"GI Joe Resolute"

In order to fan of the flames of the of the new GI Joe Movie, be sure to check out "GI Joe Resolute". It was created in the anime style and premiered on the Cartoon Network's Adultswim. Here, you will see an awesome piece of work of one of our favorite characters, Snake Eyes. This is so cool in fact, that I propose they make an entire movie on this guy he's so cool. If you were a big fan of the weekday afternoon showings of the GI Joe animations on TV when you were a kid, you probably remembered that nobody every died. When planes got shot, everybody parachuted down. We appreciate the concern. In these clips however, don't expect any parachutes, because its pretty violent and, needless to say, well done.

And...for those of us who are aware, none would be complete without a fight against Stormshadow. If you are not up to date on the backstory between these guys, never fear, this second clip below will fill you in just fine. I've included both of these clips here for our viewing pleasure and inspiration, pay attention to the timing and compositions...enjoy and fire it up!

"Galactic Mail" Animation By: Asterokid

This little short was created by the Asterokid group and it features a nice little twist on the space theme. I seriously hope these guys get work from this because it looks great. It features a clean unique styling, great layout and character designs, clever timing and a tight soundtrack. You will definitely enjoy and learn a lot from this animation. I hope it inspires you.

Fire it up!

Randolf

"Hancock" Train Wreck Sequence

Many times as animators or visual effects artists, we'll compose a presentation to show a client how a show was made. This looks awesome because it shows that you pay attention to detail and more importantly, that you think about the viewer, remember that everything is catered to your viewer.

This weekend, I was finally able to see Hancock. For the most part, the story was interesting and I was surprised at how believable the visual effects were...the story was okay too. This clip shows the break down of the train scene in the movie...I did not realize that the background cars were CG. Guys, there is some nice work going on here.

If you compare this to other break down clips, this plays in reverse which actually works quite well and helps to serve as a valuable learning tool. Check it out and enjoy!

Randolf

The Great Disney Multiplane Camera

The multiplane camera was invented by Walt Disney that enabled a greater sense of visual depth for flat two dimensional animations. The technique is still used today, but with greater efficiency and ease of control. You'll see it many times in animations done in Toon Boom, After Effects and Flash. Many of my animation students were trying to create this effect without realizing that it was done before. If you are interested in adding more dimension to your animations, check out this presentation as explained by the master himself.

Fire it up and enjoy.

Randolf

Painter X: Clone Brush Technique

During my digital painting class, we cover a tool/painting technique called "Clone Painting", where students begin with photographs first, and convert them into paintings. The examples here were created using the "Impressionist" and "Sargent" brushes found in the Artists Brush Category. The technique is a lot of fun as students see very quickly nice paintings developing from a photo. Introducing this lesson also opens up a lecture on the different styles of paintings done by the Impressionists, Classical Painting, Van Gogh, Monet and John Singer Sargent.

Montauk Monster Body Washes Ashore

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In this clip, you will see what looks to be the carcus of a new species of animal, that some Rhode Island locals are calling the Montauk Monster. Real of fake? Too bad the face is badly mutilated so we can get a better look at it. Someone send the carcus to a CSI lab and have them test the DNA, but then again that takes the fun out it. I happen to think this could be real. What about you?

To learn more about the Montauk Monster, check out the official site below:
http://www.montauk-monster.com/

G. I. JOE: Rise of Cobra - Trailer 2

After Party: Corel Painter Demo

This piece was painted in Corel Painter X as part of an in-class demonstration. The tools/brushes used were: Various Glow Brushes and Lighting Effects. Lighting effects help to add mood and a tonal evenness to the entire piece. We also used it to help us establish a focal point.

Thundercats Movie Trailer

This is a fanmade movie trailer for what "could be" the first Thundercats movie. This trailer is exceptional and simply awesome - especially if you are a long time fan of the animation. When you watch it, you'll see familiar actors playing the parts and while you are doing so, see if you can also identify the movies being used. This trailer has struck a chord with many of my animation and visual effects students...I think you will like it as well. Great job guys!

BTW, feel free to make the entire movie in this fashion, you got lots of guys who are encouraging you over here.

