SubWars

its got everything, fan vid, Naruto, star-wars and my fav ultra violence.. but more than that, super animation, great staging, angle choices... just super

SubWars from SeanSoong on Vimeo.

Apocalypse Pizza Video

got to love the gore..  *****

Apocalypse Pizza by blankytwo

Expressions Reference Project

a huge collection of expression by a bunch of users of deviant art 

 

link: http://chronicdoodler.deviantart.com/favourites/41008996?offset=0

Hands

got to do a post on hands so i don't have to go looking elsewhere.. ^__^

Mel scripts for Animators that i cant live without

Being a practicing animator one comes across lots of tools, shortcuts and other knickknacks traded over the lunch table.. "dude!! a long time ago my mentor gave me these precious golden mel's, they changed my life forever, you have to try it out".. after leaving R&H and getting away for the custom pipeline they have over there. i found maya lacking in terms of small lill apps or mel's that make life heck of a lot easier. so i am putting together my custom shelf for maya
so that no matter where i go i will have all these tiny tools in one place and easily downloadable with minimum hassle for setup.. just overwrite my maya preferences folder (might want to do so selectively*) !! wooo...

melScript

sourced from 
http://www.andrewsilke.com/mel_info.html
http://www.supercrumbly.com/archives.php?scatname=mel+scripts&sid=-1&p=0
http://blog.3danimator.in/2011/07/animators-tool-box-super-useful-mel.html
http://www.creativecrash.com/maya/downloads/scripts-plugins/

10 Things to Remember about Training by Gregory Manchess / via Muddy Colors

_____________________________________________________________________

1. Draw Now. Think Next.

Ideas without follow through are useless. Conceptual art without skill is nothing. Ideas are cheap. One doesn’t get better at ideas by thinking better thoughts. You must train to learn how to create them, what to do with them. Train yourself to search for the good ones, to generate good ones from practice.

Draw. Draw your fool head off, but draw. Draw first. Think about it next. Contrary to so-called avant guard thinking, drawing doesn’t create answers, it creates more ideas.

2. Learn to be authentic.

No one is quite like you anyway. Forget about being original. “Oh, it’s so original!” Bah. You already are. Take the higher road, and learn to be authentic.

You are already connected. What you have to say is important because we all want to know. Learn to discern, of course, what is important from what is frivolous. It is all stowed inside, as you’ve been working on it already for a long time. You won’t find your style. If you are authentic to who you are, your style finds you.

3. Build luck and use it.

When preparation meets opportunity, it’s called luck. Create your own luck by being prepared to see it when it’s about to happen. Don’t wait for it. You won’t see it if you don’t know what to look for. Luck happens when you are ready for it, and you are ready for it when you’re prepared: training.

4. All painting is re-painting.

Do it again. Drawing it once is never enough. Painting it once isn’t either. Do it over and over, focusing on improvement each time. Got a favorite part of a painting? Learn to paint it out. Learn to paint over it. Do not try to save those good mistakes. Paint them again and this time shoot to get it right...under your control. Nobody is an expert by doing something good once.

5. Create momentum.

Finished one good piece? Great. I’m happy for you, but that’s not momentum. When one painting is done, move into the next as soon as possible. Repetition is key to keeping momentum, and momentum is key to gaining successful training. Repeat your successes.

6. Keep finishing.

Stop quitting. Finish the stupid thing already, so you can move into the next one. Do not allow failure to dictate your progress. You must push against that. Fail and fail again. You will push through that failure and keep moving. But learn from it as you do.

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. --Samuel Beckett

7. Seek advice.

Everyone has an opinion, especially about your work. It’s rather easy to recognize the parts of someone else’s work that are problematic. Finding your own? Tough as nails. When someone tells you what’s off about your work, they are usually correct. When they tell you how to repair it, they are nearly always incorrect.

*8. Take criticism well.

Which leads me to criticism: learn to take it, and use it well. Do not take it personally, but try to decipher what it is they are coaching you about. You can use that stuff, man. Grow some thick skin. Unless they’re a jerk, there are golden nuggets of wisdom in there. And remember: it’s meant for you, and you are the only one that can use it.

9. Work for good habits.

Training as a painter is like training as an athlete, musician, pilot. Learning a language lights up many of the same parts of your brain as learning to draw a hand. It is now an indisputable fact that the brain is plastic, even into old age.

To your last breath, the brain wants to learn and will do everything it can to get the advantage. It builds nerve fibers to speed up learning. It strengthens the nerves to send signals faster, for efficiency. Trick is, you want to build that stuff for good uses. The brain is just as happy to build strong nerves to reinforce bad habits.

10. Draw through, not around.

Years ago, I was ok at drawing, but I needed to get better. Here’s the problem: I wanted to be the kind of good that when I looked at my own work, I actually liked it. I had to do this, otherwise, I wasn’t about to spend all those years to come away feeling awkward about my attempts. And then quit. No way.

Awesome acting Reference

found this brilliant article on splitsider. of various actors giving there auditions for roles they later won. what i love is how convincing they are, how relaxed but practiced they seem... could study this for hours..

here are some of the questions i asked myself:

- why was michael cera so convincing?

- why was megan fox not very convincing?

- why was dusten hoffman not at all like dusten hoffman in a skirt?

- why am i watching Alyson Hannigan's eyebrows?

- what is it about Audrey Hepburn's pose/face/demeanor that is soo damm appealing?

- above all what makes there performances comedic?