Croods update!  Two sequences I worked on have been released online as featurettes!

 I’ve waited over a year to make this post…  This face stared at me for three months of my life. :| 

Anonymous asked:
I think Dreamworks uses Maya along with their own homemade program but do you think it's worth it to learn 3ds Max? It seems like so many companies are using Maya nowadays.

Actually, I don’t know. I think Max is commonly used among game studios and Maya is commonly used at animation houses.  I can only confirm that the places I’ve worked at have required me to know Maya (DreamWorks, UPenn).  You really want to ask more people, though.  It’s usually no biggie to switch from one program to another, just re-learning where keys are.  That, and Alias owns all three of Maya, Max, and XSI… :|

EDIT: Got some more up to date info from artchoface:

Yo, to add to that anon- currently game companies prefer to use Maya as well. Max is nice but Maya is preferred. Big companies like Blizzard and Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch use Maya along with other software such as ZBrush and MudBox. :) The past few animation and game conference and job fairs I have been to have told me as much, hope this helps Fic! <3

Happy Valentine’s Day!  I doodled up some cute would-be valentines for work, but they ended up not being used.  Posting them here to share as fanart!

DreamWorks surfacing artist, Fernanda Abarca, outdoes herself again with a gorgeous cake sculpture of Jack Frost!  Check out her last Guardians creation, here!

Photos taken from her cake shop’s Facebook page.

I really wanted to draw How to Train Your Dragon’s Hiccup and Toothless in matching, fancy armor.

lecaptaindom asked:
First of all,standard prequestion flattery, because you are an awesome person who is an awesome artist and should never stop getting it. Question, as an animation artist, are you tempted/allowed to put your OC's into your movies as like, background characters?

:) Thank you! - I’ve always seen you liking my posts, so thank you as well!  But to answer your question - never. 

In 3D, background characters are generated by a computer algorithm that picks from a wardrobe.  It’s far cheaper than the hundreds of man-hours required to make a hero character.

In 2D, a character designer comes up with the look of background characters (“incidentals”).  Sometimes they make one look like a friend.  Designers are unlikely to use personal OCs because the rights to that character’s design would go to the company they work for.  In addition, they must be careful that character still fits the show’s style.

torichibi asked:
First off, thank you for all the school advice! Both my parents are bankers so its really hard for them and me to go to art school. UwU (I want to do 3D animation!) Like a lot of people, Rise of the Guardians really made me look at my life and I found most of the things that make me happy are either from animated movies, or from video games! (thus the 3D animation) But I'm curious to know, how did you get to where you are? Id really love to hear your story!

Haha.  I really liked Spiderman, so I decided to go into computer graphics - meaning I went to engineering school and got a computer science degree (two of them, really. which was hella hard, but worth it in that it makes me much more well-rounded and provides a useful backup).  DreamWorks came to recruit some programmers to make software/do tech support/write tools for their movies.  

I currently attend Concept Design Academy because drawing is fun.

I think I went into more detail elsewhere.

classyporpoise asked:
What's it like to work at DreamWorks? Currently I'm in high school and tied between making video games at Valve or Bethesda or animating/ concept art for DreamWorks or Pixar or somewhere similar, but RoTG has just been so much of an inspiration to me I'm sort of leaning that way?

If you are in high school, you should keep your options open!  Don’t focus on one company.  Focus on gaining a cross-industry skillset. Modelers, texture artists, programmers (and more) are required for many industries. It’s hard to say in four years if you’ll like the same things.  Or even if you want to work in entertainment at all!  The above skills can even be applied to social media or medical imaging.

I thought all through high school that I wanted to work on Final Fantasy.  But now the only game I play is Robot Unicorn Attack.  My high score is 45,000.

DREAMWORKS ANIMATION PRESENTS… TURBO!

dreamworksanimation:

No dream too big, no dreamer too small. Watch the new trailer for DreamWorks Animation’s TURBO!

A story about a tiny snail (played by Ryan Reynolds) who dreams of doing the impossible: win the Indy 500! A fun movie with great jokes and lots of headlining comedians (Snoop Dogg, Maya Rudolph, Ken Jeong, Samuel L. Jackson!!).  From a visual standpoint: live-action-inspired lighting and cinematography!

Turbo hits theaters July 19, 2013.

Thanks to your worldwide support, Rise of the Guardians made back its production budget! Here’s a clearer version of my Jack Frost and Pitch sketch.  Onwards!  To making back that overhead (marketing, technology) now!

Rise of the Guardians Giveaway is still running! http://fictograph.tumblr.com/post/37361076960/

Anonymous asked:
I'm 21 and I've never gone to college. Hell, I haven't even gotten my GED. I've always been passionate about art, but I'm downright terrified that it's too late for me to even attempt working in the industry. I just recently decided to go back to school but I'm scared that even if I do go, I wouldn't be able to get work at a studio like Dreamworks due to my age. Is is too late for me to pursue a career in art? I'm shaking just typing this out. I wish I hadn't waited. Uncertainty is a bitch.

No, it is never “too late”.  It’s a little absurd to assume everyone knows their entire life path by the time they turn 18.  Many people who work here have previous experiences: engineers become storyboarders, animators become programmers, and even child actors become supervisors. 

Allow me to put this into perspective: the average age of enrollment at Art Center College of Design (one of the most recognized visual development schools in the country) was once 25.  And that is a full four-year degree away from your current age.

You are only “too late” if you make excuses and tell yourself you are too late.  Life doesn’t end at 23 (usually).  Do not let your age deter you.  Your work will be what matters.

For the record, I mainly work at DW as a programmer.  I have two engineering degrees.  What I know about art and art school comes from the loads of research I did find one that fits my working life - and now I go to art school part time.  I believe learning is a lifelong process that doesn’t stop after college.

Met up with kris0ten at the coffee shop and drew her a Hiccup!  Got a bit lazy with Toothless.  Check out her half of the art trade!

PS - The Rise of the Guardians Giveaway is still running!

Beginning and end stages of the elf cake made by Dreamworks surfacer, Fernanda Abarca!

BONUS: Check out my Rise of the Guardians Giveaway!

DREAMWORKS ANIMATION: THE CROODS! - TRAILER #2

• TRAILER #1: http://fictograph.tumblr.com/post/32809637252/
• RELATED MATERIAL: http://fictograph.tumblr.com/tagged/croods
  

Thanks for your support on Rise of the Guardians, Tumblr!  Here’s the trailer for DreamWorks’ next movie: helmed by Chris Sanders (Lilo and Sitch, How to Train Your Dragon) - meet the Croods!  The first, prehistoric, family tries to survive the end of the world - but they have to survive each other as well.  Watch a script that handles multiple relationships between innovative characters combined with amazing environments and creature designs.  Great family film - with a sloth. Who doesn’t love sloths?

The Croods premieres in theaters March 22,2013.  Featuring the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, and more!

It’s weird and moving to see a year of your life playing in a theater!

Dreadpiratebuttercup made me a little John!