Harley Quinn - Do You Wanna Kill The Batman?
©2015 I decided to create an actual Harley Quinn to sing her version of the song "Do You Wanna Build A Snowman" from Disney's Frozen.
I included an Animation Progression Breakdown (really as just an excuse to play more of the song).
Michael Smith Games Reel
I included an Animation Progression Breakdown (really as just an excuse to play more of the song).
Michael Smith Games Reel
©2013 A sampler of a little of the animation work I've done in games over the last few years.
I put it together from various gameplay footage I could find online of the games I've worked on. Thanks to all the fans whose footage of my animations I used to make this reel.
Nissan 350Z Transformer
I put it together from various gameplay footage I could find online of the games I've worked on. Thanks to all the fans whose footage of my animations I used to make this reel.
Nissan 350Z Transformer
©2007 I had to get one more transformer in before the Transformer movie came out and changed everything.
Here was my latest attempt at a Live Action Transformer that I posted a month or two before Transformers hit the big screen. It's basically an adaptation of the old Jazz bumper that would play on the cartoon before sending us to a commercial break (The Transformers will return after these messages).
Test Footage Transformer
Here was my latest attempt at a Live Action Transformer that I posted a month or two before Transformers hit the big screen. It's basically an adaptation of the old Jazz bumper that would play on the cartoon before sending us to a commercial break (The Transformers will return after these messages).
Test Footage Transformer
©2003 If only I had finished my short film...
This a Transformer from my short film I was making with a couple buddies back in 2002. The only thing newsworthy I did was use it as Transformer movie "leaked" footage back in 2005. It caused quite a stir and generated a little more buzz for the movie. It also gave the fans some entertainment on forums debating it's authenticity while they waited for the real stuff.
White VW Transformer
This a Transformer from my short film I was making with a couple buddies back in 2002. The only thing newsworthy I did was use it as Transformer movie "leaked" footage back in 2005. It caused quite a stir and generated a little more buzz for the movie. It also gave the fans some entertainment on forums debating it's authenticity while they waited for the real stuff.
White VW Transformer
©2000 Ahhhh...the olden days. Finally getting around to adding this to YouTube.
Can you tell its a CG car? Look carefully there's more than meets the eye.
A camera tracking exercise that we filmed in Rainbow Studio's back parking lot. It was a test for a short movie I was going to do. That's me walking in the background :)
Michael Facial Rig
Can you tell its a CG car? Look carefully there's more than meets the eye.
A camera tracking exercise that we filmed in Rainbow Studio's back parking lot. It was a test for a short movie I was going to do. That's me walking in the background :)
Michael Facial Rig
©2013 Putting my facial rig through it's paces.
A quick face posing exercise I did to test out my rig using pictures of real facial expressions. I've noticed a TON of tweaks I need to go back fix on the rig, but I figured I'd post it for you guys to check out. (sidenote: SubSurface Scattering is cool!)
Whiz Palace
A quick face posing exercise I did to test out my rig using pictures of real facial expressions. I've noticed a TON of tweaks I need to go back fix on the rig, but I figured I'd post it for you guys to check out. (sidenote: SubSurface Scattering is cool!)
Whiz Palace
©2012 I Gotta Go...
Another "free time" animation! Woo Hoo!!!
Attitude Problem
Another "free time" animation! Woo Hoo!!!
Attitude Problem
©2011 Really....who thinks that?
Free time animation practice using my own custom rig and model. I think I spent more time crumpling the "paper" in his hands than anything else on the shot. What a nightmare that turned out to be.
Health Problem
Free time animation practice using my own custom rig and model. I think I spent more time crumpling the "paper" in his hands than anything else on the shot. What a nightmare that turned out to be.
Health Problem
©2008 So my legs and my left arm "occasionally" go to sleep...
More free time animation practice using the free LoMax rig. I actually stripped out his body and facial rig and re-rigged it for this animation.
The GateKey - 10 Second Club
More free time animation practice using the free LoMax rig. I actually stripped out his body and facial rig and re-rigged it for this animation.
The GateKey - 10 Second Club
©2006 Oh, you mean this Gatekey.
My entry for the February 2006 10 Second Club animation contest.
Thought I would experiment a little with (what I thought at the time was "subtle") squash and stretch during an acting segment.
Video Game Animation Test
My entry for the February 2006 10 Second Club animation contest.
Thought I would experiment a little with (what I thought at the time was "subtle") squash and stretch during an acting segment.
Video Game Animation Test
©2013 Another animation test and more fun to be had.
FEAR 3_Unused Credits Animation
FEAR 3_Unused Credits Animation
©2011 Muuutherrrrrrrrrrrr...
Animated intro I did for when the credits started rolling on F.E.A.R. 3. It was designed as a spoof of Danzig's Mother music video, I even had the Creep doing that weird dance the woman in the Danzig video does (but that's cut even from this animation so we see child Alma twice instead).
We decided it didn't fit the "tone" of the game, so it wasn't used.
Grey Matter - Ben 10 - Race Against Time
Animated intro I did for when the credits started rolling on F.E.A.R. 3. It was designed as a spoof of Danzig's Mother music video, I even had the Creep doing that weird dance the woman in the Danzig video does (but that's cut even from this animation so we see child Alma twice instead).
