MIT sketching - MIT's Assist Sketch Understanding System and Operation

It's called MIT's Assist Sketch Understanding System and Operation.

MIT Assist Sketch Understanding System and Operation works by sketching a simple mechanical device onto the drawing board and then demonstrating how the system understands the sketch through movement. (Magic Paper: drawing out ideas) (http://rationale.csail.mit.edu/projects.shtml)

ASSIST: A Shrewd Sketch Interpretation and Simulation Tool

Draw objects like ramps, carts, wheels, baskets with springs, then hit run and this program MIT is developing will process physics-based simulations on what you drew. I could spend hours messing with something like this, I need it! Give it to me, MIT!! :>



YouTube - MIT sketching

CGTalk - Sugar Rush, short by Guillermo Careaga

Really nice work by Guillerrmo Careaga, Ringling has a reputation for graduating top-notch candidates.

Hi everyone! I graduated from Ringling School of Art and Design this past May, and I had meant to post my animated short months ago but I just didn't have the chance. Here it is though (you need the DIVx codec to see it):

http://webspace.ringling.edu/~gcare...isFinal_web.avi

CGTalk - Sugar Rush, short by Guillermo Careaga

Mayerson on Animation: The Grosses

Got this link from Ray Chase this morning. Interesting numbers, I'd like to see how many 'butts in seats' there were per film, just to get a better picture of how popular films were w/o shuffling increasing ticket prices, etc...

Mayerson on Animation: The Grosses

YouTube - The Fool Looks At The Finger That Points To The Sky (computer animated music video)

Great computer animated music video, by Aaron Bradbury, music by musicians Little Explorer.



YouTube - The Fool Looks At The Finger That Points To The Sky

Ringling School Portfolio - Christopher Cordingley

Nice short! Simple is good.

Christopher Cordingley

Ringling School Portfolio

Annie Awards 2006

Annie Awards will celebrate the best in animation during the 100th year of animation

Nominations are currently being accepted for the 34th Annual Annie Awards: Honoring excellence in the field of animation, the deadline for ASIFA-Hollywood to receive entry forms is October 6, 2006. ASIFA-Hollywood must receive materials for nomination judging October 27, 2006. To access all forms, including the Official Entry Form, visit the Entry Forms page. Call for Judges: ASIFA-Hollywood is looking for individuals interested in serving on the 2006 nomination committees. Click here for more information. Rules and Categories: The Rules are now available online on the Rules/Categories page Key Dates: Be sure to visit the Key Dates page for important deadlines. This website will be updated in the next week. Be sure to check here often for the latest up-to-date information on animation's highest honor.

Annie Awards 2006

shh-LIFE! - REPOST: The Fear of moving past blocking..

Good advice for newer animators.

"The more you know, the more fear you have.

Seems to be a rule true of many things.. tree climbing for example. Before you know about gravity and how much breaking an arm can hurt, you really don’t worry that much about falling out of the tree, you just sorta climb on up there and monkey around. It isn’t until you see your friend slip and fall and break her arm when you think “ohh.. wait.. this can be painful…” and you start to worry.

The same is true about animation.

When many animators first start animating they just move things around willy nilly, making things go this way.. that way.. etc. They have no fears, they just move things.

Granted, their animations may looks like ass squished up against a large pile of roadkill, but at least they have no fear." (full article at link) shh-LIFE! - REPOST: The Fear of moving past blocking..

Cloud Boy, Oh Boy! >>Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog » Blog Archive

"Tantalizingly short, and oh so sweet, Cloud Boy is a wonderful little children’s book by previously blogged cartoonist/ illustrator Rhode Montijo. That last link takes you to some cute craft ideas for the classroom, if you’re interested. I just keep loving Rhode more and more." (more)

Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog » Blog Archive » Cloud Boy, Oh Boy!

gezfry.com - online gallery

gezfry.com - online gallery

Picasso, Paula Scher, and the lifetime behind every second - Signal vs. Noise (by 37signals)

Picasso, Paula Scher, and the lifetime behind every second - Signal vs. Noise (by 37signals)

Charging By the Project or the Hour

Charging By the Project or the Hour: "What are you worth? How much do you charge for the wonderful work that you do? How do you communicate your value to your clients? Do you quote an hourly rate, and then present a tally of hours and expenses at the end of a project? That's typical of many IPs, who find this the simplest way to charge their clients. Or do you quote an up-front, flat rate for a project? This eliminates the sphincter-tightening moment at the end of the job when you present your bill. You run the risk, however, of seriously undercharging if the project turns out to be more complicated than you thought it would be."

Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown - CalArts 1986

Charlie Brown is on the run from the Peanuts Gang after the Great Pumpkin puts a bounty on his head in this wild animated student short by Jim Reardon.

FLATLIFE (2004)

"Jonas Geirnaert graduation project "FLATLIFE"(2004), selected for Short Films in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival 2004."



YouTube - FLATLIFE (2004)

"Zemeckis' ImageMovers moving to Disney?"

from animated-news.com:

TMZ.com breaks the news that Robert Zemeckis may be moving his ImageMovers production company to Disney, in a multi-year deal. In fact, the online publication calls the action "a cat's breath away" from occuring. Specializing in motion-capture technology, ImageMovers has been involved with such films as The Polar Express, Monster House, and next year's Beowulf. According to an insider, Disney CEO Robert Iger believes Disney's acquisition of Pixar last January was only the first step in the company's move toward leading the animation industry.

Supposedly, the deal currently being arranged with Zemeckis will have John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer of Pixar and Walt Disney Feature Animation, consulting on all ImageMovers productions. Thus, the word is that Disney may very well be aiming to own all areas of animation: Pixar, for computer animation; Walt Disney Feature Animation, for traditional animation; and ImageMovers, for motion capture animation. The article ends with a notice that an official announcement, either confirming or denying the news at hand, could arrive as early as next week.

08/08/2006: "Zemeckis' ImageMovers moving to Disney?"

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D - ComingSoon.net Film Database

Oooooo... I wanna see this on the big screen!

Release Date: October 20, 2006
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
Director: Henry Selick
Screenwriter: Caroline Thompson
Starring: Chris Sarandon, Danny Elfman, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Paul Reubens, Ken Page, Ed Ivory, Susan McBride, Debi Durst, Greg Proops, Kerry Katz, Randy Crenshaw, Sherwood Ball, Carmen Twillie, Catherine O'Hara
Genre: Animation, Family, Fantasy, Musical
MPAA Rating: PG (for some scary images)
Official Website: Nightmare3Dmovie.com
Review: Not Available
DVD Review: Not Available
DVD: Not Available
Movie Poster: Not Available
Production Stills: Not Available
Plot Summary: Enter an extraordinary world filled with magic and wonder -- where every holiday has its own special land ... and imaginative, one-of-a-kind characters! "The Nightmare Before Christmas" tells the heartfelt tale of Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, and all things that go bump in the night. Bored with the same old tricks and treats, he yearns for something more, and soon stumbles upon the glorious magic of Christmas Town! Jack decides to bring this joyful holiday back to Halloween Town. But as his dream to fill Santa's shoes unravels, it's up to Sally, the rag doll who loves him, to stitch things back together.

Trailer:
QuickTime, Super Hi-Res
QuickTime, Hi-Res
QuickTime, Med-Res
QuickTime, Lo-Res
Windows Media Player, Hi-Res
Windows Media Player, Lo-Res
Real Player, Hi-Res
Real Player, Lo-Res

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D - ComingSoon.net Film Database

PIKAPIKA: in kitijoji. Animated light pen gifs

What is the "PIKA PIKA" ?

Hello ! I'm takeshi. I go by TOCHKA with Kazvon.
Now I tell you what the "PIKA PIKA" is.
Thank you!

We took a photo of each image using long exposures and put them together to make them look like one animation.

To work on this project,we went out to various places in Japan:parks,under the train track,the Tokyo Bay,school hallways,and so on. (Quicktime movie here)

We got all sorts of friends in different fields together to work on this project.
During the process,they got to know each other and discover new things. This is also about "communication". People can meet new friends as they create a piece art very easy which brings every one happiness. We spend a very enjoyable evening at the workshop and the party through this animation.

