Creatures abound in cinema. They run, crawl, leap, flutter, and smash across the silver screen, perfectly rendered by skilled 3D animators. But those artists weren't born with an innate ability to bring lifelike movement to animals and creatures. They learned the hard way, through careful study and lots of trial and error.
Animals & Creatures: Master Class is Animation Mentor's advanced course in animating non–human characters. Taught by leaders in the visual effects animation industry, this course focuses on animating quadrupeds and flying creatures, as well as effectively integrating animation with live–action footage. Students will use three new advanced rigs and match–move plates provided by Animation Mentor.
Introducing the cat, the dragon, and the ogre–Animation Mentor's new character rigs for the Animals & Creatures: Master Class!
Sony Pictures Imageworks' character animator Kevin Freeman challenges animators to adapt their workflow in order to become more flexible and skilled animators.
Kevin explains that different scenes warrant different workflows; keeping this in mind has helped him animate on feature films like Spider-Man 2 and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. He encourages students to mix it up by going straight to linear or spline in the graph editor rather than working in blocked mode first.