We decided it didn't fit the "tone" of the game, so it wasn't used.
Grey Matter - Ben 10 - Race Against Time
©2007 The Grey Matter animation sequence I did for the live action movie, Ben 10 - Race Against Time (I animated on the parts that are not black and white).
The sequence was nominated for a 2008 VES (Visual Effects Society) award for Best Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program or Commercial.
Ben10 Grey Matter - Michigan Frog Dance
Top Hat and Monacle
The sequence was nominated for a 2008 VES (Visual Effects Society) award for Best Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program or Commercial.
Ben10 Grey Matter - Michigan Frog Dance
©2006. Race Against Time - The Chuck Jones Tribute.
I don't know why, we thought he looked kinda like a frog. We were going to do this whole thing where Grey Matter jumps out of my computer and dances on my desk (I think I still have the shot of me standing up and Grey Matter jumping out of the computer on my hard drive somewhere).
Did this when they were trying to get a live action movie made for Cartoon Network (seemed a little weird for a network about cartoons to do a live action movie). IT WORKED, and I got to animate the Grey Matter sequence from the Ben 10 Race Against Time! That sequence was nominated for a 2007 VES (Visual Effects Society) award for Best Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program or Commercial.
I don't know why, we thought he looked kinda like a frog. We were going to do this whole thing where Grey Matter jumps out of my computer and dances on my desk (I think I still have the shot of me standing up and Grey Matter jumping out of the computer on my hard drive somewhere).
Did this when they were trying to get a live action movie made for Cartoon Network (seemed a little weird for a network about cartoons to do a live action movie). IT WORKED, and I got to animate the Grey Matter sequence from the Ben 10 Race Against Time! That sequence was nominated for a 2007 VES (Visual Effects Society) award for Best Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program or Commercial.
Top Hat and Monacle
©2006 Watch out for the cane!
More technical cloth work. This time to create a character with a bit more "sinister" presence.
Zoot Suit
More technical cloth work. This time to create a character with a bit more "sinister" presence.
Zoot Suit
©2006 Dance moves as cool as the clothes.
Learning to use 3DS Max's cloth system to create clothing.
Red Jacket
Learning to use 3DS Max's cloth system to create clothing.
Red Jacket
©2006 Vintage Clothing comes to life!
I love this animation because I used my little one as reference for the movement. It's missing a shot (of the clothing coming together), but I think it still came out nice. I was worried it would be scary or ghostly, which was not the intention.
I only modeled the "kid" and animated him everything else was done by another artist.
Animation Test for Video Games
I love this animation because I used my little one as reference for the movement. It's missing a shot (of the clothing coming together), but I think it still came out nice. I was worried it would be scary or ghostly, which was not the intention.
I only modeled the "kid" and animated him everything else was done by another artist.
Animation Test for Video Games
©2012 Who says tests can't be fun?
I applied for a job at video game company "X" and they wanted me to do an animation test. The test consisted using the free online character Max and doing...
1) A forward moving jump. Character should have forward momentum for the jump. This animation should be done in 50 frames or less.
2) A two hit melee combo player attack. No weapons. This animation should be done in 40 frames or less.
No facial animation required.
Sounded good, but also kinda boring. I turned in the two animations then I also combined both of the animations into one long one, added a second character, did some extra work, set it to music and dubbed this extra animation "The Fun Version".
Donkey Live Intro
©2009. It's Great to be Here!
Prototype animated intro for Donkey Live, a live show featuring Shrek's Donkey at Universal Studios Singapore.
Be sure to check out the show at Hook's Knight Club on Romeo Drive when you're visiting Universal Studios.
Wii - Wrath of Nunchuck
Wii - Hold on Tight
©2007 Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!
A "spare time" animation done for Super 78. Getting paid for "spare time" animation kicks butt! Wait, doesn't that make it not a "spare time" animation?
A little Wii parody animation for Super 78 during some down time. It's my first V-Ray render ever and that cable turned into a pain (running simulations), but I think it's cute. I thought I'd post it here for some critique.
What They Wanna Hear
©2006. Cause we only want to hear tha truth.
My first ever animation for the 10 second club animation website. The sound clip was from Raising Arizona and the character is a free model for use in learning animation.
D'Yah Think?
©2008. D'yah think we should do something about the B-O-D-Y-S?
One can only imagine the horrific scene they are witnessing as this question is asked...because I didn't create a scene for them to look at (I'm so lazy).
My Son's Gift
©2008. My son has a gift.
Father shills his son to a talent recruiter. The son's talent being that he can "pop and lock" like he's from the 80's. Decided to give the "Generi" rig a break and used the "LoMax" rig instead for this 11 second club animation.
Heavy and Light
©2003. Two bipeds try to pick up the letter "M" but it is very heavy....or is it very light?
An animation exercise I did to show different weight and personalities using the same models.
Even though this is one of my older animations now, I forgive it's lack of animation finesse. It's actually an animation I can still look at and like (usually I hate my stuff a day or two after I finish).
Avengers - Something Good
©2009. After we wrapped on Fracture at Day 1 Studios there was talk of us working on an Avengers game project. Towards the end of our pitch for that game most everyone was pulled off to work on F.3.A.R. eventually including me.
