Ryan's Animation Blog

MIA

2006-03-28T11:59:00.000-08:00

Hey folks. Sorry I've been M.I.A. for abit. A couple of really big things have happened though. Okay so one REALLY big thing and a minor thing. For the MAJOR thing - I'm proud to announce the birth of my second daughter, Ava Elliott Watson. She was born on March 11th and is doing very good. Very healthy.

Now whoever said that hospitals are clean haven't been to too many. I ended up getting a virus with bronchitus thrown on top of that and have been out of commission for about a week and a half. But now I'm back and ready to get back into gear. I'm going to be doing some work for some friends of mine and I'm going to continue on my concept art for my short. Also... the luchador is still coming. So be prepared. His look is in the works and hopefully soon he'll be up and running.

Be safe.

...He's coming...

2006-01-15T11:58:00.000-08:00

That's right folks....the early stages of my website redesign and rename is in the works. There will be alot of new things, more colorful layout, and an overall more appealing website. I'm not going to mention the new name yet, as I haven't bought it. But trust me, those who I have told like the idea. So be prepared...

...the luchador is coming..............................................

da FREELANCE

2005-11-28T17:19:00.000-08:00

Yeah. So anyone out there know of any freelance work available? I'm sorta in need of some and it's pretty hard to find.

Hope everyone had a great turkey day and hope things are well. Gonna be working on some projects of my own, so hopefully new stuff up on the website in the near future. :)

QUAKE 4 !

2005-10-19T06:24:00.000-07:00

On the heels of the exciting announcement of Wolfenstein...it is my pleasure to announce that Quake 4 is now officially released in stores. It's getting some great reviews, and I'm extremely excited to see how this game goes.

There are some strange things afoot around here * squinty eyes * and I'll have more for you when I can dive deep into my blog. But for now... KEEP ANIMATING. :)

FREE AT LAST...

2005-10-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

...my lips are free at last. It became official today at X05 in Europe. Microsoft announced along with id software that Raven, yes Raven will again be partnering up to bring to you.....
WOLFENSTEIN!

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/655/655726p1.html

There is the official announcement on ign.com

I've been wanting to say what I've been working on for a while now and man, I'm glad I didn't. Today was a great day to be able to finally say that I'm a member of the Wolfenstein team. I cannot give any details whatsoever, so I'm not going to. Just glad I don't have to be on an "unannounced" title anymore.

That's all...have fun.

Boy was I....

2005-09-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

...absent. I haven't been on here in a long time and I feel horrible. Not because I'm not spilling out knowledge for all my wonderful readers (you know who you are you two). But its because there has been SO much going on and not enough time to write it all down.

A great friend of mine, Jason Williams, is redesigning my website. And he's doing an awesome job. Once that is up, my blog will be part of my website, so it will be easier to keep track of everything.

On to the reason why I need to redesign my site. FREELANCE!....FREELANCE!....FREELANCE!
I need freelance work like you wouldn't believe. I got a second baby on the way WOO HOO! But that also means bills, diapers, wife not working and so on. SO I'm looking for some freelance work. CANNOT BE GAMES WORK...I like my job at Raven too much to get ousted for conflict of interest people. ;)

SIGGRAPH: Wow...just...WOW. I met some of the coolest people out there and got to see people for the first time. Justin...you are one awesome dude. Ryan H, my partner in Ryan crimes around the world, you rock! Doug Bennett...one of the most down to earth and awesome guys I've ever talked to. Great presentation at the CGChar event. And no...I'm not putting on a school girl outfit... sorry. Speaking of the CGChar event, I learned a TON at the event. Carlos, Andrew, Jason (some people say we are TOO much alike), Doug, and the gentleman from Vanguard.. Thank you for putting on one of the highlights of Siggraph. (I have to say "one of" because it was my anniversary and my wife would have my head if I said it was the best... Love you honey). I gotta learn to put images in this thing because I have some shots from Siggraph that are awesome. Mr. Chad Moore... awesome lecture and great sharing a cab with you, even though the guy tried to rip us off. So many wonderful things to say about so many people. I'm glad I caught up with my Full Sail crew, man I miss all of you guys.

So back to the freelance thing. If anyone is looking for a character animator that is more then Slightly insane, hit me up. I'm also working on some new stuff for my site since my work on Quake 4 and the Undisclosed Project can't go up yet. Though my Quake 4 work will be able to go up soon! YAY.

