So here we go. I think I finalized the basketball clip. I added more rotations while it is in the initial arc, as my good friend Adam suggested. I think he is right and it helps. So I think I am done with this and will move onto the next excercise - Make two bouncing balls of different weight.

Basketball pass 2

Ok, so here I've updated and re-worked the basketball animation - changing the arc and reversing the movement and rotation at the end in order to have it settle into place.

The Start of my mini AM exercises

So I decided to just go ahead and try to do the exercises that are given to AM (Animation Mentor) students. I figure, why not do the exercises that are helping so many people figure out how to animate well. If it works for them, then it has to work for me. So the first exercise it to create a realistic acting ball. It has to feel like its real. I decided to do a ball shot at a basketball rim. I am close with this pass I think, but still not perfect, of course there is always room for improvement. Well here is the first pass at this basketball animation.

2D walk cycle

So as I said before, this is going to be a place for me to post my work and tests. This piece is just what I created today. It is the first time I tried creating a good, believable 2D animation. For it, I used Macromedia Flash to draw and create the movie clip. It is just a simple walk cycle. The important thing is that I have learned from it and now I am looking forward to experimenting more in 2D while I continue working in 3D too.

Keeping me to a regiment

This is a little new to me. I am starting this blog in order to keep myself on a schedule of progress. I keep animating. I know someday I'll make it, but right now it looks like that might be a little further off than I first thought. So back to the purpose of this. I want this blog to be an easy to update place for me to post my new animations and maybe get some new suggestions for them. It will also give me record of how much I am accomplishing each week. Anyway, here it is -- the beginning of this new relationship with the web.

I also encourage everyone to visit my website jamescd.com