Wednesday Aug 4th 2010

[Dave]

We are starting this thread early to give members a chance to upload any video or images they want critiqued in August 4th seminar. The best format for video clips is .MOV files.
Throughout the week, Dave will try to incorporate as many images and video clips as possible into the live seminar.

The deadline for clips and images to be critiqued in the live seminar is Tuesday August 3rd, 2010 @ 5:00 PM sharp AZ time.

Thanks


Here is the New Link to watch the live Seminar.
http://donbluthanimation.com/_Don_Bl...e_seminar.html
You must be logged into your Don's Club account to see the stream.

Please post ALL questions in this thread.

[Phrogger]

Don,

This is a series of cleaned-up action poses for a goofy dodo character I designed. Can you suggest any improvements for my action poses? Also, any tips for retaining the energy of a drawing once it has been cleaned up? I often find my loose sketches are better than the finished artwork.

-Meredith

http://donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=244&pictureid=1149

[Rodney]

Don,
I'd appreciate your insight into the importance of the contact frame in animation.

The classic examples of contact might be that of the ball bouncing or a character's foot touching the ground while walking, whereas a more complex application might be of two characters walking past each other and simply making eye contact. At that point of initial contact one character might lock his gaze on target while the other might divert his attention away. Of course, the meeting of two other characters with different dispositions might be considerably different.

Just how important is the contact frame?

[wilsaturn]

Hi Don,

Im trying to make a simple multi-plane effect for the establishing shot of a jungle environment for a short animation Im working on. Im not sure if you remember or not, but its the story of a monkey and a buffalo that I showed you last month on the last day of the Masterclass.
I've tried doing this but I don't think it looked quite right yet, Do you have any suggestions on how to create multi-plane effects? What are the things I should pay attention to when making this? And lastly, how do I improve this shot?
Thanks Don..... and Dave.....

-Willie

http://www.donbluthanimation.com/videos.php?showvideo=411

[Rodney]

Don,
You've mentioned before that you were inspired by comic books at a young age. I imagine it must be a thrill to see your characters and movies be adapted to the comic book format over the years (Dragon's Lair and Secret of NIMH specifically).

What has been your relationship with publishers been like over the years?
(I know Darkhorse produced two wonderful books on Animation and Storyboarding!)

Have you illustrated or written any comic books or had the desire to create them personally?

[Phrogger]

To follow up on Rodney's question, there are some animators and story artists (such as Bill Peet) that have crossed over into publishing picture books for children. Have you ever considered writing and illustrating children's books?

[OwenWelsh]

Hi Don,

Sorry I missed last weeks critique. Could you please let me know what changes to make on my animation for scene 38? I think you mentioned to make the mouth shapes smaller...

http://www.donbluthanimation.com/videos.php?showvideo=403

[OwenWelsh]

Don I was watching Rock-a-Doodle last night. How did you accomplish that opening sequence with the camera flying through the terrain and through the cornfields. Was that CG that was printed out and traced over?

[OwenWelsh]

As students in animation, once we obtain a certain proficiency, do you think we could work on one of your short films like the Happy Prince and see it through till completion? Maybe we could even bring back the Cyber Garage project and get everyone to help finish it. I feel that we will learn more by working on an actual film rather than doing just personal tests on our own. I bet if we all pull together we could make something that really shines.

[OwenWelsh]

Don I noticed that The Land Before Time and All Dogs came out within a year of each other.

1. Did you work on multiple films simultaneously?

2. How were you able to create feature films in shorter development cycles than Disney?


All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
The Land Before Time (1988)

[Richard Willimot]

Hello Don and Dave, When developing story ideas do you try to focus on one age group or try to be all things to all people?

[Richard Willimot]

Don, how to we accomplish adding "texture" to our animation is it through the spacing?

[Richard Willimot]

Do you spent alot of time sketching and working with a new character before you start to animate?

[johncbeggs]

Hello Don Hope your haveing a great day sofar! I wanted to ask you what the process you go through when coming up with a short story?
Do you just sketch characters,doodle,beggining middle and end?

The thought process that goes about before the artwork has started I guess is what Im asking :)

[OwenWelsh]

Don what are some things we should think about when we design a layout drawing for animation? I've noticed that some layout pan bgs don't really have a focal point.

