Computer Animation Arts

Perception unit – re-scheduled presentations Thursday 8 th December The following students must present their essay topic and theoretical ideas in the lower 4 th seminar room as follows: 10am Simon Bloyce Aaron Hayre Otis Taylor Ami Weightman George Whiley 11am Jake Malin Andrew McDowe Kadeem Molyneaux-Reid Oliver Nicholls Ilmi Omar Paris Peonides Lloyd Prior Freddie Rolph

I thought this would be good for everyone to see considering the love hate relationship with Maya we all have, every once in a while its nice to have a motivational pick me up. Imagine, one day soon we'll be able to animate as smoothly as this :O (Around 8:33 is a really funny well animated piece :3)                                     iAnimate.net 2011 show reel from iAnimate on Vimeo .

Here's something that's sweet in more ways than one! Whether you like the song or not, I think the stop motion jellybean animation is really quite special! :D

Post-Modernism: 2000 Written Assignment Deadline: 9 th December (12 – 12.30) Narrative Part 1) Studio (Group) Submission: Deadline: Thursday 19 th January On your group (Studio) blog and for the presentation (Festival): - Completed film trailer with Submission Documentation. - Three 300dpi ‘stills’ (The best promotional shots) - A Promotional Poster. - ‘A making of’… Document. FAQ’s Q. Is the design of our studio blog and project marketing part of the marking process? A. Yes. The project submission includes the branding and promotional material for your studio, such as the design of the blog, logo, and ident. Q. Should this work be submitted on a disk? A. Yes. One collective disk should be submitted for the group containing the above elements and a PDF version of your group blog. Part 2) Individual Submission: Deadline: Monday 23 rd January - An up-to-date individual blog containing your contribution to the group projec...

Some really lovely visual development work has been put up on   Living Lines . I don't know about you guys, but I fell in love with the character and environment design in this film and the variations in style shown on the blog are really wonderful. You can find everything here. Have a look! There's something for everyone :D

Summary: Set to the backdrop of 1970’s Venice, Nick Roeg’s Don’t Look Now is a subtle and unconventional thriller about a married couple coming to terms with the death of their daughter. The meandering streets and canals of Venice are used a narrative device to present the viewer with symbolic imagery and recurring motifs. These techniques coupled with the films notably unusual fragmented editing style, assist in manipulating and adjusting way the viewer perceives the reality and themes of the characters in the film. Analysis: “It is a film which explores beautifully the effects of location upon individuals. Out of season is major character in the film and is shot with an eye for the locale’s decaying grandeur. It delicately presents totally believable and fully rounded characters and their relationship to us” (Nicholas and Price 1998:119) Nicholas J. And Price J (1998) Advanced studies in media Cheltenham:Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd Release: 1973 Director: Nicolas Roeg Screenplay by...

In addition to the briefing presentations, film programme and reading list on your project brief, there is a wealth of associated subject matter available to you for research purposes via the CGAA group blog.  Many of you are still not making best use of what is already available, and as you'll know by now, reading and researching widely around your subject will enrich and inspire your creative development.  Go here for an archive of 'CGAA Unit 3' related posts.  Alternatively, use the label cloud to seek out key terms and access the existing library of Unit 3 content.  Go beyond what your tutor puts in front of you. Explore!

These textures seem to zig zag and move around, not sure why, it just suddenly started doing it. Any idea if it's something I pressed or it has corrupted? I went back until it stopped and no change. Also, I haven't been working from the video so I was wondering if I had done something wrong.

