So, as with last week, but less blocking and more splining. "Splocking", perhaps. There's still quite a lot I'd like to do with it, but I've got another week to work on it before it gets relegated to the "It's not bad but I still need to fix it" pile (for those of you who don't already know this, to an animator a shot is never finished - it's simply taken away ). So here it is!

Hello all! I'm going to keep this short since it's been quite a long day, my bed is calling to me seductively, and I'm having a hard time ignoring it ...

This week we had a really good lecture on "Phrasing" (giving your shot a rhythm and texture), and were told to block in our first shots. I decided I'd try to push the cinematography a tiny bit for this one (given that my standard approach of "put the camera somewhere nice and lock it off" is starting to feel a little worn). It definitely feels stronger for it and is a big improvement on my planning last week, but did require some fairly drastic changes to make it work. Hence why I was up until silly o' clock, and why I'm now going to give you this and sign off:

Hope you like it! Feedback and criticisms to the usual address please!

Howdy y'all!

Yes, that's right - I'm NOT dead! Nor am I undead or half living, or even mildly sick (although I did have a bit of a close encounter with swine flu...). Instead, I've been sampling the joys of real life and enjoying the precious time off we were given between classes two and three. And it was indeed good and delicious. But alas all such things must come to an end, and class three has now begun (which to be honest, I'm quite excited about anyway). This class I'll be under the tutelage of Mr Morgan Kelly, a Dreamworks veteran who's worked on just about everything since Shrek 2. Once again the classes have been shuffled around - lots of new faces to get to know. Feels like a friendly class so far though

Right, first order of business - I know I promised my class two reel, so here it is:

Next, this week's assignment. We had two options this term - either to make three animations on a seperate theme (like last class), or to pick one theme and try to make three animations that tie this theme together somehow. In the interests of trying something different, I chose this second approach, and chose a museum robbery. For the first time I've tried planning my first two shots in 2D using Blender's "Grease Pencil" feature:

I have to say it was a lot of fun - it really makes you respect the Disney masters even more, to do something like this. Grease Pencil took me a while to get used to - it's very useful, although I do have a few minor interface gripes that I'll probably end up trying to fix once AM's finished (mostly that it doesn't integrate with "Undo" very well). Anyway, let's round this post off with some sketchbook drawings for this week's assignment and a picture of Stu all made up for this class:

Have a great week!

Phew, that was quite a term! Class two is now finished, and I've spent the last two weeks splining and polishing (whenever avatar isn't conspiring to keep me out of mischief, at any rate). I'll spare you the tales of gimbal lock and the horror of going from blocking to splining - suffice to say, it's probably knocked five years off my life . At some point this week I'll make a nice reel summing up all my class 1&2 work so far, but for the time being, here's your weekly animation fix:

As a reward for finishing class 2 intact, I've just finished watching the final season of Battlestar Galactica. "Epic" doesn't even come close! It's a very long time since I've watched any TV series as good as this, and the ending definitely didn't disappoint. Some very talented people have quite clearly poured their souls into it, and it shows - the end result is nothing short of spectacular. Miss this at your peril!