Photoshop's 25th Anniversary

On February 18th, Adobe Photoshop turned 25, and while that was two weeks ago already, I continue to find awesome articles, videos and imagery that pay homage to the legendary software almost every day. I'm sure by now everyone has seen this video, along with the Behance Collection of featured animated artwork, that focuses on the evolution of such a revolutionary software that we've known and loved for the past quarter of a century.

There are plenty of platforms out there that are showcasing their Photoshop Best's including the famed educational platform, Lynda.com with its tribute page and series. As I'm sure you guessed it, Lynda offers a wide range of Photoshop tutorials -everything from photo manipulation to graphic design to 3D -but the cool thing, at least I think, about Lynda's tribute page are the Insight & Inspiration and Retrospect sections that share inspirational stories from multiple artists and take a look back at the transition from the days of analog design to digital design. In fact, you can even find some pretty cool "Making Of" videos that reveal how certain artists created their illustrations using Photoshop.

The Next Web goes even further by creating sequences that show the evolution of the icons, tool bars, splash screens and box shots over the past 25 years, too.

Adobe itself even dedicated a page to the software's 25th anniversary by highlighting a lot of talented artists' works as well as featuring the most creative visual artists under the age of 25 on its Instagram feed. You would think by looking at a visual timeline of the product that Photoshop has been around much longer. Isn't it amazing that in a mere 25 years it has gone from displaying grayscale images to supporting 3D printing?

A milestone nonetheless, Photoshop continues to simultaneously push the boundaries of the creative and technology worlds, and with that said, we can only imagine how different and revolutionary it will be in the next 25 years. To the many many engineers, programmers, artists, filmmakers, designers, photographers and developers, while we are celebrating 25 wonderful years of Photoshop we are also celebrating YOU and the relentless power of creativity to continue to create such beautiful artwork and develop such concepts like Photoshop every day.

Dream on!

WIP: Minkus

I told you I would be sharing some work in progress with you all, so here it is, the first of many updates on my current character project. It has been a couple of years since I've worked on a character animation and, well, I felt it was time to jump back into it. I am using this character as an opportunity to dust off some old skills and learn some new ones, too.

Every character starts back at the drawing board. For this project, I took the time to actually sit down and think of a few possibilities for potential monsters. I began by messing around with different shapes and sizes, and created a few different concepts around them. The result was a variety of creatures -some plump, some lanky, some short, some tall -but the recurring features I noticed in all of them were elements of "goofiness" and "cuteness," both of which make for a generally likable character. I decided to play off of those more and went back to the drawing board again to refine my cute army of monsters. Due to a popularity contest amongst friends, I went with the hairy looking fella with big ears, rotund figure, protruding fang, and short stubby limbs. He was going to be my star.

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Before I thought about how to animate him I first had to think about his personality. He was definitely goofy and cute -at least I thought he was -but those couldn't be his only characteristics. I knew he had to tell a story. What was his personality going to be like? I started to act out some reactions he might have, how he might walk, what expressions he might make with his face and ears, or how he might talk. I started looking into how to his body would move based on a dynamically drawn line of action. Then I focused on his simple mouth. The way I drew him made him look like he was about to say something, or sounding out the letter "M." That's when I figured out his name, Minkus, he was practically saying it to me. I continued looking at him and felt as though he had a sincere face and the stature of a docile creature. He was harmless. From these musings I drafted my attitude sheet.

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I'm sure I'll be revisiting the attitude sheet over the course of this project by either adding more poses or subtracting some. I have no doubt that I'll also experiment with different color combinations before I select his true fur color, too. I feel like this is a good start though, and it is refreshing to use a pencil and sheet of paper again especially because most of the work I create is computer generated. I have enjoyed going back to the fundamentals -the basics of squash and stretch, the effects of secondary motion, and the importance of exaggeration -and it has been a lot of fun reviving old skills and techniques. I hope to refine Minkus even more in this next stage and prep him for part two where I  will begin sculpting him in 3D via ZBrush.