Ok guys so it's nearly December and we are all getting into this Xmas spirit. So we thought how about having a secret Santa thing going on? Not sure how it's gonna be done yet but we'll have to make sure enough people are up for it :P  So what do you think? :)

Summary: An adaptation of Henry James’ famed novella The Turn of the Screw. A hedonistic and wealthy bachelor hires Miss Giddens as governess to look after his adopted niece and nephew at his enormous countryside mansion house. Enamoured with their charm at first - she is later unsettled by the strange behaviour of the children and mysterious figures she see’s on the mansion grounds, Miss Giddens is convinced the spirits of two dead workers have possessed the bodies of the children. Analysis: “Just as Hitchcock had gone back to black and white for Psycho, director Jack Clayton shot The Innocents in black and white, which, by 1961, had the curious effect of intensifying drama while creating distance between audience and characters...Cinematographer Freddie Francis reported that he devised special filters to blur the sides of the frame to make the film more claustrophobic and an element of mystery as to what was lurking in the corners...the result was an enduring gem of a ghost movie. It...

An example of how tone and movement can be captured with very little detail. There's plenty more of these fantastic drawings over on Andreas Deja's blog:  Deja View . Lovely stuff! :D

Your  Unit 3: Environment 2011/12  timetable, brief and supporting materials are now available on  myUCA.   Please ensure you've read the brief carefully prior to the briefing presentation on Monday 28th November @ 3pm in Lecture Theatre 1 . A selection of student work from previous  Environment  projects   is featured below.  The student names  hyperlink to their respective blogs for Unit 3.  Please take the time to review their archives in preparation for your own creative project. Leo Tsang Final Scene/Digital Set + Matte Painting Matte Painting Daniel Rolph Final Scene/Digital Set + Matte Painting Matte Painting Andriana Laskari Final Scene/Digital Set + Matte Painting Matte Painting Katy Negus Final Scene/Digital Set + Matte Painting Matte Painting Ruben Martins Final Scene/Digital Set + Matte Painting Matte Painting Y...

Happy Feet 2 Unfortunately Happy Feet 2 has flopped (finacially) worldwide resulting in the loss of over 600 jobs from Dr D Studios (Australia). To add to the poor box office the project went over budget by $32 million and was heavily marketed. The film was made in conjunction with Warner Brothers who were convinced they had a hit. It goes to show that money and star power don't always make a hit. Very sad for all involved. Click here for the full story

Hey guys - third year tutorials are cancelled today as Alan is ill. Get well soon Alan!

Click this link for more images.

Right Guys, I will be at Uni till 19:30 again on Thursday (tomorrow) so the offer extends for you to join me. If you need any pointers, questions then don't hesitate to find me from 14:00 onwards.

Hiya, Does anyone remember the website to turn your downloaded blog into a PDF? I can't remember it again :/ Love Jut xx

I was checking up on IMDB at previous lecturer, Matthew Spradl in, who created a comic book called 'Bad Kids Go to Hell'. I remember Matthew telling us that his comic will be adapted into a movie at some point and he wanted to keep it as true as possible to the original narrative, which is every writers wish when it comes to their narrative being shown on the big screen but apparently according to IMDB. he is directing it :D I think the film will be released in 2012, so maybe if we can grab a copy somehow.... (not saying how) we can watch it together. For those that have not read the book, I will leave my copy downstairs in the Baseroom for a couple of days. Making of. http://www.imdb.com/video/wab/vi367500825/

I'm aiming this mainly at Phil but if anyone else can shed any light on this... I seem to be being charged for Digital Tutors even though I never ordered. I've just received a statement from UCA finance about the Digital Tutors deal that has been offered to us. It's telling me that the payment of £165 is due by the 5th December. As much as I would like to take up the offer, I simply can't afford it and that's why I was surprised to see this today as I never put my name forward. Is there a way to remove this from my UCA invoice and cancel my order as I obviously don't want any fees accumulating in the background. I've emailed UCA finance for advise but thought I would also post it here for any input

I found this blog the other day and thought it might be of use to you guys Robh works in a graphic style building up elements to create a surprisingly painterly result. He also produced some wonderful concept environments for the game Uncharted 3, well worth a look: Robh

I've been wanting to add sounds and music to a PowerPoint presentation or an OpenOffice Impress (OpenOffice's version of Powerpoint), but I simpyl cannot figure out how to add in multiple sounds (An ambiance and a music track) to either to make them play uninterrupted over multiple slides. I also might need help on how to make them stop when I want them to. Does anyone have any experience with this? Tom Farrington - CG Arts.

