tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35864191279092920712011-11-27T18:19:25.229-05:00An online collection of animations, images, and thoughts.Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comBlogger891100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-13116515856062127032009-08-30T21:44:00.007-04:002009-08-30T21:55:22.807-04:00

It was time for a face-lift, and I couldn't resist Squarespaces amazing tools, so I have moved this whole blog over to markderidder.squarespace.com. This is my 4th version of markderidder.com and certainly the most dynamic. I've had markderidder.com running since 1999 and it's come a LONG way!Be sure to update your bookmarks and RSS feeds if you have any for this site, and drop me a comment to

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-24059834852152830602009-06-22T08:11:00.006-04:002009-06-22T08:44:55.474-04:00

After 18 months of study, focus, weekend sacrafice, and amazing growth, I have finished all 6 classes at animationmentor.com!I have made many new friends, industry contacts, and memories that I will never forget! My time at AM has been way better than I ever imagined it would be and I am so proud to have been a part of such an amazing school, and to now be part of an exclusive group:

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-56997184582001017982009-05-22T01:21:00.013-04:002009-05-22T08:52:26.827-04:00

Since I won't be able to attend Animation Mentor Graduation in July due to the birth of my first child, I was asked to make a short video to thank and congratulate everyone at the ceremony. I was told to keep it under 30 seconds and make it fun, but I had a hard time doing that. So I made two videos, one serious and meaningful, and another that is just me impersonating the three founders

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-60265999571176825622009-05-10T20:01:00.007-04:002009-05-10T20:18:53.827-04:00

Here is an update on my animated short "Superdumb". While some shots are basic layout animation, most have been taken to the "blocking plus" stage and are ready to be splined out and polished. I won't have the whole film finished by Animation Mentor graduation this June, but just about half the shots should be final by then.I am still playing with timing and making adjustments to help

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-27301049475165214972009-03-21T18:42:00.005-04:002009-03-21T19:15:06.972-04:00

Here is my final layout for my Animation Mentor short film "Superdumb". I've got all the camera angles, action, and timing layed out with a temporary sound track. Now I am onto Class 6, the final term at Animation Mentor where I will animate at least 30 seconds of this short. Unfortunately since my film is clocking in over one minute long I may have to finish this short after I graduate

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-32059594606131716642009-03-19T10:41:00.008-04:002009-03-19T15:22:32.030-04:00

Last night was a lot of fun! I finally got to give the Netbook gift to my Mom who is now home after being in the hospital for over a month straight. She looked and sounded great! It was so nice to see her rested, comfortable and smiling.I borrowed my friends tiny Flip video camera (thanks Bruce!) and had Heidi secretly record the moment. She loved it! In the video you can see how blown away

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-70043985864090025832009-03-09T07:49:00.005-04:002009-03-09T09:43:46.488-04:00

My mom has been battling a rare cancer called Mantle Cell Lymphoma since September and I am happy to say that she is finishing her final round of treatment and is officially in remission. But the battle isn't over just yet as she now has to build up her strength and immune system for the next 100 days. During this time she will be at home resting and looking to connect with others. To help her

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-54865427669020696232009-03-03T12:38:00.007-05:002009-03-03T12:46:49.968-05:00

My short film "The Legend of Farmer Jenkins" got a positive review from an underground film site called Bad Lit that was doing a full review of the DVD "Festival Of Horrors: Volume 1". Jenkins was featured as a bonus short on that compilation which can be purchased online.Here is an excerpt from the review:"The Legend of Farmer Jenkins, dirs. Mike Tonder & Mark DeRidder. While I’m usually not

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-59841045384835160722009-02-25T00:02:00.005-05:002009-02-25T00:11:36.366-05:00

Here is my rough animatic for my Animation Mentor Short Film: Superdumb. About a kid who wont give up trying to fly like his favorite superhero no matter what. Music is temp and not pacing well with the visuals at all just yet, but I'm at the very beginning of this process.

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-7158146712610053352009-02-12T21:10:00.004-05:002009-02-12T21:13:28.694-05:00

Today we had our 2nd trimester ultrasound and found out that we are having a girl! It's cliche to say, but we just wanted to see that the baby was healthy (which she is) and we were soo excited to see we are having a daughter. Here is a photoshopped image of three ultrasound pictures today. The baby is in her 19th week.

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-72959415685475329612009-02-11T08:14:00.001-05:002009-02-11T08:15:53.626-05:00

This is my final video pitch for my Animation Mentor short film. It's about a boy who tries to fly like favorite superhero and fails quite a bit. Loosely based on a true story from my childhood... loosely.I am now boarding the short and making an anamatic which I will post next. Stay tuned!

