How long is the perfect time for a comeback? Hopefully, you answered something over a year because much like the underappreciated 90’s animated film about dinosaurs, we’re baaaaaack!! We’re talking about 2020’s big event and change to many of our lives: the PANDEMIC and its impact on our lives, specifically, working from home. In this episode we talk about each of our individual experiences switching to WFH, our feelings of anxiety dealing with this new normal and our struggles trying to be productive and staying ahead of burn out. We also share some of the things that have helped us stay sane while we safely hunker down in our houses/apartments.

We realize it’s been a big gap between episodes, but we thank everyone who has stuck with us and supported us. We appreciate every one of you who take the time to listen to this podcast and we hope us sharing our stories helps you feel a little less alone in this uncertain time. Please tweet at us at twitter.com/akeyframeofmind with any feedback or even to share what’s working for you in quarantine! 

While this episode focuses on a very specific topic, the four of us at Keyframe of Mind also want to acknowledge and voice our unequivocal support of two major events that happened during the past few months: the fight for racial equality and systemic change in America with Black Lives Matter, and the latest wave of our peers sharing their stories of harassment and abuse in the games industry. We would like to share some resources, readings, and causes in respects to these issues down below.

Book Recommendations (Please purchase from local, black-owned bookstores if possible): 
So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Olou
How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
Why Do All the Black Kids Sit Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum

Organizations to support:
https://fairfight.com/
https://action.aclu.org/give/now
https://gamedevsofcolorexpo.com/
https://www.gofundme.com/f/game-prototype-fund
http://www.gameheadsoakland.org/
https://www.miiriya.com/
https://colorofchange.org/
EatOkra App https://www.eatokra.com/ - Find/submit local black-owned restaurants

Free gendered-language “decoder” to fix job postings: http://gender-decoder.katmatfield.com/

Episode 9 - Wtf, WFH?

A Keyframe of Mind is back with a quick episode on putting together game animation reels! In this episode, Esther drops 15 minutes of real reel tips on everything from cutting down unnecessary shots, to spending time on your reel where it counts, to exactly what you should ask when requesting a reel critique. And to make it as easy listening as possible, the entire episode is accompanied by some suuuuper relaxing music (in an attempt to exude the chillest vibes possible in these stressful times)!

We hope this episode is a helpful resource for anyone starting to put together a gameplay animation reel! If you’ve got additional tips, feel free to tweet them at us @akeyframeofmind so that we can share them out! 

>>> Resources mentioned in this episode:
 
Riot Animation Team’s Lightbox 2020 live reel review: https://youtu.be/8z79C4v6oMA?t=13705

Jean-Denis Haas’ playlist for demo reels: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxFjjyAzIHYI8UEq-_Urfn6Ka4L_i7jw_ 

David Pumpa’s grading rubric for reels: https://twitter.com/Shrill_Llama/status/1317100129816596480 

Jason Shum’s old Anim Break videos: https://youtu.be/wP11XI4vs-w and https://youtu.be/898EPbAk8Rc 

Syncsketch: https://syncsketch.com/ 

Animstate’s Discord community: https://discord.gg/HtZ5S7H 

Kristjan Zadziuk’s gameplay animation showreel reviews: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSUm-tkuKaCq3QhVPmv2RWEvU0ohB1z0I 

Erica Pinto’s thread on camera animation in animation shots: https://twitter.com/psyham/status/1319537729365921792 

>>> Tracks used:
Atmospheric Clouds by Bobby Cole https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/atmospheric-clouds-heksq_anlwrk0wy4a5z.html 
Multitudes by Lance Conrad https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/multitudes-hkh2ypqo8kao4a4s3.html

Inbetweens

"In-Betweens" Episode 1 - Real (Gameplay) Reel Tips

A Keyframe of Mind is a podcast about the game industry and life as a developer. Join your hosts, animators Jenny, Ju Li, Katie, and Esther, as they discuss topics ranging from best practices in animation, navigating the industry, and the never-ending journey to improve and grow personal creativity.

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed are those of the hosts and do not reflect opinions/values of their employers.

A Keyframe of Mind

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