Team Fortress 2 Character Trailers

I don't know how long these have been around, but I just discovered these little vignettes for the characters in the game Team Fortress 2 (which I would definitely play if I still played video games!). The design, animation and execution are top-notch, and the writing and voice acting is hilarious, too! I love how specific every character is. You know generally where in the world they are from, what their outlook on life is like, and their personality quirks all within moments of meeting them. The design, voice and animation are all working together brilliantly to create characters that are clear and appealing. Makes them all that much more fun to kill.

Meet The Heavy (Team Fortress 2)
by nofrag

Team Fortress 2 engineer
by minutemed

Team Fortress 2 soldier
by minutemed

team fortress 2 demoman
by ElectronicArts

Meet The Scout (TF2)
by nofrag

"The Pixar Story" on TV tomorrow

Tomorrow (April 22nd) you can catch this in-depth documentary about the origins of Pixar on the Starz network at 10pm EST/PST . Set you TiVo's! The Starz web site also has some bonus footage that's not in the documentary, involving the infamous "Love Lounge" and Pixar University.

Goodbye Ollie Johnston

Two days ago we lost the last of Disney's Nine Old Men. His contribution to the art of animation was undeniable, and I'll leave to those better qualified to speak about the man. In particular, there's a great piece by Brad Bird on Cartoon Brew.

Here's a photo of Ollie with the Pixar animators taken a few years ago:

Irma's Car

Here's a nifty bit of animation from Crew 972, a studio led by my old buddy and former Pixarian Alex Orrelle. Nice mix of 2D and 3D. Enjoy!

Edit: If the above link prompts you to log in to Facebook, you can use this link instead.

Romain Seguad's new site

One of my favorite indie animators, Romain Segaud, has updated his site. There's loads of great content, both old and new, all with a very unique style. Be sure to check out his short film, "Tim Tom", and the music video "Bip Bip", as well as some of his recent commercials, such as the new "Islands" spot. Vive Romain!

"Final" WALL-E trailer is up

You probably already new this, but the third and final WALL-E trailer is available online. You can find all the trailers (and the Vacuum Vignette) in assorted flavors here. Enjoy!

Cool Stratastencil Animation

It's always fun to see a new kind of animation pop up. This is by animation Javan Ivey at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyan, and you can see how he did it on his site. How long do think it will be until we see this technique used in commercials for banks and cell phones carriers?

Philip Seymore Hoffman Rocks.

Warning: lots of profanity in this clip. I haven't seen Charlie Wilson's War, but I saw this clip of Philip Seymore Hoffman during the Oscars and I had to chase it down on YouTube. First off, the shape of his head is amazing. But that's not his choice. Second, he's an amazing actor. But you probably know that. Third, check out the energy in this clip, especially around 1:15. He's so angry - his gestures hit hard and rattle his torso, his head shakes back and forth quickly, almost vibrating. His attitudes are so clear. When have you seen this kind of energy in animation? I can't recall if I have, but I sure want to try it the next time I have to animate an angry character. Maybe you guys will beat me to it!

Congratulations Brad Bird and Ratatouille!

I almost forgot to post: Ratatouille takes the Oscar! Big congrats to Brad and all those who worked so hard to make Ratatouille the Best Animated Feature of 2007! Here's Brad with the animation crew:

CarlosBaena.com

When you get tired of my blog, cruise on over to see Carlos Baena's site! He's a fellow Pixar animator and one of the founders of AnimationMentor.com. He's also a crazy Spaniard with a passion for animation and filmmaking. He's been posting tons of interesting stuff lately (unlike me) so check it out!

WALL-E is back...

...Mostly. The HD version of the Vacuum Cleaner vignette that I animated is now available on ComingSoon.net (scroll to the bottom of the page). I'm not allowed to repost the thumbnails yet, for various reasons. Sorry for the tease!

WALL-E Animation Thumbnails

SORRY, I've been asked to pull these images off for now. I'll post them again later when I get the green-light.

As promised, here are some of the planning drawings I did for the Super Bowl ad. I planned about 80% of the shot on paper and figured the rest out in the computer. WALL-E is really simple to pose and quick to animate, so I often experiment more in the computer than I would normally.

The Full WALL-E

SORRY, I've been asked to pull this clip off my site for now.

