The Spungella blog is probably the closest thing out there in wibbly wobbly web land to the ARC. Its run by a teacher (Jean-Denis ) and is mainly aimed at his AAU students, but for technical reasons has to remain independent from the educational institution (sounds familiar). Its full of great articles, useful links and teachings. In particular I'd check out the critique section where you can see the work of some other students and what Jean has to say about it. Soak it up :)
"Each animator finds his/her groove when it comes to tools such as video planning. Some shoot their own video reference, and some gather video reference from all sorts of different sources. Video planning is as unique as the animator using it. However, there are some things to keep in mind when it comes to video planning and reference material," says the quote from the AnimationMentor Tips & Tricks blog.
Video referencing links nicely with the Jason Ryan techniques being learnt by the current 2nd years to create and ENJOY better 3D animation.
Ian even went down to the physical movement faculty gym with some second years (Steve and Cassie) to film walks on a treadmill for video reference material. Combining video reference with traditional 2D planning is an empowering (for the student animator) and powerful method (for the animation teacher) to create appealing 3D animation. What do you think of using live action reference?
And just to bounce your brain another way: "...you can learn more about line-of-action and dynamic posing by spending ten minutes in a good comic book than you can by watching hours of movie reference." Who said this? No, it wasn't Terry Oberg.
So what do you use for your animation reference material?
ARC InDepth post: Ian uses video references in a jumping ramble.
p.s. Read the chapter on "Reference Material" in the Tips & Tricks eBook.
p.p.s Remember Eaduard Muybridge? Some great movement reference here. Ref: "The Human Figure in Motion"
p.p.p.s Dr. Harold Edgerton. Ref: "Stopping Time".
If something doesn't make sense in class students are encouraged to try and look at the problem in different ways, from a few different viewpoints.
Ian and I had an interesting talk about the different way people learn things. And sometimes we just have to find what makes sense to the individual.
So if your animated character isn't doing the things you want it to do, use Internet resources, it's good to see how different animators solve the problems.
AnimationMentor have started a blog that could be added to your problem solving resource list.
I'm always thrilled to see that there is a new post on the SynchroLux blog, so many educational goodies to be found there. When I first started to read this latest post It wasn't as thrilling as I hoped, it seemed to be mainly a recount of an event Kevin Koch had attended. Nice, but mainly just a "and then this happened and then that happened" kind of thing.
BUT then just three paragraphs from the end Kevin stopped to reflect on some things highlighted for him by the event, his observation hit me like a slap in the face. "One of the things that this program highlighted, and that I’ve been concerned with for awhile, is the huge difference in mentoring between hand-drawn animation and CG animation. It used to be that animators began as assistants and ruff inbetweeners, and worked their way up the ranks. For a long time the accepted wisdom was that it took about six years of concerted effort to become an animator. There were exceptions, but long periods of training and mentoring were generally part of the process to becoming a competent animator.
In CG, there aren’t any assistant positions. . . . . . . . . . . In the CG animation world you basically get the best training you can, and hope to get hired right onto a production. Yes, most studios have “mentors” who are assigned to new hires, and there’s usually a ramp-up or training process, but it’s nothing compared to how it used to be."
It's so obvious, and no wonder we are faced with such a mountain to climb now as students, we are trying to cover in a few years what used to take 6!
I love an impossible challenge though, so strap on you climbing boots, pull on your ear muffs and grab a spare change of underwear! ITS CLIMBING TIME BABY! YODELAHEEEHOOOOOO!
Check out this cool blog from US animator TJ Phan. In particular I like the post about his work flow and using live action reference here. And the posts that have excellent examples of broad physical action here and here (great reference and inspiration for those working on a games reel).
Found at: Road To Animation Mentor
'I hear that there’s a common refrain among beginning actors when they first get onto a stage or in front of a camera. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with my hands!”' Find out more @ Animating Naked.
Check out the cool example show reel from RMIT graduate Avner Engel who I met at the 11 Second Club.
There's been much discussion on this blog and amongst the 2nd years about show reels and narrative films as methods to show off a student's skills as an animator to potential employers.
Read more in depth, including 10 top tips for your successful show reel and the chance to win chocolate (Mmm chocolate).
Check out the blog for Fat Cat Animation Studios of Canada.
There studio has a hand in many a cartoon, and they are constantly producing demos, or pilots for ideas, which I would guess means they encourage a high level of creative input from their staff.
