If your dog pooed in the house, where would you want him to go? My first choice would be the actual toilet; minimum fuss, all you do is flush! (Was that a false rhyme? Neato!) Actually, if my dog was smart enough to do that he'd probably be smart enough to flush, too. Even better!
I went to great lengths to house train my dog when he was a pup, and he never goes in the house unless something goes badly wrong. Something must have gone wrong because today I woke up to dog fudge surprise. Cisco didn't use my first choice of place for him to go, but he did "doo" "number 2" in my number 2 choice of place for the dog to go inside the house; the bathtub. I know, I know, it seems so gross. But it is much simpler to clean poo in the tub than poo on the rug (hey there's another one of those almost-rhymes-thingies. I'll be freestyle rapping in no time!). By the way, this is one of those times I am glad I have a small dog, if you know what I mean. Apparently the poor pooch was sick because, he also barfed on the carpet. I guess he felt it was somehow wrong to barf and poo in the same spot. Dog logic.
It was a stressful day and by this afternoon I was exhausted from cleaning the house, doing a little laundry and taking both my parents to early back-to-back doctor's appointments. I didn't get much animation work done today, though I did watch this week's eCritique again and got some questions ready for the video Q&A with mentor Charles Alleneck who was in Star Wars. Okay, he wasn't in Star Wars, but he did animate characters in Eps. 2 and 3...same difference. Even though I was tired I tried to bring a little energy to the session so my questions didn't put the other kids in the class to sleep. I always enjoy the Q&As because I enjoy the privilege of interacting with the mentors. They all just seem like cool people you'd want to hang out with besides giving us expert animation advice. Plus my mentor was in Star Wars.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Critical Mass
This week in Body Mechanics at AnimationMentor.com our assignment was to do a heavy push up an incline. I looked forward to the assignment with glee. (No really, I was excited to get started). Of course, we are oft advised by our lecturers and mentors not to just jump in and start animating. First we must plan out our shot. A long time ago I delivered pizza's part-time for Domino's; they always told us to look on the big map on the wall and know where we were going before we left for a delivery. Same kind of thing.
So the first thing I did is I went outside and, wearing my Napoleon Dynamite ringer t-shirt, captured some reference of myself pushing an object. Again I used my Nikon 880 digital, which takes great photos but is crappy for video. It's all I got, so 15fps 320x240 heavily compressed video had to do. I posted a clip of my reference on the AM message boards, and later in my workspace on campus. I enjoyed getting comments from fellow students, most of whom enjoyed the footage. If anyone found it useful or amusing I'm happy.
Later I sat down and studied what I'd filmed (even though it's not film, we still say it that way), and drew thumbnails for the important poses. It took quite a while to block out the shot once I got into Maya, but it came together much more readily than my previous assignment had. Still, I wanted to do more with it, come up with some additional "business" as it's often called, and make it more entertaining. Without the time or the skill with Maya, I had to keep it pretty plain. I was kinda bummed.
Speaking of bummers, a cloud is looming on the horizon. The credit card I use to pay for school has just about reached critical mass, the point at which any increase in the balance will raise the minimum monthly payment beyond my ability to pay it. At that point I will have a decision to make; either to drop out of Animation Mentor or figure out some way to pay down my debt.
Job? Any decent paying job would do. It wouldn't be that tough to come up with the $2,000 in tuition every three months with regular full or even part-time employment. Compared to no job, that is. Unfortunately, for the past few years even a part-time job has not been even remotely feasible for me. It's just not possible for me to work away from home while taking care of my parents 24/7, even part time. And this past year I've had to give up all but the tiniest freelance assignments because it is impossible to predict my availability. I do have a job, as caregiver, just not a paying one. Don't know what I will do to stay in school so I'm just trying not to get too discouraged.
Luckily, my mom has been in better health and spirits in recent weeks. So much so that I have had to reconsider placing her in custodial care. She really improved that much! This past weekend, however, some other issues came up. I'm hoping those are now under control or at least manageable. Regardless, my mom's improvement in wellness and mood is no small thing...it has been the longest stretch in many months that she's had more than 1 good day in a row. Even with the other things that have come up, that is an enormous relief and I am immensely thankful for it.
So the first thing I did is I went outside and, wearing my Napoleon Dynamite ringer t-shirt, captured some reference of myself pushing an object. Again I used my Nikon 880 digital, which takes great photos but is crappy for video. It's all I got, so 15fps 320x240 heavily compressed video had to do. I posted a clip of my reference on the AM message boards, and later in my workspace on campus. I enjoyed getting comments from fellow students, most of whom enjoyed the footage. If anyone found it useful or amusing I'm happy.