[NateHorsfall]

Talking with Gary on the last day, he mentioned that when you left disney, working on Banjo and (I think) NIMH, you were easily all putting in over 80 hours a week for months at a time to get it done. So my question for you would be.. How were you able to keep up such a pace and not both- burn out, or have the quality of the work suffer? I have personally worked with that pace dozens and dozens of times, but after a few months of it, I tend to burn out or worse- start to fall apart while on the job itself.

It's been a long sought out goal to some day find a good work flow which doesn't constantly lead to burning myself out.. Though I am always pushing myself and doing too much basically all the time. Be it, for jobs, or side projects, or just personal learning. So I would love to hear how you have worked through it over the years, since even last week you said you still draw 3-4 hours a day.

Note the lack of drawings to show you this week.. that is because of the above question. I'll have more stuff next time :)

[OwenWelsh]

Don I've been watching a lot of older movies lately, especially ones with Bette Davis like; "All About Eve" and "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane." What I've noticed about these older movies is that the scene lengths are longer than today's movies and the performances are much stronger. Do you think that's because the newer generation of actor's cant remember their lines long enough for a 20 second scene? Do you think we should have longer scene cuts in our animated films? It is a little nerve racking to watch a 2 hour movie that's cut up like a music video.

[AJartist]

question deleted till i can find a link into the seminar

[Sung1]

Hi Don,

You're big on visualization. Please elaborate a little more on it. How clearly do you see your image before you put it down? Is it very clear as you draw? Or is it a fleeting image that you capture through gesture and flesh out as you draw? Thank you.

-Sung

[Rodney]

Not sure why but the link in Dave's post (top of this topic) didn't work for me.
I think it got truncated.

Posting this to provide the link to the Weekly Seminar:

Don Bluth Weekly Seminar (http://donbluthanimation.com/_Don_Bluth_Animation_live_seminar.html)


As a reminder, most viewers need to use a browser other than Internet Explorer (such as Google Chrome, etc.)

[jeremyhopkins]

Hi Don, this isn't a question but I'd like to offer you some feedback. Just wanted to say thank you for all of the advice over the past year and half. It seems to have helped with my animation process even though getting a good result is a struggle, I find the process much easier and more relaxing too. It'll take some time for me to fix all the problems created by working in television but I'm on a good track now.

Guess my question in all of this is, from your experience working in television, did you pick up any bad habits and if so, how did you over come them?

[Richard Willimot]

Looking at how rough and scribbly some animators pose drawings are I had a question. How difficult of a job is it to inbetween for someone who draws like that? Do you start to get onto their visual shorthand?

[samuelvictorjones]

Very sorry for uploading this at the last minute - home home internet connection is playing up, so only just got online at a friend's to not miss the seminar :)

Don, last week you said you liked my copy of your model sheet for Jake & asked for me to try some of my own poses. Attached is a picture of some of my favourites that I tried. Any comments would be great, thanks.

I've worked a little on improving the animation I started, I've smoothenned up the animation a lot, improved the timing, and re-drawn the frames I was unhappy with. It's still very early, but any suggestions or comments would help a lot, as its still essentially my first "proper" original animated sequence. Video link below, Many thanks

http://donbluthanimation.com/videos.php?showvideo=416

[AJartist]

still trying to get in the seminar. I tried Rodneys link, but that didn't work...tried Daves link..but that didn't work either....tried clicking on "don's club" but i still can't find my way in...does anybody else have solution?

[DaveLav]

Don,


Jump on the Animation bandwagon

[Rodney]

still trying to get in the seminar. I tried Rodneys link, but that didn't work...tried Daves link..but that didn't work either....tried clicking on "don's club" but i still can't find my way in...does anybody else have solution?

AJ,
Did you ever figure out what the problem was? Wrong browser? Bad connection?

[tk421]

Question from Dave Lavigne:

Don,

I skipped the Master Class this Summer because I feel my Drawing is not up to par to start Animating yet. I also skipped the Online Workshop for the same exact reason.

Will I know if my Drawing is up to snuff or am I being too paranoid? I do not know when I should jump on the Animating bandwagon~
Dave,

It's 2K. I'm in the same boat. I'm glad you asked that question because I signed up for the Workshop and my assignment is due tomorrow and I'm terrified to even start!!! t's good to know that I;m not the only one thinking this!

Good luck and let's rock!

Erikk