Thundercats HO!

Terminator Salvation - Trailer 3

Here you go. This is gonna be awesome! The robots are looking bigger wouldn't you say? Also, a rant from Christian Bale play John Connor in this movie would actually improve the film.

Filmaker IQ: 1001 After Effects Tutorials

Filmmakeriq.com features thousands of tutorials on creating films. In the Digital Effects category, you'll find 1001 tutorials on creating vfx in Adobe After Effects. If you are a short film/animation pioneer, you'll find articles on securing funding, organization, and you'll see other tutorials to help you with your video editing like Premiere, and 3D softward like Maya.

Thanks Isaac for the link, this is a great resource.

Filmaker IQ After Effects Tutorials >>

Sean Talarico: Visual FX Shot - VFS Demo Reel

This little clip Sean Talarico is a nice sweet little hit. At first, its simply unbelievable, but as we proceed with his breakdown, we end up learning a lot. As a lesson to you, if you plan on creating your own animations or visual effects shots, "simple" is always better. This shot seems complex, but the general idea is simple and clear, this is very important.

"KISS (keep it simple stupid)" as they say, is not easy as they come. It takes time, experience, and many times, you need a second opinion as it becomes difficult to move past our personal preferences, especially if we've been working on something for a long time. Keeping this simple, also means making your project clear and you will know this immediately once you garner feedback from others.

Check it out and enjoy. Great piece Sean, keep up the great work, and when you get a chance, let us know how you are doing. By the way, how long did this clip take you to create?

Fire it Up!

Randolf

Barclay Waterslide: Video Contest Winner

Hi All - Here is the winner of the Barclay Waterslide video contest. (Click this link to refresh your memory about the project).

These winners get an all expense paid trip around the world to ride and experience the awesome waterslides in Brazil, Germany and China. They will be given laptops and video cameras so they can document their experience. Hopefully, they'll have something to show of their trip.

Regarding the video, its actually pretty funny, it definitely has that Western Spaghetti by PES look and feel. In all of these contests, when you see the "winner", do you ever ask yourself if you could have done better? Post a comment and let us know.

Fire it up!

Philipps' "Carousel": Visual FX Short Film

This short VFX shot by Adam Berg for Philipps is simply amazing. Its a single take moving shot through a hostage situation, and yes...there are also lots and lots of scary clowns. Those of you with the "Clown Phobia" may not want to watch.

We've watched it many times during class to figure out where a shot begins, ends and which parts were CG and which parts were composited. Its really hard to tell, so the short answer to that is to just enjoy and be amazed at what you are watching.

There is also a "Making of Featurette", but its not that informative, its more entertaining than anything. You can watch it by clicking here. Post below and let us know what you think.

Prepare to be inspired and Fire It Up!

Randolf

Benjamin Button: Creating a Digital Human

One of the hardest things to achieve in animation, is to be able to create lifelike realistic movement in a character's face. These days, there is MOCAP, but still there are some instances where the performance doesn't look complete and believable. In this this talk, visual effects artist Ed Ulbrich describes the process for creating Brad Pitt's digital character in the movie " The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". For students of animation and visual effects, this is a must see.

In this talk he describes many of the problems his team encountered and the solutions to many of those problems, most of which involving new "MOCAP" technology that is able to capture more of the actor's performance through the use of special makeup created by MOVA. Check their site to learn more. I've also hunted around for a quick video demo on what they do so you can learn more...I've included the clip under the lecture below.



For a while, we came to a point where the digital performance of an animated character was close to being believable, but still there was the "Uncanny Valley". In the industry, this refers to the subtle unreal nature of the digital human that we subconsciously can pick up. Regardless of great modeling, lighting and texturing and MOCAP, there is still something in the model that prevents the digital human actor from being totally lifelike and convincing. Benjamin Button, is perhaps the best example I've seen of really great digital acting (emotion acting) work. The shots are pretty believable from up close and suspend our disbelief for long periods of time.

One of my students mentioned this today..."we're waiting for a time when we see a movie starring dead actors". Can you imagine, through the use of technology, making a movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Marlon Brando acting out a scene together in one room... Now that would be cool!