The Animation Podcast » News & Info

@Animpodcast on Twitter and #Animtip Tuesdays

Clay — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:36:36 +0000

I’ve been sorely absent from this site for a large part of the last year, but I haven’t dropped off the hairy back of the internet. Pinched with little time to spare, I’ve fallen for the ease and short form of the tweet. I make a point not to tweet my life, so you won’t hear that I’m out of milk. But I do tweet about animation, which leads me to the best part…

I started a hashtag (a way to mark topics) on Twitter called #animtip.

Click this search and you’ll see what it is.

PLUS, every Tuesday is now Animtip Tuesday where tons of animation fanatics post their animation tips on animation. It’s fun and inspiring. Share an animtip on Twitter any day of the week, but especially on Animtip Tuesday.

I’ve added an icon at the top of the site to find me on Twitter. My username is AnimPodcast. If you follow me, send me a tweet to let me know who you are.

Site Re-design – kicking the tires

Clay — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:42:41 +0000

In case you check back once in a while, wondering if the site is falling apart from disuse, you’ll see that it has been dusted off and slapped with a brand new coat of paint! This isn’t just a tease, I am getting back into the podcasting business. (I never left, really, I was only stretching my legs for a bit.)

I really wanted to get the shows into the spotlight. Now you’ll always find the latest show on the front page, above the fold.

This isn’t just a cosmetic overhaul, I decided to make some tough choices, like changing my link structure to a much simpler format. SO… if you’ve got links out there pointing here, they may not reach their final destination. That’s OK. We’ll rebuild together.

As with every revamp of the site – at least it’s been my experience – things will have broken, and may not work like before. I’ll be tinkering, discovering, and patching as I go. If you run into anything drastic, pitch me an email and let me know.

Some features are drifting into the shadows, while others are lurching forward and begging for some love. It will all balance out as we get back into the swing together.

I’m adding an image for when I tear it all apart next time and people wonder, what did it look like before?

Walt Stanchfield Books

Clay — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:23:28 +0000

I’m going to take my time here, so I’ll put the summary first:
BUY THESE WALT STANCHFIELD BOOKS!
Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes, Volume 1: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures

Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes, Volume 2: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures

Ok, now for the long version…

In 1994, during my first week as an intern at Disney, everything was magic to me. They had a shelf full of fresh (and expensive) animation paper for anyone to use. Draw through your stack? Take some more! Unfathomable. The pencil supply shelf was like a treasure chest. I figured that these must be the most popular pencil choices of hundreds of the greatest artists from over decades of use. I took one of each to figure out which one would be the key to unlocking my latent drawing virtuosity. (None of them worked.) There were drawing classes every lunch hour – with food provided! Was this heaven? I was so wide-eyed and for years I saved every scrap of paper that came across my desk because I just knew that when I am 87 years old, I’ll spend my hours going through dusty old boxes, reading memos reminiscing how great life was.

The weekly newsletter was a treat. It was called The Twilight Bark, after the way dogs sent news in 101 Dalmatians. On Monday mornings a copy would be waiting at your desk. Reading it made me feel like I had been given access to an exclusive club (which, I guess, I had). On my second Monday, the newsletter ended with a few pages of advice on drawing with examples of quick sketch gesture drawings. At the end of the typewritten pages was the handwritten signature ‘Walt.’ I assumed it was an old memo from Walt Disney, but I never knew he did any sort of instruction like that. Well, he didn’t (except for a few memos that float around).

The Walt, I soon learned, was Walt Stanchfield. Walt had retired from animation production, and he was at least in his seventies at the time, but once a month he returned to the studio to teach for two lunches. That’s when he would drop off the pages for his latest newsletter and it would appear in The Twilight Bark to the benefit of the entire studio the following week. That was REAL magic.

Walt had the most joyful, energetic spirit I have ever known. Yes, his classes were about drawing, but they were also about seeing, judging, storytelling, passion, life, creation, sports, clarity, art. “Live life dammit!” is something he would say. He’d tell us to ignore all that garbage we learned in anatomy class. He wanted us to make decisions in the drawings and tell a story through the image. If we drew the model exactly, he’d show us how more interesting it would be if we pushed the pose, moved the hand out here for clarity, tilt the chin to direct the viewer’s eye to where we want them to focus. He didn’t want us to draw what we saw, he wanted us to take in the idea and power it on to the page with verve and directness. He was so hooked on creativity. He’d sometimes share his latest drawings that he made while driving down the freeway from his home near Solvang!

