If you want to really geek out on CG animation and find out where science and art really meet, check out the Pixar Research Library. There’s some really interesting papers written by some really intelligent people. Also, if you don’t already know, Pixar Canada’s website is up.

I recently bought a scanner to do pencil tests on, and it’s working out nicely. So I thought I’d recommend it to anyone looking at animating on paper. You’ll likely be in the market for something similar someday.  I followed this guide, and set out looking for an Auto Document Feed scanner that could handle 12 Field paper (10.5” x 12.5”). This meant I had three criteria in my search: It had to be cheap because I’m a student, it had to have ADF so I could spend more time animating (learning), and it had to be Wide Format so I could fit the animation paper in it. To make a long story short, after searching the internet, and checking out every store in town, I settled on this:

This in the Brother MFC-6490. It matched all my criteria, most important of which was cost, only setting me back $250. That’s a steal considering the prices for these kinds of scanners used to be in the thousands of dollars range. Now I spend all day animating and studying this:

And when I need to test my work, I just stack everything in the tray on top, and my pencil test is ready in a few minutes. I remember doing a tests with a camera back in film school, and how long that took. So much time was wasted that could have been used animating or learning something new. I hate wasting time, so I’m super happy with this purchase. I couldn’t find anything like this from HP, Epson, or Canon, so I think this is the only one on the market in that price range.

I’m super excited about posting some animation tests, but that will have to wait a bit. I feel I should get past the really basic boring stuff before I post anything. Plus I suck, which doesn’t motivate me to share my shiny terds.

I don’t know when this is from, or who put this together for Disney, but it looks like a bench mark or guide for artists to aim for when applying. This is still extremely useful today, so I thought I’d post it. I don’t know if Disney or Pixar have recent “Sample Portfolios” like this for today’s artists, but I’d love to see one. Download images individually, or in PDF format here.

There’s been a little absence in posting, as I’m keeping very busy as of late. I’m trying to draw constantly. I’m going to life drawing at least three days a week, and drawing at every possible moment during the day.

It’s the only way I think I’ll start getting better at this stuff. I’m currently working on a portfolio for my dream school, so drawing has occupied every single nook and cranny of my cranium.

I got rid of my computer to elminate the distraction of the internet, and the amount of time I wasted on it, which could be better devoted to drawing. So for the first time in over 10 years, I don’t have a computer. It was weird at first, but now it makes total sense. And I love thinking about drawing drawing drawing, all the time. So posting has become something of a rarity without a computer with which to do it. Scanning, and posting pictures has become even rarer. I’ve eliminated almost everything in my life that wastes time…So I can draw.

To fill the distance between posting, I thought I might (slowly) resume posting Don Graham’s Composing Pictures chapters. I’ve had requests for this as well as a reposting of the Pixar Interview which jump started this blog’s humble popularity spike. I have also decided to post the entire full resolution version of Michael Caine’s, Acting in Film. I have had a lot of requests for this, and I figured it’s finally time. I know a lot of Animation Mentor students use the crappy YouTube version I posted years back. So it would be nice for them to watch something where the voicetrack is actually in sync.

Anyway, that’s just a sampling of things to come, or come again. Give me time, but those will be some of the next posts. Until then…