As one of the few left on the project I used it as an opportunity to familiarize myself with the cinema tools we use to make cut scenes in our game engine. I put together my own cinema cameras and animation then placed it in the game.
This was the result. The lesson here is....don't leave Michael unsupervised...you will get silly things (this video had nothing to do with our pitch, except I used the "work in progress" models we had).
I apologize for the bad language in the music....but the song was just WAAAAAY too appropriate for what I was doing ;) I tried to, at least, use the cleaner language version.
Reference Video Prototyping
©2009. Day 1 Studios had wrapped animation on Fracture and we were pitching projects for our next game. This particular project got me excited and I did a lot of animation research. All you see here was taken from live action video reference I found.
This really turned into an analyzing live footage exercise. None of the "animation" you see here was refined and the timing all remained unchanged. Really it was just getting the keys down posewise with some breakdowns (although a lot were missing). This was really the animation equivalent of "gesture drawing" as I would just get the info down as fast as possible.
We ended up not getting the project so I threw stuff together to show here. It's like a months worth of work.
Dumb or Something
© 2006. What do they think I am, dumb or something?!
Grabbed an old character I had laying around and did my second 10 second club animation.
Twisted Whiskers - Gettin` Jiggy (The Dancing Teapots)
©2006. K...some backstory is needed for this...
In order to do the Gettin` Jiggy dance animation (2006) I used a bouncing teapot (the teapot object is an old 3d animation inside joke object) timed to the music as a visual metronome to make sure my dance timing was correct.
So everytime Joe Mangione would look over my shoulder to see how the dance animation was coming along he'd laugh because it looked like the cat was dancing with a teapot.
So after I completed the Gettin` Jiggy animaiton AND to avoid burnout I decided to screw around a bit. So I made this video as it says....."for Joe" cause dancing teapots make him laugh.
Twisted Whiskers - Gettin` Jiggy (Extended Original Cut)
©2006. This version is an extended longer version of the animation that includes a prance and leap up into the litterbox.
Dander taps into a bit 'o luck in this short. I was responsible for only the rigging and animation for these American Greetings card company shorts (2006) while working for Super 78. Animated in 11 days.
Twisted Whiskers - Gettin` Jiggy
©2006. Dander taps into a bit 'o luck in this short. I was responsible for only the rigging and animation for these American Greetings card company shorts (2006) while working for Super 78. Animated in 11 days.
Twisted Whiskers - Yawp and Away!
©2006. Yawp's up, up and away in this twisted short. I was responsible for only the rigging and animation for these American Greetings card company shorts (2006) while working for Super 78. Animated in 8 days.
Twisted Whiskers - Kind of a Drag
©2006. Dander's antics really take off in this short. I was responsible for only the rigging and animation for these American Greetings card company shorts (2006) while working for Super 78. Animated in 8 days.
Twisted Whiskers - Dancin` Paws
©2006. In this short, Dander boogies right into stardust. I was responsible for only the rigging and animation for these American Greetings card company shorts (2006) while working for Super 78. Animated in 11 days.
Twisted Whiskers - Mirror Cracked
©2006. Its Yawp against Yawp in this distorted short. I was responsible for only the rigging and animation for these American Greetings card company shorts (2006)while working for Super 78. Animated in 11 days.
Twisted Whiskers - Gooser Gets It
©2006. Goosers goes galactic in this scorching short.
I was responsible for only the rigging and animation for these American Greetings card company shorts (2006)while working for Super 78. Animated in 6 days.
Maya Biped Free Running (Parkour) Animation
©2005. A rare "free time" animation I did back in 2005. After using Maya for the past year and a half I was missing 3DS Max and Character Studio, so I decided to bring a Biped into Maya and animate it...... but what to animate, hmmmmmm...... then I watched Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior on the big screen a couple weeks ago and what can I say, I was totally inspired.
Almost drove myself crazy dealing with the gimbal in Maya (definitely going to use 2 root bones in the future to deal with the rotations ) as Character Studio (which has it's share of problems) doesn't have a gimbal problem.
Anyways, check it out (it was also the first time I've rendered in Maya) and let me know what you think...
But....this place...
©2003. A rare "free time" animation I did back in 2003.
After doing a bunch of happy fun stuff, thought I would try something a little more somber. This is me going for the animation academy award.
I wanted to change things up a bit and do a more "realistic" animation after doing a couple of "over the top" cartoony animations (you know, trying to show my "range"). Looking at it now, it's still way too over the top and comes off as not authentic....gotta keep practicing I guess ;)
Junior, What Time is It?
©2003. A rare "free time" animation I did back in 2003. Animated to an old Red Skelton radio clip...I know, I know...it's hard to understand what he says in the clip, but it was taking me forever to find an audio clip I liked, so I just picked one.
Totally modeled, setup, textured (with the exception of the eyeballs) and animated by yours truly.
It features my kid model (which was just sitting on my hard drive and had yet to do anything with), let me know how you like it.
Tomb Raider Legend - Snake Deaths
©2006. Animation I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
This was the most fun I had working with Lara Croft, probably because I got to see her get eaten (yeah call me sick), subsequently these are my favorite animations I did for this game. Good Times.