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-683706642690415062009-02-10T13:39:00.014-05:002009-02-10T13:52:09.261-05:00

When I check my stats for this blog I'm always shocked to see how many people got here from a google image search of Michelin Man. Apparently when you search for Michelin Man, an image from this post is a top hit. If you look in the comments you will see I even have people asking me for the 3D model. And of course I cannot give it out because I do not own it.However, since it seems to be a

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-75535834224910847122009-01-27T23:23:00.014-05:002009-02-09T10:33:19.645-05:00

This animation was created as a sample to showcase AW's many abilities. From realistic vehicle movement and rendering, to matte paintings, environment creation and particle simulation. This 23 second piece also shows AW's ability to create a unique look and narrative.It was a blast working on this and I am very proud of how it turned out. Everyone at AW put their best foot forward and I think it

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-26709337804353850022009-01-26T23:34:00.000-05:002009-01-27T23:48:12.749-05:00

Here is everything I have created at Animation Mentor up until now! I am working on my short story ideas now. Stay tuned to video pitches and animatics!

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-80163072388408690082009-01-26T22:38:00.002-05:002009-01-27T23:49:06.302-05:00

I can't believe I haven't blogged about this yet but I am going to be a Dad this summer when my wife and I expect our first child. This is something we have wanted for a long time and couldn't be more thrilled about!Thankfully I will graduate from Animation Mentor just before our baby is due to arrive so I will be able to focus 100% on being a Daddy when I am at home. You can bet I will be

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-38291067157304052432009-01-13T23:24:00.003-05:002009-01-13T23:29:32.757-05:00

I am back after a 1 term hiatus that was needed in order to focus on a few things that popped up in my life that required all of my attention.And it's great to be back! I do have some great news... I am going to be a father in July! Heidi and I are super excited and counting down the days. Lucky for me I should be done with AM just in the nick of time as I graduate in June :)My new mentor is

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-20938048894114397712008-10-07T17:24:00.003-04:002009-01-27T23:25:53.274-05:00

I have made a quick demo reel because it's been a while and I have new stuff from AM. Speaking of which, I have decided to take a term off from Animation Mentor to focus on a couple life issues which need more of my attention. I'll be back at it in January!

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-17939225073380890322008-08-15T18:30:00.005-04:002008-08-15T18:33:19.445-04:00

Sorry for the long delay in AM assignment postings. Here is my final animation for my dialog assignment with all the bells and whistles. This is a line from the tv show "Friday Night Lights". I'm pretty happy with how it turned out but I see now that some movements are too similar.I am now working on my multi-character dialog shot which is pretty challenging. More on that one soon!

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-8951238534943329232008-08-15T13:10:00.010-04:002008-08-15T17:29:09.226-04:00

Well I survived the grueling Iron Animation competition FJORG! It was one of the best experiences I've ever had. I was on one of 16 teams who had 32 hours to complete a 15-45 second character animation about a common theme. This years theme was "The saddest story ever told". I was on Studio TeAM (AM for animation mentor) along with JJ Pastore and Chris Schloemp who are fellow AM students. We

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-89052307504280439502008-07-14T21:01:00.006-04:002008-07-14T23:59:43.391-04:00

Just about to finish up my first set of shots on Ghotsbusters: The Video Game and I am still pinching myself. I can't believe I am animating the boys in grey. Anyhow, since it is the start of E3, some more game footage and details are coming out and I wanted to share a cool 6 minute clip showing in game footage so you can see how awesome this game is going to be. Even for people who just "like

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-91153626951761819912008-07-08T00:51:00.013-04:002008-07-21T01:07:15.478-04:00

Now if you've been following this blog, then you might know that my first mentor from Animation Mentor, Paul Allen, is working on Ghostbusters: The Video Game which I blogged about with much excitement. I am a HUGE Ghostbusters fan and am geeked about this new game as it is being written as a sequel to the movies by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis who wrote the first two movies. Additionally all

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-28712639758115839232008-07-06T10:29:00.006-04:002008-07-06T11:16:29.133-04:00

So last night a new twitter feed was born called mderidderfans, with the slogan "We Twitter for mderidder!". Apparently my cousins were all at the same house last night (13 of them) and out of sheer love, or perhaps just bordom, they got very pretty creative. And I loved it! And I feel I should share this amazing burst of creativity that warms my heart:)They made a youtube video, a mux tape

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-3259509787712144672008-07-02T22:09:00.006-04:002008-07-05T15:07:08.590-04:00

