2022-2024 Program Final Animations

Introduction

Below, you'll get a glimpse behind the curtain of each of the final animations that made it onto my demo reel. Each project is separated into individual sections, and if you'd like a deeper dive into each one, the headers link to the individual pages for the projects. I hope you learn something or find them insightful!

Bird Catch Final Animation

The final version of this shot was a massive step-up from my previous animated creature shots, which can be attributed to not only my overall improvement as an animator, but also a much better use of reference. This is without a doubt the animated piece that I am the most proud of from my time at the Centre for Arts and Technology.

Shot Progression

Dedicating time beforehand to studying the behavior of cats and birds was what I believe contributed to the success of this project as a whole. I chopped together the three main reference videos for this shot progression, but I spent a lot of time watching cat videos and bird feeder cameras to better understand the behavior of the two types of animals. Although there's some creative liberties taken with the behavior of this cat-like creature, the root of it all stems from feline behavior.

Gamma Cat rig from Agora Studio

Red Whisker Bird rig from Truong CG

Munkei Final Animation

This shot was where body mechanics really started to really 'click' for me. Although I slaved away in the polish stage, and spent a ton of time tracking arcs, it was absolutely worth it as this animation turned out to be really fun. I'm glad I took a crack at this 'highlight-intro' type of animation.

Shot Progression

From start to finish the biggest challenge with this shot was trying to keep the movements clear and concise, while making sure the arcs and silhouettes weren't lost in polish. This was probably the most time consuming SINGLE shot out of them all, but I was extremely motivated throughout the whole process so I enjoyed every second of it. The excellent reference from Motion Actors Inc. was pivotal into bringing it all together.

Munkei rig by Perry Leijten and Ana Mendes

Reference from Motion Actors Inc.

Hikers Final Animation

I wanted to experiment with a dialogue and two character acting with this shot. The biggest challenge ended up being getting the camera cut to work nicely, and making sure none of the prop constraints were misbehaving. Luckily a few tricks behind the scenes ended up helping pull it all together in the end.

Playing with the staging during the early passes of the shot was a lot of fun, and I'm very happy with some of the acting that made it to the final version. One of the most difficult parts was getting the footwork down for the screen-right character. Luckily the camera cut that was decided on after the layout stage allowed for me to shift the characters and objects around slightly to accommodate that movement, and there's little to no sign that anything was even moved.

NC11 rig from Arthurnal

Ninja rig from Built By Collosus

Ninja Turtles Final Animations

Since these two shots are in the same sequence, I figured it would make more sense to include them together. These came from an assignment where we were tasked with animating an entire sequence as a group, in order to mimic the production process of an animation studio. My assigned shots were 004 and 013, shown below in order.

Ninja In Final Animation

This first shot was one of my first opportunities to really play with some more cartoony action, such as those snappy hand movements with the smears. Since the turtles have such cartoony faces, it was a bit difficult to adjust to, given that all of my previous work up to this point was done with traditional human rigs. Overall it was a ton of fun to work on, and I really feel like it leveled up my animation skills.

One of the most unique parts of this project was the opportunity we had to work from storyboards. The entire boarded sequence was provided to us beforehand, and we used that to create the layout before moving forward to film reference. Since this specific shot was more of a cut-away, I had a fair amount of freedom, and was encouraged to play with a few different acting choices, before I landed on the take that ended up being the foundation of the final animation.

Im Sorry Final Animation

This second shot introduced a unique challenged during the process, which was to maintain continuity and hookup with the shots surrounding it. During the process it was important for us to share ideas to each other, along with laying out actions that would allow shots to hook up cleanly.

Although my first shot stayed relatively close to the boards, the staging of this second one required some changes in order to maintain continuity, and translate better into a 3D environment. Much of the early process really involved locking down that camera, and getting that punch out motion working in tandem with the rest of the animation. Overall, although its not my favorite, it ended up being a really fun shot.

NC11 rig from Arthurnal

Mikey & Donatello rig from Artem Dubina

Conclusion

During my time at the Centre for Arts and Technology, I learned an invaluable amount about animation, and made connections with some amazing people. Translating those skills into these final pieces was extremely rewarding, and I can confidently say that I ended up with some shots that I am truly proud of.

If you made it this far and are interested in seeing more of my work, you can check out my website, or connect with me on LinkedIn.