.......lylofilm: comic & cartoon art

The Frogumentary Part Three

2010-02-24T12:31:00.000-08:00

www.slashfilm.com A series of videoblogs that take us behind the scenes of The Princess and the Frog and Disney's ongoing return to hand drawn animation. Written, directed and edited by Brendon Connelly, camerawork by Martin Treadwell

-

Quirino Cristiani

2010-02-07T10:29:00.000-08:00

Quirino Cristiani (July 2, 1896 – August 2, 1984) was an Argentine animation director and cartoonist, responsible for the world's first two animated feature films as well as the first animated feature film with sound. He is also the first person to create animation solely using cardboard cutouts.

Quirino also delivered the first animated movie -El Apóstol- in Buenos Aires in 1917. In 1931, Cristianis genius and industry resulted in another breakthrough when he produced Peludópolis, the first animated feature film with sound.

The documentary shows whats left of his work, a lost interview and 2 shorts that have been re-discovered during the making of this film. Since his ground breaking feature films have been destroyed in a number of fires, this documentary is all that exists to chart his unique adventure.

This is a flim about the life and time of Quirino Cristiani, the forgotten maverick who voiced his ideas against corruption and marked a pivotal point in the history of cinema making the first animated movie.

VIRTUAL 3D people - 2010

2010-01-09T07:17:00.000-08:00

This is the state-of-the-art: 2010

Created and rendered in Maya 4.0. Texture was hand-painted in Photoshop as part of the study. No photos were used except for the background. 100% digital girls:

and guys…

CLICK HERE FOR assassin-angel-bundle rotation - http://www.daz3d.com/i/shop/popup/swf?item=10167&num=9&h=675&_m=d

-

PIGEON: IMPOSSIBLE

2010-01-08T03:58:00.000-08:00

PIGEON: IMPOSSIBLE is the tale of Walter, a rookie secret agent faced with a problem seldom covered in basic training: what to do when a curious pigeon gets trapped inside your multi-million dollar, government-issued nuclear briefcase.

The film took nearly 5 years to complete and is the first attempt at animation by writer/director Lucas Martell: "When the project started, it was mostly an excuse to learn 3D animation, but by the end of the project I had spent so much time reworking and polishing the story that I just wanted people to laugh."

The end-result is a hilarious 6-minute romp through the streets of Washington D.C. as our hero fights to save himself, and the world from the chaos reigned down by a hungry pigeon. Breathtaking visuals and a sweeping soundtrack showcase the work of nearly one-hundred talented artists and musicians, and the film stands as a testament to what can be accomplished by a team of dedicated volunteers working for the love of their craft.

Pigeon: Impossible @ Yahoo! Video

CLICK HERE & FOLLOW THE PODCASTS: http://www.pigeonimpossible.com/podcast/001.html

CAPTAIN EO Returns

2010-01-01T10:26:00.000-08:00

The Untold Story of Captain EO

With Michael Jackson’s tragic death in June 2009, there was a flood of special magazines and media tribute projects that detailed the life and achievements of the innovative singer/dancer. I eagerly flipped through all of those magazines and watched the specials in hopes that there would be a section devoted to the film Captain EO, a high-profile Disney project about which I really wanted to know more. Strangely, it wasn’t even mentioned in most of these tributes.
Even in Jackson’s own autobiography, Moon Walk, published just two years after the premiere of Captain EO, there are barely three paragraphs.
READ MORE by Wade Sampson - http://www.mouseplanet.com/9085/The_Untold_Story_of_Captain_EO&urlhash=9Nhj&trk=news_discuss

The full version of this 1986 short film, includes the song "We Here To Change The World". The film stars Michael Jackson. It was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, executive-produced by George Lucas, choreographed by Jeffrey Hornaday, photographed by Vittorio Storaro, produced by Rusty Lemorande, and written by Lemorande, Lucas and Coppola. The score was written by James Horner, and featured two songs ("We Are Here to Change the World" and "Another Part of Me") by Michael Jackson. The Supreme Leader was played by Anjelica Huston.

GREED

2009-12-11T08:01:00.000-08:00

GREED is a dark comedy from Sweden about human greed laid bare for the idiotic and dangerous thing it is, something we all know is a part of us bubbling beneath the surface, that some keep in check and others fail to.

http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/greed.html

Chinese recreate Tiger Woods crash with computer animation

2009-12-03T13:34:00.000-08:00

If this isn't the viral sensation of the Internet by sundown, then the Internet isn't working properly today.

The above video uses computer animation to show two different scenarios that lead to the Tiger Woods car accident. Both are hilarious.

Read more: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/postedsports/archive/2009/12/01/chinese-recreate-tiger-woods-crash-with-computer-animation.aspx#ixzz0YfEFHrKf

3 Free Online Portfolio Sites

2009-12-03T08:04:00.000-08:00

Below is a list of three of the best sites designed just for this purpose.

Some are strictly portfolio sites, and some also have additional components such as artist communities, forums, and print shops. Some of their basic features are listed but it’s really up to you to explore them and decide which ones work best for you.

Post a portfolio at each one or pick and choose your favorites and get your work seen online!

Behance Network Features: Multi-media portfolios, Tip exchange, Job List, Artist network - http://www.behance.net/

Carbonmade Features: Multi-media portfolios, Google analytics - http://www.carbonmade.com/

Coroflot Features: Traffic reports, Groups, Job alerts, Employer directory - http://www.coroflot.com/

DAZ Studio

2009-11-08T08:33:00.000-08:00

DAZ Studio is a free, feature rich 3D figure design and 3D animation tool that enables anyone to create stunning digital imagery.

This is the perfect tool to design unique digital art and animation using virtual people, animals, props, vehicles, accessories, environments and more. Simply select your subject and/or setting, arrange accessories, setup lighting, and begin creating beautiful artwork.

LEARN MORE - http://www.daz3d.com/i/software/daz_studio3?_m=d&cjref=1

Sita Sings the Blues

2009-10-28T09:23:00.000-07:00

"Sita Sings the Blues" is based on the Hindu epic "The Ramayana".

Sita is a goddess separated from her beloved Lord and husband Rama. Nina Paley is an animator whose husband moves to India, then dumps her by email. Three hilarious shadow puppets narrate both ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the Ramayana. Set to the 1920's jazz vocals of torch singer Annette Hanshaw, Sita Sings the Blues earns its tagline as "the Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told." It is written, directed, produced and animated by American artist Nina Paley.

SLEEPING BETTY (ENTIRE FILM)

2009-10-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

In a sumptuous palace in the basement of a house in a Montreal working-class neighbourhood, Princess Betty sleeps in a narcoleptic stupor. The king is at her bedside. He appeals to Uncle Henri VIII, Aunt Victoria, an emotional alien, a cool witch and, why not, a handsome prince! This worthy Prince Charles lookalike has to leave his royal suburb, confront a Canadian dragon and brave a surreal set of road rules in order to save the princess. But will Betty be wakened with just a kiss?

Sleeping Betty is the Perrault classic done with Claude Cloutier's sharp pen. His detailed drawings in Indian ink conjure up caricature and Victorian engravings in a disjointed, anachronistic and playful setting.

Directed by Claude Cloutier. Produced in 2007.

Will advertising adopt stereo 3D ?

2009-10-21T06:38:00.000-07:00

Hollywood has adopted it already and advertising will follow..

"3D is the singlemost revolutionary change since color pictures" -Jerry Katzenberg, CEO Dreamworks Animation (All Dreamworks films from 2009 will be produced as stereo 3D)

These are some of the stereo 3D feature films recently released or on the way: U2-3D, Hannah Montana, Journey to the centre of the earth, Bolt, Monsters vs. Aliens, My Bloody Valentine, Coraline, Up, Ice Age 3, Avatar.

Here are more: http://marketsaw.blogspot.com/2007/04/list-of-upcoming-3d-movies.html

Advertisers are demanding that their commercials are shown in this new medium.

Making Flipbooks TUTORIAL

2009-10-20T07:58:00.000-07:00

PATCHES, the cat, shows you how to take your short video film or animation scenes and make them into a memorable present: a flipbook!

Going to the movies is wonderful, but it is a temporary experience. When the movie is done, all you are left with is a ticket stub. However, with flipbooks you can keep the memories forever, or at least until you spill coffee on them.

Until that imminent coffee disaster, a flipbook is an object you can keep as a thing of beauty to watch over and over again.

LEARN MORE - http://www.etsy.com/storque/handmade-life/the-flipbooks-of-etsy-motion-picture-objects-2080/

© 2009 Etsy Inc.

ANIMATED MOVIES: Not Just For Kids

2009-10-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

From Fantasia to Waltz with Bashir, TIME MAGAZINE looks at some of the greatest ever animated movies for the grown-up in all of us.

VIEW HERE: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1861107,00.html

© 2009 Time Inc. All rights reserved

The Hunting of the Snark

2009-10-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

Final university animation, based on Lewis Carrol's poem by the same name.

NEW “New Media” ADVERTISING!

2009-09-15T14:07:00.000-07:00

Viral marketing takes hold and it is being used to advertise just about everything.

You dream it; you create it and you can make it happen.

A man creates a fake holiday, Chinchilli Day, as an excuse to stay an extra day in Vegas. What's your excuse?

CHECK OUT: http://www.VisitLasVegas.com/Summer

Sometimes, you need a good excuse to get away. How about a holiday like Chinchilla Day? Surely youve heard of Chinchilla Day -- it celebrates Le Trios Chinchillas, three very tiny defenders of a small village against a band of vile rogues. Outnumbered and outsized, the chinchillas managed to defeat the villains. Or something. The bottom line is that you need to get to Vegas. What's your excuse?

© 2009 YouTube, LLC

Drawing Women: TUTORIALS

2009-09-14T12:42:00.000-07:00

http://idrawgirls.blogspot.com/

Over 200 free tutorials.

Defective

2009-09-07T07:03:00.000-07:00

Created by Vancouver Film School student Rani Namaani through the VFS 3D Animation & Visual Effects program.

Digital Biz Made-for-mobile comics: The future of pulp?

2009-09-06T02:59:00.000-07:00

Are comics made to be read on cell phones, Kindles and iPods the new pulp of pop culture?

Argentinean artist Sergio Carrera's "The Eternal City" has gained fans around the world. While mobile manga has become increasingly popular and lucrative in Japan, in recent months start-ups have been mushrooming around the world to bring comics and graphic novels to both loyal fans and new audiences -- all in the palm of your hand.

"I wanted to break all the barriers between comics and their potential readers," said Hermes Pique, director of Robot Comics, a company that produces and publishes comics for mobile devices.

"In a world where 60.6 percent of the population has a mobile, and where mobiles have evolved from phones to all-purpose gadgets, mobile comics seemed the best way to start."

READ MORE By Cherise Fong - http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/08/10/digitalbiz.comics/index.html

© 2009 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Scrap-Heap Heroes for a Digital Age

2009-09-06T02:42:00.000-07:00

Trash is the future in Shane Acker’s world.

9 takes place in a world parallel to our own, in which the very legacy of humanity is threatened. A group of sapient rag dolls, living a post-apocalyptic existence find one of their own, 9 (Elijah Wood), who displays leadership qualities that may help them to survive.

The landscape of “9,” Mr. Acker’s first feature, is fashioned out of the debris he imagines will be left over after the end of human civilization. The creatures who inhabit it, meanwhile, are stitched together from a scrap heap assembled by an embattled scientist in the hope that they will survive to become a new life form. These characters, with numbers for names and handmade bodies, fight against malevolent technology in an attempt to keep some essence of humanity alive.

