Tricks of the Trade GDC Notes

Tricks of the Trade

Jake Clark, Sophie Evans, Raul Ibarra, Sylvia Chong, Zack Wolfe, Melissa Shim (Animation Bootcamp)

**please acknowledge that those notes aren’t exactly representative of the speaker(s)’ presentation. I tried to stick to the slides as much as possible. Those notes are here to give you a first taste before the original presentation releases on internet**

JAKE CLARK

. Nail down your main poses ASAP (before creating the motion)

. Consider each individual elements (how every part of the character will move)

. Rough you poses light first (3D animators = pose quickly your characters, then refine their poses later)

. Keep your animation sincere (KISS)

. Contrast (poses, rythm…)

SOPHIE EVANS

. Make your workspace work for you (custom and efficient layout in the DCC)

. Cameras : composition, FOV, DOF…

. Lessons from yoga : go to the uncomfortable zone (at the intersection between painful and comfortable)

. Failure is OK, it helps you grow

RAUL IBARRA

. Break the common workflow if it’s not suited to you! (choose your path)

. Animate hips first

. Look at the stain (imagine character as a shape)

. Find your rythm : record your voice, shoot video reference, listen to a song…

SYLVIA CHONG

. Get comfortable with constraints

. Block faster by breaking the rules (be creative with how you use the rig)

. Speed up polishing by simulating secondary motion

. Work smarter not harder

ZACK WOLFE

. Plural skills is good : design + animation

. « Designing animations » : how can you optimize your workflow? (e.g. : re-usable animations between different characters)

. Collaborate with designers

. Use animation to create your design ( e.g. : use the 12 principles and apply them to a design craft)

. Animation is a visual language

. See it from a different perspective

MELISSA SHIM

. Networking can be awkward

. Have a reason to connect

. Be professional (don’t use Facebook)

. Know yourself and your audience (have clear goals)

. Be self-aware of your work (be kind to yourself)

. Do your researches (for your application)

. Always be learning (as for feedback)

. Don’t let failure get you down

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