Art in Animation by Vivek Ram
January 30, 2010 by admin
Filed under Past Events
Date: 3rd April, 2010
Venue: Whistling Woods International, Film City, Goregaon (East), Mumbai
Time: 1 pm to 6 pm
ART IN ANIMATION – Session Report
by Tanvi Mestry
Yet another exciting session with one of the most skilled artists in the fraternity, Mr. Vivek Ram, was held on the 3rd of April at the Whistling Woods Internationals’ campus. Vivek shared his experience of many years working as a modeling lead for some of the top studios across India, and began the session by drawing out some of the aesthetic nuances that go into bringing a design to life in a CG environment.
He kept the session quite interactive to which the audience responded very positively. He gave a gist of the responsibilities an artist faces while designing, and started off by discussing the crucial role that is played by the Art Directors, VFX supervisors and designers in getting the best out of every single frame of a film. Once the director sets up the mood for a scene, it is then completely left to these artists and what makes their job even more challenging is that they must visualise all of it in a digital world before they can go into actual production. This is where the visualization talent and understanding of the artist can play a key role in pre-production, increasing the scope of improvising every scene and thus optimizing the production duration.
Moving towards a few technical aspects of setting up a model in 3D, Vivek explained the fundamentals of planes as building blocks in the formation of the basic recognizable shape of any object. He elaborated this by starting with a basic cube geometry and breaking down its planes further to take the shape of a human head. Though at a very initial stage, these planes are the foremost aesthetics one needs to understand before moving into detailing. The second important aesthetics, as he marked, are the ‘opposing curves’ on the geometry. Though these curves are perpendicular on a mesh, they are not symmetric, so in such a case, these opposing curves create believable deformations when the object/character is animated.
One aspect was discussed throughout the session – the importance of silhouettes. He underlined the significance of clear silhouettes in recognizing a character regardless of its gestures. The human brain registers these silhouettes and even a few subtle changes in them can make the character lose its identity.
Later the session covered the aesthetics of detailing, anatomy and lighting. Emphasizing on detailing of a character, Vivek suggested that one must go into detailing an object/character only after understanding how close it would get to the camera in a scene. He showed with a few examples how anatomy plays an equal and significant role in both, realistic as well as toon characters. And when it comes to lighting, selection of background colors is one important aspect because the tints and shades of these colors change the perception of the viewer. Sketching an example with a simple matte painting, he showed how, regardless of what color is chosen, it’s their tonal value that reflects the perception of depth, still retaining the volume of the object even when it is desaturated. He suggested that a good understanding of photography and the practice of lighting through matte painting is a must if one seeks to opt for lighting as a profession. Getting final results from 3D animation is quite a lengthy process, therefore in production, concept art is heavily dependent on these techniques as they are quicker, although not easy, and get the job done, until the final approval.
Moving on with light and recounting once more a few aspects of the ‘building blocks’, Vivek explained the importance of Specular breaks on an object mesh. “Details are broken speculars”, he suggested. To highlight his point, he put up a case study of few of his brilliant 3D models.
Covering all the nuances of the topic for the session was not possible given the time limit of 5 hours, but yet Vivek skillfully managed to give a detailed insight into the various aspects that lay the foundation of aesthetics and art in animation.
About Vivek Ram:
Vivek began his career 9 years ago as a freelancer working his way through to doing full assets for production and games. He has worked with Rhythm and Hues as a Senior Digital Artist for a few years before moving on to the Dreamworks Dedicated Unit as a Modeling Lead, where he wore multiple hats during his tenure. He currently works as an independent consultant, again playing the role of VFX Supervisor or Art Director on both feature and game projects.
viraj on Thu, 4th Feb 2010 1:00 am
o i was waiting for these seminar thank god u guys brought Vivek Ram
Aniketwww on Mon, 8th Feb 2010 5:56 pm
Hell yah! I m xcited about this one. Hope it wil rock!
Dhananjay on Thu, 11th Feb 2010 1:55 am
C u everyone at the event…..
RAJESH VYAS on Fri, 12th Feb 2010 10:44 am
pls tell me the date and vanue of this event i am very much interested in it. Thank you
RAJESH VYAS on Mon, 15th Feb 2010 1:22 pm
“Art In Animation with Vivek Ram” i want to attend this event
but how? there is not any link for registration. pls tell me.
i am a life member of TASI
Thank you
regards
RajeshVyas
vaibhav kumaresh on Sat, 20th Feb 2010 2:01 pm
Hi Rajesh, registration, date and venue details will be announced soon. emails will be sent out to the entire TASI database as soon as its finalized. Are you receiving the TASI eflyers regularly?
sagir Shaikh on Thu, 25th Feb 2010 9:18 am
I hve done ur three seminar. . . i think u done the b est job. . . . . .