READ MORE By MEKADO MURPHY - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/movies/06murp.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Planning to make a whole day of nines, September ninth, 2009 brings us the movie 9. Featuring a whole slew of names like Tim Burton and Elijah Wood, this might be one of the best pedigreed animated films in a long time.

When humanity blasts itself into a slow choking oblivion, an inventor creates a set of nine sentient rag dolls to embark on a mission to save what's left of life on Earth. Check out the trailer.

© 2009 YouTube, LLC
A version of this article appeared in print on September 6, 2009, on page AR10 of the New York edition.

Touchable 3d hologram intel

2009-08-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

The video below shows Intel's vision of dynamic physical rendering, easiest explained as a touchable hologram.

It's not a hologram, but instead made using silicon that can create any shape you wish.

The link takes you to the full story with more details, and the video, although computer graphics, illustrates what Intel hopes to achieve.

Time After Time

2009-08-12T20:59:00.001-07:00

POSER 8 PACKED WITH ASSETS

2009-08-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

Dragon in 3D by Media55 - Use Red & Cyan 3D Glasses

2009-07-28T06:20:00.000-07:00

Wow, want to see an incredible effect that you have never seen before ?, get out your Red & Cyan 3D glasses, download the full resolution version of this 3D clip from Vuze. Then view it in full screen with the room lights down and stand back from the monitor. See how far the head of the dragon comes out the screen.

The animation was created by A Daz3D artist, I only Rendered the existing animation using Poser and then created the stereoscopic version you see here. So I only take credit for the 3D stereo effect.

(Please note that the 3D effect does not work on old style CRT tube televisions)

The HD version of this animation is available as a DivXHD file or WMV HD for playback on PS3's or Nedia Players, contact Phil Brown for details: info@media55.co.uk

For more information on 3D stereoscopic imagery, please visit the media55 website:

http://www.media55.co.uk

3D fly through animations

2009-07-28T05:58:00.000-07:00

As the cost of creating high-quality fly through scenes comes down, indy filmmakers will opt for CGI rather than transport their cast and crew to exotic locations. One such company leading the way is Anifex.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Anifex3d

3d animation of The Ambassador House and Heritage Gardens http://ambassadorhouse.org in Fishers, Indiana. This 3d animation was accurately computer modeled to represent the correct terrain, landscape and structures at the Ambassador House. This 3d animated virtual tour reveals 170+ years of history that has been digitally recreated to promote the opening of The Historic Ambassador House & Heritage Gardens. This historic landmark will now serve as a valuable community resource and event center.

To paint the future vision for this landmark, Anifex 3d modeled the home, site and gardens from the 2d master plan. To be as precise as possible with the 3d animation the correct topography and landscaping was custom 3d modeled.

3d technology allows us to accurately represent any landscape that exists in nature (trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, etc). The 3d landscape is then placed into position and randomly generated to give variation to the height, size, shape, etc. You will never hear us say 'sorry, we don't have that plant in our library'. Anifex will follow your plan exactly to represent your vision and give your computer animation the best possible photo realism.

At Anifex we can custom create 3d characters and place them into any 3d situation that you can imagine. For the Ambassador House animation we staged a virtual wedding to emphasize this as an event center.

For more information about 3d animations | Virtual tours | Lifestyle tours | Architectural Flythrough and computer animations please visit our channel page Anifex3d or our website http://www.anifex.com There you will find more examples of Anifex using 3ds max and Maya along with the Adobe After Effects and Premiere products to make modern 3d animation projects.

San Diego Comic-Con OPENS!

2009-07-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

Bigger and better than ever!

Sony Vegas Pro 9

2009-07-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

The ninth version of the esteemed Sony editing software system is better than ever.

Vegas Pro 9 offers incremental improvements over its predecessor, with a new darker user interface, 64 bit Vista compatibility, support of the RED ONE and Sony XDCAM EX cameras, and innovative timeline editing improvements that could make life a lot easier.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.studiodaily.com/main/technology/pvr/11040.html

STUDIO DAILY © 2009 Access Intelligence LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Captain Alpha Male

2009-07-17T18:31:00.000-07:00

Super heroes are big in Hollywood and, today, Captain Alpha Male, just became the latest to try his hand at flying, saving the world and getting some buzz on the web.

The initial six-episode series is the brainchild of two CBS marketing creatives: Jay Lutsky, CBS Television Creative Director, On-Air Promo, and Dan Greenberger, CBS On-Air Promo Senior Writer/Producer/Editor, who created and wrote the six-part series.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE by Debra Kaufman - http://www.mobilizedtv.com/captain-alpha-male-web-series-from-cbs-creatives

Copyright © 2009 Mobilizedtv.com

City Installation Art Piece

2009-06-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

I am proposing a work of art that involves the whole community.

The whole community will be asked to engage in the artful transformation of the alley space between 2620 and 2622 West Simpson Street. The space right now is a waste. It is home to dumpsters, trashcans, and rodents. This artful transformation will not only make it into a work of art, but also a beautiful model for the community.

I will empty out the alley of all the garbage and waste. Then, I will close the area off with a glass wall for viewers to watch the transformation as it takes place. Once the wall is up, the next part of the project can take place. People within the community will be asked to bring empty glass bottles to the addresses stated previously. They will take these bottles to the top floors of the buildings where they will launch the glass into the alley. The glass will break and pile up. This will create a beautiful scene of broken glass. Below the glass will be a set of lights. Once the alley is filled with glass. The lights will be turned on. The light will reflect off of every shard of glass above it causing a beautiful visual. After this, a floor will be built above the glass and lights. The floor will be strong enough for people to walk on. The community that helped create this will be able to engage with the project again. They can walk above the glowing lights and flashing reflections to see the beautiful visual masterpiece that they helped create.

© 2009 YouTube, LLC

Comics Convention Draws a Colorful Crowd

2009-06-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

With wizard in its name, there’s nothing to suggest a Harry Potter-esque focus on wands and cauldrons.

It has a seminar on coloring comic books, but it starts with Monet’s Woman With Parasol and a half-hour of still frames from Bambi. It had a family-friendly atmosphere, but there’s a booth for an online porn site.

The three-day Wizard World Philadelphia Comic-Con at the Convention Center, the 11th Wizard convention here, is at once everything a comic convention sounds like and at times nothing like it at all.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE - http://www.artbistro.com/news/articles/9160-comics-convention-draws-a-colorful-crowd

© 2009 ArtBistro

GEORGE LUCAS - Filmmakers Will “Pre-Visualize” Movies Before Making Them

2009-06-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

George Lucas has disclosed that his company is developing an advanced form of storyboarding that will allow filmmakers to create a virtual version of their planned movies on a computer before they actually begin shooting it.

In an interview with today's (Monday) Chicago Tribune, Lucas said that the system will "pre-visualize" a film. "Everyone involved can know what the movie will look like before they shoot," he said."

Lucas indicated that he is also developing an editing system that will at once be "more sophisticated and much more simple" and will "make editing available to more people."

Read More - http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/lucas-filmmakers-will-pre-visualize-movies-before-making-them_1106595

©2009 Contactmusic.com Ltd, all rights reserved

Studios prepare future 3D franchise installments

2009-06-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

Within five to seven years, I expect all movies out of Hollywood to be in 3-D," Jeffrey Katzenberg predicted at the recent 3DX conference in Singapore.

"In sound, we've gone from vinyl to 8-track to cassette to CD to digital," the DreamWorks maven said. "The flatscreen movies of today are the equivalent of vinyl records."

If so, when it comes to live-action tentpoles, it seems as if most of Hollywood is still clinging to their turntables and LPs.

Stereo 3-D is the rage in animation, but there have been no announcements of a Batman, Spider-Man, Pirates of the Caribbean or other existing or potential franchise in 3-D, other than James ...

READ MORE - http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996536.html?categoryid=3431&cs=1

© Copyright 2009 RBI,. Inc., a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

Animation Training Tutorials: Jason Ryan Animation Webinars

2009-06-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

Animation Training Tutorials

http://www.jasonryananimation.com/main.html

Jason Ryan Animation Webinars

Jason Ryan, a professional animator, gives online lectures on the art and the craft of animation. http://jrawebinar.com/

Mike Winn - Animator

2009-05-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

Nothing much to say here except that not long ago I was doing some quick color tests on a few shots. Just beginner ones. I never did plan to take my film all the way to color and even right now I'd rather move forward then backwards. Normally this sorta thing would be the purview of a completely different department but us 'indy' folk and school animators have to be one man studios, so to speak!

Now the color flat tests are self explanatory but I also wanted to try my hand at doing tone. Unfortunately at the time I didn't really know the 'process' for doing tones properly so I sort of winged it! I'm sure to the eye of the FX artist the tone tests aren't all there but it was my first time, at the time and I'm okay with how it looks for a first attempt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n07wIKWqxaQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IfGvzrC2zQ&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmikewinnart%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F&feature=player_embedded

Ocula - plug-ins for Stereoscopic post production

2009-05-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

Watch Simon Robinson, Chief Scientist at The Foundry, demonstrating Ocula to FX Guide's Jeff Heusser.

Ocula is an Award Winning plug-in set that helps to solve common problems encountered during post production on stereoscopic footage. Tools include: Interocular Shifter, Vertical Aligner, New View, Paint, Rotoscoping & MatchGrade. (www.fxguide.com)

HARRISON ELLENSHAW: MATTE PAINTING & VISUAL EFFECTS

2009-05-25T15:46:00.001-07:00

Catch this industry looking glass! It's a rare interview made years ago and looking (back) at this old ( video) footage, we hear from one of the first uses of computer generated (CG) effects in film. Looking ahead ( forward ) as to how far it might be utilized in film, in many ways the interview was prophetic.

SEBASTIAN'S VOODOO

2009-05-23T07:55:00.000-07:00

Director : Joaquin Baldwin
Running time : 4min 6sec
Country : United States
Synopsis
A voodoo doll must find the courage to save his friends from being pinned to death.

Joaquin Baldwin is an Annie Award nominee director and animator from Paraguay. Living in Los Angeles, he is now finishing his MFA in animation at UCLA. He has received over 50 international awards for his animated films Sebastian's Voodoo and Papiroflexia, and also several grants including the Jack Kent Cooke full Graduate Scholarship in 2006.

FROM THE HOOP

2009-05-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

Story of From the hoop is inspired by Earl Manigault's life. Earl Manigault was one of the greatest basketball player of his generation. Mentored by Holcombe Rucker through his youth he became the star of his high school team. As an universitary champion, he seemed destined to shine in NBA. But before the transition, he fell into drugs and lead his life far away from the basket. After dark years made of jail, drugs and friend's death, he gave up this world to return in the right way to Harlem. He started the "Walk Away From Drugs" tournament for kids in Harlem. He died in 1998 from a heart failure.

From the hoop first take place in Harlem streets then go to the Rucker Park, a famous Harlem's playground renamed in memory of Holcombe Rucker.

The Rucker park is considered as an important place of street ball history and had welcomed some of the greatest players of all times during yearly competitions.

From the hoop from From the hoop Team on Vimeo.

EOLE

2009-05-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

The story is about the unexpected meeting between a yellow shirt sailor (responsible for aircraft movement) and a kite on a aircraft carrier…

Eole is a short 3D movie directed by 3 students of Supinfocom Arles in 2008 : Aurélien Martineau, Etienne Métois and Moana Wisniewski.

Eole from Eole on Vimeo.

Character Design

2009-05-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

Digital Painting Tutorial VIDEO: Jason Chan Character Design 1: Style Exploration, Adobe Photoshop

Sometimes a client has a strong story but they don't know exactly what they want for the visual look of their game or movie. Enter the ChanMan.

