David Weinstein Anim Reel (ILM, Sony, Esc, Personal)

[Banshax]

Thanks for sharing, more stuff to framebyframe through!
I think you where featured in a few of the AM lectures, that correct?

edit:
I found the playblast to be the most interesting. sure the movie stuff all neatly rendered looks awesome, its just that playblast are excellent to disect and see just the motion, nothing else.

The hellboy shot was really fun.
The spacing on the headturn after the first land is something I didnt expect. Works really well. It makes him really "look" with an accent at whats coming.
The jump from behind the wall is cool as well, I really like that you anticipate for something that looks like a high jump, but he`ll stays low instead, nice setup. Give the audience what it wants but not what they expect. How long would a shot like that take you to plan and animate?

[DavidWeinstein]

Banshax,

Yes, you are correct. I did do some lectures for Animation Mentor. Carlos, Shawn and Bobby are all good buddies of mine. I hope you found the videos helpful and inspiring. -D

[DavidWeinstein]

I always like to see playblast in animation reels. The fully rendered stuff is always pretty. but soemtimes I actually prefer playblast to final renders. The same way I feel about watching 2D pencil test... when they get cleaned up and colored they lose some of that raw power.

The hellboy test was done in about 3 days. I blocked it out in one day. I like to block my shots as fast as possible. This allows you to judge what the performance will look like before you start investing too much time. Then from there fillling in the details took another couple of days. There's a lot of mistakes in that test... I could write a list of things wrong with it. But I think it's a fun test to watch - esp since it is Hellboy.

Thanks for the kind words man! Finding ways to surprise the audience is what movies and games are all about. Atleast to me! -D

[Winner]

Interesting reel david. I like it.

I'd be very keen to see some of your old game stuff... just to get a bit of context. I'm always interested to see reels where people managed to 'bridge the gap' between games and movies... would you ever put some stuff up on the blog?

[DavidWeinstein]

Cameron,

That is funny that you ask about my gaming work. I was just thinking about finding a way to get some of that older work online. My gaming stuff is on VHS tapes - I have to find a way to get them into digital format. I would love to put some of that work up.

To me games have always been a huge influence on my ideas. One thing I will mention is that when I broke into film, I had very little game material on my tape. A Game Reel and a Film Reel are two different planets. You have to know what your aiming for. I animated a lot of personal material at home in my spare time to break into film. Gaming work does now allow the time and care needed to create feature film quality reel material. Unless your fortunate enough to work on a cinematic team that has the time and budget to allow kick ass animation. Walk cycles and marines getting shot and dying won't land you a job at Weta or ILM. But Valve or Epic might come calling :)

BTW: That walk cycle on your blog of the dog is awesome! Very cool.

[xfgsergweg]

David, thanks for posting your stuff, It is always nice to see a professional reel on here. It gives us little folk some inspiration.

[lime324]

I'm rendered speachless... It's amazing to see professional stuff in this forum! :bowdown:

[Banshax]

Thanks for the extended reply! And yeah, the AM video`s are a huge when it comes to inspiration and thinking properly about animation. Seeing so many animators talk about their passion is incredibly valuable.

[ivanisavich]

Bloody awesome reel mate...every shot you got to work on makes me totally jealous!

[MonteCristo]

Top Notch!

i really would like to know how do you approach an animation and what is your workflow!!!

Thanks to share! Keep up the AMAZING work!

-Monte

[RobertoOrtiz]

get a mirror asap
PLUGGED

[zhenyang]

Oh my! Awesome awesome reel! :thumbsup:

[bechira]

breathtaking reel!5*

[SulaMoon]

wow, awesome! Great job.
Mind if I ask whats was that music you used? I know if from somewhere, but I cant remember exavtly.

[DavidWeinstein]

David, thanks for posting your stuff, It is always nice to see a professional reel on here. It gives us little folk some inspiration.

Thanks for the kind words Roger. You have a pretty cool reel yourself buddy. Keep that up - and keep practicing. Your friend Adam C. has good things to say about you. -D

[aaronholly]

Despite knowing Dave from school and working with him at a few studios since (chatting with the bum now!), I can still watch his reel over and over again!

imho: one of the best in the industry.

[DavidWeinstein]

Top Notch!
i really would like to know how do you approach an animation and what is your workflow!!! Thanks to share! Keep up the AMAZING work!
-Monte

Thanks to everyone for the friendly comments. I am glad that you all enjoy my reel. I will be on a mission to get some of my newer works online for everyone to check out soon!

Monte, You asked how I approach my animations. Every shot or test is a different experience. Some of them I plan out and shoot video footage for. Others, I can almost see it in my head before I start... and I just try to capture my vision on screen.

