How to add grass to real footage using Fur

Personal Works

" Animation Demoreel "

" The peak of Juhuana "

Cars 2 Characters

Career Options in Animation

When one talks about a career in animation, the first ‘job’ that comes to the minds of most people is that of an animator. But that is just the tip of the iceberg!
One has to only look at the life-cycle of any animated project to realise how many different kinds of tasks or ‘jobs’ go into it. There are writers who create the concept and develop the story, there are people who specialize in writing scripts for animation, then there are the story-board artists who use pictures to tell the story and flesh out the plots and sub-plots. Then the character designers step-in to design the characters that inhabit the animated world besides artists who create inspirational sketches, backgrounds, colour themes and so on.
There are animators who actually ‘animate’ frame by frame. Depending on the technique they either draw by hand, directly on the computer, model or manipulate images. Within each technique of animation there are multiple tasks that need the expertise of different artists and technicians.
Computer animation, if 3D, requires modelers, riggers, animators, lighting/texturing artists besides programmers to tweak with the software and create custom scripts, plugins and special features.
In the case of stop-motion animation, there are the puppet/model makers, set designers, set-builders, cinematographers and so on.
There is also the critical element of audio – voiceover artists, singers, music composers are integral to the animation process.
Besides all these, there are the departments of production, admin, project planning, pipeline management, business development, marketing, distribution.
In VFX also, there are different kinds of roles to be played. Beginning at the most basic level cleaning up frames of footage to handling matte painting, rotoscoping, colour correction, motion control photography, digital compositing, wire removal, morphing, match moving etc.
Gaming can be broadly divided into 3 parts – game art, game programming and game testing.
Alternately, there is animation for the web – predominantly using Flash to create animation for website, portals, online marketing and promotion etc.
Broadcast also has a major requirement of animators and motion graphics specialists. Television channels whether news, music or film specific need in-house artists for show packaging, promos, bumpers, titles etc.
Besides all these, there is a lot of scope in animation education. With the kind of industry requirement for professionals, and institutes mushrooming in every nook and corner of cities as well as smaller towns, there is a dire need for skilled educators.
The latest in the long list of animation careers is something that is new and upcoming – animation journalism. Although not a formal branch of journalism, the animation boom in India has given birth to a new genre of writing and reviewing – whether it is through conventional print media, online channels or blogs. And we are proud to say that AAA is one of the pioneers in Indian animation journalism :)




Post taken from all about animation..

Avatar: Motion Capture Mirrors Emotions

The Animation Storyboard

The animation storyboard is the first sight of what a cartoon or piece of animation is going to look like. The animation storyboard looks like a series of strip comics, with individual drawings of storylines, scenes, characters and their emotions and other major parts of the movie. The drawings will reflect the early ideas of what characters will look like, what the backgrounds and scenery will be some idea of dialogue, emotions ,and a general feel of the animation process.

 

Storyboards are very important, as they form the basis of the work that is carried out on the movie, describing most of the major features as well as the plot and its development.

Animation storyboards are also the coordinating vehicle of the film, taking the place of the script, and allowing different teams of people to work on different aspects and scenes in the movie. A studio like Pixar will have thousands of storyboard frames like the one shown here. 

The finished movie may not always conform to all aspects of the storyboard, but they will document many of the early developments in the movie. They are often the first step of the animation process, as they show the first views - albeit static - of the animation process. 

Source : Internet

Motion Capture Technology

Motion capture technology is a good example of how digital techniques are being applied to the movie (and related) industries to allow more convincing visualizations of imaginary or composite images. For motion capture you use human actors who are dressed in a leotard with integral reflective or magnetic markers. The actor performs the actions that are required, and the digital cameras - or array of cameras - capture the motion of the reflective markers.

Computer Processing with Human Intervention

You subject the data to a computer process that converts this motion into a composite figure. You then modify this composite figure by normal computer animation software.

The end product gives the effect of an animated character acting directly with human actors. Gollum, in the Lord of the Rings, was shot in this fashion, giving an absolutely life-like image of a composite character. That guy on the left here? That would be Gollum, or at least the movements of Gollum.

Motion capturing techniques are very effective, but the computer processing needs much human intervention, and if there is any error in the data, you can find it more effective to re-shoot the whole scene rather than correct the data. However, motion capture technology is so much more effective and realistic than traditional techniques, and ultimately less time consuming, that its future looks assured in movies and in video games.

Source : Internet