Fincher Fanatics

While I personally do not like the movies of David Fincher (way too brutal for my taste) one of my best friends created a great block for everyone who does. So, in case you like Fight Club, Seven or even the new Zodiac, here is where you can talk about it:

http://fincherfanatic.blogspot.com/

Alex

AM04 progress reel

Oh boy, oh boy! Another AM term is over and I am about to start with AM 05! Story class approaching fast. Just to let you know what I was recently working on. And as always: I had too little time =) Well, honestly, this is still not finished and I can't wait to polish my animations later so they become much better. But for now this has to do... so, here you go.

All the best, keep animating,

Alex

AM is still the best...

In case you were wondering why I didn't post anything... I was spending every second I have into AM since Brett Coderre (PIXAR) is my mentor right now and he helps us all to make big steps forward into becoming better animators... So, sorry to not keep you guys updated, but yes this blog is somewhat still alive =)

Alex

Animation Mentor Class 3 progress reel

Yeah, I know, I didn't blog at all. But, at least, I give you the latest AM progress reel.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!

Alex

p.s. CHECK THIS XMAS CARD we did for animoto!

The Ugly Duckling And Me Trailer

Hi everyone,

finally Ugly Duckling has been released to some territories around the world (Germany in December). So, feel free to have a look at the trailer:

http://www.uglyandme.com/

This European feature was the first feature film I have been working on (animating around 1 minute of animation with three characters). I had such a blast during that time and can't wait to go on with feature animation again.

Have fun,

Alex

I'll be back... err, I am, already =)

Hi everyone,

can you believe it? Six months have passed since I left AM to take a little rest. And guess what? That was a very good decision. During that time I could deepen the learned principles and also get a life next to animation. That was very important and now I'm feeling like going on with AM again.

After having met all those fantastic AM people at Siggraph I knew I had to continue. Funny enough, some of my former classmates take a break this term so I won't see them again. Since I'm working full time I guess I will have to take another break sooner or later but currently the plan is still to continue with the study at AM until I get my degree =)

So, currently the site is still under maintenance and I will have to wait some more hours before I can get online. Until then, have a great day, everybody and whohooo!

- Alex

New website is online, too!

Yes, I did it - my new website is finally online and running. Well, I reduced the 4-pages website to a 2-pages website, so you get half the amount of website for the same price!!! Incredible. Well, I tried to make it "easier" and straight to the point.

Tell me what you think and have fun with it!

- Alex

New demoreel/showreel - Siggraph is coming!

Hi everyone,

I finally re-edited my showreel for Siggraph. Unfortunately, since Ugly Duckling & Me is not out in cinemas yet I am not allowed to show animations I did for that feature movie. So I have to stick to other stuff and be patient. Anyway, you can find my demoreel here: http://www.alexmlehmann.com/work.html - there you can choose between two sizes and QT and WMV. So, it would be great if you take a look at it and send me some comments - love to hear what you think.


The weeks before Siggraph are always soo stressfull... phew. But I can't wait anymore!

Have a great weekend,

Alex

World Cup in Germany...

Hi everyone,

in case you didn't know... Germany just won the "small final" yesterday night versus Portugal and got third. After the match thousands and tenthousands of people went to famous places all over Germany as I did when I got to Leopoldstraße here in Munich. To give you a little impression of how cheerful people were I put some pictures on my blog. Normally this is one of the 'heavy traffic' streets in Munich - but not yesterday night =)

As for know many Germans cheer for France to win against Italy (though Italy is better, I assume) to avenge our loss in the semi-finals. So, allez les bleus and viva Italia!

- Alex

Alive again...

Hi everybody!

I cannot believe that 3 months have passed already... and that I didn't write anything on this blog during this time. Taking some time off was heavily needed and I now know that this was the right decision. With Siggraph coming up this month and several projects coming up I used my time wisely to gain some strength for the upcoming months.

Well, what should I start with? How about some information about "The ugly duckling and me"? First of all, as many of you may know, there is a teaser-trailer on aFilms-homepage (CLICK HERE). Secondly, there is a German article about the project featuring Rick Cavanian as the main character (a quite famous German comedian which I really like). You can find the article here.

Other than that... I'm still struggeling whether I can afford to go on with AM. Yes, it is a harsh reality that this costs money =) and I still have to pay tax this year - we will see after I did my tax stuff this year and then I will decide.

A lot has happenend in the last 3 months. I visited Annecy for instance which was a terrific experience... I think, everyone who likes animation should come there at least once in his lifetime.

Anyway, just wanted to say: I'm back and alive again!!! And things haven't changed: animation is the best thing one can do for earning a living!

TTYL and God bless to all of you,

Alex

AM 02 - Week 12 ... a whole lot of sleep to come ...