1) What I first try to do first is think about the Mood I want to capture with each peice. 9 times out 10 I start by saying to myself "Ok, what's cool... what would I want to see happen here as a viewer. What's going to make others remember this shot/ animation."

2) Once I have the idea and I'm feeling good about it, I begin blocking the actions. I block as Fast as Possible. I do this so I can see the shot/ animation in full and judge if it is worth polishing off. My blockings sometimes look pretty messy. As long as you AND someone else can make out what the "IDEAS" are. Smooth movements and overlap are secondary at this stage. This is about getting the Ideas out on the screen.

3) Once the blocking is done and it's looking decent. I begin cleaning it the blocking. If my blocking is TO MESSY with a lot of keys all over the place - I open a fresh Rig and reblock the action using the old blocking as a template. Keeping your animation CLEAN is super important. This is where I spend a lot of time on the Poses and the Inbetweens.

4) Once im blocked in and looking sharp. I begin filling in all the Main Details. Making sure everything has Weight - Flows - Drags - and Feels Nice.

5) And finally, the last part is where you add all the little tiny "Life Giver" details. Muscle jiggles... Fat Jiggles... Making the feet look they are hitting the floor. Polishing the hands and fingers. You can really get carried away in this section. A lot of these details won't be seen by most people... but they all add up to overall look.

So that's pretty much my work flow right there in a nutshell. I hope you found that helpfull. If you or anyone else has specific questions fire away. Cheers~ -D

[AVTPro]

All theses were some of my favorite scenes from a favorite movie.

Nice to see the man behind the machine.

Thanks. Keep making the movies hot.

[ragdoll]

wow! the matrix and starwars shots were the ones that really stood out for me...and great work process tips on that animation question! hope you update your blog with more info like that, i'd love to read anything you could share! :thumbsup:


-rj

[MonteCristo]

Thanks DAVID!

really appreciated you explanation. i should change my workflow in something more like you have. That make totally sense.
My blocking is pretty much on 2s with overlap , drag and everything in... in stepped. Once i have this blocking i start splining and adjust the timing better and other things. At the very end i add all the little details that you talking about. What i want to get rid of is the blocking on 2s cause for some animation it's ok, but for others with fast motion and a lot of drag and overlap ... it's quite complicated and slow!

Would be also very cool to see one shot in every stage from blocking to final! i guess everybody would love to see it too :D!

Thanks for your HELPFULL reply!

;)

-Monte

[ivanisavich]

Just thought I'd pop back in this thread to see David's responses to some of the questions...and noticed the rating had gone down to 4.5ish stars...despite the fact that this is probably one of the best animation reels ever posted on this site. Looks like you've got a lot of jealous admirers David!

[MatteoM]

Great...

I see your show-reel in streaming and now I download for see more time...


Excelet...

Mat

[gio]

i second aaron's statement. definitely one of the best in the industry.

its great to see your works gracing these forums to inspire people! i'm a big fan of your work even back when you were at ilm. the best thing a modeler can hope for his/her models is for an AMAZING animator to go with it and give it life. this reel is a testament to that. hope we get to work on some badass creature/sci-fi hardcore robot project in the future.

[rferl]

Hi David and thanks for this reel. What is your secret weapon?
Thanks in advance.

[DavidWeinstein]

Just thought I'd pop back in this thread to see David's responses to some of the questions...and noticed the rating had gone down to 4.5ish stars...despite the fact that this is probably one of the best animation reels ever posted on this site. Looks like you've got a lot of jealous admirers David!
Ha - Funny comment Tyson. I didn't even notice the star rating there. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Looks like i'm back at 5 Stars tho, Mwhahahaha :)

Aaron Holly! Giovanni Nakpil! Wow, talk about Rockstars showing up on the forums. These two guys are pretty much Shaolin Monks at their respective crafts. In fact I beleive some of their works are even featured on my demo reel. That's awesome... I really appreciate the words fellas :) Check out their sites everyone:

Aaron Holly - Character TD @ Disney http://www.fahrenheitdigital.com/

Giovanni Nakpil - Modeler @ ILM: http://www.gionakpil.com/ (http://www.gionakpil.com/)

[JBoskma]

Well deserved front page plug David! :D Congrats man

[Heber]

hi david ,
very impressive work there as i told you before it was nice to actually see some of the stuff i had read about on your imdb.
Anyhow really love all the shots!
btw i replied to your last email not sure if you got it.

-H

[DavidWeinstein]

A few people have asked various questions about some of the works on my tape. I thought I would share the answers here for everyone.

