Process Gif 2

I am modeling an environment based on the San Juan Bautista Mission down in California and I decided to do a quick look and feel painting. I started by quickly blocking out the environment in maya and adding some spot lights. I then blocked in some rough color, went through my reference folder, and did some Photo bashing to get texture reference. lastly I added a layer on top and did a final paint over simplifying the texture and color and cleaning things up a bit.

Process Gif 1

I am trying to get better at document my process as I experiment with different tools and ways of working in Photoshop.  to help with this I have decided to start doing gifs that step through the painting from start to finish. I have only created a few gifs so far but I am already learning a lot about my process and ways to streamline my workflow.

In this painting I started with a quick sketch and then blocked in the foreground, middle ground, and background on separate layers. once I had the separate layers blocked out I went back and forth between them adding texture and detail.

2-3 hour Environment Painting

I had Monday off so I painted an environment. I need to practice painting foliage more.

Environment Painting.

I'm trying to get better at uploading my work. Here is a painting I did last night.

Dance WIP

This is a WIP of a dance animation I am working on inspired by a scene from saturday night fever.

In class demo walk cycle for a HighSchool Animation Class I teach

Here is a work in progress walk cycle for a HighSchool Animation Class I teach.  In this class I cover the 12 principles of animation and teach students how to animate in Adobe Flash and Autodesk Maya.  I start students off with a ball bounce in Adobe Flash before Teaching Maya.

In Maya I have students do two ball bounce animations. One where the ball is bouncing in place, and another where the ball bounces down three steps.  The transition to animating in 3D can be challenging, I find that a ball bounce is the best way to get students comfortable with using Maya's interface.

After the Ball bounce I go into a walk cycle starting with the lower body.  By animating just the lower body students are challenged without getting overwhelmed.  I will upload a playblast of the finished lower body walk cycle before we move onto the upper body.

I find it helpful to teach from the hips out since almost every motion we do starts from the hips. For example in a walk cycle we shifting our weight forward starting at the hips and essentially through our feet out in front to catch ourselves. Being consistent in going back to the hips gives students a starting point and helps them learn how to trouble shoot their animations. If there is a problem with the ankle disconnecting from the foot, check the hips and work your way down to the feet. If the knee is popping, go to the Hips and see if that is what is causing it, then work your way down.

-James McWhirter IV

Portrait worm up.

I have been trying to be more consistent and do daily worm ups. This is one from the other day