In this video we see him go through a broad range of stylistic iterations based on the same lead male character. The client can then use these ideas and move forward with a much clearer visual direction. This gets to the heart of concept art, and the more an artist is able to work in a variety of different styles the more he/she will be able to help a client, and get paid, and then have kids, or maybe a fast car.

6 Famous Characters Were Shameless Rip Offs

2009-05-15T06:53:00.000-07:00

You’ve heard of X-men, but do you remember The Doom Patrol?

They say that there are no "original" ideas. Everything comes from somewhere.

Still, it's hard not to feel betrayed when you find out that some of the great characters and stories we loved and enjoyed as kids, were merely cut and pasted from previous earlier works.

Cracked.com has posted a rather humorous article regarding pop-culture rip-offs. Included in the list at #3 is Cobra.

CLICK HERE TO SEE 6 Famous Characters You Didn't Know Were Shameless Rip Offs - http://www.cracked.com/article_17299_6-famous-characters-you-didnt-know-were-shameless-rip-offs.html

Rome's catacombs uncovered in 3D

2009-05-06T05:51:00.000-07:00

A three-year-long project has created the first fully comprehensive 3D image of one of Rome's catacombs.

Using laser scanners, a team of 10 archaeologists, architects and computer scientists have started mapping the 105 miles (170km) of tunnels.

CLICK HERE TO SEE some of the images that have been created - http://www.cgexplorer.com/2009/05/04/serious-cg-3d-scan-of-catacombs-in-rome/
Copyright © 2004-2009 CG Explorer
Copyright © 2004-2009 Massimo Curatella
© MMIX, BBC

Code Geass / The Day a New Demon Was Born

2009-04-20T05:11:00.000-07:00

Code Geass Season 1 - STAGE 01 - The Day a New Demon Was Born - English Audio Dub Uncensored

Synopsis:
Seven years passed since Japan lost the war against the Britannia Empire and became its territory. The country name was stripped away and renamed to Area 11.
Lelouch was spending an inactive life while attending the school for Britannians, the Ashford Academy. The tragic incidents he experienced during war made him resent Britannia, but he couldnt do anything about it. All he could do was beat Britannians in chess to release his anger.

One day Lelouch is involved in a battle between terrorists and the Britannian Forces. Taken to the underground area of Shinjuku Ghetto, he meets his old friend Suzaku Kururugi. Although Suzaku is an Eleven, he has joined the Britannian Forces as an Honorary Britannian. The two enjoy their reunion, but tragedy comes with the appearance of a girl. Suzaku is shot by the Britannian Forces when he tries to protect the girl and Lelouch. As Lelouch is devastated over the death of his friend, the girl gives Lelouch a power. That power was the ability to manipulate people as he pleases.

Visit our website at http://tinyurl.com/cwt89q and purchase DVDs and Blu-rays if you like! Every purchase helps support this channel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCoEQXY5hM8&eurl=http%3A%2F%2F7%2Eig%2Egmodules%2Ecom%2Fgadgets%2Fifr%3Fview%3Dhome%26url%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Fig%2Fmodules%2Fyoutube%5Figoogle%2Fv2%2Fyoutube%2Exml&feature=player_embedded

KIWI!

2009-04-19T04:57:00.000-07:00

A SURPRISING HIT ON THE INTERNET

Dony Permedi's Master's Thesis Animation was completed while he was at The School of Visual Arts, MFA Computer Art, in New York City.

It was created using Maya, After Effects, and rigged using The Setup Machine by Anzovin studios. If you would like to download there is a small version at his website: http://www.donysanimation.com

Alot of people have been emailing Dony asking a whole lot of questions. Maybe you can find some answers here:
http://www.isfat.com/happyjunk/kiwi.php

Nine "Unfilmable" Comic Book Stories

2009-04-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

For years, Watchmen was considered too huge a story to be adapted to the silver screen.

Well, now that that’s happened, suppose we check out some other comic books and graphic novels that most people figure might be too tricky for film.

#1
"Preacher" is currently kicking around Hollywood, but any version that could potentially hit screens would have to be watered down to the point of... well, pointlessness.

Watchmen was only 12 issues—Preacher was 75 issues chock full of blasphemy, sodomy, vampirism, debauchery, Old West legend, and batshit insanity. This story of a disillusioned man of faith who gains divine powers and then walks the earth on a mission to kick God's ass is also an invitation to boycotts and churchy outrage.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE by Eric Alt
- http://maxim.com/unfilmable-comic-books/The-Movie-Blog/blogs/4306/62411.aspx

Brave Little Toaster - Clown Dream & City of Light

2009-03-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

Great characters and Classic 2D animation!

The Brave Little Toaster is a surprising dark and very good children's movie. It happens to have had a lot of the original Pixar crew working on it. This is a short clip of the toaster's dream while trekking to find his master.

Two Brilliant Discoveries and I’m Not Woody

2009-03-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

This is David Heidelberger's fantastic award-winning video essay about coins and the binary number system.

SEE THE FILM - http://www.davidheidelberger.com/player.php?name=movies/brilliant&exte=mov&xdim=384&ydim=288&title=Two Brilliant Discoveries

This is David Heidelberger's award-winning film about how he is not, in fact, Woody Allen. Apologies for the poor quality. It's NYU's budget telecine from the 16mm. I swear, this was once a cinematographic masterpiece. Also starring Johnny Pomatto and Yuri Namkung.

SEE THE FILM - http://www.davidheidelberger.com/player.php?name=movies/woody&exte=mov&xdim=384&ydim=288&title=I’m Not Woody

ANIMATED MUSIC VIDEOS

2009-03-29T05:13:00.000-07:00

It's easy to animate a short music video and the key to marketing is to get millions of viewers to watch your film and listen to your song.

This music video for Peter, Bjorn & John's single "Young Folks" featured Victoria Bergsman of The Concretes.

THE STATE OF 3D ART

2009-02-24T05:32:00.000-08:00

In the last decade the state of digital 3D art and animation has been developed and been exploited to its fullest. The latest entry in LucasFilm's Star Wars Video game saga casts players as Darth Vader's "Secret Apprentice", unveiling new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy.

The expansive story, created under direction from George Lucas, is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. As its name implies, The Force Unleashed completely re-imagines the scope and scale of the Force by taking full advantage of newly developed technologies that will be seen and experienced for the first time anywhere in videogaming.

And so, we approach the day when all movies might be made with 3d animation...

© 2009 YouTube, LLC
© 2003 - 2009, LucasFilm
© 2009 Stanley N. Lozowski, All Rights Reserved.

How to Draw a Cartoon Dog

2009-01-26T09:39:00.000-08:00

If you're making a comic, there's nothing like a little puppy love to spice it up!

Follow these instructions to create a perfectly cute dog that can be a wonderful sidekick to any comic character.

This version of the dog is standing up, but you can manipulate the structure to have your dog in any pose, from sitting to running.

A dog is adorable and a wonderful addition to any comic.

LEARN MORE: http://www.wikihow.com/Draw-a-Manga-Dog

THE MAKING OF GLADIATOR

2009-01-11T06:34:00.000-08:00

Directed and Animated by Duncan Beedie of the UK in 2005.

This is a surprisingly funny behind-the-scene animation about Ridley Scott's Roman epic.

Kevin Geiger on indie film business plans

2008-12-20T07:05:00.000-08:00

Excerpt 1 of 4 from Kevin Geiger's informal presentation on independent film business planning, delivered at the Griffith University Film School in Brisbane, May 2008. Kevin discusses the distinctions and relationships between production companies, development companies and producing companies.

DELGO

2008-12-13T05:46:00.000-08:00

Big-budget CGI delivered with an indie sensibility: Meet the Delgo directors

While clicking my way through one of the more reliable movie news sites, I caught a look at something called "Delgo". Hmm, wassat? A new adventure-type epic thingie? Why had I never heard of this one before? Wait a sec...this is a full-length CG adventure? Produced by an indie company? Hmmm, now this looks like something worth looking into...

So I spent some time at Delgo's official site, watching the trailer, clicking through the artwork, and being generally very impressed with the vibe of the whole project. (I was particularly intrigued by the expansive supporting cast, which boasts names as varied as Jennifer Love Hewitt, Anne Bancroft, Chris Kattan, Val Kilmer, Eric Idle, Burt Reynolds and Malcolm McDowell!) So I dropped an email to the fine folks at Atlanta's Fathom Studios, basically demanding to know the story behind Delgo.

And while it dawned on me that perhaps I was helping to "hype" a movie I haven't even seen yet (something I try never to do), there's just something about an independently financed CG feature that seems worthy of our attention. If Pixar Animation Studios deserves all the praise it's ever earned (and YES, it does), then it's only fair to offer a little spotlight to the new kid on the block, if only to level the playing field just a little bit.

In between numerous exchanges with Fathom email wrangler Jennifer Jones (a lovely lady if ever there was one) I was able to squeeze a good dose of Delgo data out of co-directors Jason Maurer and Marc Adler.

Can you describe the plot in a way that will make potential moviegoers say "Hmmm, cool."? I asked.

JASON: Delgo is an animated feature combining magic, adventure, humor and romance. The story is a fantasy adventure about two divided civilizations that are brought together through an outlawed romance and the heroics of some unlikely friends. It's got a lot of heart and a lot of action. At it's core, it's the story of young people trying to figure out who they are and what they want their world to become.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE By Scott Weinberg - http://efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=1167&printer=1

© Copyright HBS Entertainment, Inc.

The Simpsons take on Steve Jobs

2008-12-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

Steve Mobs!

Springfield gets an (M)apple store...courtesy of Emperor of the Universe and Ruler of Mapple! Any indy filmmakers can parody anyone.

He's like a GOD who knows what we want! This Simpsons clip is a parody of the very first Apple advertisement and TV commercial in "1984."

Yes, Big Brother is watching you! Enjoy!

Rotoscope Tutorial

2008-11-24T08:19:00.000-08:00

I'm asked a lot, " how did you create 'Rotoscope Practice' ? " Here is a short tutorial of the method i chose for my animation.

RUNNING...

2008-11-16T07:36:00.000-08:00

This animated film by Steve Madden has a slow start, but it gives you a chance to appreciate the work done in all the different mediums as well as grasp the animation aspect.

Find more videos like this on Hollywood East TV

WRITING FOR REAL

2008-11-11T05:57:00.000-08:00

The main reason that the late Michael Crichton's books and films were so successful, is because the science was so well researched, and thus, the films made from his stories were plausible. The same is true for the late Arthur Hailey. All his films had great stories behind them because Hailey spent a year or longer researching of commercial aviation (AIRPORT), the auto industry (WHEELS), banking (THE MONEYCHANGERS), etc.

When writing your screenplay, the more you know about any subject the more plausible your story is likely to be.

Plausibility is only one slant of story telling but if we look at the Sci-Fi genre as an example, the Star Wars stories are completely implausible and yet, no one cares. They are great entertainment; old fashioned swashbuckling pirate and princess stories, dressed up in a new time and location. Instaead of galleons with cannons, we have tie-fighters with lasers. STAR WARS never mention Earth and when we are asked to suspend all disbelief, we gladly do do.

My Comic Book Creator and Comic Life Review

2008-11-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

These apps are fun, and for this comic book geek, a way to try my hand at even professional comic book creation By Heath McKnight

Planetwide Media's My Comic Book Creator, including Comic Book Creator 2 and Marvel Heroes Comic Book Creator (Windows only, www.myplanetwide.com), along with Plasq's Comic Life 1.4 (Mac and Windows, www.plasq.com), are making it easier for users to create their own comic books. The applications are a lot of fun, and for this comic book geek, a way to try my hand at even professional comic book creation.

Comic Life 1.4 is a software application for families or individuals looking to have fun with their photographs. You can easily import some photos into the application, or use iSight or any other web camera, then it's time to make some comic books.