I am constantly thinking ahead around the bigger production of Minkus but I know right now I have to focus on the absolute very beginning. There's no doubt that I am already thinking about how to sculpt him, create his skeleton and animation rig, tackle his fluffy fur, etc., however, I know I need to take a step back because I know how important it is to dedicate significant attention to character development. I'm learning a lot in these beginning stages, as well as the overall process, and look forward to learning more throughout the project.

“Computers don’t create computer animation any more than a pencil creates pencil animation. What creates computer animation is the artist.”

— John Lasseter

Animation 101: How Animation Works by HouseSpecial

Today's post is going to be a rather short one because, well, the video speaks for itself! HouseSpecial, an animation studio in Portland, OR, put this spot together a couple of months ago for Indeed.com that was also part of a bigger in-house CG short. It is the perfect visual representation of what goes into animated sequences, and lists some of the roles that exist in the industry, too. Plus at :30 long it's short, sweet and to the point. Check it out below, and if you're looking for the full short, watch it here.

"How Animation Works" Client: Indeed.com Agency: Mullen Watch the full short here: https://vimeo.com/105788896 Spot Credits: Production/Animation Company: HouseSpecial Creative Director: Kirk Kelley Executive Producer: Lourri Hammack Animation Director: Dan Casey Senior Producer: Zilpha Yost Production Coordinator: Alix Iverson Designer: Alan Cook Lead Editor: Michael Corrigan Flame Artist: Rex Carter Nuke Compositing/Lighting Artist: Matthew Reslier Animator: Greg Kyle Editor: Cam Williams Assistant Editor: Dino Coons Production Assistant: Emma Van Halsema Audio Post and Mix: Soundtrack Based on a short film directed by Kameron Gates Brand: Indeed Senior Vice President, Marketing: Paul D’Arcy VP, Corporate Marketing: Mary Ellen Duggan Spot Title: How Animation Works Agency: Mullen Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker Executive Creative Director: Paul Foulkes Creative Director: Jon Ruby ACD/Copywriter: Nick Mathisen ACD/Art Director: Lisa Mathisen Exec Director of Integrated Production: Liza Near Director of Broadcast Production: Zeke Bowman Senior Producer: Mary Donington Account Director: Cheryl Laundry Senior Account Executive: Katherine Meers

This is a very well put together CG piece with incredible character work, beautiful lighting, great texturing, solid effects, and gorgeous environments. Hats off to you, HouseSpecial! I look forward to perusing more of your work.

Enjoy! Caroline

Inspiration Series: Fruits + Hot Tub Music

What is the first thing you do when you get into the office in the morning? I'm sure it's a laundry list of things including checking email, pouring a hot cup of coffee, checking out current events from your trusted news source, scrolling through your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram feed, eating your favorite bowl of cereal, etc. I'll admit that my routine includes a couple of these steps plus others, but the one thing I have to do in order to get my day started is go through my Vimeo feed. In fact, it is one of the few tabs (plus my email) that is constantly open while others are opening and closing throughout the day. I love starting the day following various artists, seeing what people are currently working on or have recently wrapped up, and breaking down the posted works as much as I can. Most importantly though I'm paying attention to the trends and techniques utilized -what styles are being used? What is being overused? Underused? What kind of content is successful? Are all of the important elements of a story there? What is the story? What is the brand? -and the resulting social response(s) to those trends and techniques.

Today Psyop's Survival of the Fruits Chobani spot caught my immediate attention. I have always been a huge fan of Psyop's work and they never seem to disappoint. Survival of the Fruits displays exceptional design and storytelling skills, and is a brilliantly animated piece. The unique representation of characters is equally entertaining and brings the 'fruit in its natural habitat' theme and brand come to life, too. I definitely hit the favorite button on this one and am adding it to my endless list of inspirations. Watch the video here.

