My first lipsync

My first lipsync is finished! Here's the puppet I used -

I went with a marionette style mouth, with replacement mouths. I decided to blend the lines in TVPaint afterwards, as it seemed the most efficient way to go - both pieces of the head are baked and I didn't want to start getting plasticine crumbs on her sweater. Here's the video of her talking:

I also finished another 15 sec of a puppet doing exercises (pushups and stepping in place) but sadly the small versions are on my laptop, which I am now without for the next week or two. On the upside I've only got 6 days to finish off 3 more sculpts, 10 castings, and alot of sewing for another project so no laptop is probably a good thing!!
-Emily

Demo Reel Help!

Okay, so I'm going to put together a demo reel - never know when it'll come in handy! I'm aiming for 3-5 minutes as that seems to be the norm. I'm going to include a clip of Judder but am doing a bit of new work as well.

Quick poll - ballet or kung fu? I'm going to spend a few days with a larger puppet (8" as opposed to the 6" largest I've used before... it's going to be so much nicer!) And to do a few extra bits of animation for the reel I'm thinking of doing an athletic movement (dance, karate) instead of the traditional walk cycle. Any input would be greatly appreciated! What do you think works on a show reel, what to avoid - feel free to give any advice! It would be really appreciated.

Also - support rigs - edited out? If I'm doing a dance piece where the character is in the air a large amount of the time - is it better to edit out the rig to look more finished, or can it be left in? I'm not sure if editing skills are as important as showing the animation, don't want to dedicate time to it if not as important as pushing puppets!

new pictures

Okay, so I've got a few new (and a few older) pictures to post - sadly none to do strictly with animation! I've been really slow to get work done lately - in part from migraines I was getting nightly. I was having to keep my computer dimmed as much as possible, keep everything quiet - the bathroom fan made me feel like screaming! But my bf helped figure out that I was getting them when I was working in low-light settings - so I've been making an effort to make sure I'm using a lamp with all my detail work now - and no headaches yet. Something I really should be doing anyway.
The mural is done, took 7 hours of kneeling on hardwood floors, ouch! But they love it so it's all good.
The first pic's above are of a character -I'm calling her emmyymme - the image has been kicking around for awhile now, it was originally fleshed out for an animation pitch that didn't end up being accepted, but she's becoming a recurring motif in my current/future projects - I bugged Mike Brent (Strider) alot for help/crits, so thankyou!

Next up is a sculpt with the first coat of latex on - the one used for the resin cast a few posts ago. I didn't realize how much the latex dries out the Sculpey, and will need to recondition it - but I now have a snazzy mold and plan to make the final product soon.

And these last two are my newest sculpts for some dolls I'm making - attempting to get into a juried craft show. She's Sculpey (Super mixed with black Premo) and will be plaster cast and made with Sculpey with fabric bodies. I found the amazing trick of using water with Sculpey! I'm guessing it's just a friction thing since the clay is oil based, but it lets it get much smoother without the problems of using alcohol - also allowed for all the hair detailing without using plastic wrap or getting burrs. There'll be 5 dolls total - starting the second one tonight, hopefully have pics soon.

Disney Princesses...

have the most bizarre proportions! I'm doing a kids room mural in the morning of this image:and it's going to be interesting to see them 4' tall and still having waists only 4" around :P