I originally animated the gate impaling the head of the snake a killing it at the end, but it had to be changed to keep our "T" (Teen) rating.
Tomb Raider Legend - Heading for the Roof
©2006. Animation I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, I did both the initial and polish phases.
(Now in the interest of full disclosure, I was no longer at Crystal Dynamics when the game was released so I can't guarantee that another animator didn't tweak stuff in my scenes after I left.)
Tomb Raider Legend - The Stone Dias
©2006. Animation I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, I did both the initial and polish phases.
(Now in the interest of full disclosure, I was no longer at Crystal Dynamics when the game was released so I can't guarantee that another animator didn't tweak stuff in my scenes after I left.)
Tomb Raider Legend - The Key Obtained
©2006. Animation I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, I did both the initial and polish phases.
(Now in the interest of full disclosure, I was no longer at Crystal Dynamics when the game was released so I can't guarantee that another animator didn't tweak stuff in my scenes after I left.)
Tomb Raider Legend - The Postcard Business
©2006. Animation I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, I did both the initial and polish phases.
Tomb Raider Legend - Headset Hijack
©2006. Animation I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, I did both the initial and polish phases.
Tomb Raider Legend - Prize Obtained
©2006. Animation I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, I did both the initial and polish phases.
Tomb Raider Legend - Bolivia Redux
©2006. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, I did the initial animation phase and someone else did the polish phase.
Tomb Raider Legend - Allies Under Fire
©2006. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, someone else did the initial animation phase and I did the polish phase.
Tomb Raider Legend - Shields and Maps
©2006. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, someone else did the initial animation phase and I did the polish phase.
Tomb Raider Legend - Bedivere's Legacy
©2006. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, someone else did the initial animation phase and I did the polish phase.
Tomb Raider Legend - The Queen's Story
©2006. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, someone else did the initial animation phase and I did the polish phase.
Tomb Raider Legend - Command Center
©2006. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, someone else did the initial animation phase and I did the polish phase.
Donner - My Animation from Act 3
©2001. The following clips were taken from the CG Christmas Special for ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas back in 2001.
FX Image Opener: Break On Through
©2005. A project I did for FX channel (Upfronts 2005) to introduce their new lineup of fall shows. I modeled, textured, lit, rigged and animated for this sequence. 2D effects (such as the videos, greens tint filters, etc) were done by the artists at autonomy. I also believe another artist setup a couple other camera shots for the final piece and did some minor texture tweaking.
Break on through to the other side!
Whiplash - Hamster Escape Attempt 3
©2003. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Whiplash video game (Edios 2003). This was part of a series of escapes the hamster was supposed to try during the game. In this, Hamster's third escape attempt from the cage in F.D. Mann's office, he defys the laws of physics and is able to move the cage from the inside (I was going to have F.D. Mann move the cage back and thus all the hamster's effort is for naught, but I never finished this animation as the idea of doing multiple escape attempts was cut).
You can still see this animation play during the ending cinematic of the game. They actually cut the pushups and just showed him pushing the cage. Yay, he's free?
Whiplash - Hamster Escape Attempt 2
©2003. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Whiplash video game (Edios 2003).
This was part of a series of escapes the hamster was supposed to try during the game. Thanks to his friends at ACME, Hamster tries using a cannon to break through the glass of the cage.
This animation actually never made it into the game. So the only place you can see this is here.
Whiplash - Hamster Escape Attempt 1
©2003. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Whiplash video game (Edios 2003).
This was part of a series of escapes the hamster was supposed to try during the game. In this one, the hamster tries the direct approach of breaking through the glass of the cage.
This animation plays during the opening cinematic of the game. So don't hit the skip button or you won't get to see it.
eXarch Animations
©2003. Some of my animation work for the video game eXarch (2003) which was cancelled by NCSoft. NCSoft then took the work, added some content, and made Dungeon Runners (a FREE Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) that you can download and play for free.
I looked at my website and realized there's getting to be a lack of more "realistic" video game type animations. So here you go.
WalkCycle Animation Test
©2002. My first ever four-legged walk cycle!
An animation test for I had to do for Realm Interactive in 2002. Had one day to rig and animate this model...this is what I turned in. It got me the job! Rock On!
Dragonfly
©2000. Ooooh, scary dragonfly.
Using a model I created at Rainbow Studios for a proposed "Centipede" television show back in 2000 (it was cancelled). I decided to learn Max 3's bone system and rig it up. I also learned illusions to put some 2d particles in this video.
Michael Smith Art Institute Animation Reel - 1998
©1998. Just to prove that every computer artist had to start somewhere, I thought I'd post my original Art Institute of Phoenix demo tape.
9 months earlier I had no idea what even the name of a computer animation package was. This was back in the good old days, Beast War Transformers hadn't even come out yet. You'll have to excuse the crappy transfer quality as all I have is a VHS version and I had no good way of getting it on my computer.
So here it is, the first transformer I ever did....heck the first thing I ever did in computer animation...
Just a warning if you watch it...you can't get your 3 minutes back ;)
Teddy Chan vs Bear Li
©1997. I give you ......boot to the head.
