martes, 7 de mayo de 2013

Girl themed shorts

La Gaviota and Cherie 25 Habilage are two excelent short films that in my opinion capture the female beauty in an original way, using 3D and 2D respectively. Check them out.





Production company : Fortiche Production



Production company : Les Telecreateurs

jueves, 25 de abril de 2013

The state of the "industry" in Venezuela

I thought it would be nice if I wrote a couple of lines about the animation business here in my country, so hopefully people in other places can have a better idea about what challenges we face and the work that is being done.

The harsh reality is that there currently is no animation industry in Venezuela. 

Let me elaborate a bit. 

There are very few initiatives for the production of 3D content as the education sector does not contemplate teaching 3D or 2D animation, and the economic reality is that the costs of the licences for the programs (not to say entire studios) is exaggeratedly high according to our exchange rate for currencies. Only a few institutes offer training in animation software (3dsmax, Maya, Cinema4D) but the craft is not taught, only software skills; and we all know how bad that is if your intention is to create real art. Nevertheless, the web brought to our hands the whole world of information, and it serves as our primary source of training and animation related news feed. Here, 3D animation is only synonymous with advertising and architectural visualization, and in order to change that we have to boost the production of 3D features and short films to promote the art form. Speaking of features, there hasn't been a single 3D full lenght production finished in the country yet. Argentina and Brazil have an advantage in that regard, as they have many top quality festival entry level productions, as well as the argentinian animated film to be released this year, Metegol.





 Also noticeable in the field of visual effects is the 2009 Argentine crime thriller film El secreto de sus ojos (The secret in their eyes), directed by Juan José Campanella. The picture won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards. At http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/el_secreto_de_sus_ojos we can find an excelent production focus article of the movie.

However, in Venezuela there are very good initiatives, together with the financial support of the government we are starting to develop productions that meet really good standards. As an example we have the company Zootropo Producciones who is working on a government funded 3D feature film called Kaporito the Guardian of the Mountain, and the company Stuff3d Animation, of which I proudly belong, who made the short film Sin Salida (No Way Out) and is currently in production of our second short film, aimed to improve on our skills and gradually help build an industry with the quality we deserve in Latin America.




About the role of women

Given the "novelty" status of the animation craft here and the huge availability of related web resources there is a limitless playing field for both men and women to rise as influencial actors in the construction of an actual Animation Industry, and it shows as the number of women working in the production companies easily equals the amount of men, as you can see in my particular case: http://www.stuff3danimation.com/en/our-team/. The founder and current director of Zootropo Producciones is also a lady, Mrs. Viveca Baiz!

The possibilities are ours to seize and I can say that these are exciting times for thriving artists to show their skills and represent our country in the field of animation. Let's show what we are capable of.

Interested in free design, painting and illustration courses?

Head over to the CG Master Academy Youtube Channel for a great selection of free courses by industry pros, covering a nice array of topics of interest for animators, designers, and artists in general.

Some notable samples:




 

About the Academy:
CG Master Academy (CGMA) is an online community dedicated to helping artists develop and cultivate their creative talents. Filled with the best possible training around, our online demonstrations will help aspiring artists in their goals of becoming industry artists.

jueves, 14 de marzo de 2013

Cerca

This is a piece for my character animation demo reel. Still lots of things to fix, but it's a milestone. The rig is Morpheus, by Josh Burton http://www.joshburton.com/projects/morpheus.asp

The title means close in spanish, and I wanted to express the playfulness of that special person when she is around and near you.



martes, 18 de septiembre de 2012

Here's some great advice from Kevan Shorey, he's a Dreamworks animator who really likes to share his knowledge about his craft.

He outlines the following tips:

1) Everyone is better than you, and that's OK.

2) You will catch up eventually.

3) Ask for help.

4) Get to know other departments.

5) Keep it fun.

Head to whttp://blog.kevanshorey.com/2012/07/what-i-wish-i-knew.html to read the whole article, it really resonates with me particularly, and i'm sure you'll find it helpful as well.

jueves, 26 de julio de 2012

sábado, 26 de noviembre de 2011

My 100 frame contest entry!



This is my first entry for an animation contest. I had a blast working on it, because it gave me a real challenge to practice my skills and to learn more.

I would advise every other aspiring animator to try and submit to as many animation contests as you can, for some reasons:

  • You would have to restrict yourself to work on a deadline, thus limiting your procastination time and maximising your productivity. In animation, proficiency is not everything, but it will help you to alwayas get better at your game.

  • You can compare your work to the one made by fellow animators. It should be a humbling experience to see the quality of the work that's been done nowadays.
  • You can get your name and your work out there! This is really important for biulding a reputation in our field.
  • You can most of the time get constructive critisism on your work, and give your own opinion on your peer's work. There is never too much feedback, and it will help you get better at your work a lot faster.

You could also win it, but who cares about that, right?