45 minute animations!

I'm still occasionally drawing outside of work (works been taking up quite a bit of my nights these days) and using AnimationCreator to create animations on the fly.  I made a couple of quick ones just because I thought the ideas were fun.  Still trying to remember to just get a simple idea out and not fall into the pit of attempting a full on production.  Heres what I have this time around.

45 minute exercise #1 - Viking Attack



45 minute exercise #2 - Axe Throw

2D pencil tests!

Hello folks!

It's been a while, I know. Fun things at Bungie have been happening over the past couple of years (which I can't talk about so don't ask :) ) so I've been away. Lately I've using the sweet iPad app, Animation Creator HD, to make fun little 2D pencil tests. They're not polished in the least but the app has made it extremely simple for me to make and upload them. Here's the first two videos I've made.

Happy puppy - This was the first 2D test I did to learn the app.


Laughing - This one got out of hand pretty quick. Initially it was a laughing test (because I imagine animating a laugh would be tricky) but turned into a personality attempt.

More coming soon!

My Halo: REACH Showreel!

Hello peeps! It's been too long! Almost 2 years have passed since I started at Bungie and recently shipped the mega-shooter, Halo: REACH! So with that, I've included my showreel of a good chunk of the work I did for the project. There is still a lot of work that I didn't include in the showreel but only to keep the final time of the video down. Otherwise, I could see it going into 3-4 minute territory and bore you. :P Most of what was left out was Jorges move sets and some small cinematic shots I got to help noodle with.

It was a great project to work on and to say I'm honored to be apart of the definitive Halo is an understatement. All of the fine people at Bungie put their hearts into this game and if you've played it (you've played it, right? :) ), it is absolutely apparent. To work with some of the most creative geniuses in this industry on an epic game has been humbling. My hat is off to every single one of you!

UPDATE! -> So this showreel was featured on Kotaku and Microsoft requested it be put on hold until being properly reviewed. Thanks to the rad dudes at Microsoft, it's now approved for your viewing pleasure. :) BTW, thanks for the shout-out Kotaku!

My Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs showreel!

After a year, I finally put together my IA3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs showreel. It's only a minute long and thats because I migrated to Bungie before production wrapped. I don't feel like it's my best work but I'm still proud of it all the same. I can't thank Blue Sky, and the amazing talent there, enough for giving me the opportunity to work on such a beautiful film. Enjoy!

Halo: Reach trailer!

The opening cinematic premiered on the 2009 Video Game Awards! It's all in-game and looks so damn good. More info soon...or visit Bungie.net! I'm not sure how much I can even talk about now so I'll just say, it's an...AWESOME game!

Halo: Reach Xbox 360 Trailer - In-Game Trailer

Halo: REACH announced!!!

I've been waiting for this since I found out what I was working on at Bungie. It's gonna be a great game and I think everyone is gonna be blown away by it! Here's the E3 teaser...gave me shivers the first time I saw it.

The chronicles of Adam Green!

Back on the Horton production crunch, I thought it would be fun to annoy the hell out of the dude who was sitting across from me. That guy, Adam Green, was fortunate enough to 'participate' in a little photo log....against his knowing and will. Over the period of a couple of weeks, I would take a couple of pictures a day or a few days or something. I don't really remember. But when I told some of the Blue Sky folks that I'd eventually put all the pictures to some wacky music, they demanded to see the final product as soon as possible. Fast forward to over a year, and I have found a way to produce such a video. So all my friends who wanted to see it, here it is. I hope you find it as pointless as I do.

Horton Hears A Who showreel!

This has been a long time coming...I hope you guys and gals enjoy it. :)

Test animations!

Back when I was looking to break into the game industry, I approached a few companies. Out of the four that I was looking at, I did tests for two of them. Now what you're about to see isn't my best work... in fact, when I was doing both of these tests, I was pushing myself as hard as I could. Staying up late and coming home to lunch to work on these was common. I did one fight scene for Sony Online Entertainment in Austin. That fell through, then I got in touch with a friend at Blizzard Entertainment to help me out and was approached to do another fight scene with an additional walk cycle. Here they are...nothing fancy.



Sony Online Fight Test


Blizzard Walk Test

Blizzard Fight Test

Here are the sketches I did for the Blizzard fight.

The trip to Seattle!

My final route

Hey everyone...man, it's been a while. A couple of weeks ago I got here in Seattle. The total trip was around the 5,300 mile mark and for the most part, four 13.5 hour drives. My first stop was Atlanta, Georgia to visit my good buddy, Nick Gibbons. I was only there for 3 nights but that was enough time for him to show me around Atlanta and even visit Radical Axis, where they produce the Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Squidbillies cartoons. I liked Atlanta...reminded me of Austin in alot of ways.

Nick in front of the Vortex in Atlanta

Nick and Nancy's wicked cool patio porch thing!

After I left Nick's place...I was headed to Justin, Tx to visit my younger brother, his wife and my totally awesome little nephew, Noah. Spending time with them was great...they have a great home and are just fun to be around. But most of all, little Noah was my highlight. Not to detract from Stephen and Darby, but since I was living in NY, it was hard for me to not want to be around my nephew (or niece...but I'll get to that), it kinda makes me sad that I won't be as close to him to watch him grow up but that just means I'll have to make regular trips to see him. He was sick the entire time I was there, he had this little cough he'd picked up in day care that kept going but every time I would look at him, he'd smile and want me to pick him up. And if you're an uncle to a rad little kid, that burns ya up. All in all, he is a happy little boy. I can tell he's gonna be a social dude. Everyone he met, he would smile at.

