Exercise 1: You're the Director

[Rodney]

Congrats Ronn. Your post just happens to be the 5000th view of the current TAoA:M cycle.

 

Its great to have you with us!

[Nyteshalo]

Just got my copy of the Yeti version, and seeing as this is the first and only animation program I've ever used, I have a lot to learn to cach up to everyone. Decided to add my own version by having him give a wink and 2 thumbs up.

 

Name: John Lemieux

 

Exercise Completed: Exercise 1

 

Date: 4\30\2006

 

Insructor: Manual

 

(Edited: Resized as requested )

 

 

 

[attachmentid=16441]

[Rodney]

Decided to add my own version by having him give a wink and 2 thumbs up.

 

John,

Outstanding personalization. I like!

You are well on your way.

 

I don't suppose you would be willing to render that again with the camera zoomed in just a little bit more?

Or rendered to higher quality?

 

For the camera focal length just Right Click on the camera and adjust the Focal Length.

For the render resolution you can adjust the value in the render options panel. You probably now this stuff already but some may not know. More info about the process on request.

 

Just in case it comes up... Keekats foot 'problem' is a known issue.

Seeing it has kind of grown on me and I see it as one of Keekat's personal quirks.

Keekat has really got personality... and you've helped it show though.

 

I keep meaning to return to this but some might find the information therein interesting if they haven't seen it:

 

Keekat Character Study

[Nyteshalo]

Corrections made. As for KeeKat's personality, he just seems to me to be the laid back easy going confident kind by the way he's modeled.

[Rodney]

Corrections made.

 

Thanks!

[SapphireAnimation]

Name: Christopher Harris

 

Exercises Completed: Exercise 1: You're the Director

 

Date Completed: May 8th 2006

 

Instructor: Just the book

 

Remarks/Suggestions for Improvement: I didn't do anything special, but mainly because it was 2:00 AM and my mom was about to kill me for being awake.

[Rodney]

You are off and running Christopher!

 

I didn't do anything special, but mainly because it was 2:00 AM and my mom was about to kill me for being awake

.

 

Always listen to Mom.* Besides, it is a lot harder to animate if dead.

 

 

*My wife requires me to say that.

[SapphireAnimation]

There are three parts to the The Art of Animation Master thing. One of them is modeling. Do I have to complete all of the sections or just the first section (that has to do with animation) to be considered for TWO?

[Rodney]

To get the TAoA:M certificate you must complete all three sections.

 

You can get a waiver of section II for completing sections I and III.

It is a certificate of sorts... a letter.

 

One other person has went that route as I recall.

[SapphireAnimation]

So, if I skip section II, can I still "try out" for TWO?

[Rodney]

So, if I skip section II, can I still "try out" for TWO?

 

Well... technically you can try out for TWO without doing any exercise.

I don't recommend that approach however.

[SapphireAnimation]

I'm still gonna try and do the exercises, but how, if I chose to, would I go about "trying out" for TWO?

[Rodney]

Locate and then stalk the Animation Directors.

 

Show them your character animation.

Demonstrate your talent and versatility.

Let them see your breadth of experience.

Convince them you can finish what you start.

 

TAoA:M and ABC are designed to do this too. (minus the stalking part)

[TeresaNord]

Well... technically you can try out for TWO without doing any exercise.

I don't recommend that approach however.

Here's a personal testimonial about that,

I have yet to complete my exercises... I want to though, and I will, but right now I'm working on TWO and trying to learn what the heck I'm doing at the same time. I definitely recommend doing all of the exercises first though. I'm kinda struggling because I'm so new to the software and not very good with it yet. I really wish I had all the exercises under my belt right now. I do however have some major ones done, like the doors stuck and it's a pitch. It's really hard though, because I get so excited about wanting to help contribute to the movie, but my ability is limiting what I can do. I love the TWO project and I love animating, but I just don't have a very strong background,... Yet... I will someday. This movie is a great learning experience for me, but it's a big learning curve all at once.

 

Anywho, this is coming from a TWO contributor who hasn't done all the exercises yet, and who would definitely recommend getting them out of the way first. It would be extremely helpful.

 

Although, it is possible to jump in without them, I guess, because I'm living proof of that... And it is pretty exciting to be working on a movie. So I can understand wanting to start working on it right away. I just wish I knew how to use the program better.