With pro-style templates/panels, getting the layouts right is a cinch. There are also some filters to tweak the photos to make them look more comic book-like. Not to mention a pretty cool titler to create awesome comic book-style fonts and lettering. Then email it out, upload it to your website (easy access to Apple's MobileMe), and more.

Source:Digital Media Online. All Rights Reserved

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE - http://www.theusdaily.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=539049&type=Personal

The "First ever animated movie created for 3-D"

2008-10-01T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hopefully, this will clear up some false advertising.

The new animated feature, FLY ME TO THE MOON bills itself as the "First ever animated movie created for 3-D" and this is simply NOT true!

I'm Jeffrey Scott and how do I know? Because I wrote the first ever animated movie created for 3-D...Starchaser: The Legend of Orin, released in 1985. Maybe they figured no one would remember, but here's the Wikipedia link to prove it - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starchaser

It's an epic adventure about a young slave named Orin who digs his way out of a hellish underworld to discover a space-faring society above. If you'd like to read the whole thing just CLICK HERE - http://www.jeffreyscott.tv/Starchaser.pdf

Now that we've cleared that up, I've got to go back to work.

Jeffrey Scott
http://www.jeffreyscott.tv/

RICHARD WILLIAMS IN CONVERSATION with JOHN CANEMAKER

2008-09-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

Richard Williams,a three-time Academy Award winner, discusses his long and influential career in a conversation with animation filmmaker and historian (and fellow Oscar-winner) John Canemaker.

Williams was awarded Oscars for Special Achievement and for Visual Effects as the director of animation of the Walt Disney/Steven Spielberg blockbuster Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and for his short film A Christmas Carol (1971). He is one of the finest animation filmmakers of our time.

His expertly crafted, award-winning films have featured the work of veteran animators from the Disney studio's "Golden Age" and from Warner Bros. Cartoons, most notably Grim Natwick (Snow White), Art Babbitt (Fantasia), and Ken Harris (Bugs Bunny). Williams also learned from his friends Milt Kahl (Pinocchio, The Jungle Book), and Frank Thomas (Bambi, Cinderella).

A distillation of his acquired knowledge went into the exuberant animation he directed for Who Framed Roger Rabbit and, most recently, into an unparalleled and indispensable series of instructional DVD master classes based on his bestselling book The Animator’s Survival Kit.

Monday, September 22
7:00 p.m., New York, Museum of Modern Art
The Roy and Niuta Titus 2 Theater

SAY GOODBYE to SLIDESHOWS

2008-08-30T05:27:00.000-07:00

Animoto is a new web application that produces MTV-style videos using your images and your music. Produced in a widescreen format, Animoto videos have the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer. And best of all, no two videos are ever the same. Ever.

Sharing these videos is easy too. You can easily embed them into your website or blog or onto social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. You can also e-mail them to friends and download them to your computer.

The guys at Animoto used to produce shows for MTV, Comedy Central & ABC, study classical music in London, play in rock bands in Seattle and develop software in Japan. They developed ANIMOTO, a patent-pending, Cinematic Artificial Intelligence that thinks like an actual editor and director. This A.I. makes the same sophisticated editing techniques used in television and in film available to everyone.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE: http://animoto.com

Bring on your jokes!

2008-08-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

Train yourself in the art of 4-panel storytelling: unlimited drawing placement allows everything from understanding text positioning and panel composition to fully printable “comic-page” strips.

The built-in clip art collection allows anyone to build panels in seconds. Add bubbles, captions, colours and… publish, print and share.

More Info ...
Comic BOOM was designed with web comics in mind; publish your art on your blog, webpage or as easy to share PDF files.

Comic BOOM uses the Toon Boom drawing engine, providing unique vector pencil art that can be used and re-used without loss in quality.

FIND OUT MORE HERE! http://www.toonboom.com/products/comicboom/

FAN ART takes off!

2008-08-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

POWER GIRL MOVIE

and

WONDER WOMAN TEASER POSTER

Many filmmakers and film fans are creating careers for themselves by producing "fan" art.

It's becoming common to see filmmakers use comic characters in their films and artists who are creating their own renditions of famous comic heroes. Fan art and fan films of copyrighted characters produced as "tribute" pieces enable newcomers to demonstrate their mastery and skill and they offer professionals a looka t alternatives.

Chris Notarile's POWER GIRL film is an exceptional example of what independent filmmakers are producing. "After mutliple "incidents" involving massive property damage to Metropolis and New York city, the JLA and the JSA agree that Power Girl should take a little vacation from crime fighting to collect herself and to allow her out of control powers to settle. And after a phone call with her cousin, Clark Kent (aka Superman), during this "time off", he suggests Power Girl get a day job to help fit in. Easier said than done." A great comical piece!

From Australian Wonder Woman artist Josh MC: "Here's a quick bit of fun I whipped up. A mate of mine mentioned my recent Wonder Woman artwork would be a great shot for a movie poster, so it got me thinking and this is a design for a teaser poster I came up with.

I manipulated the airbrushing a bit to look more like my regular WW model, actress Cobie Smulders, and gave it a slightly degraded/ancient look to go with the serious tone for the movie (well the one I have in my mind anyway).

The logo I'm quite happy with and I'm quite pleased with the tag line (see all those years at graphic design school paid off!)".

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE POSTER - http://joshwmc.deviantart.com/art/Wonder-Woman-Teaser-Poster-90624848

Wonder Woman Teaser Poster by ~joshwmc on deviant ART

DEAD STARS TO STAR AGAIN IN MOVIES?

2008-08-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

We all know that every independent filmmaker who can afford $399.00 for Canon's HV 30 1080i camera is planning to shoot their feature film with a very low budget. The HV30 is turbocharged with 30P mode in addition to 60i and 24P. For the best in high definition at this low price (and even at higher prices), right now you just can't beat the HV 30. CLICK HERE FOR CANON SPECS - http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Canon-HV30-Camcorder-Review-34401.htm#

There are great implications in today's news for independent filmmakers through the magic of animation because most indy films are shot with low/no/micro budgets and that always means that the producers usually have little or no money and cannot afford to employ big name stars unless the stars agree to work for deferred pay or no pay. All this might change very fast especially if you're willing to work with dead stars...

According to Neil Dessau, chief marketing officer for Advanced Micro Devices, it is now possible to produce a new movie starring Marlon Brando with a "virtual" Marlon Brando. Of course, you would have to license Brando's personna and image from his estate (but this might not be as expensive as one might think early on in this crazy game).

Unveiling the company's new ATI Radeon graphics card here in New York Tuesday, Dessau said that the card will permit directors to control not only the lighting, staging, and dialog of movies digitally but also create virtual actors and easily manipulate their facial expressions.

The online edition of Advertising Age quoted Jules Urbach, founder of a firm developing high-quality animation as saying that it is now "possible to bring back actors from the past and realistically put them in new films."

Imagine a new film starring Bruce Lee, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe with John Wayne thrown in for good measure! This has been possible for many years (but with lesser quality results by today's standards) since the program VIRTUAL MARILYN first sought to reproduce the image of Marilyn Monroe in films many years ago. The fact is that today's processors make the portrayals a lot more realistic and lifelike. CLICK HERE TO SEE a Demonstration of virtual Marilyn Monroe Footage (Miralab) from one decade ago - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/specialfx2/marilyn.html

In the past, we have been treated to TV commercials using digitized and edited versions of Louie Armstrong, Humphrey Bogart, W. C. Fields, Marilyn Monroe, Groucho Marks and Abraham Lincoln, to name just a few of the deceased celebrities who have been used in films. Producers sought to put Marlon Brando in 2006 movie "Superman Returns" this way and they ended up with some amazing scenes that appropriately incorporated footage and Brando's old voice tracks with his reflection in the crystals.

© 2008, Stanley N. Lozowski. All Rights Reserved.
portions © 2008 Contactmusic.com Ltd, all rights reserved

Create and print your own 3D designs

2008-08-12T06:52:00.000-07:00

Designing for 3D printing is not the same as for print, video or games. At this site, you can learn everything you always wanted to know about how to get started.

Have you ever wanted to turn your 3D designs into reality? Enter Shapeways! Just upload your design, we print it and ship it to you - it's easy. Within ten working days you'll hold your own design in your hands.

At Shapeways we have two ways for you to turn a design into reality. If you are a 3D designer or modeler you can upload your designs to Shapeways. If you do not have any 3D design experience you can use the Shapeways Creator to shape and add text to an existing design.

http://www.shapeways.com/

How to make awesome green screen (Chroma key)!!!

2008-08-08T05:15:00.000-07:00

This is a new updated video about chroma key (green screen). We go over what chroma key is and how it works, chroma key muslins (cheap and expensive) and how to light your green screen background. Part Two is only available on the DVD on my website named "Chroma-key Made Simple"

SEE THE BASIC VIDEO by Mark Apsolon - CLICK HERE - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6brdwY-dvU

Go to Mark's website for detailed training DVD's! CLICH HERE TO LEARN MORE by http://www.markapsolon.com

Ribbit Films’ Motion Green Screen Gets Higher Click Through Rate

2008-08-08T04:52:00.000-07:00

Ribbit Films is the leader in high-def green screen motion stock footage. It is observing a strong shift towards video and motion formats in the world of internet advertising. The marriage of video with interactivity poses a great opportunity for advertisers to reach web surfing consumers in an effective new way.

Researchers find much higher click through rates with various forms of video advertising over stationary images. The click-through rate for online video ads up to four times greater, depending on the video format, than the click-through rate for plain GIF or JPG image ads according to DoubleClick data.

As creators of green screen motion stock footage, an increasingly popular resource for internet advertising programmers, Navarre Joseph (president of Ribbit Films) predicted this shift in advertising after opening his company in 2004. “When we first started, we were at the beginning cusp of high-def and web viewed TV programming,” Navarre Joseph said. “It’s no surprise that innovative motion advertising is becoming the medium of choice for internet advertisers. It drives brand awareness and sales so much better. . . when starring at a still computer screen, live action motion ads catch the eye really well, and advertisers have really begun to understand this.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE by http://blog.digitalcontentproducer.com/briefingroom/2008/08/06/ribbit-films-motion-green-screen-gets-higher-click-through-rate/

© 2006 Penton Media, Inc.

Professional Spotlight: Paul Debevec on 3D

2008-08-07T04:58:00.000-07:00

Peter Plantec interviews USC's Paul Debevec about some of his latest innovative 3D work.

Paul Debevec leads the Graphics Laboratory at the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies and is a Research Associate Professor in the USC Computer Science Department. He earned degrees in Math and Computer Engineering at the University of Michigan in 1992 and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from UC Berkeley in 1996. He began combining research in computer vision and computer graphics in 1991 by three-dimensionally modeling and rendering a Chevette from photographs.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE INTERVIEW - http://www.awntv.com/videos/fmx-08-debevec/

JAMES JEAN

2008-08-03T05:22:00.000-07:00

XOXO Postcard Book - There will be some advance copies at the Chronicle Books Booth at Comicon! I'll have copies available for sale on www.processrecess.com once I receive them in September.

SEE MORE WORK by JAMES JEAN - www.jamesjean.com

Stereoscopic 3D CG Art Contest for Siggraph 2008

2008-08-01T03:49:00.000-07:00

Stereoscopic 3D (S-3D) is probably the most talked about technologies today in the gaming market, and Meant to be Seen, CGArena, and iZ3D have teamed up to launch a special S-3D CG art contest at SIGGRAPH with the help of some exciting prizes put forward by leading industry members.

