Wednesday July 21st 2010

[lavallelee]

We are starting this thread early to give members a chance to upload any video or images they want critiqued in June 30th seminar. The best format for video clips is .MOV files (MPEG-4 Quicktime videos).
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 July 20th, 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.

[madanimator]

Hi Don! Last week I was at the zoo and made some drawings. Here I show you some of them. It is always said that animators should go to the zoo.. is it because you have to learn to observe, and to draw fast? Could you tell us why you think animators should go to the zoo to draw the animals?

http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/xx208/madanimator/IMG_0001.jpg
http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/xx208/madanimator/IMG_0002.jpg

[madanimator]

When I travelled with the train, I drew in my sketchbook and created some new creatures. When I did a 3week internship at a studio they told me to invent some new creatures as it would be a good excercise to be creative. What are your thoughts about that?
http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/xx208/madanimator/IMG_0003.jpg
http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/xx208/madanimator/IMG_0004.jpg

[Donomator]

Hello Don. I finally decided to do some more drawing. I did two from your "Draw As You Please" DVD, and I also drew two characters from the recently released "Despicable Me" film. Here they are:
<object width="450" height="509"><param name="movie" value="http://backend.deviantart.com/embed/view.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value="id=170810778&width=1337" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://backend.deviantart.com/embed/view.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" flashvars="id=170810778&width=1337" height="509" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/170810778/">Dirk the Daring</a> by ~<a class="u" href="http://donomator.deviantart.com/">Donomator</a> on <a href="http://www.deviantart.com">deviant</a><a href="http://www.deviantart.com">ART</a>

<object width="450" height="518"><param name="movie" value="http://backend.deviantart.com/embed/view.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value="id=170811290&width=1337" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://backend.deviantart.com/embed/view.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" flashvars="id=170811290&width=1337" height="518" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/170811290/">Jabberwocky</a> by ~<a class="u" href="http://donomator.deviantart.com/">Donomator</a> on <a href="http://www.deviantart.com">deviant</a><a href="http://www.deviantart.com">ART</a>

<object width="450" height="699"><param name="movie" value="http://backend.deviantart.com/embed/view.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value="id=170888466&width=1337" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://backend.deviantart.com/embed/view.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" flashvars="id=170888466&width=1337" height="699" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/170888466/">Despicable Gru</a> by ~<a class="u" href="http://donomator.deviantart.com/">Donomator</a> on <a href="http://www.deviantart.com">deviant</a><a href="http://www.deviantart.com">ART</a>

<object width="450" height="684"><param name="movie" value="http://backend.deviantart.com/embed/view.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value="id=171000423&width=1337" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://backend.deviantart.com/embed/view.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" flashvars="id=171000423&width=1337" height="684" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/171000423/">Not-So-Despicable Agnes</a> by ~<a class="u" href="http://donomator.deviantart.com/">Donomator</a> on <a href="http://www.deviantart.com">deviant</a><a href="http://www.deviantart.com">ART</a>

You will have to download these images from DeviantArt, where I originally posted these images. I had trouble posting these images.

[WillW]

Hi Don, I've been developing ideas for an animated short film and created this little test animation to see how well the characters work so far.

http://www.donbluthanimation.com/videos.php?showvideo=392

The fox is practicing some combat moves but is interrupted by the dragon who wants to join in.

[Richard Willimot]

Hello Don and Dave: After Don's comments I went back and did a redesign on my frog character. Could you please offer some advice on this version I plan on animating him.
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/pengy300/frog_redisign002.jpg

[Richard Willimot]

Don, my partner and I are currently in very early preproduction on a short about different periods in the American civil rights movement. We have been trying to work out character styles. This young girl is going to be a common thread in all the stories, here she is from the time of slavery. We are trying to come up with a unique style for the piece could you please offer some suggestions on how we could achieve this.

http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/pengy300/littlegirl_rough003.jpg

http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/pengy300/littlegirl_roughpaint2.jpg

[joedorsey]

I'm starting an animation study from Robin Hood. Here's my first frame of Otto getting some gold from Friar Tuck. Any input would be great!

http://donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=243&pictureid=1126

[arif]

Hello Sir...

how much did you enjoy the first ever masterclasses with completely new artists?? ..did you see any rapid development after the 5 days workshop.?? Do you have any plan to held this workshop outside of America?

