blitzed!

Senior year

2011-09-25T17:45:00.001-07:00

Finally made it to senior year. I'm Currently working on layout for my senior film. So far so good!

current projects

2010-02-11T18:28:00.000-08:00

Ok long time no post. Here is a 3D representation of me, which were going to be animating for our lip sync assignment. Also we're well into pre-production on our senior films. It's pure craziness!! fun but intense. I might post my final character design for that in a few weeks.

music on an art blog?

2009-12-10T00:23:00.000-08:00

Being in the computer labs a lot equals a lot of time spent listening to free streaming internet music. Here are a few songs to just chill out to, do work to, and so on and so forth.

school stuff

2009-10-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

finishing up this model this weekend for our "push/pull" animation assignment.

Summer is overrr!!

2009-08-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

well it's back to school in a little over a week. Here are some quick designs for our next big project.

started using Zbrush...awesome app.

The Iron Giant, A decade later

2009-08-07T14:03:00.000-07:00

great article
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/08/a-decade-later-the-iron-giants-weaponized-soul-still-stirs/

works in progress

2009-06-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

alright so after a disastrous 3 weeks of being without photoshop and maya due to a broken computer I'm back in action. currently I'm doin these based on some guidelines from a bi-weekly char design blog started by a fellow Ringlinger.
http://chadesbiweek.blogspot.com/

MONSTERS WITH MALADIES

COWBOYS WITH ALTERNATE MODES OF TRANSPORTATION

these will both be perfectly fine tuned soon with color! haha

James Cameron Interviewed

2009-06-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

James Cameron on Charlie Rose
Dec 18, 1997

summer!

2009-05-25T19:36:00.000-07:00

Ok so sophomore year is in the can! I have no idea how or why time has gone so quickly, haha. Anyway I'm currently looking for job, hopefully I can make someone a website or an animation or two. So if your reading this and would like a great price for a well designed website..please, let me know!

Also here's two models I've been working on. The first is my own design while the second is Disney's character Fagin from Oliver & Company.

Web Design Class

2009-03-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

I'm taking an intro to web design class this semester and thought I'd show our second project. We had to redesign an existing site that we felt we could improve on. I chose snowboarder Todd Richards whose current website looked like a myspace layout, ewww.

Well here's his site
http://www.toddrichards.com/
and my redesigned one
http://webspace.ringling.edu/~rblitz/website2/index2.html

Tim Roth and Ian McShane

2009-03-17T23:32:00.000-07:00

Two of my favorite actors are starring in two new shows. Tim Roth in Lie to Me and Ian McShane in Kings. Now I don't think the shows are the greatest thing ever but it's good to know that I could see them on a more regular basis.

http://www.fox.com/lietome/

http://www.nbc.com/Kings/

also Lie to Me's premise makes for some great animation reference

some animation

2009-03-17T22:49:00.000-07:00

In my opinion these aren't even worthy to post but it is progress and I did learn quite a lot in doing these.
http://webspace.ringling.edu/~rblitz/access/CG220/rblitz_animation_excercises.mov
I look forward to posting some more exciting animation and not just exercises.

heyyy I'm back

2009-02-25T21:16:00.000-08:00

Well I really try to post as often as I can and not have a month between posts but time sure does fly and I haven't really liked anything enough to post, haha. Well anyway here's our first full blown CG character we created for a 15 second animation assignment we will be doing soon.

Just a screencap, nothing fancy. There's a million things I wish I could go back to change or fix on this character but hey you learn from mistakes, right? I'll have some animation with this guy real soon. It won't be another month.

And now for some random stuff...
cool song and creative music video

funky French Music Vid

30 minute video interview with Walt Disney, AWESOME!!
http://cookedart.blogspot.com/2009/02/interview-with-walt-disney.html

Where the Wild Things Are

2009-01-11T13:46:00.000-08:00

Can't wait for this movie

More info on film here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_the_Wild_Things_Are_(film)

life of a student animator

2008-12-25T16:18:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed this

Winter break!!

