Blocking in animation is sort of a step past key-ing it out. You start with the most essential poses, and then add the important ones between those (trying to get your timing right) and eventually let the program in-between it. Usually the programs suck at doing that, so you follow up with a lot of tweaking to make things move like they're supposed to and effectively eyeball it and keep playing with it until it looks right.
This might have been when they were still figuring out the character. They animate the character to the actor's other works sometimes to get a feel for what the voice will make the character. So perhaps he had blue eyes in the early days.
That last scene with Po, did the Po animators have to take some comedy scenes from Jack Black's other movies and re-create them using Po's character? That's actually so cool... I like how they put the time into their characters to make the them as believable as possible.
For acting shots I do pose to pose. Action shots is usually a combination of pose to pose and straight ahead; most of the time with action shots there is a moving camera. Most of the time I will do all the body animation before really doing the lip sync or the face, but that's just how I like to work ;)
@animatorBoy Thank you for replying back. I just have never seen any real world professional animators demo reel on the internet, besides stuff from 3D software companies demo reels. I found it very impressive and shocking at the same time. Watching your work a lone has been inspiring to keep working at it. I took a look at your stuff on your web site already. very cool.
@KittyAlvin7902 True.....but Jack Black hasn't really played any other sweet guys like Po (except Miles in The Holiday.....but this was probably before that). I think he's drinking soda.
This is just a little test gang..nothing related to the film. Jack Black gives such great reads and the line from School of Rock was pretty funny..He probably drinking a soda or perhaps an energy drink....Panda-ade
@delfrig2000 Thanks! No I didn't go to UTD. We did work for DW remotely and would video conference with the director for dailies. We did work with DW on the projects, just not in the same building :)
@nddlj The Po shot at the end was just something I did during some down time as a personal test. But many times, when there is time, animators will do tests with the rig to audio clips or whatever to test things out and get comfortable with the character before a production begins.
@CarsInsider Everything here was for an official project except for the last shot with Po. The first couple shots are from Secrets of the Furious Five. The Bee movie stuff was either for a commercial or DVD extra....there's some Open Season 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles..etc.
Very nice. I've just started working towards an animation degree. I have really liked the classes so far and have started aiming towards character animation. There is nothing quite like seeing a character come to life frame by frame.
@3Deditor Not really looking at the moment... I just decided to put a reel together. Many of these clips are on my web site. Hopefully I will have some new stuff up by the end of the year :)
Very inspiring work. That clip with Po at the end is a great inclusion, showing your blocking stage. I'm always interested in seeing the different steps. Greetings from an animation student in Denmark.
very awesome Reel i love what i do as a rigger animator and production and and just watching your reel motivates me so much, and btw kung fu panda is my 2nd fav of all time. really sick reel!!!!
@McCMacBook Everything on my reel was used in an actual production except the last shot with Po. The shots you are referring to are unrendered scenes of April from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I think the dialogue was temp as well...
@salazar1134 I work at ReelFx in Dallas, TX. We have done work for Dreamworks but I have never actually worked there. Couldn't tell ya how long one frame takes to render. That is all done on our render farm. My Po test took maybe 1 minute a frame but he doesn't have fur and whatnot; its a simple render.
@806543721 thanks! I don't work at Dreamworks though. I work at ReelFx in Dallas. We did the CG portion of the Secrets of the Furious Five for Dreamworks. This was a test I started when I was getting familiar with the rig.
If you are applying to be a character animator then put lots of acting on the reel. Some actiony stuff is fine as well. No flying logos or space ships. Be sure that the characters performance is believable and that he appears to be thinking through the scene.
Great stuff! I see you work at ReelFx in Dallas. You didn't happen to go to UTD did you? I'm transferring there for their ATEC (animation) program and my counsler had an "Ant Bully" poster with signatures of alumni who worked on it. I might have seen yours up there too. So does Dreamworks have other companies animate some segments sometimes, or did you do work with them directly long distance?