1st year Jake here, Towards the end of my first final piece, I noticed that it became increasing long to save. I checked the file and the size grew from, when I last saw it, 78 mb to 104 mb. That kind of growth is bizarre, considering I was just going over the top with an air brush. Now that one didn't bother me so much, however my recent piece has grown to such an extent it's ridiculous. The file size grew from 72 mb to 143 mb to 330 mb to a whopping 440 mb! I can't understand why it's growing so rapidly. I've cut around the image to make sure there's nothing off canvas. If anyone can help, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Hi Guys, there will be a folder going up on the tutorial blog in the near future with the extra resources to dress the finished scene.   This was compiled using the assets in the folder and then lit and rendered it using the principles learnt in the lighting and rendering tutorials from the first five weeks. The assets folder will contain 2 different colour and specular maps you can use on your models (assuming you lay out the UV's the same as the texture file), several textured tileable road sections, lamp-post, birch tree and a nice retro Citroen BX.  If anyone is wondering about the most significant difference between Macs and PCs beyond the short cuts then I would have to say the display on a Mac is much brighter / cleaner (nicer) than a  standard PC. So if you are working from Mac to PC bear that in mind.

Just saw this over at Animationmentor.com and thought I'd share it - not because it will be news to most of you, but rather as a reminder of all the tacit opportunities for career development with which your provided on CGAA via your creative partnerships (yr 1), group projects (yr 2) and minor project collaborations (yr 3).  Guest blogger, Jean-Denis Haas , has this to say about the importance of social skills in an animation career... "Social skills are very important because you're not a one-man-show. You have to work on a team and get along with the group. Everybody is there to help the client finish his/her movie. Every project will go through crunch time, where everybody has a lot do and people are stressed out. It is during those moments where you have to be able to stay calm and get your work done, regardless of what is happening around you. You will depend on other people's help and vice-versa. Again, it's all a team effort...

Year 2: A short post to confirm that project work should always be submitted on a CD/DVD for marking purposes. This includes a PDF version of your blog.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) Directed by Robert Zemeckis This weeks narrative film is postponed due to the low attendence as a result of the character design crit. We forgive you just this once . The timetable has been adjusted accordingly and the showing of 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' will take place next tuesday. Everyone is expected to attend. No exceptions next time!

The timetables are now available on MyUCA for weeks 11-15 PLEASE NOTE THAT CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO YOUR TIMETABLES Year 2: Click here & go to Unit Materials Year 3: Click here & go to Unit Materials NOTE: The Interim Crit will take place on: Wednesday 30th November @ 10am Location: Baseroom (TBC)

Unit 2 Space submission: MAYA TUTORIALS To confirm: I will be marking your Maya tutorials after: 5pm on Monday 28th November (that's 3 days after the main critique) Use the extra time wisely and make sure you upload all the required tutorials to your blog. Good Luck!

Final Submission Thursday 24th November CG Arts Baseroom @ 10am ALL PRESENTATION WORK TO BE DOWNLOADED ONTO THE BASEROOM COMPUTER BY 10am -------------------------------- Submission Requirements: Part 1) A .PDF (Onscreen) or Printed Character Design Bible Containing: A) A synopsis of the show. B) Three fully resolved characters – Hero, Villain, & Sidekick. C) Expression Sheets for each character. D) Character Turnarounds for each character. E) Completed weekly tasks (Either on your blog or as part of the final bible). Week 1: Introduction to Character Design Week 2: Building Blocks of Character Design – Shapes & Proportions Week 3: Drawing in the Third Dimension Week 4: Drawing Stuff Week 5: Personality: The Spark of Life Week 6: Distinctive Characters Week 7: Monsters & Creatures Week 8: Working in the Real World Week 9: Setting the Scene 2) Blog & Development Work A fully up-to-date blog containing your research, dev...