Here's the full-length animation of WALL-E that I did for the Super Bowl, minus the Buzz and Woody scenes.

Watch the WALL-E Super Bowl ad online

As expected, the WALL-E commercial for the Super Bowl is available online now in glorious HD and other flavors. The spot is 1 minute long, and I actually did a full minute of WALL-E animation, though they had to cut a lot out to make room for the Buzz and Woody bits. Hopefully they will release the uncut version on the web. We had a very short time to produce this ad, so there are some rough edges, but I think it turned out pretty well. I had about 4 weeks to do the WALL-E stuff from start to finish, and I had some help from Don Crum, Wendell Lee and Sarah Mercey. Luckily robots are much faster to animate than humans and rats! The hardest part was probably animating the vacuum hose. The power cord was simulated, thankfully. I'll post some planning thumbnails when I get the time.

In the meantime, you can check out the official WALL-E web site, which has just been updated.

WALL-E Super Bowl Commercial

If you weren't going to watch anyway... Tune in to the Super Bowl on Fox this Sunday to see a brand new commercial for WALL-E. Game begins at 3pm PST, and rumor has it the ad will run around the beginning of the 3rd quarter. I'll try to post a link here once the ad is online. I did most of the WALL-E animation myself, so I hope you like it!

Congratulations to Animation Mentor Class of '08!

This past Saturday I had the honor of attending and presenting at the graduation ceremonies for Classes 5 and 6 of Animation Mentor. It was a lot of fun to meet many of my students in person and hang out with the other mentors, as well as the founders, Bobby, Shawn and Carlos. I got to present the Student Choice Award for Walk Cycle With The Most Personality. You can get a much better description (with photos) on Bobby Beck's Blog. If you haven't already, be sure to check out some of the graduates' work in the latest AM showreel.

New Miyazaki Interview

Hayoa Miyazaki discusses his upcoming film on ghibliworld.com - they are not using any CG in this production.
Here's an interesting quote:

I always tell my staff that if they don’t like to draw by hand deliberately, then they should give up animation. It’s easy to distinguish if pictures are drawn by machines or human hands. If we give up the tough way, we will lose the richness in our art.

New WALL-E Trailers Online!

Head over to RottenTomatoes and IGN for the new WALL-E trailers. There are two versions, the domestic and international. You can also read Harry Knowles' take on the 15 minutes of footage he screened at the Butt-Numb-A-Thon 9 last week. Enjoy!

Ergonomics

I interrupt this blog to bring you an important public service announcement. I've had a few inquiries lately about the foam tubing that I put on my Wacom stylus (people saw it in my 11-Second Club critique and one of my AnimationMentor.com lectures), and that got me thinking that I should use this blog to spread some more ergo knowledge. It's important to take care of your bodies, kids, if you want to be animating for the long-haul! It's not enough to buy an "ergonomic" mouse; you can have all the fancy equipment in the world but you may still get RSI if you don't have proper posture, alignment and work habits.

I first learned about Repetitive Strain Injuries when I started at Pixar in 2000, and wouldn't you know, I got it working on Monsters, Inc. Before that I had worked for 5 years on computers and never had a problem. Self-fulfilling prophecy, Pixar curse, or just a matter of time? Either way, after some physical therapy, accupuncture, ergonomics lessons and regular stretching I'm back to working pain-free. If I push myself too hard the pain returns, so part of the solution is to learn how much your body can take.

There are many kinds of RSI, the most publicized being carpal tunnel syndrome. Mine manifested more in the muscles in my shoulder and neck rather than the nerves in my wrists, but it's no less serious. I found that for me yoga and swimming are really effective in relieving the soreness and stiffness. I was lucky in that I work for a company that is very proactive about preventing and treating RSI, and we have people on staff to help us set up and use our workstations. You may not be so lucky, so please try to educate yourself. Below are some links to articles written by my friend and former Pixar Ergonomist, Shelby Cass. I hope you'll give them a read and evaluate your own work habits. Stay healthy out there!

Are You Ergonomically Correct?
What is Ergonomics?
Shelby's Web Site

Freaky Francomation!

The students at Supinfocom in Arles, France always put out good work, and this latest one, "Musicotherapie" is no exception. Really original style and, uh, story. I don't know where they come up with this stuff...