Regards,
Arif.

[arif]

Hello Sir,

If i get only 1 minute for quick drawing....then what would be the main focus of my drawings ....to capture the rhythm of the figure or to capture her feelings??..how did you do that?

Regards,
Arif.

[ericaanimation]

Here is a drawing I did of Prince John while wacthing Robin Hood with no pauses or rewinds as suggested last seminar.

<a href="http://s993.photobucket.com/albums/af59/ericaanimation_art/NewDrawings/?action=view&current=PrinceJohn.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af59/ericaanimation_art/NewDrawings/PrinceJohn.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Here is a character of pelican.

<a href="http://s993.photobucket.com/albums/af59/ericaanimation_art/NewDrawings/?action=view&current=Pelican.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af59/ericaanimation_art/NewDrawings/Pelican.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Erica

[Seth]

Hello Don,

I created this animation of the bouncing ball but I wanted to make it look as if it was coming towards the viewer. Do you see anything that I could do to improve it? Sorry about the terrible quality, my scanner stinks.

http://www.donbluthanimation.com/videos.php?showvideo=395

Thanks.

[Seth]

Don,

How would you make an animal look as if it were middle aged? About 30 to 40 years old? I want people to look at the character and instantly read her as a mother figure. But she always looks too young or much older than she should be.

Thanks.

[Seth]

Don,

Being Naive I wrote a script for an animation that was an hour long, but after going to the Master Class I realized it would take me years to animate it by myself. I tried rewriting the story so it would fit into 15 minutes, but now I feel the story just isn't as intersting. Is there something I can do to make it still work, or should I just put it aside for now?

Thank you!

[OwenWelsh]

Hi Don,

I hope you are well. Thanks for taking the time to do the draw overs for me on scene 38 at the masterclass. It was truly amazing to watch. I know you always say to draw simple shapes, but I obviously didn't quite understand that until I saw you approached it. I think the action is more clear now... but I think the acting could be better. Do you think its over acted? Please be critical of this. I'd rather not go to inbetweens until I get this scene right.

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

[arif]

Are these drawings look loose with emotional ???

http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/arifnbd/kk.jpg

http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/arifnbd/pp.jpg

http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/arifnbd/Untitled-11.jpg

http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/arifnbd/pp1.jpg

[arif]

What is the meaning of Gesture drawing??..how different is that from normal approach of drawing??

Thank you.
Arif:o

[madanimator]

Hi Don! I practised the design of Mickey Mouse in the last week, because I have a short scene in my short film where I have to animate him. I also did 2 short animations as exercises to get more comfortable with his design and how to animate him.
http://donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=246&pictureid=1133

http://www.donbluthanimation.com/videos.php?showvideo=400

http://www.donbluthanimation.com/videos.php?showvideo=402

What suggestions about how to draw and animate Mickey would you have?

[Richard Willimot]

I'm continuing to work on character designs for my short idea. Here is the next incarnation of the little girl and this time she has a friend.
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/pengy300/girlbird.jpg
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/pengy300/freebird001.jpg

[Moneyguns]

Can you show us how to draw the different emotions that show up in the eyes?
Thank you
-Sam Garn-

[lavallelee]

Doing some study, this time paused "The Rescuers" and drew what i saw.

http://4mchan.org/Forum/gallery/2_20_07_10_4_50_30.gif

You were a Directing Animator on "The Rescuers", I am curious of the job duties of a Directing Animator?

[Phrogger]

Hi Don,

Were character maquettes ever made for any of your films? Besides using a maquette, can you suggest another technique for visualizing a character from different angles?

