Now that I have finished watching this rather generic series, I want to point out the only episode that is a real achievement in my eyes: GoHands’ #10.
Overall, Seiken no Blacksmith suffers from the typical problems of most light novel adaptions as it neglects proper storytelling in favor of ridiculous otaku-centric plot devices, it’s simply hard to take anime with little girls in major roles seriously. The story and the behaviour of most female characters are consequently coined by otaku taste, but it admittedly had some fun bits here and there and I didn’t expect much story-wise anyway – yet I’m still disappointed to see a series of that kind from manglobe. With Michiko to Hatchin they introduced so many great characters – also one of the most mature little girls I’ve seen in anime – but that was from a different director and writer and above all – an original project.

Anyway, Episode 10 has noticeably more dynamic animation and interesting posing as well as solid layouts and some nice bits of background animation, all in all comparable to Princess Lover #1. Unsurprisingly, the three key animators of PL #1 – Shingo Suzuki, Hiroshi Okubo and Kouichi Kikuta – were also involved in Blacksmith #10 (among some other GoHands animators). Okubo and Kikuta handled most of the exciting action sequence of the second half which convinces through the power and impressiveness of Okubo’s parts (great camera motion and background animation) and Kikuta’s fancy drawings and framing. Latter has a very obvious style which reflects his past as gif animator – his drawings may be rather rough (reminscent of other gif animators like Shingo Yamashita) but his morphing of the designs into interesting shapes and offbeat proportions make the actual movement turn out very satifying. Kikuta’s approach to timing and layouting is similarly interesting, he tends to move the characters quite a lot within the given frame and often moves the backgrounds/camera to achieve a more dynamic effect (even if there’s sometimes a bit too loose connection of animation and the BG art), apparently Kikuta attracted some attention with his interesting layout style since he was entrusted with creating the layouts for Princess Lover! #2 and #8. In 2007, he created a short for the online contents site GyaO! [youtube] which provides some information about his style (and also regarding his liking of yuri…). Below some cuts which were animated by him (from Princess Lover! and Seiken no Blacksmith):

Staff list of Seiken no Blacksmith #10:

Screenplay: Masashi Suzuki
Storyboard: Masamitsu Hidaka
Episode Director: Yuuichi Sugio
Animation Director: Jun Nakai
Key Animation: Shingo Suzuki, Hiroshi Okubo, Kazuaki Imoto, Makoto Furuta, Kouichi Kikuta, Hidemi Kanazama, Yuki Terano, Takayuki Uchida, Yuuichi Sugio, Ai Ishimori

This is my animation demo reel that I did in my last year in school, it’s called Big Love, it’s about a drunk sumo’s struggle while being on a date.

I can’t recall countless sleepless nights and slaving away from morning till night on this short.

Enjoy!

I figured I’d let the actual reason for this post be the header image. It’s my first animation using Pivot, and while the program itself could be better, I found the whole experience pretty fun. (To download for yourself, Google “Pivot StickFigure Animator”) Anyway, I’ll work harder on follow up animations. I attempted to make physics, and I kept forgetting to move multiple things for each frame, so I had to keep going back and redoing it. Originally it was going to end with him trapped, but instead I gave him a seizure and he turned hero on us…crazy what stick figures can do these days !

-Nathan Wood

So tomorrow afternoon I will depart for the distant shores of Southall. Where I will pitch up my latest animated object, a large floor borne tentacled monster…

This piece is a sort of sketch in animation, using sculpture as a medium – an exploration into the movement and level of animation that can be created and played with using a few simple ingredients. It’s also a continuation from the piece exhibited in the partner exhibition to this one. Both shows have been organised by The Departure Gallery – a nomadic gallery that has no fixed place to call its own but instead occupies deserted, unoccupied and unheralded spaces – often former industrial spaces made empty through consequences of the recession.

In the first show (Trident Way) I exhibited an animation which told a dystopian tale of an unfortunate cat and dog. The screen was housed in a version of a huge old gamestation, made from navy PVC. This linked to a grey silk mountain, which in turn featured as a set in the actual animated film. In this second show (Trident Way 2) I’ve used the same grey silk and navy PVC to create a more directly sculptural piece. The fabric will be moved by a flow of air, set on a timer, and there will be a number of helium balloons that will at first make demands upon the fabric, and then later, as their buoyancy fails, will be marshalled around by the billowing movements of the fabric tentacles. I’m interested in the extent that animism and a sense of anthropomorphism can be seen in the relationships between the different objects and materials. Hopefully the spectacle will be interesting and a little bittersweet.

The private view and exhibition is open to all: Thursday 10th December, 6-9.30pm – 8 Trident Way, The International Trading Estate, Southall, UB2 5LF. Free taxi shuttles will run from Southall station during the private view. The exhibition will be open from Friday 11th – Friday 18th December, 11am-4pm daily.

Hasan eating a cookie on a bench. What?

Hasan Odom graduated from Edinboro last year, but just because he moved away doesn’t mean that he isn’t giving back to the community. Check out this rad commercial he recently finished up for Earthshine:

I’m definitely digging that smooth animation.

Hopefully Earthshine sells Ace Bandages, because I’m still gushing puss and blood from the last ten seconds of the commercial, when the female voice actor grew a weiner and raped my ears with it. Holy crap. In fact the last ten seconds of the commercial sounded a lot more like an order and a lot less like a suggestion. Please don’t hurt me, Earthshine.

