Meet the Artist: Carlos Baena

#259

Hola Mauricio,

I really really hope these productions go somewhere. I also hope they make these productions for the right reasons and not because of the box office success of US 3D Animated Films. “Pinocho 3000” was a film definitely geared for kids. I enjoyed it myself but being a huge fan of robots and anything mechanical, I personally thought they could of done a lot a lot more with the characters and the story. Again, easier said than done on my end, since I don’t know what kind of budgets, teams and environment the movie was made with. So overall, it was quite an effort from a non-US film, and I can only hope things continue that way.

“Nocturna” is something I’m very excited about, since I first saw their early work. I relate enormously to that kind of aesthetics and art. I know it has great people and studios working on it, such as Sergio Pablo’s “Animagic” and the Studio “Monigotes”. I think Spain needs a film that puts us out there, and people become aware of the talent going on in our country.

Carlos.

Ps: sobre el vino, pues oye, que me apunto. :slight_smile:

#260

Hi Stanislav,

I started skateboarding in 1987. A certain movie called “Back to the Future” might of have had something to do with it. :slight_smile: Part of the reason why I moved to California/San Francisco in the early-mid ninenties also had to do with skateboarding. I still skateboard, whenever time allows me to, which is honestly not much these days. But I’ve always loved it.

Last time I was in NewYork, I would go some mornings and skateboard around Manhattan listening to Frank Sinatra or even BeastieBoys. Sounds cheesy…but for me it was some of the best times I’ve had. That stuff is priceless.

Carlos.

#261

I hear alot that studios want people who just model, or just texture, or just animate. Well, of all those I seem to enjoy animating the most. But what if you want to make an indepent film, then you lack the other skills to do so. I was just wondering how that works.

I’m kind of a noob to the whole industry, so this really complicates me.

#262

Thanks for the reply Carlitos! I do hope these films boom. You guys do have some seriously good talent over there “en la madre patria”.

Cuando quiera señor! Just let me know :slight_smile:

#263

Hola Isidro campeon.

Leaving your family, culture and country is not only hard…but very emotionally changelling.

I didn’t know anybody in the US…and my english was so limited, it made it really hard for me for a while. I couldn’t rely on my family because they just weren’t there. But this at the same time, made me learn about a lot of different things, and it forced me to grow. But even in very low moments where I didn’t have my family with me, I always known I can count on them regardless of the distance.

These days, with technology, we have it really good. I use the internet to talk and listen to my parents a few times a week…sometimes for hours. There are things that act as phones over the internet that are for free…and are just priceless. Same thing with webcams. I usually see my parents on the webcam on the weekends in the mornings, for a bit, and it helps to make me not feel as if they are that far.

No matter what, it’s always hard to leave your family behind. But now, with technology ,it’s not as painful as it used to be. So I would defintely take advantage of that Isidro.
Best of luck tio.

Carlos.

#264

Thanks Tracy. You are awesome.
Isn’t it crazy it’s been about a year already since Starbucks?
Wow. Time really flies.

Carlos.

#265

It’s always better to get as close to what your shot is asking as you can. But in some cases you can’t really get that close…so anything else along the lines of what it is that you are trying to animate will help you. For the shot of Mr.Incredible carrying the Tiky Stone, I obviously couldn’t carry something like that for reference…but I still wanted to find something really really heavy, and more important…something long, so that my arms would be wide enough to be able to study. So the weight part of what I was carrying helped me pay attention to whta my legs where doing…both timing and spacing wise. Then the lenght of the object and my arms postion allowed me to study the posing of the reference to then later apply what I studied to my actual shot.

Carlos.

#266

The more skills the better:

Acting, posing, drawing, improvisation, theater, film, composition, photography, sports, design, inspiration, willingness to keep learning, listening skills for feedback, collaboration, sense of comedy and drama, imagination, craft skills (both handrawing and technical), observation skills, and the list can go on and on.

Carlos.

#267

Hi Mechis,

You know I actually have no idea where you can find the whole shortfilm.
I’m sure Wildbrain will put it up for viewing at some point in their site.

I wish I could be of more help man…but I really have no clue.

Carlos.

#268

Hi Mike,

-Mocap I don’t think has ever been an option at Pixar. For me personally, it’s one simple reason. It takes the power of animation and our medium away. When you animate a shot yourself whether on 2D or 3D…you can push the animation, you can stylize it, make a caricature out of a movement, you can pretty much do the impossible. With mo-cap, your starting base is realism. You can’t really think of things such as posing to the camera, body staging, silhouette, appeal. That’s my take on it. This has been a thread over the years in multiple mailing lists I’ve been on…and people always have their own version of what would work or not. I’ve never been a fan of mo-cap. I respect it, as I can see its beneficial uses in certain cases. But for my personal work I wouldn’t use it, no matter how much time I could save in creating some sort of motion. I like to think 2D as much as possible when doing 3D.

-I do have old music on my site, which I haven’t updated in decades. But, I will. :slight_smile:
The music in there, is old…mostly testing stuff.

-Yes, I actually used the next version of Fruity Loops for about a year, it was called “FL Studio”. It worked…but after I switched to the Mac for doing music stuff with both Logic and Live, and using Midi controllers such as M-Audio’s TriggerFinger for patterns and drumming, or the simple M-Audio keyboards for composing…I honestly haven’t used the PC for creating music in way over a year now. Reason software, I’ve never used it. But just like everything else, I’ve heard things coming from Reason that have absolutely blown me away.

Carlos.

#269

Hey Carlos
I find your work amazing. I’m 16 and am very interested in modelling and animation. I’m a bit unsure what area is meant for me at this point, but in either case, I know that this is something I’d love to do. I’ve been attempting to teach myself the basics of modelling and I’d like to move into animation. Working at Pixar would be a dream job. I love the Incredibles, among other animated films, and I find it extremely inspiring, as do many people I’m sure.

