Category: General (Page 2 of 3)

Toon Boom Animation have launched Toon Boom Pencil Check Pro, which, according to them, is the most flexible line testing software available in the industry. Pencil Check Pro offers a wide array of capture options, an efficient line testing process and an advanced feature set.

Pencil Check Pro supports a full range of devices from scanners to DV/HDV cameras, webcams and digital cameras. Pencil Check Pro performs all capture operations from a unique interface and has a real-time preview for devices equipped with live video stream.

Sketch key poses directly in the software, playback instantly and use the audio track capabilities while filling the exposure sheet. Draw the in-betweens, clean the animation and prepare your work for inking and painting. Finally, add camera motion to deliver a complete line test of your animation.

Easily control the color and opacity of Xsheet columns for accurate preview. Enjoy the digital exposure sheet and use its annotation columns to add comments and sketches.

Pencil Check Pro is available online and retails at $399.99. Educational pricing is also offered: $299.99 for a single license, and $2,499.99 for a 10-unit lab-pack. For more information, please visit www.toonboom.com/products/pencilcheckpro/

A new animation magazine, GoMotion, will be launching in July and it covers everything you need to know about the world of 3D animation, from tutorials to interviews with industry insiders. You can preview the premier issue here.

Definitely seems promising. We’ll give you our impressions of the magazine once we get ourselves a copy.

Ollie Johnston, the last surviving animator of Disney’s famed Nine Old Men, passed away on April 14, 2008. Johnston worked for Disney from 1935 to 1978 as an animator on such classics as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Bambi and Pinocchio.

He was named a Disney Legend in 1989, and in 2005, Johnston was one of the recipients of the National Medal of Arts.

Roy E. Disney said, “Ollie was part of an amazing generation of artists, one of the real pioneers of our art, one of the major participants in the blossoming of animation into the art form we know today. One of Ollie’s strongest beliefs was that his characters should think first, then act, and they all did. He brought warmth and wit and sly humor and a wonderful gentleness to every character he animated. He brought all those same qualities to his life, and to all of our lives who knew him. We will miss him greatly, but we were all enormously enriched by him.”

John Lasseter, chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and a longtime friend to Johnston, added, “Ollie had such a huge heart and it came through in all of his animation, which is why his work is some of the best ever done. Ollie was a great teacher and mentor to all of us. His door at the studio was always open to young animators, and I can’t imagine what animation would be like today without him passing on all of the knowledge and principles that the Nine Old Men and Walt Disney developed. He taught me to always be aware of what a character is thinking, and we continue to make sure that every character we create at Pixar and Disney has a thought process and emotion that makes them come alive.”

Via AWN

The Writers Guild of America, West’s Animation Writers Caucus has awarded its 10th annual Animation Writing Award for lifetime achievement to acclaimed Pixar writer-director Brad Bird, whose filmography includes The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille.

At age 11, Bird started his first animated film — and finished it nearly three years later. The film brought him to the attention of Walt Disney Studios, where, at age 14, Milt Kahl, one of Disney’s Nine Old Men, mentored him.

Bird’s animated television credits include serving as executive consultant on The Simpsons and King of the Hill.

Via AWN