That’s distracting from the point here, and the point is that Hasan Odom is one talented m-f’er.

If you live in Edinboro and own a television set, I’m sure you’re aware of his work already.

According to his site, Hasan did the characters, sets and animations in all of these videos. Nice.

Over the summer, Hasan was featured on the popular Flash showcase website Cold Hard Flash for his commercial parody “Balzer’s Automatic Banana Peeler”

Rock on, Hasan.

I can’t wait to see more of your stuff on TV.

(Thanks to our buddies at Pittsburgh art blog BitterSweetHarvest for pointing this out on their site a few days back. Check BSH out if you haven’t yet, it’ll be one of your new favorite blogs for sure.)

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Walter Elias “Walt” Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the twentieth century. As the co-founder (with his brother Roy O. Disney) of Walt Disney Productions, Disney became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. The corporation he co-founded, now known as The Walt Disney Company, today has annual revenues of approximately U.S. $35 billion.

Disney is particularly noted for being a film producer and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in animation and theme park design. He and his staff created a number of the world’s most famous fictional characters including Mickey Mouse. He received fifty-nine Academy Award nominations and won twenty-six Oscars, including a record four in one year,  giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual. He also won seven Emmy Awards. He is the namesake for Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort theme parks in the United States, Japan, France, and China.

Disney died of lung cancer on December 15, 1966, a few years prior to the opening of his Walt Disney World Resort dream project in Florida.

Trivia:

Wife Lillian Disney passed away. [16 December 1997]

Death caused by circulatory failure due to complications from lung cancer

Disney’s death spawned two rumors that became urban legends. The first is that he had his body cryogenically frozen. The second held that he was buried somewhere on the grounds of Disneyland. Both rumors are completely untrue. Disney was cremated and his ashes interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Active anti-communist

As a teenager, Walt Disney was a member of the Order of DeMolay, a youth organization affiliated with Free Masons.

Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA. Facing the Freedom Mausoleum, to your left hand side are two small private gardens. His is the one farthest back. Plaque is on the wall behind the trees (to your left standing at the gate).

Holds the record of winning the most Academy Awards with 22 wins in competitive categories. Additionally, he won three honorary Oscars and an Irving Thalberg Memorial Award.

Identified as the founder of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority in film clips shown in the queue area of Rocket Rods (formerly, the CircleVision 360 Theater) at Disneyland

Became interested in personalizing animals’ characters after carelessly killing a small owl as a young boy. He felt deeply remorseful and guilty and vowed never again to kill a living creature.

Father of Diane Disney (born December 18, 1933).

Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2000 for the multiplane camera.

Worked as a paperboy as a youth.

Briefly worked for Walter Lantz as an animator.

In the animated short Mickey’s Rival (1936), a character named Mortimer Mouse was modeled after him.

Chose Anaheim, California for the location of Disneyland after demographics experts convinced him it would become a major population center within 10 years. They were right.

His death was not publicly announced until after his funeral, which was attended only by close family members.

Reportedly, his famous trademark signature was designed for him by one of his animators.

Was a frequent target of satire by animator Jay Ward.

Reports surfaced that shortly after his death, Disney Company executive board members were shown a short film that Disney had made before his death, where he addressed the board members by name, telling each of them what was expected of them. The film ended with Disney saying, “I’ll be seeing you.”

Mickey Mouse’s birthday is November 18, 1928, the date when Steamboat Willie (1928) was released.

Donald Duck’s birthday is June 9, 1934, the date when The Wise Little Hen (1934) was released.

The name Donald Duck is frequently written in on voting ballots in Scandanavian countries as a protest vote.

Inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians in 1993.

Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, an Army draft notice, addressed to Mr. Donald Duck, was delivered to the Disney studios.

Tribute in the Memory of Film section at the Flanders International Film Festival in Ghent, Belgium. [2001]

The Disney family came from Kilkenny, Ireland. The D’Isney family settled in County Kilkenny to escape religious persecution and later traveled to America.

Daughter Sharon Disney was adopted.

Grandfather of Christopher Disney Miller, Joanna Miller, Tamara Scheer, Jennifer Miller-Goff, Walter Elias Disney Miller, Ronald Miller, Victoria Brown.

Brother of Herbert Disney, Raymond Disney, Roy O. Disney and Ruth Disney.

Son of Elias Disney and Flora Disney.

Was dyslexic.

After adapting Ludwig van Beethoven’s 6th Symphony for the soundtrack of Fantasia (1940), he exclaimed, “My God, this Beethoven will go a long way!”

Pictured on a 6¢ US commemorative postage stamp issued in his honor, 11 September 1968.

In 1981, Walt Disney Productions (now The Walt Disney Company) purchased the rights to the Disney name from Retlaw Enterprises, the Disney family’s company. Retlaw is Walter spelled backwards.

His grandfather lived in Ontario, Canada. From there he moved to the United States.

Was a major contributor to the success of the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, primarily via his creative use of audio-animatronics (lifelike, internally animated figures). Among other things, he designed the Carousel of Progress for the General Electric exhibit, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln for the State of Illinois exhibit, and, most enduringly, It’s a Small World for Pepsi Cola. One of the most popular attractions at the Fair, featuring animated figures of children from all over the world, the latter has since successfully established itself as a perennial crowd-pleaser at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. All three exhibits were transformed into attractions at Disneyland. Only the Carousel of Progress is not still open. It was closed to be turned into America Sings in Tomorrowland.

