Hi,

now that I have finished my latest animation reel I wanted to share with you the process needed to create a professional 3D animation.

0.- Everything is in the idea.

Before opening any 3D application there is a lot to do before.
If you're doing a character animation you have to study in depth the characters, how they are, how they got there, what makes them tick, their goal, their physic aspect, etc.

In case you're working with an audio that has voice you also have to analyse it. Find the pitch differences, what they mean, what emotions they transmit, etc.

Once you have your notes together and know what you're working with you can start conceptualising an idea.

1.- Reference.

To be able to create a credible 3D animation it has to be based in real life body mechanics and acting. This is what the video reference is for.

At this point you know the characters, know the story and have a clear idea for your acting choices. Its time for you to get in front of a camera.

You're always going to have to follow your directors indications. Like frame number limit, preset camera frame, use of props, etc.
But this doesn't matter much for a video reference.

You also can look for references in the Internet, like walk cycles, animals, etc. But probably no reference is going to match with your characters personality, therefore its always advisable to film yourself.

2.- Thumbnail.

We still aren't ready to start with the 3D animation.

Once we have our video references we can create a collage using the best acting parts, and adjusting the length to the directors indications.

Now we can create a 2D animation using our reference to mark all the important poses, and ideas we might have and couldn't film in real life. Also exaggerate poses, acting ideas, arcs, movements, etc.

3.- Blocking and blocking plus.

We are finally ready to jump into 3D.

As we have created our 2D thumbnails we know exactly what to do in 3D. We have everything we need, you timing, poses, basically we know every movement the characters are going to do, when and how.

Its time to pose in 3D space our characters, using the thumbnails as reference, creating a blocking animation solely with the poses needed to transmit our idea.

At this stage we need the approval of our supervisor so we can continue .

After we have our blocking approved. We can now tackle the blocking plus, adding a lot more poses like in-betweens. As much poses we need so the characters move exactly like we intent to. And our lip sync should be flawless.

Also, before the next stage we have to get rig of all technical difficulties. Prop constrains, gimbal rotations, etc.

4.- Refine and polish.

At this point we have technically have everything in place and as we want it. Its time to refine and polish out animation curves of every single control of the rig. Refining spacing, slow in, slow out, etc. Not leaving anything to automated interpolation of the 3D application.

Sometimes we still can get changes from the director at this stage. But optimally all changes were made in blocking plus.

Some animators adjust their timing in the animations curves and others posing the character almost every frame, or mix of both.

One the final animation is approved other departments handle everything needed for the render.

This is my shot progression of my latest animations. In this video I haven't included stages like thumbnails and blocking plus.
Mainly video reference, blocking, refine and final render.

Enjoy.
Thanks for reading.