at the same time hampered its growth into the main stream. The animation and design is excellent.

Maya software was used to produce a detailed animatic with ruff models and a full layout and to animate the blue balloon that helped the magpie to 'fly'.



>Find out why the animators were directed to animate a female wolf.

Find out where computer graphics were used to complement the stop motion animation.

Alan spoke a lot about funding and obstacles to production. How a lot of the film is created based on a complex web of promises that needed to be honoured over time (before paying the producer's fees). A gem he dropped into the lecture was, "Don't let ambition run in front of the budget, otherwise you get in all sorts of trouble."



Suzie Templeton made an award winning student film at the Royal College of Art in 2001.

Applying an image texture in Maya

Some of the animators wanted to know how to do this, so here is one way to apply an image texture simply but effectively in Maya. It is based on this video tutorial from Swinburne University in Victoria. Thanks to Will for finding the tutorials on the Internet.

Golden Rule: Don't let modelling and texturing eat away at your animating time.

Some of the animators in the studio were interested in how to apply an image texture to a polygon shape.

The second in a series of three parts to the process.

Third and final part to this three part series of short Maya texturing video tutorials.

Maya - Setting Preferences for Animation

Is Maya playing too fast when you're trying to see your animation?

You can set your timeline and frame rate preferences by following the steps in the short video tutorial below.

Set up Maya for animation

Animation Mentor - How a film is produced

Animators can benefit by seeing the process that other animators work through to produce a final piece of animation.

The Animation Mentor You Tube channel has student work that shows how they got from an idea for an animation to the final product.

It includes steps that the second year animators are aware of: design, layouts, storyboard, animatic, at this point the AM students to a 'pitch', video reference = ACT IT OUT and film it, blocking out the poses in 3D, animating, polishing and presentation of the final film.

What I like about this film is that it is a simple concept that allowed the student to focus on the animation. Keep It Simple.

Monsters Vs Aliens

Recently we had an animation field trip to see Monsters vs Aliens.

Some discussion resulted.

The Character Design Blog has put together this video featuring some of the artwork for the movie. I know the first years, in particular, love to illustrate and really good way to direct that passion is toward character design for animation.

Why do you have that blog?

OK people here's the thing.

You have an animation student blog for an important reason.

Because I say so. :)

The reason I say so is: so I can see how you are progressing in your class work by asking you to post work completed as class tasks.

Class tasks should be treated as design briefs. That's not designer briefs, Ryan.

Animators should practice getting them on (your blog) within the deadline... set for the class assessment tasks.

If you have an itchy spot that is telling you, "I think I should have posted some work up on my blog under the heading 'Assessment'", well you may very well be correct.

The work you post is some of the proof that you are doing the work to become a good animator and end up with a qualification. Y'see you give me proof that you're doing the work. I organise for you proof that you have done the work (a lovely framed certification from the best dang animation course in Queensland).

Check the class task sheets on Blackboard to see what should be posted on your blog.

The stimulus to make this post is an educational one as well.

Why do you have a blog? Maybe it can work for you... learn more from Karen J Lloyd's Storyboard Blog (it's a blog you should get used to visiting as their is a lot of good stuff there).

Timing and Spacing - Animation Principles

I am new to animation teaching. One of the interesting challenges is trying to teach animation principles to the animators I work with. Today I have taken on the challenge of trying to describe two, quite complex, closely interwoven animation principles, timing and spacing, as separate entities (things).

We will be messing with time and space in this post so just check that no astropsychological worm holes appear near your computer screen and suck your brain out.

I have tried to achieve describing these principles in terms of linking them to the physical areas in a studio, in which an animator works, to help show the difference between them.

Working from a 2D traditional animation understanding, it may be easier to understand this attempt at a basic description of timing and spacing:

Spacing happens at the lightbox and animation disc, on the paper. On the paper is, the stage or the space, where you draw your character. The position where you draw your character on the page is working on spacing. When you overlay your sheets of paper the spaces between each drawing of your character is spacing.

Timing occurs on a timeline in the computer. The first timeline a traditional animator (these days) will encounter is at the line tester. The drawings are captured into images by the camera in the line tester. The images are then placed into frames in the line tester. When you move the frames containing the images of the drawings of the key moments (breathe) of the animation up and down the timeline in the line tester, you are working on timing. Key frames contain key moments and when you change the position of key frames on the timeline you are working on timing. Timing occurs at the computer when working with the key frames in the timeline.

Summary: Spacing occurs at the lightbox. Timing occurs at the computer.

Things get more complex when an animator does all the work at the computer.

So I tried to make a video tutorial to explain spacing and timing in this 21st century situation.


When I critique an animation I wonder if the animator understands what I mean when I say, "The spacing could be adjusted to depict more weight", or, "The timing could be adjusted to build more tension or add more texture." I think many of the animators in my studio may think timing and spacing are the same thing. They often use the word "timing" where I would have used the word "spacing". Anyway, this is my attempt at explaining about timing and spacing.

It is important that animation students grasp the difference and the interconnectedness of timing and spacing. If you understand these principles and how to animate with them you will have unimaginable, super animation powers that will be irresistible to animation employers, and your animation will be awesome.

Timing & Spacing explanation attempt by Pixar animators

Acting it Out

In this 3 minute clip Ian talks about "Acting It Out".



Filmed March 2009. Lecturer is Ian Lacey animator and award winning animation educator.

1st Year Animators Clay Models - 3D modelling class

First Year Animators Clay Models from Frank G on Vimeo.

Student Animation Challenge

The animators who made it to the first of our animation guest lectures this week would have been challenged by the industry animator giving the talk.

Well, it is official, you have been slapped with the animation gauntlet.

Let us see some of your 50 to 60 frames a day appearing on your blogs.

Are you up for the challenge?

(pictured: Robert Downey Jr from the film Iron man)

Important 'tips for students' poster

This poster is available for download from The House of Curves blog. tHoC is an animation studio and school based in Holborn, London UK. I came to find it through Ed Hooks' Acting for Animators newsletter, which is a good one to subscribe to.

With an industry animator visiting to give a guest lecture this week I would like to draw students attention to the tip that says: Be Impressive. If industry people visit, meet them on time, have good questions ready, show interest. It'll be remembered.

How to Make Links in Blog Comments

Making a web link in a blog comment from Frank G on Vimeo.

The code I typed in the video looks like:

[a href="http://www.website address"] link words [/a]

The sharp arrow brackets described look like: < >. Replace the square brackets [ ] in the code with the arrow brackets to make it work in a comment post.