Anim: Cops & Robbers - Process

Here's a process video of my 11 Second Entry & some explanation below
 

 The first clip is my reference. I plan out my camera angle & layout in Maya first, so I can shoot reference that will be close to the angle I'll see in Maya.

12 sec - The next step is blocking. For dialog shots I worked in stepped & block in the major key poses. I study my reference and also use it for very rough timing. This just helps save time, so when I start splinning in the next step the timing isn't super off.

23 sec - The next video I have splinned the beginning. I work in small sections, so I can focus my attention. I don't stay in stepped mode that long, I find it easier to switch to spline & start adding in-betweens there.

35 sec - The fourth video I now have rough inbetweens/clean up on the whole shot. This is technically my final blocking pass.

46 sec - this is my first pass polish. I start tweaking some of the timing, pushing some of the poses & adding more overlap/follow through. I also added the gun twirl in this stage, I felt the ending was lacking a bit and thought this would spice it up

57 sec - this is my second polish pass. I've added in first pass lip sync/worked on the face more. I've also added in some secondary action on the gun, but only in the first half of the shot

1:09 - this is the final polish pass on the guy. I've tweaked more lip sync and fixed anything I saw that felt "off"

1:20 - I added in the girl animation. I animated her in a more straight ahead manner, was in spline from the beginning. I knew I didn't want her to be distracting so I basically just animated reactions to what the guy was doing

1:32 - Final version. Added in a background & rendered it using Maya's Hardware Render Buffer. I definitely recommend it. It's quick and lets you add in motion blur. Basically a beefed up version of a playblast

Anim: Cops & Robbers - Final

Here's the final version I submitted...and I won!!!! woohoo!!!!
   

Anim: Cops & Robbers #4

Update, added in the girl's reations, moved the male cop a little closer to screen to fix some eye line issues, started polishing some of the lip sync
   

Anim: Cops & Robbers #3

Another clean up pass & first pass lip sync
   

Anim: Cops & Robbers #2

First pass clean up, still haven't cleaned up face
   

Anim: Cops & Robbers #1

Working on another 11 second club entry, here's the blocking so far
   

Rindin The Puffer

This is the short I worked on while interning at FatCat Animation Studios 6 years ago. I worked in the Ink & Paint Department and it was a great learning experience.

Rindin the Puffer from Robert Cote on Vimeo.

Acting Reference #64

Nice clip from The Disappearance of Alice Creed. Great movie, definitely recommend checking it out. A lot of nice, subtle, nervous ticks going on from Danny (character wearing the track suit)

Animation Pinterest

I created an Animation Pinterest page, where I "pin" awesome demo reels, cool shorts, sweet shots, anything that inspires me. Figured I would share it with other people :) I find having a one stop page like this is great for when you need to recharge those animation batteries*




* If you are actually running on batteries, then you are a robot, sorry to break the news to you.

Anim: Blow A Hole!

Animation I created using the sweet Cenk rig that came with How To Cheat In Maya 2013

Acting Reference #63

WARNING SPOILERS!!!!


I wanted to start with that, if you haven't seen Moon, do not watch this clip!! If you have seen it congratulations..you are awesome! This is a great clip with Sam Rockwell (amazing in this movie). It just has a lot of emotion and character in it & I love the little weight shifts/movements at the beginning..enjoy
   

2012 Sizzle Reel

I decided to make a sizzle reel for fun. I just wanted to make something that showcased a lot of work.
   

