Yes im still working away at coming up with some ideas for animations....i have a really good one in my head that i would love to try and get into production but i know its going to take some time and maybe help from other animators out there but thats something to think about doing at a later day.

So i have some awesome news for those of you that are starting out in animation or are just wanting to learn some new stuff and improve your skills......as you may remember from my last posts i talked about a new and exciting site called Animation Salvation.




The creator of the site and a great friend of mine called DJ Nicke is going to be doing some animation masterclasses that is aimed to help everyone from beginner to intermediate improve there skills in animation.

These 2 hour masterclasses will be LIVE so you have the chance to ask any questions you may have about what he is doing.

This Character Animation Masterclass will cover a simple animation scene with no dialogue, purely pantomime action. This is for Begginer to Intermediate Character Animators who use pencil, flash or 3d. Our examples will be done primarily using 3d Studio Max.

You will be guided through the character animation process, step by step, by an award-winning character animator. You can "watch over his shoulder" as he works on his scene, as well as being able to ask questions and get your answers about character animation workflow IN REAL TIME!

In Session 1 we will take you through the Character Animation Scene Planning process for character animation:

• What do you do once you have been given the "handout" from the director?
  
  • What is involved in a scene Handout?
• What is the most effective way to plan your animation?
• How detailed should your scene planning be?
• Should I use reference footage?

In Session 2 we help you transform your thumbnails and scene planning into your Blocking:

• What is the fastest way to get familiar with a character and a rig?
• How do you use reference footage in your scene?
• Where do you draw the line between animation and blocking?
• Should I block with Stepped Keys or Splines?

In Session 3 we move from blocking into splined/inbetweened animation:

• What is the fastest and easiest way to set a breakdown key?
• How do you prevent your animation from feeling too 'pose-to-pose'?
• How do you 'favor a key'?
• What is a 'moving hold' and how do I animate one?

In Session 4 we will show you how to add that Final Polish to your character animation:

• How do I apply the 12 Principles of Animation to MY character animation?
• Should I polish my animation in the curve editor, in the viewport or both?
• How do I get rid of unwanted movement in my animation?
• It looks fine to me, what more can I improve?

The first class will be held on 25th May......now although AnimationSalvation is FREE (which is awesome) these Masterclasses are NOT.....but i think which what you get from the site for free its well worth paying for the masterclasses after all you just read what you will be getting out of it.

The prices of these webinars are as follows:

Each class will be priced at $17.00 USD (around £13.50 GBP) and there will be 4 classes in total.

If you pay for the classes individually you have the chance to chose which ones you feel are more relative to you....but there is the option of paying a one off payment of $57.00 USD (around £40.50 GBP).

The sessions will be available for free download by all attendees. Each session will be available to download for a fee of $20 (USD - around £15.50 GBP) by any non-attendees. All 4 sessions will be available for download for $67 (USD - around £47.30 GBP).

Personally i suggest going for the one of payment as you are going to be saving a heck of a lot of money and you will learn so much.

so if you are interested in this please head over to Animation Salvation and sign up for this fantastic masterclass while there are seats available.

And while you're there why not sign up for your FREE Animation Salvation account.

Animation Salvation -> HERE

Masterclass Signup -> HERE

OK OK OK!!!!!

So maybe animation isn't your thing......maybe you are interested in rendering techniques and lighting.....well i have some news on that as well.

On the same day as DJ Nickies Masterclass there is also a Masterclass titled Exploring Multipass Rendering.

• Identify the various 3D render passes available for use in compositing a scene.
  
• Identify the advantages of multi-pass rendering and how these advantages are implemented in production.
  
• Set up the 3D scene in preparation for rendering, using multi-pass render techniques.
  
• Implement standard file naming conventions and organize multi-pass rendered files into meaningful folder structures.
  
• Create a compositing project file and import the various rendered layers.
  
• Correctly layer, multi-pass rendered layers, in After Effects including implementation of correct layer styles for perfect layer compositing.
  
• Make adjustments to the composited layers and give examples of various compositing effects which utilize multi-pass layer information...
  
• Render a final “hero render” from the compositing software.

Session Details:

• Price - $10.95 (US) (Introductory price to celebrate CG Swot's first official Master Class)

• Live - 7pm Friday 25th May 2010 - PDT (Registration Open Now)

Head over to CGSwot and sign up before all the seats are taken.

Multi-pass Rendering Signup -> HERE