Blue Zoo Summer Internships Now Open

Applications for Blue Zoo's summer internships are now open. These 6-8 week paid placements in animation, storyboarding and visual development are described by Blue Zoo as "like a real job but without the demands & expectations, allowing participants to develop and learn how a big animation studio works and real projects are run".

Thumbnailing Baloo by Frank Thomas

Continuing this weeks' theme on the making of animation thumbnails, in the video above I show how Frank Thomas thumbnailed a shot from The Jungle Book, way back in the 1960s. Frank Thomas was one of the greatest Disney animators, one of Disney's so-called "Nine Old Men" (the studio's animation elite), and the system of using thumbnail sketches to plan your animation hasn't changed a lot since then.  The trick is to create a plan for your animation so that, long before you start creating poses in Maya, you already have the shot figured out in your head.

Thumbnailing Boog from "Open Season"

Learning to thumbnail animation is one of the hardest skills for junior animators to master, especially if they are not comfortable with drawing. But being able to do rough thumbnail sketches is an important part of the animator's toolkit, and in the video above I demonstrate how I approached thumbnailing a shot I animated on "Open Season". The trick is to create a plan for your animation so that, long before you start creating poses in Maya, you already have the shot figured out in your head.

Weight Lift by Olavo Lins

One of the hardest things to achieve in 3D animation is the creation a sense of weight.  Weight is hard to simulate because our characters are just pixels - they have no intrinsic weight, so we have to create it from nothing. This means understanding how our bodies move, how the physics works, and knowing where the weight is at any given point during any given action. It's also important to create a sense of fun and entertainment around the shot, so that it isn't just a technical exercise. In this weight lift exercise above, Animation Apprentice student Olavo Lins shows how it's done.  Congratulations to Olavo on an excellent piece of work.

Why Animators Should Always Take Two Steps

One of the most common mistakes by junior animators is to animate a character taking just one step.

The reason this doesn't work only becomes clear if you try doing it. Take a single step and...guess what...you'll take a second step.

The fact is that everyone takes two steps.  Life is like a dance, we are constantly using our bodies in a one-two one-two motion. It's tempting to animate a character taking a single step because it seems to make sense. After all, so much of what we do with our bodies is automatic; done without thinking. But, if you try taking a single step, you'll quickly realise why you need a second catch-up step to maintain your balance.

The reason this matters is because, as animators, we need to make our work feel lifelike and believable. If we don't get it right, it feels weird, and the audience will notice.

Why Eye Direction Matters

Characters must look at one another

One of the most common mistakes made by junior animators (and sometimes senior ones) is to animate characters who aren't really looking at each other.

Eye direction is a tricky thing to get right, but it's vital that your characters need to engage with one another - and this means looking in the right direction, at the other character's eyes.

Free Rigging webinar Tonight at 7pm

Mike Davies - the man who rigged Smaug

Rigging Supremo Mike Davies, veteran rigger whose film credits include The Hobbit and The Minions, is hosting a free webinar on the art of rigging tonight, Thursday 8 March at 7pm.

If you're interested in learning rigging, be sure to sign up for this free webinar hosted by London's Escape Studios.

If you'd like to register (it is completely free), follow the link here to sign up.

How to Animate a Blink

Everybody blinks, a lot. But since we do it without noticing, we're not really aware of it. One of the most common mistakes made by junior animators is to forget to add blinks to their characters.

Everything Comes From The Core

Everything comes from the core

For animators, everything comes from the core. When you create motion, it should always come from the core of the character's body, usually the hips, often known as the Root Control, or COG (centre of gravity control).

When a character turns their head, you might not think this motion comes from their core, but in fact it does, and you need to make sure that the action is motivated from the character's core, else the motion will feel robotic. 

The Making of Paddington Two

One of the best animation talks at the recent VFX festival in London  was the presentation by Framestore on the making of Paddington 2.

Lead animator Liam Russell presented breakdowns of several key sequences in the film, including the excellent prison sequence, and the hyper-kinetic train sequence at the end of the movie.

