Friday, September 30, 2011

Looking the Part

Earlier this week I received an email with this notification from Walnetto S.


Hi everyone! Some of you might recall the...
Walnetto Saveliev9:40am Sep 26
Hi everyone! Some of you might recall the Spike hat my 
mom crocheted. Just in time for fall she's managed to 
make a few more. If you're interested in one, you can
 check them out here. :)
Spike Hat
www.etsy.com
Rawr!
The infamous Animation Mentor mascot Spike!
Now in handy hat form!
Hand-crocheted from worsted


Just got mine in the mail!


I love it. Now I can show My Am pride with handmade style. Just in time to wear to CTN this November!
Thank you Walnetto! 


As of now there are still 2 Spike Hats available on etsy.com
If this finds you well and inspires you to have a Spike of your very own, I invite you to check them out.

In other news:

I've been reading AM Alumni Blogs.
Just finished reading Tommi Grummt's page from earliest to current. Very inspiring work, and really insightful look into the process for each of his assignments.

Also, I just discovered Alex M. Lehmann's Blog and it looks very promising.

That's all for now.

Thanks for reading.
Max

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Announcement: New Pages!

Celebrate the creation of my Two New Pages with me.

Check out my About Me and Resume pages. (And, yes. It is my acting resume.)

My goal with these resources is to highlight what makes me unique as an animator, and for better or worse one of those things is my performance history.

So on with the show, and happy animating!

Thank you for reading,
Max

Friday, September 9, 2011

Max on Max?


Here's a sample of some experimentation with the Max Rig. Which I downloaded from the 11 Second Club

My main focus was to "get in there" and move every joint I could find, and finish with an appealing image.
Here's what I ended with.

 



Based on what I've heard in videos and advice articles, I made a deliberate effort to make sure the pose worked in three dimensions.


First impressions of the Rig:
Pro: The facial sliders are easy to use and provide a great way to find unique expressions
Con: I didn't see a way to move both eyes at once.


Pro: I love the leg controls; how when you move the feet there's a natural progression that moves the leg and hip joint.
Con: There's no definition of the feet. Meaning pointed or flexed the foot is a solid paddle. Which I imagine will make simple things likes walking or jumping seem clunky and hard on contact with the ground.


Pro: Finger controls are simple and easy to use.
Con: The finger controls can be too simple, they only roll in and out from a closed blade with an extended thumb.  So it's very easy to control, but it doesn't provide as much variety as I would like from the hands.


Pro: The torso twists are great so far. At this point love them


Final thoughts on Max Rig:
It's primary characteristic is it's simplicity and ease, which has it's ups and down.
It seems great for a rough and ready quick starter but may be too limited for subtle touches.
(Perfect for a beginner like me. I'm new and should start with something simple. It's just my excitement attracting me to the more seductive, subtle, and advance acting rigs.)
Because of this, I am considering this rig for stationary-broad acting, with lots of fun exaggeration.




That's all I've got to say on the Max Rig. Thus far thanks for reading!
-Max

Monday, September 5, 2011

The Ball is on a Roll!

One of the first challenges in beginning Animation Mentor was actually an inside job. Not an internal demon, but from my own computer, my trusted partner through this crazy adventure.

What the problem was:
I could not install the AM Tools Menu. (More?) This is a mandatory update that allows my Maya software to accept automatic updates from the Animation Mentor Program, as well as use any rig from Animation Mentor. I would install the Menu to the best of my abilities, following all instructions, but as any time I re opened Maya the tools and menus would be gone. Not to mention the sample rig, a simple Ball used to determine if the install had been done correctly, would become a hideous pancake on the grid of my workspace. I had sent in a support ticket to the technical staff but since it was Labor day weekend, we hadn't gotten past clarifying the problem. So we tried lots of things to fix the problem and here is what finally worked.

How it was solved:
My dad came to the rescue and showed me how to find the necessary updates from the Autodesk website. What we did was:

1. Uninstalled Maya 2011
2. Installed Maya 2011 Service Pack 1 ... AND!
3. Installed Mental Ray Satellite Service Pack1

Then we
Re-installed AM Tools Menu, and the Sample Ball rig. crossed our fingers and Prayed!

Low and behold, it finally worked! There was joy and dancing such as the likes my room has never seen before.

There was so much trial and error involved and I don't know what would have happened without my Dad to help me, but I learned that if you do the research, keep your cool, and keep moving forward success will not be far.

Now my rig is golden, round and ready to roll into the first day of class.


My first AM Rig...sniff... I'm so proud.

Thank you for reading,
 and Happy Animating!

Max