These guys really illustrate the work hard party hard philosophy I often talk about. There is no way a group of people this big all have so much in common that they just naturally all want to socialize together. But there is one thing they all have in common, they are producing animation together.
In my career I've been lucky enough for there to have been two periods of time where my workplace was really kicking and achieving great things. I don't think there is any coincidence that at the same time those workplaces were made up people willing to put in the effort to bond and enjoy letting off steam together as well as work hard together. That emotional investment translates into a bigger care factor about the work, a motivation beyond a pay check.
I think out of the Brisbane animation courses our course dose OK here, the fact that the class do all of their subjects together in one group is a big advantage we have over the university structures. But I do think there is room for improvement. There are still clicks, little clusters who distinguish themselves from the group because of a particular social inclination or sometimes because they like a different kind of animation to others. Also we get a small group of loaners each year, who just don't want to mix beyond the essential at all. Its obviously not something that can be assessed, or forced upon students, but you can mark my words. A group who make the effort to bond, focus on the things they have in common, communicate outside of class, will learn more and become better animators. The little things that happen around class, a group going to see a movie, gathering at a pub or cafe for some conversation, even hanging out together in a lunch break and sharing of yourselves, these things form a valuable grease between the cogs of a studio or class. Employers and teachers who don't encourage this sort of thing do so at their own peril.
Anyhoo, enjoy the blog, maybe there are some ideas here for things you guys can get up to outside of class :)
Mark Kennedy has an interesting post on his blog about a technique he has been experimenting with to help him get better at drawing faces. Looks cool.
This latest article from the Character Design Blog is a real gem. An interview with 3 young character designers.
I love this bit, "I've learned a ton from Jason Kim and Jed Henry about the importance of creating a character based on the story they are in, rather than, creating a character and making a story out of it."
This is one of the many reasons I'm always on about line of action. If you force yourself to answer, "Where is the line of action and what dose it mean?", then you are forced to consider the characters context before you draw.
If you're finding all the text a bit hard to get through, make sure you check the many sketch examples at the bottom of the post.
I found this blog that goes behind the scenes on the award winning animated film, Your Friend the Rat.
So I suggest that it might be worth ratting around in Jim Capobianco's Leonardo blog, that has the intriguing byline, "adventure and absurdity in making an animated short" (Grade 2's take note). 
More than Mr. Incredible's right arm moves.
"When you move from one pose to the next, nearly every single body part should move, even if it’s only a little bit. And you need to make sure each part moves naturally." So how does an animator do this? ... in 2D? ... in 3D?
Read more
Previous animation tip from sabudesign: Internal Silhouette
This post on the Thinking Animation Blog contains links to a whole bunch of cool character designers web sites. I thought it might make for some good inspiration to get the year going.
Just after we were talking about it the other day I've found a new(ish) blog about the production of the the Thief and the Cobbler. Its run by several of the artist who worked on the film.
Found at: The Small Room Blog
Check out the web site and reel of animator Lindsay Thompson. I particularly like the dancing guy at the end. She has an interesting Blog too, among other things it documents the production of a short film she has been making.
The great blog, Freelance Switch has just posted a cool article called 60 Places to Get Design Inspiration - Online and Off. Awsome stuff. Check it out.
Check out the great Cooked Art Blog, from Alan Cook. He has just posted some new clips of Glen Keane animating. Top Stuff.
I wonder how many of you were reading blogs about animation back when John K (creator of Ren and Stimpy) started his blog all kinds of stuff, it was a great time for anim blogs. The place was awash with Disney and Family Guy fans and John K came charging in with a fresh point of view, controversial statements about what made "good" animation and plenty of witty insightful observations about the modern animation industry.
Perhaps it was too good to last, John is so cynical and negative about the modern biz that it saps your strength to read and in order to find useful info you have to read through mountains of outright unconstructive complaining. I'm afraid to say I hardly go there anymore.
But I make a point of having something positive in every post (have you noticed), so I'm happy to say I have found a new blog that kind of fills the void for me. Ironically the Eddie of Uncle Eddies Theory Corner is a friend of John Ks, and I love his blog. He uses old pictures (some relevant and some not) to punctuate his "theories". Sometimes they're about acting, character or just something weird. I love it.
My favourite post so far was this one about what makes a good story that he has played out by some classic actors of days gone by.
