newartofanimation

Of late I have bemoaned the fact that several important blogs of the past have shuttered or closed.  Often this is due to the considerable work schedules of the authors and (thankfully much more rare) the death or ill health of the blogger.

There are occasionally new blogs that appear that delve deeply into the world of animation and renew that spark of life experienced in those other wonderful blogs.  Here’s a really nice one by James “JC” Chiang:

http://www.animatedspirit.com/

His most recent article explores the work of Milt Kalh:

Shot Analysis: 101 Dalmations

I love the overlap of shapes that Milt brings to his work that creates 3D space within the realm of a 2D plane (in this case specifically for viewing on a movie screen).

Best of luck in the endeavor James!

Want to bring computer animation into your workflow?

Get Animation:Master ($79)

Want to get up to speed quickly with Animation:Master?

Check out Barry Zundel’s series of video tutorials which he has now posted online for free:

http://barryzundel.blogspot.com/p/animationmaster-2005-tutorials.html

Just want a nice intro to animation workflow?

This is a bit out of order but…

Check out his video tutorial on Basic Keyframing.

Check out his ‘Introduction to Animation‘ for some setup and workflow tips.

You want to learn to animate right?

Buy this video course from Aaron Blaise:

https://creatureartteacher.com/product-category/tutorials-lessons/animation-tutorials/?src=hometop

60% discount ends tonight.  Regular price resumes tomorrow.

Still worth the full price of $129 but save yourself some cash today.

The main reason I’m posting this one is not the short video itself but the nice ‘making of’ video that David put together to accompany it.  He hits on some very nice points that it is well worth paying attention to in our efforts to improve our own animation.

The Making of:

The Video:

I’m going to post a few short bits of animation that I come across from time to time.

I find these to be a lot of fun.

Kudos to the creators because their talent is on display!

A few things I especially like about this one:

– Cute character! (This pig has personality… a thinking brain… an attitude!)

– Fast and Slow movement (creates nice contrast!)

– Cyclic storytelling (repetition but repetition with variation!)

Back in December veteran animator John Celestri posted notes from a seminar he conducted at Nelvana Studios back in 1981 that provide some great information on the process and production of animation.

He states in his blog that these notes where created prior to the release of Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston’s “Illusion of Life” when animators didn’t have access to such information and had to learn it largely through individual experimentation.  In his blog commentary he emphasizes that while the process as outlined in the seminar notes specifically addresses hand drawn animation it applies just as well to computer animation.

I’ve collected the notes into a single PDF file and attached it here but make sure you visit John’s blog for the original posts and to get his commentary and context for them.  He has lots other great information there also so don’t miss out!

John Celestri Nelvana Seminar Part 1 (1981)

John Celestri Nelvana Seminar Part 2 (1981)

John Celestri Nelvana Seminar – collected notes (PDF)

John’s blog/site:  http://johncelestri.blogspot.com/

Here’s an excellent analysis of animation found in Disney’s ‘Dumbo’ by Marc Hendry.

Source:  www.onanimation.com

This is a excerpt from Disney’s ‘Robin Hood’ that highlights a little piece of performance during the ‘ooooo’ phrasing from the word ‘you’ when the Sheriff of Nottingham interrupts Skippy’s birthday party on cue with a “…Happy Birthday to yoooo.”

The voice acting here with added emphasis in the character’s dialogue is exquisite and ideal for animators in that adequate space is created for an animated (read:  lively) performance.