@Judgmentdayz Lots of time the production people just want you to start for the sake of starting. It doesn't make a lot of sense I know. Sometimes you can save some of the performance but a lot times you can't. When I worked on Ant Bully, WB changed the character Fugax from Alan Cummings (Errol Flynn-like performance) to Bruce Campbell (Bruce Campbell-like performance) 3 months before production wrapped. Fun times!!
@animatorBoy If so much has to be reanimated, why do they still want you to do it before the dialogue had been recorded? Do you feel like it makes up for the time you had spent if you were doing it from scratch with already recorded dialogue, or would do you just find it a waste of time?
I love your funny characters. I'm just trying animation for fun, But I think it takeas years to be really good. I#m looking foreward to see some more. Thank you
wow i really love your work. So much expressions in the character. Now i feel like i should've took the animation road instead of modeling. =( problem is i love both. hahha
This are fantastic :) I'm going to be majoring in 2D animation next year at The School of Visual Arts and want to take some 3D classes as well on the side. Do you have any advice for me?
I really wish I could do 3d animation as a hobby, I'm not bad in the 3d modeling category, but rendering animation just takes way too long on a single personal computer =[
Ray, now are you looking for work or did the current company you're working for encourage you to have updated demo reels to post on youtube? This would be a first that I've seen a demo reel coming from real world professional work from well known movies. Who can compete with that!!!???
@animatorBoy Wow, I'm sorry to hear that. They're not going easy on you people. One last question: Since you call yourself an animator, is that all you do? I'm currently majoring in 3D, and we get to learn some modelling aswell, and I'm wondering if one will have to some of that when doing a major production, of if that's someone elses job? Because if the truth is to be told, I much prefer animation to modelling.
@@animatorBoy ah whoops when I googled your name, I think I got the age of the voice actor Ray Chase. My bad. I like the subtle movements you add to the characters, especially with Po and Master Shifu.
One of the problems I have with pixar films is that they use the same animation sets, the same head dip-eyeroll where inappropriate, the same charicature animations... The characters move so dramatically that it loses any immersion the film intended to have for me.
Make sure you have a solid understanding of the principles of animation. They are the foundation on which everything else is built in animation.
Blocking in animation is sort of a step past key-ing it out. You start with the most essential poses, and then add the important ones between those (trying to get your timing right) and eventually let the program in-between it. Usually the programs suck at doing that, so you follow up with a lot of tweaking to make things move like they're supposed to and effectively eyeball it and keep playing with it until it looks right.
Last one was da best hands down - agree!!!!
This might have been when they were still figuring out the character. They animate the character to the actor's other works sometimes to get a feel for what the voice will make the character. So perhaps he had blue eyes in the early days.
Great work! Thanks for posting the WIP at the end, seeing the blocking along with the polished stuff always is nice to see.
That last scene with Po, did the Po animators have to take some comedy scenes from Jack Black's other movies and re-create them using Po's character? That's actually so cool... I like how they put the time into their characters to make the them as believable as possible.
For acting shots I do pose to pose. Action shots is usually a combination of pose to pose and straight ahead; most of the time with action shots there is a moving camera. Most of the time I will do all the body animation before really doing the lip sync or the face, but that's just how I like to work ;)
It's amazing how much detail you put into your block in! Very inspirational and thanks for sharing!
I love how you are able to get such emotion out of the animals! Such a great job Ray, keep up the good work!
@animatorBoy Thank you for replying back. I just have never seen any real world professional animators demo reel on the internet, besides stuff from 3D software companies demo reels. I found it very impressive and shocking at the same time. Watching your work a lone has been inspiring to keep working at it. I took a look at your stuff on your web site already. very cool.
That was amazing to watch. Love the School of Rock cross over at the end XD
@KittyAlvin7902 True.....but Jack Black hasn't really played any other sweet guys like Po (except Miles in The Holiday.....but this was probably before that). I think he's drinking soda.
This is just a little test gang..nothing related to the film. Jack Black gives such great reads and the line from School of Rock was pretty funny..He probably drinking a soda or perhaps an energy drink....Panda-ade
@delfrig2000 Thanks! No I didn't go to UTD. We did work for DW remotely and would video conference with the director for dailies. We did work with DW on the projects, just not in the same building :)
Can't believe I didn't watch this whole thing till now Ray, great work. I still hope you're planning on finishing the last shot with Po.