2008-12-15T12:44:00.000-08:00

a much needed break indeed. The last week was pretty brutal but in the end I'm generally happy with my final projects. Anyway here's all three of those animation exercises we did.
http://webspace.ringling.edu/~rblitz/access/CG220/rblitz_jwt.mov

I have an animatic for our next big animation next semester but I'm planning on tweaking it over break.

Simple Character Jump

2008-12-05T18:22:00.000-08:00

Here's the completed jump.
http://webspace.ringling.edu/~rblitz/access/CG220/rblitz_jump_2.mov
It's the second version because we had a few hours to make small revisions after the final submission.

Simple Poly Character

2008-11-28T00:32:00.001-08:00

Here's my simple polygon character that we had to design, model, and rig. We will be using this to animate a jump, walk, and turn around. I'm actually just finishing up the jump and will probably be posting that soon.

Bah! lip sync fail

2008-11-28T00:14:00.000-08:00

pretty happy with how the motion turned out but the lip sync....yikes, don't look!. Probably underestimated the time it takes to get those lip shapes looking good.
http://webspace.ringling.edu/~rblitz/access/CG220/rblitz_lip_sync.mov

2d animation!

2008-11-08T14:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm starting my first lip sync in traditional animation class and I must say I'm happy with my progress. I kind of struggled with traditional last year and the beginning of this year so I'm really trying to end on a good note.
Here is a still of it so far.

Polygon modelling assignment

2008-11-07T20:54:00.000-08:00

check it out
http://webspace.ringling.edu/~rblitz/access/CG220/rblitz_penguin_2.mov

Primitive Theater

2008-10-30T23:56:00.000-07:00

As a whole I feel I could of done more with this project but I'm happy with a few smaller aspects of it. IE: The pencil cup secondary action, haha.

http://webspace.ringling.edu/~rblitz/access/CG220/rblitz_primitive_theater.mov

Banksy

2008-10-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

ahhh wish I was home right now so I could check this out! Take a look at Banksy's latest creation...a pet shop in Greenwich Village
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7662627.stm

The Googling

2008-09-28T23:42:00.000-07:00

funny stuff

there's 4 more parts to this as well

Ball Bounce Animation!

2008-09-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

First CA assignment finished!

http://webspace.ringling.edu/~rblitz/access/CG220/bbounce_rblitz.mov

Digital Painting Class...Complete!

2008-09-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

Sweet! Here's my final assignment. As always drawing credits go to Bobby Chiu. I'm definitely looking forward to my drawing for animation class next semester now.

bahhh...heres something

2008-08-30T21:56:00.000-07:00

...By the way school is going great so far!

Back to School!!

2008-08-17T08:09:00.001-07:00

Alright only 4 more days 'till I'm back at school. Sophomore year baby!
Here's my schedule

Traditional Animation II
Mon/Thurs / 12:30 PM - 03:15 PM
Mr. Gary Schumer

Computer Animation I
Tues/Fri / 12:30 PM - 03:15 PM
Mr. Jamie DeRuyter

Concept Development I
Tues/Thurs / 03:30 PM - 06:15 PM
Mr. Robert Cooksey

Film Language & Visual Storytelling
Mon/Wed / 07:00 PM - 09:45 PM
Mr. Bob Melville

Studies in the Holocaust
Thursday / 08:30 AM - 11:15 AM
Mr. Neil Marinovich

Creative Screenwriting Magazine

2008-07-30T17:37:00.000-07:00

Came across this cool blog
http://creativescreenwritingmagazine.blogspot.com/
features a ton of cool audio interviews with various screenwriters...many who probably wrote some of your favorite movies. The Sweeney Todd one with John Logan was great.