PETE PAQUETTE!Pete is another Blue Sky Character Animator and has worked there since Robots. Currently working on Ice Age 3. He is another tough mentor who doesn't hold back. My last Mentor, James Chiang was a real tuffy! And apparently James Mentored Pete. And Pete is an ex-Marine! So I'm in for another strong semester and sure to grow leaps and bounds which is exciting!Stay tuned for more

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-79416811063881418962008-07-01T23:32:00.013-04:002009-06-27T17:11:36.325-04:00

Mark DeRidder248-514-0532mpderidder@gmail.comwww.markderidder.comWORK EXPERIENCETerminal Realitywww.terminalreality.comJuly 2008 – August 2008Contract Character Animator - Contracted to create high quality character animation for next-gen "Ghostbusters: The Video Game" cinematic cut-scenes.Armstrong Whitewww.armstrong-white.comBloomfield Hills, MIMarch 2003 – Present

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-51480915919337197022008-06-19T14:10:00.008-04:002008-06-19T15:40:15.859-04:00

Well, another term has come and gone and I am officially half way through the Animation Mentor program.... and loving every minute of it! I feel I have improved a bunch this term and feel more confident approaching a shot. My process is honing in.Check out the progress reel to see my latest assignment all the way down to my very first bouncing ball at AM. Keep in mind that this latest

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-69595441429039210132008-06-06T08:30:00.008-04:002008-06-06T08:42:37.533-04:00

It's been a while since I have posted some of my Animation Mentor work because I've been pretty preoccupied with severe weather! But I've been working on my dialog shot in the background and ready to post some progress. Here is where I am currently at. I am in the refining stage and there are a lot of issues still. Hands and fingers are choppy and intersect, much of the ins-and-outs are

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-54383196896587337032008-06-02T08:34:00.013-04:002008-06-02T16:16:48.004-04:00

Sorry it took so long, but I have finally gone through my pictures and chosen a few of my favorites to share on my blog. The only enhancement made was contrast levels. These pictures are a great representation of the type of beauty severe weather can behold! This is why I chase storms.

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-55465291425127748862008-05-29T21:26:00.004-04:002008-05-29T21:34:41.770-04:00

Good news! My team of fellow Animation Mentor students (JJ Pastore and Chris Schloemp) have been accepted as one of 16 teams to compete in this years FJORG! competition at SIGGRAPH in LA in August. FJORG! is an iron-chef like competition for character animators where 16 teams of three create a 15-second character animation based off a similar theme in only 36 hours. What makes this competition

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-40594308220996401612008-05-27T21:32:00.010-04:002008-05-27T22:05:31.097-04:00

Yeah, I've been waiting to use that title:) Well I'm home safe now after a very fun, very successful storm chasing trip. My third and most prosperous storm chasing trip yet. I have never seen such amazing cloud structure, color and movement as I have the past 4 days. From an amazingly dramatic rotating wall cloud only 100 yards away to a beautiful snaking tornado touch down in a flat grassy

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-40190845141095575532008-05-24T00:57:00.010-04:002008-05-28T10:34:11.047-04:00

Well today was quite a day! It was a complete repeat, weather-wise, of yesterday. The same areas that got tornadoes yesterday, had tornadoes today as well. It was another day of supercells marching south to north in a line almost like a storm train. There were a bunch of tornadoes all over western central Kansas and we got to actually see one of them! It was a beautiful rope-like tornado

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-52221026336135174682008-05-23T00:57:00.025-04:002008-05-23T11:55:32.632-04:00

What started out as a potential bust quickly turned into quite an evening! We entered into the chase a bit late in the game and from the wrong direction. Storms moved quickly from south to north and we were approaching from the East which is not great. It seemed like the sky was a mess of unreadable clouds. So we dropped south to Ness City, KS and then headed west once we could see the

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-46848010258363344262008-05-22T09:11:00.002-04:002008-05-22T09:21:01.250-04:00

Currently checking out of the Quality Inn where we got a good 5-6 hour sleep, and we are now off to Hays, KS where I believe is a great target for the activity to start this afternoon. The map you see here shows the potential for tornado activity and it is HIGH! 15% hatching is very high, and means there is a 15% chance of a tornado greater than an F2 occurring within 25 miles of any given

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-78592541658990408962008-05-20T22:06:00.014-04:002008-05-21T08:01:30.804-04:00