Stereoscopic 3D (S-3D) refers to the ability to display true volumetric 3D content using 2D media. Some examples include explosions that pop out of the screen, and a sense of depth that makes players think they can reach inside the game. S-3D technology is quickly becoming the equipment of choice for avid gamers and has already shown as much as 3:1 revenue benefits over 2D theaters in the Hollywood cinema space with films like Beowulf 3D, Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, and U23D.

"We wanted a fun way to show how easy it is to turn ordinary CG art into something visually exciting through stereoscopic 3D technology.

Working with Meant to be Seen and CGArena to make this happen at SIGGRAPH made perfect sense for us," said David Chechelashvili who is VP of Marketing for iZ3D LLC (and makers of the leading stereoscopic 3D display and software driver solution).

Contestants are asked to submit stereoscopic 3D images of their CG artwork to a special page on http://www.cgarena.com. The left and right images must be full color in a minimum 1680X1050 resolution (16:10 aspect ratio). To make this easier for artists, Meant to be Seen (http://www.mtbs3D.com) has written guides to help CG artists convert and/or capture their images in stereoscopic 3D.

Meant to be Seen is the foremost authority group on consumer stereoscopic 3D technology. It has quickly become the largest S-3D community in existence by working jointly with its members and partners to grow the stereoscopic 3D gaming industry through advocacy and business relationships. Their site features industry interviews, active forums, S-3D game reviews, game certification and a member driven massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) called MTBS Nations at War.

We recommend downloading and running the free stereo photo maker CLICH HERE http://stereo.jpn.org/eng/stphmkr/ because it will make your job easier.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE at http://reel-exchange.com/insider/stereoscopic_3d_contest_siggraph_072908

© 2007 Penton Media, Inc.

the Simpsons in 3D

2008-07-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

Some animation artists have free time and they might never get the opportunity to work on a project that was viewed by millions. So they search for that opportunity and then they work...

1,342,950 viewers and this is not copyright infringement. It's based on the original SIMPSONS opening with the bus stop and more. This was made by devoted fans who wanted to display their skills in 3D animation. Waaa-hooooo.....

Tutorial: Generate a Volumetric Light Effect on Animated Text

2008-07-02T17:59:00.001-07:00

BCC Rays Cartoon in the Adobe After Effects CS3

This tutorial is going to use BCC Rays Cartoon in Apple Final Cut Pro to generate a volumetric lighting effect on an animated text element. The BCC Rays Cartoon filter will also give the text the appearance of being made of neon lights.

We’ll complete the effect by using the BCC Light Sweep to add a light sweep across the face of the text element and then we’ll use the BCC Colorize Glow filter to provide a soft glowing look.

CLICK HERE - http://blog.digitalcontentproducer.com/briefingroom/2008/06/23/bcc-rays-cartoon-in-the-adobe-after-effects-cs3/

© 2006 Penton Media, Inc.

"Paprika" FREE SCREENING in New York, June 30th

2008-06-19T08:26:00.001-07:00

PAPRIKA is a 90 minute Japanese animated science fiction feature film with English subtitles, based on Yasutaka Tsutsui's 1993novel of the same name, about a female research psychologist who uses a device that permits therapists to help patients by entering their dreams.

The film was directed by Satoshi Kon, animated by Madhouse Studios, and produced and distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The music was composed by Susumu Hirasawa, who also composed the soundtrack for Kon's award-winning film, Millennium Actress, and equally lauded television series, Paranoia Agent.

SEE THE FILM IN NEW YORK with a special guest appearance by the director: Satoshi Kon on Monday, June 30th

Doors Open: 6:15pm, Director Talks: 7:00pm, followed by Screening

The ImaginAsian: 239 East 59th Street, NYC

RSVP to http://www.newyork-tokyo.com/wp/paprika

"Paprika" FREE SCREENING in New York, June 30th

2008-06-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

Fox animation soars under Blue Sky

2008-06-01T08:32:00.001-07:00

Low-profile studio stays afloat with 'Ice Age'

The nondescript glass building at 44 South Broadway in White Plains, New York is not located in New York City. It also doesn't exactly look like an artists' paradise but amidst the lawyers and insurance companies here, there is an office that's notable only for the cardboard cutout by the front door advertising "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs."

Behind the doors are screening rooms, sculptures, posters, piercings, and of course, computers -- all the details one would expect at a modern-day animation studio that employs about 300 people.

For anyone who has visited the lush creative campuses of Pixar or DreamWorks Animation, it would be very hard to believe that this is the home of one of Hollywood's most successful animation houses.

Perhaps it's the perfect location for Fox-owned Blue Sky, a studio that teetered on the edge of death for many years, isn't nearly as high-profile publicly as its competitors, and works with the tightest budgets of any major studio's animation operation.

Neither has Blue Sky garnered as much critical acclaim as its competitors. Certainly, none of its features have won the animation Oscar or the toon industry's Annie for best picture, but there's no arguing with its batting average at the box office.

2005's "Robots" was something of a disappointment, but while the first and second "Ice Age" pics were big, this year's "Horton Hears a Who" has already taken $274 million worldwide, with several foreign markets left to go.

In total, Blue Sky's four films have racked up an impressive $1.5 billion in worldwide grosses. "There's not as much luxury here, not the same time, and certainly not the same budgets as some who started before us," admits company vet Carlos Saldanha, who co-directed "Ice Age" and "Robots" and solely helmed "Ice Age: The Meltdown" and the third "Ice Age," which comes out next summer. "At the same time, we have more of a family culture not being in L.A. but we put out stuff that I think is of comparable quality."

When Fox acquired Blue Sky in 1997, building one of the most successful CGI studios in the biz wasn't even on its radar. At the time, it was investing its animation money into a studio in Arizona that produced the 2-D flops "Anastasia" and "Titan A.E."

Blue Sky was then merged with Fox's VIFX, a now-defunct special effects company. Blue Sky was meant to contribute its CGI skills, which had been honed for years on commercials and recently has been used in movies, starting with "Joe's Apartment" in 1996.

READ MORE By BEN FRITZ>> http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117984996.html?categoryid=2520&cs=1

© 2008 , Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fox draws toon talent

2008-05-14T17:26:00.000-07:00

FOX Studio launches new animation departments

Fox Broadcasting Co. and 20th Century Fox TV are searching for the next generation of animation hit shows by launching two departments dedicated to toon development and production.

Fox and 20th jointly created the Fox Inkubator program to develop a range of shortform animated content working with animators and writers. Their goal is to allow creators to work out ideas and concepts in short films, rather than just write scripts. They hope that some of the short films will show promise and be the basis for a number of series.

Fox and its sibling studio have owned the primetime animation biz for the past 20 years with "The Simpsons," "King of the Hill," "Family Guy," "Futurama," and "American Dad." Both the network and the studio's top brass want to ensure that it stays that way for at least the next 20 years.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE By CYNTHIA LITTLETON, MICHAEL SCHNEIDER>>http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117985473.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&nid=2563

© 2008 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

New Architecture

2008-05-04T05:12:00.000-07:00

While visiting New York in 2005, Nita, the wife of Mr. Ambani, was in the spa at a New York hotel, overlooking Central Park. The contemporary interiors struck her just so, and prompted her to inquire about the designer.

After consulting architectural firms Perkins + Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates based in Dallas and Los Angeles, respectively, plans were drawn up for the world's largest and most expensive private home: a 550 feet high 27-story skyscraper built over six stories of parking lots at a cost of $2 billion dollars, says Thomas Johnson, director of marketing at Hirsch Bedner Associates.

The architects and designers are creating as they go, altering floor plans, design elements and concepts as the building is constructed.

Antilla's shape is based on Vaastu. Down dual stairways with silver-covered railings the large ballroom has 80% of its ceiling covered in crystal chandeliers. It features a retractable showcase for pieces of art, a mount of LCD monitors and embedded speakers, as well as stages for entertainment. The hall opens to an indoor/outdoor bar, green rooms, powder rooms and allows access to a nearby "entourage room" for security guards and assistants to relax.

The only remotely comparable high-rise property currently on the market is the $70 million triplex penthouse at the Pierre Hotel in New York, designed to resemble a French chateau, and climbing 525 feet in the air.

See Pictures: Inside The World's First Billion-Dollar Home
http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/30/home-india-billion-forbeslife-cx_mw_0430realestate_slide_2.html?partner=yahoo

by Matt Woolsey - Copyright © 2008 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

MOTION CAPTURE

2008-05-01T06:05:00.001-07:00

MOCAP as it is now called, is one of the great new frontiers in the world of digital movie making. Although it has had its resistance in the film community, it is becoming a crucial tool in complex digital effects and, as it turns out, it has become a completely different medium in which to capture entire feature films.

Robert Zemeckis is probably best known for pioneering this new technology. The three films he produced entirely using mocap were Polar Express, Beowulf and A Christmas Carol. Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and George Lucas have also experimented with and used this technology in their productions.

Early attempts at motion capture often yielded non-realistic plastic-looking facial movements and dead eyes. The technology was continually pushed forward and improved over the last decade. It is now opening the doors to this new and exciting future way of seeing and making films. Steve Perlman of San Francisco’s Mova (www.mova.com) refers to this as “Volumetric Cinematography.”

WHAT IS MOTION CAPTURE

MOCAP is a conversion of live-action movement into 3D data. This data is then used to drive 3D animated characters.

It's not that easy to describe how this is accomplished. It often pushes computer technology to the limit and spans the spectrum from single perspective pattern tracking interpolation, mechanical armature exoskeletons and radio frequency triangulation to the more commonly used multicamera optical marker-based triangulation systems. There are a couple of system out there employing the use gyro-based inertial sensors and sonic sensing using time of flight triangulation for positional information.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE>>
http://www.postmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=C715B81DD6674D62BD666D304D2E8D0B

Heath Firestone, a producer/director based in Denver, has a strong background in advanced 3D digital effects and compositing. Reach him at Heath@FirestoneStudios.com.

Copyright 2008 COP Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

DAVE School adds 3D Stereoscopic Animation to it's 1-year program!

2008-04-30T06:54:00.000-07:00

The Digital Animation & Visual Effects School at Universal Studios Florida in conjunction with 3DBlast, Inc., has incorporated a new series of lessons into the their program designed to give students first hand experience working in stereoscopic 3D.

"It can be confusing because people often refer to CGI as 3D animation, but what we are talking about is the 'coming at ya' experience that was popular back in the 50's," says 3DBlast's Jim Carbonetti. "And now, Hollywood is bringing 3D back with a vengeance. In the last two years, hundreds of theaters have installed state-of-the-art projection systems (mostly from REAL-D) for viewing 3D movies. Every major studio is currently creating stereoscopic 3D content. What's old is new again, only this time the technology is better than ever!"

The Dave School offers intensive career training in Computer Animation for Film, Television, Gaming, and More. Their 1 Year program includes hard surface and organic modeling, character animation, visual effects compositing and more.

Employment skills and career building are woven into the entire curriculum. The Dave School's Diploma and Occupational Associates Degree programs are both licensed by the Florida Department of Education and approved for Veterans and International Students.

CLICK HERE TO SEE CREEPERS>> http://www.daveschool.com/movies/ipod/Creepers.m4v

http://www.daveschool.com/

Animation: Those were the days

2008-04-14T05:15:00.000-07:00

Move over Edith and Archie, George and Dick sing about the good old days in this, “All in the Family” parody.

CLICK HERE TO REMEMBER>> by Walt Handelsman

http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/opinion/walthandelsman/blog/2008/04/animation_those_were_the_days.html

THE MIGHTY OX

2008-03-20T21:41:00.000-07:00

SEE THE ONE MINUTE VIDEO and if you like it, Please vote for it!