Hi everyone,

this is it, AM Class 02 is over and I'll be having a break for the next term. There are some people who decided to do so but (almost) all of them are going to come back sooner or later. Some of them have to spare some money and some of them just have to take a rest. I'll count into the later, I suppose.

Anyway, as you all know I didn't have much time to work on the AM stuff this term. Because of that I'm not very proud of what I did (although I'm happy I did make it to the end =). Have a look at the compilation by clicking on the picture above to see my final class 02 reel.

And have fun at what you are doing right now! Whatever it is, it will contribute to your experience which will lead into becoming a better animator!

Hugz,

- Alex

AM2 - Week 11 - the final stretch

Hi all,

here is the latest version of my assignment. I tried to integrate some more polish stuff and get nicer arcs in the arms. But I guess I have to invest more time. Anyway, check it out, it is not that long =)

CLICK ME

- Alex

The ugly duckling & me

All pictures are copyright a.film (c) 2006

Hi all,

finally, the first teaser and pictures of "The ugly duckling & me" are out to be shown to the public. Check out the a.film-website. You can watch a small Quicktime trailer here as well. AM colleagues told me that they found this link on 10secondsclub.

animoto joined the board of animators relatively late in the production which is why we were working for 'only' three months of it. That means that each of us animators had to animate around 1 minute of the whole movie (containing 1-3 characters per scene). Today I'm finishing my last scene for the movie and will continue with a different project after my holidays next week No feature work, currently, but it will be fun to do something completely new for a while, too.

I hope you like the pictures, I will keep you updated,

- Alex

Continuing on a mid-regular basis with the blog

Like a Yugoslavian proverb says: A good rest is half the work

Hi everyone,

I'm always astonished to see and hear who and what kind of people all over the world read this blog. I love that. It makes me continue these posts. If you would like to share your thoughts and ideas and maybe even wishes with me, shoot me an email to mail@alexmlehmann.com. I'd love to hear from you if this was/is helpful for you or you would like to know more about something in specific.

So, to clear things up. Since I am still working full-time on a regular basis and I will continue learning some stuff during the break. That also means: I will try to continue blogging here, too. There is so much knowledge out there in the world wide web that it would take years reading all that and listening to all the animation podcasts etc. But from time to time I will blog down what I am doing and maybe those links are interesting for you as well.

Having said that: shoot me an email with what you'd like to hear more about. And don't forget: there is nothing like the "real" thing (www.animationmentor.com). So, go there and sign up! It is worth every penny.

- Alex

AM week 10 - and finally taking a break

Hi all,

as you may have notived I haven't been blogging for almost two weeks now. You can find my newest assignment by clicking on the picture above. It is just 600kb big. For all of you with little time: sad to say, but I have to take a break before going on with my studies at animation mentor. This school is awesome, the best that happened to me so far, and I hope I can continue my study anytime soon.

Lately I've been working a lot. Like many of you do. I was given the chance to work on a small European feature film called "the ugly duckling and me" which will be coming out late August in Germany. It was a terrific experience and an honour to participate. Though we have been working on this for only three month I had a 60h+ workweek. Doing AM in the evening times and on the weekends my world consisted of nothing else but animation from the moment I got up from bed until I went to sleep again. So work and study ended up with more than 80-100h a week.

I have been working like this for the last 12 months, maybe even longer switching into a job while finishing my first study last year already. In those 12 months I had no time to hang out with my friends, make sports or even go to church. Now, after a strong reaction in my health I realised that this is not what it should be like.

I wish I had the money to study AM full-time straight ahead to the end. But I have to earn money to pay my bills and (luckily) I am also doing animation 10 hours a day. So, I am going to take a break trying to get some time to breathe again. This was a tough decision since I already signed up for the next term. It's also hard to see everyone go on and making progress while I will wait a while but I know that this is the right decision.

So? I just wanted to express my deepest thanks to all of you. You are all becoming great animators and I hope to work with many of you anytime soon. For now, I will take a break, let's see how long it will last. But you guys: keep on swimming! It is worth it. The first "real" acting shot I did I felt incredible happy.

If your body tells you you can't go on, take it seriously and don't be ashamed to take a rest. It is not the distance that kills you but the speed.

So, God bless you, your families and your study, hugz to all of you, there is nothing like AM out there! I may blog from time to time and tell you what I do. I will draw a lot and read books and articles on the web that I didn't have time for before for sure.

- Alex

... still working ...

AM2 - Week 08 Blocking

Hi all,

as promised I finished working on the blocking today, on Friday (video 1 MB approx). No work for me on the weekend - I promised the doc, so I get better (still fighting the flu). For now, check it out, and have fun with it.