It is Hollywood legend that, lying on his deathbed at St. Jospeh’s Hospital in Burbank (across the street from the Disney Studios) his last words were about how shabby the studio’s water tower looked. Visible from a nearby freeway, towering above the backlot, it is adorned with the image of his most beloved creation, Mickey Mouse. In adherance with what they believed were their founder’s last wishes, studio executives have made sure the water tower was regularly repainted since he died in 1966.

He was a chain smoker. He avoided smoking when he was in public view, especially where he might be seen by children. His smokers’ cough often heralded his arrival in a particular wing of the studio, allowing off-task employees time to get on task.

In his autobiography, one-time Disney storyboard artist Bill Peet essentially described Walt Disney as a chain-smoking “work-a-holic” who was prone to strong mood swings.

He often called composer Robert B. Sherman into his office to play the piano for him. His favorite song was Feed the Birds from Mary Poppins (1964).

He got his idea and inspiration for Disneyland, when he visited the “Tivoli”-park in Denmark.

Was initiated into DeMolay at the Mother Chapter in Kansas City Missouri, in 1920.

Received the DeMolay Legion of Honor in 1931.

On November 13, 1986, he was a member of the first group to be inducted into the DeMolay Hall of Fame.

His father, Elias Disney, was a professional carpenter by trade who, among other things, worked on the construction of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, the prototype for all World’s Fairs to follow. When Walt and his brother Roy O. Disney were boys, their father would tell them of the many wonders of the Fair, such as the first ferris wheel, thus inspiring the dreams that would make them both successful as adults.

Was awarded an honorary Oscar “For the creation of Mickey Mouse” by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences at the fifth Awards ceremony held on November 10, 1932, at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. It was only the second honorary Oscar yet awarded by the Academy. The recipient of the first honorary Oscar, Charles Chaplin, was supposed to present the award to Disney, but he stayed home that night.

He also founded the motion picture distribution company Buena Vista Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of his empire. His empire now includes Hollywood Pictures Company and its specialty films unit; Caravan Pictures; Touchstone Pictures; Miramax Films Corporation and its specialty films unit, Dimension Films; American Broadcasting Company (ABC), ABC Family Channel, and ESPN.

According to former Disney animators, the whispered code that Walt Disney was nearby was “Man is in the forest,” a sly reference to the film Bambi (1942).

Profiled in in J.A. Aberdeen’s “Hollywood Renegades: The Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers.”.

Although he has been called politically conservative, actually voted mainly for Democrats until the 1940 presidential election. This was a main reason why he was asked by HUAC to testify, and was always particularly anti-communist, because his worst nightmare was being called one.

In 1964, Disney was one of several Americans chosen by President Lyndon Johnson to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. The award ceremony was held at the White House on 14 September 1964. The urban myth that Disney wore a “Vote for Goldwater” button during the ceremony to endorse Johnson’s opponent in the upcoming election, Republican Barry Goldwater, is completely false and has been debunked many times.

He was one of the founding members of the right-wing Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals in February 1944, along with Robert Taylor, Adolphe Menjou, Sam Wood, Norman Taurog, Gary Cooper, Clarence Brown and Clark Gable.

Wanted to name Mickey Mouse “Mortimer Mouse” when he drew him. He showed the picture to his wife and his wife did not like the idea and told him to name him “Mickey Mouse”. Some historians believe that Mickey’s name was inspired from a toy mouse by Performo Toy Company named “Micky” (spelled without an “e”), which was extremely popular and had already been selling at the time when Disney was developing his Mickey Mouse.

Was first nominated for an Oscar (as producer) in 1932, the year he also got the honorary award for creating Mickey Mouse. From that year until 1965 (the year before his death), Disney received one or more Academy Award nominations every year except 1933 and 1941.

Supported Ronald Reagan’s run for governor of California in 1966.

The last animated movie he ever put his personal touch on was The Jungle Book (1967).

Disney had been in bad health for a few months, before he finally entered St. Joseph Hospital in Burbank, California, on 2 November 1966, complaining of pain in his neck and back. An X-ray revealed a tumor on his left lung and surgery was advised. Disney, however checked out to finish some studio business and re-entered the hospital on 6 November. Surgery was performed the next day and his left lung was found to be entirely cancerous and was removed.

He refused to allow Alfred Hitchcock to film at Disneyland in the early 1960s, because Hitchcock had made “that disgusting movie Psycho (1960).”.

Served in a Red Cross unit with Ray Kroc, future founder of the McDonald’s fast food chain.

Disney is credited as Retlaw Yensid for Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. (1966)’s original story. The pseudonym is Walter Disney reversed. The Disney family’s company was named Retlaw Enterprises, Disney’s first full name reversed.

Theme parks Disneyland and Disneyworld are respectively located in Orange County (Anaheim, California) and Orange County (Orlando, Florida).

Disney’s record-breaking streaks of consecutive Oscar wins include: 1934-1940 (7) and 1951-1956 (6).

Has a record of 59 Oscar-nominations.

