Archives for the 'General' Category
Toon Boom Pencil Check Pro launches
Toon Boom Animation have launched Toon Boom Pencil Check Pro, which, according to them, is the most flexible line testing software available in the industry. Pencil Check Pro offers a wide array of capture options, an efficient line testing process and an advanced feature set.
Pencil Check Pro supports a full range of devices from scanners to DV/HDV cameras, webcams and digital cameras. Pencil Check Pro performs all capture operations from a unique interface and has a real-time preview for devices equipped with live video stream.
Sketch key poses directly in the software, playback instantly and use the audio track capabilities while filling the exposure sheet. Draw the in-betweens, clean the animation and prepare your work for inking and painting. Finally, add camera motion to deliver a complete line test of your animation.
Easily control the color and opacity of Xsheet columns for accurate preview. Enjoy the digital exposure sheet and use its annotation columns to add comments and sketches.
Pencil Check Pro is available online and retails at $399.99. Educational pricing is also offered: $299.99 for a single license, and $2,499.99 for a 10-unit lab-pack. For more information, please visit www.toonboom.com/products/pencilcheckpro/
GoMotion animation magazine ready for launch
A new animation magazine, GoMotion, will be launching in July and it covers everything you need to know about the world of 3D animation, from tutorials to interviews with industry insiders. You can preview the premier issue here.
Definitely seems promising. We’ll give you our impressions of the magazine once we get ourselves a copy.
Disney legend, Ollie Johnston, passes away
Ollie Johnston, the last surviving animator of Disney’s famed Nine Old Men, passed away on April 14, 2008. Johnston worked for Disney from 1935 to 1978 as an animator on such classics as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Bambi and Pinocchio.
He was named a Disney Legend in 1989, and in 2005, Johnston was one of the recipients of the National Medal of Arts.
Roy E. Disney said, “Ollie was part of an amazing generation of artists, one of the real pioneers of our art, one of the major participants in the blossoming of animation into the art form we know today. One of Ollie’s strongest beliefs was that his characters should think first, then act, and they all did. He brought warmth and wit and sly humor and a wonderful gentleness to every character he animated. He brought all those same qualities to his life, and to all of our lives who knew him. We will miss him greatly, but we were all enormously enriched by him.”
John Lasseter, chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and a longtime friend to Johnston, added, “Ollie had such a huge heart and it came through in all of his animation, which is why his work is some of the best ever done. Ollie was a great teacher and mentor to all of us. His door at the studio was always open to young animators, and I can’t imagine what animation would be like today without him passing on all of the knowledge and principles that the Nine Old Men and Walt Disney developed. He taught me to always be aware of what a character is thinking, and we continue to make sure that every character we create at Pixar and Disney has a thought process and emotion that makes them come alive.”
Via AWN
Brad Bird awarded WGA Lifetime Achievement Award
The Writers Guild of America, West’s Animation Writers Caucus has awarded its 10th annual Animation Writing Award for lifetime achievement to acclaimed Pixar writer-director Brad Bird, whose filmography includes The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille.
At age 11, Bird started his first animated film — and finished it nearly three years later. The film brought him to the attention of Walt Disney Studios, where, at age 14, Milt Kahl, one of Disney’s Nine Old Men, mentored him.
Bird’s animated television credits include serving as executive consultant on The Simpsons and King of the Hill.
Via AWN
Pixar donates $150,000 worth of software
CVBT reports that Pixar has donated computer software programs valued at $150,000 to California State University, Fresno.
Students in Fresno State animation, interior design and video courses will see a dramatic decrease in the amount of time it takes to create videos and film by using the software.
The new software – Renderman Pro Server 13.5.3 and Renderman Studio 1.01 – will allow students to complete a film image in less than an hour, the university says.
“Pixar’s RenderMan product is by all accounts a strong industry standard used by many – if not most – of the largest studios in the world,” says David Gaines, the Fresno State information technology consultant/manager who secured the gift.
“The support they were willing to offer was beyond anything I could have hoped for,” he says. “The opportunities this opens to students are phenomenal. They now have at their disposal a professional industry standard suite of applications. That is going to give them a great advantage in the job market.”
Justin Wright, Pixar artist, passes away
I’m sad to report that Justin Wright, who had been with Pixar for just more than a year in the story department, has passed away at the young age of 27 from a heart attack.