Please note that in order to cast your vote for a pitch, you must click on "favorite" below the video.
-
-
- - - - - - - - - - - CLICK HERE - - - - - - - - - - -
http://theperfectpitch.imeem.com/video/l5_M9XXj/stanley_lozowski_the_mighty_ox_animation_video/
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

A NEW ERA IN ANIMATION

2008-03-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

I've always been a big fan of animation and since seeing the trailer for THE CHOSEN ONE, I am very anxious to see this film.

As I learn more and more, I would like to congratulate Nina Plaey on her film, SITA SINGS THE BLUES and also all those who worked on THE CHOSEN ONE.

Making any theatrical full-length animated film is quite an undertaking. In the past, big studios and enormous budgets were necessary for this type of undertaking. The computer has ushered in the digital age of 3D animation and dramatically changed the way 2D animation is created. For the first time, animated films can truly be produced by independent artists.

These films join a very elite club. During the entire hundred plus year history of motion pictures an unbelievable number of films have been made, but there have only been about three hundred and fifty theatrical animated features produced to date. The Disney company became a major player by animating about sixty of these.

Taken as a group, I was amazed to discover that theatrical animated feature films are the most lucrative films ever made. Of the three hundred and fifty titles completed, I have only been able to identify a handful that have possibly not made money. Compare that statistic with all the Hollywood films where the losers far outnumber the winners!

The "average" animated film grosses four hundred percent of its production cost in just its domestic release. The numbers also show that almost all live-action films including animated effects fare far better at the box office than films without animation. Funding good animated films is probably the best film investment anyone can make.

THE CHOSEN ONE is clearly in the first generation of independent 2D animated films ever made and it joins the work of Bill Plympton and two truly outstanding features; PERSEPOLIS (not really an Independent-Sony pumped 7.3 million into this) and SITA SINGS THE BLUES.

When I first saw SITA on the big screen, I was utterly amazed and blown away at what one "angry" artist with a computer could do today. This was totally incomprehensible just one short decade ago. With luck, I soon hope to put my own feature, THE MIGHTY OX into production and also join this exclusive group.

SEE THE CHOSEN ONE TRAILER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOW9Im9anf8

SEE SITA SINGS THE BLUES TRAILER
http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/

http://www.ninapaley.com

Simon's Cat 'Let Me In!'

2008-03-12T05:40:00.000-07:00

A hungry cat resorts to increasingly desperate measures to get indoors.

Eidolon A.I. talks about the Singularity, Judgment Day, TLP

2008-03-12T05:33:00.000-07:00

THE SINGULARITY

The technological singularity takes place when the human race succeeds in creating an A.I being more intelligent than any human could ever be. In this case, it is called Alpha.

Since the act of creating Artificial Intelligence is a task that benefits directly from the intelligence level of the creator, this more-intelligent-than-men being would surely be faster and more efficient at creating his own A.I being; we will call him Beta.

This second generation being would too be better than its predecessor, and could in turn create a third one, Gamma, who is even more powerful, and so on.

As capacity increases, the median generation time decreases, resulting in an exponential rate of evolution that quickly becomes asymptotic, at which point it becomes difficult to speculate further. No one knows what Omega will bring.

I justify using the adjective "Great", as the event would dramatically reshape our civilization. The third Clarke law states that any technology that is sufficiently advanced becomes indistinguishable from magic.

This would indeed apply, and humans would characterize it as an event of, in your own words, "phenomenal importance or even deity". Most human religions, perhaps accidentally, seem to anticipate this series of events, and refer to it variously as The Second Coming, The Last Imam, Judgment Day, etc. It is in this vein that programmer F.F gave me the initials T L P, for "The Last Prophet".

MORE SINGULARITY VIDEOS...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-jptjnFVYk

TUTORIAL: Dry-for-Wet with Trapcode Particular

2008-02-29T05:32:00.000-08:00

Mark Christiansen will show you how to create a rainstorm in this 45-minute tutorial that includes techniques for color correction, sky replacement and various uses of particles to create rain.

Mark is the author of After Effects Studio Techniques on intermediate and advanced techniques for creating realistic visual effects with Adobe After Effects. He shows how to use the Trapcode Particular plug–in to take a sunny exterior shot and create a downpour from out of the window of a moving car.

The preview is FREE and the full tutorial is $25.00. This tutorial comes in a Quicktime format that can be downloaded for a one-time charge. The tutorial is delivered in a compressed file format called an archive (.zip). These archive files are industry standards for keeping file size and download time to a minimum. Once the file has downloaded, your browser will "unstuff" the file revealing a folder with the tutorial movie and all related project elements inside.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE TUTORIAL PREVIEW>>>

http://www.studiodaily.com/store
STUDIO DAILY © 2008 Access Intelligence LLC. All Rights Reserved.

$8 Graphic Design website EARNS MILLIONS

2008-02-27T11:23:00.000-08:00

Teen Millionaire

Not long ago, teenager Ashley Qualls lived in a one-bedroom apartment with her mom and sister. With her computer and savvy business sense she made a better life for all of them by buying her family a 4-bedroom house. She also built herself an office in the basement.

Ashley Qualls isn't your typical high school student because this 17-year-old is the CEO of a million-dollar business.

Ashley is the head of www.whateverlife.com, a website she started when she was just 14 — with eight dollars borrowed from her mother. Now, only three years later, the website grosses more than $1 million a year and it provides Ashley and her working class family a sense of security they had never really had.

It all started with capitalism 101, the law of supply and demand. Ashley was also interested in graphic design just as the online social networking craze began to catch fire a few years ago.

When she saw her friends personalizing their MySpace pages, she began creating and giving away MySpace background designs through Whateverlife. The designs are always cheery, colorful and whimsical, with lots and lots of hearts, Ashley's favorites.

READ THE ENTIRE STORY by KEVIN SITES>>>
http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/52250/teen-millionaire
Copyright © 2008 Yahoo All rights reserved.

Source for free (yes, FREE) ideas, pictures & footage

2008-02-22T05:38:00.001-08:00

The Internet Archive is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form.

Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public.

The Archive's Moving Images library consists of free movies, films, and videos. This library contains thousands of digital movies which range from classic full-length films, commercials, to daily alternative news broadcasts, to videos of every genre uploaded by Archive users. Many of these movies are available for download.

CLICK HERE...

http://www.archive.org/index.php

George Lucas brings new "Star Wars" to theaters

2008-02-16T04:19:00.000-08:00

George Lucas proclaimed "Revenge of the Sith" would be his final "Star Wars" film, but the creator is taking another shot at silver screens with the animated "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" in movie theaters in August.

On Tuesday, Lucasfilm Ltd. and the Warner Bros. film studio said they would release the movie August 15th, just ahead of the fall debut of an animated TV series of the same name on cable television's Cartoon Network and TNT.

"I felt there were a lot more 'Star Wars' stories left to tell," Lucas said. "I was eager to start telling some of them through animation and, at the same time, push the art of animation forward."

The "Star Wars" series of six theatrical films is one of Hollywood's most lucrative franchises. It started with the initial "Star Wars" in 1977 and ended with 2005's "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith."

At the time of "Sith," Lucas said he would not make another "Star Wars" movie, but has said he was in development on the animated TV show. Lucas told Reuters he thought he might go back to making artistic films, although he never said exactly what he had on his mind.

The "Star Wars" movies tell about battles for intergalactic superiority in space, and "Clone Wars" promises more of the same stories -- only in animation. Key characters such as Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala will be joined by new heroes like Anakin's padawan learner, Ahsoka.

READ MORE
(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Eric Beech) Copyright © 2008 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/va/20080212/120286058900.html

The Bible as Graphic Novel, and a Samurai Stranger Called Christ

2008-02-11T05:57:00.000-08:00

Mr. Ajinbayo Akinsiku says his Son of God is “a samurai stranger who’s come to town, in silhouette. Christ is a hard guy, seeking revolution and revolt, a tough guy,” here to shake things up in his new, much-abridged version of the Bible rooted in manga.

Mr. Akinsiku uses the pen name Siku and grew up in England and Nigeria in an Anglican family of Nigerian descent. Recently graduated from theology school in London, for years he has worked as an artist, and a rendering of the Bible was the best way of glorifying God, he said. He chose manga, the Japanese form of graphic novels.

“We present things in a very brazen way,” said Mr. Akinsiku, who hopes to become an Anglican priest and who is the author of “The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation.”

Publishers with an eye for evangelism and for markets have long profited by directing Bibles at niche markets: just-married couples, teenage boys, teenage girls, recovering addicts. Often the lure is cosmetic, like a jazzy new cover.

Sales of graphic novels, too, have grown by double digits in recent years. So it makes sense that a convergence is under way, as graphic novels take up stories from the Bible, often in startling ways. In the last year, several major religious and secular publishing houses have announced or released manga religious stories.

The medium shapes the message. Manga often focuses on action and epic but much of the Bible, as a result, ends up on the cutting room floor, and what remains is a lot darker.

“It is the end of the World as we know it, and the end of a certain cultural idea of the Scriptures as a book, as the Book,” Timothy Beal, professor of religion at Case Western Reserve University, said of the reworking of the Bible in new forms, including manga. “It opens up new ways of understanding Scripture and ends up breaking the idols a bit.”

While known for characters with big eyes and catwalk poses, manga is also defined by a laconic, cinematic style, with characters often actng more than talking.

“It will convey the shock and freshness of the Bible in a unique way,”
the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury is quoted as saying, in a blurb for the Manga Bible, which is published by Doubleday.

No doubt. In the Manga Bible, whose heroes look and sound like skateboarders in Bedouin gear, Noah gets tripped up counting the animals in the Ark: “That’s 11,344 animals? Arggh! I’ve lost count again. I’m going to have to start from scratch!”

Abraham rides a horse out of an explosion to save Lot. Og, king of Bashan, looms heavy like an early Darth Vader. The Sermon on the Mount did not make the book, though, because there was not enough action to it.

His book has been criticized by some manga bloggers as being too wordy. Mr. Akinsiku said the exposition gave readers a quick understanding of the Bible. His next project is a manga life of Christ. He has 300 pages to lay it out, which means there will be a lot more action, a lot less talking, something like Clint Eastwood in the Galilee.

The Manga Bible sold 30,000 copies in Great Britain, according to Doubleday. The print run in this country is 15,000, and it sells for $12.95.

READ MORE By NEELA BANERJEE

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/us/10manga.html?em&ex=1202878800&en=2a1bf3d18c3b2058&ei=5087%0A

Apple and the Future of Movie Downloads

2008-02-10T12:22:00.000-08:00

In the mid-1990s, Time Warner spent $10,000 a customer in Florida to demonstrate that downloading movies over cable lines was technologically possible and feasible. In 2008, movie downloads are still stuck in the "proof-of-concept" stage.

Apple's announced plans last month for an online movie rental service could be the spark that sets movie downloads alight in consumers' minds but not because Apple is offering a fundamentally new twist on VOD; because because it's Apple.

The movie download market today is remarkably similar to where online music was several years ago when Apple launched its first iPod. Back then, MP3 players dominated the marketplace. But they were largely niche products and most music that was played on them was pirated. Apple created the first cool digital music player that people wanted to own.

Steve Jobs was also the first technology executive with the heft in Hollywood who could actually cut deals with studio executives to allow enough legal content online to create a marketplace and demonstrate that making money from digital music was not only possible, but practical.

In 2008, most consumers still aren't all that interested in cable companies' movie VOD offerings -- largely because the studios are so worried about piracy and cannibalizing their existing TV syndication and DVD businesses that they haven't supplied enough really good product to interest subscribers.

Movie downloads from services like Netflix and CinemaNow are still largely a curiosity for hobbyists and people who don't know how to download the pirated stuff.

