Winter 2023

By artist Galina Bugaevskaya who put cat faces onto different animal bodies.
Like Island of Dr. Moreaux but with more whimsy and less Brando.  kotyvezde.aqulas.me

    After the last few years, I have no idea what is coming next so Cat/Moth hybrids are as plausible as anything.

    Currently the creative world is roiling with anger, anxiety and antipathy toward AI Generated Art (read more at L.A. Times) The public release of several AI image generating tools has made this a very hot topic. I recall similar discussions in the mid '90s.about how motion capture would supplant digital animators  Likewise, around the same time period, there were conversations about photogrammetry tech replacing digital modelers...or photography replacing painting...or how television would doom live theatre and on it goes. 

    To be clear: there are a number of  issues with this AI tech that need to be resolved. Predominantly how the training images are sourced (unauthorized/uncredited/uncompensated = stolen) and how it further devalues the work of highly trained professionals. I can already imagine the unethical and uneducated managers opining that they can 'finally fire all the artists and let computers do the work.' The rise of automated checkouts is just one example of how such minds will always work. 

    It is true that new tech will sometimes change the landscape for a particular role. After all, how many farriers do you know? Also, how many of you had to look up what a farrier is? In matters of art however there seems to be a perennial need for people who create things that deeply resonate within us. While the tools we use may change, for at least 40,000 years that need has never faded.

    I think we'll be ok. 

    With increasing student enrollment and part-time teachers becoming harder to find, I've had to step away from the level 1 and 2 animation classes to focus on ANC and level 4 ANI students.
Here are the classes I teach this term, along with assignment links:

ANC Animation 2 (6017)

Leg Ball Turn (LBT)

Short Lip Sync (LS1)

Melee Attack (MA)

Weight Lift (WL)   *alternative assignment

Thesis Animation (TA)*

ANC  - Project Dev. (6018)

Web Presentation (WP)

LinkedIn/Portfolio (LP)

Fight Scene (FS)

Mock Interview (MI)

Final Integrated Assignment (FIA) part1 and part2

ANI 3d Animation 4 (5023)
5023 - UbiSoft Next (UN) ~or~ Shot01
5023 - Change of Emotion (COE) ~or~ Shot02
5023 - Mocap Cleanup (MC) ~or~ Shot03
5023 - Final Animation (FA) ~or~ Shot04 *under construction

ANI Client Studio (5025)
Dailies
Checkpoint (HW)

Fall 2022

 

Cats Organized Neatly: a game based on actual events?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1369340/Cats_Organized_Neatly/

    Welcome new and returning students for ANI and ANC. I've been doing some organizing. For the first time in a long while, I feel like there is some predictability to the coming term and I am able to plan ahead a bit more.

    We will be seeing a normal return to onsite classes though, due to economic and logistical factors, some classes have been moved to online delivery indefinitely. The last two years have forced us to find ways to deliver a great learning experience in an online environment. With excellent tools like Zoom, TeamViewer, Discord, SyncSketch and Miro it's getting better all the time. Be sure you have all of these installed on your home setup.

    I look forward to a smooth fall term, with no disruptions or catastrophes. (he said, hoping it didn't ironically foreshadow some sort of apocalypse later that year.) Good luck and I'll see you in class.

    Here's the assignment links for my classes this term:

ANC Animation Intro (6012)

6012 - Bouncing Balls (BB)
6012 - Pendulum (PM)
6012 - Ball with Tail (BT)
6012 - Leg Ball Jump (LBJ)

ANI 3d Animation 1 (1069)

1069 - Rigid Pendulum (RP)
1069 - Bouncing Balls (BB)
1069 - Seaweed (SW)
1069 - Ball with Tail (BT)
1069 - Leg Ball Jump (LBJ)

ANI 3d Animation 3 (5020)

5020 - Polishing Scene (PS)
5020 - Melee Attack (MA)
5020 - Weight Lift (WL)
5020 - 30s Reel (30S)
5020 - Short Lip Sync (LS1) or UbiSoft NEXT (UN)
5020 - MoCap Cleanup (MC) and Dailies

Gratitude

 

The CEC and Union have agreed to binding interest arbitration. This ends all work to rule and strike actions. I am beyond elated we'll be able to return to normal immediately.

I invite students to learn more about who the CEC is and why contract negotiations have become more adversarial and disruptive since they were established in 2008.

There is no readily available information on how the CEC is funded or what the cost is to the colleges and students.

Ontario colleges and the real meddling third party

Winter 2022

 

What is the word for 'excited to see you' but also 'get away from me'...Aloha?

There is a lot to prepare and very little time between the terms to do this. Over all of this is the fear of another disruption like the one in 2017. I'm hopeful that everything will work out but my ability to predict the future has proven...inadequate.

Here's a separate page to explain that.

