Hi everyone!

I just wanted to kick this off by saying hello and that I'm honored and excited to be doing this.  I think it'll be a lot of fun.  Feel free to throw any questions you have at me, and I'll answer them as best I can.

I'll check the forum as often as I can during the day, but I'll probably be replying mostly at night (after work).  Obviously it goes without saying that there are things I won't be able to talk about (Star Wars 3, proprietary software, etc), but other than that, fire away!

shawn

Hey Shawn,

I'm a 2d trained animator working as a 3d games animator in Cambridge, UK

I'll start with the obvious questions first!

1. What do you do in an average day at ILM?

2. Do you have any plans for a website? I'd especially love to see those drawn animations you did whilst learning with Wayne.

3. Apart from "The Power of One" and "The Illusion of Life", what other books have inspired and helped you in your journey? I'm currently reading "Building a Character" and finding it very enlightening!

4. How important do you value learning from others, as apposed to learning through self taught practical experience?

5. How do you go about animating your shots? What's your thought process? Do you plan out your animation in drawings first or are the storyboards generally enough to work from?

6. Is there a short in the works from you? If so, when can we see it!!?


Cheers,

Ricky Wood

 
 

Hi Shawn, just a few questions.............

Is there a certain character/s that you have particularly enjoyed giving life to and why?

What would you say is the most and least (if any ) enjoyable part of your job?

I'm sure you've had much experience of working with mocap data, so I'd like to know what your opinions are of the use of mocap in films these days.  (sorry if thats a bit of a too general question   )

thanks a lot


chris
 
 

Do you really work at a burger joint across the street and flip patties in your spare time?

Hey Shawn!

       Well, it's about to be 2am here, and I can't sleep, so i thought I'd go ahead and post my question now

here we go!

1.  You mention proprietary software, but doesn't ILM use XSI for it's main animation package?

2.  ILM projects tend to be more realistic animation as opposed to cartoon (pixar) animation.  Do you find it harder to animate realistic characters/creatures?

3.  Can you say what scenes you animated in AotC or TPM ?

4.  Do you have a lightsaber? If so, what color?

5.  What's the most popular question your students ask you about working in animation for films? and what is your response to that question?

Wow, that's the best I could do at 2:30am     Oh well, i'm sure i'll think of so better ones when I'm fully awake

Thanks Shawn  Yo'da Man

God Bless,
George

Wow!  So many questions right off the bat!  Ha!  I'll do my best....

1.  You mention proprietary software, but doesn't ILM use XSI for it's main animation package?

For the vast majority of things done here, we use all kinds of proprietary stuff.  We have a big R/D dept. who basically invent software/methods for almost every film we do, and we work on an average of 7 or 8 movies at any given time, so they're busy folks!!  

As far as animation packages go, I don't think I can really get into what we use that much, but I wouldn't say we have any "main" animation package that is used across all shows other than our proprietary stuff.  Personally I've never used XSI, but it has been used on certain shows...

2.  ILM projects tend to be more realistic animation as opposed to cartoon (pixar) animation.  Do you find it harder to animate realistic characters/creatures?

Realistic animation is, in many ways, a different beast than the cartoony style you're referring to, but in just as many ways (if not more) it's the same.  It's basically taking the same principles and skills and (for the most part) methods and trying to use them in more subtle ways.   A big part of animation is exaggeration, and when you're doing "realistic" stuff, you're basically just not exaggerating those princples as much, though you're still working with that idea of exaggeration to give characters that extra spark of life up on the big screen.  You're still focusing on silhouette, timing, rhythm, arcs, squash/stretch, etc.  

I have to say, the cartoonier stuff I've done, which honestly hasn't been much, has been a ton of fun, and in many ways I did think it was easier.  If nothing else, it's a little less pain-staking.  With the realistic stuff you spend a couple days blocking it in, a few days ironing things out, and then you go into this nit-picking phase which could last anywhere from a week to a month, depending on how complex the action is, how "alien" the creature is, how close the character is to the camera, and how much we're matching to something that is a live-action element.

It can be a really difficult task to pull off believable motion that melds enough with the other live-action actors to feel like they are all sharing the same space, especially with a bipedal character.  If it isn't quite right, audiences wouldn't be able to tell us WHY it's wrong, but they have so much experience with seeing bipedal creatures moving around (us!) that they'll pick up any little weirdness in the motion and just know that it doesn't feel real.  So it can be a very tricky thing...

It's probably debatable which style is easier.  I've heard Pixar guys saying that what we do is "harder," but I think what they do is just as challenging, maybe just in different ways.  

3.  Can you say what scenes you animated in AotC or TPM ?

In ep1 I was the new guy (had only worked on one movie previously).  Mostly I worked on the Gungans (the Beloved Jar-Jar's people in the forest) and the big dinosaur in the parade at the end.  In Ep2, I worked a lot on stuff in the Arena - the big cat climbing up and ripping off Natalie Portman's shirt,  some robot stuff in the arena as they "stand down", Threepio getting his head blown off, lots of odds and ends...

4.  Do you have a lightsaber? If so, what color?
I'm not quite a Jedi yet, so no sabers for me...  

5.  What's the most popular question your students ask you about working in animation for films? and what is your response to that question?

Students like to ask how long it takes to do a shot, which is a really hard thing to answer.  I've done shots in 2 days, and I worked on a shot for almost 2 months.  So, there's a pretty big range, depending on complexity, number of characters, and most importantly - clarity/vision of the director.  If the director changes his mind 10 times, you're doing 10 shots, you know?  It can be frustrating, but at the end of the day, I'm paid to be a tool of the director to help him/her realize their vision, and sometimes they just aren't sure what they want.  Those are the hardest shots, and they drag on the longest, but you have to kind of divorce yourself from your work once you're a professional and not fall too much in love with anything you do, becuase you could be asked to change it, and if you let it bug you, it can really ruin your day...  

shawn