1) The Soundtack I used: I am blank right now... I beleive the track might be from a "Front Line Assembly" album. I am not 100% I will do some investigation and post the Album and Track name for everyone soon.

2) In the playblasted Matrix shot, did I use particles? Yes, I did. The swarm of Sentinel Heads in the background is a particle emiter flowing on a path. The Sentinels that hit the Mech at the end are keyframed. The sparks on the floor and the small shells emiting from the guns are simulations. When the mech takes the big "shotgun blast" that big shell that pops out is keyframed. The pole that the Mech hits and knocks over is also keyframed. :)

3) Do I use muscles simulations? At ILM and the big shops, simulations are run on most of the works. I always keyframe muscle, fat and skin movement in my final stages of animations. Rattles, Jiggles and Flexing are some of my favorite things to animate. They are done with blend shapes and sometime deformers that can be keyframed. The simulation Crew will run various test on the shots to give them an even greater level of realism. I personally believe Muscles, Fat, Etc should be animated by hand. The animator knows best when things will get seen, when they are needed and how much it needs to move. Cloth, Dangling Bits and Chains are perfect for simulations.

4) Is the tail on the StarWars creature (Nexu) simulations? Negative - the tail is 100% keyframe animation. The setup was all FK - there were a lot of bones in that tail!


If there are other questions feel free to fire away, I am happy to answer :) -D

[Loukor]

The music he used was,

Junkie XL - Beauty never fades (I think that was the song name...)

It was used in one of the eve-online trailers.

[DavidWeinstein]

The music he used was,

Junkie XL - Beauty never fades (I think that was the song name...)

It was used in one of the eve-online trailers.

Close, but that is not the song I used. I will find the actual song soon enough. I just have to dig through my CDs. -D

[Ramtin]

one of the bests ever. I love it!:D

[MatteoM]

Thankx again for your time and for your answer...

Good day

Mat

[cristis]

I read what the rest of the guys post it about your reel,and because i don't like the repeating post,now...i'm speechless.What can i say more?You are good?...your work it's fuc*ing great?...You know this. So...just one word: respect

[hakanpersson]

Hey, I remember those movies!...:)
Great stuff, and it was nice to see some playblasted clips showing just your work too.

[CoolCalb]

Great reel man! 5*s :thumbsup:

[Justame2002]

Professionally presented and solid reel, nothing much to crit, i do agree on the playblasts though, it's always interesting to see raw 2d/3d animated work before it's rendered and cleaned up. Anywayz, take care.

[z3phon]

Top quality work! awesome reel and very inspiring.
I loved the music you used whenever you find out the track name please let us know. ^_^

[Loukor]

Close, but that is not the song I used. I will find the actual song soon enough. I just have to dig through my CDs. -D

Really? hmm wierd.. I have it in my playlist and it sounds exactly the same haha,

Some extra info: Junkie XL ft. Saffron and It says it's from the Animatrix soundtrack..

Anyways.. I didn't get to congrat you on your work, Congrats! Amazing stuff.

[KielFiggins]

Fantastic work man, simply love the APU's from the matrix (esp the playblast).

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to your blog updates as well.

[DavidWeinstein]

Really? hmm wierd.. I have it in my playlist and it sounds exactly the same haha,

Some extra info: Junkie XL ft. Saffron and It says it's from the Animatrix soundtrack..

Anyways.. I didn't get to congrat you on your work, Congrats! Amazing stuff.

Doh! Louis, does know his music :) Yes, the track IS IN FACT from the Animmatrix Sound Track. "Beauty Never Fades [Animatrix Edit]" by Junkie XL, Saffron. Thank again Luois!

[darthmaya]

Superb reel and very informative replys, Thanks!

[TheCheshireCat]

Great stuff, keep up the great work and good luck in the future.

[Loukor]

Doh! Louis, does know his music :) Yes, the track IS IN FACT from the Animmatrix Sound Track. "Beauty Never Fades [Animatrix Edit]" by Junkie XL, Saffron. Thank again Luois!

Muahaha no prob, thought I was going crazy for a second their but it's all good.

[Hideyoshi]

sheez, David!! What a surprise to see your demoreel up here, haha! :)
Awesome stuff of course, loved everything! Wow, you sure worked on some of the most catchiest animation sequences to ever grace the silver screen - great to see them all gathered in one reel, impressive! And that music was a perfect choice!

[dutchtilt]

hey david, fantastic reel---clearly ;) Curious, what is black sun, and what are you up to currently?
cheers mate--

[Joe_chye]

Impressive!!

