Author Archives: Craig

Maya's-World © 2010 Craig. All rights reserved.

Maya’s World and All It’s Directions

Many ani­ma­tors new to 3D spend count­less hours search­ing for the magic but­ton in maya that will make there ani­ma­tions look good. I found it .…… it is right here: Seriously?.….all jok­ing aside. IT DOESN’T EXIST!  .…. Being an ani­ma­tor is … Con­tinue read­ing →

Knight1 © 2010 Craig. All rights reserved.

The Knight Animation Project (WIP)

This project was cre­ated many years ago for my stu­dents of ani­ma­tion.  It was designed to cre­ate spe­cific sit­u­a­tions to ani­mate. 1. Step­ping up on some­thing. 2. Walk­ing in a straight line. 3. Illus­trat­ing bal­ance. 4. Step­ping down. 5. Walk­ing … Con­tinue read­ing →

Sphin © 2010 Craig. All rights reserved.

SPHIN the SPHEDISH PHISH

One year ago I cre­ated an ani­ma­tion club for my stu­dents called 8FramesIn.  The pur­pose was to add addi­tional ani­ma­tion oppor­tu­ni­ties to an all to short ani­ma­tion cur­ricu­lum.  See­ing as one semes­ter of ani­ma­tion is not much time in devel­op­ing … Con­tinue read­ing →

OrbEnvironment © 2010 Craig. All rights reserved.

ORB (Orbital Reconnaissance Battle Droid) Animation Project

The ORB Char­ac­ter was cre­ated by me for my stu­dents to use within my ani­ma­tion class. CONCEPT: You are a new recruit at a mil­i­tary test facil­ity.  You have been charged to com­plete sev­eral train­ing exer­cises that will pre­pare you for … Con­tinue read­ing →

SupermanWIP © 2010 Craig. All rights reserved.

3D Models (Works in Progress)

3D Mod­els (Works in Progress) This post con­tains sev­eral mod­els that are works in progress.  Once my new class is final­ized I will be con­tin­u­ing to develop these char­ac­ters fur­ther.  Mud­box or Z-Brush will be used to add fine details. … Con­tinue read­ing →

NineOldMen © 2010 Craig. All rights reserved.

12 Principles of Animation — Part I

HISTORY Disney’s Nine Old Men devel­oped the prin­ci­ples of ani­ma­tion as a way to com­mu­ni­cate about the art that they devel­oped so mas­ter­fully.  The 12 prin­ci­ples of ani­ma­tion are not meant to be a check list.  They are how­ever con­cepts … Con­tinue read­ing →

12_PrinciplesPost © 2010 Craig. All rights reserved.

Principles of Animation — Part II

12 Orig­i­nal Prin­ci­ples 1. Appeal 2. Staging 3. Exaggeration 4. Timing 5. Anticipation 6. Ease In Ease Out 7. Secondary Motion/Action 8. Pose to Pose vs. Straight Ahead 9. Overlapping Action & Fol­low Through 10. Solid Draw­ing 11. Arcs 12. Squash & Stretch Appeal — is where the char­ac­ter must ooze … Con­tinue read­ing →

12_PrinciplesPost © 2010 Craig. All rights reserved.

Principles of Animation — Part III

12 Orig­i­nal Prin­ci­ples — Part III 1. Appeal 2. Staging 3. Exaggeration 4. Timing 5. Anticipation 6. Ease In Ease Out 7. Secondary Motion/Action 8. Pose to Pose vs. Straight Ahead 9. Overlapping Action & Fol­low Through 10. Solid Draw­ing 11. Arcs 12. Squash & Stretch CONTINUED — (Prin­ci­ples 7 — 12) Sec­ondary … Con­tinue read­ing →

CB_BoxMB_F © 2010 Craig. All rights reserved.

CardBoard Box Animation

A Card­Board Box Affair This ani­ma­tion exer­cise is part of a series of assign­ments I will be giv­ing my stu­dents.  Being able to ani­mate action that feels com­pletely nat­ural can pro­vide very use­ful lessons in physics.  In order for an … Con­tinue read­ing →