Ferd pic on Schmap!

Yay! One of my photos have been selected to be used on Schmap.com
http://www.schmap.com/?m=iphone#uid=chicago&sid=sights_zoos&p=10505&i=10505_85

Warrior Monk Sketch

It's literally been months since I last posted anything on my blog; just been really busy at work and usually too tired to do anything (creative) after I get home.

Still, it's good to be busy with work - with the economy being the way it is, I count myself fortunate to have a cool job and earning steady income.

Recently I've found the need to start drawing again - I began loosely sketching this warrior monk with a wax pencil. I wanted to re-imagine what a warrior monk might be like if he were to exist in a world of fantasy. His design is an amalgam of several influences, which include Thai/Cambodian monk, Shaolin monk, samurai, and the fictional character Aang from "Avatar: The Last Airbender" (a cartoon show that I'm a HUGE fan of).

What da dealy yo? - Basically I envisioned a warrior monk that is, for lack of a better word "extreme" in every sense. One who has trained since childhood, in a religion of elightment and meditation (I wouldn't call it buddhism since in this world it'll probably be called something else, but very similar) and martial science.

This particular one is a battle-ready Nomad; a traveling warrior monk. His body is tatooed with incantations and holy spells which glow when he harnesses his qi. He wears little or no armor, except for the leather lamellar skirt. His body would also be painted in a manner that would make him appear ghost-like. It is said that 1 nomad is enough to strike terror within the ranks of an opposing army.

At some point I intend to paint this character. I'll post it here when it's done and add more info about The Nomad.

Joker/Batman Face-off

Here's a scene from Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe that I worked on at Midway Games. Joker has some newfound abilities and decides to "call out" the Batman.

I did the facial animation for Joker and Batman. I also had to go in and heavily handkey Joker's motion, exaggerate his timing, poses and add a lot of flourishing movements to his hands and fingers (which were non-existent in the mocap data).

Variety magazine even gave props to Joker's performance. Click here for the article.

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe is available now for the PS3, X360 and Wii. Do check it out. If anything, it is a fun game to play.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

I just recently completed cinematics work for Midway's upcoming fighter "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe." I mostly did keyframed facial animation on The Joker, as well as motion editing for several characters. Definitely not my best work, but some of the latest screens I saw showed promise.

The game is definitely fun to play, so hopefully it does well when it comes out for the PS3 and X360. Supposed to be due out in November 2008, but I was told just recently that it's been postponed to be released after christmas... yes, people will be crunching until it ships.

Old Character Design

I haven't drawn anything new... so here's something I did a long time ago. At the time, I was into cartoony, urban chick designs, that's why I made this one. Was just starting to really get into coloring in photoshop too. I'm thinkin' I might revisit this design... maybe when I finally stop crunching at Midway and have a life again...

Stay tuned!

Animation, Class Of 1998

Oh my lord... My friend and former roomate had compiled and posted on youtube a collection of stop-motion reels that we did way back in the days of 2nd year animation class at The Joe Kubert School Of Cartoon And Graphic Art. Courtesy of Tony Tabtong. The instructor of the class was Sal Malimo.

Ralp Bakshi: Surviving In Tough Times

Some profound insight from Ralph Bakshi during an interview at the San Diego ComiCon (Click on title to view).

Ferd Reel 2008

Here's a compilation of my most current animation work. I generally avoid including motion editing samples in my reel because I prefer to showcase my keyframing skills. However, I may edit it in if I were to apply at a studio that do motion capture work to demonstrate my experience with it.

Although I have worked with motion capture, I've never considered it to be animation - motion capture is a tool where you're given data to manipulate that was provided by another performer or actor, whereas in animation the animator IS the performer and actor.

Me personally, I find doing keyframe character animation provides the most rewarding experience and more often than not, much better results.