-Meredith Randazzo

[SpiralEFX]

Don... Here drawing of Volcano i did... i want to try my hand at animating it. I figure it would be on different levels... Smoke, Lava & Erupting rocks. How does one know which to do first? does it matter?

http://4mchan.org/Forum/gallery/417_21_07_10_12_56_30.jpeg

[AJartist]

Hello, DOn

I did these gesture sketches concentrating soley on form, because thats what you said some of my animation was lacking in. Looking at these drawings, have I improved a bit in that area?


http://donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=221&pictureid=1129



http://donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=221&pictureid=1131

(2nd part of the question) One of the reasons I do observational sketching is because Glen Keane says it will make you a better animator...however, when I shot my first pencil test at the masterclass...my animation fell apart on the first pass. Why do you think that happened when I've been gesture sketching for 7 years now...have I wasted my time doing all those observational studies?

[Richard Willimot]

Could you talk a bit about what you looked for on someone's demo reel.

[OwenWelsh]

Animating on Beats:

1. Don thanks for drilling into our heads the idea of animating on beats. I have a few more questions on this subject. If you have a dialogue track is it still possible to animate on beats of the metronome or do you focus on the highs and lows in the dialogue track? Is the general rule to animate on beats when you have no dialogue to hinge your animation on?

2. If we are animating to a a piece of music is it better to animate to the beats or to the melody / lyrics if it has vocals.

[DaveLav]

Hi Don! Dave here once again to pose a problem that is plaguing me with my drawings. I recall once in your video's, you mentioned that Mouths were a little difficult to draw.

I am having a real probem with them. Not so much drawing lips, but expression's. Can you possibly show how you would draw successful and different styles of expressions from the Mouth?

Thanks very much!

[johncbeggs]

Hello Don , hows your day going? Its been a long time but I am definately still here learning! I would like to ask you if you could demonstraight what a single rough animated key-frame for a human body should look like? - like how much details and how rough!

thankyou that would be amazing!

Ill be at one of those masterclasses! hopefully more!

[samuelvictorjones]

Hi Don. You mentioned before us watching a film as a child with our parents in a cinema, then growing up & watching the same film with our own kids. I liked the thought & orderred a load of dvds, including several of your films that I watched myself as a child & enjoyed.

The first to turn up was "All Dogs Go To Heaven" & I am happy to report that I watched it with my 10 year old son & 7 year old daughter, & we all enjoyed it thoroughly. It was a lovely moment. I have a couple of questions, one technical & one stylistic.

One thing I noticed about the DVD transfer was that it was full screen rather than in a widescreen format. Previously I'd only watched films from that era on VHS, most of which were cropped pictures to fit the old style 4:3 frame. I was expecting the picture on the DVD to be a widescreen ratio as I remember it being in the cinema where I first watched it. However the more I watched the film, I noticed that everything including the text was framed perfectly, and I could see no obvious cropping.

My question therefore is was the film actually drawn & animated in Academy Standard ratio, and then actually cropped in the cinema to provide a widescreen picture? (meaning that less of the backgrounds & some animation was present in the cinema?) If so, I'm interested if that was normal at the time for animated films which would have a large market on VHS release & 4:3 TV syndication, especially as our Little Mermaid DVD is in a widescreen format & I remember the film coming out around the same time.

Second more stylistic question if there's time please: I really enjoyed the animation of "All Dogs Go to Heaven" & was specifically impressed with some of the more complicated camera moves or turning of animated items in 3d space, (for example the car being lifted by the crane) being hand drawn frame by frame rather than using computer rendering. I also remember the train in An American Tail being beautifully hand drawn. Whilst I personally enjoyed Disney's Little Mermain, Beauty & the Beast & Aladdin, even as a child I remember thinking that the CG animation stylistically stuck out like a sore thumb. Shows like Futurama & Family Guy often use cell shading to more convincingly "fake" the flat colouring, but I still prefer to see each separate drawing. Somehow, in my opinion it has more "soul". Whilst of course CG can be very beautiful, do you prefer to stick to a fully hand drawn style where possible?

[Richard Willimot]

Don, in your process when do you add the lipsync?

[ericaanimation]

When animating what are some points to keep a since of consistent weight in the drawings?

Erica

[Seth]

Thanks so much Don and Dave for another great Seminar!