Summer SOS Workshop #1 Sign-up

I'm starting to receive sign-up emails for the Summer SOS Workshop! Fantastic! I'm not sure yet if I will do 7 weeks with one session a week or two sessions a week, but it will be 7 weeks for sure. If it's only one session then the whole thing will cost pretty much half the current price of course.

The workshop will start June 21st. To see how many spots are left, check out this post.

As always, if you got questions, head over to spungellaonsite.blogspot.com and check out the FAQ. If you still have questions, just send me an email.

Cheers
JD

[updated] SOS Workshop... Online?

If you're interested, please write me an email using signup(at)spungella.com and put "SO Workshop" in the subject line!

___[update]___

WOW! I just got to my mail and holy moly, that's quite a demand!! Thanks everybody! Alright, so this advanced from a "maybe, if there are enough people" to "Hell yeah, I need more days in the week!" :)

In terms of who will be in it, I will have to go by "first come first served". So, sorry for those who heard about it later than others. I will check time stamps of the emails and comments and go from there.

Start date would still be around February to coincide with the start of the on-site workshops. I don't want to overlap too much since I'd like a break every now and then as well, especially for family time.

I'll set up a proper site and email for future sign-ups, just like the SOS Workshops. I guess this one will be called SOL Workshop. :) And no, it doesn't stand for sh*t out-of-luck ;)
Actually, since "online" is one word, it should be SO Workshop.

Keep posting comments if you have any feedback, concerns or if you are interested!

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Hey guys, quick survey.

I'm thinking about adding an on-line extension to the SOS Workshops for those who can't make it to the on-site sessions. The model would be something like this:

- 7 animators tops

- each animator gets one day (Monday through Sunday) during which I would dedicate a certain amount of time for feedback/lectures. By that I mean: the animators can email me their work (attachment. link, etc.) at any time, any day, as always, but just like the on-site workshop has a session once a week, there would be a session once a week for each online workshop. Instead of piling up feedback for everybody during one day, each animator has his/her above mentioned set day as a weekly deadline.

- feedback will be in-depth and workshop animators will always get feedback priority (versus animators that I don't know who just send me emails, they will have to wait their turn (sorry!))

- there are advantages to the on-site workshops, so since the online-workshops are "limited' in that regard, the price will be cut in half, so $400 for 16 sessions per animator

It's not going to happen immediately this week, but depending on demand I could open this up pretty soon (February?).

Sooooo... if you're interested, leave a comment and spread the word.

Thanks!!
JD

Back from vacation!

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've enjoyed two weeks off with my family and friends in Switzerland. Now back to business!!

And Bernie! Stop posting fake anim rip-off clips!! (even though that one was awesome!).

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New SOS Workshop Signup Procedure - First Come First Served at all times

... and you can attend multiple workshops in a row. No sign-up date anymore. If you're interested in attending, please use signup@spungella(dot) at any time. For more information, go to spungellaonsite. Thanks!

Cheers
Jean-Denis

Highend3D switches to creativecrash.com

... and as a result, none of the links work anymore. Way to go Highend3D... no link forwarding?

I'll update the links on a daily basis. Thanks for your patience.

Looks like it has been updated. I will still go through the links and make sure it all works, but at least now I don't have to hurry anymore.

Slow times

Sorry for the lack of posts. It's been a bit hectic at home (kid starts school, we got a puppy, house fixes, etc.). It also feels slow in the anim world for some reason.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by though!

Last class at the AAU

Thank you for another awesome semester! Thanks for your patience and all the candy! :)

"I will see you again... but not yet... Not yet! "



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Spungella On-Site Email Instructions for Sign-Up - Update

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[update:]

Well, this is very weird, looks like people got error messages, but I got all of your emails on that account. Maybe my host had a hiccup and sent out that error? But since so many had problems, what if some didn't go through?

I'm really sorry for that, no idea what happened. I changed the email and tested it, and just like the other one, it works.

In order to keep it fair for everybody, I will cancel this sign-up and re-open it for tomorrow, 12:30pm. Feel free to email me on the new address as a test today.
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I you plan on emailing me about SOS, then here are the details:


Send an email to: signup (at) spungella.com

Subject: Fall 2009 SOS Workshop sign-up

Body: I'd like to attend the 2009 Fall SOS workshop (or something like that).