--
Really neat, animating on the fly like that is amazing, has a magical quality to it.
More at the link.

PIKAPIKA: in kitijoji

big gulp - flash animation

Neat shape shifting animation. Kafka would approve.

biggulp

Comic-Con Audio: The Ant Bully - ComingSoon.net (audio interview mp3)

ComingSoon.net talked to the team behind Warner Bros. Pictures' animated-comedy The Ant Bully--writer-director-producer John A. Davis, art director Chris Consani, concept artist Bob Eggleton, concept artist Sarah Mensinga, and lead character H. Buck Lewis--at the San Diego Comic-Con and you can now listen to the audio interview here! (right click to download mp3)

Comic-Con Audio: The Ant Bully - ComingSoon.net

WARNER BROS/WEINSTEIN COMPANY - CON: WB Animation

Comic-Con 2006 had a Animation Panel for the feature film I worked 'The Ant Bully'. Here are some highlights of the panel from the article:

Participants:
John Davis – director
Sarah Mensinga – concept artist
H.B. “Buck” Lewis – character designer
Chris Consani – art director
Bob Eggleton – concept artist

• At first they tried a realistic design with the protagonist but realized that was too creepy so they skewed his proportions and gave him somewhat of a caricature head.

• They modeled Paul Giamatti’s exterminator character after Giamatti with initial designs ranging from a more comedic look to a “what would Henry Kissinger look like as Satan?” look.

• They wanted to strike a balance between the ants having slight human characteristics yet remaining decidedly insect-like.

• One of the more interesting things they did was after they showed the process of rigging characters, they showed how they test-animated characters by putting them through an actual obstacle course to see how well both the ants’ and human characters’ behavior and movements conformed themselves to their environment.

• They showed a few sequences where they cycled from the book illustrations to the concept art to the final sequence in the film. The sequences included when the kid first becomes ant size to when he’s sentenced to work in the colony.

• It was important to Davis to create an alien-looking civilization for the ant colony and for the ants’ biology to be accurate but still be able to function on six legs and two legs.

• When Davis was asked about whether he was worried about parallels to A BUG’S LIFE or ANTZ, he mentioned that initially he was but realized that there was room for more and used the abundance of “cowboy movies” as an example (where he also managed to sneak in a BROKEBACK reference – what you got against gay cowboys, dude??!)

• Davis modeled the alien-type of civilization after tribal and aboriginal cultures. He felt that, like aboriginal cultures, ants were connected to Earth and communicated with odor cues.

• Interesting side note – ants apparently have antibiotics on their bodies so if ever you’re in the jungle, get sick and have no medicine, rub some ants on you and you’ll be set!

• They differentiated the ants’ world from the humans’ world by spatial cues – for example, things are round and small in the human world but large and cavernous in the ant world.

• Since the entire film is in IMAX 3D, the production faced more challenges as they had to do everything in real 3D space and couldn’t do any 2D cheats.

CON: WB Animation

Animation Nation Bulletin Board: Drawing for the Sake of Drawing

Thread started by Michel Gagne, lots of interesting responses at link:

A couple of months ago, I was in Calgary doing an animation panel with some animation folks. The hugely talented Stephen Silver was on the panel with me and he mentionned that to become of good draughtman, you had to draw, draw and draw. He advised artists to carry sketchbooks wherever they go, and practice whenever they get a chance. This got me thinking... I never carry a sketchbook. In fact, I don't even own one.

I was going through a huge pile of rough drawings the other day and realized that every single one of those was done for a specific project (90% being my own personal projects). It seems like whenever I draw something, it's always with the thought of creating a bigger whole than the drawing itself, whether it's animation, comics, books, a gallery project etc... A lot of those drawings will never materialized into projects, but that was the intention when I created them. I've now come to the conclusion the even though I spend lots of time drawing every week, I never do it for the sake of it. I never have and probably never will.

I love creating art projects, that's my passion.
Drawing to me is a mean to an end but rarely the end into itself.

Animation Nation Bulletin Board: Drawing for the Sake of Drawing