Today is a 2 for 1 deal because not only was I intrigued by the above mentioned video but my good friend, DJ HR Beats, put out a new mix called Hot Tub Music yesterday and it is awesome. Sure, I'm biased because I know Hareesh personally but in all seriousness this guy is good. I mean really good! He knows how to entertain a crowd and how to seamlessly combine different sounds together, and I always enjoy listening to his mash ups. Anyway, this mix definitely put a couple of project ideas in my head, so along with Psyop, I'm putting this on my endless list, too.

Enjoy the links! Caroline

Music is the art of thinking with sounds... DJ HR BEATS gives you HOT TUB MUSIC to help you unwind and relax your soul! So turn the lights down and press play! ************************ Follow DJ HR BEATS Contact For Bookings: hareeshb12@gmail.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/djhrbeats Twitter: www.twitter.com/djhrbeats Instagram: www.instagram.com/djhrbeats Tracklist: 1) Zoolander Relax Intro 2) Waited 4 U (ODESZA Remix) - Slow Magic 3) You & Me (Flume Remix) - Disclosure 4) Dog Days Are Over - Florence And The Machine 5) Lisztomania (Parrad Remix) - Phoenix 6) Juicy Diner (ft. The Notorious BIG & Suzanne Vega) - Dr. Fresch 7) Kong - Bonobo 8) West Coast (Stint Remix) - Lana Del Rey 9) I See Fire (Kygo Remix) - Ed Sheeran 10) No Rest For The Wicked (Figgy Remix) - Lykke Li 11) Paradise (On Earth) - Chris Cab

Cheers to 2015!

Usually when I come across someone's blog I notice that it's very popular to write a New Year post and reflect on the good, the bad, and the interesting moments from the past year and goals for the upcoming year. In 2014 I found myself getting asked a lot of questions regarding my career, most of which were questions about what I do for a living, what all of the Hollywood and Broadcast jargon means, questions about the evolution of computer graphics and the programs used to make them, and how I got interested in animation/computer graphics/visual effects in the first place. The latter question is the easiest to answer and you can find a detailed explanation on my About page.

A lot of people, including friends and family, always ask me "what does animation entail?" and I always tell them that that is a pretty broad question. I usually respond with, "Well, what exactly do you mean? Do you mean 2D or 3D animation? Are you curious about my roles and what I contribute on a particular projects? Are you curious about what my day is like at my office? Or do you simply want me to explain the terms animation, visual effects and motion graphics to you?" I try to keep it short, sweet, and relatable so as not to confuse and/or bore my friends, family or peers, but sometimes I end up going into specifics, which may or may not make sense, and I feel like I've talked their ears off without maybe actually answering their original question after all. And because the industry itself is constantly changing (i.e. technology), so do my responses sometimes, and that is another reason why it is a difficult question to answer. However, I'd like to get better at it in 2015.

My intentions for blogging, therefore, are to help answer those types of questions more easily, explain some of the processes involved in creating 2D, 3D and visual effects graphics, give more insight into the work I create both short and long term, describe what goes into both simpler and bigger productions [sorry in advance to those who already know how the pipeline works, but hey!, I'm no expert yet and am always looking to learn new things, so I welcome your comments, too, and hope you chime in to help the conversation along], share my various works in progress including sketches, concept art, style frames and previz animatics, and hopefully share some cool design and technology articles/inspiration from time to time so you can get an idea of what's constantly going on in my head -the resources that ignite some of the concepts for a lot of the pieces you see here on my website.

Every industry has a community and I consider myself to be part of a couple of them -art, design, technology, business, etc. -and I also hope that through blogging I'll be able to add to such communities through sharing various knowledge and information and creativity, connect my peers through such conversation, and inspire fellow artists, technologists, entrepreneurs and enthusiasts of all kinds into cultivating and producing some of their own marvelous work, as well.

To my new and very first blog ever, new artwork, new knowledge, new and exciting experiences, and a wonderful New Year for everyone, here's to 2015 and all that comes with it!

 Enjoy! Caroline