“Tonight’s December thirty-first,
Something is about to burst.
The clock is crouching, dark and small,
Like a time bomb in the hall.
Hark, it's midnight, children dear.
Duck! Here comes another year!”
Ogden Nash, 1929
Like a time bomb in the hall...
2017 does a feel a bit like that, doesn't it? Who knows what's coming next in these newly uncertain times. 2016 has been both absurd and a bit terrifying - a clown with a shotgun. I won't be alone tonight in my sense of satisfaction at showing it the door. I don't know about you, but the whole Carrie Fisher thing was pretty much the last straw.
How lucky I am to work within a community of young, aspiring artists whose ambition and creativity always make the future seem bright and a place worth visiting. It's New Year's Eve and what better way to usher in 2017 than with an all-new pristine edition of the
Computer Animation Arts Post With The Most and our monthly celebration of talent, imagination and the inarguable benefits of a university education.
Three months ago, our first years arrived in the CAA baseroom all big-eyed and trepidatious and worried about pretty much everything. Now look at them - boisterous, clever, and coming on nicely. Term one concluded with their What If Metropolis submission - a project requiring them to work closely with the ideas and imagery of another artist or designer to envision a fantastical city.
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| Ezinor / Wireframe / Karolina Urlikyte |
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| Ezinor / Occlusion pass / Karolina Urlikyte |
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| Ezinor / Final render / Karolina Urlikyte |
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| Distortia / Concept painting / Graeme Daly |
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| Distortia / Digital set / Graeme Daly |
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| Distortia / Digital set + matte painting / Graeme Daly |
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| Merveille / Final render / Paris Lucke |
Merveille / Art Of / Paris Lucke
It's no secret group projects can prove hugely challenging, no less so for our current year two students, who, I suspect, will take yet more time to truly value lessons learned during their recent collaborations. Conflict resolution, negotiation, forbearance and perseverance may not seem the equal of flashy renders or dynamic animation in terms of gauging a project's success, but these are invaluable skills only learned by going through something difficult - diamonds pressed from coal.
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| The Old Seamstress / Textured turnaround / Hecate Productions |
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| The Old Seamstress / Textured model #1 / Hecate Productions |
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| The Old Seamstress / Textured model #2 / Hecate Productions |
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| The Old Seamstress / 2D animation sequence / Hecate Productions |
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| Pikatti / Rendered still #1 / Sugarcube Studios |
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| Pikatti / Rendered still #2 / Sugarcube Studios |
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| Pikatti / Rendered still #3 / Sugarcube Studios |
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| Pine / Finished character models / The Barber Shop |
Pine / Art Of / The Barber Shop
I'm not sure how great a time our third years had this Christmas. It must be hard to truly relax when you've got your minor project hand-in in the second week of January, and your dissertation hand-in a few days later! Nonetheless, I hope they managed a few mince-pies in between hitting their keyboards and marshalling citations. Here's a glimpse of some of their ongoing progress on their final year animations. Join me in wishing them all the very best of luck for their January submissions.
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| Genghis The Space Pug / Genghis finished model #1 / Max Ashby |
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| Genghis The Space Pug / Genghis finished model #2 / Max Ashby |
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| Genghis The Space Pug / Genghis finished model #3 / Max Ashby |
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| Bedtime Story / Developing The Boy's textures #1 / Charlie Serafini |
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| Bedtime Story / Developing The Boy's textures #2 / Charlie Serafini |
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| Bedtime Story / Developing The Boy's textures #3 / Charlie Serafini |
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| Soma / Mada character development / Eva Pinnington |
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| Soma / Mada modelling progress / Eva Pinnington |
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| Soma / Mada texture map / Eva Pinnington |
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| Soma / Mada finished model + UVs / Eva Pinnington |
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| Four / Four 3D model / Mark Stamp |
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| Four / Four Skinning progress / Mark Stamp |
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| Four / Adding eyelid controls / Mark Stamp |
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| PC Tank / 3D model (wip) #1 / Jamie Wathen |
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| PC Tank / 3D model (wip) #2 / Jamie Wathen |
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| PC Tank / 3D model (wip) #3 / Jamie Wathen |
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| PC Tank / 3D model (wip) #4 / Jamie Wathen |
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| Stellar! / Norma character design development # 1 / Tsygan Productions |
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| Stellar! / Norma character design development # 2 / Tsygan Productions |
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| Stellar! / Norma 3D models / Tsygan Productions |
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| Stellar! / Norma texturing progress / Tsygan Productions |
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| YPGTTO / The Horn District concept art / Emily Clarkson |
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| YPGTTO / The Trombone & Tuba District concept art / Emily Clarkson |
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| YPGTTO / The Trumpet District concept art #1 / Emily Clarkson |
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| YPGTTO / The Trumpet District concept art #2 / Emily Clarkson |
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| YPGTTO / The Violin District concept art / Emily Clarkson |
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| YPGTTO / The Viola District concept art / Emily Clarkson |
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| YPGTTO / The Cello District concept art #1 / Emily Clarkson |
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| YPGTTO / The Cello District concept art #2 / Emily Clarkson |
On December 6th, CAA's celebrated visualisation of Darius Milhaud's ballet, La création du monde was screened to a full house at Zilina's concert hall, Slovakia, with live accompaniment by the musicians of the
Slovak Sinfonietta.
Simon Chalk was their conductor and master of ceremonies, and following a short presentation explaining
the provenance of our animation, the lights dimmed, the musicians began to play, and shapes and colours began pulsing across the screen.
La création du monde was screened in Zilina as part of the ONE is more programme: An
Orchestra Network for Europe – ONE - is a distinctive network of classical symphony orchestras initiated by Orchestre de Picardie in 2003. Since 2005, it has received support from the European Union under the Culture Programme for 4 cultural projects. Its successive periods of activity have been called ONE, ONE - a new dimension, ONE step further and from June 2011 to 2015 ONE goes places. In 2010, under the title ONE is more, it prepared an application under the Creative Europe programme of the EU. For this bid, the
University for the Creative Arts joined the partnership.
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| Simon Chalk rehearsing La création du monde with the Slovak Sinfonietta at the Concert Hall, Zilina #1 |
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| Simon Chalk rehearsing La création du monde with the Slovak Sinfonietta at the Concert Hall, Zilina #2 |
This is the fifth screening for our animation, which began life as a multi-participant speed paint challenge, in which the students, alumni and staff of Computer Animation Arts were invited to visualise Milhaud's jazz-inspired ballet as
a series of abstract digital paintings. CAA alumni
Tom Beg and
Jordan Buckner then worked with the resulting paintings, translating them into moving image. In common with previous screenings, the experience of watching the animation accompanied by the full bombast and beauty of a live orchestra was magical and transformative. Many thanks to Simon Chalk, for all his fizz and enthusiasm for the project, and to Keith Burden of
Clever Projections, who not only ensures our screenings are faultless, smooth and gremlin-free, but who also drove the three thousand mile trip to Slovakia and back in the short space of four days!
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| Still from La création du monde #1 / Tom Beg & Jordan Buckner |
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| Still from La création du monde #2 / Tom Beg & Jordan Buckner |
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| Still from La création du monde #3 / Tom Beg & Jordan Buckner |
The Last Word...
“Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” Carrie Fisher
These messages should be more often read by people.
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