Yet another amazing day even though I’m still under the weather and the insomnia is getting to be out of control. The stop motion workshop was the most comprehensive I have taught so far.

Back in the day, workaround was the name of the game when it came to animation. I recently downloaded an app simply called Stop Motion which provides the user with a really cool onion skin system where you can see the previous frame. To come up with a preview system like this with analogue technology is impossible, you have to start the whole scene over if you make a mistake. It was a joy to work with the IPad. You can see the result in my video.

https://youtu.be/XsnF6HQcwIg

The time crunch was quite something, trying to get evil bear, super bear and the robot in there as they are massive in the shot. In typical animation fashion a two hour class equates to a 15 second video. We used rolled up pieces of tape to stick the cardboard character from one frame to the next.

Two things to keep in mind when doing a project like this.

- Accelerating and decelerating the motion, especially if something is thrown in the air. As the object reaches maximum height, the frames are closer together and then further again as the object is pushed back down by gravity. 
Applying this principle constantly will give you a better overall performance.

- Remembering what way every element is going when there are many elements. The eye can be annoyed by an element that stops for 2 frames because you forgot to move it and then moves again. Same if it goes forward, back and forward within 3 frames unless the character is static and fidgeting.

I am really fortunate to find such cheerful co-hosts in Michael and Gillian. They are eager to vlog and so I am glad I can help with that. I talked for a bit with Gillian after making the video. They had both come to a spin class just before and I really admire her courage for working out even though she has some serious pains. Gillian is living with Cohen syndrome which is a rare autosomal recessive genetic disease caused by mutations in the VPS13B/COH1 gene.

Although it affects her ability to learn, she is very well socialized and understands the human heart. I enjoy talking to her even though I wish I could do more to help with some of the issues she is facing.

It appears that she is looking at a knee surgery in her mid 20s which makes me count my blessings big time.

I want to give a special shoutout to @whatsup who is tired of content shaming on this platform. I do think one should accompany a photo with a few sentences at least but it’s really cool that @whatsup wants to keep the platform fun and accessible to all levels of ability.

As always, thanks for stopping by everyone, sending you positive vibes from the Pacific Ocean.