How to Use our Animation Tutorials at Vimeo

Tutorials are hosted at Vimeo - just login!

Here at Bucks we believe in giving our students the best possible experience, and that means having plenty of video content to supplement the classroom sessions. Animation takes time to master, but by carefully going through our video tutorials, hosted at Vimeo, all our students can take the time they need to master this complex craft. Here's how it all works:

Animation Apprentice, online animation course

What are the videos?

The videos are animation tutorials licensed to Bucks from tutor Alex Williams' online school at www.animationapprentice.org. They are a complete course in learning animation - from the very basics of Maya to sophisticated character and creature animation. They are absolutely free for all students at Bucks.

Start at Blackboard

Where can I find the videos?

Start by logging in to your Blackboard account - all students and staff at Bucks have an account of their own. Find the Module you are working on, such as DA405 - Animation 1. Scroll down on the left hand side of the screen down to the Video Resources tab - and click on that link. You will now be taken to a series of weblinks to copy and paste in your browser window. Make sure you use Explorer - for some reason the videos don't play well in Firefox or Chrome.

The videos play best with Internet Explorer

Once you have pasted the links, you will be asked for a password. You can find the password at the announcements tab at Blackboard. Enter the password, and you should be able to access the videos.


In what order should I watch the videos?

Watch them in this order:

1. Theory Videos
2. Technical Videos
3. Tutorial Videos

It will take you around 2 hours to watch the videos for each exercise, and at least 4 hours to do the exercise, so make sure you budget plenty of time to do each one. The good news is, if you do the exercise carefully, you will be well on your way to mastering the important principles of animation.

Two screens. Video tutorial on the left, Maya on the right

The ideal way to learn is to use two screens at once, and do the exercise as you go along. On the left hand screen you watch the videos, on the right hand screen - you do the exercises. Follow the videos carefully step by step, click by click - and you won't go wrong. One of our students watches the tutorial videos on his iPad, then does the work at his desktop computer.

One of the reasons why we give our students free laptops when they start at Bucks is so that each student has the flexibility to watch tutorial videos on one screen, and do the exercise on another.

iPad below, desktop display above

Once you're done, drop your Maya file onto a USB stick, or you can even email it to yourself and pick it up when you next log in back at Bucks. Make a Quick Time of your animation, upload it to your YouTube account, and then embed it at the Facebook page, for in-class review.

Welcome to the future of education!

---Alex

For more on the experience of studying at Bucks New University, come and visit us at one of our Open Days,  take a virtual tour of one of our animation studios, check out what our students think of our course, and see why we're ranked in the top 12 creative universities in the UK. Find out why we're giving free laptops to all our students, and why we give all our students free access to videos at Lynda.com. Also, see what financial assistance might be available to you. Learn which is better for animation, a PC or a Mac? Get hold of a copy of a map so you can find your way around campus, and learn about motion capture at Bucks.
 

12 Principles on Tumblr and Vimeo

Head on over to the12principles.tumblr.com and check! Super fun. I put a few below..click on the link to see the rest.

Exaggeration 

Secondary Action

Found them put together on Vimeo

The illusion of life from cento lodigiani on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

JP

RYSE Mo-Cap Comparison Reel

Here is a great comparison reel from some footage on RYSE. Some great stuff from Patrick Gamble. The game looks great!

RYSE mo-cap comparison reel from patrick gamble on Vimeo.

Enjoy!
JP

found via game anim page

"Flipping the Classroom" - Our new Video Tutorials at Bucks

Sal Khan - the man who flipped the classroom. Photo: Wikipedia

Here at Bucks we believe in the power of online training - and in the idea of "flipping the classroom", a philosophy of teaching pioneered by Sal Khan's Khan Academy. The idea is that, instead of taking notes during class and doing the homework later, you watch the lectures in advance, online, and then use precious classroom time for workshops and feedback. Best of all, each student gets to learn at their own pace, so no-one gets bored or, worse, falls behind and can't keep up.

Over the coming semester we'll be rolling out this new technique, giving our students access to hundreds of online videos, teaching you everything from how to make a ball bounce to full character and creature performances.  The idea is that you watch the lecture before coming in to class, and the classroom time itself becomes a workshop, rather than an information download. Better for everyone, and more fun as well.

So, to get started, and to find the videos, start by logging in to your Blackboard account. Find DA405 - the animation basics course, and scroll down to the Video Resources tab - and click on that link. You will now be taken to a series of weblinks to copy and paste in your browser window. Make sure you use Explorer - for some reason the videos don't play well in Firefox or Chrome.

The videos play best with Internet Explorer

Once you have pasted the links, you will be asked for a password. You can find the password at the announcements tab at Blackboard. Enter the password, and you should be able to access the videos.

Watch them in this order:

1. Theory Videos
2. Technical Videos
3. Tutorial Videos

It will take you around 2 hours to watch the videos, and at least 4 hours to do the exercise, so make sure you budget plenty of time before class. Don't leave it until Monday morning!

