alexiss dawn

Just posting up a few pics from Halloween. Blue Sky had their party at work on Thursday last week so that people would be free to do their own thing on Friday. People all dressed up, and there was way too much candy as per the norm.

One of the most funny things was working that day and looking to my side and seeing Captain Sparrow animating away. Hil-arious.

I have a lot of random thoughts about things outside of animation… crazy, right? So I started a side blog. It’s existed for over a year but I just cleaned it out to start fresh with whatever I want to talk about. This blog will keep going with animation news, updates, tips, and all that jazz, but the randomness of my mind will hop over to continue it’s random banter.

Yes, that’s right — a momentous occasion. Drum roll please…

I have finally filled a sketchbook. Lol. I know, I know, it’s not as momentous as you would’ve thought. But you see, I always move onto another sketchbook before filling up another. Last night I realized there were no more pages to be sketched on and moved onto yet another partially filled sketchbook.

Well, I was excited.

It’s interesting looking through it. A big portion of it is filled with sketches done for projects at Animation Mentor. I look at the character posing I did this time last year - oh man, it’s bad. I’ve been able to grow a lot animation wise over this last year at AM, but I realized how much it’s helped me grow sketching wise as well. Figuring out what makes a pose appealing is huge! I’ve been spending a lot of time commenting around class 1 public reviews this term and the biggest thing for me is looking for that line of action through a pose. It really does so much for a pose! Of course you need weight, good silhouette, proper mechanics, etc. It’s just crazy to see what I thought was a great pose. I spent last night in Q&As and story sessions, and while listening I was filling up pages just sketching basic poses, playing with curves, and exploring posing. I actually enjoy doing that now.

So there’s one extra bonus of being at AM. Another thing I’ve been noticing is a new confidence about things. Of course that waivers back and forth, but talking about what’s appealing and what’s not in animation, I feel a lot more confident about what I have to say. Doesn’t mean I’m right all the time, but at least I’m confident.

Oh! And I forgot to post this on the actual “anniversary date”, but this last week, on the 28th, marked 1 year of animating for me!

This time last year, having never animated before, I had just spent an entire week working on a basic bouncing ball. I still have so much to learn, but comparing it to where my progress reel is now at, it’s so crazy how far I’ve been able to come in just a year thanks to the amazing set up and people at Animation Mentor. I can’t wait to explore even more this next year!

(Looking back…my first bouncing ball! I did it twice for the assignment to play with different setups.)

This last week was a tough week. Between work, AM, and friends, it really forced me to take a step back and think about what really matters — what’s actually important in the long run. And that’s forcing me to make some decisions about just what I’m going to do as I find myself in unknown places. It’s all super exciting but man, it’s going to be a really interesting year. I’m so incredibly thankful for such supportive friends at AM as well as here in Utah.

Class 5 is zipping by. We’re going into week 4 already. I’ve submitted my video pitches and this week I’ll make the final decision for this project. It’s such a huge challenge but I’m excited to keep pushing with it. Story development is a definite challenge but it’s teaching me a lot — something I’d like to explore even more in the future. Each week I can’t believe how much I learn and grow in my studies at Animation Mentor. The light at the end of this tunnel is getting closer and I’m running at it with a big ol’ smile.

Happy, Happy 2008! Jeez this last year flew by. It’s been a bit since I’ve posted but I was off enjoying the holidays. I even took a couple of weeks off from my job! I was doing a scene for the 11 Second Club and was getting into my first pass of polish buuut after talking to an AM friend, I decided to take a break instead. I’ll admit, it took me a good 4 days or so to finally slip into relax mode. But after a year of constant go-go-go, it was nice to take a break. I went and saw a few movies, played Guitar Hero (of which I am now a Rock Legend…well, at least on medium), played some games with my family, and believe it or not — slept! Overall it’s been a really enjoyable break.

But now I have the itch. I feel like a little kid before Christmas — I’m ready to get back into the groove at Animation Mentor. The site has been closed down for two weeks and it opens up tomorrow. For the most part I’ve avoided the computer during this break and have only jumped on a few times to mess with a couple of things in Maya, do a bit in Premiere, and of course chat with some other AMers. But it’s such a tease when my homepage on Firefox is set to AM and I can’t login. It’ll be great to get going again.