One of my earliest animation attempts (1997). Done while I was attending the Art Institute of Phoenix. Lots and LOTS of drawing for a blip of animation. [sigh]
Donner - The Gigi and Brock Dance
©2001. So....what do you do after you've worked nights and weekends to finish a ridiculous amount of animation in a short period of time and burned yourself out? You animate some more, of course.
This was just me goofing around after we had finished the Christmas special Donner because it was weird going from having a ton of work to do...to none at all (plus I just love that Christina Milian AM to PM song so much).
Donner - My Animation from Act 2
©2001. The following clips were taken from the CG Christmas Special for ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas back in 2001.
This was the introduction Skeezer and Tubby, the exiled elves that help Donner to find himself in hopes that Donner can get them back on Santa's good side.
Donner - My Animation from Act 1
©2001. The following clips were taken from the CG Christmas Special for ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas back in 2001.
This was the introduction of the other seven reindeer. I still get a kick out of the wacky character designs for the show.
If I remember right, I was animating about a minute and a half of footage a week....it was crazy. Although quality obviously had to suffer.
TMNT CG Clips From Unsold TV Series - My Shots
©2001. The following clips were taken from the CGI (computer graphics imaging) "pilot" for a proposed TMNT television show that was produced back in 2001. No TV networks were interested in doing a computer animated TMNT TV series back in 2001, so the project was dropped.
Here are just the 6 shots I did in this pilot when I was working at Rainbow Studios. I did the 5 shots of the Foot Headquarters sequence with Shredder (starting when the narrator says, "There are those who seek to extinguish the power". I modeled the giant computer they're looking at (you may notice it closely resembles Teletran-1 from the Transformers). The last Cowabunga shot was also put together by me.
TMNT CG Clips From Unsold TV Series
©2001. The following clips were taken from the CGI (computer graphics imaging) "pilot" for a proposed TMNT television show that was produced back in 2001. No TV networks were interested in doing a computer animated TMNT TV series back in 2001, so the project was dropped.
I did 6 shots in this pilot when I was working at Rainbow Studios. I did the 5 shots of the Foot Headquarters sequence with Shredder (starting when the narrator says, "There are those who seek to extinguish the power". I modeled the giant computer they're looking at (you may notice it closely resembles Teletran-1 from the Transformers). The last Cowabunga shot was also put together by me.
I also modeled Splinter and most of the foot soldiers.
Happy Toaster
Spinning Cow
I applied for a job at video game company "X" and they wanted me to do an animation test. The test consisted using the free online character Max and doing...
1) A forward moving jump. Character should have forward momentum for the jump. This animation should be done in 50 frames or less.
2) A two hit melee combo player attack. No weapons. This animation should be done in 40 frames or less.
No facial animation required.
Sounded good, but also kinda boring. I turned in the two animations then I also combined both of the animations into one long one, added a second character, did some extra work, set it to music and dubbed this extra animation "The Fun Version".
Donkey Live Intro ©2009. It's Great to be Here!
Prototype animated intro for Donkey Live, a live show featuring Shrek's Donkey at Universal Studios Singapore.
Be sure to check out the show at Hook's Knight Club on Romeo Drive when you're visiting Universal Studios.
Wii - Wrath of Nunchuck
©2007 Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.....2!!!!!!!!!
Super 78 had me do this as kind of a send off fun thing to do before I left for my new job out in Maryland. It beat having to do actual work... ;)
So it's a quick little sequel to our first little Wii parody animation that I did at Super 78 before I left there to go to my new job. Tried to give the little WiiMote and Nunchuck more personality in this one.
Super 78 had me do this as kind of a send off fun thing to do before I left for my new job out in Maryland. It beat having to do actual work... ;)
So it's a quick little sequel to our first little Wii parody animation that I did at Super 78 before I left there to go to my new job. Tried to give the little WiiMote and Nunchuck more personality in this one.
Wii - Hold on Tight©2007 Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!
A "spare time" animation done for Super 78. Getting paid for "spare time" animation kicks butt! Wait, doesn't that make it not a "spare time" animation?
A little Wii parody animation for Super 78 during some down time. It's my first V-Ray render ever and that cable turned into a pain (running simulations), but I think it's cute. I thought I'd post it here for some critique.
What They Wanna Hear©2006. Cause we only want to hear tha truth.
My first ever animation for the 10 second club animation website. The sound clip was from Raising Arizona and the character is a free model for use in learning animation.
D'Yah Think?©2008. D'yah think we should do something about the B-O-D-Y-S?
One can only imagine the horrific scene they are witnessing as this question is asked...because I didn't create a scene for them to look at (I'm so lazy).
My Son's Gift©2008. My son has a gift.
Father shills his son to a talent recruiter. The son's talent being that he can "pop and lock" like he's from the 80's. Decided to give the "Generi" rig a break and used the "LoMax" rig instead for this 11 second club animation.
Heavy and Light©2003. Two bipeds try to pick up the letter "M" but it is very heavy....or is it very light?
An animation exercise I did to show different weight and personalities using the same models.
Even though this is one of my older animations now, I forgive it's lack of animation finesse. It's actually an animation I can still look at and like (usually I hate my stuff a day or two after I finish).