It's time. After six years of missing the chase season every May, I am finally heading back to the great plains to chase some of the most amazing storms mother nature can produce. My timing seems to be good, as the convective outlooks for the next 6 days indicate a potential for severe weather over the great plains, the ideal chase location. Nothing but flat land and big sky as far as the eye

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-76965550573690422782008-05-05T14:17:00.007-04:002008-05-05T15:28:22.551-04:00

So two fellow Animation Mentor students and I have put together a demo reel with the hopes of getting into this years SIGGRAPH FJORG competition. The competition pits 16 teams of 3 animators against each other in a 36-hour animation-off. The goal is to create the best 15-45 second animation in only 36 hours.Anyhow, I animated the closing line to the demo reel where the announcer begs the

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-54303080444340512832008-05-05T13:56:00.007-04:002008-05-06T07:23:40.698-04:00

I have finally finished my first assignment (had 5 weeks thankfully) for Class 3 of Animation Mentor. I only focused on the fan holding the sign. The star is limited animation and I will one day sweeten him up as well. The goal was to animate a pantomime scenario where a character has an attitude change. I animated a guy who is looking forward to meeting his idol and gets snubbed but

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-82858622334210446392008-04-20T21:36:00.003-04:002008-04-20T21:41:59.321-04:00

After some advice from my mentor and fellow students I've done a re-block on my pantomime animation. I think things are more clear now, and hopefully more interesting. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-39289522254210867352008-04-15T01:11:00.004-04:002008-04-15T01:16:40.622-04:00

So here it is! The blocking for my first Class 3 AM assignment. The task was to create a pantomimed animation of a character showing some sort of shift in attitude (ie. happy to sad). I chose a character waiting desperately for his idol only to get blown off. This is based on a true event when my buddy Bruce and I were waiting to talk to Pixar's John Lasseter after a speaking event here

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-66034053528283177382008-04-01T01:30:00.013-04:002008-04-01T20:44:08.718-04:00

To be a good animator you have to do your research and observation. And this is where youtube really comes in handy.Lately I've been checking out old Dick Van Dyke clips and am amazed at his physical control and slapstick humor. Check out this clip for some really amazing work. Talk about contrasted movements! It doesn't get more contrasted than this.What is particularly interesting to me is

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-27774580923705449322008-03-31T15:18:00.012-04:002008-04-01T21:03:53.518-04:00

And my new Mentor is ...James Chiang!Bio:"James has been a professional animator since 1999. He has worked on such films as Robots, Ice Age 2, (at BlueSky Studios) Open Season, and Surf's Up (at Sony Pictures Imageworks). He has also spent time at the Lucas companies and recieved his formal training at Walt Disney Feature Animation."

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-49665395584955642642008-03-28T17:47:00.007-04:002008-04-01T20:44:26.637-04:00

Well Class 2 has come and gone, and I have learned a lot! Its now on to Class 3 Intro to Acting, and I find out who my new mentor is Monday. Looking forward to it!Here is my Progress reel for Class 2. Let me know what you think!NOTE: The video seems to pause in the beginning... let the whole video load and then play it again if it pauses on you.

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-47647574256606771772008-03-24T22:18:00.011-04:002008-04-01T20:47:50.369-04:00

The third and final assignment for Class 2 was to animate a character in a push/pull situation. For this assignment I went with a guy whose foot gets stepped on by a horse. Once again I had to make sure I didn't go over 250 frames which is why this animation may feel a little tight. Regardless I hope it reads. Next week I start Class 3 which is intro to acting. This has been a great

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-55246513048201256542008-02-25T21:07:00.007-05:002008-04-01T20:48:28.565-04:00

It's been 4 weeks since my last post and I've finished my latest Animation Mentor assignment: Pole Jumping. The assignment called for the character to jump from one beam to another balancing to keep on the pole. Below is what I came up with. This was a very difficult assignment! I'm now onto the push/pull assignment which you can see my reference for in the post below this one.

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-28571023514968700442008-02-23T10:42:00.006-05:002008-04-01T20:48:53.029-04:00

Last night I short reference for my next Animation Mentor assignment at the Spikes house. With Bruces help, we acted out a guy getting his foot stuck under a horse who won't budge. The assignment is supposed to be focused on pushing and/or pulling an object. Post comments to let me know what you think!