@nddlj The Po shot at the end was just something I did during some down time as a personal test. But many times, when there is time, animators will do tests with the rig to audio clips or whatever to test things out and get comfortable with the character before a production begins.
@CarsInsider Everything here was for an official project except for the last shot with Po. The first couple shots are from Secrets of the Furious Five. The Bee movie stuff was either for a commercial or DVD extra....there's some Open Season 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles..etc.
Absolutely love these animations! I'm trying to be an animator myself.. But seeing this helps inspire me :)
Great stuff as always!
These were all projects (except the last one) that I did at ReelFX
Very nice. I've just started working towards an animation degree. I have really liked the classes so far and have started aiming towards character animation. There is nothing quite like seeing a character come to life frame by frame.
@3Deditor Not really looking at the moment... I just decided to put a reel together. Many of these clips are on my web site. Hopefully I will have some new stuff up by the end of the year :)
lol the ending was sick, school of rock audio over kung fu panda, AWESOME
Very inspiring work. That clip with Po at the end is a great inclusion, showing your blocking stage. I'm always interested in seeing the different steps. Greetings from an animation student in Denmark.
Really great woooork! Love it
very awesome Reel i love what i do as a rigger animator and production and and just watching your reel motivates me so much, and btw kung fu panda is my 2nd fav of all time. really sick reel!!!!
@McCMacBook Everything on my reel was used in an actual production except the last shot with Po. The shots you are referring to are unrendered scenes of April from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I think the dialogue was temp as well...
@JordanBornholdt Thanks! One of these days I will finish Po....it's real close to being done.
wow! Very nice work!
Thanks for your advice! I really appreciate it :)
@salazar1134 I work at ReelFx in Dallas, TX. We have done work for Dreamworks but I have never actually worked there. Couldn't tell ya how long one frame takes to render. That is all done on our render farm. My Po test took maybe 1 minute a frame but he doesn't have fur and whatnot; its a simple render.
=O you must make a animation but Po dancing like Michael Jackson ! =D
K How did you get your hands on these 3D assets?
How do you usually animate, pose to pose? Or straight forward. Also, whats easier? Animating the body then lip syncing or vice versa?
@Clowning8
hope is not to late but that's April O'neil from the 2007 ninja turtles movie.
Did Po say hard-ass? O____O lol!
Really great job!
@Judgmentdayz Unfortunately I have had to animate to scratch dialogue....when the final dialogue is recorded a lot tends be reanimated..
If u made the last one can u make a tutorial i have been dying to know how to animate po and maybe u could do one on tigress plz reply
@fireflyeme glad you liked it!
@cscdigitalgraphics thank you!
mostly tests showing the character thinking and emoting. a couple physical tests that show strong body mechanics wouldn't hurt
blackjack is awesome,, so as your animation. :)
@806543721 thanks! I don't work at Dreamworks though. I work at ReelFx in Dallas. We did the CG portion of the Secrets of the Furious Five for Dreamworks. This was a test I started when I was getting familiar with the rig.
what is blocking in animation and how do you "polish" it?
If you are applying to be a character animator then put lots of acting on the reel. Some actiony stuff is fine as well. No flying logos or space ships. Be sure that the characters performance is believable and that he appears to be thinking through the scene.
Great stuff! I see you work at ReelFx in Dallas. You didn't happen to go to UTD did you? I'm transferring there for their ATEC (animation) program and my counsler had an "Ant Bully" poster with signatures of alumni who worked on it. I might have seen yours up there too. So does Dreamworks have other companies animate some segments sometimes, or did you do work with them directly long distance?
@ImaginationRendering thanks!
Pleasure to watch
What's Po doing in the elementary school?
When animating dialogue, have there ever been a time when you've had to do it before the dialogue was recorded?
