March 2006. Redrover recently created three commercials promoting the Wal-Mart Electronics Department. I was responsible for the animation and I thought I'd share a few things about the process for anyone who may be interested. I had about 2 weeks to animate each bit. There is a lot happening in a short amount of time here. If you saw it on TV you may not have caught it all. But now, with the magic of quicktime, we can watch it over and over. #1. Video Reference - Before starting on the computer, I first recorded myself acting out the scene. I think it's important to be able to hear the actual dialogue while acting it so I played the sound though speakers and stood up and practiced the performance until I was happy with it. Then I hooked up a digital video camera and shot it. This is the boardroom at Redrover. Sadly, it is not my office. As opposed to using the footage in my viewport background, I just made a quicktime and referred to it while I was animating. Using video reference can show me things I would never have thought of, but it can also lead me down some bad paths if i'm not careful. I try to keep in mind that my timing and posing will have to be boosted way up - especially when i'm doing cartoony stuff. #2. Step keys? - I know lots of people animate on step keys. And I've heard it said many times that it's the best way to go. I have to admit, I am becoming a believer and that method worked well for me during this production. Here's the idea: Using step keys is the closest to the 2D method of animating. If you want to see a breakdown, you have to create it. When spline or linear keys are used, the computer creates its own breakdowns. Of course, we can always go back and adjust those breakdowns..BUT...and here's the thing; once we've seen those computer breakdowns, our brain has to work extra hard to decide what it should look like. Perhaps we are better off relying on ourselves to come up with, and understand each breakdown. #3. Better posing - competing angles. - A basic principle: A good pose will contain competing angles. I've always thought of it in terms of hips, chest and head but what about hands and feet? In fact, the angles that really need to compete are the ones that are most visible. These Wal-Mart characters have big heads and big hands and feet and those silouettes dominante the whole. #4. Sucking it up. - A big part of my process is asking others what they think of my work. There are a lot of talented people floating around Redrover and I make it a point to ask them to critique my stuff. **A couple times I was struggling to get a nice pose. I knew it wasn't as strong as it could be but, for some reason, I couldn't get anything I liked. Sitting on either side of me were two wise, seasoned animators/illustrators. I printed off a screen-capture of my not-so-hot pose and asked them how they might improve it. The paper was snatched, a fresh one laid over top, a blur of pencil strokes and about 60 seconds after I'd asked, I had the answer to my problems.** Here's an example: Mmmm...better. Thanks Andy! #5. The fast exit. The big cartoony exit is fun to do. Dragging behind a head or a hand can add a lot of snap to a regular exit. In this case, the robot hand was the PULL and I wanted the head and legs to drag behind. To figure out where my keys would be, I just had to follow the line of action. REDROVER CREDITS: Character Models and Rigging: Ben Pilgrim, Britton Plewis Environment Modeling & Texturing: Chris Crozier Animation: Kyle Dunlevy Lighting & Rendering: Richard Rosenman Compositing: Brad Husband Exec Producer: Danielle Araiche Producer: Irene Sousa *Thanks Greg Court for helping make my animation stronger.