It’s been an incredible year and I don’t think I could have wished for it to go better. I’ve been blessed to be a part of AM and meet so many incredible people who have pushed and supported me all along. It’s been so great to find my niche and then to be surrounded by such amazing people. Onto 2008!

You can tell the holidays are coming quickly around Animation Mentor. It started today in the forums with this, and then came this, and now THIS. Out of control, rolling on the floor laughing. Enjoy! I love these guys…

(First one has Bobby, Shawn, Carlos and Spike of AM, second one has Spilly, Jules, Ryan and Joey, and then comes Me, Ian, Teresa, and Bryan. :))

FINALLY it’s snowing. And man has it been dumping it. Yesterday - no snow. This morning - a good 6-7 inches. I didn’t make it to work since I spent 30 minutes trying to and couldn’t even get out of the neighborhood. Crazy. It snowed, well, more like blizzarded (hmm, that’s not a word) all day. I think we had to shovel snow 4-5 times today. Sliding, err, driving this time of year sure is fun! Lol. I do love when it first starts snowing here…it gathers on trees and railings in a really cool way. The railing stacked up a good 6 inches of thin piles all along and down. Awesome. We still had berries on a tree…I thought it looked cool.

Back to animating!

Mmm…turkey. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. No sleep (which is nothing new), lots of games, family, and excellent food. Couldn’t ask for anything better.

Lots to be thankful for this year. Of course I’m thankful for my family all over - it’s great to have good bonds with them and to be able to spend time with them and act completely crazy. I’m also extremely grateful for the many opportunities I’ve had to meet so many amazing people this year. The opportunity to be a part of the community at Animation Mentor is a big blessing. So thankful for finding a large group of people that are so passionate and push me to grow and laugh with me. The opportunities to travel, to meet people, and to laugh — and to become close friends with so many people. Life is good and I’m thankful for all of the blessings I do have.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Keep enjoying the turkey.

(I told you, we’re crazy - sour limes did play a part though - Happy Thanksgiving!!)

Just though I’d send a Happy Halloween out! I know it’s not celebrated everywhere but why not make up an excuse to find some random vegetable and carve it? Seeing how this year has gone I found it fitting to carve my pumpkin a certain way…

So have a good one - it’s a day to dress up and actually “fit in” with everyone else. Eat lots of candy, watch scary movies, and watch out for pumpkin snatchers. Happy Halloween!

So I finished the room and I got a lot done one one set for a possible short idea. I’m really happy with how it’s turning out. I would post screenshots of it BUT I’ve had a disaster with Maya. BLAST! My wireless card died yesterday - LAME. And unfortunately I had attached my Maya license to the card’s hardware address. HP will replace the card for free as it’s still under warranty but because AM starts Monday and they’d have to have the comp for 2 weeks, I just bought a wireless usb adaptor. Unfortunately, I still can’t use Maya - have to wait till Monday when their offices open so I can relocate my license. Again very lame. I understand they want to protect the computer but why do they have to make it so incredibly hard for the customer who BOUGHT it to use it?! I have a couple comps - it’d be nice to run it on both. I mean, I paid for it - I should be able to. Jeez.

The wireless adaptor is nice though - good thing cause I’ll probably have to stick with that for a while since there really isn’t going to be a break at AM for a while. I bought a Netgear rangemax one that goes perfectly my router. Works really well. I’ll just transfer it to my other comp once I get this fixed…in like a year. *sigh*

Anyway, it’s been nice having a break. Went out with some local AMers last night - really a blast to be with them and just chat it up for hours. Very enjoyable people. It was nice to get out too - I haven’t been downtown in a long time!

Oh yeah, it snowed here this week - that’s just…oh man. Seriously, “Fall” in Utah lasts for about a week and then BAM! It’s cold! One of these days I should try out snowboarding or skiing. After all, it’s what we’re known for and all - it’s even on our license plates.

EDIT: The snowflakes are getting huge! I tried to take a pic but it was just a blurry mess so I shot a few seconds of video out of my window. Man…snow. Sheesh! (Although, if it would stick I’d make a killer snowman…in the middle of the road a la Calvin and Hobbes style.)