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-53407565920628423472008-02-14T22:59:00.015-05:002008-03-01T12:37:29.103-05:00

Heidi and I celebrated Valentines Day the same way we have for the past 3 years... at White Castle! This is the third year White Castle has gone all out for V-day with your own reservations and servers.This year, we actually got interviewed by FOX 2 News! Check it out:Click here to watch interviewThe image of Heidi and I on the left is from three years ago, at our first White Castle Valentines

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-46878981711922382472008-02-13T08:10:00.008-05:002008-02-13T10:35:41.551-05:00

My 3D animated short film "The Legend of Farmer Jenkins" will be released in limited distribution on a compelilation disc of horror shorts. This DVD collection features 7 award winning shorts from the highly respected Spooky Movie Film Festival which Jenkins showed in two years in a row.I am VERY honored to know that Jenkins will be available on DVD along with such amazing work. This is the

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-85649497485317293102008-02-11T12:19:00.000-05:002008-02-11T13:36:32.049-05:00

For the past year I had the opportunity to lead a team of CG artists at Armstrong White to create over 40 "photo-realistic" animations for mercuryvehicles.com. The animations involved everything from 360's to feature animations to technical animations for all five Mercury Vehicles. This adds up to almost 20 minutes worth of animation. This video is a 2.5 minute montage of that work. All imagery

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-5588160798623371842008-01-28T23:01:00.001-05:002008-02-13T08:10:28.883-05:00

It's been a while since I last posted and for Animation Mentor, my posts may come less frequent as assignments go from being a week long, to 4 weeks long. I am so far liking this extra time to refine our animations! I'm in my 4th week now and putting the finishing touches on my 180 degree turn. Here is where I am at so far: Here is a look at the reference I shot to help me out: And

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-85202818944246853392008-01-07T22:23:00.002-05:002008-04-01T08:43:16.258-04:00

Horray! Animation Mentor is back online and it's time for Class 2: Body Mechanics! I have a brand new mentor and a new group of classmates. This time my Mentor is a guy by the name of Brian Mendenhall who is an Animator at Tippett Studios in San Fransisco. Brian has worked on Starship Troppers 2, Hellboy, Constantine, Charlottes Web, Enchanted, and now Spiderwick.Looking forward to digging in!

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-69178954641742555402007-12-27T08:20:00.001-05:002008-04-01T20:50:26.476-04:00

Hard to believe it but I am finished with Class 1 of Animation Mentor! Only 5 more classes to go. To show for it, I have put together a progress reel of all the work I have done in Class 1. It's been an amazing learning experience already, and we've only gone over the basics! Class 2 starts for me January 7th with a brand new Mentor, new class and new assignments. In this next class we

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-75400123891258733492007-12-22T21:32:00.001-05:002008-02-11T13:37:43.347-05:00

Here is my final assignment for Animation Mentor Class 1. A splined-out version of my personality walk from a perspective view. I learned a TON this semester and cannot walk to dig into Class 2. Time is flying by. I have a break for two weeks over the holidays and then back at it on the 7th of January.Here is a look at my "Balance" pose for Stu.

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-73125921588528232742007-12-10T15:16:00.001-05:002007-12-10T15:20:06.364-05:00

This was a very busy week for me work wise. I am finishing up a year long project that is due Monday (Today) so I had little time to focus on AM. However, here is my personality walk blocked out. I went for a strut and I think I need to really push it still.I also had to make a pose where a character seemed to be "exhausted". Here is a look at that. I like how it turned out. I look forward

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-36770696638266902342007-12-02T20:37:00.001-05:002007-12-02T22:10:03.588-05:00

This weeks assignment continued with the Vanilla walk cycle by taking it to blocking phase to the splined phase. So above you can see my final version of my attempt at a typical walk.We also were asked to create a stu pose showing "Concern". Below is my attempt at achieving that feeling.

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-63494698367817714422007-11-28T21:41:00.001-05:002009-06-24T08:00:36.355-04:00

Bustin' makes me feel gooood!I just put two and two together when I was in Q&A and saw my mentors desktop had a ghostbusters logo on it. And I knew he was just hired at a game studio in Texas and I recently found out that the new GB game is being made by Terminal Reality, a game company in Texas! It's top secret but I busted him!I am stoked about this because I am a huge GB fan and this game

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-76451556826605972202007-11-27T22:55:00.001-05:002007-12-02T22:13:49.727-05:00

This week's task was to create a blocked out walk cycle with "Ballie" that has little to no personality. The character needed to take 4 steps which really only feature 4 poses each. I learned a lot about walk cycles on this task. Next I will spline it out and refine anything my mentor points out.We also were asked to create a Stu pose which showed "Strength". I did this one Sunday morning and

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-46758488434267668522007-11-26T10:13:00.000-05:002007-11-26T10:16:04.015-05:00

This weeks task was to create an animation with Tailor doing at least 3 bounces in under 120 frames. It's all about overlapping action in the tail and it wasn't easy to do! This is my revision which features a looser tail and more forceful jump into the tree.