Alright, this little animated luchador has to go watch Shaun of the Dead with his wife...before she kills me. get it? hah....kills me....movie about zombies...haha..yeah I know...weak.

Later.

Absent

2005-07-25T17:39:00.000-07:00

So alot has been going on and that is why I haven't been blogging much lately. Aside from moving into a new building at work and getting that place all squared away, animation has really ramped up on or game. So I've been doing a ton of that.

Then there is the fact that my wife and I just found out we were going to be parents again. We are extremely excited. We go in on August 12th to have an ultrasound to try and see if its a boy or a girl. We are extremely excited.

Siggraph is next week. I leave this friday with my wife to head to LA and meet up with a bunch of friends and have a great time. I can't wait to actually get face to face with people I have talked to for the passed few years on the internet. Couple of definates to go to... Alias User Group Meeting, Reel FX van, the show floor, and the CGChar Event. Also while being out there, going to spend August 2nd (Our wedding anniversary) out with my wife for a romantic dinner.

Hope all is well with everyone and if you want to meet up at Siggraph, just shoot me an e-mail.

Young Padawan....

2005-07-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I realized with the help of a good friend how little I know about staging and camera setups for animation shots. It is just something I will need to work on. :) I believe I will work on that this weekend. Or at least try and read up alittle more on it this weekend.

In other news, I was able to purchase "The Illusion of Life" from www.amazon.com. If you don't have it. GO THERE AND GET IT. They have it marked down to $37 new. A drastic change from when I was looking for it about a year ago and could only find it on Ebay and the like for $70. Well I hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July. And we are now in the SIGGRAPH month. Only 29 more days before I fly out to LA for a vacation and meet up with all my friends who I've only spoken with in chat rooms. It is going to be a large amount of fun... can't wait.

My Brain Hurts

2005-06-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

So as I sit here at work trying to figure out what to write in this thing, I've come to realize that at this time of day my mind goes completely blank. I blame the mocap. Mocap isn't horrible by any standpoint, but when having to keyframe over top of it while using the trax editor, it's a luck of the draw if anything will work and look proper without popping. Tonight I found that feet were the most difficult in particular. The blending of IK keyframe to FK mocap/trax editor information just fried my brain this afternoon. I believe I'll head home and do some keyframing where I can control EVERYTHING...muahahahaha.

So I get to go to Siggraph this year. Already have the hotel, car rental, plane tickets, and exhibition passes ordered and paid for. I'm pretty excited as this will be my first CG convention since I've been in the industry. Going to get to see a ton of friends that I've not seen in many years. I'll also get to put some faces to screen names and forum tags that I chat with on a daily basis. Looking forward to that and just submerging myself in the wave of information that I'll pick up while out there. I think the CgChar get together will be a wonderful time. I hope to see a bunch of you out there. :)

I'll post a link to some W.I.P.s as I get them prepared and uploaded to my website. Until then, check out www.anim8edgrayscale.com . In the reel section is my collage of Wrestlemania 21 mocap/keyframes I did for the game. I'm pretty proud of them and its hard to choose which ones will make it to the overall reel when I make one. Looking forward also to putting up some Quake 4 stuff when the game is released and I am allowed to put them up.

Until then... be safe. :)

Anyone Out There?

2005-06-17T07:45:00.000-07:00

So, I'm wondering if anyone really reads my blog at all? I know its fairly new and all, but still...I tend to wonder if anyone is bothering to check it. Who knows. Going to really bust on some animation this weekend (hopefully). With father's day on Sunday, I'll be pretty busy with my daughter.

Movie Review: "Batman Begins"

This is the Batman that we have all been waiting for. I was on the edge of my seat the entire film. Not once did I ever groan or wince in pain of some horrible dialogue, or over dramatic romantic moment. Christopher Nolan took Batman and made him into the dark, gritty, and scarey symbol of justice that he deserves to be. He took the first four films and basically threw them out the window (as it should have been) and made the real Batman.

Christian Bale was spectacular as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. He took the role and made it something amazing. Mr. Kaine as Alfred... what can I say... flawless. I really felt a bond between Wayne and Alfred, and it truly felt as if Alfred was taking the role of protector, even after the Batman transformation. Gary Oldman, who is one of my favorite actors of all times because of his ability to play so many different characters, was perfect as Gordon. Katie Holmes definately did a wonderful job in her role. I never once thought about the love torn Potter from Dawson's Creek. Cillian Murphy as the Scarecrow was well casted. He did a great job and the way they handled his "ability" was great. Morgan Freeman as Fox, very very well done. Raz A Goul (sorry for the spelling if its wrong) was brilliant. Liam Neeson as Ducard was great. If you couldn't tell by now, I'm pretty stoked about the acting in this movie. I finally realized who Bruce Wayne's father was, actor wise. He was the "alien" from "the Forgotten". I kept waiting for him to change into the alien every time he was on screen..it was humorous to me.