Avengers - Something Good©2009. After we wrapped on Fracture at Day 1 Studios there was talk of us working on an Avengers game project. Towards the end of our pitch for that game most everyone was pulled off to work on F.3.A.R. eventually including me.
As one of the few left on the project I used it as an opportunity to familiarize myself with the cinema tools we use to make cut scenes in our game engine. I put together my own cinema cameras and animation then placed it in the game.
This was the result. The lesson here is....don't leave Michael unsupervised...you will get silly things (this video had nothing to do with our pitch, except I used the "work in progress" models we had).
I apologize for the bad language in the music....but the song was just WAAAAAY too appropriate for what I was doing ;) I tried to, at least, use the cleaner language version.
Reference Video Prototyping©2009. Day 1 Studios had wrapped animation on Fracture and we were pitching projects for our next game. This particular project got me excited and I did a lot of animation research. All you see here was taken from live action video reference I found.
This really turned into an analyzing live footage exercise. None of the "animation" you see here was refined and the timing all remained unchanged. Really it was just getting the keys down posewise with some breakdowns (although a lot were missing). This was really the animation equivalent of "gesture drawing" as I would just get the info down as fast as possible.
We ended up not getting the project so I threw stuff together to show here. It's like a months worth of work.
Dumb or Something© 2006. What do they think I am, dumb or something?!
Grabbed an old character I had laying around and did my second 10 second club animation.
Twisted Whiskers - Gettin` Jiggy (The Dancing Teapots)©2006. K...some backstory is needed for this...
In order to do the Gettin` Jiggy dance animation (2006) I used a bouncing teapot (the teapot object is an old 3d animation inside joke object) timed to the music as a visual metronome to make sure my dance timing was correct.
So everytime Joe Mangione would look over my shoulder to see how the dance animation was coming along he'd laugh because it looked like the cat was dancing with a teapot.
So after I completed the Gettin` Jiggy animaiton AND to avoid burnout I decided to screw around a bit. So I made this video as it says....."for Joe" cause dancing teapots make him laugh.
Twisted Whiskers - Gettin` Jiggy (Extended Original Cut)
©2006. This version is an extended longer version of the animation that includes a prance and leap up into the litterbox.
Dander taps into a bit 'o luck in this short. I was responsible for only the rigging and animation for these American Greetings card company shorts (2006) while working for Super 78. Animated in 11 days.
Twisted Whiskers - Gettin` Jiggy©2006. Dander taps into a bit 'o luck in this short. I was responsible for only the rigging and animation for these American Greetings card company shorts (2006) while working for Super 78. Animated in 11 days.
Twisted Whiskers - Yawp and Away!©2006. Yawp's up, up and away in this twisted short. I was responsible for only the rigging and animation for these American Greetings card company shorts (2006) while working for Super 78. Animated in 8 days.
Twisted Whiskers - Kind of a Drag©2006. Dander's antics really take off in this short. I was responsible for only the rigging and animation for these American Greetings card company shorts (2006) while working for Super 78. Animated in 8 days.
Twisted Whiskers - Dancin` Paws©2006. In this short, Dander boogies right into stardust. I was responsible for only the rigging and animation for these American Greetings card company shorts (2006) while working for Super 78. Animated in 11 days.
Twisted Whiskers - Mirror Cracked©2006. Its Yawp against Yawp in this distorted short. I was responsible for only the rigging and animation for these American Greetings card company shorts (2006)while working for Super 78. Animated in 11 days.
Twisted Whiskers - Gooser Gets It©2006. Goosers goes galactic in this scorching short.
I was responsible for only the rigging and animation for these American Greetings card company shorts (2006)while working for Super 78. Animated in 6 days.
Maya Biped Free Running (Parkour) Animation ©2005. A rare "free time" animation I did back in 2005. After using Maya for the past year and a half I was missing 3DS Max and Character Studio, so I decided to bring a Biped into Maya and animate it...... but what to animate, hmmmmmm...... then I watched Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior on the big screen a couple weeks ago and what can I say, I was totally inspired.
Almost drove myself crazy dealing with the gimbal in Maya (definitely going to use 2 root bones in the future to deal with the rotations ) as Character Studio (which has it's share of problems) doesn't have a gimbal problem.
Anyways, check it out (it was also the first time I've rendered in Maya) and let me know what you think...
But....this place...©2003. A rare "free time" animation I did back in 2003.
After doing a bunch of happy fun stuff, thought I would try something a little more somber. This is me going for the animation academy award.
I wanted to change things up a bit and do a more "realistic" animation after doing a couple of "over the top" cartoony animations (you know, trying to show my "range"). Looking at it now, it's still way too over the top and comes off as not authentic....gotta keep practicing I guess ;)
Junior, What Time is It?©2003. A rare "free time" animation I did back in 2003. Animated to an old Red Skelton radio clip...I know, I know...it's hard to understand what he says in the clip, but it was taking me forever to find an audio clip I liked, so I just picked one.
Totally modeled, setup, textured (with the exception of the eyeballs) and animated by yours truly.
It features my kid model (which was just sitting on my hard drive and had yet to do anything with), let me know how you like it.
Tomb Raider Legend - Snake Deaths©2006. Animation I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
This was the most fun I had working with Lara Croft, probably because I got to see her get eaten (yeah call me sick), subsequently these are my favorite animations I did for this game. Good Times.
I originally animated the gate impaling the head of the snake a killing it at the end, but it had to be changed to keep our "T" (Teen) rating.
Tomb Raider Legend - Heading for the Roof©2006. Animation I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, I did both the initial and polish phases.
(Now in the interest of full disclosure, I was no longer at Crystal Dynamics when the game was released so I can't guarantee that another animator didn't tweak stuff in my scenes after I left.)
Tomb Raider Legend - The Stone Dias ©2006. Animation I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, I did both the initial and polish phases.
(Now in the interest of full disclosure, I was no longer at Crystal Dynamics when the game was released so I can't guarantee that another animator didn't tweak stuff in my scenes after I left.)
Tomb Raider Legend - The Key Obtained©2006. Animation I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, I did both the initial and polish phases.
(Now in the interest of full disclosure, I was no longer at Crystal Dynamics when the game was released so I can't guarantee that another animator didn't tweak stuff in my scenes after I left.)
Tomb Raider Legend - The Postcard Business©2006. Animation I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, I did both the initial and polish phases.
Tomb Raider Legend - Headset Hijack©2006. Animation I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, I did both the initial and polish phases.
Tomb Raider Legend - Prize Obtained©2006. Animation I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, I did both the initial and polish phases.
Tomb Raider Legend - Bolivia Redux©2006. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, I did the initial animation phase and someone else did the polish phase.
Tomb Raider Legend - Allies Under Fire©2006. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, someone else did the initial animation phase and I did the polish phase.
Tomb Raider Legend - Shields and Maps©2006. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, someone else did the initial animation phase and I did the polish phase.
Tomb Raider Legend - Bedivere's Legacy©2006. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, someone else did the initial animation phase and I did the polish phase.
Tomb Raider Legend - The Queen's Story©2006. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, someone else did the initial animation phase and I did the polish phase.
Tomb Raider Legend - Command Center©2006. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Legend video game (Eidos 2006).
Scenes for these cinematics in the game were done in two stages: An Initial phase and then a Polish phase. Sometimes your scene would be given to another animator for polish.
For this cinematic, someone else did the initial animation phase and I did the polish phase.
Donner - My Animation from Act 3©2001. The following clips were taken from the CG Christmas Special for ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas back in 2001.
FX Image Opener: Break On Through©2005. A project I did for FX channel (Upfronts 2005) to introduce their new lineup of fall shows. I modeled, textured, lit, rigged and animated for this sequence. 2D effects (such as the videos, greens tint filters, etc) were done by the artists at autonomy. I also believe another artist setup a couple other camera shots for the final piece and did some minor texture tweaking.
Break on through to the other side!
Whiplash - Hamster Escape Attempt 3©2003. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Whiplash video game (Edios 2003). This was part of a series of escapes the hamster was supposed to try during the game. In this, Hamster's third escape attempt from the cage in F.D. Mann's office, he defys the laws of physics and is able to move the cage from the inside (I was going to have F.D. Mann move the cage back and thus all the hamster's effort is for naught, but I never finished this animation as the idea of doing multiple escape attempts was cut).
You can still see this animation play during the ending cinematic of the game. They actually cut the pushups and just showed him pushing the cage. Yay, he's free?
Whiplash - Hamster Escape Attempt 2©2003. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Whiplash video game (Edios 2003).
This was part of a series of escapes the hamster was supposed to try during the game. Thanks to his friends at ACME, Hamster tries using a cannon to break through the glass of the cage.
This animation actually never made it into the game. So the only place you can see this is here.
Whiplash - Hamster Escape Attempt 1©2003. Animations I did for Crystal Dynamics' Whiplash video game (Edios 2003).
This was part of a series of escapes the hamster was supposed to try during the game. In this one, the hamster tries the direct approach of breaking through the glass of the cage.
This animation plays during the opening cinematic of the game. So don't hit the skip button or you won't get to see it.
eXarch Animations©2003. Some of my animation work for the video game eXarch (2003) which was cancelled by NCSoft. NCSoft then took the work, added some content, and made Dungeon Runners (a FREE Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) that you can download and play for free.
I looked at my website and realized there's getting to be a lack of more "realistic" video game type animations. So here you go.
WalkCycle Animation Test©2002. My first ever four-legged walk cycle!
An animation test for I had to do for Realm Interactive in 2002. Had one day to rig and animate this model...this is what I turned in. It got me the job! Rock On!
Dragonfly©2000. Ooooh, scary dragonfly.
Using a model I created at Rainbow Studios for a proposed "Centipede" television show back in 2000 (it was cancelled). I decided to learn Max 3's bone system and rig it up. I also learned illusions to put some 2d particles in this video.
Michael Smith Art Institute Animation Reel - 1998©1998. Just to prove that every computer artist had to start somewhere, I thought I'd post my original Art Institute of Phoenix demo tape.
9 months earlier I had no idea what even the name of a computer animation package was. This was back in the good old days, Beast War Transformers hadn't even come out yet. You'll have to excuse the crappy transfer quality as all I have is a VHS version and I had no good way of getting it on my computer.