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-46742907299069038442007-11-10T18:34:00.000-05:002007-11-10T18:44:41.175-05:00

I am officially half way through the first semester of Animation Mentor!! Wohoo! It's been such a great leaning experience so far and I have so far to go!Here is my Pendulum assignment for Week 6, it is pretty simple but suprisingly difficult to get right. You have to be very careful about the physics of the tail and to make sure you have good overlapping action.No Stu pose this week, but

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-15513331574427453722007-11-07T22:29:00.000-05:002007-11-07T22:35:23.128-05:00

My wife decided to make my birthday gift a surprise and told me nothing other than what to pack (from long johns to a Hawaiian shirt!). We hit the road and headed north. Two hours in she finally tells me that we are going horseback riding for the weekend at Wolf Lake Ranch!Heidi knows I love horseback riding and that I always ask to go whenever we are on vacation. Since Heidi has never ridden a

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-59617983166539136142007-11-05T10:28:00.001-05:002007-11-10T18:45:01.935-05:00

This week's AM assignment was to create an animation of a ball in an obstacle course in under 120 frames. The ball needed to have an anticipation and then release to show initial force and then act as a normal ball for the rest of the animation without personality. So the focus was on complex ball movement and timing as well as squash and stretch.We were also told to create a Stu pose the

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-22146927779495388972007-10-30T22:15:00.000-04:002007-12-08T14:02:21.833-05:00

So we geeked out a bit this year for Halloween. Every year we put up some sort of display in front of our house but it is usually a rush job. This year we were inspired early! We made a new tombstone (Sir Edward Poe) and expanded our old creep fence to cover a large portion of the yard. We also added a few new gouls to give it some life! Check out the pictures and let me know what you

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-49230294375063376442007-10-27T23:17:00.000-04:002007-11-10T18:45:20.264-05:00

This weeks assignment was to create an animation in less than 120 frames featuring two balls bouncing in the same scene. One ball needed to be heavy, and one ball needed to be light/bouncy. So I created this simple setup featuring two balls of the exact same size but very different physical properties.It was difficult to get the two balls to interact appropriately, and after some feedback,

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-76984207960413712822007-10-22T22:03:00.000-04:002007-11-10T18:45:49.889-05:00

This weeks assignment was to do a bouncing ball animation to focus on the bare bones essentials of animation, timing, spacing, and physics. I've done several bouncing ball animations in the past but they still are tricky to get exactly right. To help achieve that, we were told to sketch out our idea, and work out timing on paper first which I found hard to do as well. But I do think it

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-11425410856107113482007-10-17T16:07:00.000-04:002007-10-17T16:26:34.969-04:00

For some reason, I cannot stand still when I am on a phone call, I believe it's due to my need for constant visual stimulation. At Armstrong White there is NO place to have a private phone call, let alone room to move around while doing so. So when I wanted to have a private chat with my wife while at work, I went to the parking lot behind the building which happens to be in plain view of the

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-56413748858026518752007-10-14T16:18:00.001-04:002007-10-22T22:23:54.460-04:00

Here is my first real assignment. The task was to go to a public place to observe peoples poses by doing a number of sketches. Then choose your favorite pose and do a refined 3D pose with the Stu character.I went to Carribou Coffee in Royal Oak and sketched as many unique poses as I could. Unfortunately, everyone was pretty much either in line to buy coffee or sitting down and

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-65681526692367300722007-10-08T23:19:00.000-04:002007-10-08T23:25:09.446-04:00

I love the Animation Mentor Showcases! This one is only their third one, but each one is so inspiring and jaw-dropping. To think that Animation Mentor is producing these kinds of results makes me tingle. It is so nice to finally be a part of this school and on my own animation journey with AM.After one week, I can safely say that AM is way above and beyond my expectations. The organization,

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-79642833202937891662007-10-04T07:19:00.000-04:002007-10-04T16:49:34.396-04:00

I am very happy to report that my short film "The Legend of Farmer Jenkins" has been accepted to the 2007 Los Angeles Animation Festival (L.A.A.F.) and will be shown as a part of their "Ghost Story" Competition. The winner of the competition gets some money as well as having their short featured in an upcoming "Tales from the Crypt"-STYLE anthology DVD.The L.A.A.F. is designed to showcase new

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-59083971997989763822007-09-28T23:04:00.000-04:002007-09-29T15:53:21.886-04:00

Paul Allen! Not the Microsoft billionaire but the animation extraordinaire! From what I can tell Paul worked at DNA Productions on "Jimmy Nutron" and "The Ant Bully". He is now working as a Senior Animator at Kingsisle Entertainment. Can't wait to get started on Monday!

