Introduction to Character Design

 

In this short video I talk briefly about the basics of character design, how to start with simple basic shapes and work out from there, developing your characters personalities from very simple beginnings.  Character design is very much about contrasts - making characters feel different, and look different - with contrasting personalities. 

Animate a Neon Sign in Maya - Free Tutorial

In this free tutorial we show how to animate a flickering neon sign in Maya. The idea is to create a personal logo for your demo reel, something that has more style and invention than a simple title card. 

Start by creating a logo for your animation reel, then import the logo into Maya, and use the technique described above to turn your logo into neon letters. Next animate the letters, render it, and create a movie file for your demo reel. 

Why Animators Need to Be Art Directors

Sometimes, animators need to be art directors. When working on an animated scene, animators need to consider the environment the character is inhabiting.  

One of the most common mistakes made by student animators is to combine a realistic character (say, a dinosaur or dragon) with a cartoony environment. The character and the set come from different worlds, and they don't always work well together.

Colour Scripts and Colour Theory for Animators

Finding Nemo Colour Script.

Colour Scripts are an important part of the animation process; they allow the director to get a feel for what the movie will look like, long before the animation and lighting is complete.

Colour Scripts form an important part of the development of a short film, and since our students at Animation Apprentice are film-makers as well as animators, it's important to understand what colour scripts are for.

Considered Character Design by Steve Sole

"Coffee Guy" by Natalya Ropotova

Steve Sole, character designer from Tiger Aspect Productions' “Mr Bean” offers his thoughts on the importance of making a considered approach to the art of character design.

Character design isn't just about creating cool characters. It is very much a client-facing process in which designers work together with art directors and directors to create characters that work in the overall content of a production.

The key to success, Steve argues, is to take the time to consider the process carefully.  In this guest post, Steve explains the principles behind "Considered Character Design".

Design (and Animate) Like a Rockstar

Eugene Riecansky, founder and CEO of Rockstar, a motion graphics company based in Norwich, East Anglia, gave a superb talk at the recent BlueGFX Expo in London titled "How to Design like a Rockstar". 

It was an excellent talk because it brought to life the extraordinarily fast-paced nature of doing video work for clients, working to insane deadlines to create unique video content for bands doing live gigs and performances.

Pixar Colour Scripts

Finding Nemo Colour Script.

Colour Scripts are an important part of the animation process; they allow the director to get a feel for what the movie will look like, long before the animation and lighting is complete.

Sequence by sequence, and even shot by shot, colour stylists (i.e. painters) plan the mood and look of the film as part of the pre-production process.

To see the master designers at Pixar at work, follow this link to view the actual colour scripts used on hits like Finding Nemo.

Character Design Challenge!

Character Design Challenge!

Why not polish your design skills by entering the monthly Character Design Challenge?

It's a bit like the Eleven Second Club, but for character designers. The group started up in January 2015 and it already has over twenty five thousand members.

This month's design challenge is .....Harry Potter! So what are you waiting for? Let's get designing!

Why Not Enter The January 2016 Character Design Challenge?

Character Design Challenge!

Many animators enjoy designing (and possibly even modelling and rigging) their own characters.

So why not polish your design skills by entering the monthly Character Design Challenge?

It's a bit like the Eleven Second Club, but for character designers. The group only started up in January 2015 and it already has an astonishing twenty five thousand members.

This month's design challenge is .....Roller Derby! So what are you waiting for? Let's get designing!

Jim Van Der Keyl Talks About His Career in Caricatures

Jim Van Der Keyl is a caricaturist and animator who has worked on many of the biggest animated hits from DreamWorks in recent years, including Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda2, Flushed Away, and Over the Hedge. In 1999 he was nominated for an Annie award for his animation on Brad Bird's masterpiece  The Iron Giant. He also writes books and DVDs on the art of caricature - truly a renaissance animator. We asked him to reveal the secrets of the craft - how does an animator become a great caricaturist?

Brad Bird and the Magic Circle

The Iron Giant

Many years ago I worked on The Iron Giant, a wonderful film and a priceless opportunity to work with one of the very best animation directors - the legendary Brad Bird.

I learned a great deal from him both as a director and an animator.  Brad's style of directing was always clear; he always knew what he wanted, and how to communicate it to the animators.

One of the cleanest and most useful concepts I learned from him was the importance of "The Magic Circle" - a simple rule of composition, and the animator's best friend in a tight spot. Here is how it works.

How to Create a Great Animation Pitch

Learning to pitch is an important skill for any artist. Sooner or later you will be called on to persuade a client that you have a great idea to sell their product, or perhaps try to sell your own idea for a TV series or feature film to a network or production company. Either way, you're going to need to learn how to pitch your ideas. Pitching is not just about standing up and delivering a persuasive summary of your awesome idea, it's also about what should go into it in the first place. How much character work and design do you need to do? How well thought out does your story need to be?  In this excellent blog post, Disney designer Chris Oatley explains what goes into a great animation pitch and bible.

Student RSA Design Awards Now Live

The RSA Student Design Awards (SDAs) is a curriculum and competition that challenges student designers to tackle design briefs focused around pressing real-world issues. They have eight briefs this year – each is focused around a different social, environmental or economic issue, and this year the challenges range from designing sustainable toys to designing ways of connecting people to their heritage. For the first time in recent history they are launching an animation brief titled ‘Moving Pictures’, which provides two exclusive audio files from the RSA Events programme, and asks students to produce an accompanying animation to energise and illuminate the content.

Animation Apprentice founder Alex Williams talks about his work on Harry Potter

Animation Apprentice founder Alex Williams worked on the last three Harry Potter films, while employed at the London VFX house Cinesite, in London's Soho. We asked him to talk about what he did on this very popular films series which help to transform the scale and quality of visual effects work being done here in the UK.

Winston Churchill Design Competition - £1,000 cash prize

The Winston Churchill Design Competition has just been launched. The annual competition, delivered by Pentland Group PLC in partnership with The Churchill Centre and ARTS THREAD, seeks to encourage and uncover upcoming talent, who will create a unique piece of artwork that captures Winston Churchill's essence, making his life and work relevant for a modern audience.