Demo Reel Idol is finally here!!!!!!

It’s been a while since my last post. To say that I was just a little busy would be an understatement. These last few months I have been dedicating almost every waking moment to finishing up my demo reel. At first I didn’t think that I was going to make it, but now  the time has come to show the world the reason why I have been hiding away for the last six months. I recently graduated from the Digital Animation Program from BCIT and my demo is complete. Phew. I can’t believe that it’s been a whole year all ready. Time flew by but I’m still waiting to have fun. Just kidding, having the opportunity to learn about the Art of Animation and all the different aspects of 3D has truly been one of the greatest experiences of my life. My studies may be over but this is only the beginning of an exciting and new future.

In the next few weeks I will be uploading some of the extras I will be including in my demo as well as other designs and cool projects I’ve worked on in the pass. So don’t be shy, let me know who you think should be the next DEMO REEL IDOL.

Click on the link or check out the video in the Demo Reel Section.

Enjoy.

Demo Reel Idol Leica Reel

The concept drawings are sketched out, the storyboard has been drawn, it’s now time for the leica reel. I hope you like? For all of you that don’t know the story, heres a quick recap. The sound of music is silence in outer space, and the universe needs to get it’s groove back. A little alien named Omo has come to save the day. After flying around on his musical hog, Omo runs out of gas and starts falling towards Earth. At the same time there are Demo Reel Idol auditions taking place on Earth. Omo crashesinto a contestant singing very badly. After the dust settles Omo walks up to the microphone and speaks into it very softly. The crowd is silent. A spot light shines on a nice hat right next to him. He picks it up and places it on his head. The music begins to play, and with a thrust of the hips he begins to dance, and the crowd begins to cheer. After finishing a great performance Omo stands in the spot light and embraces the cheering crowd.  Omo begins to hear a weird noise and as soon as he opens his eyes, he realizes that it was just a dream. He swerves his musical hog out of the way just in time before crashing into a meteor. He continues you to fly, but then all of a sudden he hears the warning sound that his hog has run out of fuel just like in his dream. Oh, oh.

I would love to get some feed if you lika my reel? Now all I got to do is develop this is into a 3D medium. Let the games begin.

Summer Time just around the corner.

The weather is getting better and my will to work is getting worse. Originally born and raised in South Africa, the sun has always been a big part of my life.  Living in Vancouver you’re lucky to get more than four months of sunshine, so when it does shine I always feel you have to take full advantage of it. As much as I love the sun, I think it’s quite funny that I usually hope for bad weather. When it’s grey and rainy I have no other options but to keep on working. I guess this is just my way of taking a negative(grey) situation and turning into a positive one. Now what do I do when theres not one cloud in the sky, and  all I can hear is the beach calling my name. If anybody out there knows how to do a rain dance, lets get together. But now, lets talk about something more serious. TIME. Time is not my best friend at the moment. Rendering times are taking  forever for small projects, I have no idea how long it will take for my final, my demo reel is not even close to completion and now with a new digital animation class, I can’t even spend all my time in my favourite lab. I recently saw an interesting segment on Time and Success. It is said that in order to become successful at basically anything you do, you need to put in an average of ten thousand hours. For all of you wondering how long that is? It works out to be four to five years if you practice your skill eight to nine hours a day. The Beatles before they became the super stars they are today, use to play eight hour sets, seven days a week. Some of the biggest bands today usually only play three, four hour sets per concert. I spend alot of time at school and I doubt that I could even reach a quater of ten thousand. What I do know is that if you are willing to put in the time, that success will follow.

Tick tock, tick tock.

Spring Break Over

I thought spring break was suppose to feel like a vacation. Barbecues everyday, hiking, playing sports, spending time with family and of course eating lots of chocolates from all the  Easter hunts you joined in. I didn’t do any of that. My plan was to finish all assignments and start working on my demo reel. As of now I still have some assignments to finish up and my demo reel is still on paper. In some ways it’s good I guess because it’s given me a chance to try and plan out my demo reel. Most people don’t plan to fail but fail to plan. My idea is still the same with some minor changes.  I can’t believe that I am all ready half way through my program. I must be having a lot of fun because time is flying way to fast. Lately  I’ve been scared to sleep because I know when I open my eyes it’s going to be Industry night all of a sudden. This is pretty much the home stretch for all of us. The tension may be building up but I know without a doubt that with just  a little hard work, a couple energy drinks and little to no sleep, I should be halfway to completing my demo reel. Now I just need to figure out how to tackle the other half?

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires” ~ Nelson Mandela

I got some protein bars and rope, anyone else want to join me for a climb?

Pick your poison?

Economy Vs Opportunity

With so many lay offs and companies closing down due to the economy, I often wonder is there still some kind of opportunity out there for new digital artist to make their mark. I think as a students the economy is something you have no control of, but following your dreams and staying focused on your passions, you have full control. Regardless of how the economy is, with a little hard work and creativity  we can make all our dreams come true. If you really think about it, it’s mostly the more bigger companies like EA that are publicly traded, that are having the most lay offs. There are smaller privatelyowned companies that are still hiring. With so many talented artists getting laid off, I’m sure without a doubt that there will be alot more new companies coming out of the wood work searching and recruiting new talent. Whose to say that a group of students can’t come together to form the next Pixar or EA company. One of my main goals is start up my own company after gaining some valuable experience and networking. I know that there are a lot of you out there that are worried about what the future may hold, but take it from a person whose had his share of ups and downs, that as long as you stay focused on your passion with a postive attitude that everthing else will fall into place.

I live my dream eveyday, won’t you share yours with me?

Demo Reel Idea

I’m sure everyone is getting to that critical point trying to decide what are you going to do for your demo reel. I’ve had a concept since the first semester and wanted to share it with the rest of the world to see what you think.

In outer space the future of sound is silence. Three alien brothers (Rugo,Omo and Nezo) have travelled all over the universe in search of a newsound. After cruising down the Milky Way they discovered “Music” from planet Earth. They now have a new purpose in life. They want to share their love of music with the eintire universe and so they formed the first alien trio, The Ticby’s.

Rugo, Omo, Nezo

Depending on how well I can manage my time I would like to have all three alien brothers modeled, but just incase I’m going to start with Omo, the little cute one. The reel will start with a shot of Omo flying around in space on his music hog. At the same time there will be Demo Reel  auditions taking place on Earth.

Omo will continue flying around until he notices that his music hog has run out of fuel. He begins to spiral down to Earth. With perfect timing Omo crashes onto a contestant who was singing badly. After the smoke and dust have settled Omo appears. He looks around and then decideds to walk up to the microphone. After a quick microphone check, the spotlight shines on Omo and he begins to sing. (The song that he sings is Top Secret) Due to time (rendering) constraints, he won’t be singing an entire song. Once done, the audience begins to cheer and Omo takes his bow and the credits roll. This is overall idea, I’m still planning on trying to incorporate more principles of animation. I would love to hear what you think or if you have any suggestions on how I could make this the best Demo Reel ever, let me know?