Walt’s ancestors were named d’Isigny, and came from Isigny-sur-Mer in Normandy, France. In 1066, two soldiers, Hughes d’Isigny and his son Robert, fought with William the Conqueror during the conquest of England. After the conquest, Hughes d’Isigny and his son decided to stay in England. Their name was, over the generations, transformed into “Disney”. In the XVII century, a branch of the Disney family emigrated to Ireland. In 1834, Arundel Elias Disney and his brother Robert emigrated from Kilkenny County, Ireland, to Northern America with their families. They left Liverpool and arrived to New York on October 3rd. Once in America, the two brothers parted. Robert established himself in a farm in the Midwest, whereas Arundel decided to reach Goderich Township, Ontario, a few steps from Canada.

Became friends with Charles Chaplin during their respective days at United Arists in the 1930s; Disney credited Chaplin for helping him correctly pace his feature films.

Personally disliked Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953) because of the lack of “heart” and “warmth” in their main characters. Was very sad about the unfavorable reception of Fantasia (1940) as he was proud of the film. Ironically, the first re-issue of Fantasia (1940) after his death was the first time it turned a profit.

Among his favorite desserts were lemon meringue pie and chocolate ice cream soda.

Survived the 1918 flu.

Although he wore a mustache all his life, he forbade his employees to wear them, not wanting to compromise on the “clean-cut image” that the Disney company had.

Before his 35th birthday, his brother Roy encouraged employees to throw the boss a surprise party. Two of the animators thought it would be hilarious to make a short movie of Mickey and Minnie Mouse “consummating their relationship.” When Disney saw the animation at the party, he feigned laughter and playfully asked who made the film. As soon as the two animators came forward, he fired them on the spot and left.

The day that he opened Disneyland in Anaheim, a plumber’s strike broke out and water pressure was restricted to avoid plumbing problems. Disney had to choose between either water fountains or toilets, there wasn’t enough water for both. He chose toilets, causing one reporter to half-jokingly quip, “Walt’s trying to force us to buy Coca-Cola.”.

Kinpachi-sensei Intro (2004)
This nice sequence serves as the intro for the 2004 PS2 game with the extra-long title “San nen B-gumi Kinpachi-sensei densetsu no kyoudan ni tate!”, which was produced by Chunsoft who got recently some attention for their visual novel “428: Fūsa Sareta Shibuya de” and its anime spin-off “Canaan”. I especially like the calm mood of this opening sequence which was realized with a good sense for depicting everyday (school) life in a believable way, something I would like to see more often in anime. It abandons the typical anime depiction of school life by choosing a more realistic and mature approach that makes it feel similar to Ghibli works, it even has some funny scenes which establish some kind of light-hearted mood. The “Ghibli feel” is of course not a coincidence as many of the artists responsible for the Kinpachi-sensei OP worked on Ghibli works and also on “World Masterpiece Theater” series, ranging from the character designer and layout designer Satoko Morikawa (who did the same work on “The Cat Returns”) to Ei Inoue and Kazutaka Ozaki (who were animation directors of said Ghibli movie) to other talented artists like Telecom animator Hiroyuki Aoyama (animation director of Tokikake and Summer Wars). The opening is consequently full of refined character animation and different from most other game openings, they even animated it at 30 frames per second instead of the usual 24 frames what leads to a distinctive and even more realistic feel.

Character Design / Layout: Satoko Morikawa
Chief Animation Director / Character Key Animation: Ei Inoue
Animation Director / Key Animation: Kazutaka Ozaki
Director: Koujirou Tsuruoka
Storyboard / Key Animation: Hiroyuki Aoyama, Naoki Arakawa, Masahiro Kurio, Jun Uemura, Akiko Yamaguchi
Animation Check / Key Animation: Yasuko Miyazaki
Key Animation: Atsushi Sekiguchi, Takayo Nishimura, Miwa Sasaki, Katsu Oushiro, Yumi Chiba

Magical Girl Pretty Sammy Music Clip (1998)
This one is an animated bonus music clip from the Sega Saturn game “Magical Girl Pretty Sammy”, directed by no one less than Kou Yoshinari. As usual, his focus on unique aesthetics, nuanced movements and coherent drawings make the characters feel much more tangible than in your average anime. Besides himself, there were also some other famous animators working on this (like his brother You Yoshinari and Hiroshi Okubo), and accordingly, the clip is 110 seconds of great animation and a real joy to watch for any animation fan.

Storyboard / Director / Animation Director / Key Animation: Kou Yoshinari
Key Animation: Hiroshi Okubo, Kazuyoshi Yaginuma, You Yoshinari, Hiroyuki Uchida

On this occasion, I want to highlight a great opening with Kou and You Yoshinari’s participation (though it isn’t a game intro), namely the opening of the OVA “Super Mobile Legend Dinagiga“, which is pretty similar to above clip as Kou Yoshinari created the storyboard for this one too and it was produced in the same year (1998). Unsurprisingly, the animation is no less spectacular since the line-up of animators is just as impressive with work by Norio Matsumoto, Hirofumi Suzuki, Hiroshi Okubo and others. Here are some comparison pictures:

Director: Noburo Shirohata
Storyboard: Kou Yoshinari
Animation Director: Hiroko Kazui
Key Animation: Hironori Yamamoto, Yasuhiro Okuda, Makoto Yamada, Shinya Ojiri, Shigeki Sunada, Norio Matsumoto, Hirofumi Suzuki, Nobutake Itou, You Yoshinari, Hiroshi Okubo, Manabu Ono

Sentimental Graffiti Opening (1998)
NEC Interchannel’s game “Sentimental Graffiti” is a popular dating simulation game and the opening video is correspondingly full of high school girls, but that doesn’t mean that it’s cookie-cutter stuff like most other visual novel openings out there. This one has actually good character animation and is presented in a more interesting way with the girls floating across the screen and doing cute movements, all in all much more entertaining to watch than the usual still character images, apart from that it’s hard to find properly rendered “bishoujo” designs. Kou Matsuo (director of Kure-nai, Rozen Maiden, Red Garden, etc.) directed this opening with Hiroyuki Horiuchi supervising the animators, so it comes as no real surprise that the result is decent.

