The Animation Archive
Work from my University years and studying at film school.
2005
A lip sync exercise complete around the end of University in 2005, I wanted to explore character performance for my graduation demo reel.
I designed my reel to resemble an old movie reel can and the DVD cover an old shipping crate. It’s a Vimeo link nowadays.
An early idea for the reel ident. I always liked this animation but for some reason it was never taken to completion.
2006
The first full year after University, I would practise my animation as often as possible.
I was watching Gladiator and spotted the chicken. A simple loop, more difficult than it looked.
The years after graduating, I still had the 2D animation bug and I would just draw as much as possible. Always a big fan of Elvis.
My line fidelity and clean up really improved during these tests, unfortunately the industry was changing - 3D artists were in demand.
2007
The year I started to actively engage in 3D animation and sadly the end of almost all of my 2D endevours.
Post University line test, early blocking of a heavy dinosaur. The 2D roots helped with the transition to 3D animation.
One of my earliest forays into Maya, I used an old 2D line test as the base, probably the start of the transition to 3D. I wanted to break into CGI.
2008
The first model, rig and animation scene produced in Maya. It was an invaluable experience and a real eye opener to CGI.
I spent many a late night on that rig, following tutorials and even writing some very basic MEL scripts.
2009
Beginning to experiment with camera angles and lenses. Probably the first time I designed and edited a fully 3d sequence.
The edit was relatively successful and it really started my journey to learning much more about cinematography.
The lighting was an exploration of Maya’s viewport, I wanted pretty playblasts for my reel without the render times.
I made a decision early that I would make my own rigs for my reel, I figured it would help to show my skills in CG.
Special features on DVDs were a great source of inspiration, I would try and match the presentation for my tests.
I started to really analyse creatures, partly due to the overwhelming demand for creature animators in London at the time.
Finding interesting animals to recreate in CG really excited me, I wanted to be super comfortable with Mayas modeling tools.
One of the last pieces I produced before starting at film school, viewport lighting was always my default for quick presentation.