So here it is, the first transformer I ever did....heck the first thing I ever did in computer animation...
Just a warning if you watch it...you can't get your 3 minutes back ;)
Teddy Chan vs Bear Li©1997. I give you ......boot to the head.
One of my earliest animation attempts (1997). Done while I was attending the Art Institute of Phoenix. Lots and LOTS of drawing for a blip of animation. [sigh]
Donner - The Gigi and Brock Dance©2001. So....what do you do after you've worked nights and weekends to finish a ridiculous amount of animation in a short period of time and burned yourself out? You animate some more, of course.
This was just me goofing around after we had finished the Christmas special Donner because it was weird going from having a ton of work to do...to none at all (plus I just love that Christina Milian AM to PM song so much).
Donner - My Animation from Act 2©2001. The following clips were taken from the CG Christmas Special for ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas back in 2001.
This was the introduction Skeezer and Tubby, the exiled elves that help Donner to find himself in hopes that Donner can get them back on Santa's good side.
Donner - My Animation from Act 1©2001. The following clips were taken from the CG Christmas Special for ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas back in 2001.
This was the introduction of the other seven reindeer. I still get a kick out of the wacky character designs for the show.
If I remember right, I was animating about a minute and a half of footage a week....it was crazy. Although quality obviously had to suffer.
TMNT CG Clips From Unsold TV Series - My Shots ©2001. The following clips were taken from the CGI (computer graphics imaging) "pilot" for a proposed TMNT television show that was produced back in 2001. No TV networks were interested in doing a computer animated TMNT TV series back in 2001, so the project was dropped.
Here are just the 6 shots I did in this pilot when I was working at Rainbow Studios. I did the 5 shots of the Foot Headquarters sequence with Shredder (starting when the narrator says, "There are those who seek to extinguish the power". I modeled the giant computer they're looking at (you may notice it closely resembles Teletran-1 from the Transformers). The last Cowabunga shot was also put together by me.
TMNT CG Clips From Unsold TV Series©2001. The following clips were taken from the CGI (computer graphics imaging) "pilot" for a proposed TMNT television show that was produced back in 2001. No TV networks were interested in doing a computer animated TMNT TV series back in 2001, so the project was dropped.
I did 6 shots in this pilot when I was working at Rainbow Studios. I did the 5 shots of the Foot Headquarters sequence with Shredder (starting when the narrator says, "There are those who seek to extinguish the power". I modeled the giant computer they're looking at (you may notice it closely resembles Teletran-1 from the Transformers). The last Cowabunga shot was also put together by me.
I also modeled Splinter and most of the foot soldiers.
Happy Toaster
©2002. Animation I did for the video game Wizmo's Workshop:The Dragons of Frozzbokk (Infogrames 2002).
Happiest toaster in the world...
Jumping Beans
Happiest toaster in the world...
Jumping Beans
©2002. Animation I did for the video game Wizmo's Workshop:The Dragons of Frozzbokk (Infogrames 2002).
Ladies and gentlemen...The amazing JUMPING BEANS!!!
Dancing Turtle
Ladies and gentlemen...The amazing JUMPING BEANS!!!
Dancing Turtle
©2002. Animation I did for the video game Wizmo's Workshop:The Dragons of Frozzbokk (Infogrames 2002).
Check out the moves on this dancing turtle. Hmmm, those moves look familiar.
Burping Cactus
Check out the moves on this dancing turtle. Hmmm, those moves look familiar.
Burping Cactus
©2002. Animation I did for the video game Wizmo's Workshop:The Dragons of Frozzbokk (Infogrames 2002).
Burping cactus.
Singing Flower
Burping cactus.
Singing Flower
©2002. Animation I did for the video game Wizmo's Workshop:The Dragons of Frozzbokk (Infogrames 2002).
Flower that sings...what a voice.
Sleeping Pig
Flower that sings...what a voice.
Sleeping Pig
©2002. Animation I did for the video game Wizmo's Workshop:The Dragons of Frozzbokk (Infogrames 2002).
Shhhhhh.....don't wake the pig, he flips out....literally.
Shhhhhh.....don't wake the pig, he flips out....literally.
Fish Snack
©2002. Animation I did for the video game Wizmo's Workshop:The Dragons of Frozzbokk (Infogrames 2002).
Even a trophy fish gets hungry when it sits around all day
©2002. Animation I did for the video game Wizmo's Workshop:The Dragons of Frozzbokk (Infogrames 2002).
Even a trophy fish gets hungry when it sits around all day
Spinning Cow
©2002. Animation I did for the video game Wizmo's Workshop:The Dragons of Frozzbokk (Infogrames 2002).
Ugh....I get dizzy watching the spinning cow.
Ugh....I get dizzy watching the spinning cow.
Frog Statue Eats Fly
©2002. Animation I did for the video game Wizmo's Workshop:The Dragons of Frozzbokk (Infogrames 2002).
If a trophy fish gets hungry...a frog head statue gets downright ravenous.
©2002. Animation I did for the video game Wizmo's Workshop:The Dragons of Frozzbokk (Infogrames 2002).
If a trophy fish gets hungry...a frog head statue gets downright ravenous.
Revenant Combat Animations
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