Urrgh. Not so done with that animation after all...I'll be working on that a lot more, it seems.
*grumbles in the corner*

So let's have some memes! Got tagged by princealia, an icon meme, even though I don't have nearly as many icons as some dudes:

( Under a cut to save your flists )

Today's drawing when waking up...

( Under-covers drawing 4 )

Drawing: Morning drawings and now this animation again

Writing: Just a few tags

Sorry I haven't been around for awhile, dudes...was spending most of the past week working on that animation project, and now just waiting for the confirmation that it's done and good and all that. Sooner I hear on that, the better.

And then, very suddenly after finishing that, I got bit hard by the spring cleaning bug. I ended up spending the last two days totally cleaning out and organizing my closet, which reeeeally needed it. But now it looks SO MUCH BETTER.

( Includes photos! )

I also got the urge to try and do something new with drawing/daily drawing exercises...having my sketchbook by my bed and having it so that the very first thing I do when I wake up is draw something. So far the results have been...interesting. My lines get a little flowy and I've found myself drawing without restraint or any kind of mental censor, since I'm still only about half-awake. It's like stuff goes straight from the brain to the page without anything inbetween.

( Under-covers drawings 1-3 )

There is a new Lunargyros page up today; read it here.

Finally, the auction at help_japan is still going on! And if you're still interested, my thread is here.

Drawing: Just the animation and stuff here and there

Writing: RP

A few chores later, we're back! Also, went running around in Disney Town more, but since it's for the same stuff I decided not to blab about that.

( The Coliseum through Destiny Islands for Aqua )

ALSO there's something totally unrelated to BBS for now, the movie I worked on over a year ago, Growth, is finally out! You can rent or buy it on iTunes! It's a horror/sci-fi flick with some gross-out bits and also some sex, but if you don't mind that sorta thing then give it a look. I helped on a bunch of the worm-monster animation for this movie, on shots for both the little worms and the bigger ones. XD But YAAAY it's finally out!

Went to Disneyland again today (or more specifically, California Adventure) and did a bunch of arts! I was actually pretty happy with what I did today.

( Lotsa stuff under here )

And that's what I did today! Also, since we're talkin' animation stuff anyways, have some shorts:

This short, I am not even kidding, GAVE ME NIGHTMARES LAST NIGHT. I think this is by a Pixar artist, but it is so creepy I can't even handle it.



Now that you're creeped out, have some sheer badass awesomeness as well. (The good stuff starts around 4 minutes in, though.)




Aaaaand uh oh...was trying to avoid it, but I now have the AMV bug something fierce. I expect that to dominate much of my brain until I can finally finish it. 8Da

Drawing: All this stuff

Writing: Just thinkinating

Consecutive Days Gone Spoiler-Free: 4

Since it's just about the end of the term, there will be some final projects going up! Aaaand this is one of them. o_o



For my Animation for Games class, I wanted to do Phoenix Wright as if he were a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, since then hey, I'd actually have fun doing it. XD

Also, SOME IMPORTANT THINGS:
- Obviously this isn't an actual model of Phoenix Wright. I wish I had an actual model, but I just didn't have the time to actual model and rig and skin a whole new Phoenix. Plus it would probably look crappy because I suck at rigging. :P So, have Generic Naked Guy I Grabbed Off The Network instead.
- I didn't get the chance to do a bunch of moves, like A-down, all of the A-arial moves, the hit/hurt moves, the grab and throw, etc. The walk and sprint took up a lot more time than I thought they would. Maybe if people really really really really want the rest I'll get to it sometime? o_O
- Obviously didn't have the resources to do a Final Smash attack. I at least wanted to get the B-moves in there.
- The music is from Cadenza; sorry that it cuts off like that.

BUT YEAH. That was an interesting exercise. XD; It's really crazy how many assets you actually need just for one character in game animation.

Digital sets tonight. My stuff needs so much work, cryyyyyyyy. DX

Drawing: Catching up on LG, plus I restarted that KH fanart because the first pass was made of ugly. Looking much better now. And I'm suddenly been getting a big fanart urge. Need more ideas!

Writing: RP.

I'm really curious to know what people think about the lineup of new Disney and Pixar films through 2012. Man, there's a bunch of them! (A few of these I hadn't even heard of.) And I don't really care about the Tinker Bell direct to DVD stuff; obvious marketing ploy is obvious.
- I'm dying to see "WALL*E." It just looks unique and amazing. The fact that some people are saying that audiences might be turned off by some of the ideas and themes it presents (that in the future, humans have left earth a wasteland and have evolved to become so large that they can't move on their own) just makes me want to see it even more.
- Well, nobody was expecting "Toy Story 2" to be any good, and then it was, so I'll hold out on my opinion for "Toy Story 3." But...why a "Cars" sequel? Aside from the obvious tie-in with the land that's opening in California Adventure, AKA PIXARLAND If a Pixar movie was gonna get a sequel, I would've felt "Monsters Inc." deserved it. :/
- "UP" and "newt" both look ridiculously fun. It'll be interesting to see how they pull off "The Bear and the Bow," since it's the least 'unique' of the Pixar ones. Still, set in Scotland, can't go wrong there.
- What happened to the "John Carter of Mars" series? Is it because that'll likely be live action?
- Why isn't "King of the Elves" going to be in 2D? It looks like "Princess and the Frog" is the only one on that roster that's 2D, even after just visiting the studio and them saying WE'RE DOING MOAR 2D YAY. Maybe they just won't be completed until 2013 and onward? That said, I think I actually saw concept art for "King of the Elves" there a year or two ago...or something like it.

