Shaolin Pepsi

We're approaching that time of the year once again when Superbowl commercials take the main stage. I saw this and thought it was cleverly executed and simple, although some people still don't get it (especially the end).

Whatever you do, don't try this at home...ouch!
Highly entertaining!

Here's to an incredible 2010! Happy New Year to all of you.

Alice in Wonderland

Saw this while watching "Avatar" over the holidays and found it to be interesting. Initially I thought it was a remake, but is quite new. In this story Alice returns to Wonderland to free the land from the Red Queen. I think any remake with the addition of larger grander battles is a good one, once I saw this, I figured, okay, combine this with Tim Burton visuals...this could be cool.

...and for a different take on the story, and in case you missed it, a miniseries premiered on Syfy called "Alice".

Panic Attack: Vis. FX Armageddon

Just watch this quick little movie (Attaque de Paniquo). It begins quietly but ends in a loud roar. There was a lot of work put into this piece, I think the background plates were beautifully shot, they show great compositions, and effective compositing, which means that the bad stuff you see happening all over the place is pretty convincing. Let us know what you think and enjoy!

Thanks for the heads up Mark!

Fire it up!

Iron Man 2: Trailer

Okay folks, this is looking pretty slick. Great to see the two suits together. Mickey Rourke looks excellent here as our villain, glad to know those "Wrestler" muscles can come in handy for something else. At about 2:09 we're wondering what's chasing Ironman.

Enjoy! This looks way cool if you liked the first one.

Dragon Age: Origins Trailer

"Dragon Age" premiered in the video game arena in early November '09. After watching this trailer, many of us were tempted to buy the game, its really nice to look at. Seriously - Sweet. There needs to be a movie done in this way. One thing to watch out for in this trailer, is the "walking bomb" let us know if you find it. It also has great fight sequences and creature animation to keep us salivating.

Fire it up and Enjoy!

Wrath of the Lich King Trailer

I realized that I had never logged this trailer on this blog. Here we go...brought to you by the magicians at Blizzard Entertainment. I love how the entire scene seems to grow not only in size but also in intensity. Enjoy!

Fire it Up!

Aisa: Lightsaber Kid

When my son Aisa was five, we caught him twirling a lightsaber around in our backyard. We had him trim the bushes shortly after, and was done trimming in about ten seconds. Good job son!

This animation was a test animation using Corel Painter IX's Glow Brush.

"Prep & Landing"

The other night, ABC premiered "Prep & Landing", a animated short about two elves whose job it is to prepare a house for Santa's arrival. Problems occur when one of the elves decides to think about himself and his ambitions, forgetting about the meaning of Christmas.

This animation was so fun to watch. It has got a nice Mission Impossible / James Bond feel to it and there is never a dull moment as there is always something cool (laser, electronic device) to see. I loved the modernization of Santa's equipment and the tools the elves use to get the job done...genius. You'll also like to see the different reindeer personalities and also...the "badass" reindeer Thrasher.

The animation overall I hope you enjoy and I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Also below is a short commercial for the "Prep & Landing" Kris Kringle Academy. When you get a chance, let us know your favorite part.

Pantural Modeling Demo Reel

This demo reel is showing off some mad mad skills...awesome lighting, command of the materials, lighting, and its also very entertaining. Not sure what he means by that subliminal stuff at the end, but that's okay. See if you catch it. Enjoy.

Rob A. Thanks for the link and for sharing.

Fire it Up.

Avatar: Featurette

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This is a nice featurette about the making of "Avatar" (Dec. 18, 2009). In it, you'll see more scenes, more creatures, more characters, more environments and James Cameron's personal view of the film, where he shares that he had to "shelve" the idea because the technology was not available to make his story come to life...lucky guy! Its great to see him back with what appears to be a strong movie on his plate. You can tell that he's really passionate about making these types of movies. Titanic?

We're all looking forward to the opening of the film which premieres Dec. 18. Save up your money and be sure to check this movie in 3D. I've seen the trailers in the 3D... the colors and sets were simply gorgeous. Oooooh can't wait. See you all at the theatres. 

Enjoy!

Ear Modeling Demo: Ryan Kittleson

Modeling the human ear can be daunting at first, but is perhaps the most forgiving of all the features on the human head, primarily because it is outranked by the eyes, nose and mouth. When modeling the ear, remember a few things.

• The two loops that make up the ear (outside loop and inside loop).
• The ear hole.
• Ear thickness.
• The ridge by the ear hole.
• The angle of the ear.
• Take your time in pushing and pulling the vertices to achieve an organic look and feel.

This tutorial shows a simple technique to achieve a good solid blockin of the ear, after that its up to you and your powers of observation to get a realistic ear model. This is a continuation from the previous demonstration that can be found here...

http://randolfs.blogspot.com/2009/11/head-modeling-demo-in-maya.html

This tutorial was produced by Ryan Kittleson. He is not only a talented modeler, but also has some mad illustration skills too. Ryan is a CG instructor based out of Florida. Visit his website below to learn more about him and his work...

http://www.erraticimagery.com

Ryan, we appreciate you posting such a simple and informative tutorial on such a complex subject. If you ever come across this post, let us know how you are doing and keep up the great work.