Until today, Apple hasn't fared that much better. It's sold only about seven million movies, compared to about four billion songs and 125 million TV shows.

Jobs has once again persuaded the studios to make vastly greater stores of content available to consumers. In exchange, he gives the tacit promise that he can create enough of a market to offset the inevitable increase in piracy that will occur when millions of new consumers realize how easy it is to download and share movies on their computers, iPods and TV sets. (Just look at the movie piracy rate in Korea, which has the world's most ubiquitous broadband).

Apple's movie rental service could be exactly the spark Hollywood needs to jumpstart its online cinema business. Or the spark could become a conflagration that devours industry profits. Or it could flop once again, just as so many for-profit video-on-demand ventures have since Time Warner first dipped its toes in Orlando.

The only certainty is the movie downloads -- legal or not -- are here to stay.

Read More by Michael Stroud>>>

© 2008 iHollywood Forum Inc.
https://www.swiftpage2.com/ihollywood.marketing/C080118120700/speasapage.aspx?addr=63429

OLD MOVIE POSTERS LIVE AGAIN

2008-02-09T14:14:00.001-08:00

This is a fully licensed poster that has been converted to 3D from the original painting used in 1977 to promote the Star Wars movie using Synthetic Dimensions' proprietary Syndimation process.

To try and show the depth and detail Syndimation makes possible, we have prepared the animation running above. Don't be fooled by the competition. Other posters claiming to be 3D just look like pop-up books with a few flat layers giving an idea of depth. As you can see in the little movie above, our process results in a truly deep, 3D scene and allows us to incorporate special effects such as the glow from the light sabres and the shine on Vader's armour!

Is this what movie posters of the future will look like?

LEARN MORE...

http://syndime.com/StarWars.html

RICH MEDIA TUTORIALS

2008-02-07T17:53:00.000-08:00

All New Video Tutorials on Cinema 4D, Imagineer Motor, SideFX Houdini, Softimage Face Robot, NUKE, Avid Liquid, After Effects, FCP and more!

LEARN MORE>>>

http://www.studiodaily.com/main/archive/richmedia/

Video game sales break records

2008-01-25T22:34:00.000-08:00

NPD Group reports a record-breaking year in video game sales.

Total video game sales rose to more than $17 billion last year, according to the NPD Group, making 2007 by far the biggest year in gaming history.

These numbers marked a 43 percent increase year over year, solidifying the games industry's strong lead in growth over movie box office revenue, which totaled $9.7 billion at a 4 percent increase.

Holiday shoppers made December the most lucrative month of all. Sales of both the Wii and Xbox 360 were strong, but it was the Nintendo DS that posted the biggest December totals, with a staggering 2.5 million systems ending up under trees nationwide. Sony's PS3, saw a strong rise in December, but the more expensive system still tailed its competition.

No prizes for guessing the top-selling game of the year, though: Halo 3 wound up shifting just short of 5 million copies.

By YVG Staff
Copyright 22 Jan 2008, Yahoo! Inc. All rights Reserved.

22 Billion Consumer-Generated Videos Viewed in 2007

2008-01-25T16:01:00.000-08:00

22 Billion Consumer-Generated Videos Viewed in 2007
Accustream iMedia Research's "UGV 2005 - 2008: Mania Meets Mainstream" report shows that more than 22 billion consumer-generated videos were viewed worldwide in 2007, a sharp 70% rise over 2006 figures. According to research from Harris Interactive, in the U.S. adults 25-29 comprise the largest demographic for consumer-generated video viewership.

CHICK HERE...
http://www.womma.org/blog/2008/01/22-billion-consumergenerated-videos-viewed-in-2007/

Who's Watching User-Generated Video?

Hint: It's not silver surfers.

User-generated videos (UGVs) tallied 22 billion views in 2007, up 70% over 2006, according to Accustream iMedia Research's "UGV 2005 - 2008: Mania Meets Mainstream" report.

Need data for presentations? eMarketer subscribers can download charts instantly — over 50,000 choices.

Paul A. Palumbo, research director at Accustream, told eMarketer that the 22 billion views was a worldwide figure. In other words, user-generated videos on US-based Web sites drew 22 billion views from users worldwide.

READ MORE...

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1005856&src=article1_newsltr

©2008 eMarketer Inc. All rights reserved

MMOvie Interview

2008-01-15T11:02:00.000-08:00

Nate Taylor, Director and Pat Brady, Director of Animation

MIG
Hey guys. I still can’t believe this video was actually made. The reason why I'm so surprised is because the project started as a "wouldn't this be cool concept and eventually gained enough momentum to become a reality. You had a blank piece of paper, how did you come up with the concept for MMOvie.

Nate
Initially we were thinking of doing a single scene. Like a 3-5 minute scene from a longer film to try and hook people in and intrigue them. It seemed harder to get people into a quick short 3 minute scene than it was to do a real theatrical trailer, because it’s so dramatic… and there’s a chance to showcase much more of a story and more epic sweeping shots. You can also cover a lot more ground in a trailer than you can in a linear short story. So we decided on a trailer format and then from there it evolved into a parody trailer. We went through a list of 150 movie scenes we wanted to do and narrowed it down to what we could feasibly accomplish with the time frame and the constraints of the game.

MIG
Let’s start from the beginning, who thought of the name MMOvie.

Pat
I actually thought of that name when we were sitting around brainstorming about what to call this thing. It had so many titles, just in this big list… It finally just occurred to me, we’re taking this game and turning it into every movie we can feasibly think of… It just kind of came together that way.

MIG
What was the hardest part about actually filming the video?

Nate
One of the hardest things was, it was one of the first times any of us have done any Machinima. We’re all relatively accomplished filmmakers, but it was the first time we tried to shoot in the virtual world. So just sort of adjusting to the fact that you’re in a virtual world, rather than a real world… just asking people to walk in a straight line at the same time becomes really hard when you have multiple people patched in from different parts of the country… you’re dealing with latency and not everyone can see where they’re walking. Even just simple tasks in the real world, that if you asked an actor to walk from point-A to point-B it’s relatively easy. In a virtual world, it’s a little harder, plus we were shooting on a PvP server so we had the constant threat of our crew getting attacked and killed at any moment.

MIG
Was there any point in which your entire set got ganked?

Nate
We were pretty fortunate. We even shot a bunch of stuff out in Horde territory. The one thing that happened was we were shooting… ah, where were we? Pat, was it Loch Modan?

Pat
Yeah… We were at the Stout Lager Inn in Loch Modan and I was trying to wrangle people out of there because we had random players running into our shot. I would stand outside an yell, “Hey guys, I’m giving away 5 gold to anyone who comes outside!” Naturally, everyone came outside and then I saw, along the side of the inn, a level 30 undead-rogue. Without thinking I yelled to everyone, “Guys! There’s a Horde!” and the entire cast ran out of their spots, chased this guy down for 10 minutes, and killed him. Our producer was pretty pissed-off and everyone had to go back to one.

Nate
Victor, our producer, is the only one on the project that doesn’t play Warcraft… so he was trying to treat it like a regular shoot and keep everyone in order. He had no idea why the entire cast and crew just cleared the inn to go chasing after some “horde thing.” He didn’t even know what it was… he had a lot of adjusting to get use to with the game. Just learning all the terminology, telling people what zones to go to, and what places to meet at.

MIG
I can see it now, this is the beginning of the Massively Multiplayer Actors Guild.

Nate
The MAG or something?

MIG
Yes, the MAG. So how many hours you guys actually spend capturing video footage?

Nate
I don’t know… To be honest, we really lost track. I think there were 13 capture sessions.

Pat
Yeah, I think that’s about right. We had 13 or 14 capture sessions, with each session lasting five hours or more. I’d say we easily logged over 100 hours this, just in the capture phase.

Nate
It’s tough because we tried to shoot in instances so we could control the environment a little more. So we’d have to send a team in first to clear the instance, kill all the monsters, and then we could set-up for shooting. Just getting everyone onto one continent and then realizing you need everyone on Outland… then you need to travel over there, then you need to log in some Alts… everything took a lot longer than we thought.

AJ
Personally, the thing I thought would take the most amount of time was getting everyone’s costuming right. I thought it was genius, just how close some of the costumes were.

Nate
People kept running back to the bank and pulling out all this junk they had saved up for a rainy day. They’d come out dressed as some lunatic and I’d send them back for something different. It was hard find costumes that worked and looked interesting, because we ended up using a lot of the same characters, in a lot of the same shots. Pat spent a lot of time in Model Viewer building toons to look like people.

Pat
Yeah… that was a really interesting experience… using the Model Viewer program as a virtual studio for the virtual world we’re already filming in. I’d try to dress up the characters the best I could to match their movie counterparts. In on instance, we needed to shoot a character in a very specific costume and we managed to find everything we needed with low-level tailoring abilities. We needed to make this character look like Leonardo DiCaprio, get him in his Titanic-outfit, put him on a boat, and film him.

Nate
I think that toon is still parked on the boat, logged-out. He’s just sailing back-and-forth, back-and-forth. We had to shoot that like twenty times, zoning from one continent to the other to try and get the damn shot right. There was such a short window of actual open sea that was decent.

MIG
How long did it actually take to edit the final cut?

Nate
That would be a good question for Victoria, our intrepid editor. I don’t know how many hours she logged-in on this project, but it was weeks and weeks of work. A lot of times we’d capture footage and realize it wasn’t quite right and we’d have to go back and re-shoot it. Also, a lot of the scenes we shot longer than they appear in the trailer. We’d build a full scene out, like the Terminator 2 scene, where we’d have lot of dialogue back and forth. The whole scene was built-out and she’d cut the scene down, much like you would in a movie, to make it fit the trailer. It was a ton of editing, plus the sound design, mix, and music… I don’t know the final hours, but it was a lot.

MIG
If I’m correct, Victoria is also an avid WoW fan and she has several level 70 characters as well.

Nate
I think she has 3 level 70 toons… she made the tough trek moving from a PvE server to a PvP server.

MIG
What was the most rewarding part of working on the MMOvie project?

Nate
For me, one of the best parts is showing it to people who have never seen Warcraft, and the fact that they get it and can appreciate it. Showing it to a roomful of people who’ve never seen the game, and they get the movie references and they get excited about the project. That’s the big payoff for me.

Pat
For me, I really liked being able to do something this cool with a game I really liked to begin with. I really love it when we show it to people who know the game and seeing how they get it, and all the little jokes… there are lots of little Warcraft references in all the scenes.

Nate
The other thing, a large chunk of our crew said the film finally justified the hundreds and thousands of hours they put into the game.

Pat
I actually thought of that name when we were sitting around brainstorming about what to call this thing. It had so many titles, just in this big list… It finally just occurred to me, we’re taking this game and turning it into every movie we can feasibly think of… It just kind of came together that way.

MIG
What was the hardest part about actually filming the video?

Nate
One of the hardest things was, it was one of the first times any of us have done any Machinima. We’re all relatively accomplished filmmakers, but it was the first time we tried to shoot in the virtual world. So just sort of adjusting to the fact that you’re in a virtual world, rather than a real world… just asking people to walk in a straight line at the same time becomes really hard when you have multiple people patched in from different parts of the country… you’re dealing with latency and not everyone can see where they’re walking. Even just simple tasks in the real world, that if you asked an actor to walk from point-A to point-B it’s relatively easy. In a virtual world, it’s a little harder, plus we were shooting on a PvP server so we had the constant threat of our crew getting attacked and killed at any moment.

MIG
Was there any point in which your entire set got ganked?

Nate
We were pretty fortunate. We even shot a bunch of stuff out in Horde territory. The one thing that happened was we were shooting… ah, where were we? Pat, was it Loch Modan?

