Animation Mentor Student Forum - Featured Mentor: Sandy Christensen
Below is an excerpt from a forum thread at Animation Mentor. Students have the ability to ask a featured mentor animation related questions. It is one of the many features offered exclusively to AnimationMentor.com students.
Vincent Florio:
I saw elsewhere online that your credits include Escape from Monkey Island. How is the work set up for a game like that, where it isn't really cycle-based (except for walks) but also isn't a cinematic? The backgrounds appear to be pre-rendered, but did they exist as templates you could act with/around?
Sandy Christensen:
It's been quite awhile since I worked on Monkey Island III, but I have some very fond memories working with a talented crew of animators that heralded primarily from Sheridan College in Canada!
Most of the work I did for Monkey Island was for the Cinematics, but I did also do some in-game animation, and the work flow was very similar to that of working on a film (minus the dailies, and some of the pressure). For Cinematics, we animated within the backgrounds, and for the in-game work, we would animate various 'bits' that would begin and end in a hook-up pose (using props only if the character had to interact with one). This style of working is very common, (in fact we work this way for most games...) for instance The Sims 2 was similarly structured; we had the freedom to animate almost anything as long as it had a hook-up pose that could be used to blend from one 'bit' to another. There are no limitations to the number of frames you can use, the limitation lies in the necessity to use 'hook-up' frames for pretty much every animated sequence (unless it's a cinematic). Another difference is the speed at which an animation must play.... game animation should be dynamic in posing, and pretty snappy to keep the 'gamer' feeling connected to the animation.
Sara Wade:
Do you find that the game industry can be abrasive for women in particular? I have heard this rumor floating around. I am sure it differs from studio to studio, but are there any generalizations that you have seen in your diverse experiences?
Sandy Christensen:
This is a fantastic question!! Being outnumbered sometimes 10 to 1 (male to female) does present a challenge in and of itself, but primarily within the 'gaming' culture... Most fighting games ARE abrasive towards women, and unfortunately most of the development out there focuses on the 'core' gamers which are, well, DUDES! I personally have had the good fortune to be able to pick and choose which games I want to work on, and make it a point not to work on games that focus on violence, esp. violence towards women (Grand Theft Auto, and other G.T.A. clones). Unfortunately there is a lot of room for improvement in the Design/Marketing of most games, and hopefully there will be more successful titles for both gender diversification, and age diversification...besides The Sims!
William Bate
The work we do here at Animation Mentor feels very different than what I do day to day in games, what is your impression? I think having to animate in the round, as we do in games versus animating for the camera provides a different set of challenges. Would you care to elaborate on some of the differences/similarities you have found between the two industries?
Sandy Christensen:
'Animating in the round' is a great way to describe 'making the animation look good from all angles', which is one of the HUGE differences between game animation and film. I find that the challenge to animate a character that looks great from all angles gives me great practice in the area of BODY MECHANICS... game animators must have good skills there. On the other hand, the level of refinement and subtlety in acting is many times lost in game animation, due in part to the strange things a game engine does to our work! Also the animation (for games) has to read 'from afar'...similar to a stage actor versus a film actor... broad strokes, good body mechanics as opposed to an insane level of detail necessary for film quality animation.
Rigs are also much heavier and more sophisticated for film projects, with tons more emphasis on having a wide array of facial animation tools and controls.
Vincent Florio:
I saw elsewhere online that your credits include Escape from Monkey Island. How is the work set up for a game like that, where it isn't really cycle-based (except for walks) but also isn't a cinematic? The backgrounds appear to be pre-rendered, but did they exist as templates you could act with/around?
Sandy Christensen:
It's been quite awhile since I worked on Monkey Island III, but I have some very fond memories working with a talented crew of animators that heralded primarily from Sheridan College in Canada!
Most of the work I did for Monkey Island was for the Cinematics, but I did also do some in-game animation, and the work flow was very similar to that of working on a film (minus the dailies, and some of the pressure). For Cinematics, we animated within the backgrounds, and for the in-game work, we would animate various 'bits' that would begin and end in a hook-up pose (using props only if the character had to interact with one). This style of working is very common, (in fact we work this way for most games...) for instance The Sims 2 was similarly structured; we had the freedom to animate almost anything as long as it had a hook-up pose that could be used to blend from one 'bit' to another. There are no limitations to the number of frames you can use, the limitation lies in the necessity to use 'hook-up' frames for pretty much every animated sequence (unless it's a cinematic). Another difference is the speed at which an animation must play.... game animation should be dynamic in posing, and pretty snappy to keep the 'gamer' feeling connected to the animation.
Sara Wade:
Do you find that the game industry can be abrasive for women in particular? I have heard this rumor floating around. I am sure it differs from studio to studio, but are there any generalizations that you have seen in your diverse experiences?
Sandy Christensen:
This is a fantastic question!! Being outnumbered sometimes 10 to 1 (male to female) does present a challenge in and of itself, but primarily within the 'gaming' culture... Most fighting games ARE abrasive towards women, and unfortunately most of the development out there focuses on the 'core' gamers which are, well, DUDES! I personally have had the good fortune to be able to pick and choose which games I want to work on, and make it a point not to work on games that focus on violence, esp. violence towards women (Grand Theft Auto, and other G.T.A. clones). Unfortunately there is a lot of room for improvement in the Design/Marketing of most games, and hopefully there will be more successful titles for both gender diversification, and age diversification...besides The Sims!
William Bate
The work we do here at Animation Mentor feels very different than what I do day to day in games, what is your impression? I think having to animate in the round, as we do in games versus animating for the camera provides a different set of challenges. Would you care to elaborate on some of the differences/similarities you have found between the two industries?
Sandy Christensen:
'Animating in the round' is a great way to describe 'making the animation look good from all angles', which is one of the HUGE differences between game animation and film. I find that the challenge to animate a character that looks great from all angles gives me great practice in the area of BODY MECHANICS... game animators must have good skills there. On the other hand, the level of refinement and subtlety in acting is many times lost in game animation, due in part to the strange things a game engine does to our work! Also the animation (for games) has to read 'from afar'...similar to a stage actor versus a film actor... broad strokes, good body mechanics as opposed to an insane level of detail necessary for film quality animation.
Rigs are also much heavier and more sophisticated for film projects, with tons more emphasis on having a wide array of facial animation tools and controls.