Computer Animation Arts

Mainly aimed at Games Modellers, this talk might be of interest to some of you... As part of the London Games Festival (2nd -14th April - see  HERE  ), there is a talk by Christian Paskota, a Lead Character Artist on Total War: Arena, on 11th April at 7pm. He will go over his practices of how to retopologize models for the games pipeline.  The talk will include examples of dos and don'ts, LODs, UVs for characters, modelling for prop swapping and best pracices to prevent clipping. The doors will open at 7pm, and the talk will be followed with Q&As, and a chance to network at the bar! Full details  HERE.

Seminar Wednesday 27th March Lecture Theatre 1 14:00 - 15:00 Brought to you by the Careers and Employability SPECTRA programme -  How to improve your Linkedin profile and use Linkedin effectively.

We're getting you all together on Wednesday 27th March @ 10.30am in DM5 for a Major Project Submission briefing.  We're going to be clarifying requirements for the big hand-in on May 10th and we're asking that everyone attends accordingly.  Looking forward to see you all there!

As of Monday 18th March, you have 52 days remaining until the final submission of your graduate projects - or 7.4 weeks!  You'll need to look again at your respective schedules and re-calculate your goals accordingly. You're all working very hard and we're excited by the quality of your assets and the promise of your films, but you all need to work 'smart' too: animation is your priority because getting your stories told is your priority: that's 'the 60 credit' X factor - that's the prize - don't lose sight of it.  You may need to make compromises.  You may need to simplify. You may need to make cuts - but now is the time to look coolly and calmly at everything you want to achieve - and identify strategies by which to achieve it!   52 days before hand-in - make all of them count!

Year 2: Premise submission The purpose of Premise is to create a solid foundation for year three. The more successful your Premise project, the better chance you have of a successful third year. You now have six weeks left (eight including the Easter break) until  Premise is over . That’s six weeks (term time) to create the best foundation possible for your final year. Therefore, to help you I created a ‘must have’ list below. However, whilst this is a ‘list’ it is not a ‘check list’ whereby you create work simply to fulfil the list (see - No ‘tick box’ submissions below). It is a list that discusses areas where you find out more about your concept by researching, developing and refining work. Submission List Breakdown - Concept  - Research & Design (Character/Production Design/Concept Art) - Sound Design & Script/Animatic - 3D/Maya Work In Detail & Examples- - Concept: During the past few weeks you have all arrived at a concept. Therefore, yo...

Online academy 'Created' have put together a really useful guide of events, meet-ups, seminars etc, happening this year in London. This is what they say - "Are you new to the creative industries? Do you want to get involved but not really sure where to start? The answer is simple: you have to get out there, make connections and join inspiring creative communities. You know, good ol’ networking. You might not know where to begin right now, but that’s okay: that’s precisely why we’re here to help you with our directory of events in London covering creative, graphic and motion design. The key to getting started is knowing where to go. So if you’re in London and have got a free evening, stick these in your diary. These events, meet-ups, groups, events and resources (which are either free or inexpensive) will help you gain new knowledge, make new friends and propel your career in the right direction." Find the list  HERE  !

Reposting... Calling all 3rd years! I have been made aware of an exciting opportunity for Computer Animation Arts students to register for a FREE E-Mentoring programme aimed at those considering a career in the animation/VFX industries. The programme is run by a startup called Prospela, it's completely online (think Whatsapp style instant messenger) and the team at Prospela are really looking forward to supporting you.  If you would like to sign up with them to get personalised advice, authentic career insights as well as opportunities from real professionals in the VFX sector, you can sign up to the UCA programme through their website HERE . Just state that you heard about the programme from me.  With E-Mentors from a huge range of leading companies and startups in VFX, Prospela can match you based on your skills, interests and personalities and you'll enjoy on-demand dedicated support through their web and mobile app.  This is a new ve...

I've been in contact with Phil Miller, Managing Director at DreamingFish Productions in Woking, and he has let me know about some exciting work experience opportunities at the company.  Because they are quite a small team, they can only take one person at a time, but last year they hosted 13 students over the year for a week each, so it's worth anyone that is interested, applying!  Here's what Phil says -  We’re quite a small team so we only take 1 student at a time. We usually take students for week long placements and do these at any time, usually excluding summer/easter holiday times as staff can be a little thin on the ground at these times.  We took 13 students last year and we ask each one to come with a project in mind that they want to undertake while they are with us. I feel it is important that they are not just observing us but also undertaking their own work with our support. It also means that they have something to take awa...

Year 2: Drop in/sign up tutorials. Please be aware that I will be in the CAA office today not on the ground floor as I mentioned yesterday. The tutorials are 'drop in' meaning that you can come anytime from 10am - 1pm to talk about/get help with either Premise or Toolkit 2. If you need practical help please open your files on a computer in one of the CAA rooms.  - Alan

Wednesday, 13th March is your Fantastic Voyage Online Greenlight Review  Your OGR is to be presented as a single Scribd presentation on your blog, beginning with your name, date, and project title. Your OGR presentations should be uploaded to your blogs on Wednesday, 13th March. Written feedback will follow as a 'comment' on your OGR post. Fantastic Voyage OGR Part 1: What do you need to present? Your chosen scenario.  Your chosen audience & supporting market research. Your visual concept influence maps Thumbnails/developmental drawings etc.  In addition, your OGR should evidence that you are up-to-date with your ongoing Toolkit 1 project work (life-drawing/Maya tutorials/Nat's animation exercises etc). Historically, students who use their OGR to manage their weekly tasks in this way manage their workloads more successfully. Use your social network to ensure everyone has seen this post - much appreciated. I look forward to some exc...

Having looked at all of your character choices on your blogs I am going to make a 'universal' judgement call in the interest of you being able to get the most out of the sculpting experience. Also, to avoid stress over trying to create 'popular character likeness' and understanding stylisation/other peoples choices. It would be better that we opt for a 'real person' , one that is not a celebrity or part of a TV show or film.  I have brought in a series of images for you to use (similar to above) and of course you are welcome to choose your own. The images will be available tomorrow for you to pick from. Apologies to anyone who has chosen a character already, but as I said a poor choice will radically change what you learn and the experience you have. Please arrive early so that we don't get a bottle neck when choosing. Please pass this info on to anyone who you feel may not see this post. - Alan

Your Thesis / Extend Thesis assessment proformas have been sent to your Ucreative email accounts.  If your's hasn't arrived, drop me an email and I'll investigate pronto!

Even as you're reading this, I'm probably in a concert hall in Amiens, France (or maybe it's the one in Soissons), preparing for a live screening of our animated visualisations originating from Hector Berlioz's Romeo & Juliet - the last of our big projects for the Orchestra Network for Europe , and the culmination of a six year cycle of creative collaborations with classical orchestras across Europe. Just last week I was in Katowice, Poland, but more about that a little later. In truth, the Computer Animation Arts course team is a little bleary-eyed as it's been a hectic few weeks getting everything prepared, but our creative community of hardworking students have been no less prolific, so enjoy this all-new edition of our Post With The Most , beginning with the expressive joys of our weekly life-drawing classes... Meg Robson Meg Robson Meg Robson Meg Robson Meg Robson Adri Lopian Adri Lopian Katie Lima ...