Kyle Kenworthy's Animation Blog

Anim: Lying Down

2012-02-10T11:18:00.000-05:00

Quick little animation I did, took about 3 hours.

Wreck-It Ralph Images

2012-02-06T17:53:00.001-05:00

First images from the upcoming Disney movie

Anim: Run Cycle

2012-02-03T09:56:00.000-05:00

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

Acting Reference #58

2012-01-24T11:07:00.001-05:00

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!

Dialog Anim: Final

2012-01-16T09:52:00.003-05:00

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

Dialog Anim: Third Pass

2012-01-13T10:32:00.003-05:00

Update - started polishing things up a bit

Dialog Anim: Second Pass

2012-01-12T10:25:00.003-05:00

Update

Dialog Anim: First Pass

2012-01-11T10:23:00.003-05:00

Another new animation I started

10 Best Visual Effects Scenes of 2011

2012-01-04T14:31:00.002-05:00

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

The Hobbit Trailer

2011-12-20T22:10:00.001-05:00

I Gave My Kids A Terrible Present

2011-12-14T14:21:00.004-05:00

Some great reference of kids. The little girls reaction to her brother at 2:32 is awesome!

Basic Walk Cycle Tutorial

2011-12-13T18:03:00.004-05:00

Nice tutorial from fellow Kyle, Kyle Balda. I use a very similar process&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/ifram&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Composition

2011-12-09T17:32:00.000-05:00

One thing I find that often plagues animators that are just starting out, besides forgetting to bathe cause they are animating too much, is composition. What is compositoin you say? Well lets go to the dictionary.

composition is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art or a photograph, as distinct from the subject of a work. It can also be thought of as the organization of the elements of art according to the principles of art.

Well that was wordy and boring...so what does it mean & how does that apply to animation? Composition has to do with where characters/objects are on the screen, within the frame of the shot. Too often than not, I see animators import a couple of rigs, throw in a camera and start animating. But why is the camera there? Why are the characters standing where they are? What is the composition? Why am I asking all these questions? Thought and planning should go into your composition just like it does in your acting choices. When you go see a Pixar movie, they didn't just barf the characters & cameras onto the screen...at least..I hope they didn't. Lots of thought and time goes into where they should be in relation to each other & where the camera should be. Here are some tips, examples, & rules... don't worry there are images, cause reading text is boring.

Fill Your Frame - You don't want the viewer to have to squint to make out what they are looking at. If the character is the focus of your shot...make sure you can see them. Now, sometimes having a character small on screen can be used for dramatic effect, but if this character is talking or doing an important action, make sure we can see em

Rule of Thirds - The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) You want to place your main points of interest at the intersections or along the lines. Now this is a rule...and if I've learned anything in my days, its that rules are meant to be broken. So don't think you have to follow this all the time. But its good to understand the rules, so if you do break them you can intelligently talk about why you did.

Mood - This is a big one, you can use the angle/position of your camera to help evoke an emotion or mood. If your character is happy or sad, using a camera to help tell this will only make your animation that much better.
Placing a camera at a low angle looking up makes the subject look more powerful/strong. Vice versa, looking down at a character makes them feel more weak/helpless.

Positioning the character off to the side can create the feeling of loneliness and isolation.

Pushing the camera close in on a character can create a more intimate feeling.

Lines - You can use lines to help lead the viewers eyes to important parts of the shot.

These are just some examples and ideas. I highly recommend that everyone who is interested in animating try and learn more about composition! Here's a link that has even more info, cause you don't want to listen to me carry on all day. Happy Animating!

Gift of The Night Fury

2011-12-09T10:42:00.001-05:00

Acting Reference #57

2011-12-01T15:59:00.001-05:00

Here's some nice reference of a walk with a lot of character from A.I.

Voltron #4

2011-11-30T10:13:00.001-05:00

Another update. Cleaning up the guy a bit after his approach to the counter

Studying Animation

2011-11-29T17:15:00.001-05:00

Nice article about studying animation I found over at Lozt Boyz, click the image to check it out

iAnimate 2011 Showreel

2011-11-28T10:54:00.001-05:00

Top 100 Game Trailers

2011-11-23T11:49:00.001-05:00

Game Trailers.com made a list of the top 100 game trailers of all time. Here's the top 5 and you can check out the entire list here

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Top 100 Trailers of All Time - Trailer #5, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Top 100 Trailers of All Time - Trailer #4, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Top 100 Trailers of All Time - Trailer #3, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Top 100 Trailers of All Time - Trailer #2, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Top 100 Trailers of All Time - Trailer #1, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

The Uncanny Valley

2011-11-21T10:44:00.001-05:00

Great piece about the uncanny valley. Click the pic to check it out

Voltron #3

2011-11-18T18:16:00.001-05:00

Getting back to working on this guy again...been a while since I touched it last. Started working on the girl a bit

Toy Story Small Fry Clip

2011-11-15T09:49:00.001-05:00

Jim Levasseur Workflow

2011-11-03T16:10:00.000-04:00

Great post about workflow from Jim Levasseur. Click the image to check it out!

ParaNorman Trailer

2011-10-28T14:30:00.000-04:00

Animating Transformers Online

2011-10-25T17:53:00.001-04:00

Cool set of videos on animating Transformers from High Moon studios. Click the image to check it out