Thursday, April 28, 2011

CameraMan for Maya iPhone app



CameraMan for Maya® is an iPhone app that allows you to control a 3D camera in Maya using an iPhone. The purpose of CameraMan is create handheld camera effects by using the Gyroscope in the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4th Generation as a motion capture device.


And here the how-to clip.



- found via Carlos Baena's Twitter

Rio and Night & Day behind the scenes plus MouseWorks Model Pack

Make sure to check out onanimation.com every day, so much good stuff there!!

First, an awesome 270 page pdf monster of character model sheets and layouts, so cool!


Then a very cool behind the scenes look of "Rio" and "Night & Day"!

click on the image to play the movie




Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Selling Samurai Jack and Aku statues

[updated]

Samurai Jack: Aku Statue
http://www.tfaw.com/Profile/Samurai-Jack-Aku-Statue___17504

New $90 (out of stock) - selling for $40

"The Aku Statue stands 12 inches tall, is fully painted and ready to
display outside of the box. Limited to a production run of 2,500 pieces."



Samurai Jack vs Beetlebot Sculpture Statue
http://www.1upcollectibles.com/servlet/the-6/Samurai-Jack-vs-Beetlebot/Detail

SOLD

Selling Obi-Wan Kenobi in Clone Trooper Statue



Goes for $160 new. Selling here for $70 (no box though). Email me if interested.

http://www.comicstatues.com/statues-busts-props-item-605.html

Selling Black and White Batman statues

[updated]

They come without the box, but are in great condition. All of them are sold out (with one or two left at Amazon), so they are pretty rare now. Since animation people are nerds (be proud!), I thought I'd put it up here as well in case someone is interested (email me if you are).


Kelley Jones ($160 Amazon)
http://www.dccomics.com/dcdirect/?dcd=5475
$60



Mike Mignola
- one ebay auction ended at $330, one is starting at $100 and one has it for $450 (Hahahaha!)
http://www.dccomics.com/dcdirect/?dcd=4497
SOLD!



Joe Kubert (ebay $180)
http://www.dccomics.com/dcdirect/?dcd=4086
SOLD



Brian Bolland (ebay $180)
http://www.dccomics.com/dcdirect/?dcd=3735
SOLD!



Steve Rude ($150 Amazon)
http://www.dccomics.com/dcdirect/?dcd=5019
$60

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

End of Day Deadlines

Something important to consider when you start out:

Double check what "end of day" really means in terms of deadlines. Not keeping your deadline can have consequences for many people around you.

Sometimes you hear end of day and it's open in terms of the specific time, since production will show it to the client/director the next day. If you're allowed to stay late then you work until it's done. That's what I would call a soft deadline.

But there are also hard deadlines, where the cut off time could be 6pm for instance. This means everything has to be really done by the end of the day, so that production can prep the shots for a transmission with the client the next day, where shots get sent to editors, etc. There's no wiggle room, so if you don't have anything ready by 6, production won't be able to show anything and that puts them behind schedule.

There's another aspect to consider though. Let's say a supervisor asks his lead if a shot can be ready by 6pm. The lead will check with the animator on his team about that shot and the animator says he'll have it by then.
What if the animator thought that 6pm = end of day, so he/she can stay late and didn't double check about the deadline? 6pm rolls by and the shot is not ready, which is not good for the animator, but on top that it's also not good for the lead, since he assured the supe that the shot will be ready.

Be aware of the consequences if you don't keep your deadlines. It's a team effort, so be mindful of the people around you and their responsibilities.

And yes, the lead could double check as well but don't wait for other people to help you, be pro-active.

Cheers
JD

Friday, April 22, 2011

Cool reference camera - Kodak PlaySport


Product Features

* Waterproof up to 10 ft. (3 m)
* Full 1080p HD video
* Electronic image stabilization
* Brilliant 2.0 in. color display
* Capture 5 megapixel HD stills (16:9)

Catch the highlights with slow motion playback right in the palm of your hand (60fps).


This seems to be a cool all-rounder reference taking camera. Waterproof and slow-motion capability? That covers a lot of reference types. :)

But there are quite a few negative comments on Amazon. Does anybody out there have experience with this camera?

There is a 2nd Generation version out as well, slightly more expensive.

Animation Mentor Newsletter - April 2011


April newsletter is out! Featured this month:

- Animation Around the World: Animation Mentor graduates around the world talk inspiration, career, and goals.
- FMX 2011: animation mentor comes to Germany
- Apply now to animals & Creatures: Master class!
- Thomas Grummt Showcase Testimonial (super cool, watch this!)

- Tips & Tricks with Rick O'Connor: Check Your Ego at the Door (WATCH THIS!)

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Animation Insiders - CTN

Very cool, especially the ending about how projects can consume a big part of your time. So true and you need to be aware and ready for that. It's a lot of fun, but the hours can be tough.

Featuring: Andreas Deja, Tony DeRosa, Eric Goldberg, Pablo Navarro, Victor Navone



- found @ onanimation.com

Monday, April 18, 2011

Animal Fight Reference


Great site with tons of animal fighting clips in it, great reference! Head over here for it.

Friday, April 15, 2011

CTN - Animals & Creatures Animation Breakdown

Update: I think the video will get taken down for a while. Will update when I know more.
--------

Hahaha! It's so embarrassing to see you up there! :)

Was so much fun though and it's great to see what fellow friends and animators are doing.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Summer SOS and SO Animation Workshops sign-up


Not that there is a specific time for sign-ups (you can always email me for future workshops), but I just wanted to "officially" remind everybody who's interested that you can sign up for the Summer Workshops by emailing me using signup (at) spungella.com

You can join the on-site Workshops here in San Francisco. Check out the FAQ about it here. The first session starts June 16th.

You can also join the online Workshop and there's an FAQ about it here.
The first week starts June 13th.

The online one is filling up but the on-site one has plenty of space left. As always, if you have any questions, check out the FAQ or email me.
The Summer Workshops are busier than the Spring/Falls ones, with two sessions a week for an 8 week total (instead of the usual 16 weeks) for those who need a lot of work done. If you can only manage one session a week, let me know in the email.

You can see the schedule and how many spots are available here for online and here for on-site workshops.

Cheers
JD

Inchworm Animation for the Nintendo DSi



Very cool! For more information, head over to Cartoon Brew and at the official site. It's fun to animate on the DS (see this post for info on other software packages). Hope the 3DS eShop opens up soon and that you can get it there too!

Thursday, April 7, 2011