Posing in Maya, some sketches & the Oscars

So far I haven't had time to do much work in Maya, but as I mentioned in a earlier post I try to do make time for it between all the other work. So far I have done some tests such as the bouncing ball and a less successful 180 turn with a character. The reason the turn was unsuccessful was that I had not quite figured out the quick-selection tools so when I keyed my poses some of the rig's controllers weren't included. But I learned something from it so even though I threw it all away in the end.

I also got an early-version of Alfonso to practice with
(modified Morpheus free rig)
so I have been posing him when I have had time.

I also managed to locate the render-button in Maya! Hehe..
So, here is a pose that shows Alfonso's personality and mood:



I have also done a few sketches today:





I must also mention that I watched the Oscars and that "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" won best animated short-film!
(I posted this video on the blog a couple of weeks ago)
It is such a beautiful piece of animation and so well executed. They really did a great job on that film and they truly deserved that award.

"Rango" took the award for best animated feature and I'm glad that it did, among a motion captured "Tintin", the sequel to Kung Fu Panda and the spin of "Puss in Boots" it was truly a fresh breath to the category.

- Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed both "Kung Fu Panda 2" and "Puss in Boots", but "Rango" was my personal favourite of this years nominees.
Not only because of the film itself, but also because it impressed me in the way it was made.

Director Gore Verbinski had previously done live action films, such as the "Pirates of the Caribbean"-trilogy and "The Ring" so he didn't have much experience with character animatied features. He actually shot the character-scenes in "Rango" with all the actors inside a room in a studio and then gave the footage to the animators to use as reference when they where to start animating the shots.
A solution that is, let's say;
Less common in the animation industry today.
(usually the actors voices are recorded and then the animators animate to the soundclips. Much like we do on the MA-course).

So well done to all the people involved in those two films!

I was also happy too see that there where a couple of independent features among the nominees.
"A Cat in Paris" and "Chico & Rita."
Both are traditional hand-drawn animations and both where foreign-language films. (which apparently is a first for the Oscars).

- So a big step in the right direction if you ask me!