Mans Best Friend - Process

Here's a process vid for my 11 second entry last month. Now you can see me crawling around my apartment like a fool :P

Anim: Mans Best Friend - Final

Here's the final version I submitted

Acting Reference #62

Here's a nice clip from The Pursuit of Happyness. Just has a lot of emotion in it and I love the mouth movements that Will Smith makes while he tries to hold back his emotions

Anim: Mans Best Friend #3

Another update...polish pass
   

Anim: Mans Best Friend #2

Here's an update. Currently "in progress" just put in rough lip sync. Finding the rig doesn't have very good facial controls..so I'm having to fight it a lot

   

Anim: Mans Best Friend

Working on this months 11 sec competition. Here's the blocking plus pass

   

Lilly Looking Through

Some great looking animation in this game. You can download the free demo at the site mentioned in the teaser

Disassembled

Crayon Dragon

Great short from Toniko Pantoja

TRON: Uprising

Looks Sweet

Chop Chop

Sweet short from Bird Box

Acting Reference #61

Here's a clip from one of my favorite movies The Thin Red Line. His reaction to the letter is very believable and this is great reference for pantomime animation. You could very easily mute the audio and still understand what he is feeling.

11 Second Club Progression

Here's a progression reel for my 11 Second Club entry

Anim: Oka Free Running

Here's an animation I did for work. Took about 6 work days to complete and another 3 or 4 days of planning before I started. I also included a progression reel. Definitely things I could fix, but for the length of the shot and the amount of time I had, I'm happy with the result. Model by John DeRiggi, Rig by Brian Evans, Environment by Kwame Babb & Justin DeVore, Character Concept by Ben Chaney

Acting Reference #60

Here's a scene from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I feel Rooney Mara gave easily the best female performance of last year, so if you haven't seen this check it out & if you have congratulations you get a prize*. I first wanted to talk about the finger point the man does at the beginning of the shot. It has a lot of character and is very interesting. We're often told to avoid "cliche" acting choices (like finger points) but I feel you can still use them them if you push them to become more appealing. The pose of his arm and especially the timing of the move give it a lot of appeal/interest.
I also wanted to mention how you can use body language and posture to let the audience know what a character is feeling. The girl obviously doesn't want to be in this situation and isn't comfortable talking to these people. You understand this because of her body language, her slow pace, lack of eye contact, slouching. Telling this in a subtle way is way more powerful that given her a line of dialogue stating that she doesn't want to be there.
 *no prizes will actually be given

Anim: If You Can't Stand The Heat... #4

Another update....getting close to final

   

Anim: If You Can't Stand The Heat... #3

Finished a pass cleaning things up...now gonna go through and do lip sync/polish

   

Anim: If You Can't Stand The Heat... #2

Started cleaning up the first part

   

Anim: If You Can't Stand The Heat... #1

Think I'm gonna enter this months 11 second competition. Here's my rough blocking pass

   

Spring 2012 Showreel

New reel :)

Brave Clip

Looks Sweet!

Acting Reference #59

Here's a nice clip from the movie Drive (one of the best films of 2011) Bryan Cranston's character is cleaning a car part while he delivers his dialog, which is a great example of a secondary action. Giving your character something to do while they talk will make the shot feel much more natural. I also like the subtle flirting that's going on between Ryan Gosling & Carey Mulligan.


Acting Reference #59 from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Voltron #6

I'm calling this one done. Been picking at this since last August, so ready to move on

   

Voltron #5

Finally got to working on this guy again...getting closer to done

   

Anim: Lying Down

Quick little animation I did, took about 3 hours.
   

Wreck-It Ralph Images

First images from the upcoming Disney movie

Anim: Run Cycle

Here's a quick cycle I did with the Nico rig just for fun
   

Acting Reference #58

I wanted to show this clip because I think this movie had the best performance of 2011. This is Michael Shannon in Take Shelter. Its really sad because he hasn't received hardly any award recognition. He gives a performance that is both heartbreaking and terrifying. In this clip, I love the little mouth twitch he does right after she asks him how he is going to pay for that. Its a great nervous tick and makes you feel there's a lot going through his mind. Great movie with great performances,check it out!


Acting Reference #58 from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Dialog Anim: Final

Calling this one done..there's stuff I could tighten up but I'm ready to move on
   

Dialog Anim: Third Pass

Update - started polishing things up a bit
   

Dialog Anim: Second Pass

Update
   

Dialog Anim: First Pass

Another new animation I started
   

10 Best Visual Effects Scenes of 2011

List compiled by Popular Mechanics. Click the image to check it out