Advanced course and new rigs

So the time has come to once again take up some tutoring. Its all well and good doing my little experiments to make new and cool action shots but I still need help to see where I am going wrong. University seemed to serve only in getting me that bit of paper which so far hasn't really gotten me very far. This would not have been the case had the course actually allowed me to spend 90% of my time animating. In reality 90% of the time was spent creating scenes, assets, characters and rigs, essay writing and more horrendously time consuming nonsense that actually kept me from doing what I started out wanting to do!

So rant aside... Around this time last year I began studying with Jim Finlay (www.jimfinlay.com) a seasoned vet in the world of animation having worked on "Happy Feet" and various Disney projects. I have completed both the beginner and intermediate course and am now due to start the advanced level. When I first started I felt almost down hearted at the idea of going back to a beginner stage having just done 4 years at university. However the importance of the skills of basic timing and spacing principles I picked up on in the first few lessons left me pleasantly stunned and relieved I had agreed to do the full course. I can now comfortably plan my whole scene always knowing where to go next or whats missing from a shot. My work process is so much cleaner, altering one frame can make the difference in the shot. Whereas before my keyframes were so messed up that making any improvements could take hours, not seconds.

So, for the next phase I am doing a 10 second acting piece based on audio from "Blue Jasmine" featuring the voice of Cate Blanchett. The character is kinda tipsy in this scene which makes some of the phrases more interesting. In the past I have completed one or two 11 second club entries (Never to my satisfaction mind...) But this time round I will have a pro showing me the ropes. This project will teach me the correct way to approach an acting piece, start to finish. The benefit of a guiding hand telling how crap some of my poses are should point me in the direction of creating something reel worthy!

I want this vid to come out better than my previous works, so with that in mind I coughed up for a new rig. The above picture is the "Claire" Rig by www.longwinterstudios.com bought as part of a double pack including a male rig. I will be doing a full video review of the rig soon as others wanting to know the of the rigs potential before forking out 35 quid or more will benefit from it. So far I have found it deforms well and the facial controls are nice and clean. Considering all of its controls are on the rig itself rather than in a control box it doesn't appear too cluttered. One snag I have come across which is actually quite frustrating is the arm control setup. After finding and unhiding the IK/FK control I have found that you need to use two separate controls just to move and rotate, which when your doing a lot of blocking quickly it can get a bit frustrating. But worse still is the lack of elbow effector. An elbow up vector/effector is typical of most rigs i.e Josh Burtons "Morpheus" rig and allows you to change angle of the arm via the elbow. For the claire rig however you have to use a mostly forward method to position the arms, which may be a bit of a drag when it comes to find tuning. I am yet to get the hang of its controls and often send the limbs jerking uncontrollably.
All that being said I remain optimistic about this rig and will no doubt enjoy using it for my coming project!