James Crossley Animation

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I never thought I'd say this, but here is my first animated sex scene. Throughout the film, I used the union of bodies as a symbol of the characters' relationship. This is another shot from my animated short - Breathe

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Breathe – Animated Short

This clip is from my animated film submission for the Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon competition. The animation was created in Toon Boom Harmony, with Maya used for previz and incorporating a few 3D elements.

It was wonderful to work on a personal project that is surreal and intended for a more mature audience.

Watch the full film on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szhCJWXEvr8

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This is a quick layout test based on a design from the legendary Maurice Noble. It was done in Harmony; I moved all the background elements in 3D space and scaled and rotated them during the camera move to give the environment three-dimensional depth.

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This is what the elements look like from a perspective view.

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Here’s a sketch for a character design challenge on Proko.com

Just having fun

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Here is a short animation test of a flat character rig. This was done in Maya, and below is a link to my rigging YouTube series for this character.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SRUbkyA2u4

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This is from a video series on rigging flat 2D characters in Maya. I rigged the mouth in this video, and this was a quick animation test to see how it's working.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjlmm-6EE1A

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Here is what the rig looks like is a perspective view. Check out the series on my YouTube channel if you want to see how I rigged this character.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh7XFgcYYxQVOQbDBA9zu0w

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Here’s another 2D character test done in Maya. This was a preliminary rig test for a group project, I animated it to test the design and see how it could be incorporated with 3D props.

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This is a stop motion FX test using pulled yarn to simulate smoke.

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I thought that I posted this 2D piece a while ago. I animated this in Flash, which was very nostalgic since I have been using Harmony these days. He is a fun character from a short film that I have put on the far back burner.

Thumbnails

This is a concept frame for the final look of the short.

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Easter is almost here.

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Happy Spring !

Check out this years Easter animation on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxJnQHZl4Co

This was done in Maya but designed to look 2D, the ears are rigged with Wire Deformers.

[jamescrossleyanimations]

Officer Carl he is made of flat polygons that were animated in Maya. The 2D line is simply a duplicate black shape behind the interior colored pieces.

Here is a look at his pieces:

This is a simple setup and an efficient workflow, the only downside is that it is easy to tighten up since you are animating a finished puppet, so I think a quick rough 2D pass is essential. I was going for a limited animation style with sliding feet for this test.

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This is a quick rough pencil test for Officer Carl which was done in Harmony, and to be used as reference for a 2D style animation done in Maya.

[jamescrossleyanimations]

This is a first pass animation test to try out our new simple Stop Motion puppet. He’s built from laser cut blocks that hold replaceable 1/8 armature wire, and loops in the feet for easy tie downs.

He’s a great practice puppet and really fun to animate.

[jamescrossleyanimations]

Happy Holidays!

Check out our XMAS animated video on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocn7sUqmjrQ

These characters are really fun to animate, and the slipping feet work better for this aesthetic than anything more naturalistic.

I had fun figuring out the explosion. And the wrecked tree was animated backwards… I designed the final pose first and then animated it in reverse so ever piece landed in the right spot. 

Have a great Holiday.