Director: Kou Matsuo
Animation Director: Hiroyuki Horiuchi
Key Animation: Kazunobu Hoshi, Shinji Satou, Fanatic Gotou, Masakazu Saitou, Masayuki Kobayashi, Hiroyuki Horiuchi

Dancing Blade II Opening (1999)
Like its prequel, Dancing Blade II is an interactive animation game by Konami and animated by Kyoto Animation. The gameplay itself is pretty much the same as in most other visual novels, meaning that the “player” can influence the story’s progress at multiple-choice decision points. The main difference to usual visual novel games is that Dancing Blade isn’t just still pictures but actually animated. There’s some very good animation here and there, most notably Yoshiji Kigami’s (Kyoani’s “ace” animator”) parts stand out. Kyoani’s staff hasn’t changed much since then, Tatsuya Ishihara (Kanon 2006, Clannad, Air, etc.) supervised the project and Kazumi Ikeda, Yasuhiro Takemoto and Atsuko Ishida designed the characters. The animation and (art) direction is remiscent of Kyoani’s respectively Ishihara’s latter works, the fuller animation, clear visuals and layouts feel very Kyoani-ish.

I have to thank my older sister Leth for drawing my attention to the video that I am featuring this week.  It is an animated short film called “The Piano” by animator Aidan Gibson.

I really love this.  It got me to ask the question, how do you quantify a life?  How do you convey it’s depth and meaning?

In this case, all one needs is a man playing a piano.

This animated short film speaks  in volumes for itself.

I present to you .  .  .  The Piano.

-g

Whew. I can relax.

For the past 2-3 months, I’ve been working on my first real Objective-C project (my iphone app is still going, it just took a back seat to this): An application that will read tcpdump output and animate the packets over time using their inherent byte / packet structure

And now…it’s up and in beta-ish quality. (Meaning it works, though some error checking and minor features arent quite where I want them.)

You can download it here for free: http://sintixerr.wordpress.com/pkviz-packet-visualizer-and-animator/

See it in motion here:

This project was important to me and has been a long time coming. I’ve wanted to write a packet visualizer since I first started working with data viz 5 or so years ago at NetSec and was using Advizor. That tool cost thousands of dollars per seat, didnt really animate (at least the way I needed), and only parsed CSV or databases. The free tools – like GnuPlot, just weren’t up to the task at all.

I also wanted something that could plot out data in interesting, pretty ways for some art projects I have in mind.

So, I originally started this time around on a quest to write a short python parser for tcpdump ascii hex output to put into <some generic viz tool> just to get started…but somehow I ended up writing a full-fledged visualizer (my first GUI project ever, I might add!). The learning process was a blast – I feel like I’m a much better coder for it – and I’ll be able to extend/expand on this to use for other art and security projects that are on my plate or are coming up.

I’m pretty excited about it. To see this finished through after years of whining to myself about it, procrastinating, and genuinely not having enough time, is pretty awesome. I’ve even already created a couple of cool shots that I’m happy to call “art” (granted, there is some photoshop processing here, but they’re both true to their originals!):

Anyway, Mac Users, check out the tool and let me know what you think!

Esses dois vídeos feitos por Alan Becker mostram a luta de criador e criatura.
Muito criativa e bem feita as duas animações mostram a revolta das “crias” perante o criador representado nos dois casos pelo movimento do mouse e a seleção de ferramentas e aplicativos.

Animator vs. Animation
Vídeo removido para incorporação. Veja no YouTube aqui

Animator vs. Animation 2

Experimenting with Maya Dynamics. The speed seem little fast, but getting the idea how it works.

This was my first real attempt at animating and animating well. Which means, I actually took it seriously. It was also the first time I just let myself have fun. Maybe I don’t suck at this animating thing as much as I thought. There is something here worth exploring. Some parts needed refining, but still, it gave me hope. So, please check it out. CLICK IMAGE BELOW TO VIEW QUICKTIME MOVIE

Last week I had the chance to watch Evangelion 2.0 at the Asia Filmfest 2009 in Munich, and it was even better than I anticipated based on the high-class staff credited for this movie. It reminded me of the huge possibilites the medium offers and managed to impress me like very few other animated movies before. Eva 2.0 marks a great comeback of the famed franchise which changed anime once and for all, and this new incarnation carries its legacy over to a new generation of viewers. This is as close as anime gets to perfection and undoubtedly among the best animated movies ever produced, anime has rarely been that visually accomplished and cinematically perfected, so to speak imposing evidence for Hideaki Anno’s talent. Here he really shows what the art form is capable of achieving in the hands of talented artists who he gathered from all over the industry to work on the Rebuild of Evangelion series. After watching this movie, I have no doubt that he goes into the right direction to carry out his ambitious goals of ‘connecting anime to the future’, like he called it in his statement from nearly three years ago.