Also on an unrelated note, you can now animate anywhere you want with your own amazing iPhone!!!
http://www.flipbook.tv/tour/
too bad I don't have one. (accepting donations)

a bit more art

2008-07-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

Some modeling WIPs

Two speed paints

Photo Ref

Photo Ref

What I'm Reading: Post #1

2008-07-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting by Robert Mckee

The Art of WALL•E by Tim Hauser

Art Stuff

2008-07-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

some storyboard stuff from a possible thesis idea, lol. FYI shots aren't in chronological order.

crappy speed paint from photo ref

Two assignments from my digital painting class. Drawings by Bobby Chiu.

WALL•E!!!

2008-06-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wall_e/news/1737449/critics_consensus_wall_e_is_one_of_the_best_reviewed_films_of_2008
"It's rare that a picture earns comparisons with Chaplin's City Lights and Kubrick's 2001. It's rarer still that said picture is also praised as intelligent, visually remarkable, darkly funny, and ultimately, heartwarming family fare. However, critics say the good folks at Pixar have done just that with WALL-E, perhaps the studio's most audacious film yet. Set in a dystopian future, WALL-E is the tale of a garbage-collecting robot navigating an unpopulated Earth. Soon he's joined by EVE, a female bot searching for vegetation, and falls head-over-treads in love. Critics have been heaping praise on Pixar for years, but there's a reason for that: The studio re-invents the rules of CG animation each time out. The pundits say WALL-E deftly blends slapstick, political satire, heartbreaking romance, and masterful storytelling into a one-of-a-kind movie experience. At 97 percent on the Tomatometer, WALL-E is not just Certified Fresh. It's not just one of the best-reviewed films of the year. It's one of the best-reviewed films in Pixar's history."

...yeah im excited.

Internship Update #2

2008-06-23T19:16:00.000-07:00

So unfortunately I had to end my internship a bit early but my boss Doug just emailed me the pilot of his series "10 Seconds of Hell" that I worked on for a bit. Check it out.
http://www.galaxy61.com/TenSeconds/TenSeconds_Pilot.mov

Digital Painting with Bobby Chiu

2008-06-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

So I started taking an online digital painting class with the awesome Bobby Chiu over at schoolism.com It lasts 9 weeks and every week we get a new assignment. This guy is crazy talented though, I don't feel worthy learning from him, haha. If you didn't click his name above, check out his work here
http://digital-bobert.cgsociety.org/gallery

Facebook Gangsta

2008-06-06T16:48:00.000-07:00

too funny not to post

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

Internship Update

2008-05-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

Yeah so I've just finished 2 weeks at Galaxy 61. It's really nice and laid back, especially since its currently just Doug and another intern. I've just been helping Doug with some simple modeling and animation. But the part that I find the most interesting is hearing what the CG industry was like 20 years ago. Pretty crazy talking to a guy who worked with Maya 1.0, haha. But anyway...I got to get some more art up here. Although heres some Maya related stuff I did. Pretty simple stuff but it's something.

Kung Fu Panda

2008-05-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

DAAAAAAAAMMMMMMNNN! looks great...hopefully its as good as the people who've seen it say it is.
Exclusive Clip

The Art of Grand Theft Auto

2008-05-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

I'm really lovin this game (for the art...not for being able to run over countless pedestrians) Both the in game and promotional artwork is fantastic!
Check out this article with the games art director Aaron Garbut
http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=4499

wow that was fast

2008-05-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

Holy moly! my first year at Ringling flew by extremely fast. It's kind of weird because I don't have much work to show for it, haha. I mean I still feel I learned a lot, especially in color class, but I feel like I should have more to show in 9 months time. Well it's summer now and I'm hoping work a lot on my art. I'm also really excited to delve into Maya some more at my internship which I should be starting May 19th.

Landscape Painting

2008-04-26T19:26:00.000-07:00

Here's my one of my last projects from color class. I'm pretty happy with it considering it's my first real landscape painting. I got an A- on it by the way, my teacher liked it but said it wasn't finished.

