Beets Reel

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Finally i managed to gather some of the shots i worked on while working on "The Beet Party".
So here we are.
Check out the Vimeo description for some additional thoughts :-)

Beets reel from Lukas Niklaus on Vimeo.

Foot Locker

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Ive been practicing Python in the last couple of weeks and i wrote a little tool that i shared with my peers here at Framestore as well.
Were animating run cycles and stuff where the characters main control is used for the movement in space. Which means, that feet have to be counter animated.

Thats what this tool does.
It either bakes the curves, or it keys the first and last frame in the range defined by the user and deletes all keys in between.

I thought it would be nice to share it with the 3 people who subscribed to my blog :-)

so if you right click -> save as  here
you can download the script AND a nice little icon to put on your shelf :-)

cheers and happy weekend

Character

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Today i saw this:



Not only is this very well engineered...
What i find the most interesting here is, how he gave the box character...
Its not just the stubborn machine like others weve seen that just turn themselves off...
It has a mind of its own (a programmed one of course... but still) it even gets mixed up with itself at some point.

I find that hilarious, refreshing and inspiring!

I think that we should use this mindset for any animation we do...
Give our character purpose and make them appear like theyre thinking.
Even for the smallest mechanics test... think a bit further... give them purpose. Give them character.

A new chapter

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Today im already three months into my Framestore adventure, and i still find it hard to describe what i feel.

As a student or later when i was working in my first two animation jobs, i had this picture in mind on how it would be, to work in a world class studio. And now that im here, i have to realize... it is even better.
The company itself is so professional but still feels like a family.
I am completely overwhelmed by the sense of achievement, humility and joy...

I didn't realize what i had achieved when i actually got the job offer, or at least i didn't feel like i had achieved something.
Probably mostly because i thought, that someone who hires a guy with a reel like mine, cant really be THAT good.
But now im sitting in the midst of some fantastic animators, i am here! I am part of this!
Someday i have to ask our Lead what made him pick me over everyone else, because every time i think of it when i go to sleep i honestly cant make sense of it.

For the first time in my life i feel like im EXACTLY at the right place at the right time.
Were really starting something great and unique here, everyone has so much energy and wants to prove to the guys in London and the rest of the world, that we can do anything they throw at us. It feels like a family, and since most of the people are new to the city (theres only two canadians in our team of 10 animators and only one is from Montreal) we really are a tight knit team, which makes life in and outside of work even cooler.
When they asked me how i like it at Framestore and i had issues finding the right words, many of them just nodded, saying i know what you mean... They all feel the same, because they have been in the same place themselves... but still they kept their wonder and excitement about our craft, and that after 8+ years at Framestore or in this industry overall...
This is so exhilarating...

This is the first time everything comes together for me, and the hard work especially in the last two years starts to pay off.

I wish each and everyone of you out there who strives to become an animator, that you will make this same experience one day...
Realizing that one actually really CAN make all his dreams come true is the best thing ive ever felt...

How much i love Pixar

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Today a coworker sent me these two videos...






everyone knows how crazy i am about Pixar... but well... it got me all weepy and i had to tell someone, so i messaged the videos to another amazing friend here...

i wanted to share that little breakout...

Its hard to find words for how much i love my job already.
And if you think im too fixated on Pixar, i can tell you... i have questioned myself a lot. Trying to find some other place that might be as cool... and i found some amazing places that id like to work at... but then i watch Nemo or Wall-E or the Pixar Story again... and BAM... nothing else gives me these amazing tickling in my guts than Pixar and what it stands for.

These guys really touched me... with amazing stories and characters, but even more with amazing art and craftsmanship...
There is no other place like Pixar.

Ive won a Green Card... what now?

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So... im one of the selected people of this years Green Card Lottery...
Im still halfway paralized and dont know what to do first and what to think at all...
But i think this is a good opportunity to somehow document the way to obtaining that Green Card so that interested people who are in the same position in future can get some info from it...

So stay tuned for more to come in the following months... For all ive read, its gonna take a while untill this stuff is over. They dont start interviewing people before October. But that also gives me enough time to gather all the materials i need :-)

Serious topics in animated films

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I had to get sick to finally watch The Incredibles again... And while watching it, i noticed something i hadnt noticed before.

But let me start somewhere else first... over a long time ive been complaining about studios not having the balls to put more adult material in their movies. That was one of the things that "disappointed" me the most in Brave... that there wouldve been a chance to make it much darker.

Anyways... while watching Incredibles, i realized that Pixar had already done it.
There is LOTS of pretty adult stuff in there which would, shown in a live action movie, most likely make the movie not very suitable for kids.

But somehow Pixar (and Brad Bird) packed a plane crash, a father thinking he has lost his family, a woman who thinks her husband is cheating on her, open street violence and much more in a movie... and its absolutely suitable for Kids...
My admiration for Pixar (And Brad Bird) just grew even more when i realized that...

Go, try to watch Incredibles, and imagine some of those scenes in a live action movie...

Man Pixar... you just rock... :-)
You guys really just rock... i hope theres gonna be more of that in future (Like in Toy Story 3 f.ex.) and i hope the company doesnt get too corporate...
My hopes are high, especially for "Inside out"

Please dont disappoint me :-)