Computer Animation Arts

Dear all, Having arrived safely in Alaska after about fourteen hours in the air breathing farts and recycled air*, I popped out this morning for a spot of sight-seeing. Unfortunately, the whole of Anchorage was experiencing a power outage, which meant I ate my buffet-style breakfast (complete with reindeer sausages), in the dark; the weather is a bit on the miserable side, you see, with high winds and driving rain and low visibility, which accounts for the photograph above.   The diorama on the helpful sign was identifying all the impressive stuff I couldn't actually see.  I'm assured by others that Mount Susitna does indeed exist, despite my photographic evidence to the contrary! *I watched a whole bunch of movies on the plane - pretty much back-to-back: Saving Mr Banks - loved it!  Great screenplay! August: Osage County - loved it! Meryl Streep is amazing! Dallas Buyers Club - loved it! Give everyone an Oscar! The Lego Movie - loved it! Metafiction

Below you can find a series of production videos released by Imageworks  which reveal the impressive pipelines behind the intricate VFX seen within 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2'. These range from the build up of each shot, through to animating the characters and compositing each pass.

Usually, the PWTM begins with some alliterative preamble that seeks to characterise the ongoing endeavours of the student, staff and alumni of BA (Hons) CG Arts & Animation - soon to be known as Computer Animation Arts .  My preface this month is shorter and sweeter - short because all I need do is invite you to sit back and enjoy this selection of final works from years one, two and three, and sweet because it gives me great pleasure to do so.  You're looking at an awful lot of hard work here, at goals met and personal bests.  As always, I encourage our loyal readers to go beyond the PWTM by accessing the individual student blogs, because what you see here are but the tips of some truly impressive icebergs.  Enjoy.  Tom Farrington - Experiment IX   (For Tom's  Art Of   go here ) Lydia Caplan - Eglington Road (For Lydia's Art Of go here ) Joey Ku - The Carnival Of The Animals (For Joey's Art Of go here ) Sammy Butl

This is a reminder to exhibiting students at New Designers 2014 who have not yet sent me your line art: can you please send me your drawings to my gmail account tonight/first thing tomorrow morning, as I need to prepare them in readiness for screen-printing.  Many thanks!

How can you not appreciate this? :)

As some of you will be already aware, we're taking steps to establish a graduate talent agency to sit within the Computer Animation Arts community.  You'll know then that Jake Bryant has furnished our fledgling agency with a great name - Geek Boutique .   The next stage is to brand Geek Boutique - to consolidate all its charms and promise into an iconic logo - which is where you come in! There's a £50 Amazon voucher up for grabs and the closing date for entries is Monday 9th June .   Email me your logo designs for Geek Boutique as a jpeg  to pgomm@ucreative.ac.uk.  All submitted designs will then be showcased here on the group blog and then we'll let the course community decide on the winning design via a vote. The competition is open to students, staff and alumni , so get the word out. Good luck!

Your proformas are now available at your Ucreative accounts: any probs, drop me a line at pgomm@ucreative.ac.uk .

Donnie Darko @ 2pm Lecture Theatre 1 (by special request of Adam Stone)

All Third Years Please be aware that your Major Project assessment forms (feedback) have been emailed to your ucreative email addresses. Thanks Alan

"We are MILLIMETERS away from a completed, cleaned up first pass." A few months ago I blogged a post sharing David Fincher's Kickstarter pledge to fund a CG adaptation of Eric Powell's comic series 'The Goon'. The project was funded successfully not long after its initial opening, and has since been slowly progressing along the pipeline with the support of Blur Studios and Dark Horse Entertainment. Collectively, they decided to take the long road by finding an alternate answer to the typical Hollywood depiction of animation, and have been working hard to find a new vision that portrays an adult take on animated film.  Recently, Eric Powell released a statement on his blog letting fans know that everyone at Blur has had their attention focused on the story reel which is currently being composed into its first edited pass. With this information Powell attached a series of storyboard panels from this pass which can be found below. I hope to be postin

Hello CGAA... or is it CAA? Hope you all were inspired by the music and the curves! I know that some of you may still be rendering bits and pieces so in case you've forgotten how or where to upload your files, here is the link to WeTransfer . This is the box you're looking for (an ad may pop up first, and also a box to accept terms and conditions): WeTransfer has a 2Gig file size limit, however you can send as many files as you like, so either compress or send the files individually if needed. To clarify (for each sculpture) we need: -one folder for the Maya renders (zip it up) -one folder for the After Effects renders (zip it up) -a copy of the final turnaround as a h264 codec .mp4 -an obj export of the sculpture -the Maya file -the After effects file So I can clearly work out what everything is, please make sure you clearly label the files, and prefix them with your name. eg - JohnSmith_mayaRenders.zip Remember also that the

Just letting you know that I'll be working from home tomorrow (Monday) - any issues, email me at pgomm@ucreative.ac.uk .

Tim Webb, our external examiner, is coming to look at your work on May 22nd (Thursday) and we'd like you all to be available from 2pm in the CGAA base room.  Tim will make a selection of individual students he'd like to see on the day - from 2pm onwards - but a group discussion with all year 3 students follows at 3.30pm. We'd like to see all of you there. If you're unable to attend, do please drop me an email and I'll ensure Tim knows not to expect you. Many thanks

Right then - 'Geek Boutique' it is!  Love it.  Thank you, Jake Bryant!  Just spoke with my colleague who will be helping me set up our Graduate Creative Agency and Geek Boutique was a big 'yes'! So - I have another request to make of you - and it's a creative one.  Any ideas out there for an iconic logo/ident/brand identity that might put our Geek Boutique firmly on the map? I feel a logo competition coming on... any takers?

