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Showing posts from June, 2016

CAA @ New Designers #7 : "The Lollipops Are Boxed & Sealed!"

Another day, another day spent painting, wrapping, consuming coffee... and gradually the big pile of stuff in the middle of the CAA baseroom is becoming a series of smaller bubble-wrapped piles. From chaos emerges order - or rather the incipient challenge of fitting everything into the back of the UCA van first thing on Monday morning, which will no doubt prove a test of patience, skill and stamina.  Apparently, it's considered unhealthy to subsist on a diet of Starbucks, cheese on toast and red lollies nicked from our New Designers stash... so I sealed up the lollipops in their cardboard box today in an impressive display of self-restraint!  By the end of tomorrow, everything must be finished and ready for travel - wish us luck!

CAA @ New Designers #6 : 'Bubble Wrap!'

After a few days spent painting (& painting & painting!), bubble-wrapping our New Designers 2016 show stand was today's principle activity.  It was like gift-wrapping a succession of very awkward Christmas presents.  Who knew that such a simple activity could take so long and incite such a plethora of anglo-saxon expletives!

Review: GarageFarm.net (Render Farm)

GarageFarm is a render farm first recommended to us by Phil, one that has proven extremely worth it for all those of us who have used it. The staff are helpful and approachable, as well as easy to access when you need help, all it takes is a single click of the speech bubble icon; there are staff on hand 24/7, so you don't need to fear if you need to render quickly in the middle of the night --which is pretty much an animator's rite of passage!-- and don't know what to do.  Even if a real person wasn't on hand, they have various video tutorials and a forum to help you find answers. Like any new software, figuring out how to set things up can be confusing at first, but once you know how to do it, it becomes really straightforward. In order to send off your renders you have to first create an account & download their Render Beamer , which is available for Mac and PC - once downloaded you can access this via Maya's new renderBeamer shelf.  Unfo

CAA One-A-Day: Shell

Another disturbing animation for you tonight, ladies and gents (I guess my post-Brexit mood is yet to improve!).  This one is pretty dark and contains 'scenes of a sexual nature'.  For an fascinating insight into the making of the film, go here . SHELL from Daniel Ahrens on Vimeo .

CAA @ New Designers #5 : 'Yet More Paint!'

Okay, okay, so it's getting increasingly difficult to make the topic of white emulsion into an exciting blogpost... but yes, today, there was even more painting to be done (and it's not even finished yet!). I can report the floor is complete and will be bubble-wrapped in readiness tomorrow morning, and the screen wall is finished too.  It's hard to believe that this building-site is also the CAA baseroom! Onwards!

CAA @ New Designers #4 : 'More Paint + Posters!'

Okay, so the country might be cast adrift and going to the dogs, but meanwhile, work on the CAA stand for New Designers 2016 continues unchecked by the total car-crash that was the EU referendum. There's something soothing about getting on with something practical and achievable at a time like this, and lots did indeed get done: another coat of brilliant white to the screen booth and all 120 posters safely in their flippable frames - and thanks to Alan's long-suffering thumbs, the frames are now completely ready for assembly on-site!  The metal brackets for the flip-display units also needed a coat of white paint, so it was off to the campus spray booth this afternoon to do just that.  Lots more to do before Monday next week, but we're certainly getting there! Oh yes, there will be lollipops! The Master Plan!

FAO Everyone: EU Referendum Petition - If You Agree, Please Sign & Share

The EU Referendum campaigns have been nasty and divisive - and the result even more so. Historically, I try and keep personal politics off this blog because it represents an entire community, and not the preoccupations of its course leader, but in this instance I feel compelled to share.  The short version is there is a petition asking the Government to look again at the constitution of the referendum and I'm encouraging you and others to sign it.  At time of writing, the petition has amassed 2.6 million signatories in a short matter of hours - which is unprecedented. Many people (well, about half of the country who could be bothered to vote), feel acutely uncomfortable with such a momentous decision being taken on the strength of too few percentage points, and many people who voted to leave the EU are experiencing some form of 'Regrexit' in light of all that has happened since.  For a course leader completely comfortable with working with multicultural communities

CAA One-A-Day: Bobby Yeah

And you thought the EU referendum result was nightmarish.... BOBBY YEAH from Robert Morgan on Vimeo .

FAO ND Exibitors: Your Arts Thread Portfolios & Alan's Video File 'Health Check'

This is a reminder for you to ensure you complete your Arts Thread portfolio pages - which is another New Designers -affiliated platform by which to foster more chances for influential people to view your work.  Some of you have made a start, and some of you have completed your pages already - for example, Rosie and Ant - take a look.  I want all ND2016 exhibitors to have representation through Arts Thread - and don't wait until the show is on to get this done; get it done today. Some of you are posting your completed films and ND2016 turnarounds: can you please send your ND video files to Alan asap, so he can 'health-check' your export settings and gauge how well your film files will player via the media-players we'll be using at the show.   This is really important : we don't want any broken-hearted graduates whose films are stuttering or glitching.  As published previously, your deadline for completing your films is Friday 1st July, but before tha

CAA @ New Designers #3 : 'Build!'

So today, Alan and I test-built our New Designers stand... and we're pleased to report that, a few tweaks excepted, everything came together rather beautifully.  We also received the 120 posters from the printers, and work began cutting and cropping them, and inserting them into their flippable display things!  Things are shaping up nicely - more updates next week.