Justin Wright was a survivor, undergoing a heart transplant at age 12. He loved his job and was a humble man. On his blog, he wrote: “People might get mad at me if they knew how good we have it here. Massages, a gym — all that is true.”
Justin’s credits at Pixar include the 2D line drawings shown during the credits of Ratatouille. He was currently working on a new short that will be released with WALL-E this year.
While I didn’t know Justin Wright personally, I feel like I did. Being, somewhat, a part of the animation industry myself (writing this blog) it really hurt to learn of his passing, especially since he was so young. My condolences go out to his family. May he Rest in Peace.
In his honor, there will be no other posts today at The Animation Blog.
Radiohead launches animation contest
Aniboom and TBD Records have launched a contest inviting all creators and Radiohead fans from across the globe to produce an animated music video for any one of the songs from the band’s latest album, In Rainbows. The contest, to be separated into four stages, will culminate with the selection by the members of Radiohead of a winner who will be awarded a $10,000 prize to produce a full-length animated music video.
The first stage of the competition begins today and continues through April 27, inviting all artists, animators, writers, character designers and more, to submit storyboards that may range from basic sketches with words to more complex submissions in video formats, using the song of their choice from In Rainbows. Artists have the option to compete solo or to ask Aniboom to match them with other entrants whose talents complement their own. More information on the contest can be found at aniboom.com/radiohead.
The storyboards will be posted for viewing and ranking by creators and fans, after which a panel that will include people from Aniboom, TBD Records and Adult Swim will select ten semifinalists who will be awarded $1,000 each to produce a one-minute animated music video. The semifinalist videos will be shared across Aniboom’s web-wide network of distribution partners, and fans will be given the opportunity to vote at aniboom.com and at MySpace. The videos will then be submitted to Radiohead to select the winner. The creator(s) of the winning video will be awarded $10,000 to expand their one minute submission to produce the full-length video. In addition, the winning video may have its broadcast premiere on Adult Swim.
DreamWorks Animation Theme Park
DreamWorks Animation has signed a multibillion-dollar deal with real estate company Tatweer to develop in Dubai a range of projects, including a 5 million-square-foot theme park that will see incorporate characters from DreamWorks titles such as the Madagascar, Shrek and the upcoming Kung Fu Panda.
This isn’t the only huge Dubai deal that has been inked recently. Tatweer also announced in May, 2007 a $2 billion deal with Universal Parks and Resorts to build Universal City Dubailand.
In April, Al Ahli announced a deal with Marvel Entertainment to bring Marvel’s full library of superheroes to Dubai for a $1 billion theme park to open in 2011. Al Ahli also announce another longterm partnership with Nickelodeon that will see such Nick properties as SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer join the Marvel characters in the park.
And in June, Paramount signed a $2.5 billion deal with Ruwaad Holdings to turn Paramount properties such as Mission: Impossible, Top Gun and The Godfather into a series of Dubai-based parks and rides.
Via Variety
Disney artist, Brice Mack, passes away
It’s a sad day today in the animation world as Brice Mack, background painter for Disney from 1930s~1950s, has passed away. Mr. Mack left us on January 2nd in Hollywood, California at the age of 90.
Mr. Mack painted backgrounds for some of most beloved animated films of all time including Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp.
During World War II, Mr. Mack left Disney in 1942 and became a pioneering navigator for the Air Transport Command. He delivered aircraft, cargo and personnel throughout the world until the end of the war. After the war, in 1945, Mack returned to Disney.
May he rest in peace.
Via AWN
Disney President, Robert Iger, paid $27 million in 2007
According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Walt Disney Company President and Chief Executive Robert Iger received a total compensation in fiscal 2007 of $27.7 million. He was paid a $2 million base salary, plus a $13.7 million bonus. If that wasn’t enough, he also received $7.9 million in stock awards and $2.2 million in option awards.
I really don’t understand why any person would ever get paid that much money. Sure, he may “run things” — but the people who actually create the Disney products should get paid more, not some executive. Give your animators raises, give the people working at Disneyland raises.
It just seems so wrong that he gets paid that much money to run Disney, while the President of the United States gets paid $400,000 annually. Now, isn’t there something wrong with that picture?
Via Reuters
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