Later I sat down and studied what I'd filmed (even though it's not film, we still say it that way), and drew thumbnails for the important poses. It took quite a while to block out the shot once I got into Maya, but it came together much more readily than my previous assignment had. Still, I wanted to do more with it, come up with some additional "business" as it's often called, and make it more entertaining. Without the time or the skill with Maya, I had to keep it pretty plain. I was kinda bummed.
Speaking of bummers, a cloud is looming on the horizon. The credit card I use to pay for school has just about reached critical mass, the point at which any increase in the balance will raise the minimum monthly payment beyond my ability to pay it. At that point I will have a decision to make; either to drop out of Animation Mentor or figure out some way to pay down my debt.
Job? Any decent paying job would do. It wouldn't be that tough to come up with the $2,000 in tuition every three months with regular full or even part-time employment. Compared to no job, that is. Unfortunately, for the past few years even a part-time job has not been even remotely feasible for me. It's just not possible for me to work away from home while taking care of my parents 24/7, even part time. And this past year I've had to give up all but the tiniest freelance assignments because it is impossible to predict my availability. I do have a job, as caregiver, just not a paying one. Don't know what I will do to stay in school so I'm just trying not to get too discouraged.
Luckily, my mom has been in better health and spirits in recent weeks. So much so that I have had to reconsider placing her in custodial care. She really improved that much! This past weekend, however, some other issues came up. I'm hoping those are now under control or at least manageable. Regardless, my mom's improvement in wellness and mood is no small thing...it has been the longest stretch in many months that she's had more than 1 good day in a row. Even with the other things that have come up, that is an enormous relief and I am immensely thankful for it.
Friday, July 08, 2005
All Hours
One thing I've learned about animation is it's an all hours kinda thing. Not only because I've been working on this week's assignment all hours of the day and night, but also because even when I'm not animating I'm thinking about animating!
One could take this to be a bad thing. There are many activities and endeavors you would not want to think about all the time, like taking out the garbage...once you've done it you don't want it back in your thoughts until next week. Animation is different. It's so complex, yet fascinating, once you start thinking and living like an animator you begin to observe nearly every little detail of life in a certain way. So even when you aren't sitting at you desk animating you might be looking at a thing and wondering, how many frames was that movement? how much does it weigh? how could that be made more entertaining? An animator does this in any given situation and then files notes away in mind or draws a quick sketch or three, and files it all away to refer to later. Sometimes we do this quietly in a way no one would notice, and other times--like if it's something we're really excited about--not so quiet. We become hyper-observant of the nuances of things in motion in our every day lives. And this goes on all hours of the day or night...if we're conscious, we're likely observing and taking quick notes.
Before I started classes at AM I already had oddball hours. Since my parents don't require much care once they've gone to bed, night time is the best time for me to get anything done of my own. I'd often ended up working on projects through the night. And then I'd have to take frequent, short naps whenever I could find time, and I was always tired. Now that time is often spent doing animation homework. Luckily my mom's health has improved slightly this week, which has freed up a lot of time during the day as well. I'm better rested, and the few extra hours spent animating aren't going to hurt my grade any.
One could take this to be a bad thing. There are many activities and endeavors you would not want to think about all the time, like taking out the garbage...once you've done it you don't want it back in your thoughts until next week. Animation is different. It's so complex, yet fascinating, once you start thinking and living like an animator you begin to observe nearly every little detail of life in a certain way. So even when you aren't sitting at you desk animating you might be looking at a thing and wondering, how many frames was that movement? how much does it weigh? how could that be made more entertaining? An animator does this in any given situation and then files notes away in mind or draws a quick sketch or three, and files it all away to refer to later. Sometimes we do this quietly in a way no one would notice, and other times--like if it's something we're really excited about--not so quiet. We become hyper-observant of the nuances of things in motion in our every day lives. And this goes on all hours of the day or night...if we're conscious, we're likely observing and taking quick notes.
Before I started classes at AM I already had oddball hours. Since my parents don't require much care once they've gone to bed, night time is the best time for me to get anything done of my own. I'd often ended up working on projects through the night. And then I'd have to take frequent, short naps whenever I could find time, and I was always tired. Now that time is often spent doing animation homework. Luckily my mom's health has improved slightly this week, which has freed up a lot of time during the day as well. I'm better rested, and the few extra hours spent animating aren't going to hurt my grade any.