When anyone asks about what type of drawing classes to take, there are two answers I always give: figure drawing and Walt Stanchfield style gesture drawing. Walt’s drawing is a unique brand that isn’t taught very often. Luckily, some of the people I took Walt’s classes with have carried on the tradition and are teaching what Walt taught them. Tom Gately works and teaches at Pixar and Dave Pimentel works and teaches at Dreamworks. I’m working on some unsuspecting souls to teach at Disney right now. The reason I give for recommending the Stanchfield style of drawing is that it is what I use most in my daily work. Doing CG doesn’t demand much drawing from me, but when I’m planning out my shots in thumbnails, I’m using everything I can remember from Walt’s classes and his handouts to find clarity, directness, and entertainment in my poses.

After all these years, I’ve given or thrown away most of the things I saved those first few years, but not the Walt Stanchfield notes. Those are more valuable to me than anything I have collected from the studio. They’re just a stack of photocopies, but they are a symbol of Walt’s passion for life, and his constant search for inspiration that he translated into ways to inspire us. They remind me of the times when the model was stuck in traffic and he would get up and pose – he was the best model we ever had. They remind me of how he’d lean over my shoulder with his coffee breath to correct a drawing, then ask to have it. That meant it would probably show up in the next handout as an example of what NOT to do. He’d pat me on the shoulder and say, “Don’t worry, I won’t use any names.” I miss that coffee breath. They also remind me of the few times that he used a drawing I did as a good example. I can’t tell you how proud I was to be “published” in Walt’s “Words of Wisom.” It meant I had actually done a drawing that was good enough to possible inspire someone else. I’m sure he knew that helped students like me far more than any readers.

Last year, I heard that Don Hahn, of Disney Producer fame, was working with Walt’s widow to take the years of typewritten, photocopied handouts and compile them in to books so that anyone can have beautiful copies of this inspiring collection. Well, the time is upon us. Next month, the books will be released. I found out because I was contacted by Don to tell me that one of my drawings is included. Even after life, Walt has once again provided me one of my proudest moments in animation.

So if you can’t tell, I am giving these books the highest recommendation. The “Words of Wisdom” are that and much more. They are filled with fantastic examples of how to clearly draw, fresh perspectives (even after decades) of how to look at life and creativity, and tons of quotes and references to books and artists that will keep you searching out new avenues of inspiration, just as Walt Stanchfield did. Get these books.

For some more one Walt and his “Words of Wisom”…
See the trailer:
at Don Hahn’s website
Read about Walt and the books (with sample pages):
on Mark Kennedy’s blog
on Hans Bacher’s blog

Animation Timeline

Clay — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:46:17 +0000

For many years I’ve kept my eyes open for fast and easy ways to create dynamic timelines and it appears it is a concept who’s time has finally come. There are now many websites that let you create your own custom timelines and after checking out a few, I decided to create an Animation Timeline on Dipity.

I’ve added all the Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks and Blue Sky feature films but I’m sure there are many more from years past that can be included. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t mind having anything related to animation on there. I started it, but I won’t claim it as my own – it’s for all of us! Any one can contribute since it is editable by anyone. Just create an account on Dipity and add away. You can even edit the information that’s there if you want. It took me a while to get all the films in there, so I’m putting a bit of trust in your hands that you won’t maul it in to a work of evil, but I know you’re a good bunch and animation types generally watch out for each other.

I would love it if individual events could be added from the accounts of these podcasts, but that is beyond my means. If anyone is willing, that would be very cool to see. Whatever happens, I thought it would be fun to share with you.

For me the most striking view is to open the timeline full-screen (click the button in the lower left corner) to see the pattern of how many films were released over the years. (See the thumbnail above.) You can follow the boom after Snow White, the fallow years of the 50s and 60s, and then the explosion of releases in the last couple decades. As you can see, animation is booming and that’s great for all of us!

Check it out and add to it if you’re inclined.

Announcing The Animation Podcast Swag Shop!

Clay — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:11:25 +0000

Now you can let the whole world know that the voices in your head are “The voices of animation” by wearing your Animation Podcast t-shirt and Animation Podcast hat while sipping your beverage of choice from your Animation Podcast coffee cup! You can even stick your Animation Podcast magnet to your favorite piece of metal. So don’t walk – RUN! Get to The Animation Podcast Swag Shop (TAPSS to those in the know) and show the love!

Before I started touting the Shop, I wanted to make sure this stuff wasn’t junk, so I ordered a dark grey t-shirt and mug and in two days they were on my doorstep. They are great! I’m proudly wearing the shirt today and sipping happily from the mug.