[Kam-Art]

Somthing that seems to be said a lot on this thread. "WOW" Very very inspirational and outstanding, how!? do you create such things haha :D Keep up the great work. Animation like this always blows me away because there are so many details.

Keep up the good work, and good luck in the future :)

p.s. What is "play blasted" ?

^.^

[mistasam02]

Wow amazing reel! I love seeing playblasts from movies, because it really makes the work more personal. You get to see exactly what the animator did in full detail before it's all textured/rendered up with motion blur. So awesome!! I have a friend that worked on Matrix 3 who said those squidy sentinals were "designed to kill an animator" haha. Great work man, you're legendary :D

[mayazeus]

sweet mother.....obviously gorgeous. Yes, thanks so much for sharing. I enjoyed ticking through your hellboy anim. timing is awesome. And showing some screen previews along with renders is always immensely helpful. Thanks so much for the inspiration..now i'm gonna go animate my ass off!

[DavidWeinstein]

Wow, Thanks for all the positive feedback guys. I really appreciate it. One thing any animator can hope for is that other people enjoy his/her work and become inspired by it.

I'm glad that everyone enjoyed the playblasted sections of my reel. I have always been a firm beleiver in showing playblast. When i first started out I used to put wireframe renders of some of my animation test on my reel - and recruiters and alike used to respond very positive to that. Hiding your motion with cool lighting and motion blur won't fool anyone. Keep that in mind.
Kam-Art asked what a "playblast is". This a very lowres and crude render of the animation without any motion blur or fancy lighting. It is usually used to preview animation in progross in Maya.

Oh man... who mentioned those Sentinels in the Matrix?! mistasam02! I will not hesitate to say that the Sentinel was the hardest character I ever animated! I can't stress that enough. 12 tenticles and 30+ controllers on EACH tenticle! Any feedback or changes ment restarting from scratch 50% of the time :( I remember at the end of Matrix I said "I never wanted to see another Sentinel ever again!". I never felt like I really became comfortable and nailed the Sentinels motion... it was a very tricky character to animate. If I ever had the chance I'd like to try again... nah, maybe not. :)

[Grayscale]

Phenomenal reel David. Great work. You are a very talented animator. keep up the amazing work.

[Winner]

- thanks for the reply David.

yeah, get those VHS digitized and up on the blog. Shouldn't be too hard to get it sorted out someplace.

I totally understand what youre saying about game reels, believe me.. its the thorn in my side right now. It seems to be a universal experience, if you wanna branch out of games into film you need to put in a whole bunch of hours off your own spare time... tough when you have a wife and son!.. but I`m getting there.. slowly.

- l liked the Stitch acting piece.. why so late in the reel? or is it one of those things you've seen just way too many times ;)

[pum]

Amazing reel, David! Your work has been very inspiring to me :thumbsup:

[Kam-Art]

Thankyou very much for answering my question :D

[PauloRenato]

hey david, fantastic reel, congratulations!

[elektronaut]

awesome work man! i like the playblasts more.

cheers from the game industry :D
marco.

[JackGeckler]

Good Stuff!!





_____________________________________________________________________________
Jack Geckler
Animator/Previz/Massive
Digital Domain
www.jackgeckler.com (http://www.jackgeckler.com)
&
www.imdb.com/name/nm1879390/ (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1879390/)

[NilsLS]

Awesome stuff man, i feel like i'v seen like 80% of it already haha! I remember you giving me some great feedback a while back when i was in school and posting some assignments in the WIP forums, it was much appreciated :D

[DavidWeinstein]

Wow, the response from everyone really has been amazing. I'm thrilled so many people have enjoyed my works. I want to let everyone know again to keep in touch with me though my blog. I just updated with some rough animation test and there's more on the way!

Joshua,
Black Sun Entertainment is a Production Studio that operates out of Los Angeles and San Diego California. I am the Creative Director and CEO of the studio. We produce Film, TV and Video Game content. At the moment we are in production on a short animated SciFi action/adventure film. Currently our roster consist of 12 very talented individuals from all over the industry.

Black Sun also has a educational division called "Digital Apprentice Workshop". Digital Apprentice Workshop is an Online VFX and Gaming Arts Training Center. We will be working on a personal level
with only limited numbers of dedicated and talented individuals. Digital Apprentice Workshop is primarily focused on creatures, robots and monster related character types. We are now accepting applications for Animation Training. Check out: www.digitalapprenticeworkshop.blogspot.com (http://www.digitalapprenticeworkshop.blogspot.com) to learn more about the program. Our full interactive website will go live early March, stay tuned!

