2014-08-16

Kate & Mim-Mim premiere!

It's FINALLY possible to reveal the first show I worked on at Nerd Corps: Kate & Mim-Mim, which has just recently premiered on TV, on CBeebies (the linked video content is region-restricted). If anyone manages to spot my name in the credits, please let me know! North American release: on Knowledge Network it should be premiering sometime in September 2014.
One of my shots got into this preview! I animated the scene sampled for the glimpse of Mim-Mim spinning at 0:27.
Also worthy of mentioning: yesterday I was promoted to the position of Animator at Nerd Corps. What, that only took: 20 years of dreaming and 10 years of hard work. I'm spending the day celebrating... by animating, of course. Anyone care to join me?

2014-01-20

Nerd Corps


As of Dec 2013 I have been working at Nerd Corps Entertainment in Vancouver as an animator. There's a lot going on at Nerd Corps! I'm very happy to be animating there now. It's incredible to be animating alongside many other animators, doing this work together with a team for the first time.
I haven't made very many updates to this blog for a while. I went through a long job search process; I realize I haven't shared about that here. Once work currently in production has finally been released, I'm sure I will be proudly showing it off. I do have thoughts, concepts, suggestions and so forth that I would happily share in the course of time. So more may yet be to come.
But for now; I'm just about to turn in after a restful weekend, much needed after a very busy week. Onwards at the dawn with the persistent task of seeking strong poses, clear dramatic beats, spline wrangling, working out the hitches, speaking and glancing and emoting and pushing the timing until it feels just right. All that and more, so as to entertain young minds with fantasies, friendships, and adventures! It is great to be an active member of the ongoing great global traditions of storytelling; construed in cutting-edge technology, yet ageless all the same.
Though few things are finer than a good night's sleep. Good night!

2013-09-18

2013-07-25

Demo reel updated

I've completed final rendering on Best Friend and Tennis Camp, and have just updated my demo reel. The results can be seen at:
StanleyWatt.com 

2013-02-25

Best Friend shot 03, body mechanics + facial acting

Best Friend, v160   


Best Friend, v199

Best Friend: I've been doing fine polish on this shot, got feedback along the way, and worked through all notes. It's finally in a good place mechanically, dramatically, and in terms of general quality.
v160: with body mechanics generally solved, but the emotive aspects are still mostly a blank canvas.  
v199: facial animation has been included, and overall detailed polishing. What an incredible difference. (The video quality for uploads is really rough here. I'll make a better version available when I update my reel.)
The woman in this shot goes through about nine distinct emotional beats. Here's a look at some planning for four of these, to give an idea. These translated fairly well into final form. The drawings are rather rough, they're really just about defining brows, eyes, and mouth shapes: