Monday, March 28, 2016

Nashville Gallery Animation Project



Here's one of the video loops that showed at the APSU Graphic Design & Animation Gallery in Nashville this past weekend.  My Animation Production students were each assigned one of the 12 Principles of Animation, and had to animate the word "Animation" showcasing that principle.

It was a nice assignment, in that the students learned about having to work as just one cog in a bigger wheel.  They had to start and end on the same (provided) frame so that everything would loop together.  It also was a very technical exercise, and they really had to focus on draftsmanship and becoming efficient animators.

animation in action at the gallery

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Nashville Animation & Graphic Design Show

With the help of Professor Paul Collins, the three new faculty at Austin Peay have assembled a gallery show featuring our respective areas.  It's going up during the monthly "Art Crawl" in downtown Nashville and should get a lot of traffic!  My students worked on a collaborative piece about the 12 Principles of Animation, to which I contributed several scenes to as well.

Check out the press release below or at:  http://www.apsu.edu/news/new-exhibit-nashville-showcases-apsu-graphic-design-and-animation-students-and-faculty

The Austin Peay State University Department of Art and Design will showcase the work of its students and faculty during April’s First Saturday Art Crawl in Nashville. The Department of Art and Design will present the exhibition, “Where the Wild Things Are,” on April 2 in Nashville’s L Gallery, in the heart of Nashville’s art district.
The exhibition will highlight the contributions of first year faculty Patrick Gosnell (graphic design), Rachel Bush (graphic design) and Scott Raymond (animation). The presentation will feature a variety of graphic design installations, including new work by APSU graphic design students. The exhibit will also present multi-projection animations featuring creature explorations and a celebration of the guiding principles of animation by current APSU animation students.
The reception and viewing hours for the exhibition will be from 6-9 p.m. on Saturday, April 2, in Suite 73 of Nashville’s Arcade, located between 4th and 5th avenues, off Church Street in Downtown Nashville.
This show is made possible through generous support of APSU’s Faculty Senate Student Academic Success Initiative Award program.
For more information on this exhibition, which is free and open to the public, contact Paul Collins, APSU associate professor of art, at collinsp@apsu.edu.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

University Press Release for Nick Project


The University interviewed me about my work with Buster on the Nick Kids Choice Awards.  The article got picked up by many of the local news sources as well, as well as a few national ones.  I had a great time talking to the writer Colin Harris and think the article turned out really well.

Check out the full text below or at:  http://www.apsu.edu/news/professor-scott-raymond-brings-dinosaur-life-nickelodeons-kids-choice-awards

Despite how the old saying goes, at Austin Peay State University, those who can really do teach.
Assistant professor of animation Scott Raymond recently came to APSU following a successful career in computer animation, working for DreamWorks Animation on recent films, including “Kung Fu Panda 3,” “Home,” “Penguins of Madagascar” and “Mr. Peabody and Sherman.” However, his work in the industry did not stop when he entered the classroom.
In early March, Raymond contributed to a piece that aired promoting Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice Awards show that featured country music star – and show host -- Blake Shelton as he stumbled into, and often ran his way out of, a number of the year’s most popular movies.
Working alongside Los Angeles-based production studio Buster, Raymond got to fulfill a childhood dream, creating an animated T-Rex that the country megastar reacted to, and then comically fled from, during a segment seen by an international audience.
“Everyone has their movie that made them want to get into the industry,” Raymond said. “For my wife, who also works in the industry, it was ‘Toy Story,’ but for a lot of people, it was ‘Star Wars’ that captured their imagination.
“For me, though, it was definitely ‘Jurassic Park,’ so when I was told that (Buster) wanted someone to work on a dinosaur, I was like ‘yes!’”
A native of Nebraska, Raymond left the west coast in 2015 so his wife, a native Tennessean, and their young children could be closer to family. But both he and his wife remained involved in animation and visual effects on a freelance basis, which sometimes means long nights spent hunting for creative opportunities.
“I go through job boards and I check sites like LinkedIn, and I keep this big spreadsheet of companies and job posting sites just so I can keep up on what opportunities are out there,” Raymond said. “I was already familiar with (Buster) because I knew of their work on a poster for ‘Game of Thrones,’ so when I saw they were looking for some animation help, I just sort of reached out to them cold with my demo reel.”
Raymond impressed the LA-based company with both his work and his experience in the industry. Following an interview, Raymond said he was offered the job – as well as a humorous clip of Shelton that would serve as the model with which he would base his dinosaur’s animation.
“It’s kind of funny because I was sent all the documents and I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement which said I wouldn’t talk to anyone about what I was doing,” Raymond said. “But here I was, looking at this funny video of Blake Shelton, running around in front of a green screen like there’s a dinosaur behind him.
“I had to laugh because I had just moved to Nashville, and I’m already working on a video of Blake Shelton and a dinosaur,” Raymond said. “The company I was working with joked ‘hey, if you see Blake on the streets of Nashville, give him a shout for us.’”
Working out of his home office, Raymond animated the dinosaur using Maya, a 3D modeling and animation program. From there, he worked remotely with other artists and animators who added textures and other graphic effects to bring the dinosaur to life.
Raymond said the project took roughly two weeks from start to finish. The final product aired mid-April and was in heavy rotation on Nickelodeon in the month-long buildup to the live Kid’s Choice Awards.
“I had a great time working with Buster, and really excited how it all came together,” Raymond said. “It's a really fun spot, and I had a blast animating it.
“At 2 a.m., when you're getting a little punchy, it's great to look up and remember that you're animating a T-Rex chasing after a country star.”
For more information on APSU’s Department of Art and Design, visit online at http://www.apsu.edu/art. For more information on Raymond, including a blog and examples of previous and current work, visit animationalchemy.blogspot.com.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Nick T-Rex Behind the Scenes


The Kid's Choice Awards were this weekend, and Nick posted this behind the scenes video from the ad I did the T-Rex for.  About a minute in Blake Shelton even talks about getting chased by a dinosaur and you can see the before and after footage.  Fun stuff to see!



Monday, March 14, 2016

Bink Update


I've finished my animation up on the Bink project for Eric Miller Animation Studios.  It's been a lot of fun and a great little project.  Eric updated his website with a few more work-in-progress images, including this new title treatment you see above.


There's a test render of the Lab environment.  It's all looking really great.  It'll also sound great - Eric has Boom Box Post working on the sound Mix and a great composer working on the short as well.



Finally, here's a fun little promo pose I did for Eric.  Looking forward to sharing the whole short soon!



Check the following link for all the latest tests:  http://www.milleranimation.com/bink/