This is a bit of a vague question, but if you can, could you explain what the very first steps of becoming an animator consist of? Such as what type of college one should consider, what courses one should take etc.

You mentioned before that meeting people that work at Pixar (for example) who can pass your work around is a very helpful leg-up. I was curious how one would go about meeting such people. A point in the right direction would be highly appreciated.

Thanks for your time,

-Jack

#270

-Well, it’s always nice to see variety. For me, that variety can be on the acting. If you can get acting nice and convincing enough, then I don’t care what premade rig or rig of your own you’ve used.

-Combination of things. It’s nice to see strong acting, the creativity and imagination of the animator, understanding of physics, etc. For animation, eye candy doesn’t matter one bit.
You can have playblasts…or nice renders, and animators will be paying attention at the animation itself. Now, if you want to make your reel a bit presentational, then I would maybe have some basic lighting (no fancy lighting).

C.

#271

Pasa Jose,

-Aqui uno es Canarion hasta los 4 anyos de edad, aunque crecer crecer sobre todo en Madrid. Mis primas siguen en Canarias.
-In the US, I live in the Bay Area. More precisely in Oakland. I like it here. I have plenty of space to work, it’s nice and sunny. It’s great. BUT…it’s really really different than the lifestyle in Madrid. It’s two very different cultures. That I did noticed as soon as I got here.

C.

#272

Hi Marcio,

-Each film presents its own challenges…and I can tell you, “Cars” was not easiest than others for me. The simplicity of the characters made it really tough to figure out the acting and choices in many cases.
-I mostly layered things. But still focused the acting from a pose to pose point of view, working through keys and breakdowns.
-Can’t really discuss much on the Film and its content at this point because of confidentiality agreements with Pixar, and out of respect to what the PR department asked me before I agreed to do this Q&A. Next year when the film comes out, I’m sure things will be different. I hope you understand Marcio.

Carlos.

#273

hey what do u think about vancouver film school? is that a good place to start with…

#274

Just wanted to say it’s been fun reading this thread even though I’m not really an animator. You guys at Pixar are really inspiring.

#275 
   Hola J.Marino,

Facial Animation Rigging is quite a complex area, which I’m not as familiar as I would love to be. I’ve never dealt with bones or muscles myself. At Pixar, it’s something that our riggers work with us in making our characters better, and they do a hell of a job and are more than patient, especially knowing how picky us animators are.

For my own work, I’ve always dealt with blendshapes. Now, it’s on the deformation and the weighting you do, when you make it seem like there are muscles underneath pulling, and creating these facial expressions. I’m not a fan of things being too automated myself. So I like to have as many controls as possible, so that I can overlap different parts of the face. So that maybe if an eyebrow raises, then I’d layer a little bit of nose/cheek move. Very subtle. And then, not only that but I would layer that in a couple frames later, as if one muscle goes first, then it pulls, creating move or moving other muscles that aren’t as active move afterwards. Also, you have to be aware of passive muscles moving in the face as consequence of active muscles working. They both work together. Also, some muscles around the face are bigger (therefore more visual) than other muscles, that maybe just affect a simple tiny area…like for example, the sneers on the nosetrils compared to the cheek muscles.

   There is a book that's just huge for that stuff:
   
   Gary Faigin's ["The Artists Complete Guide to Facial Expressions"](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823016285/104-7760982-1623936?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance)

So, while this doesn’t necessarily answer your question on the technical issues, because my knowledge on that stuff is rather limited, at least, that’s how I approach dealing with facial stuff a bit.

   Carlos.
#276

Hi Chris,

Brad Bird is a very inspiring person to work for. His personality is contagious. He LOVES what he does, and he does a terrific job at making you feel the same way. John Lasseter does that as well. They both believe in their movies so much, regardless of whoever else thinks of them, and in my opinion, that gets reflected in the films themselves.

Brad is also very critical. He’ll look at a shot, and analyze it from an animation, posing, staging, composition, continuity and cinematic point of view. So, now, you are not only learning about animation, but you learn about Film as well. For film geeks like myself that love to learn about that stuff, I can hear him talk about films for a month straight and not get tired. In addition to being one of the best directors I’ve ever met, he loves and respects animation, and for an animator, that’s awesome. I would work with both John Lasseter and Brad Bird in a heartbeat.

Carlos.

#277

Hi Hector,

The answer is yes. If you feel like that’s what you want to learn, our very first class (Basic foundations) does NOT require previous experience or animation background. I grew up having many limitations in the sense that, not always you are able to study, do or work where you want. So in terms of studying, we wanted everyone to have the exact same opportunity.

Now, after the Basic Foundations class (Class 1), we are critical as to who makes it to the later classes (Class 2, 3, 4, etc). This is because there has been cases (both at AM and in many Schools out there) where students are not as involved, they don’t do assignments, and they are just trying things out, to see if it’s what they want. We give students that chance in Class1…but in later classes, if the pattern repeats, it means, that they are wasting the professional mentors, the other students time (who give feedback as well) and the Schools’ time. In other cases, the mentor will tell the School whether a student has to repeat a certain term, for his/her benefit, and because maybe that person is not ready to move on just yet. Therefore, for us is where the student is at Animation wise and motivation wise.

Carlos.

#278

Thank you very much, Carlos, aprecio mucho tu respuesta y el tiempo que te has tomado.

Suerte y éxito, ojalá algún día vengas a Gran Canaria a dar algun curso o similar, estaré en primera fila.

Un abrazo,
Jesús.