Despite being basically a remake of the TV series or more precisely a retelling of episodes 7 to 19, you really can’t tell because the structure and pacing have been perfectly adapted to this format with very little time that isn’t purposefully used. Also, there are some profound changes which will surprise many long-term fans – and I don’t only mean the new character Mari Illustrious and EVA models with that. Especially towards the end Eva 2.0 presents some unforeseeable suprises which give the movie a more original taste and leave you clueless about the progress of the story in the upcoming sequels, so it’s in no way a simple remake like Eva 1.0.

As for the characters, there have been some changes compared to the original series with some interesting new interactions and moments, particularly Asuka and Rei are depicted in a more authentic fashion which really adds to their overall credibility. Both have some slightly different personalities what makes them even more interesting, and both play quite a large role in this movie (of course?). In contrast to Eva 1.0, where the absence of Asuka lead to a somewhat uneven balance of the characters since a more active counterweight with strong presence was missing, Eva 2.0 really shines in this regard with a perfectly balanced cast and character interplay like rarely seen before in anime – be it comedy or dramatic scenes. Anno’s writing is absolutely brillant in the way he expresses the characters’ personalities and adds subtle messages. I really like how the light-hearted scenes are written and directed, they certainly show Kazuya Tsurumaki’s (FLCL) influence with cunning ideas as well as funny and exaggerated animation and faces. Several calmer scenes between the relatively frequent and stunning action sequences lead to a successful compensation and let the audience catch a breath, ranging from beautiful impressions of Neo Tokyo 3 to a look into the characters’ everyday life. Such new insights into the Eva world add additional substance and authenticity to it and make you feel that there’s more to it than just giant mecha and cute girls.

As for the technical side of Eva 2.0, it really reflects the absolutely awesome line-up of artists working for Studio Khara. Beginning with Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki and Masayuki, whose directing is on a level hardly ever seen in Japanese animation, with powerful visuals and measured scene compositions leaving no space for declining excitement. I don’t know if they handled the layout process themselves like they did with Eva 1.0 (where the three directors supervised the layouts), but it certainly looks that way as the shots and perspectives are that intriguing. This time many famous directors created the storyboard, including Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki, Masayuki, Shinji Higuchi, Junichi Sato (Aria, Princess Tutu, Kaleido Star, etc.), Masaki Tachibana (Tokyo Magnitude 8.0), Soichi Masui (Scrapped Princess) and Sayo Yamamoto (Michiko to Hatchin), who did great work in setting the basic mood without anything feeling out of place. Noteworthy are also the two art directors Hiroshi Kato and Tatsuya Kushida who did an amazing job in creating the beautiful art and scenery of the movie. Together with the large line-up of skilled designers (Anno, Tsurumaki, Mahiro Maeda, Takeshi Honda, Atsushi Okuda, Shunji Suzuki, Shoichi Masuo and Hidenori Matsubara among others, what shows how deeply involved the directors were in the project) they gave the Eva world profound and substantial aesthetics that make the movie a real work of art.

The animation itself is nothing less than spectacular and sometimes even beyond imagination, the animation directors paid high attention to create lots of exciting and believable movement, be it for the action sequences or the calmer scenes. The character acting is overall very convincing though not quite on the level of Ghibli or Satoshi Kon’s movies, sometimes I felt that they consciously took a shortcut to save some troubles. But then again, in some scenes I was amazed at how sensitively the animation expressed the characters’ nature, be it the lively body language of Mari, the prideful and dominant presence of Asuka or the felicitous depiction of Rei’s reserved personality.
It’s hard to describe the epic battle scenes with words as they were realized with a care for details, realism and complexity not often seen before in anime (with Asuka vs. the MP Angels in End of Evangelion being pretty much the only comparable sequence), a truly unique cinematic experience with some shots that have never been attempted that way since they can’t be created in the usual boundaries of TV animation. You can clearly see Anno’s influence in the battle scenes as nobody can match him in depicting action on a grand scale, that and Masayuki’s fine sense for spectacularly choreographed and fast-paced action leads to a stunning and powerful mix that draws the viewers into the battles.

Chief animation director is once again Shunji Suzuki with Hidenori Matsubara, Atsushi Okuda and Takeshi Honda (mechanical animation director), who supervised the animation of the incredible line-up of key animators, ranging from Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki and Masayuki themselves to other veterans like Mahiro Maeda, Shoichi Masuo and You Yoshinari to Tetsuya Nishio, Tadashi Hiramatsu, Hiroyuki Imaishi, Akemi Hayashi, Sushio and the animation directors. Shoichi Masuo, famous for great effect animation, is correspondingly also the special effects director and did an incredible job as the explosions and such were among the best I’ve ever seen in animation, I suspect he did key animation on the final scene as it reminded me of a certain scene in Nadia #21 and it clearly showed his work style of using many different layers. There were also some incredibly detailed explosions which looked Anno-ish to me (purple). Near the end I also felt some Gurren Lagann vibes and think that Hiroyuki Imaishi (GL’s director) might be the reason, but otherwise it’s not easy to identify any individual styles as the directors assumedly intervened with the layouting and the animation directors created a strong uniformity (with some minor exceptions). So I have to wait for the key animation book to get to know who did which outstanding scene…

CG and computer effects are used even more extensively than in the first movie but are well integrated for the most part, only sometimes I felt that they are misplaced (like some scenes with CG background people). But remarkable are particularly the digital coloring and processing that really add a great deal to the visual perfection and overall impact of Eva 2.0.

