Catching up on anim news

I'm sure it's old news for most people, but here a few things that I thought were cool!

- Lego Matrix Stop-Motion (thanks Omer!)



- Pixar Short: George and AJ (thanks again Omer!)



- first look at Shrek Forever After, which is the final Shrek movie?

found via Dark Horizons

- Drawing Hands is a very cool post @ tomrichmond.com and it's, as the title says, about drawing hands and the structure of hands


- the list of the ten animated shorts competing for an Oscar are out @ Animated-Views

- Avatar making-ofs and James Cameron interviews, plus a sneak peak at James Horner's score for the movie and a closer look at Colonel Quaritch (spoilers beware for all of those)

Back from vacation!

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've enjoyed two weeks off with my family and friends in Switzerland. Now back to business!!

And Bernie! Stop posting fake anim rip-off clips!! (even though that one was awesome!).

- pic source

UPDATE! Don't copy other people's work.

(UPDATE!) Looks like we have another winner (or loser, depending on your point of view)!



Here you can watch my original: Battery Bunny

__________________________________________

watch the copy here (while it's up)

watch the original here

Someone (thanks you-know-who-you-are) sent me a tip that another animator decided to copy one of my animation clips.

I guess I should be flattered, but it should be pretty clear to anyone to NOT copy other people's work. My clip is from 2005 (the copy is from 2008) and I won't use it on a reel anymore, so the impact of the person stealing my clip is very minimal.

But still. It's pretty much a 1-to-1 copy. The funny thing is, the animator even used my sound clip. I took a longer section and re-edited to make it shorter and that's what the animator used as well.

Please make an effort to be original Aysha Khan.

Nerd Alert: Pixar's "Up" Soundtrack and Sound Design

I got the fantastic score by Michael Giacchino for Up and the last three tracks feature the sound design by Skywalker Sound: Carl's Maiden Voyage, Muntz's Dark Reverie and Meet Kevin In The Jungle. Here an article about the sound work @ designingsound.com

"UP" Sound for Film Profile from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

(Was that clip on the Up Blu-ray/DVD? - Great to hear the sound of Kevin only. At 2:41, when Kevin hits Carl, his voice is heard and distorted through the beak of the bird, awesome!)

To have those three tracks is very nerdy and a welcome surprise. I know, most people won't care, but if I had to choose something else than animation, then it would be sound design. Remember back in the day when you could listen to the sound design track on Pixar movies? I think A Bug's Life was the last DVD that had this feature. Anyone know? I remember missing it on Finding Nemo for sure. Aahhh... the good old days. :)

J.J.'s Star Trek out on Blu-ray and DVD!

Continuing with more product news, J. J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot is out on Bluray: Star Trek (Three-Disc +Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]
and DVD: Star Trek (Two-Disc Digital Copy Edition).

Being a big Star Trek nerd I wasn't too sure what to expect given the casting, but once I saw the first footage of Kirk at work I was sold. It was already funny back then and the finished film definitely won me over. For once a movie I'm really proud of (not just FX wise but as a whole) and I highly recommend it, even to non-Trekkies/Trekkers, it's just a lot of fun. Oh, and guess what? $20 for three disc, a digital copy and TONS of bonus material. I wonder how much the movie-only version will cost on iTunes.... probably... $20!!!!!!!!! :)

Pixar's "Up" out on Blu-ray and DVD

Amazon has a great deal for the newest Pixar movie: $19.99 for Up (4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD),

What's still really confusing to me is the price structure of digital downloads. If you look at the Amazon deal: for $20 you get all of this (according to highdefdigest.com):

Technical Specs

* 4-Disc Set
* BD/DVD Combo
* Digital Copy

Video Resolution/Codec

* 1080p/AVC MPEG-4

Aspect Ratio(s)

* 1.78:1

Audio Formats

* English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround Sound
* French Dolby Digital 5.1
* Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
* English DTS-HD 2.0
* English Descriptive Video Service 2.0

Subtitles/Captions

* English for the hearing impaired
* French
* Spanish

Supplements

* Cinexplore with Pete Docter and Bob Peterson
* Adventure is Out There!
* Dug's Special Mission
* Documentaries
* The Many Endings of Muntz
* DVD of film
* Digital Copy
* The Egg
* Russell: Wilderness Explorer
* Geriatric Hero
* Canine Companions
* Alternate Scene: Married Life
* Homemakers of Pixar
* Our Giant, Flightless Friend Kevin
* Balloons and Flight
* Composing for Characters
* Worldwide Trailers
* Up Promo Montage
* Global Guardian Board Game
* Partly Cloudy animated short
* Theatrical trailer #2
* Theatrical trailer #3

That's A LOT of good stuff for a really good price.

Now compare this to iTunes' content if you buy it there:

Dolby Digital 5.1 in English

That's it? And you should pay $15 for that?? It's not even HD. If you want HD you have to pay $20. The same price as the Blu-ray deal? Really???

If you get the iTunes Extra version (according iTunes and Upcomingpixar.com) you have:

- the movie
- two shorts, one of them not found on the Blu-ray nor DVD called George & A.J.
- alternate scenes
- 6 Disney Printables + Much More!

So in order to be able to watch all the possible special features and shorts you have to buy the movie TWICE?? And what is "Much More!"? iTunes Extra stuff is only viewable using iTunes or an Apple TV. So unless I own an Apple TV or have a PC/Mac hooked up to my TV or Projector, I can't watch it on a big screen. So all in all the iTunes deal is horrible. Especially compared to Blu-ray or DVD offer which gives you much more AND the digital copy. They should offer special features as a separate deal, charge $99 or more for it, depending on what it is.

Of course I'd be the first one saying "No one FORCES you to buy ANYTHING! Take it or leave it." Sure. But come on.

Aaaaanway, had to get that off my chest.

Critique - That's so cool!

First thing that I haven't and should have mentioned (unless it's new). The screen right arm holding the joypad swinging down on x172 to 176 is super fast. Add at least two frames to it (he's more letting it drop as opposed to this fast push/move down), don't have it stop so sharply (it's resting on a comfy couch, so it's going to be soft), and add more of an arc to it, it's fairly straight in it's arc right now.

The chop movement should still be faster, don't be affraid to push it!

The end head move is better ("That is so cool!"), but I would push it more as well. What could help is this: on x171 he's about to rest the back and the head on the couch. In order to get rid of that stiff feeling, just rotate the lower neck back clockwise and the head counterclockwise forward, so it feels like the head is pushing against the couch and bending because of it. Right now he falls back and feels rigid throughout. By doing that head change you would push the overall C curve of the body.
That's just a suggestion. You can also move the head more screen right so it falls back more. It would just love to see something more complex movement wise as he falls back.

Hope that helps!

Cheers
JD

- to see more of Louaye's work, go to http://www.Louaye.com