Wow, it's already Friday again.
Just yesterday, I finished learning
about the sacrum in anatomy, and am
learning about the pelvic area today.
Related to that, just two days ago, I went
the the plastination-body exhibit in San Jose at the Tech Center.
It was awesome! (And I would have taken pictures if they would've allowed cameras...)
Even though they were plastic, they didn't really look it. There's not too much
more I can say as you really have to see it for yourself. The exhibit does close after tomorrow
though, so if you live in the Bay Area, this is your last chance!

Animation-wise, this week I learned about
keys (the main sections of an animation that tell a story)
and how about how animators love to circle their frames (when only the
keys are supposed to be circled). Also mentioned were issues with
the lead animator not doing enough work and the assistant being
blamed for messing up the animation.

Blender-related, I have done a little more work on my sink scene and will
post updates soon on BlenderArtists.

~Brad

Put the Ipod down sir...

This blog has not been updated in awhile, but I just came
back to it today, thinking I will probably start writing here.

On the 21st of December 2007, I received The Animator's Workbook by Richard Williams
and The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston
(I bought them with birthday money).
I have decided to go through them, one at a time, taking them slowly, savoring
each few pages. I will probably blog on that here.

On the section about timing and spacing, Mr. Williams suggested sliding a coin
across a video camera in 24 seconds, first in an even pattern, and then
in an ease-in-ease-out. I ended up holding my camera in a steady spot and taking 24
pictures (25 on the second ease-in-ease-out video).
Then, I loaded the images into Blender and rendered
to AVI (using Xvid). You can download them below.
http://www.mediafire.com/?32iyvzj92jj
http://www.mediafire.com/?fkxyjaxmozt


Today, I was reading lesson 1, where Richard Williams describes how he asked
Milt Kahl if he ever listened to music while animating, and Milt blows up, yelling
"Of all the stupid ideas!!" Compare that to another explosion, where he was asked
how he planned a counter-action in some Disney movie scene and exclaimed
how that was not the right way to think of the scene. Even when he was yelling,
Milt still gave wisdom (I find this rather funny).

So, Ditch the headphones, sit up straight (about a 135-degree angle),
and focus on one thing at a time.

Signing off,

~Brad