Character Animation Tips by Emanuele Colombo

As I've jumped into the complex world of character animation, Emanuele Colombo has become one of my favorite people to follow. His character animations never cease to inspire or put a smile on my face.

Recently, Emanuele has begun releasing a tips and tricks series for character animation, giving you a behind-the-scenes look at his process. The series has been incredibly helpful as I figure out what workflows, tools, and techniques are going to work best for me.

You can view the full series, as well as additional character animations over on Emanuele's behance page.  Make sure you give him a follow on behance, dribbble, or both to show your appreciation and help make progress toward the release of the next video in the series.

Adam Plouff & RubberHose

If you're into motion graphics and animation on any level, you need to be following Adam Plouff. Adam is an Atlanta-based designer and animator who runs the small studio called Battle Axe. I love following Adam's work because he is the epitome of the "work smarter not harder" expression.

Adam has started releasing beta versions and teasers of some of tools he's developing. I got to play with the beta release of ChemTrails and love it.  Recently, Adam's been posting character animation tests for a tool called RubberHose. While it still hasn't been released, he did post a teaser screencast of him using it and it looks incredible.

It looks as if RubberHose isn't far from release, so make sure you head over to BattleAxe.co and subscribe to the newsletter. I can testify that I don't get any useless emails from it and have thankfully been able to play with some of the beta releases he's sent out. 

The Bible Project

Thanks to a friend, I found The Bible Project last week. I've included the overview video below, but in summary, Tim Mackie (Pastor of Door of Hope Church) and Jonathan Collins (co-founder of Epipheo and Sincerely Truman) are working through the books and themes in scripture to give an overarching view of the story of the Bible. 

While everything they create is free for you to download and use, the production to create one of these isn't cheap (approximately $20,000). If you appreciate the mission and work of The Bible Project, consider supporting them by donating on their website. They also provide a general breakdown of cost and how your donations are spent in the FAQ section on the website.

RODE smartLav+ Review

The RODE smartLav+ lavalier microphone is not new, but I've had enough people ask about it when they see me using it that I thought I would do a quick review. However, let me say clearly from the start, I'm not an audio guy. I will not share with you the nuances of the tone of this mic verses another. Honestly, I don't know. What I do know is my experience with it, and that I will share. 

The smartLav+ is intended to be used on your iOS device with the RODE Rec app, though it can be used with other apps as well. It's biggest strength is that it utilizes a device that the majority of us carry in our pockets everyday, our iPhones. The ability to throw the smartLav+ in my pocket or pack, with almost no noticeable space taken by it, makes it part of my regular kit, even when I plan to use something else. 

Overall, the smartLav+ has performed very well for me. The first time I realized I would use it on a regular basis was after shooting an impromptu interview at the Operation Christmas Child box sorting center in Atlanta almost two years ago. The warehouse was loud...REALLY LOUD! The whole time I was shooting the interview I was thinking what a waste of time it was. There was no way I was going to be able to use it. Once I actually got home and had a chance to listen to the audio the smartLav+ recorded I was really impressed. Here's actually the raw video file with the original audio (I believe I had a RODE VideoMic GO on the camera) and smartLav+ audio for you to compare:

Since then, the smartLav+ has become a go-to for quick shoots that I have to do on my own or that can be redone easily if there are any issues. Just a few weeks ago I shot this (again, raw file out of camera) for additional comparison:

As happy as I have been with the smartLav+, I do have to share the few negatives I've found to using it. First, you're unable to monitor the audio you're recording. The most common issue I've had as a result is distorted audio. You are able to adjust the mic gain settings in the RODE Rec app settings and once you play with it a bit, you can usually figure out what will work best for you.

Second, I've had issues where I know for a fact the audio was recording and coming through, but the "talent" pulled the mic out of the iPhone or iPod and as a result it loses the recording. I'm not sure if that's been everyone's experience with that, but by default I make sure the "talent" understands they are not to unplug it for any reason without my permission.

Overall, the RODE smartLav+ is a great purchase at $65. If you're looking for an affordable or simple lavalier microphone, this is a great option.