So yeah...what do dudes think? :O

P.S. Is it just me, or has wtf_nature been kind of sucking hardcore lately?

Drawing: Lots more today, too. Digital painting and character design homework, plus that independent storyboard/layout project. ;_;

Writing: Just RPing. Ohgod, I love Wolf.

So, I was gone pretty much all day (starting at Early O'Clock) because I had signed up to go to the Disney Inspire Days at the Disney Animation Studios with a bunch of other dudes from school. I'm glad I got up early for it and went, as it was fun and informative! There was actually a huge group there...I'd say maybe 100-200 people (unless I can't estimate worth crap) from various schools: UCLA, Art Center, Otis, CalArts, etc. We were provided with lots of food and pretty forced into full-contact mingling. XD; Got some emails and names exchanged and met a few neat people during said mingling!

Most of the day was spent listening in on presentations and talks given by various people working at Disney, such as Dan Cooper, the art director for Rapunzel. :O We actually got to see a bunch of in-progress stuff for Bolt, Princess and the Frog, and Rapunzel, including some Rapunzel stuff they had to give disclaimers for because it was all unfinished test models. XD (FYI, Rapunzel is being directed by Glen Keane, but it'll be CG animation.) Since the theme was a lot on inspiration, they were also showing a bunch of concept art and inspirational art both for themselves in general and for their particular movies. (You should enjoy this, Shi: a lot of Rapunzel's look is inspired by Rembrandt. XD) Also, apparently I'm supposed to be stalking Craig Mullins. After we got split up into 2D and 3D groups, we also saw some talks on the animation of Bolt, procedural texturing for Meet the Robinsons, and then the modeler speaking showed us a video on him playing in a bad monster movie and it was a laugh riot. XD

What was perhaps most encouraging was them talking about 2D animation. The statement was basically, "Since we've gotten new leadership, we'll be doing a bunch more 2D, and NOT just Princess and the Frog." How the company's desiring to push ahead in innovation while still recognizing the value and tradition inherent in 2D, and making the two work together. That was just a very exciting thing to hear...it got cheers from everyone! And whether or not it produces some good work is yet to be seen, but if nothing else it's very good that they at least acknowledge that an audience for 2D exists and is worth pursuing. Even if it's not necessarily in all the usual ways (apparently, the Goofy short "How to Set Up Your Home Theater" was the first ever paperless 2D animation), it still gives me hope that we'll see some great things rendered beautifully in 2D. :D

After that madness, there was a brief public portfolio review of a few of the students. I brought my stuff, but I didn't realize it had to be submitted for a public viewing...kinda glad, as I probably would've had a nervous breakdown like I did that one time in middle school for some poetry award thing. >_> They were about as brutal as you'd expect for portfolios, but maybe that's just because they were speaking to someone other than me. Regardless, it actually gave me a bit of hope that I can produce some stuff by the end of October (I want to apply for the associate program) that actually might be passable! There's no telling since I'm sure competition is cutthroat, but it's nice to try. ;_;

Aaaand we ended things off with a quick tour of the studio...actually not as extensive as when I met Sonserae there a few years ago, since she actually took me under the Hat and into the animation offices itself, but this one was fun since our guide was a funny guy and pointed out a few things I hadn't seen before, such as Pluto's Corner. We also got to delve a teeny bit into the tunnels running underneath the entire studio.

So...YES. Very fun but busy day! o_o And then after that, had to scramble back to school for Dynamics class. We made little moving galaxies out of particles, ooooh. Although I can tell that particles and dynamics in general is the kind of thing for me that would be fun to play around in, but a huge pain in the ass to actually make work. D: Since essentially the whole point of dynamics is "punch in some numbers and hope the computer does what you want it to."


I hope everyone in LJ land is doing well today~

Drawing: LG, painting homework, another project I really need to work more on.

Writing: Very little.

Finished off the last of my classes today, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Now it's time for...a break! Sort of. Kind of. Maybe a day somewhere in there, perhaps. :/

Either way, some more stuff I finished...

