Reel Of The Week: Sergio López

Our reel of the week — three short reels, to be precise — comes courtesy of cg animator Sergio López. The Spaniard, now a senior character animator at Ilion in Madrid, recently worked on Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion at Paris-based Mikros Image studio.

In each of the three reels, López presents a shot progression from the movie, breaking down how he animated Asterix, Obelix, and their antagonist, the evil wizard Sulfurix. The videos show the shots’ development through the various stages of 3d production: reference, animatic, layout, blocking, splining, all the way to the final touches. Those keen to enter cg animation, or hone the skills they already have, will benefit from these bite-size insights.

Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion is the tenth animated feature in the franchise, which is hugely popular in France. It began life as a series of comics by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, which have sold 365 million copies worldwide over 60 years. This film, however, features an original story by Alexandre Astier, who co-directed with Louis Clichy. Cartoon Brew spoke to Clichy about the film last year, during its production.