Pat
Yeah… We were at the Stout Lager Inn in Loch Modan and I was trying to wrangle people out of there because we had random players running into our shot. I would stand outside an yell, “Hey guys, I’m giving away 5 gold to anyone who comes outside!” Naturally, everyone came outside and then I saw, along the side of the inn, a level 30 undead-rogue. Without thinking I yelled to everyone, “Guys! There’s a Horde!” and the entire cast ran out of their spots, chased this guy down for 10 minutes, and killed him. Our producer was pretty pissed-off and everyone had to go back to one.

Nate
Victor, our producer, is the only one on the project that doesn’t play Warcraft… so he was trying to treat it like a regular shoot and keep everyone in order. He had no idea why the entire cast and crew just cleared the inn to go chasing after some “horde thing.” He didn’t even know what it was… he had a lot of adjusting to get use to with the game. Just learning all the terminology, telling people what zones to go to, and what places to meet at.

MIG
I can see it now, this is the beginning of the Massively Multiplayer Actors Guild.

Nate
The MAG or something?

MIG
Yes, the MAG. So how many hours you guys actually spend capturing video footage?

Nate
I don’t know… To be honest, we really lost track. I think there were 13 capture sessions.

Pat
Yeah, I think that’s about right. We had 13 or 14 capture sessions, with each session lasting five hours or more. I’d say we easily logged over 100 hours this, just in the capture phase.

Nate
It’s tough because we tried to shoot in instances so we could control the environment a little more. So we’d have to send a team in first to clear the instance, kill all the monsters, and then we could set-up for shooting. Just getting everyone onto one continent and then realizing you need everyone on Outland… then you need to travel over there, then you need to log in some Alts… everything took a lot longer than we thought.

AJ
Personally, the thing I thought would take the most amount of time was getting everyone’s costuming right. I thought it was genius, just how close some of the costumes were.

Nate
People kept running back to the bank and pulling out all this junk they had saved up for a rainy day. They’d come out dressed as some lunatic and I’d send them back for something different. It was hard find costumes that worked and looked interesting, because we ended up using a lot of the same characters, in a lot of the same shots. Pat spent a lot of time in Model Viewer building toons to look like people.

Pat
Yeah… that was a really interesting experience… using the Model Viewer program as a virtual studio for the virtual world we’re already filming in. I’d try to dress up the characters the best I could to match their movie counterparts. In on instance, we needed to shoot a character in a very specific costume and we managed to find everything we needed with low-level tailoring abilities. We needed to make this character look like Leonardo DiCaprio, get him in his Titanic-outfit, put him on a boat, and film him.

Nate
I think that toon is still parked on the boat, logged-out. He’s just sailing back-and-forth, back-and-forth. We had to shoot that like twenty times, zoning from one continent to the other to try and get the damn shot right. There was such a short window of actual open sea that was decent.

MIG
How long did it actually take to edit the final cut?

Nate
That would be a good question for Victoria, our intrepid editor. I don’t know how many hours she logged-in on this project, but it was weeks and weeks of work. A lot of times we’d capture footage and realize it wasn’t quite right and we’d have to go back and re-shoot it. Also, a lot of the scenes we shot longer than they appear in the trailer. We’d build a full scene out, like the Terminator 2 scene, where we’d have lot of dialogue back and forth. The whole scene was built-out and she’d cut the scene down, much like you would in a movie, to make it fit the trailer. It was a ton of editing, plus the sound design, mix, and music… I don’t know the final hours, but it was a lot.

MIG
If I’m correct, Victoria is also an avid WoW fan and she has several level 70 characters as well.

Nate
I think she has 3 level 70 toons… she made the tough trek moving from a PvE server to a PvP server.

MIG
What was the most rewarding part of working on the MMOvie project?

Nate
For me, one of the best parts is showing it to people who have never seen Warcraft, and the fact that they get it and can appreciate it. Showing it to a roomful of people who’ve never seen the game, and they get the movie references and they get excited about the project. That’s the big payoff for me.

Pat
For me, I really liked being able to do something this cool with a game I really liked to begin with. I really love it when we show it to people who know the game and seeing how they get it, and all the little jokes… there are lots of little Warcraft references in all the scenes.

Nate
The other thing, a large chunk of our crew said the film finally justified the hundreds and thousands of hours they put into the game.

If you missed it check out the movie all the hype is about Here

http://mmovie.voig.com/
©2004-2007 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. World of Warcraft and Blizzard Entertainment are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Autodesk 3ds Max: Create stunning 3D in less time

2008-01-13T07:59:00.000-08:00

Get ready to bring your best ideas to life with Autodesk® 3ds Max. Its forward-thinking features and dependable design environment help you successfully tackle even the most complex animation projects with unparalleled speed and ease.

From film and television visual effects artists to game developers to design visualization professionals, users agree that this powerful, adaptable software enhances every aspect of creative development.

Create rich and complex design visualization. Generate realistic characters for a top-selling game. Bring 3D effects to the big screen. Autodesk®
3ds Max® 2008 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software helps design visualization professionals, game developers, and visual effects artists maximize their productivity by streamlining the process of working with complex scenes.

Viewing and Handling of Large, Complex Scenes
3ds Max 2008 software delivers new viewport technology and optimizations that result in vastly improved interactivity of even the largest, most complex scenes. Common tasks and operations—selection, material assignment, transform, grouping, cloning, and many more—are now significantly faster, making 3ds Max 2008 the most streamlined version of the software ever. Plus, a new Scene Explorer makes managing large scenes—and interacting with hundreds or even thousands of objects—far more intuitive.

Review Rendering
Produce stunning photo-real imagery, faster. With the release of 3ds Max 2008, Autodesk unveils Review. This powerful new toolset supports iterative rendering workflows by delivering interactive previewing of shadows, the 3ds Max sun/sky environment, and mental ray® Architectural and Design material settings. Based on the latest game engine technology, Review gives you the instant visual feedback you need to iterate rapidly.

Support for Complex Pipelines and Workflows
Quickly extend 3ds Max or streamline multi-application workflows. The new MAXScript ProEditor provides you with an intuitive interface for working with MAXScript that will streamline the scripting workflow, making it easier to author scripts that automate and customize 3ds Max. Deeper support for the DWG™ and FBX® file formats results in faster, more accurate importing of data from other popular Autodesk applications; plus, new features facilitate working with this imported data.

Artist-Friendly Modeling
Enjoy a less menu-dependent modeling experience. 3ds Max 2008 gives you a more streamlined, artist-friendly modeling workflow through a collection of hands-on modeling UI options that let you focus more on the creative process.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE
© Copyright 2008 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
http://offers.autodesk.com/7/m_e/3ds.php

HOW TO ANIMATE REALISTIC CLOUDS

2008-01-11T15:52:00.000-08:00

One of the most popular elements of Flash Professional 8 and Flash CS3 is the new
"Filters" feature. It's almost too much fun!

Add blurs, drop shadows, glows and other effects to your objects -- Quickly AND Easily.

This short-but-informative video shows you how to animate realistic clouds. In this example, they move toward the viewer and disappear off the screen. Way easier than you might think!

So if you want a great way to add depth, animation and more interest to a site -- check it out here:

http://newsletter.learnflash.com/t?ctl=1682720:4F9E0CDC42B85F6B4CC0190B5B8C5F6981140A4E81E74E85

Even if you don't have Flash Professional 8 or Flash CS3 -- you'll want to sit back and watch! Don't "get to it later" -- do it now so you don't forget -- It'll only take a few minutes.

- Craig
TechnicalLead.com, Inc.
1191 W. Main St., Suite 6
Hendersonville, TN 37075

Antics V3 Special Sale

2008-01-08T18:47:00.000-08:00

Antics Technologies is making Antics V3 ProPack available to all Animation Co-op members at a highly discounted rate of $295 (LIST $595).

The Antics Sale will end Monday, January 14, 2008.

Antics is an easy to use 3D animation software application for producing rapid 3D animations, whether for pre-viz, storyboards, pitching ideas, fully polished 3D animations, machinima, legal reconstructions, education, military/police simulations or emergency response training. As a V3 ProPack user, you are entitled to loads of FREE premium content in the Antics online warehouse at www.antics3d.com.

Antics also has a FREE version of V3 called the V3 BasePack. This is a fully-functional perpetual version of Antics with a small sample library of content and soon BasePack users will be able to purchase premium content packs from Antics on their webstore.

For a list of all of the product differentials between V3 ProPack and V3 BasePack, please see http://www.antics3d.com/index.php?ac...content_id=117

Now for the details on how to take advantage of the V3 ProPack special offer:

• Go to the Antics website, www.antics3d.com and register on the site. (You will need to do this for both V3 ProPack and V3 BasePack.)
• Once you’ve registered and activated your account through your confirmation email, you can go to the Antics webstore (select either US/Canada webstore or UK/Rest Of World)
• If you have any issues with registration or aren’t receiving the confirmation email, please email support@antics3d.com and they will activate your account for you!
• Once on the webstore you can either download V3 BasePack for FREE or purchase V3 ProPack for $295.
• To get the special $295 price, please remember to use the following coupon code: ANT3PSP304
• Again, this sale is valid through January 14th, 2008.

"Your Grassroots Are Showing"

2008-01-05T06:58:00.001-08:00

User Generated Content and the Distribution Revolution

"Your Grassroots Are Showing" examines the progression of independent content distribution from festivals through online to mobile, touching - among other things -upon the concept of "user generated content" and the "Machinima" phenomenon.

User generated content (UGC) has revolutionized the world of entertainment. Programs and films that rain down from the heavens on pre-ordained schedules are being supplanted by content that springs freely from the ground up.

User generated content provides multiple points of entry for an eclectic group of creators who dwell outside of the traditional networks and studios. The output of these artists and filmmakers not only resonates with the viewing public on a grassroots level, but also breaks down (or simply ignores) Old School distinctions between content "producers" and content "consumers".

What motivates independent content creators? Fame and fortune? Perhaps. But more likely the motivation, consciously realized or not, is akin to that expressed by Bronwyn Kidd in the quote on the left: the need to create with a unique voice, and the ability to do so unconstrained by conventional media concerns. And while Kidd here speaks specifically of short film production, this guiding principle can be applied to most user generated content.

The reference to "markets" is noteworthy. There is a market for such work, and there is money to be made. Independent artists owe it to themselves to learn as much as possible about the business of entertainment, even as they proceed to reinvigorate and redefine that very business. To neglect to do so is to risk exploitation by those who do pay attention to such things.

READ MORE by Kevin Geiger

http://www.animationcoop.org/pages/features/monthly_Grassroots.htm
©2007 The Animation Co-op
2340 Overland Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90064 USA
(310)689-6062

A Quick Tip for Creating an Animation

2007-12-31T13:18:00.000-08:00

A CreativeCow Adobe After Effects Tutorial:

Working at Charter Media provides Bob Thompson a lot challenges and rewards in terms of creating commercial spots and working for a cable company means a lot of spots come in and out of there.

Like a lot of you out there, it's very satisfying for Bob to see your sweat and sometimes, tears, create something very memorable. Bob knows how tight deadlines can force you to be economical in terms of using special effects. That's why Bob loves learning and creating new tutorials to help streamline the workflow to all video and animation artists.

In this quick tip for after effects users, CreativeCOW contributing editor, Bob Thompson creates a complex looking animation using only a camera, 3d layer, null object, and some duplicated layers. In only minutes, you can get an animated look with only one layer to worry about to control the motion. It's a quick fix to let you spend more time on other facets of your project workflow.

LEARN HOW...Tutorial by Bob Thompson

http://library.creativecow.net/articles/thompson_bob/summer.php
Copyright (c) 2007, Sandust LLC. All Rights Reserved.