The soundtrack by Shiro Sagisu (who also composed the music of the original series) offers a wide variety of music, from epic orchestra pieces for the battles to cheery songs for light-hearted scenes, and it’s overall one of the best scores I’ve ever come across in anime – with “Tsubasa wo Kudasai” getting a special mention, a worthy successor of “Komm, süsser Tod” in my book. There might be people who don’t like the way certain pieces are used in the movie, but I feel that these choices by the directors are more than justified, and it’s Anno after all.

I usually don’t care much for the voice actors in Japanese animation as they are generally good, but Eva 2.0 has just so many outstanding vocal performances that I have to mention them. These performances truly enrich the experience for the audience and in combination with the great animation it’s absolutely amazing how the characters come to life on the screen. It’s hard to highlight any particular voice actors since all did a superb job in expressing and capturing their respective character’s nature, but Megumi Ogata’s acting as Shinji is once more incredible.

Concluding I have to say that Evangelion 2.0 is an extremely enjoyable movie and recommendable for everyone, it’s a shining example of how far Japanese animation has advanced and what Japanese animation artists are capable of. Not many anime movies have reached this level, and it’s once more Hideaki Anno’s vision that shows us the possibilities of the medium, like he did with the original series 14 years ago. I really look forward to the Blu-ray release and the two sequels which will introduce us to a completely new storyline, even though the final scene of Eva 2.0 makes the waiting hardly bearable…

Hail Animator hail (see what I did there?) from Leeds, and this is their debut EP. Pop/Rock can get a bit stale sometimes, and it’s clear that these guys are trying to keep things simple, by writing well written, epic-sounding songs. Massive synth lead lines play over lead singer Richard’s Leeds infused accent, whilst solid drumming holds it all together.

Studying music at University we are trained to analyse songs to the point of almost losing the reason or meaning you started the thing in the first place. Even if I don’t want to, I’ll notice tiny details in songs, and some of the vocal notes in the opening track Simple Yet Wise really started to grate on me, as they just sounded out of key to me. Maybe it’s been done for effect? Catchy guitar riffs and creative drum work makes up for it once the song gets going, and there are some great vocal harmonies in the chorus.

Working is the one I would call a the ’single’ track, as it has all the elements of any great pop song. Low key verses with thoughful vocals go crashing into epic choruses seamlessly, all supported by a piano tinkling away in the background. The List has some great riffs in it as well, even bringing some cross rhythms into the mix. How Are You? is a heart-filled slower number, with great melodic shifts and starting soft but ending with a bang.

Overall this is a great EP, and has some really well written pop/rock tracks. Creative guitar work and simple sing-a-long melody lines are all at play here, so keep an ear out for these guys.

Mijn eerste Leuvense Grabbelpas is een feit! Deze herfstvakantie mocht ik voor de eerste keer de Grabbelpas van Leuven in goede banen leiden. Vol spanning stond ik hier op maandagmorgen om 7u45 voor de deur. Gelukkig had ik met de meeste animatoren zaterdag al kunnen kennismaken, maar toch … wat was ik blij toen iedereen gearriveerd was.

Toen de kinderen binnensijpelden, verdwenen ook mijn zenuwen beetje bij beetje. Om 9u30 kon iedereen starten. De kleuters en de 6-8- jarigen trokken met Kreakatau naar hun lokalen om er te knutselen, te yogaën en te dansen. De ober van het kapot restaurant stormde vervolgens vol paniek naar buiten … het hele restaurant lag aan diggelen … maar geen probleem: met de 10-12-jarigen, was de redding nabij! Op amper 5 minuten ruimen ze de smeerboel op en ik mocht mijn eerste échte Grabbelpasrol spelen: 100 euro uitreiken aan de harde werkers.  Ze hebben het dubbel en dik verdiend! 

De rest van de dag verliep vlotjes. Tot het einde naderde… de groepen liepen door elkaar binnen en buiten, andere kinderen knutselden rustig verder en ondertussen waren een hoop mama’s en papa’s op zoek naar zoon- en/of dochterlief. Volgende keer toch maar beter iedereen in z’n lokaal houden, zodat het zoekwerk van mama en papa beperkt blijft en mijn hart niet elke keer een tel overslaat … Eind goed, al goed: alle kinderen veilig en wel naar huis!

De volgende 3 dagen verlopen verder zonder grote problemen en ik vertrek elke avond met een glimlach en een gerust hart naar huis. Bij deze ook een welgemeende ‘merci’ aan alle herfstanimatoren, ze hebben schitterend werk geleverd. Het waren dan ook echte bijoukes!  Hopelijk zijn ze volgende vakantie weer van de partij.

Ik hoop ook dat al onze kinderen genoten hebben van een prachtige herfstvakantie en nu al uitkijken naar de volgende Grabbelpasvakantie.