He also gave some great tips on what kind of animation demo reels Framestore looks for - scroll down to the bottom to find his personal take on this always-important subject.

Why Animators Need to Show Their Work

One of the hardest skills for animation students to learn is how give and receive criticism.  We all tend to be shy about our work (especially when we are learning something new) and, when our work is criticised, that criticism can feel very personal.

Aaron Hartline Explains the Line of Action

Aaron Hartline

Pixar animator Aaron Hartline was in London last week, giving a talk at the VFX Festival in Shoreditch.

Later that day, Aaron gave a great talk at Escape Studios in Shepherd's Bush about some of the important principles of animation, including the Line of Action - a concept first developed by Disney animator Preston Blair, who published one of the first practical books on learning animation back in the 1950s.

Free Storyboard Masterclass on Feb 22nd

Francesca "Chess" Adams

On Thursday February 22nd Escape Studios in London is hosting Blue Zoo storyboard artist Francesca "Chess" Adams, who will be talking about her work as a storyboard artist on TV series such as "Digby Dragon"

Storyboarding is one of the most interesting parts of the pre-production process. It's where drawing meets storytelling.

Mini Iron Giant Reunion in London Last Week

Barry O'Donoghue, me, Mike Nguyen and Sydney Padua

Last week we had a mini Iron Giant reunion; Mike Nguyen (who animated lots of great shots of Hogarth) was visiting London from Korea, via Ireland, where he has been working with Producer Barry O'Donoghue on "Little Caribou", an independent feature film that I personally can't wait to see on the big screen.

Get Ready for March 5th Spring Class

The book all animators need

Our next class at Animation Apprentice starts on 5th March. We're excited to welcome new students on their animation journey; junior animators are still very much in demand, especially in our home town of London, and my inbox is full of requests from studios for fresh talent.

So, how to get ready for March 5th? It's always good to do a little preparation and get a bit of a head start.

Why Animators Still Need Business Cards

At the VFX Festival yesterday I found myself asking a number of my students - have you brought plenty of business cards?

Almost none had. In this digital age, you might think that business cards are a little old-fashioned, but actually, you'd be wrong.

MPC Recruiting Animators at the VFX Festival

Sara-Laila Francis of MPC

Who's at the VFX Festival this week?  Events like this are important to attend. Yes, the talks are interesting, but one of the most important reasons for turning up to an event like this is the chance to meet talent recruiters from animation and VFX houses.

MPC's Sara-Laila Francis was there yesterday, talking to students and graduates about opportunities with MPC, one of London's leading VFX houses.

Great Free Maya Rigs at Thinking Animation

Thinking Animation is a great source of free animation rigs, including some really fun fan-made resources so that animators can work on characters like Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy or even Elsa from Frozen.

The website, which describes itself as "an online animation portal, blog and learning resource where animators can inspire, share, and study" also has a lot of super useful resources, such as tips on finding work, and some free lessons too.

Some of the rigs you can find elsewhere at sites such as animationbuffet, but others are more or less unique to this site.

Steve Woodhouse Animator at Sister Pictures

Congratulations to Animation Apprentice graduate Steve Woodhouse, who has landed a position as a creature animator at Sister Pictures, an independent television production company based in Clerkenwell, London.

To see more of Steve's excellent animation, and the strong demo reel he developed at Animation Apprentice, visit his Vimeo channel here.

Online MA in 3D Animation - New Course Video

Here's an updated course video for our Online MA in 3D Animation, explaining what's in the course and what makes it so unique. In a nutshell, it's the world's first online MA in Animation - a practical course which teaches both the practice and theory of 3D Animation, developed in partnership with Buckinghamshire New University. We are currently welcoming applications, and to apply for your place, just follow this link.

Dominic Rayner Animator at Operator's Creative

Operator's Creative, Old St, London

Many congratulation to Animation Apprentice graduate Dominic Rayner who has just started a job as an animator with The Operator's Creative, a creative agency based in London near Old Street. 

Prior to that, Dominic worked as a character animator at Lipsync Post, on a new feature film combining animated creatures with live action footage. 

To see more of Dominic' work, including his demo reel, follow this link.