Puppets.

In writing these posts I've been forcing myself to really think about my workflow and mentality when I animate. Most of the time I'm not really aware of any particular plan of action that I'm taking because the tools are taking me where I need to go. The motion necessary and the restriction of time are driving me to make all my decisions on the fly.

Recently I was asked how animation has changed with the so-called "next-gen" systems and software packages game developers now have access to. My answer was probably a little short sighted but I basically said that animation, or at least the concept of it, hasn't changed much over time. The tools have improved, certainly, and there are many more techniques and ways to go about animating in both 2d and 3d than ever before. What I was trying to explain was that people still walk the same way they have walked for centuries. Motion is still motion and animation is an expression of that in an artistic medium, whether realistically or comically or abstractly. We are, for the most part, still just trying to create movement. The tools merely facilitate the same definition of animation that has always been.

In my life there's a recurring moment, be it in social circles or a bar or among family friends where I'm asked what I do. I have varying explanations for what my job entails but the easiest way I've found to say it is that I am a 3d puppeteer. It's always been apparent to me that while 3d animation uses principles of 2d animation (and more or less mimics the form) it is also very closely related to puppetry.



Ten years ago the only tools I absolutely had to use were move and rotate. I would also arrange the view to see what was going on, but really, those two tools were just about all I needed. In this way what I do really is similar to puppetry. There is a puppet(the character model) and a puppeteer(the animator) moving a puppet or a marionette in 3d space via control inputs(the rig). Move and rotate are about all a puppeteer needs, too. Puppetry, like animation, has had major improvements in tools and techniques but the general concept and definition hasn't evolved much either.

Generally 3d game animations have been performed on rather rigid skeletons with very stiff and inelastic character models. Until very recently the limitations of both 2d and 3d have left a wide gap between the benefits and drawbacks of both forms of animation. 2d has always been able to be more flexible in motion, more adaptable, and in many ways more abstract(some might also argue creative). 3d, on the other hand, allows for technical precision, speed, and immediacy. There are benefits to both and I won't argue them here.

The point I'm rambling towards is that while 2d animation made me want to do this job and 3d enabled me to make a career out of it puppetry was the first recreation of motion I was exposed to and it's still some of the most impressive, inspiring, and educational. Sesame Street was my first introduction to this art form (I'm very sad there is a possibility of it not being around anymore) and, subsequently, the Muppets.

I've posted this video before but this morning I showed it to our other animators. It really is one of the greatest clips I've come across since starting down this path. Watching it again today I also realized how it incorporates puppetry as well as 2d and 3d animation, clever editing, storytelling, smart pacing, and it's more special and enjoyable than any p.o.s summer blockbuster with transforming car ads will ever be.