Digifest 2012

Hey Guys!

Sorry it took so long to update. A few people have been asking about how awesome Digifest was and truth be told, it was spectacular. There were industry professionals side by side with you in each conference and you could talk to them and introduce yourself.

We only went on the Thursday but it was pretty awesome. Here are some pictures of our adventure in Toronto.

NOTE:
I did not take these pictures. These were taken by the people in the captions below the images. I will be adding my own photos later (because I'm at school right now and left them at home).

@p_melodie from Twitter

@rachesguerra from Twitter

@nympsam from Instagram

@mellybaby from Instagram

(unknown from and e-mail from Digifest)

Digifest 2012 Facebook

Digifest 2012 Facebook

 

I only grabbed pictures from other people whom had taken photos of my classmates and I. If you took this photo and would like me to take it down please don't hestitate to comment here or connect with me @karenwonderswhy.

 

Anyways, the day was super awesome. I learned a lot and I hope that the other attendees had just as much fun.

 



Life Drawing - Extra Classes

For those of you who don't know, the other 3rd years and I host life drawing classes every week in room 2L13L (the 3rd year room). Last week was the first official go at it and it was great. This week we had a special treat.

Our professor Mr. Jackson was convinced to do some break dancing poses for us to draw. We got in a lot of gesture drawings out of this class and it was an amazing experience.

With his permission and permission of those participating in the class, I snapped some pictures for you all to enjoy. Make sure to come next week! We have a lot of fun and it's great to get in as much life drawing as possible.

Action Jackson shots:

WOO! Look at him go! Kudos to him for being able to hold those poses. Lets look at the drawings:

(credits: 1. Tracy Bowley, 2. Alan Bartholomew, 3. Rebecca Bond, 4. Jean-Guy Macleod, 5. Alan Bartholomew, 6. Alan Bartholomew)

Thanks to the participants:

Tracy Bowley
Alan Bartholomew
Kelsey Baxter
Rebecca Bond
Alexander Bessin
Jean-Guy Macleod
Alicia Mouck
and that other guy that left before I got his name.
(I was there too of course...haha)

And special thanks to Mr. Jackson for some killer life drawing reportage.

Here are pictures of people in the class drawing away. Thanks to everyone for participating! It was an amazing session.

Rough Character Model

So turns out I completely forgot to post this on Monday. I posted it on Facebook but forgot to post it here. Anyways, without further adieu, this is my roughed out character. She is now fully rigged (minus the facial rigging) and I can start blocking out my poses with her.

This is my character for my final year thesis animation. She's already got some edits and I will be posting those in a few days. Like I said, she's just the rough.

Time to wake up.

"If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we are not really living." - Gail Sheehy, American journalist.

Well. It's time to grow up. I need to start focussing more on my homework and assignment and stop being distracted by the people around me. They need to do the same but they'll either figure it out or fail. Either way, not my problem.

Our prof gave as a much needed lecture yesterday on being professional and that we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard if we're going to make it in the industry when we graduate next year. I feel like I've been doing a good job and she made it clear afterwards that she wasn't talking about me but it still hit home for me. I could be working a lot harder and I definitely will be.

It's time to wake up. So, from now on, I will be working hardcore. =] woo!

My character will be posted Monday as an update. Cheers!

Want to be a texture artist?

Wow.

So this super amazing texture artist with creds on Pirates of the Caribbean, X-men: First Class, and Harry Potter, has some rock solid advice for anyone interested in becoming a texture artists. Check through this page and others and gain some great tips on getting to where you want to be.

It is also beneficial for those interested in moving from Oh Canada to the Land of the Free. She gives some advice for people wanting to cross borders and it's a great insight.

Here's the link:

http://www.leighvanderbyl.com/texture-painting-faq/

Check out her work, become inspired.

OH! I forgot to mention: SHE'S TEACHING AN ONLINE CLASS! So if you've got an extra $700 American (less if Canadian) laying around it would be a great idea to sign up and learn from a master.

http://workshops.cgsociety.org/courseinfo.php?id=317

Great Advice

Yea yea I know that profs have been trying to drill it in to our brains that it's not about the software but here's another person who says the same thing. As well as a treat at the end.

Lyndon Barrois of Imagine Engine offers the same advice that I have been hearing from my professors and it's honestly just starting to hit home. They say that it's not about the software, it's about what you see. If you see the little details in the animation or the lighting or the texturing (whatever you're into) then you'll be much more valuable.

http://www.animationcareerreview.com/articles/image-engines-lyndon-barrois-offers-advice-about-animation-industry

Learning to see is something that may come naturally but for the vast majority it doesn't, there are many existing animators that are willing to give advice on how to get there.

More helpful advice comes from Brad Bird (one of my idols). Its an old interview but it's just as useful today as it was then.

http://gigaom.com/2008/04/17/pixars-brad-bird-on-fostering-innovation/

Just be open to learning anything. Don't be stuck in your own style and broaden your skills. It's an amazing world out there and no one else can do what we do.

Love it and live it.

Cheers fellow animators! Cheers.