[Rodney]

(A little more information/commentary for those interested)

 

If you are working on TAoA:M and/or ABC (Bootcamp) you are automatically eligible for involvement in TWO. That only makes sense to me. Prime assignments are reportedly reserved for those that have completed TAoA:M and Bootcamp or have effectively demonstrated a mastery of the same.

 

Certification

Not to sound harsh or discourage animators but TAoA:M and ABC cover only the basics.

 

Certification is the preferred means to demonstrate (to Animation Directors) a thorough knowledge of the basic A:M interface and workflow, a basic understanding of the models you will be working with and familiarity with the primary technical aspects required to produce a film of any length in Animation:Master.

 

If an animator cannot complete TAoA:M its unlikely they can complete the tasks they'll be given in TWO.

This doesn't mean you can't work on TWO (thats really easy!) and it certainly won't keep you from making successful personal projects. Mastering your craft... and the tools of the trade begins with TAoA:M and ABC.

 

Getting a certificate doesn't guarantee anything but it does set you up for success in TWO and ultimately in your own projects too. TAoA:M isn't exactly easy. Those who complete TAoA:M should be justifiably proud.

 

Waiver Authority

Not all shortcuts are worth taking to get to the destination as you rarely get to travel the original road again.

Still, sometimes the shortcut is an acceptable path. No matter how you approach it; animation is hard work.

 

While I've not seen an official waiver authority mentioned concerning TWO participaton it must ultimately fall with the Art and Animation Directors. They can select artists and animators as they see fit.

There is only one official way to guarantee your involvement with TWO; get certified and complete Animation Bootcamp. If you do this TWO is yours.

 

To push you toward what I think is a really great opportunity I'll waiver TAoA:M Part II but I don't recommend it. A waiver cannot replace the experience you would have gained in the time spent learning all the basic aspects of A:M. In other words, you may never be a modeler but you'll have to work with them to be a successful animator.

 

Certainly there are those that have mastered the art of animation with Animation:Master that don't need to complete TAoA:M or ABC. They can however demonstrate the basic skills found in those two programs. There is a reason Hash Inc has invested as much time in them as they have. They work!

 

The road ahead

I've taken a personal interest in TAoA:M and I've seen how it leads to success. I'm less familiar with ABC but it most definitely charts the path animators need to be successful. If I have anything to do with it you'll see TAoA:M and ABC become more integrated in the future to address the needs of aspiring animators. We are always in need of good critiques from seasoned animators, modelers and artists. We appreciate everyone who makes the effort to help aspiring artist meet their goals.

 

TWO isn't the only game in town either!

There are always a variety of projects that need good talent to be found in the A:M Community.

 

Input and commentary always appreciated!

[Jeetman]

OK as promised I'm going to try to attach my finished animation of the "Your the Director" and animating the "POSE"

 

let me know what you think?

 

 

Jeetman

Pose.mov

[Jeetman]

Oh I have the jpg too to show the dynamic pose

 

Jeetman

 

 

Make sure to check out the mov version I posted just before this one.

 

Name on certificate: George Dugas

 

Exercise completed: Exercise 1

 

date completed: 05/17/2006

 

Instructor: Self-taught through the writtings, knowledge and lessons of David Rogers, Jeff Lew, William Sutton and a whole lot of other proficient AM users.

 

Comments: I have to be honest. I couldn't use the slide pose to create this animation. Everytime I did, the first part of the animation would be modified to include the "arms out" position that I clearly didn't want. I created the last dynamic pose by studing the position (of the dynamic pose) from another opened action window and recreating the position as closly as possible. By doing this I was able to make the smooth transition from the resting pose to the dynamic one shown in the mov file.

 

Question, is there a way to prevent the "airplane / arms out" position to creep in and blend with just the end pose? It would have saved me a bit of time LOL.

[Floater]

Oh I have the jpg too to show the dynamic pose

 

Jeetman

 

 

Make sure to check out the mov version I posted just before this one.

 

Name on certificate: George Dugas

 

Exercise completed: Exercise 1

 

date completed: 05/17/2006

 

Instructor: Self-taught through the writtings, knowledge and lessons of David Rogers, Jeff Lew, William Sutton and a whole lot of other proficient AM users.

 

Comments: I have to be honest. I couldn't use the slide pose to create this animation. Everytime I did, the first part of the animation would be modified to include the "arms out" position that I clearly didn't want. I created the last dynamic pose by studing the position (of the dynamic pose) from another opened action window and recreating the position as closly as possible. By doing this I was able to make the smooth transition from the resting pose to the dynamic one shown in the mov file.