Fire It Up!

Gobelins School of Animation

Gobelins is a visual arts school based out of Paris France. The animations that are produced from the school are high quality, they show good timing, clever movement, they have a beautiful sense of design and texture and they are also very witty. "So Bon".

It makes me want to go there and to all you animation students out there, I hope these examples inspire you. If you look at the credits, five students work on these.

The animation gallery showcases the best their school of animation has to offer.

We will be watching these pieces below to begin one of my Background Design classes this week. These backgrounds tell a lot about the story and the character. They have a wimsical feel to them, but are so full of depth. This is done through layering, exaggerated angles, atmospheric perspective, handmade textures, sense of light, and in some of them, a nice merging between the 2D and CG elements. The ones below are great examples of this.







And my favorite one...

Who is Sho Kosugi?: "Ninja Assassin" Review

I think there's a commercial in front of this clip, let it load.

This Thanksgiving (2009), after binge eating turkey to fill the entire year, me and the family needed to work it off, so what did we do...watch "Ninja Assassin"! This movie was highly entertaining. Yes, the movie is predictable, we know what's going to happen to the star (Rain), that he's going to survive an attack and you know what's going to happen in the end. But still, regardless of the predictability, it was still engaging, kudos to the group who were able to put this movie together.

For those of you who have seen the movie, I included a clip with this post that shows some of the training and timing involved in creating some of the action shots. I thought it was nice to watch after watching the film. Oh yeah, and if you are a visual effects fan, you'll be happy to know that the special effects shots were directed by John Gaeta of "The Matrix".

Seriously, lots of serious movie goers and critics are not giving this film good reviews, but we're talking ninjas folks, they don't care what you think, they just want to kill you.

Here's what I liked about "Ninja Assassin":

Great timing:

We are used to action scenes in movies, and the timing of the scenes in "Ninja Assasin" were well executed and edited. Good job.

Ninja Supernatural Ability:

Going back to my experience in watching ninja movies back in the 80's, it was interesting to see how this was portrayed, we really haven't seen this before. We see ninjas appearing out of shadows, and disappearing and reappearing in the fight scenes to trick your senses. I thought this was a nice upgrade. Also, add to this, the supernatural, heavy duty, turbo, shuriken throwing skills and you get lots of fun. After seeing this, I really believed that ninja stars can pepper the outer shell of a BMW. Wow!

Story Variety:

I liked how we trained with the young assassins in an old Japanese temple and how we followed them until present time. The timeline jumps back and forth in time which is a nice attempt to make things interesting. It works.

CG Animation:

The CG animation of the main character's weapon was well done. There is also lots and lots of CG blood splatters and decapitations. Although, in my classes, as we discuss the film perhaps, this took away from the film. Lots of people would have liked to have seen more elaborate squib work. Okay - point taken.

Rain:

The lead actor in the film is believable in serving up some major wup ass. Some girls also think he's good looking (that's for you Athena). He looks like lots of asian guys I know, that's a great conversation starter at parties (Brandon?).

And the best part...

Sho Kosugi:

Sho was the original actor who starred in many of the ninja films in the 80's and I thought it was awesome that he played the father of the ninja clan in this movie. The movie pays homage to his contributions and his appearance was fitting, who else would be the father of the most dangerous ninja clan in the world?

I hope the success of this movie opens up more opportunities to explore the ninja genre in film. In video games and anime however, its always going to be popular, we love ninjas.

Now for a history lesson for all the kid ninja maniacs. The original trailer to "Enter the Ninja" starring Sho Kosugi...I know, you may the white ninja is Stormshadow, but he's not. There are some caucasian ninjas too you know. Enjoy and check out the movie.

Head Modeling Demo in Maya

Just as there are many ways to draw the head, there are just as many ways to model a head...one of the most difficult things to create in art and CG.

Of all the methods we've researched, this demonstration seems to be the fastest, and easiest to create within the Maya workflow, specifically because of the ability to use the "Insert Edgeloop Tool". This method, from the very beginning, also establishes a nice rounded shape for the area around the chin and mouth - it turns nice so nice and smooth after you "Mirror" the geometry.

It is placed on this blog for future reference and for easy access.

Let us know what you think.

"Legion" 2010 - Rated R Movie Trailer

This movie caught our attention this week. "Legion" premieres January 22, 2010 and is an action adventure/supernatural/horror film about the Apocolypse, where God, disappointed in humanity, sends his angels to destroy humanity. I guess its up to Dennis Quaid and a small group of people in a desert diner to save us all. Why is that so funny :- ) Where is Mel Sharples when you need him?


Anyways, the visuals look cool and it appears to be loaded with lots and lots of eye candy, lots of new things to see: angels with badass martial arts skills, knife and ballistic skills, high kicking angels with leather armor, demonic old ladies who scale walls (freaky - good job on this grandma - check the picture - goosebumps on my arm when I saw this) and a very rare, rated "R" trailer. When was the last time you saw a rated "R" trailer (there's profanity in it, so kiddies watch out)?

As always, this trailer gives way too much away, but I think it might be worth keeping on the radar, so let's pay attention to see how it does as the premiere draws near.