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-51302650093969149932007-09-19T19:44:00.000-04:002007-09-19T19:49:07.845-04:00

My Granpa was featured by a Panama City news site for being a 26-year college student at the age of 93. All my life (I'm 27) he has been sculpting and painting, and this video shows him working on some of his latest pieces.This is where I get all my art skills. My grandpa does 3D art with his hands, I do 3D art with a computer. I should give my hands a shot perhaps:) Looks like fun.

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-69411563403198739222007-09-15T14:53:00.001-04:002007-09-15T15:06:06.058-04:00

It's that time of year again.... when leaves turn warm colors, the air gets crisp with a chill, and the nights start to get longer. Halloween is almost upon us! And it's my favorite holiday of the year by far!Heidi and I have a tradition of transforming our front yard (or her parents front yard) into a haunted cemetary to keep the spirit of Halloween going. We often resort to overpriced crap

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-14147446686842899582007-09-11T11:36:00.001-04:002008-02-11T13:39:14.835-05:00

A little while back, Autodesk asked to make a video profile of Armstrong White to showcase a company doing automotive CGI work using their software. This is a big honor since Autodesk is one of the biggest software makers for our industry and for them to select AW for a video profile puts us in a unique select group of talented companies.The interview gives a little history of AW and shows how

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-58992198974581477712007-09-11T11:18:00.000-04:002007-09-11T11:26:46.398-04:00

Here is an ad we just did for a Heineken sponsored Music event in Europe. The concept is that the bees are attracted to the music like honey.I oversaw the job as well as modeled a lo-res version of the bee created by Henry Goeke and plotted all the little bees on the speaker also modeled by Henry Goeke. The large bees were posed by Cy Kalcevic and the image was lit and rendered by Pete

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-10650059067481044612007-08-06T20:38:00.000-04:002007-09-21T22:51:07.850-04:00

It's official! I've been accpeted to the amazing online program for character animation training called Animation Mentor! This is something I've wanted to do for a long time now but never had the guts or commitment. It's not going to be easy, but I'm gonna do this while still working full time at Armstrong White (and while being a full time husband, and dog owner). I belive the sacrafice on

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-28101452512973019932007-07-29T09:26:00.000-04:002008-02-11T13:39:42.144-05:00

To see how my robot would fit in the car when transformed, I took the blocking test a little further and did a crude transformation animation to go through the motions. I don't think it will transform exactly like this as I don't want the robot to have to do a push-up to get on it's feet, so I am going to rework the legs a bit. But it's coming along. Soon I will design the robot look with

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-92194286637004288922007-07-24T23:49:00.000-04:002008-02-11T13:40:11.476-05:00

So after seeing Transformers the movie, I am of course motivated (once again) to try my shot at doing a sweet little photorealistic animation of a transformer. I am also fond of my 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited which, I am finding, lends itself nicely to a transformer design.I'm sharing my first attempt at creating a robot form of the Wrangler. I just modeled some basic parts of the

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-15450479854538353082007-07-14T22:21:00.000-04:002008-02-11T13:40:32.643-05:00

Here's my 2007 Character Animation Reel. This is a collection of what I feel is my best character animation work. Some stuff is older some stuff is new. I tried to not cut it as a music montage like I have in the past but rather just clips from the shorts and tests that I have done. However, I found this was tough to do. Also, it looks like virb doesn't like to show my slates, so please

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-21879908827961773982007-07-14T00:35:00.000-04:002007-07-14T00:40:03.327-04:00

Here is an image of my good friend Bibendum, or as most know him, the Michelin Man. Armstrong White has had the great fortune to be a major provider of Michelin Man ads for the past year or so. I have posed this 3D Michelin Man many times for many ads as well as animated web ads. It's always a pleasure to get a Michelin Man job since it is a character and not a car. Plus he is a 100 year-old

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-12226729371367217472007-07-14T00:12:00.000-04:002008-02-11T13:40:55.354-05:00

Created as a sample for a local photographer, I lit and rendered this car using an HDRI background shot by John Roe. Shaders were created by Damian Fulmer and the image was retouched by Dean Armstrong. This image was featured as a two page spread in Elemental 2.I hand modeled the Mustang from images of a die cast model as opposed to using CAD data which we traditionally do at Armstrong White.