 

Question, is there a way to prevent the "airplane / arms out" position to creep in and blend with just the end pose? It would have saved me a bit of time LOL.

 

 

 

 

Very nice Jeetman!

 

I like how you dropped keyKat on the stage with the spotlight affect. Mine, no quiet so exciting:

 

Hello Everyone!

 

I recently purchased Animation Master after seeing it demonstrated by the fabulous James Hash. The robustness of A:M blew my mind.

 

 

Name: Cole Cash

 

Exercise completed: Exercise 1

 

date completed: 05/22/2006

 

Instructor: Tao:AM

 

Comments: The tutorial was simple yet you learn a great deal about the navigation tools. Every time that I dropped KeyKat into the Chor his left right foot seemed to be twisted. I tried to drop him into the chor several times and even re-installed A:M. I finally solved the problem by rotating the (I believe) null.

On to exercise 2!

[Jeetman]

Hello Floater,

 

Thanks for the kind words and welcome aboard!! I've had A:M for about 3-4 years now but I've been really learning the program in depth over the last 3-6 months.

 

Your pose looks great and good job in fixing the foot

 

 

this forum is a great place to get questions answered and learn from previous posts. See you in the chat room.

 

Jeetman

[the_black_mage]

wow i gotta admit jeet godd job .

one question...how long did it take 0_^.

[Jeetman]

one question...how long did it take

 

 

Thanks black_mage, I appreciate the compliment

 

To do the animation, took a while but only because I was trying to figure out how to go from the resting pose I created to the dynamic pose using the slider. It kept going back to the "arms out position". I finally gave up and basically posed the dynamic pose manually. That took about 30 mins to an hour to get as close to the exact pose as is done with the slider. I used a second window of the character in the "slide pose" dynamic pose to use as a reference.

 

Once I had the animation the way I liked it, I added the stage and lights which took about another 30 minutes to get the scene to look the way I wanted it.

 

I created the text in my paint program (paintshop pro) and decaled a basic plane and used the cookie cutter so it would have just the text. I then made it transparent and added 2 constraints (orient like and translate to). I set the transparency in the beginning and animated the transparency properties so by the last frame the transparency was set to 0. I also set the ambience to 100 and glow to on.

 

all this took about 45 mins. to an hour.

 

added a camera on a path, adjusted the ease so it would ease into position took about 5-10 mins.

 

total time (after giving up on using the slider) about 2-2.5 hours.

 

Jeetman

[the_black_mage]

nice,i wasn't shure if you used a path for the camera or not,i figured that though. good job!

[Wolf]

Name : David Darrah

 

Exercise Completed: Exercise 1

 

Date Completed : 6/5/06

 

[attachmentid=17245]

[Leo73]

Excellent David. I like the way you added stuff to make more of a scene. Keep up the good work.

[always_a_kid]

Hey everybody! This is my first post ever. I've never been on any sort of forum before. I've had Animation Master for about six months now, and I'm just starting to get into it now that I have time.

 

Name: Always A Kid

 

Exercise completed: Exercise 1

 

Date completed: 6/15/06

 

Instructor: TAoA:M

 

Comments: I may be a little late and I know it's not done exactly as the book says, but I think I got the main idea. This exercise may seem simple, but I have learned a lot from it and have begun to really enjoy using Animation Master.

 

[attachmentid=17565]

[Leo73]

Great job on the exercise and welcome to the community. The tutorials aren't sent in stone, so feel free to put your own twist on them. That's what makes animation fun, taking something and making it new and inspiring.

 

Keep up the good work

[the_black_mage]

good, dosn't matter how you do it BE CREATIVE!!!!

[Rodney]

L. E.,

Great way to make an entrance. Bravo!

I can see by your ability to light the scene, set the mood and pose your characters that you have the knack for storytelling. It looks like you've got a good grasp of A:M already too.

 

Looking forward to seeing more from you here in the forum.

[ytsorf7]

Name: Bruce Winn

 

Exercises Completed: 1

 

Date Completed: July 3, 06

 

Instructor:

 

Remarks/Suggestions for Improvement: I have had this software sitting on a shelf for longer than I care to admit, but now I have to try to get up to speed. This seems like a great way to start. I don't know why I used toon rendering. I thought I'd try it. Thanks for doing this, Rodney.

 

[attachmentid=17908]

Exercise1.mov

[Rodney]

I have had this software sitting on a shelf for longer than I care to admit, but now I have to try to get up to speed. This seems like a great way to start. I don't know why I used toon rendering. I thought I'd try it.