Two screens. Video tutorial on the left, Maya on the right

The ideal way to learn is to use two screens at once, and do the exercise as you go along. On the left hand screen you watch the videos, on the right hand screen - you do the exercises. Follow the videos carefully step by step, click by click - and you won't go wrong. One of our students watches the tutorial videos on his iPad, then does the work at his desktop computer. A perfect combination (see below).

iPad below, desktop display above

Once you're done, drop your Maya file onto a USB stick, or you can even email it to yourself and pick it up when you next log in back at Bucks. Make a Quick Time of your animation, upload it to your YouTube account, and then embed it at the Facebook page, for in-class review.

Welcome to the future of education!

---Alex

iAnimate.net Lab - No. 09

iAnimate Games instructor Richard Lico shares a bit about animators control over gameplay and player responsiveness in this excerpt from one of his lectures. Really great stuff from an industry vet.

iAnimate.net LAB - No. 09 from iAnimate on Vimeo.

Head on over to iAnimate's Vimeo page for more snippets in the LAB.
Enjoy!
JP

Vimeo on Demand

Here's a potential game changer.  Video hosting site Vimeo has started an on demand service.  You can upload your videos, charge what you want, and keep 90% of the revenue after transaction costs.  That's a better deal than iTunes.  There are no restrictions as to video length or the number of episodes.  You can also sell through Vimeo or on your own site and the videos are viewable on a variety of devices.

This continues the trend of disintermediation, cutting out the middle man between creator and audience.  With alternate means of fundraising such as Kickstarter already in place (and Kickstarter also serves as a marketing tool), the pieces are in place for independents (and studios with foresight!) to start developing their own intellectual property and generating income from it.

The lessons of TV (and before that, radio) are that you want a series.  It's got to be a recognizable genre and needs a definite demographic (whether that's an age group or people who like something specific).  Then add appealing characters and start turning out episodes that appear regularly.  Price the work so that it's an impulse purchase.  On Vimeo, Don Hertzfeldt is selling his feature, It's Such a Beautiful Day, for $2.  At that price, it's cheaper than a cup of coffee and it lasts longer.

The people who can deliver on the above formula will succeed.  They'll get to keep ownership of their work and the lion's share of the revenue.  I hope we can return to a time, like the days of Vaudeville, when creators who can satisfy an audience are free to create without anyone else getting in the way.

Ianimate.net Summer 2012 Animation Showcase

Some great work as always over at Ianimate.net. There just keeps getting more and more great work coming out of the school. Have a look around their site for more info and their Vimeo Page for some great videos.

iAnimate.net Member Showcase - Summer 2012 from iAnimate on Vimeo.

Enjoy! JP

Acting Reference Sites

Hey Everybody

There are a couple of great sites I've been meaning to post about that have some great Acting Reference for those of us that can't get enough. One by Kyle Kenworthy and the other is created by Andrew Root. They are both on Vimeo and Andrews is a group where I believe you can upload your own acting ref that you may have stored.

 

Kyles Videos

 
                               Acting Reference Videos on Vimeo

Have a look around and enjoy!
JP

Slow Motion Dog Run

For all of you out there looking for quadraped ref, here is a dog running in slow motion. Found it on AniRef but you can also find it on Vimeo.




Dodger Slow Motion Running from D__E on Vimeo.


So Check it out and enjoy.
JP

Animation Reference Video on Vimeo: Ani Ref

Hey Everyone

Found this gem on the net the other day. Can't believe I have never seen it before but it seems to be created by Daniel Asher Harman. There is a ton of reference compiled on here and it looks like there is a good group of subscribers that contribute. Titled properly AniRef.

 

Ani Ref

So check it out some ref, contribute some ref and enjoy!

JP

Workflow Highlights: Matt Williames

Hey Everyone

I have seen this blog before and some of you I'm sure have seen his work on Youtube and Vimeo. Matt Williames has some great 2D animation throughout the web. You can also see lots on Pencil Test Depot.

Most recently I have been looking at his blog the Hand Drawn Nomad, where there are lots of posts dedicated to animation techniques and tricks. I found a few post on workflow from his site. Great stuff all around and I just thought I would share it.

Step 1: Planning Your Shot

 

 

 

 

Step 1 and a half: Before you rough out your shot (Tips and Tricks)

 

Post 2: ROUGH IT OUT

 

Post 2 and a half: Breaking it down

 

So check them out and enjoy
JP

Animation Demo Reels on Vimeo

A buddie started a vimeo channel some time ago for his collection of animation demo reels that inspired, impressed, amused. He has collected over 50 of them and that thought others might enjoy the collection as well.

Check out his blog here for his original post.

Enjoy

JP

Real Emotion Reference

Hey

This is getting past around work so I thought I would share it with the rest of you animators. What great reference this is. You cannot get more real than this.

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

Enjoy