The Awesome Power of Starting Simple
This guy is going to rule my world and I love it.
Starting something you’ve been anticipating for a long time can sometimes be anti-climactic. I’m thinking of a road trip where you spend the first 2 hours sitting in traffic trying to get out of town.
ORRRRR it can be terrifying like getting on a roller coaster after waiting in line for 2 hours.
I’m not quite sure where I am on this spectrum. I just uploaded my first homework assignment of my first term at Animation Mentor and this first class is intended for people who have never animated before. Although there are several in the class of 12 in that boat, that’s not me. I’ve been animating for almost 30 years.
Dayummm are you sure we’re in the right class?
I know Snarky Voice in my Head… a big part of me (you) is asking that question. Part of the first assignment was to open a prebuilt scene file and use two keyframes to animate a little car going from left to right using different curves to control the motion.
Uhhhhm that’s pretty damn basic… you wasting our money?
Uhhhhm no. It would be incredibly easy to be dismissive of this entire first term. Walk in with an “I’m too good for this” attitude. But even though I started making things move before most of the people in my class were born, I came to motion design accidentally.
I had to teach myself… On the job…. Under the gun. With deadlines and clients and money on the line. I jumped right into the deep end and skipped over the part where somebody teaches you how to do it correctly. It wasn’t even a thing you could learn in school back then.
So, I learned as I went, and all things considered, I don’t suck at making things move. But not sucking isn’t really a “lofty goal” and I’ve decided to invest this time and money to try and get “good”. Specifically, I want to get good at bringing polygons to life.
Bringing something to “life” is more than just making it move. It’s about communicating emotion. Emotion is the root of human connection. Whether it’s people, places or things, we don’t connect with anything that doesn’t evoke an emotion. Happiness, joy, love, sadness, fear, anger… These are the basics of our time on this earth.
Errrrrr… this isn’t a philosophy blog… What's your point?
I’m working up to it Snarky! You of all people should know that I like to take the scenic route. Now shut up while I get to the point and shit.
One thing I’ve been pretty consistent about in my life is connection. I get it from both my parents, but I think it might be a function of my early life as an “Army Brat”. I moved A LOT growing up and I was always “the new kid”. Always on the outside looking in. Until I was able to make a connection with someone.
That muscle memory from my childhood has served me well, and has helped me weather the “loneliness epidemic” our society is mired in. Connecting with people is a core component of my daily world.
Uhhhhh… the point you’re trying to get to?
Dude! Bringing something to life is about communicating emotion and emotion is the root of human connection. Maybe you should spend more time listening and less time talking?
This is the sound of Snarky zipping it up.
This first week of Animation Mentor was “simple” in the extreme. The second part of the assignment was to create a series of still poses that communicate a specific emotion, or idea. They provided the prompt word, and it was up to us as students to find inspiration for that prompt, sketch out poses, and then use their basic character rig named “Stewart” to communicate the idea.
Ohhhh we love communicating!! Errrrr oops.
LOL… I knew you couldn’t stay quiet. Yes, we do love communicating. It’s a huge part of connection, so I decided to embrace that simplicity and not just “do the assignment” but lean into the exercise.
I didn’t just do the first thing that came into my head. Instead, I spent hours looking at images on line and building a Pinterest board filled with ideas for each of the prompts. Then, once I’d decided on my favorite pose, I sketched each one. I really focused on the line of action, the orientation of the shoulders and their relationship to the hips, the curvature of the spine that would cause.
A 3D character rig is a lot like a musical instrument. It’s a set of controls that you use to produce a creative result. Once I got into Maya, I realized that one goal of this exercise was to help students learn how to play the instrument of Stewart the 3D character.
Even on a basic character like Stewart, there are A LOT of controls. Every part of him has a handle. Sometimes more than one that gives a subtly different result when you move it. Starting with still poses was the perfect introduction to the instrument. It gave me a “safe space” to screw around and try things.
What I had originally thought was a “simple” exercise turned into a complex observational experience. It was beautifully meditative and the hours flew by. I hit a mental place of deep focus. In a world purpose built for distraction, it’s the kind of thing that restores and rejuvenates your creativity.
That is ultimately why I’m going back to school. To get back to simple. To find the time to look at details and get back to focus and flow in a structured environment where I don’t know all the answers.
The Awesome Power of Starting Simple will help me rebuild my creativity from the ground up.
I'll be documenting my assignments on my website here...