There's something really creepy and disturbing about this animation. The design and animation of the antler character is amazing though. More from The Animation Worshops can be found  HERE

It's been a mission of mine for sometime to set up a 'Computer Animation Arts' graduate agency - a dream-team of graduate talent originating from our course, whose start-up, start-out freelance careers can be incubated and supported within UCA.  It's early days, but the good news is that the signs are good and I'm pretty confident we'll be able to launch a graduate agency sooner rather than later. It might seem premature then, to be thinking about a name for the agency, but I've been asked to get the ball rolling asap, and I thought I'd pick your collective brains. We need something catchy, memorable, and client-friendly; for example, one of the University's existing agency-type initiatives is called 'Fab Lab' - and it relates to 3D printing and laser-cutting services (Fab as in fabrication).  Another relates to casting and glasswork and is called 'The Bronze Pot'...  Once we've got the name, we can get think ab

Your Fantastic Voyage and Toolkit proformas are available at your Ucreative accounts now.  Your overall grade for your Toolkit unit is derived by averaging the 3 grades - and is shown on the fourth and final page of the Toolkit PDF. If your proforma hasn't arrived, email me and I'll investigate.  In terms of resits and retakes etc. the exam board meets on May 29th to ratify the results.  You'll be notified after that date and a tutorial will follow.

"We’re looking for 15 of the best creative students in universities across the UK whose work displays clever thinking, passion and excellent craftsmanship. In the past few years the It’s Nice That Graduates have gone on to fulfil their wildest dreams (within reason) and we want the same for you. The chosen 15 graduates will have their work featured on the site and will be invited to a fun networking event to hob-nob with some creative people who may or may not help you get a job and start earning the big bucks." Go here for submission details!

Adobe Students have shared this on Facebook... This company are running a competition where the prize is shadowing at FOX Animation Domination High-Def Studios and $5,000. They have 4 categories (Animation, Special Effects, Character Illustration and Musical Composition). Well worth entering for the chance! Go here for more details and to enter!

H.R. Giger - hugely influential artist known for his concept art and creature designs for Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) has died aged 74.  Read more here .  

Lecture Theatre 1 @ 2pm "This Time It's War"

See below - briefing presentation for ACT 2: Project Requiem : The short version is this:  late last year, we converted a conductor's movements into seven Maya curves.  The curves express the conductor's physical movements as he was conducting a performance of Verdi's Requiem .  We're asking you to use the seven curves as the basis for the creation of seven sculptural forms in Maya, that capture and reflect your own responses after listening to the Requiem .  Ultimately, we will be turning a selection of the forms into physical metal sculptures! A 'one-stop-shop' folder will be shared with you via  Dropbox,  containing the seven curves, the seven sections of music, templates for rendering and exporting, and instructions for manipulating the original curves.  You are to listen to the 7 sections of music and then seek to express your visual impression of what you hear via the choice of manipulations outlined in the presentation (extrude, loft, plan

A lovely animated short from Daniel Savage ... enjoy! Helium Harvey from Something Savage on Vimeo .

This is a reminder for our year 2 and year 3 students: we're briefing 'Project Requiem' - the second ACT project at 11am in Lecture Theatre 1 on Monday 12th (tomorrow) .  We're hoping as many of you will participate as possible.  We know year 2 are already busy with Pete Wallace and their work placements, and year 3 are knackered after Friday's hand-in, but this is a quick, creative, one-week 'speedpaint-style' participation, not a long-term commitment! If you can't attend tomorrow's briefing, you will still be able to participate, as the briefing presentation and instructions will be published on the group blog. See you tomorrow at 11am, Lecture Theatre 1!

This is a message for all our third years on the night before final hand-in: "Yes You Can!" Just keep going, you're so nearly there, and all these final tweaks, touches and tidying-ups will be worth it! There's a perfect poem for times like these - If , by Rudyard Kipling.  Forgive the gender bias, but these are wise words indeed. If  If you can keep your head when all about you  Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,  If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too;  If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;  If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;  If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same;  If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

The Submission Blog is Now Open! Submission Location & Deadline:  Friday 9th May @ 5pm  CG Arts Baseroom & Online Submission Requirements: 1) Your final piece of work: Your final film / animation submitted as a file and on your blog. 2)  Making of Document: A comprehensive guide to your project submitted as a PDF and on your blog. 3) Technical Document: A 1 - 2 page description of a significant techincal aspect of your work. E.g Is there something technical which required exploring that now defines your work? A shader, a rigging process, or lighting model for example. 4) Demo Reel: A short 30 second - 1 minute showcase of your work 5) An up to date blog & .PDF: Please make sure your blog is up to date before 5pm and it is transfered to PDF as part of your submission. No posts after 5pm please. Please Submit Via: 1) The Submission Blog 2) Copied on to the baseroom computer 3) On DVD Good Luck Everyone!

Hello there,          Just a quick reminder that myself and Simon R will be seeing you at 2pm in the Base Room for a chat about your animation / 3D work with us over the next month or two. See you then! Pete

Just a reminder for Year 2 students: Butch Auntie 's Pete Wallace is looking forward to meeting you all at 2pm in the Baseroom tomorrow (Tuesday) for a pre-work placement briefing and catch-up.