Tot dan! Veel speelse groeten van de nieuwe… 

Evy Verspreet

Mary and Max | Adam Elliot, 2009

Stop motion animation is one of those long-standing facets of film history that, thanks to a handful of important people, will never be lost to the winds of change. The concept itself seems utterly oblivious to the march of technology and computer-generated graphics, seeming only to benefit from these advancements rather than finding itself buried beneath them. Of course, without the likes of Henry Selick, Nick Park, Tim Burton, and all of those who precede them, things could be very different. As it is, we have these artists to thank for inspiring the likes of Adam Elliot – an Australian animator whose work with clay on the 2003 short film Harvey Krumpet won him and Academy Award and who returns here with his first full-length claymation feature, Mary and Max. Thanks largely to the international exploits of messrs Burton and Park, not to mention a relatively successful festival run and the involvement of two big names in Philip Seymour Hoffman and Toni Collette, Elliot’s new film is now poised to take on America. Critics around the world already appear fond of the film, and at this point it seems increasingly likely that we will see it lining up alongside the likes of Up and perhaps Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo in the Kodak Theatre when award season finally arrives – three different breeds of animation, if you will. Mary and Max follows the lives of two people: a young Australian girl whose eccentric parents and odd appearance make her the subject of school bullying, and an obese, jewish New Yorker who enjoys collecting cigarette butts from the city streets and devouring chocolate hot dogs. Both have one thing in common – a lack of friends.

Rather than tell a story in the traditional sense or “weave a fable” as films of this kind normally do, Mary and Max merely gives an account of these two rather unimportant lives. This is done through Barry Humpries (also known as Dame Edna) who provides the brilliant narration here and whose reflective, classic British/American tone lends the film much of its charm. As for the aesthetic, Mary and Max certainly doesn’t break the mould when it comes to creating a new and exciting world using the stop motion technique in the way Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas did. In fact, with its oddly misshapen gothic look and exaggerated way of capturing realism, Elliot’s film owes quite a bit to this earlier work. Other than existing as an ode to the importance of friends, Mary and Max isn’t particularly concerned with teaching us anything at all, or indeed offering a traditional narrative that involves innocence, discovery, wonder; the alternate realities found in the likes of The Nightmare Before Christmas or Henry Selick’s Coraline. The story itself, that of two people who find solace in each other’s long-distance companionship, is wonderfully written, particularly the parts involving letters sent from Mary to Max and visa versa: every word carries weight. Part of the reason for this is the voice work  behind the film. Toni Collette and Eric Bana do well enough with their handful of lines but, as usual, it is Philip Seymour Hoffman who shines: his portrayal of Max is particularly excellent – despite a New York drawl that at times seems a little forced – so that by the end of the movie his voice and Elliot’s character are very much one and the same.

Our Rating:

Maandagmorgen in alle vroegte. De chef van restaurant Het Lopend Vuur opent de deuren van haar prachtige pand en schrikt zich een ongeluk. Vandalen zijn binnengedrongen en hebben heel het restaurant op z’n kop gezet. Alles ligt overhoop en alles is kapot!

Gelukkig zijn er twintig Grabbelpassers naast de deur, bij jeugdcentrum Vleugel F. En die willen gerust de handen uit de mouwen steken om een kapot restaurant weer heel te maken. Elise: ” We hebben eerst de rommel opgeruimd. Allemaal samen was dat zo gebeurd. En dan hebben we 2 groepen gemaakt: één om de inrichting van het restaurant weer in orde te zetten, en één om het menu op te stellen.”

Het menu ziet er goed uit: cocktails met mini-pizza vooraf, koninginnehapje met puree als hoofdgerecht en petit beurretaart als dessert. Chef Maya geeft het recept: “Je moet in laagjes werken: koekjes in chocomelk dopen, dan een laagje chocoladesaus, weer een laag koekjes, enzoverder. En dan bovenaan een laag chocoladepudding en afwerken met smarties.” Amai. dat ziet er goed uit, maar misschien niet zo goed voor de lijn …

De koks weten wat ze doen, dat is duidelijk. Carol denkt dat de meisjes het beste bezig zijn “want thuis doen de vrouwen toch ook meestal het huishouden en het koken …” Jethro ziet het anders: “De meeste chefkoks in restaurants zijn mannen, dat zegt toch ook al veel.” Maar Kyelan bemiddelt: “We doen het allebei even goed. Het zal lekker zijn.”

En dat was het ook. ’s Avonds kwamen de ouders eten in het het spiksplinternieuw opgeknapte restaurant. De vrolijke placemats maakten indruk, net als de schwung waarmee onze obers de cocktails opdienden. Het driegangenmenu ging dan ook héél vlot binnen. Complimenten aan de chefs.

Talked to two developers.

One works for company that created Philips Sex Talk, a site which monitors and displays tweets describing sex.
Suggests ajax over actionscript as will be more documented.
Pointed towards investigating “J-Query”

Some confusion over CRONS:
[I will require a server than can run CRON jobs; a script that runs every X minutes. CRONs - an automated background setting e.g. used for Twitter to Facebook auto updates. CRONs have a maximum update setting e.g, every 2 minutes.]
Will not be required as will be using real-time updates.

Talked to animator about rotoscoping.
Industry standard animation frame is 16:9, 720×1280 pixels.
For rotoscoping suggests 15 fps (frames per second) instead of regular video 25.
Get a tablet for any rotoscoping or else will go mad.
Suggests a Wacom Bamboo. minimum size of 6×4inches.