( Videos and pics inside )

I'll be gone all day tomorrow for Easter, visiting family and having good lunchthings. Hope everyone has a good weekend~ ♥
*crawls into bed*

First off, huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes to wyna_hiros and famira! Do you dudes want me to sketch you something? I totally will, if you have anything you want to request. :3

There's also a new Lunargyros page yesterday. Ack, already starting to get behind...I need to thumbnail more pages, but I have no clue when I can.

Our last Character Animation class is today (the only class that wasn't canceled at least once, ahaha) so I uploaded my (very short) final to YouTube. We had to do something with a character interacting with an elevator. Several people in my class did much more amazing (and epiiiic) finals than this, (and a lot of stuff still needs work), but at least I think this is an improvement on the animation I did last term. :o

Also, the model isn't mine; it was grabbed off the student share which I think was grabbed from highend3d.com. A very useful model (except for one weird bug that didn't pop up until rendering) and fun to play with. XD




Nnnnnnnnnngh, spent seven hours yesterday working on my sculpture and it still needs LOTS of work before next Monday when it's due. DX the wings are too heavy for the shoulder supports and kinda dip down instead of up like they're supposed to. Very tired...

Drawing: Other animation final stuff

Writing: Nuttin'.

New Lunargyros page was on Tuesday, yo. I'm ahead on pages, but I want to try and get more ahead and maybe do a double-updates month...

Oy, past few days have been pretty busy. We had our first sculpture class on Monday, as we missed the first one because the TEACHER WAS SPENDING TWO WEEKS IN FIJI, DAMMIT. He was a nice guy, but we also got the motherloving truckload list of supplies to get for that class. So Tuesday we spent most of the day going around Hollywood and nearby cities as a big group looking for supplies, and that included hitting up a hobby store, an art store, and three hardware stores. And we still didn't find everything we needed! There was lots of really specific stuff, such as brass tubing, a certain consistency of clay, steel pipes at a particular width, and steel phlanges which were IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND GEEZ.

Also while we were out, I popped into a GameStop near the hardware store and bought myself Trials and Tribulations. XD I'm now in the middle of the second case. (Yes, I play through these things fast!) Loved playing as Mia, although ohgeez, Phoenix, what was that hideous sweater you were wearing. D: Also, Godot is fun so far.


Something I randomly was just thinking about...back when I went to CSSSA in high school, there were several screenings we did of animated films, ranging from famous to indie and bizarre. Only a bare few of these I've managed to see again (such as Primiti Too Taa), but there was one strange one that was merely a massive zoom in and then zoom out...except it would zoom into the details of one painting, only to have those close-up details become another painting, only to have that zoom in and become another painting, and etc. Coupled with whatever music they chose for it, the effect was both fascinating and extremely disturbing...I remember walking away from that screening feeling unnerved and even a little ill. But I kind of want to see it again to see if it'd still have the same effect. I just don't know the title of the animation or its creator. D: Does anyone know if such an animation exists on the internets?

And finally: anyone wanna go see "Cloverfield" sometime with me? I love monster movies. /o/


...Man, I feel like the most boring LJer ever. -_-

Drawing: LG, homework, and various things in degrees of completion...

Writing: Just notes.

While I didn't get two done like I'd been hoping, there is a new Lunargyros page, nonetheless. Woot!

I would do that pairing meme if, uh, I had enough serious pairings to do it with. D: SO INSTEAD. I finished my final for the Animation and Visual Effects class! AND HERE IT IS:



Had to make it really low-res in order to fit on YouTube; the original file is more than 100 MB. This is the first time I've ever really animated anything with Maya, or at least something that was longer than a second, and with an actual character, story, and sound effects. (Although the squeaking is a bit too loud.) Nothing amazing, but hey! It's my first time doing this, and I'm just happy it's done!

And the music is from the Ducktales movie, ironically. XD

I also rigged lion!Sora's head, with a hair system and everything, OH YEAH. Pretty much the only thing remaining would be some extra controls on the paws, and figuring out how the necklace would work. I probably won't bother skinning him until next term; maybe then we'll learn rigid binds and I'll know how to actually make him work. Still didn't get Maya working on my home comp, so it's not like I can work on him at home. So if you do want any more refs, ASK ME BEFORE SUNDAY. I probably can't get them during winter break, which means no use of Maya and no KH2 model refs until January.

I defied my crippling Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and worked on my Poly 2 final for six hours or something today. As a result, my UVs are DONE. HELLS. YEAH. Maybe I'll post that model tomorrow. BUT GEEZ I AM SO GLAD THE UVs ARE DONE YAY YAY.

So basically all I have left to do is organize my Poly 2 stuff, do one more Kinematics rig (which I'll try and do tomorrow) and then just revising and organizing stuff for my analog courses (and figuring out who the heck I'm gonna be for Acting class.) In short, I AM RAWKIN AT TIME MANAGEMENT FOR FINALS.

Ohgod my poor CTS'd hand...