Friday, December 31, 2010

Jimmy Rig!

This is a new dialog asset I have been working on.


I personally felt I needed to practice more dialog. I also wanted to spend more time and development on thought-driven animation and considered acting choices. It's pretty safe to say I just wanted to spend more time animating.

Riffling through different audio websites left me with a number of really solid audio files. I hope I can attempt to do justice to the other files someday soon but with the help of my mentor we narrowed it down to the renowned talent of Jimmy Stewart. By no means was I trying to recreate Mr. Stewart but you can't help but take inspiration from his great acting and well delivered lines.

Researching mouth shapes and listening for nuances in the audio was challenging but illuminating. I couldn't help but watch mouth shapes everywhere! A very fun piece to fight, learn, and grow on.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Belated but Elated Update!


I have been quite unpunctual. I can't believe it has taken me so long to share a great experience that began back in October. Time has stunningly flown by. October 19 I began my internship at Magnetic Dreams! So far there has been fun but challenging projects and great people who I am obliged to have met. I hope to soon share with you the projects of the internship past but that will have to wait. I have enjoyed seeing my small feats develop along side the studio's artists. It's hard to explain how I felt when my first shot got approved but I liked it. A great chapter this is turning out to be and I hope to let you read some more pages soon.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Zambia's Song

There are times in life where people get to be apart of something greater than themselves. Incidents you get to partake in that you hope change the world but you never expect how it affects you.

Zambia’s Song was such a project. The illuminating opportunity, to work on this documentary, came earlier this year. Its purpose is to raise awareness about the water crisis in Zambia, Africa. It is also designed to raise support for bio-sand filters and the positive effect its purification process can have on a family, a school, or a community.

I played a minor roll in this project but I definitely gained a great deal of perspective. It is so easy to take for granted clean water and how effortlessly it comes by us in America. One of our largest markets is the bottled water industry, yet fellow humans walk miles to bathe, wash clothes, and drink from water we would never consider washing our cars in.

A non-for-profit organization, entitled CIY (Christ in Youth), contacted me to see if I would be willing to aid them with this project. With the helpful assistance of a good friend of mine, Josh Cote, we were able to build a few CG shots that hopefully give a visual reference about how the bio-sand filter process works. Here is just a short snippet from the full documentary with the shots I got to work on.


It's a great thing they are doing.
If you want to see more or learn more about CIY and/or this project, I encourage you to please stop by:

For CIY - http://www.ciy.com/
For MOVE - http://www.ciy.com/move/
Zambia’s Song Documentary -
http://secure.ciy.com/store/pc-195-16-zambias-song-dvd.aspx

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Breakdown Project

This was such a great exercise for me in so many aspects of animation, workflow, and thought. This endeavor came from my internship at Full Sail University. The task was to take a few key poses then break them down to achieve a different end product. The goal was not to have finalized, finished animations but to take a simple thought and challenge yourself to figure out the motion and attitude of your breakdowns so they tell a story.

Working with my mentor and a very talented, inspiring group of other interns really made this assignment, and the internship, a motivating calamity of animation and fun!

We were given the option to do a few of each shot so I got a few of mine together to share.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Clowning Around

Being class clown is a laughing matter.


This character design was inspired by a good friend, Isaiah Basye, and his story driven imagination. Isaiah's mind is ever churning over new characters, stories, and riddles which captivate adults and children alike. When he purposed doing a character illustration for a poem about a kid who literally took on the roll of class clown, I was eager to begin sketching.

Check out http://www.kidzpoetry.com/ for more of Isaiah's works.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Monday, August 30, 2010

New Site & Updated Reel!

It has been a goal of mine to begin training myself in web for sometime now. I couldn't think of a better way to experiment than redoing my own website. Definitely a trial and with many errors later I am proud to announce the new site is up! Thanks to all who didn't shy away from answering my questions!

There is a new look to the site and a new version of my demo reel!
Here is a low-res version of my reel in its most recent state. A higher-res version is available on my website. (click here to view)

Thursday, August 19, 2010

The weight is over!

A good ol'fashion tire raise'n. If you ask my nephew it's a cheerio.


Working with this animation challenged me to evaluate, I mean really analyze, weight and the transfer of mass for functionality and believable mechanics. This was not only a study of the mechanics of a weight lift animation, but I wanted to be sure I didn't forget about character. Through my education, as I continue to try my hand at this amazing craft of animation, I find I do things a little different every time. By no means am I done exploring weight, push, or pull, but this animation definitely got me thinking.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

A Walk at the Disco

The music is right, the colors are bright, he's got his hair done large, and he's in charge.


A few months ago I had the incredible opportunity to participate in a contest hosted by the Spline Doctors animation blog. Back in May they ran a contest entitled The Walk Challenge - A Contest.

It was an amazing experience and an absolute blast! A true highlight in my life as an artist and definitely as an aspiring animator. Getting to be involved in this challenge was not an easy stagger. But the payoff was more than I expected.

There were a lot of great entries and some very talented people acting behind their characters. A good friend of mine, Drew Winey, set the pace and respectfully, and deservingly, placed first. It was an exciting day, to say the least, when we found out the contest results were in.

If you get a chance, stroll on by to check out the results of the
Spline Doctor's - The Walk Challenge and Drew's Site for more of his works. Make sure to watch the video collaboration of the contestants on the Spline Doctor's post when you're there.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Phoenix

This goes out to my nephew. My nephew count total is three but the newest member to the family was just recently hatched. As his older brothers continuously crack me up, I'm excited to watch the third stooge grow into his personality and begin his life. His name is Ezekiel Phoenix...

It's just a job


We all remember that one job which peeled our summer away...

Choopi


He's not just a mouse, he's Choopi

He was one of my early character design/color projects with a tablet. I'm trying my hand at this tablet art. I love all the different avenues one can achieve with a tool like this. I know I enjoy mine, but I'm trying to break it in. Sometimes I feel like it breaks me...

How to begin...

It seems as though you mentally strain yourself to make sure you kick off your blog with all the fireworks and confetti to leave a lasting impression. I know I probably over-thought this post several times to find the right words to say. Alas I just want to begin. Just to start and hopefully begin a place where I can create and share my journey.

My journey begins with a dream. Hello, my name is Tyler Kakac and I receive great delight in breathing life into images, characters, thoughts, or ideas that come to me as I chase my dream. Not knowing where this path is going to twist and turn, I'm excited to see what paths ensue me. Having just recently graduated from Full Sail University with a degree in computer animation I'm off to follow my dream. I have learned so much but a student I shall remain. Now to begin...