Monday, January 6, 2014

Glen Keane talks about Animation and CTN


Glen Keane was born on April 13, 1954 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of cartoonist Bil Keane, creator of the The Family Circus, and Australian born Thelma (Carne) Keane. He was raised in Paradise Valley, Arizona. He has been married to his Minnesota wife, Linda, for 37 years. Together they have raised their children, Claire and Max, both artists in the field of animation who have also married artists. The family continues to grow with one grandchild and two on the way. ....

For more information about Glen Keane click the below link"
ctnanimationexpo.com/participants/index.php/glen-keane/

Sunday, January 5, 2014

11 Second Club December Results

Wow, I finally got a chance to compete in 11second club. My very first entry using a new rig and working in Maya. I am happy to announce that I have made 11th place out of 110 entries. This was a tough competition and it has open my eyes on the amount of work, energy, and time it takes to get one of these done. I am glad I achieved my goal and document my WIP so that I am able to share my experience with others.

http://www.11secondclub.com/competitions/december13/entry/wNdNNL

11sec Dec Final from Francisco Buyo on Vimeo.

My questions

What are you most proud of?
  • I am most proud of starting this project and finishing it. In the month of December, is one of the most busiest times for me and my family. And finding time to work on the project was challenging. 
  • I remember waking up at 5 in the morning, just to get ready to work on it before getting ready for day job, and becoming a dad / husband to get everyone out of the house. Coming back home and balancing work life / family time, and staying up past midnight.
  • My wife was a big supporter in this, just when I felt the work was to overwhelming midway, she helped me get back on track and stuck by my side till the end.
What are 5 new things you have learned in this month?
What I could have done better?

Feedback from 11sec

Nice scene you got there!
- slide seams ahead of the audio just a TAD
+ decent walk cycle
++ love the fall at the end

probably one of the best ! ;)

its a great animation. but i wish see more expression in his face

Excellent animation and sound synchronisation throughout. Well done!


I've been a big fan of this since I saw it in blocking. That few-frame hesitation at around f220 is so hilarious. And I love how his arm slides against the board around f240. It's subtle, but it adds a lot. This is really nitpicky, but when he walks backwards, his toes feel really flat when they're in the air. I can't tell if it's because they actually are flat, or if it's Malcolm's textures. But I think you could push their control a bunch more, so that they stay more inline with the feet until they touch the ground. Great, great shot!
Story wise, I think the neither the force of the push off the wall or the material of the floor justify the slide he does across the ground. Animation wise, it finished really well, and I particularly like the speed of the fall at the end and the contact he makes with ground as he falls.

nice but i think he would be unbalanced before he pushed to piller and piece goes up in the air rather than changed it to other hand..

haha excellent gag at the end. Nice movement.
Good job!

Very cool1 I've been checking on your WIP all month. Great work! This should be in the top 11 for sure!

Nice, the fall looked a little slow though.

Saw the wip, nice finish!



Monday, December 2, 2013

11 Secondclub - December Competition

I am plan to participate in this months 11 second club. I will keep this blog up to date, and report my progress from start to finish. This month we have an audio clip with no dialog. My objective is to come up with a shot which fit's the sound bite. http://www.11secondclub.com/competitions/current

Here are a few I came up with
  1. Hide and Seek - The Hider runs into a room, shuts the door really hard and has his back to the door. The Seeker is on the other side of the door, the Hider reacts to the footsteps approaching. But, by slamming the door earlier it shook the room full of junk, a bowling ball falls from the shelf.
  2. The Raid - The criminal is hiding behind a desk. You hear foots steps approach behind a closed door. Man with a gun, kicks down a door. The heavy door slams on the ground shaking the unstable interior. The criminal is scared for his life, as he hear the foot steps approach the desk. But unstable bookshelf breaks apart and falls on the gun man. The man behind the desk reacts to what he hears.
  3. Tomb Thief - Thief is holding a Token, that he just stole. He is determined to get across the wooden beams that are supporting the unstable ceiling. He crossed it just in time before it collapse, and cherishing his prize. He walks away from the collapsed wall, looking at his Token with accomplishment. Not knowing where he was walking, he steps and falls through a broken floor.
  4. Wooden Stairway - A man is running down the stairway so he can jump over broken stairs that are on the bottom. He successfully jumps over them and lands on the wooden floor. Because he landed on the wooden floor, it slightly breaks, but the man is able to keep his balance. Assuming the wooden floor is safe, he continues to walk away from the stairs and the wooden floor breaks, which causes the man to fall through the ground.
I am going to go with #3, because I can sense a lot of potential with this character and the funny gag that happens at the end. I plan to have a few storyboards submitted at the end of the day for feedback on camera angles and staging.

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Here a 3 storyboards I have mocked up, to get the idea and vision of my 11 Second Club - December Shot. I will be getting feedback from my peers to find out what version I should go with, and what are some other ideas I can add into my shot that will give it more impact of "Funny Gag".
Version 1 (physicality)- Walking into the broken wooden floor. Camera Pan Right.
Version 2 (physicality)- Walking backwards into the broken floor. Camera Pan Right.
Version 3 (emotional) - Walking to the camera for a close up emotional shot.

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Sketched out a few environment Ideas for an "Abandon House" to get some ideas on how to stage my environment.


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Created a rough stage, nothing is final with this stage. I will be moving things around to get the animation to match up with the sound Ques.


Maya Question - I found it difficult to parent objects to one another. After parenting objects, rotation of the child gets distorted. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can work around this?

Answer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRfOvShajcc

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I have been thinking about what my character's motivation is. I know he went into an old abandon house to Loot some goodies. But what kind of goodies is worth risking your life, that can be easy to carry with 2 hands? After the Looter gets out of the broken room, he will admire his token by interacting with it, and not looking where he is stepping. Here are a few ideas I had.

Old Painting
Clock
Treasure Box
Antique Vase
Golden Statue - Wins
Teddy Bear

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Reference Video

Took several video clips to act out the scene. I went over all my video clips to find the acting choices I wanted to use as reference. Stitched up the acting choices to sync up with the audio, to get a look and feel on what I am going for.



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Blocking