The feel of this movie was how Batman should be. The fight scenes (while tight in shot) were well done. There were no, wide angled shots of Batman doing extraordinary things while fighting. He was simply in your face, gritty fighting. I could go on about how much I loved this film, but I have work to do. ;) My recommendation is out of ***** stars...i give it ***** +* for being absolutely perfect and more then I expected. I will be seeing it numerous more times and buying it the day it hits the DvD shelves.

Hanging in the Tree of Woe

2005-06-15T08:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been slightly sick lately and a ton of crazy stuff going on, so I've done little to the personal animations I wanted to get started. I will push forward with renewed vigor soon though. I'm extremely psyched though, because today is the opening of "Batman Begins" and I believe I'll put my review on the movie up tomorrow. It looks incredible and I am so happy about the way they are approaching this film.

I was told I had a great deal of physical animations at the moment, so I believe the first piece I'm going to work on is either a lip synch animation, or an acting piece. I am going to flesh out the ideas this evening hopefully and decide on what to do. We shall see.

Feeling the Flow...Doing the Bull Dance

2005-06-08T06:54:00.000-07:00

Alright, well I'm starting to get back into the flow of working on a project. Last night I pushed out some rough thumbnails for a little animation I want to do. A comedic piece that I think will be fun. Also got to do some concept sketching for another piece I'm going to do...a more dramatic piece showing a change of emotion. I think both will work out well and will get me back in the flow of full on keyframe production. :) Now I just need to figure out the video camera that my wife got me for my birthday so I can shoot myself for reference.

Well, seeing as I don't have TOO much to say this morning, I'll leave it at that. But hopefully I'll have abit more to say in the coming days. Hope all is well in everyone else's world and talk to you all soon....or not....I mean...I don't really know who all is reading this.... you could be some person in Istanbul that I've never spoken to before, so I doubt I'll be talking to you soon...well... you know what I mean... I'll shut up now.

Dear Diary

2005-06-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

So I've decided that I'm going to spend an hour a night working on personal projects of some sort. Whether it be animating, designing characters, story development, or learning MEL (just bought the book "Mel Scripting for Maya Animators" ) . I also plan to keep alittle journal at my work station at home so that I can record what I've done and see if down the road if I'm keeping up with what I'm wanting too. Just alittle something to keep me organized.

Animation Review: Madagascar

- I really enjoyed this film. The animation was superb in my opinion. I was glad to see the snappy motion on the characters. Alex's animation was very inspiring at the beginning of the film. I'm glad that Dreamworks kep the style all the way through the film. Definately a good job goes out to the animators on this project. It seemed a bit short to me though. I think there was alittle too much time spent in the Zoo and not enough in the wild. Also would have liked to have seen a better "jailbreak" sequence with Alex,Gloria, and Melmin getting out of the zoo to go rescue Marty. I felt that the film ended to abruptly and it felt like a forced ending. One thing that seemed to bother me for some reason was the Lemur King. Not his dialogue, but for some reason his hips bothered me. Either the model or the animation made the King's hips look wonky to me, not sure. I think I need to go see it once again. I had this teenage(?) couple sitting next to me that laughed at the most non-funny parts. And not just laughed, but you would think that they were at a comedy club listening to Chris Rock or Lewis Black with the way they were screaming the laughter and repeating the lines and saying "oh my god that's funny". VERY annoying and I was close to removing my shoe and tossing it in their general direction.

- Favorite part of the movie was the penguins. They made me laugh every moment they were on the screen. From the slapping of the humans, the "computer hacking", and Navigation to finally ended up where they wanted and giving the BEST LINE of the entire film. I'd like to see more of them. Maybe in the DvD extras? Please dreamworks :)

Well, thats it for this fine Monday. I'm off to point weight some characters for the game I'm working on. Hope you have a good monday. I should be updating further this week.

- Ryan

Ah HA

2005-06-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

So everyone else is doing it, why not me eh? I thought I'd start a blog and hop on to see what the fuss was all about. I'll be posting alot more in the future... weee :) Not sure what all I'll be posting on here, but I think it will be fun and easier to update then my website. I just hope people visit it.