Sign-up time is 7/21/09, 12:30pm, San Francisco time.

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Last Semester at the AAU

Hey everybody,

sadly this will be my last semester teaching at the AAU, there won't be a Fall Semester. But maybe (hopefully!) I will be back next year, you never know.

I want to thank all the students that suffered through my classes. I had a really good time and you guys (and girls) have been super patient with me and were really inspirational.

Thanks!!!!
JD

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Moving - back ... this week?

[update]

Well, not quite back yet.
Since Comcast effen sucks big time, things won't be normal for a few days. I'll try to post things whenever I can. Once everything is up and running the way it should be, I'll let everybody know. Sorry about that.

For those who check the site, sorry for the lack of posting this week, we are moving to a new place. Web will be up and running on Tuesday. Unless Comcast screws things up even more than they already have - once the service is running, I have no problems with them, but the customer service is so unbelievably bad, it's almost fascinating to see how these morons can't get anything right.

On a brighter note, Delancey Street Movers were FANTASTIC! They showed up exactly when they were supposed to and they were super friendly, really motivated with an unstoppable can-do attitude, fast, careful, quick thinking problem solvers and finished up everything way below the original estimate. Unbelievable. Now THAT'S customer service. Highly highly recommended. In fact, these are the guys who helped out:

James Powell (coordinated everything)
Andrew Browal
Erik Aquclar
Jesse Wilson
Mike Covello
Gary Pederson

(I hope I spelled this all correctly...)

So if anybody out there is working with them, tell them I said hi. :)

Alright, see you back on Tuesday!

Cheers
JD

What would JD do? - End of Semester Spring '09

[updated] Thanks Fu-Ling and Erik for the pictures!!

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Here we are. Another semester just flew by.

And another group of fantastic students is moving on. Yesterday evening they surprised me with a goodbye present which blew my mind. It was so unexpected, so funny, so well done, you guys just rule! The way it was presented was absolutely priceless. Thanks to everybody involved!

It's always sad to end a semester and yesterday sure wasn't easy. At least I'll see some of you in class again. For those who graduate, good luck and all the best!!

So what would JD do? The pictures will tell you. :)

Au revoir!
JD

click on this pic for more

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AM Campus Mentor

Speaking of AM, this month I'm starting as a Campus Mentor for AnimationMentor.com! I'm sure I'll run into some of my ex-students and I'm very excited to meet new ones!

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Upcoming AAU classes

[updated 07/16/09] Spungella On-Site announcement coming soon, stay tuned! So far here some info.

[updated 06/23/09] Summer is my last Semester at the AAU. Hopefully I'll be back next year.

[updated 06/17/09] Summer Class Name: ANM 801 9 Character Animation - Room 350

[updated 04/03/09] Summer Class: Group Directed Study - Monday/Thursday 7-10pm
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I've been receiving emails from students asking about future classes ever since I started about 2 years ago up until now. The answer is always the same so I might as well post it here in case people are looking for answers on this site.

Please ask your advisor because I am usually the last person to find out what type of class I will be teaching. The moment I know anything, I post it as a mini message on this site above the regular posts.

I have students e-mailing or coming up to me saying: "Hey, cool that you're teaching such and such classes on such and such day!" That's usually how I find out. So you guys are much better informed than I am. :)

That's not a complaint btw.

The list of possible classes comes out towards the end of the semester, but the confirmation about which type of class and on what day it wil be, arrives much later. The moment the class is in the system your advisor will know about it. And the moment I know about it, I'll post it here as always.

The only difference now is that this Spring semester might be my last one at the AUU. But either way, look for a notice at the top of the page above the posts for any class announcements.

Thanks for asking though! I appreciate the interest!

Cheers
JD

Sick - no class tonight

I tried to fight as long as possible. I know it's a hassle for some of you guys to come down to school for just one class. Sorry to mess that up. I'll email out make-up dates for this class. Sorry for the late notice!!

Feel free to email me your clips for critique!

(don't forget to send me .movs, check the F.A.Q. on how to use the h.264 codec so that the files are small).