Ive been Vallejo-fied

2008-04-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

Check out this awesome caricature Ringling illustration senior Francis Vallejo did of me at admitted students day this past Saturday.

Summer Internship

2008-04-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

Well heres some great news, I got a summer internship working for the animation and design studio Galaxy 61 in Brooklyn. They've done some great work and I'm really looking forward to working there. http://www.galaxy61.com/

Pixar Presentation!

2008-04-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

Around this time of the year Ringling has recruiters come in and do presentations, review portfolios and possibly call back a few people for interviews. Today was Pixar's presentation with Ringling alums Jaime Landes and Gaston Ugarte. Jaime was an animation intern before getting hired. Check out this little blurb about her intern experience on Pixar's site here. Gaston is a modeling technical director who just finished modeling the Pizza Planet Truck for Pixar's 2009 movie Up...so yes the tradition will continue, lol. Unfortunately there were no sneak peaks of WALL•E but they did show a bunch of pre-production animation tests and rig tests from Ratatouille which were awesome. Everybody also got a kick out of them showing some hidden references to their other movies in Ratatouille. A few I knew but was totally shocked to see they put "Nemo Brand Caviar" in Ratatouille, see if you can find it! Also the shadow of a barking dog that scares Remy away is a character from Up. Ok, thats all for now, Blue Sky comes on Monday.

New Interview with Trey Parker & Matt Stone

2008-03-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

Check out this interview with South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
I enjoyed reading this..
"We still get a fifth or a fourth of the viewership of Family Guy"
WHATTT? thats a shame.

http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/trey_parker_matt_stone/1

Horton Hears A Who!

2008-03-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

wow! awesome movie. Saw it opening night and was not expecting it to be as good as it was. Definitely check it out! It's 79% on rottentomatoes.com, better then all the other new movies it opened with.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/horton_hears_a_who/
I still think that little blue guy is just Seth Rogen reincarnated as a little fury blue creature and not as a character who I totally believe is real. But anyway thats just my little beef with the voice acting.

The Waldo Ultimatum

2008-03-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

flour sack animation

2008-03-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

assignment 3 complete! I'm happy with this animation but I really want to fix up some of the unfinished drawings for the resubmission. This is was what my teacher had the biggest problem with.

Flour Sack Jump from rblitz7 on Vimeo.

artwork

2008-02-28T18:05:00.000-08:00

ok so these two are digital paintings I did from photo ref.

These next two are quick 15 minute painting studies done from life in color class. There not that good but I definitely thought more about color and value in these then I have in other paintings.

These are 30 minute studies done using the same complimentary colors of violet and yellow in the ones above.

Jon Foster podcast

2008-02-23T09:09:00.000-08:00

If you're a fan of Jon Foster, check out this podcast.
Part 1
Part 2
He gives some insight on his techniques and talks about digital painting versus traditional.

woohoo! animations turned in on time

2008-02-15T09:04:00.000-08:00

ok so this past Tuesday we had our ball and tail animations due. I'm happy to say I got them in on time and I'm generally pleased with how the critique went. Heres two of them, I'll post the rest later since vimeo is acting strange. Also sorry for light line quality, I'll make my drawings darker next time.

Squirrel Tail from rblitz7 on Vimeo.

Tigger Tail Heavy Ball from rblitz7 on Vimeo.

Tiger Tail Light from rblitz7 on Vimeo.

digital drawings

2008-02-06T18:24:00.000-08:00

It seems with all my artwork I go from hating it to liking it and then slowly back down to hating it again. Oh well at least I see some improvement from my last digital stuff.

disappointed in myself...