- Alex

AM2 - Week 07 Assignment

Hi all,

being sick has one advantage: I have time to upload. The last days I was working a lot and when coming home falling back into bed because of a flu. Now I put myself on hold for three days, trying to get fine again in a rush with some pills and juices the doctor gave me. And now I have time to write some more stuff on the blog.

Well, the last weeks assignment was to finalize our shot. That was a tedious thing. Since I only find the time to animate on the weekend I loose the opportunity of "fresh eyes". That means that you should take at least 2-3 hours off doing something else (planning your new scene etc.) to get a fresh glimpse at your own work.

Then, and this is very important, watch it once - and once only - and write down everything that you know about the shot which does not work. Everything.
Don't watch it twice or more often - you will loose the advantage of having "fresh eyes". Well, the animation didn't turn out 100% imho. I like the second part of it but the beginning still sucks.

But I don't have time to redo it because I am already blocking on the next shot: a baseball player throwing a ball... (see picture). So, check my 1MB "final" version of the last assignment and I will try to upload my first blocking asap.

Have fun,

Alex

Learning Animation

Hi all,

I love animation, I love the internet and I love blogging. You get to know so many people- that is really awesome. Bala, a young animation aspirant from India, just wrote me asking me how I would learn animation. Well, my first answer would certainly be animation mentor, since this is the best program I know and have heard of so far. Many of my friends studied at various university all over the world and the more I know the more comfortable I feel investing my money into AM.

But that also means that I am in the lucky position of having a job that allows me to pay for this education. And there are many talented people out there that can't afford any animation university - maybe currently, maybe never. So, what to do, where to start?

Well, this is difficult to answer. Actually, it is funny that Bala has asked me that question since I found one of the most complete link lists to animation tutorials I have ever seen on his blog. And that is more than anyone can read to start into animation. But what exactly would I do to start into animation without spending very little or any money at all? Here is a quick sketch (but remember, there is no ONE way, there are many out there to become a freaking animation ninja):

1.) Get a copy of "Illusion of Life" of Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas.
2.) Read it. When you are done then read chapter 3 again.
3.) Draw every single day. Start with circles and lines. Every day. And do life drawings. If you have no money: draw people on the street or (a little easier at the beginning) draw people from photos... they are 2D already. Try to join a life drawing class at arts schools for free. Just ask the professor if you may sit in the backrow. He might help you.
4.) Read every tutorial over at Keith Langos website.
5.) If you want to join the 3D animation community, get Maya PLE or XSI Exp. I personally recommend XSI Exp since I think the program is better but really, that doesn't matter much. A good starting point for 3D animation is Jeff Lew. I really can recommend that DVD. It was a turning point for me for sure. Download a character someone else has build for you. And then animate with that one. Don't model, don't rig, don't render. Just animate.
6.) Start with "boring" bouncing balls. Don't skip the "boring" parts - not in animation and not in drawing. They are the fundamentals and they make the difference in the end.
7.) Read many blogs of animators and try to do what they did: a sidestep, lifting a box, a bouncing ball, a jumping squirrel, a guy falling.... whatever. Take reference and study the heck out of it.
8.) Be patient. Every kind of art takes time to master. Some are faster at the beginning and some are slower. But eventually you will make it. So don't get discouraged. And please, don't start with a "Two people jumping off a helicopter being chased by 20 police men"-scenario.

9.) And finally when your love for animation has grown: If possible, get into an animation school. Once again, there is a reason why I chose Animation Mentor. And I didn't regret that decision a single day since then. Certainly there are hundreds of great schools out there in the world. But I also heard a many complaints. In my humble opinion, AM is the best program out there at the moment and I would take the same route again and again.

So, animation is no Abrakadabra-magic spell... it is a fine art and a craftsmenship. You can learn it and master it. Start with the basics, set yourself deadlines and then keep on going. You decide the course and you will make it eventually.

I hope that helps you. This is what I would do and in some sort did. Sometimes maybe late but that was my way. So, start right now, animation is an incredible experience. Everytime I watch a scene that I have animated myself after hours and hours of work I look at it and say: "Did I do that? How come they are alive but were dead 7 days ago?"...

I love animation!

- Alex

AM02 - week 06 - Assignment - Re-blocking

This was my original idea but I won't find the time to realise this.

Hi everyone,

this week was re-blocking time. I had the brilliant idea of taking 30 frames each day and polish them so I like them better. So, on Monday I came home at around 10pm after 12h+ of work... and I fell into my bed. The same on Tuesday... and Wednesday... and the rest of the week. Great plan, still lacks the ability to do it, right? My idea is to do the same this week - except for not finding the time to animate 30 frames a day.

Okay, without further adue here is the file - it is 1.6 MB big and a Quicktime 7 h264. I sometimes think that the h264 doesn't run 100% smoothly and studders but that might just be me or my 3Ghz PC =)

Tell me what you think, still one more week to finally nail this animation.

- Alex