Long Time, No Post!

So I've been neglecting the blog for quite some time… maybe it's time to dust it off?  We'll see.  For now, here's a quick update:

Over the past 3+ years, I've been working with various animation studios, mostly Duncan Studio and Sprite Animation.  Most recently, I was hired at DreamWorks Animation.  I feel very blessed to have worked at each of these places!

Also, below are some samples of my work at DreamWorks.  In each of these, I did a combination of animating and editing mocap data to bring these characters to life.  Enjoy!

"Panda Do's and Panda Don'ts"
(worked on the entire episode)


"Ultimate Slap Fight"
(worked on 0:23 - 0:39)


"Po's Pop Quiz"
(worked on the entire episode)


"Po's Funniest Faces"
(worked on the start - 0:28)


"Awesome New Catchphrase"
(worked on the start - 0:29)


"Shrek's Most Amazing Story"
(worked on 0:41 - 1:10)


"Cat Gets the Hiccups"
(worked on 0:31 - 0:59)

Animating a Villain

Hey all! I've been on a definite hiatus from posting on here; hopefully I'll post more on this later! The past couple jobs I've worked on still have projects in production, so I can't show the work for them just yet. In the meantime, I've cooked up something to keep my reel current. For the most part it's done, other than adding a mirror smash sound effect & animating a few glass shards in the 3rd shot. Enjoy!

Long Time, No Post!

Wow! Long time, no post it seems. Part of the absence was due to the nature of the work I was involved in, primarily being two currently-in-progress group films. Also, I recently got a job (woo-hoo!) creating character animation at a video game studio, Wayforward Technologies. So one could argue I've been distracted with work more-or-less (though not without lazy periods spent playing sporcle.com quizzes or Super Mario Galaxy 2).

Anyways, I do have some work to post soon. Below is a teaser shot (with fancy letterbox) of a new animation I'm working on, hopefully to be ready for this month's 11 second club competition (check it out here). More to come -- enjoy in the meantime!

(Bishop & Murdock rigs courtesy of AnimationMentor.com; backpack prop courtesy of TurboSquid.com)

The Monitor -- Concept

Hey all!

Below is the cutout concept art for a new superzero: "The Monitor"! The name is tentative for now (other possibilities include "Goanna" and "Komodo"). The character is based off of yet another friend of mine. When asked what makes her unique, she mentioned quite a wide variety: her seemingly allergic reactions to cold weather; incredibly tall height; willingness to eat almost anything; and a former skill at climbing (as a child). Turns out that these traits are roughly similar to those of the Komodo Dragon, the largest monitor lizard in the world. Interestingly as well, my friend really likes lizards. It all tied together so well that I ran with it. Enjoy!

Another Attempt at the Ruby

Back in the late summer of '09, I created several physical acting shots involving a Viking for Animation Mentor (check out the 3rd shot here). Now that I'm in the Polishing and Portfolio class, the time has come to revisit and amp up these shots. Here's the latest version of the 3rd shot in the sequence, with parts 1 and 2 coming later:

"Driver's Test" - Final

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the final (at least for now) pass of my dialogue scene for Animation Mentor. Enjoy! I had a lot of fun making this : )

"Driver's Test" - Polishing Pass

It's that time again! Here's the latest update on my dialogue assignment for AM. I've tried to push the performance further from last time. It still requires cleaning, and I'm considering adding a head shake in the teen when he says "four" (to show off that youthful attitude). Hope you enjoy!

"Driver's Test" - Refining Pass

As the heading describes, this is the refining pass for my latest scene. I improved on some of the problems in the previous version, though there are still some more bugs to work through (i.e. Old Man popping in scene 3 and 4; kid could use some more work at the end). Enjoy!

"Driver's Test" - Blocking Plus Complete

Here's an update on my dialogue shot for AM! On the plus side: the young guy is pushed more in terms of personality; now rather than just bored (& then suddenly shocked at the end), he's got a bit of teen angst to him. And the rest of the shots are now in the splining pass. Still needs work: namely, cleaning up curves in general; getting the old man to be less jerky / zippy in shot #2; adding more character to the young guy in shot 3 and 4; and pushing the rough mouth poses on the old man further. More to come soon; enjoy!

"Driver's Test" - Shot 1 Blocking Plus

Here's an update for my dialogue scene for AM. Shot 1 is now in the blocking plus / splining pass, and I've revised the blocking for shots 2, 3, and 4. It's coming along! Enjoy.