Listen to The Animation Podcast on your iPod Touch or iPhone

Clay — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:01:53 +0000

Get your fingers all over The Animation Podcast.
If you’ve got an iPod Touch or an iPhone, direct Safari to:

http://animationpodcast.com/iphone
In case you haven’t subscribed in iTunes already and find yourself out on the road, needing some animation love, you’ll find a simple page there with all the shows laid out for you.

Under a little construction…

Clay — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:10:23 +0000

I threw the switch and changed the layout of the site. As I expected, some things got pretty thrown out of whack! It all seems functional now, but I’ll be fiddling with it to get it the way I like.

I should point out a few new things around here:

There are now TWO sidebars that will hopefully gather all the interesting tidbits in to a tighter clump.
I’ve activated K2′s (the blog theme – getk2.com) top navigation bar. You’ll see it under the header if you go back a to an older page, then you can interactively scroll through the past without the page having to reload – ooooh. (By the way, check out the ‘trim’ feature when the scrollbar appears.)
Live search is now active in the search box in the sidebar – aaahhh.
I’ve added a new audio shoutbox in the sidebar for instant audio comments! We’ll see how that goes. I pay good money for that so use it!!!
The archives actually serve a purpose, so digging through them now results in, well, results!
On a side note, the number of podcasts in the categories list was always wrong. It fixed itself somehow. Yay.

I’m sure there are more good things and probably a couple bad ones, but I’ll get the wrinkles ironed out by the end of the week. Thanks for stopping by!

I’m published in Walt’s People Volume 5!

Clay — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:12:17 +0000

I just mentioned this in the latest show and I want to make sure no one misses it: Didier Ghez has just released his latest volume in his fantastic series Walt’s People. I’m especially excited about this one because he has included my interview with Ron Clements and John Musker. I’m published! How cool is that? I’m honored to be included in this project. I can’t wait to get my hands on this one. It’s like I’m living this scene from The Jerk:

When’s the next show?

Clay — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 09:21:55 +0000

I get this question almost every day. Well, a lot of things go in to making each podcast so I decided to give you some idea of when to expect the next one. In the sidebar you’ll find some progress bars to visually guide your mania. I’ve broken it down in to four easy steps. Here’s what they mean:

1. Interview recorded: I’ve actually sat down and recorded a conversation long enough to make at least one more show (usually more). This is the fun and easy part.

2. Interview edited: I’m still learning after all this time so I have to go in to clean up the audio quality as much as I know how and then edit it down to take out dead space, my stammering, and any else that could detract from your enjoyment. Lots of ums get killed here. This is the longest part of the whole process.

3. In/out recorded & edited: This is my jabber before and after the interviews. I want to stick with the format but things will come and go as it suits me. I thought it was difficult to talk to someone else on the mic until I tried talking by myself – painfully funny for my wife to listen to at times. If I ever get it right on the first take, it’ll be a miracle.

4. Publishing (Chapters marked, images and links added, files converted and uploaded, RSS feeds updated, post written): I have a giant checklist for this part that I dread, as it seems to take forever. Tons of little (and crucial) steps happen here. Most of these details have to be just right or it won’t work. I’ve included so many steps here because they are like cogs in a clock that all have to be set up and put in to place at once. Once it’s done, I’m so happy and exhausted.

Generally one show will take me about 12 hours to produce, but as you may have noticed, those twelve hours can be very hard to come by, especially when other parts of life can be so fun. So you may still be wondering when the shows will be out, but at least you’ll have some indication of my progress on the next one.

I was on vacation but you didn’t know it.

Clay — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 18:49:23 +0000

The planning was almost perfect. I finished animating on Meet the Robinsons the week before Thanksgiving and then took off last week for a vacation in Maryland and New York. Why do you care? Because I theoretically have more time now that I won’t be doing overtime every day and so that means I’ll get back to producing shows and answering your comments and emails. I keep them all, so if you’ve written but are still waiting for a response, I’ll get to it.

It feels great to come back to work after the holiday with a refreshed mind and the promise of a new movie to work on. I also can’t wait for Meet the Robinsons to come out on March 30th to see how people react. I haven’t seen the final version myself so I’m excited for that too!

There are some questions that keep coming up so I’ll answer them here.

- The enhanced podcast feed in iTunes doesn’t have all the shows. I still need to make them. Every show is available in the regular feed.

- One of the Nik Ranieri files was cutting off and that has been fixed.

- I will add to the animation notebook in the future as well. I want it to be worth your while and looking back at my notes, I felt like they needed some more explanation so I’ll be writing and posting when I can.

I’ll talk to you guys soon.