Anil on Wed, 3rd Mar 2010 3:26 pm
I am really exited for this seminar,,
but how i register for this seminar,,
i am not Tasi member yet can i attend this seminar???
or i have to become member 1st?? tell me,,
dharmesh on Wed, 3rd Mar 2010 8:17 pm
pls tell me the date and vanue of this event
robin khetan on Thu, 4th Mar 2010 8:00 pm
hi sir how r u
i m from udaipur arena animation
as u came for seminar in udaipur for animation from aptech
sir i want to buy some animation magazines for students kindly suggest which options are available & better for the same.
i have search so many but cant find any positive response.
thanks
Robin khetan
Centre Head
Arena Animation Udaipur
M. 9351632036
Anil on Fri, 5th Mar 2010 4:52 pm
Pls tell me
how to register for this seminar???
reply..,,,
anil on Mon, 8th Mar 2010 3:49 pm
how i register for this seminar???
vaibhav kumaresh on Tue, 9th Mar 2010 2:12 pm
hi Anil,
Registration for this event will open on the 15th March. If you are registered on the TASI database, you will receive an email intimation on the same. You can then go to the registration centre close to you and register for the event. See you soon.
Komal on Tue, 9th Mar 2010 5:08 pm
Its great by Vivek Ram,
I’m not getting any Tasi updates on my email ID even after signing. Could any one from you tasi team pls tell me
anil on Thu, 11th Mar 2010 1:17 pm
hey vaibhav thanks a lot.
is it necessary to be a member of tasi for seminar???
vikrant on Mon, 15th Mar 2010 11:07 am
hi
i want to know how non-members can
do registration coz there is no link for that,
admin on Mon, 15th Mar 2010 11:11 am
Hi Vikrant,
It is clearly mentioned that non-members have to go to any of the centers listed above to register themselves. Please visit the one closest to you.
Regards,
TASI committee
vikrant on Mon, 15th Mar 2010 11:17 am
hi thanx but we are from pune,
so see if you can help me out
to do online registration,there are more than 25 students
sagar on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 6:46 am
is it possible to provide registration centers @ pune for such events this will be helpful for us
Chintan Parekh on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 6:53 pm
I am a yearly member of TASI. I have register in the member section and its says confirmed. I wanted to inquire whether I would be getting any email or do I need to contact you guys for the pass. Please let me know. Thank You.
Vaibhav Kumaresh on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 10:07 pm
Dear friends from Pune,
Do you have any contact in Mumbai that can register on your behalf? That would be best! Or else write to devika@tasionline.org. she will guide you. See you at the event!
megha on Thu, 18th Mar 2010 11:27 am
plz provide info abt pune centres too
admin on Thu, 18th Mar 2010 12:43 pm
Hi Megha & Sagar,
We have added detailed information now for Out-station Registrations. Please follow that procedure. If you face any problems you can get write in to us at info@tasionline.org
See you at the event
Regards,
Team TASI
Rajeev Verma "BANJARA" on Fri, 19th Mar 2010 6:03 pm
ohhhhhhh, i’m very xcited for these semminar but i don’t attend these semminar because i’m working now PRATHAM NGOs in delhi on the post of illustrator and with doing course of animation from frameboxx institute in delhi.
but i’m waiting of these releted semminar in delhi.
admin on Tue, 30th Mar 2010 1:04 pm
Thank you Abhay for informing us in advance. Hope to see you at the next session though
TASI
admin on Tue, 30th Mar 2010 1:05 pm
Members need to carry only their TASI ID card.
cheers
TASI
admin on Tue, 30th Mar 2010 1:12 pm
follow the following steps and we can book your seats in Mumbai itself
1. send us a list of students coming for the event in the following format – first name, last name, email id, phone contact
2. collect the student fee of Rs100/- from all 25 people
3. deposit the total amount in the nearest HDFC bank branch – TASI account details are on the site under the join us section
4. scan and email the deposit slip of the bank along with the list of attendees (see 1 above)
5. we will send you a confirmation of receipt of your deposit slip scan
6. Carry the original deposit slip and list with you on the day of the event and meet us at the TASI regn desk
7. Be at the venue at least 1 hr before the start of the event to ensure you get your passes and seats. There is limited seating and a pass does not guarantee a seat if you are late
Mohsin Rizvi on Sun, 4th Apr 2010 1:55 am
one helluva event!!!!Vivek Ram Sir looks bloody young!! and is super talented!!! sounded like Steve Jobs when he said that he didnt graduate…lol!!….That man is truly great!!!
Vivek Ram on Tue, 6th Apr 2010 2:46 pm
Thankyou all for attending and being such a great audience and for all the kind words….Hoping to have many more such sessions!
rakshit vedia on Tue, 6th Apr 2010 7:05 pm
i really liked the seminar.I got an idea of human anatomy and it will help me to make my drawings better. The other topics like lightning, human anatomy, detailing which sir covered was also interesting.
Parmeet Kaur on Tue, 6th Apr 2010 9:42 pm
It was a great seminar by Vivek Sir, got to learn alot..looking forward fr more such seminars..Vivek Sir..hatsoff to u!!!!!
Priydarshan singh on Tue, 11th May 2010 7:50 pm
This is Priydarshan singh from jaipur. i want to know that how can i improove my work an i want to subcribe some animation magazines tell me which is good for the new comer.
waiting for your ans on mail.
Regd.
Priydarshan singh
9636196174
from arena animation jaipur(Trimurti)
veereiah matham on Thu, 16th Sep 2010 2:56 am
pleace how to learn 3d modeling
veereiah matham on Thu, 16th Sep 2010 2:56 am
how to learn 3d modeling
veereiah matham on Thu, 16th Sep 2010 2:58 am
how to learn 3d modeling and renderpass &
presentetion