@Judgmentdayz Lots of time the production people just want you to start for the sake of starting. It doesn't make a lot of sense I know. Sometimes you can save some of the performance but a lot times you can't. When I worked on Ant Bully, WB changed the character Fugax from Alan Cummings (Errol Flynn-like performance) to Bruce Campbell (Bruce Campbell-like performance) 3 months before production wrapped. Fun times!!
I'm currently a 2d animator shifting to 3d in maya. How do you guys do this? The blocking stage screws me over so many times!!
@animatorBoy If so much has to be reanimated, why do they still want you to do it before the dialogue had been recorded? Do you feel like it makes up for the time you had spent if you were doing it from scratch with already recorded dialogue, or would do you just find it a waste of time?
nice work man.
@AbbanEllihud Blocking is a lot like 2d....focus on the key poses..storytelling poses then start breaking it down for there.
0:21 i just realized that the bee from the bee movie is Jerry Seinfeld
i love po even more now
I love your funny characters. I'm just trying animation for fun, But I think it takeas years to be really good.
I#m looking foreward to see some more. Thank you
Hurray. I guessed every movie right!
thats brilliant work, im doing a 3d animation showcase in college right now. f curve's are making me cry =(
awesome
@landoncrosby thanks a lot!!
wow i really love your work. So much expressions in the character. Now i feel like i should've took the animation road instead of modeling. =(
problem is i love both. hahha
@LarxeneOrgXII thanks!
2:29 im with Po that one !
FINISH THAT LAST PO ANIMATION! =D
This are fantastic :) I'm going to be majoring in 2D animation next year at The School of Visual Arts and want to take some 3D classes as well on the side. Do you have any advice for me?
what was 1:41 from?
I love your work! I am currently trying to break into the industry and was wondering; is there anything you specifically hate seeing on demo reels?
What did you use to do all of this? O_O
@dottiedots221 thanks!
@divinepretzel thanks!! Keep at it!!
I really wish I could do 3d animation as a hobby, I'm not bad in the 3d modeling category, but rendering animation just takes way too long on a single personal computer =[
@animatorBoy no problem :)
School Of Rock of course
@animatorBoy wanna learn more about this
the perfect voice is importanat for an animator i think
@xxbluejay21 April from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Ray, now are you looking for work or did the current company you're working for encourage you to have updated demo reels to post on youtube? This would be a first that I've seen a demo reel coming from real world professional work from well known movies. Who can compete with that!!!???
the last one was funny, at least to me.
@abdelpizarro Nope not to late at all, i thought that was who it was but i wasn't sure Thanks for the confirmation! :)
@The0ptimus @The0ptimus April from TMNT :)
@spleeWaffle I will!!!!.......sometime ;)
@christon0123 those damn computers!!!! next thing you know Skynet will be taking over and enslaving humanity ;)
@animatorBoy Wow, I'm sorry to hear that. They're not going easy on you people. One last question: Since you call yourself an animator, is that all you do? I'm currently majoring in 3D, and we get to learn some modelling aswell, and I'm wondering if one will have to some of that when doing a major production, of if that's someone elses job? Because if the truth is to be told, I much prefer animation to modelling.
Wow, I didn't know you were allowed to use the rigs for your own tests over at Dreamworks. great idea to find a audio clip from school of rock though.
LOL Awesome! K Next question: can I have them??? xDDD
OMG KUNG FU PANDA WOOT
Wait you did animation for Ant Bully?! That would mean you were doing animation since you were at least 18!
Actually I was around 34 at the time of Ant Billy…
@@animatorBoy ah whoops when I googled your name, I think I got the age of the voice actor Ray Chase. My bad.
I like the subtle movements you add to the characters, especially with Po and Master Shifu.
One of the problems I have with pixar films is that they use the same animation sets, the same head dip-eyeroll where inappropriate, the same charicature animations... The characters move so dramatically that it loses any immersion the film intended to have for me.
CGI KILLING THE ANIMATION WORLD!!!
/bow
@christon0123 says the person that knows nothing about CGI or animation....
Ok your lieing jack something did kung foo panda you didnt do any of this I bet
Rayham
Dude, he's a professional.
Professionals tend to get *jobs*.