ANI 3d Animation 2 (3052)

Four Poses (4P)

Run Cycle (RC)

Leg Ball Turn (LBT)

Melee Attack (MA)  * or alternate assignment

Short Lip Sync (LS1) *or alternate assignment
~or~

Final Animation (FA)*

ANC Animation 2 (6017)

Leg Ball Turn (LBT)

Short Lip Sync (LS1)

Melee Attack (MA)

Weight Lift (WL)   *alternative assignment

Thesis Animation (TA)*

ANI 3d Animation 4 (5023)
5023 - Change of Emotion (COE) ~or~ Shot01
5023 - UbiSoft Next (UN) ~or~ Shot02
5023 - Creature Acting (CA) ~or~ Shot03
5023 - Final Animation (FA) ~or~ Shot04

ANI Client Studio (5025)
Dailies
Checkpoint (HW)

Fall 2021

 

by artist Corentin Penloup, trimmed for ratio, a tragically apt summary of current events. You can see the whole image here.

    Welcome back to the Fall of 2021. My work continues to be conducted online for at least one more semester due to the ongoing COVID pandemic that started in 2019. While the plan/hope is that winter '22 will see a return to in-person teaching, budgetary shortfalls and classroom space limitations mean that up to 35% of our course offerings will continue to be delivered online for a long time to come. 

    While I do miss the face to face experience of working with students, the job of online teaching has gotten a bit easier with improved tools (Zoom, Discord), more practice (18 months), and students who are very savvy about learning this way.  I'm thankful for their patience as we continue navigating these challenges.

    As always, here's the summary of assignment links for my classes this term:

ANC Animation Intro (6012)

6012 - Bouncing Balls (BB)
6012 - Pendulum (PM)
6012 - Ball with Tail (BT)
6012 - Leg Ball Jump (LBJ)

ANI 3d Animation 1 (1069)

1069 - Rigid Pendulum (RP)
1069 - Bouncing Balls (BB)
1069 - Seaweed (SW)
1069 - Ball with Tail (BT)
1069 - Leg Ball Jump (LBJ)

ANI 3d Animation 3 (5020)

5020 - Polishing Scene (PS)
5020 - Melee Attack (MA)
5020 - Weight Lift (WL)
5020 - 30s Reel (30S)
5020 - Short Lip Sync (LS1)
5020 - MoCap Cleanup (MC) and Dailies

Winter 2021

 

The first two panels of a six panel comic by KC Green (2013). Learn more at the links below.

You can see the entire comic HERE (though you may wish you hadn't). This well circulated image seems to nicely capture a lot of what has been going on. There is a great article here about the artist, who also has created some other well known memes.  

Like a Rorschach Inkblot, the viewer can take different meanings from the comic. Perhaps it is a statement about living in denial? Maybe it is encouraging positivity under impossibly trying circumstances? Could it be about how perception shapes reality? Whatever the meaning, it continues to resonate. 

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Winter 21 term will continue online. I am especially thankful I work in a field that lends itself well to remote learning. The good news is I have more experience teaching and learning in a virtual setting than in mid-March of 2020. 

At least, I think so; though I may be living in denial.

Below are the summary of class assignment links

ANI  - 3d Anim. 2 (3052)

Four Poses (4P)

Run Cycle (RC)

Leg Ball Turn (LBT)

Melee Attack (MA) *assignment dropped

Short Lip Sync (LS1) *assignment dropped

Final Animation (FA)

ANC - Anim. 2 (6017)

Leg Ball Turn (LBT)

Short Lip Sync (LS1)

Melee Attack (MA)

Weight Lift (WL)   *assignment dropped

Thesis Animation (TA)

ANC  - Project Dev. (6018)

Web Presentation (WP)

LinkedIn/Portfolio (LP)

Fight Scene (FS)

Mock Interview (MI)

Final Integrated Assignment (FIA) part1 and part2

Fall 2020

 

Everyone has their own ways of coping with the current challenges.

The online adventure continues! With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the programs I teach in are continuing in a virtual capacity for both Fall and Winter semesters. For ANC, a two semester program, it means I have an incoming cadre of students who I will never meet in a physical classroom. Establishing a successful rapport will be challenging without face to face meeting. Fortunately there are excellent tools available now so it will just come down to my own proficiency. 

This term I'm teaching a new class in the new Fanshawe Animation program (ANI). This is the first intake of program, so stakes are high to have a good outcome. Here's a summary of the classes and assignments this term:

ANC Animation Intro (6012)

6012 - Bouncing Balls (BB)
6012 - Pendulum (PM)
6012 - Ball with Tail (BT)
6012 - Leg Ball Jump (LBJ)

ANI 3d Animation 1 (1069)

1069 - Rigid Pendulum (RP)
1069 - Bouncing Balls (BB)
1069 - Seaweed (SW)
1069 - Ball with Tail (BT)
1069 - Leg Ball Jump (LBJ)

ANC Preproduction (6020)

6020 - Storyboard (SB)
6020 - Conversation Movie (CM)
6020 - Simple Rig (SR)
6020 - The Chase (TC)