Class 2 so far - Weeks 1 + 2

More depth into each assignment,
Applying the principals learned in Class 1,
More emphasis on workflow and planning in the lectures.

4 week shot
Pick list 1: I chose the side step to keep it simple, mastery before challenge,

Week 1:
Video reference:

Picking keys, and break downs:

Week 2:

Sketching out the poses:

And finally...

Blocking:

Mentors Main Impression: "You're heading in the right direction. Keep moving forward." 

Next week Blocking Plus.

Thanks for viewing,

--Max

I'm Alive

Here's a quick update since I haven't added anything in a while.

I've finished Maya springboard and have started AM! I'm in week 3 of Class one and my Mentor is the Fabulous Don Kim.

We are currently working on our Ball bounce assignment and our first animation of the program.

Very excited, and hard at work.

I find I'm spending more time commenting on others work then on working on my own material. Just an observation since it is very important to learn to give and receive feedback.

Last week we were assigned to Go out and Draw people out in the world.

I went to the mall and drew Children playing in the Jungle Gym.

Here are my drawings:

And Here's my final Pose for AM's Stu character

I had difficulty getting Stu to read as a child or show what he was doing, (Sitting on a dome) So I sat him back into a reclining pose.

I'm currently working on the Ball Bounce and Excitement pose.

I'll leave you with my Maya Springboard Progress Reel.

Thnak you for reading (Yes, Thnak you) and talk to you soon. 

Max

Week 8, Session 9 - Robot Arm (Part 1)

Our first rigged character, this weeks assignment was to simply block out our animation. There was a major emphasis on workflow and the timing and spacing of our keys. The graph editor was also very important in doing this assignment well.

Check out the video:

 When deciding how to move this character I thought about what emotions I was feeling about this assignment. I related to the claw because he's given a simple task to do move this can over there and he just wants to do the minimum to make his overseer proud. However when I tried to do the very minimum in movements I kept hitting things with the robot arm. He became very clumsy and short sighted and like me when he goofed big time in knocking over the can he reactedin shock and horror at his own mistakes. I can be something of a perfectionist and get over focused on little details with a bit of foresight and planning I can avoid my own little mistakes.

 In fact, to make this assignment look better I animated the can to follow the crane in its movements, however this would be something to correct on our next assignment when we're introduced to... constraints.

 Thanks for reading and Happy Animating,
Max

Week 8, Session 8 - Bounce

Using the simple ball rig, this lesson focuses on adjusting timing for keys,  tangent angels and tweeking animation in the key and value boxes using *= and /= short cuts in the Graph editor, as well as importing animation from other files.

This is my final "Bounce2" animation for Maya Springboard.

Enjoy,
Max

Week 7 - Session 7 - Circle

Objective: Deepening our understanding of the graph editor as well as using motion paths.

How: Animate a ball rig moving in a perfect circle.

My method: I typed in respective translator data to key the ball in four extreme points of the circle using (5,0,0) (0,5,0) (-5,0,0) & (0,-5,0).
Spaced the keys,
Used clapped tangents
THEN, I created a nurbs curve Circle in the same size I wanted my motion path to be. Next, I put that circle in another layer which I made a reference layer.
From there I could refine my motion path with the circle curve as a guide.

I did hit a snag when I realized I hadn't imported the ball rig, andhad animated a plain sphere. The result would have been the same but I'm a perfectionist. So, I copied the keys and put them on a ball rig.
The trouble was the center/ pivot points were different so I had to move the new graph editor lines collectively for the center to be right where I wanted it.

Thumbs up for learning to fix problems!

Thanks for reading,
Max

Week 7 - Session 6

Assignment 6: Our first animations.

Objectives:

 1) Move an object for 100 frames.

2) Become familiar with the Graph Editor

and

3) Experiment and have fun. 

Here's my first simple animation:

Figuring out the rotation was tricky but not complicated thanks to the graph editors repeat animation feature.

Thanks Graph Editor! *Wink- thumbs up- & smile*

Thanks for watching,

Max

Week 6 - Session 4

Assignment 5: Basic Shading

Objective: throw some shades on your set and experiment with how to manipulate them to create different effects.

Here are my camera views with shaders:

 Marble was fun

Love these eyes, ghost, and door knob.

Also went for a Muppet feel on the skin. 

Now the bed is round + notice the new end table by the bed I added for this assignment

Khaki pants. 

Shaders were very fun to tweek and try different things on. Having a set based on my room made it challenging because I knew exactly how it should look and I really tried to capture each surface as it appears in reality. It gave me a solid goal; to recreate what I saw, and I got as close as I could and didn't stress if it wasn't perfect.

I also experimented with Mental Ray shaders. They look great but also caused some problems later on.

Thank you for reading,

Max

Week 5 - Sessions 1 + 2

Session 2 assignment: Hierarchys/ Parenting/ and Modeling polygons.This is my basic character, I call him Francis Stein. I took inspiration from Frankenstein in honor of Halloween coming up next week.

Session 1 Assignment: Shelf/ Modeling basic NURBS shapes/ Transformers/ getting around inside Maya.

The Shelf was provided in the assignment.

Week 4-intro

That's, "week four of the semester- session 1," and this is a response to my first Q+A with my Class for Maya Springboard.

Seeing how nice and excited everyone is; Mentor included, has got me revved up to start this program.

Our Mentor Arnie is a real sweety, and he really knows what he's talking about when it comes to Maya. I can't wait for my first Critique from him.

My classmates are all very positive, and come from very different backgrounds. We've got backgrounds in theater and archery, 2D animation and beat-box, traditional art and cooking, teaching and comics, and finally design, and 3D animation!

I can't wait to learn with, and from, all these amazing people.

We get our first assignment next session, "The Shelf," and all weekend to work on it.

That's all for now,
Max

PS Thanks to Agent Rad's post on the Facebook group AM Eager Beavers I now have a golden AM Student Badge on my Blog. If you're eligible, be sure to get one for your blog or social network medium.

Thanks Agent Rad!

And my Maya Springboard Teacher is...

Arnie Mecham! 

      

An alumni of Animation Mentor, he graduated from the program in January of 2009, and is currently the Chief Animator at Impatient Cow Productions.

Arnie also holds a BA in Film from the University of Utah, and has 9 years of television experience.

Check out Arnie's Youtube channel here.
Or his Blog, including reel and resume, here.

And my AM classmates this semester are:

Christopher Lorbecki Student From: Chicago, IL, United States In: Character Animation - Maya Springboard

Cristina Benavides Student From: San Antonio, TX, United States In: Character Animation - Maya Springboard

Keisuke Hirata Student From: Bunkyoku, Tokyo, Japan In: Character Animation - Maya Springboard

Kenya Bevans Student From: Herndon, Virginia, United States In: Character Animation - Maya Springboard

Maki (Ka Bo) Leung Student From: Eastwood, New South Wales, Australia In: Character Animation - Maya Springboard

Max Herzfeld (me!) Student From: Arcadia, California, United States In: Character Animation - Maya Springboard

and...

Nicholas Vikos Student From: Beaumont, TX, United States In: Character Animation - Maya Springboard  Let the learning begin!