 

Good job Bruce.

Like you it took me an embarrassingly long time to get up to speed with A:M.

In many ways I'm still working on it.

 

You've taken the first step... now keep going.

The fact that you rendered with Toon rendering tells me you like to experiment.

Thats a good sign.

 

 

This seems like a great way to start.

 

Trust me Bruce it is.

Completing the Exercises in TAoA:M is the first step on the path to success for A:M Users.

Getting involved with other A:M Users (whether in the forum or elsewhere) is the second.

[Joe Gamblin]

Here's exercise #1. Nothing fancy added. Done on July 3rd, 2006. No instructor, just following the book.

[Leo73]

Good job Achilles. This one is kinda simple but it helps to get used to the interface. Good luck with the rest.

[Inspiro]

I'd like to participate in this certification process as motivation to actually work through all the tuturials. I've attached my image from exercise 1.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

[Robert-Jank]

Looks good.

[Neu_Type]

Well, I've been playing around for a while,

but thought it might be nice to go ahead and do this...

 

Name: James Glover

 

Exercise Completed: Exercise 1

 

Date Completed: July 20, 2006

 

[attachmentid=18570]

 

Now on to the next...

[Leo73]

Good job Neu Type. That's an interesting composition you have there.

[snowdawg]

Time to open the manual and do the tutorials.

 

Name: Dennis Wheatley

 

Exercise Completed: Exercise 1

 

 

Date Completed: July 26, 2006

 

Instructor: None / Manual and Online Video tutorial

 

Remarks/Suggestions for Improvement: Kept it simple for the first time. Having lots of fun!

[Rodney]

Time to open the manual and do the tutorials.

 

It's great to have you posting with us.

Welcome to TAoA:M.

 

Everybody... Dennis.

Dennis... Everybody.

 

[Torak]

Name: Shane O'Sullivan

 

Exercise Completed: Exercise 1

 

 

Date Completed: August 2, 2006

 

Instructor: None / Manual and Online Video tutorial

 

Remarks/Suggestions for Improvement:

 

[attachmentid=19173]

[bts0]

Name: Beth

 

Exercise Completed: Exercise 1,2,3,4 and 5

 

 

Date Completed: august 5,6 and today

 

Instructor: web guy for some parts of all the excises and the manual

 

 

Remarks/Suggestions for Improvement: At first i had trouble with the paste mirrored on take a walk but everything else was fine!

 

o also this is my first time posting so;...... hi every one!

[jpappas]

Name: Jim Pappas

 

Exercise Completed: Exercise 1

 

Date Completed: Aug. 10

 

Instructor: AM forums, tutorials

 

Remarks/Suggestions for Improvement: It was fun trying to think of different ways to show KeeKat's pose.

 

-Jim

taoam1_c.mov

[Rodney]

Jim,

That's good. Very good.

I'd say more but it would surely detract from your outstanding presentation.

 

Everyone check it out!

[LurkerAbove]

Name: Glen Clarkson

Exercise completed: 1

Date Completed 8/14/2006

 

 

 

The toon rendering is neat.

[Rodney]

Alright Glen!

 

Starting with a toon render even.

You are off to a great start.

[mawilson]

Name: Mark Wilson

 

Exercise Completed: Exercise 1: You're the Director

 

Date Completed: 12 August 06

 

Instructor: None

 

Remarks/Suggestions for Improvement: Nothing fancy here. Just straight out of the book.

[Rodney]

Nothing fancy here. Just straight out of the book.

 

Staying on spec. You've already mastered one of the most important goals.

[bts0]

[attachmentid=19769]ok here is your the directer and take a walk in one. but the walk is weird, the rabbit just keeps wanting to go backwards....lol

you_direct_and_take_a_walk.mov

[Tralfaz]

I guess the best way to learn a new software package is to start at the beginning. I tried jumping right to the door is stuck exercise, but was not real happy with the end results. So, here I go.

 

Name: Al Dinelt

Exercise Completed: Exercise 1: You're The Director

Date Completed: September 6, 2006

 

[attachmentid=20331]

[JohnnyB]

Exercise 1: You're the Director

John Bailey

September 9, 2006

 

Rodney

I've finished the series but couldn't find my first exercise so I redid it. Polished it up a bit.

 

[attachmentid=20411]

 

http://media.putfile.com/Exercise-1B-Youre-the-Director

 

JohnnyB

[newblood]

Very nice work JohnnyB