Computer Animation Arts

"Animator vs Cartoonist - Draw Off!" Join the gang of Animators and Cartoonists as they go head-to-head in a series of 'draw off'' challenges and as they attempt to draw cartoon characters from memory. Including, drawing the same characte, different characters, or creating mash-ups, often using their own styles. "Animator Vs. Cartoonist Draw Marvel Characters From Memory - Draw Off!" "Animator Vs. Cartoonist Draw More Famous Cartoons - Draw Off" "Animator Vs. Cartoonist Try Character Mashups - Draw Off" "Animator Vs. Cartoonist  - Draw Off Playlist"

Day two and I want to share some more about where inspiration for story and characters can be drawn from by looking at theatre. Maybe when looking for an adaptation piece or a method for story-telling or clear examples of story/character arcs, theatre has a lot to offer. PLUS with the increasing amount of intractability being offered through devices used for watching films and videos it may be some of that traditional theatrical interaction isn't far from being available. These plays I'll share with you are mostly film adaptations or trailers because it's difficult to find a good recorded version of the live plays (and the effect is lost because you're not watching live)... but I hope they'll give you an idea for perhaps less mainstream forms of entertainment/ performance and offer a wider platform for research. Power of Performance Punk Rock by Simon Stephens He writes plays for young adult performers. This play is really shocking... it's about...

"This short animated experiment of a seemingly CG bear climbing stairs is garnering a lot of attention on the Internet because it’s actually a CG bear printed as 50 separate 3-D models and then animated in stop motion. The bear was produced as a collaboration between two London-based companies: design firm DBLG and animation studio Blue Zoo ... Rather than using 3-D printing to create organic-looking models a la Laika, DBLG and Blue Zoo printed models that retain their low-poly CG appearance. The slight imperfections in the 3D printing and filming processes give the animation an indescribable warmth that can be felt by the viewer while still retaining the mathematical accuracy of CG animation...'   More at  cartoonbrew.com

Three incredible poems read/written by three incredible women. I share because I want to, one day, to use animation to make their words more accessible to everyone. Obviously, so much more powerful to watch them perform but it would bring people back to poetry and seeking to watch it live. I think people steer away because their experience is hard sentences in a book and fighting to figure out the meaning. Most poems are written to be performed making it's meaning clearer through body language and voice. It will be interesting to take that into animation somehow. Katie Makkai - Pretty T. Miller - Us, Black Women Lily Myers - Shrinking Women

Saw this - made me smile!

A little multilingual treat.

Prepare to be amazed.... Behind The Scenes...

Creepy! In Dreams from Samuel Blain on Vimeo .

I was drawn to this video because of my enthusiasm for abstract animation.  Imagine my delight and surprise then when I discovered these elegant wave forms created by artist Daniel Palacios were not CGI at all! "A long piece of rope generates 3D waves floating in space by the physical action of its movement: the rope which creates the visual waves also simultaneously creates the sound by cutting through the air, making up a single element. The installation is affected by those who watch it. When the audience moves around it they influence the movements of the rope, generating visual and acoustic sound waves from harmonic patterns to complex ones." Waves from Daniel Palacios on Vimeo .

A number of our year three students are writing on the uncanny for their dissertations, which probably inspired me to choose this squirmy, unsettling example of CGI-augmented imagery for your delight and delectation... Klaxons - Twin Flames from Modular People on Vimeo .

I'm not going to say too much about this, I'll just wait for the comments thread.  Suffice to say, this Japanese advertisement for car tyres is sure to create a 'jump' in sales...

While browsing the corners of the internet, I found an interesting article titled "The Pixar Theory" created by writer, Jon Negroni . Could there be more to the Pixar movies than you think? His theory argues that every Pixar production is interlinked into one overarching story that begins with 'Brave' (2012). I thought it was highly implausible to begin with too, but in the end was perplexed by this fun yet crazy idea. The full article can be found on his website linked below. Be prepared to dive into this weird theory! The Pixar Theory, Jon Negroni And of course, video-bloggers have had a say on their own opinions relating to this theory too. Below is a video from user 'TMGsIRL' that audio books Negroni's article while incorporating his own analysis and involving supporting images.

An interesting feature of animation (of all kinds) is the control it gives the creator over "reality".  In particular, for the non-physical techniques (2D drawing, 3D CGI), the rules of the animated world are determined totally by the animator; this offers all kinds of opportunities for artists. Playing with Scale Once you start getting down to the small scale (say, under 5" tall), the world starts to behave differently; the interplay between viscosity and surface tension in water for example, or the ratio of surface area to volume. Water, in particular, is notorious in VFX circles for its refusal to scale - many otherwise excellent miniature shots are marred by over-sized water droplets (see Thunderbirds for many good examples). Conversely, films like Honey I shrunk the kids (1989), which use special effects to make the audience believe that the actors have been shrunk down, are unable to produce this effect.  Animated films, on the other hand, c...

Hello everyone, Daniel Rolph here; I'm your author-in-residence this week.  For those of you who don't know me, I'm one of the ex-3rd years who graduated this summer. My posts will probably have a higher science content than you might expect, but I'll do my best to make sure they're still interesting; on that note, on to the main feature! Following on from the success of their Driverless Vehicle competitions, DARPA (the American Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) have moved on to more "traditional" robotics, with their DARPA Robotics Challenge - the goal is to produce a "rescue robot" for use in disaster-rescue operations. Every robot entered into the competition has to be able to:- Drive a truck to the disaster area Cross rubble on its own Clear debris from a door and make its way inside Climb ladders Use a tool to smash through a concrete wall Close a valve near a leaking pipe Use a firehose to extinguish a fire The...

Warning: this witty little video about racist, homophobic, misogynist online haters contains some very bad language and some strong sexual references. Watch it anyway. It will cheer you up. It did me.

Researching CGI industry before finishing CGAA studies might give you a clear idea what to keep developing to. Researching what jobs are out there brings clarity what kind of creatives are on demand at the moment. This might be useful for 3rd year students who are looking to focus their minor and major projects to build a strong and very directed portfolio. The following links cover games, advertisement, film and various CGI freelancing work. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/jobs  http://mandy.com/ http://www.peopleperhour.com/  http://www.cgstudiomap.com/

Hello to all! I am Jolanta, alumni of CG Arts and Animation and the blog author in residence for this week. (:] Today I would like to share a list of design and animation websites that I find to be the best source of inspiration and visit them daily. There it goes:   http://www.fgideas.org/   http://www.thisiscolossal.com/   http://www.designboom.com/   http://motionographer.com/ I hope you will find some of them useful and interesting! :]