2008-01-25T12:56:00.000-08:00

In a dramatic turn of events, my ball bounce assignment received an "F". The class was all told that our ball bounce .avi files should be placed in the teachers web share by the beginning of class, NO EXCEPTIONS! (the due date was moved up to Jan. 25) I stupidly decided to wait to the morning before class to drag and drop the files into her folder because I was also planning on fixing one frame in the morning and thought I would just do both all at the same time. BUT OF COURSE today is FIRST day since starting college, my alarm decides to not work and I over sleep. Waking up half an hour after class started I put my files in her folder and run to class at the speed of lightning. Once getting to class I see she has her web share open critiquing everybody's work. Anyway she realizes I put my files in the web share at 8:59:49 AM, past the 8:45 AM deadline but the thing is I froze when asked what time I put them in and reluctantly said last night. I didn't know she realized I lied until she e-mailed me after class. I honestly felt queasy reading that email, really devastating for one of the first assignments in this class. Well, it's in the past now and the only thing I could do now is learn from my mistakes DON'T LIE...seems simple enough but I was caught off guard waking up 3 minutes ago. And you could also say don't leave anything for the last minute, but the small lie is what seems to have really gotten to her. Also I was really determined to work hard on this project and not wait until the last minute, I even skipped out on friends birthday in Orlando this past weekend. Ok so I was hoping to present these animations with a little more enthusiasm but after this (and seeing fellow student Avner Geller's animations, see link on the right. lol) I'll sadly say, here they are.

Light Re-Direct from rblitz7 on Vimeo.

Heavy In & Out from rblitz7 on Vimeo.

Light In & Out from rblitz7 on Vimeo.

Ball Bounce from rblitz7 on Vimeo.
I'm in middle of re-working and adding a tail to these animations.

traditional animation

2008-01-14T19:18:00.000-08:00

So I've started traditional animation and its awesome! I got my 3rd class tomorrow morning where my teacher is going to see how the class is doing with our ball bounces. (due Feb. 1st) but before I post any animation, check out this time lapse vid of me hard at work in the animation lab.

animating from rblitz7 on Vimeo.

a few funny vids

2008-01-11T16:06:00.001-08:00

I just thought I'd share some funny videos that I recently came across and thoroughly enjoyed, all from acceptable.tv Theres the story wizard with Jack Black, Homeless James Bond, and finally Mr. Sprinkles, a hilarious take on the cat in the hat.

sketchbook stuff

2008-01-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

2008-01-04T12:10:00.000-08:00

So it's a new year and that means I've got a clean slate, a fresh start. No more half finished drawings lying around, no more lack of confidence and inspiration, this year is going to be different! HOORAH! I got a new Wacom Intuos tablet for me back at school thats just waiting to be used. 2 DAYS 'TILL I'M BACK!

animators at work

2007-12-21T11:45:00.000-08:00

cool stuff
http://inklingstudio.typepad.com/photos/animators_at_work/index.html

WINTER BREAK!!

2007-12-13T17:48:00.000-08:00

head study

2007-12-06T18:39:00.000-08:00

messing around in flash

2007-12-05T19:54:00.000-08:00

fun stuff

Click the image

a few things

2007-11-16T23:38:00.000-08:00

some animal stuff from photos...yeah I know should be from life.

some cross hatching from drawing class
and my attempt at a walk cycle, blah.

Walk Cycle from rblitz7 on Vimeo

3D design

2007-10-31T21:24:00.000-07:00

Gah, this class is weird. Build a sculpture, make a toy…that’s the classes curriculum. I mean I know you have to be self-motivated but really, there’s very minimal instruction and no supplies provided. God damnit! If I’m paying 35 thousand a year for this school I better have warehouse’s full of sculpey, metal, and hot glue.

Chades Challenge: Vicious Gators

2007-10-24T13:41:00.000-07:00

eh, some mediocre stuff

2007-10-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

cool animation test

2007-10-10T20:19:00.001-07:00

Just passing along an animation test with hands that I thought was was pretty cool.

http://www.11secondclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=486

some figure stuff

2007-09-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

heres a few drawings from figure drawing class, enjoy!

Starting this animation thing

2007-09-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

Ok so heres a little animation test I did about a month ago during the summer. I just used pencil and paper then scanned the drawings in. Its nothing much but its a start.