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-9171627483578503642007-07-12T19:37:00.001-04:002007-07-13T09:12:39.530-04:00

Armstrong White has a really good relationship with Autodesk, the biggest CG software maker of for the Entertainment, Gaming and Design industries. They make 3Ds Max and Maya which is the backbone of our opperation. They have selected one of our pieces along with 7 others from the Film, Gaming, and Design industries to represent some of the best work made with thier software this year.The above

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-5837405717519541442007-07-12T15:20:00.000-04:002008-02-11T13:08:22.150-05:00

This is a two minute montage of the work Armstrong White did for the FJ Cruiser Bulletin website. The clips you see here we animated by myself along with Cy Calcevic and Jim Smith. Damian Fulmer rendered them and Bruce Spike compositied them as well as edited this piece.

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-31905157687009659182007-07-11T22:14:00.000-04:002007-07-23T14:57:56.400-04:00

What happened to animated movies these days?! Everything is warm and fuzzy with far too many pop culture references and bland characters. The only major studio that seems to get it right is Pixar but even they play it safe when it comes to playing with childrens minds.I consider myself very lucky to have grown up in the 80's when Disney (love'em to death) was in a lull and other studios were

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-58785137080823569392007-07-11T21:43:00.000-04:002007-07-11T22:00:11.539-04:00

Well, after my buddy Damian Fulmer showed me the wonder and magic of blogger I've decided to follow his footsteps and port all the content from the old mderidder.com to a blog based template. This will allow me to update the site much easier and gives me lots of bennifits like RSS (which you can utilize if you really want to keep ontop of my work, yeah right), a simple and familiar layout, and I

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-19034217431420243632007-07-11T21:25:00.000-04:002007-10-04T09:55:31.953-04:00

I was recently interviewed by Cadalyst, a magazine publication and online news site which deals with all things CAD (Computer Aided Design). The interview goes into the Ford Edge project yet again and discusses the bennifits and limitations of using CAD data (design data) as a foundation for photorealistic rendering and animation. You can read the online version here, and a digital

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-55809614335779349422007-07-11T21:17:00.000-04:002007-07-11T21:24:02.292-04:00

A few months ago I was interviewed by CCS as a "Successful Alumni" for their website and brochure. You can read the interview here.

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-61407314416913979542007-07-11T21:12:00.000-04:002008-02-11T13:41:44.057-05:00

This is a 30-second CGI animation created by Armstrong White for the Ford Edge website. Artists: Mark DeRidder, Damian Fulmer Bruce Spike, Cy Kalcevic, and Mike Degg.

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-15431866822249469882007-07-11T21:04:00.001-04:002008-02-16T18:38:39.053-05:00

Bruce Spike and I were interviewed by Pixel Corps for our work on the Ford Edge animation. The interview deals mostly with our process for doing photorealstic rendering and animating for our motion work. You can check out the two part interview here: Part 1 Part 2

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-595245608019699092007-07-11T15:59:00.001-04:002007-07-11T16:00:39.258-04:00

HFD_poster Originally uploaded by Mark'n'HeidiCreated as a promo for the Salvation Army to send to local schools.

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-70445230223283073572007-07-11T10:47:00.000-04:002008-02-11T13:42:04.808-05:00

A six and half minute 3D animated short film created for the Salvation Army starring Dick Purtan as an animated character. This short leads off an educational DVD kit that encourages kids to get involved in the Jr Bed & Bread Club which feeds and shelters the homeless in Detroit. This version still needs refinement at the map sequence and end credits.The story was written by myself and DJ

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-50325371735955352902007-07-11T10:09:00.008-04:002009-03-09T07:38:45.664-04:00

A 3D animated short film about childhood legends and ghost stories and how they live in the minds of kids. I worked with Mike Tonder who created the backgrounds while I created and animated the characters.Jenkins has been my little engine that could. It has achieved far more than I thought it would considering it was a student film. Here is a list of a few of Jenkins accomplishments:Released

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-62811611083671320552007-07-11T09:31:00.000-04:002008-02-11T13:42:50.402-05:00

A fun little short film I did at CCS with the help of my cousins Jack, and Kaitlyn. This is CG character animation composted over video. I was very fortunate to have Ray Harryhausen, the legend, watch this short at CCS!! Don't believe me? Check out this picture. I promise it's him!

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586419127909292071.post-65091307008763215282007-07-11T08:33:00.000-04:002008-02-11T13:43:11.149-05:00

A young girl with secret powers finds a way to get back at her young bully at school. A short film I made while I was a student at CCS.

Mark DeRidderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11663278544846212439noreply@blogger.com