Steve holding his shotgun after we shot clay pigeons. I desperately wanted a picture with the shotgun but...alas.

After the 4th night there, I headed South to Austin, Tx to visit my older brother, his wife and my niece. Hal and Jess have a great life together...two really awesome pups, a big uncluttered house, and a cute little girl. It was great to spend even a couple of nights with them. Cameron, my niece, is coming up on 2 and she's already got a big personality. She's completely enthralled with Sesame Street and Yo Gabba Gabba. After watching it I can see why, Yo Gabba Gabba has Kid Robots designers. Gotta give it to her, she's got good taste.

Duke totally chilling out!

Those are some big shoes to fill, little lady.

Yo Gabba Gabba...don't interrupt.

Hal picking up dog poo...Cameron supervises.

So then it was down to Converse to visit my mom. While I was there, I had dinner with my aunt Bertha and Uncle Mike (great folks), got my car serviced at a VW dealership, and spent some quality time with my ma...and her 6 cats. Because most of the family was visiting the West Coast, we decided to have Christmas in Dallas with my Aunt Stella and Uncle Ryan. So I spent a night in Austin to spend Christmas Eve with Hal, Jess, and Cameron and my ma and myself drove up to Dallas the next day.

Ma is a bit shy.

Get off of my car, cat #4!

Hal and Jess got me an umbrella for Christmas. Actually, a perfect gift for Seattle.

Hal got a way cooler gift though.

Cameron got a jiggling Elmo or something. It stands up...high tech.

DUKE!

Christmas in Dallas was relaxing. Usually when a guest comes into town, the hosts try to show them a good time...luckily for me, my family was completely understanding that I just wanted to relax, eat alot of good Mexican food, and get ready for the rest of the trip to Washington. A few days in Dallas, I was ready to go.

Robbie and his son, Tanner, made this. Deliciously impressive!

My uncle built this...even more impressive!

Raddest little dude ever!

Now I don't know what it was...maybe spending all that time with my nephew, maybe being around SO many people for Christmas, or maybe it was all the stress of the holidays (imagine that)...but the day I started my trip to the Northwest, I was getting sick. Around 2 hours after I left Dallas, the aching, chills, the fatigue started setting in. Thirteen and a half hours later, I landed in Flagstaff, Arizona feeling the worst. That night, I had the most ridiculous dreams about fighting bears or something stupid like that, and shivering myself awake every 10 minutes. People, friends, worst enemies...DO NOT get flu-like symptoms during a road trip.

Somewhere in West Texas. Flat.

The next day was much better...not 100 percent but much better. It was more like 38.7 percent better. That night, I was staying in Redding, California. And thanks to my GPS, I (well...IT) decided I should cut through all of Arizona. Now Arizona was beautiful, really it was. But the two-way road has got to go...and passing huge trucks on those rolling roads was SCARY! When it started getting dark, I really had to pick my battles. By the way, Area 51 was billowing smoke.

I also stopped off at the Hoover Dam. Way too crowded.

And to your right, you'll see a dragon.

So I got to Redding no problem. LOTS of winding roads for about an hour toward the end was the only problem. The good news was no more 13 and a half hour drives to a destination. This is New Years Eve and I'm heading up to Portland, Oregon to see my ex-DNA (now Laika) friends, the Gorskis. 7 hours after I'd left Redding, I was at Joe and Michelles. We spent New Years together in a very low-key, sickly, stay at home and eat chinese food setting. It was great. I don't think I had enough energy in me at that point to go out and party...plus, the roads were REALLY crummy. Thanks again, you two!

Joe and Michelles fiesty cat, Jingle.

Smear frame.

And their new pet, Perogi.

Now that all that holiday garbage was over, it was time to go to my destination. Seattle was only 3 hours away. Lucky for me, I have friends up here. The Halifax's were awesome enough to put me up for a few nights. Three nights to be exact...and in that time, I had found an apartment in Kirkland. Since I hate commuting, I opted to live close to work, which is also a good thing for a social life because lots of restaurants, bars, and shopping areas are in the downtown area...a 3 minute drive away. Heh...the 3rd place I looked at. More about my snazzy apartment for another post, but, compared to New York prices, this place is an absolute steal.

She doesn't have a problem...YOU have a problem!

Ok, she has a problem...

It showed the day before I left their place. My car got stuck battling up a hill. The hill was eventually conquered!

My view of the nearby lake from my porch. A block away from the beach!

Just got finished unpacking everything. It looked like alot more stuff when it was in the moving van.

HELL....YEAH to Bungie shwag!

So that's it. Three weeks of traveling and I'm finally here. A few of my friends have told me that a road trip by yourself is the best way to find out who you are. I don't want to get deep here but I think, if anything, it gave me a damn good idea.

I have tons of stuff to follow up on so I'll try to get to all that mess soon. Thanks to everyone who let me stay with them. I love you all. With that said, I miss all my New York friends...ALL of you.