[dutchtilt]

well done david---sounds wicked---especially short films, very maleable in regards to creativity.
the Workshop sounds pretty sweet as well; I know several of us here are always looking for new/different things to expand our creative base---very cool idea!

Congrats on the front page and good luck with everything~
j

[dfxoutlaw]

Wow I have to say this is an impressive reel to say the least......As a student im an awe'd so much about how many great artists there are out there.....Animation is definetly a fav...I love the matrix pieces as well as the star wars!!

[DavidWeinstein]

dfxoutlaw,

Hey thanks man - I thought this thread has just about been buried and laid to rest! Glad you enjoyed the Matrix and Star Wars moments. They were fun films to work on - here's some stills from the reel. Thought I'd throw them on here for everyone.

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/452/matrixreloadapubarrelsshr6.jpg
Copyright Warner Bros Pictures
http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/6820/starwarsep2nexurevealsmtb0.jpg
Copyright Lucas Film
http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/928/vanhelsingthroatgrabsmasd5.jpg
Copyright Universal Pictures
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/8105/matrixrevosaddleupsmallhf6.jpg
Warner Bros Pictures



Be sure to take a peak at www.digitalapprentice.net (http://www.digitalapprentice.net) also! I'm working on a series of animation tutorials you might find interesting. Let me know if you have any questions or comments, cheers! -D

[LukeRandall]

Great reel David! Recognized you from the AM lectures. Top notch stuff man, keep on posting on the blog!



Cheers

[DavidWeinstein]

Luke - Thanks man! Glad you enjoyed the reel :) I had a look at your AM works - nice stuff! I see your working at Reel FX now... awesome! Congrats. How's the production life feeling for you so far? -D

[Scob]

Oo' !!!
Man...
So impressive stuff !
I have my jaw on the floor !
Congrats!
Cheers

Jerome

[DavidWeinstein]

Jerome,

Thank you for the comments! I am very pleased that you enjoyed my works. Here is another small animation that I did sometime ago (Click the Image) - I wish I had the actual file to make changes. Kinda fun to look at though ... this was done for the PS3 video game LAIR. Cheers! -D



http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9757/dragonscreenlairfv4.jpg (http://www.vimeo.com/1318510)

[NilsLS]

Ahh it's so awesome seeing your animation tests David, don't usually get the chance to see such quality stuff as a test. Thanks alot, really appreciate and enjoy everything you share!

[jschieck]

Hey David! Awesome stuff! That animation you helped me with awhile back turned out pretty good as well. Just entered my finals department so I'm planning on killing myself over the next 3 months working on my reel.

Always great to see your stuff! :D

[KSteineman]

Looks like you have quite a successful career on your hands, congratulations :) Nice work.

[DavidWeinstein]

NilsLS, drifter4o4, KSteineman,

Thanks guys :) I appreciate the kind words. I hope to have some new works soon to show you all! Should be fun.

Drifter - I am glad the feedback worked out for you! I had a look at the test and you have made awesome improvements. Nice stuff man. I can't wait to see what you come up with next.

I wanted to ask if anyone has ideas for tutorials - I am actively gathering details for future animation tutorials. If you have ideas - please share them with me! Either here or feel free to message me privately. Cheers! -D

[Bigalpimp]

wow awesome work man. i seen your site and plan on buying your tuts when im not poor lol

[Konarovic]

awesome talented dude

[CreatureMover]

Hey, what a great animation reel! Nice work man!

[Ajouz]

awesome stuff, Bring It !! thanks for sharing

[xerious3d]

David. Great, great stuff. Amazing accomplishments. Congrats! and give Hwang a big Wazaaaaaaaa for me. :scream:

[ademation]

hey david, saw you in the am lectures. i love your work! very impressive! thx for share

[myyahia]

really its an awesome work!, brilliant :scream:.

[DavidWeinstein]

Bigalpimp
Konarovic
Ajouz
xerious3d
ademation
myyahia

Thank you - thank you! All this positive feedback makes me want to go out there and kick some more butt :) Glad some of you saw me in the Animation Mentor lectures!

For those of you who are interested 3dtotal.com is hosting a interview with me -- you can check it out here:

http://www.3dtotal.com/team/interviews/david_weinstein/weinstein01.asp (http://www.3dtotal.com/team/interviews/david_weinstein/weinstein01.asp%20)

I also just released a preview of my new tutorial video! Humanoid Animation 1. Check it out below. I look forward to hearing what everyone thinks - I would love to know what kind of content you all would like to see from us. Share your feedback and works with us on the Digital Apprentice forum boards as well as here on Cgtalk :)

Humanoid Animation 1 with David Weisntein Preview Video! (http://digitalapprentice.net/Community/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=73)

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