I've begun my studies at Ringling

2007-09-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

haha well I'm here! I'm finally a college kid. Ringling has been nothing short of awesome so far. Yes, drawing cubes in perspective and drawing naked people is awesome to me. I've been enjoying all my core classes but I'm anxious to get to the animation next semester. Not much drawings to show other then these quick gestures for a 3D Design class wire sculpture, but as soon as I get a USB cable for my camera I'll put up some photos of the school and some more drawings.
Oh and to all my fellow Ringling students reading this, check this out
http://splinedoctors.com/drstepheng/Tutor/home.html
pretty cool, I just hope hes still doing this later on when I'd be more ready.

More Gestures

2007-07-16T17:45:00.000-07:00

Flamboyant Armadillos

2007-07-09T19:23:00.000-07:00

Heres what I came up with...is it flamboyant enough? :)
UPDATE - A new opera singing Armadillo

The Chades Challenge

2007-07-03T10:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Cal Arts alum and Pixar animator Austin Madison has started doing character design challenges (CHAracter DESign) with a bunch of his friends from Cal Arts through their blogs. Once every two weeks a topic is posted and each participant posts their sketch(es) on their blog the next Friday. So anyway Austin is allowing me to participate and I look forward to improving my character design skills. This weeks topic is FLAMBOYANT ARMADILLO...yeah pretty random, haha. Also this post here, will be updated with the current weeks topic as well as the current participants.

Ratatouille!

2007-07-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

Wow, this movie just blew me away. The humor, animation, story, characters and everything else you can think of about this movie was pretty much perfect. Definitely one of the best Pixar movies, its hard to give a ranking with the Pixar movies because I basically just love them all, haha. Man! I gotta go see it again. Oh and just one example of how passionate Pixar is about their movies..the end credits started being developed a year and a half ago. Also heres a nice article about the movie http://www.thereporter.com/billboard/ci_6260970

Woah, an old Ward Kimball letter makes its way onto the Internet

2007-06-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

So I came across the blog of a an animator named Will Finn who's worked on movies like Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. Turns out in 1973, when he was 15, he wrote to Ward Kimball, one of Disney's nine legendary animators expressing his interest to become an animator. Amazingly he got a personalized response and he just posted the letter on his blog for all to see! Check it out!
http://willfinn.blogspot.com/2007/06/letter-from-ward-kimball.html
..Anybody know what the bullshit stamp means?

63 DAYS!!

2007-06-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

Ah! Only 63 days until Ringling! Every day I get more and more excited. I’m definitely going to try to be ahead of the game this summer when it comes to preparing for college. Drawing and reading everything and anything that has to do with animation. I wonder if I could read through “The Illusion of Life” this summer?...Oh and of course only 15 days until RATATOUILLE!!

Gestures

2007-05-30T17:35:00.000-07:00

An important aspect of being an animator is knowing how to illustrate force and movement with a simple pose or gesture. I recently picked up the book "Force: Dynamic Life Drawing For Animators" which has many great examples of these kinds of drawings that really feel alive. It's definitely not easy to get this in your drawings, it takes lots of time and patience. Here a few gestures from photos I did which I think are a good starting point but are no where near the kind of drawings I want to do. I'm finding it hard to grasp some of the concepts in the book, but like I said, these things are never easy.

Hippie and a Pirate

2007-05-08T16:34:00.000-07:00

Blah...

The Disney Family Albums

2007-03-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

Portraits

2007-03-07T12:18:00.000-08:00

I started taking portrait drawing classes at the Long Island Academy of Fine Art about 4 months ago and thought I'd share some of my work. I've learned a lot but theres still so much more to know. Enjoy!

Im in...

2007-03-01T15:06:00.000-08:00

I got the awesome news today that I was accepted into the computer animation department at Ringling School of Art and Design. Really excited to be going there, I hear such great things from this school. Peace for now, I'll try to keep this blog updated every now and then.