Kinovea - new tool for my students

Thanks to pateta3d over at the 11secondclub forum I've finally found a player which lets you step through a movie frame by frame, but which also lets you draw on top of it. There are many more features included, so take a second and check them out @ the kinovea features page.

The player is free, so there's no cost nor hassle involved. I would use the mirror download link (the other ones gave me corrupted files).

From now on I will be critiquing movies using that player. The file with the included notes will be saved as an .mkv file. The cool thing about is that each frame containing notes, or drawings or whatever feature you use, is listed one after the other below the clip and tool bar (one in this example screen shot).

The only drawback (so far - the next big software update will fix it) is that audio is not supported. So for dialogue clips I will still use quicktime for playback and switch to kinovea for notes. Hopefully we can use it in class (I assume the lab techs need to allow the installation of new software on the school server).

Cheers
JD

Project updates

Remember my "Upcoming Post" ... post? Yeah, it's been a while. And guess what? I'm still having computer troubles, despite a new machine.


We thought it was the graphics card, then power supply, then OS, etc. Well, we put a new configuration together and I'm going to test it this week-end. Wish me luck!

Anyway, even if this might sound like a broken record, I really want to get going with these planned posts and one day I'll get them done. :)

Latest hiccup (but a positive one) is the fact that I'm working on my first show as a Lead Animator. As you can imagine I'm a lot busier at work, so instead of posting things during a render, I got new things to do.

So again, sorry for the lack of posting. The next bigger post will probably be about "Dirt". I'm preparing it for our "No Continues" project and I might as well construct it so that I can post it here as well. Dirt, or keep alive, or noise, or whatever you want to call it can help your shot in terms of getting a step closer to realism. This is of course style specific (you won't see many imperfections in a cartoony movie) and those added imperfections might not be what you're looking for, but it might be interesting for other people.

And yes, the workflow demo is on my list, but before that, I can post a section of my "Grading Reference" post (From F to A, what does it look like, what am I looking for, etc.). Stay tuned!

Cheers
Jean-Denis

First day of class!

[btw. this is for my students who are enrolled at the Academy of Art University]

Alright! First day of class! Hopefully you guys and girls got a good overview of how this class works. I'm going to do whatever I can to give you what you need. Again, feel free to offer suggestions, feedback, critique, etc. Be pro-active!

Homework recap:

• scan your school ID and email it to me
• bouncing ball - yes, yes, get over it. It tells me a lot about each individual. Minimum requirement: heavy, medium and light ball, no textures, no set, just plain physics. But of course you can do more than that and I always encourage it. Show me the final polished version next week.
  
• get acquainted with this site, how it's structured - a lot of the things you will hear this semester have already been covered in either my posts or someone else's, no harm in getting a head start
• think about your goals for this semester, do a self assessment - what have I done, what do I need to do, what do I want to do, etc. I'm here for guidance of course, so if you have previous work, email it to me (as an attachment or a link) and we'll go through it and decide on an individual curriculum for this semester
  

As a rough guideline for your shots I would aim for this:

- first week: blocking
- second week: blocking plus
- third week: polish

Of course this can all change since you have the option of emailing me your progress during the week. I'll try my best to critique it in a timely fashion, but I can't promise it due to priorities with my family and my job. But if your blocking is done and approved, move on, no need to waste time. But try to give yourself deadlines. Of course I will torture you as well, but don't fall into the trap of spending 10 weeks on a shot.

That's it for now (I think).

I hope you guys will have fun and I'm looking forward to seeing your work!

Cheers
Jean-Denis

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Work Sandwich

For those who emailed me their clips for critique, as always, I got them, but we are REALLY busy at work, so unfortunately I have to ask for your patience, sorry guys. I'll get to them as soon as I can.

It's crunch time!

Cheers
JD

Summer Class 2008 - The End

Thanks for another awesome class! You guys (and girls) were a lot of fun and I wish you all the best!

Keep emailing clips if you need critique! If you keep working on the 100x assignment, send me the updated version. I'll post all the clips when the Fall semester starts (which should give you enough time for fixes).

Now go and watch a lot of movies!!
Especially this one. :)
Take care
Jean-Denis

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