Category: General (Page 3 of 3)

CVBT reports that Pixar has donated computer software programs valued at $150,000 to California State University, Fresno.

Students in Fresno State animation, interior design and video courses will see a dramatic decrease in the amount of time it takes to create videos and film by using the software.

The new software – Renderman Pro Server 13.5.3 and Renderman Studio 1.01 – will allow students to complete a film image in less than an hour, the university says.

“Pixar’s RenderMan product is by all accounts a strong industry standard used by many – if not most – of the largest studios in the world,” says David Gaines, the Fresno State information technology consultant/manager who secured the gift.

“The support they were willing to offer was beyond anything I could have hoped for,” he says. “The opportunities this opens to students are phenomenal. They now have at their disposal a professional industry standard suite of applications. That is going to give them a great advantage in the job market.”

I’m sad to report that Justin Wright, who had been with Pixar for just more than a year in the story department, has passed away at the young age of 27 from a heart attack.

Justin Wright was a survivor, undergoing a heart transplant at age 12. He loved his job and was a humble man. On his blog, he wrote: “People might get mad at me if they knew how good we have it here. Massages, a gym — all that is true.”

Justin’s credits at Pixar include the 2D line drawings shown during the credits of Ratatouille. He was currently working on a new short that will be released with WALL-E this year.

While I didn’t know Justin Wright personally, I feel like I did. Being, somewhat, a part of the animation industry myself (writing this blog) it really hurt to learn of his passing, especially since he was so young. My condolences go out to his family. May he Rest in Peace.

In his honor, there will be no other posts today at The Animation Blog.

Aniboom and TBD Records have launched a contest inviting all creators and Radiohead fans from across the globe to produce an animated music video for any one of the songs from the band’s latest album, In Rainbows. The contest, to be separated into four stages, will culminate with the selection by the members of Radiohead of a winner who will be awarded a $10,000 prize to produce a full-length animated music video.

The first stage of the competition begins today and continues through April 27, inviting all artists, animators, writers, character designers and more, to submit storyboards that may range from basic sketches with words to more complex submissions in video formats, using the song of their choice from In Rainbows. Artists have the option to compete solo or to ask Aniboom to match them with other entrants whose talents complement their own. More information on the contest can be found at aniboom.com/radiohead.

The storyboards will be posted for viewing and ranking by creators and fans, after which a panel that will include people from Aniboom, TBD Records and Adult Swim will select ten semifinalists who will be awarded $1,000 each to produce a one-minute animated music video. The semifinalist videos will be shared across Aniboom’s web-wide network of distribution partners, and fans will be given the opportunity to vote at aniboom.com and at MySpace. The videos will then be submitted to Radiohead to select the winner. The creator(s) of the winning video will be awarded $10,000 to expand their one minute submission to produce the full-length video. In addition, the winning video may have its broadcast premiere on Adult Swim.

It’s a sad day today in the animation world as Brice Mack, background painter for Disney from 1930s~1950s, has passed away. Mr. Mack left us on January 2nd in Hollywood, California at the age of 90.

Mr. Mack painted backgrounds for some of most beloved animated films of all time including Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp.

During World War II, Mr. Mack left Disney in 1942 and became a pioneering navigator for the Air Transport Command. He delivered aircraft, cargo and personnel throughout the world until the end of the war. After the war, in 1945, Mack returned to Disney.

May he rest in peace.

Via AWN

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Walt Disney Company President and Chief Executive Robert Iger received a total compensation in fiscal 2007 of $27.7 million. He was paid a $2 million base salary, plus a $13.7 million bonus. If that wasn’t enough, he also received $7.9 million in stock awards and $2.2 million in option awards.

I really don’t understand why any person would ever get paid that much money. Sure, he may “run things” — but the people who actually create the Disney products should get paid more, not some executive. Give your animators raises, give the people working at Disneyland raises.

It just seems so wrong that he gets paid that much money to run Disney, while the President of the United States gets paid $400,000 annually. Now, isn’t there something wrong with that picture?

Via Reuters

AWN reports that applications are now being accepted for the Warner Bros. Animation/Hanna-Barbera Scholarship, an annual $10,000 award given to a graduating high school senior enrolling in a college, university or trade school to study animation.

A minimum GPA of 3.0 upon graduation is required. In addition to the cash, the winner will be offered four consecutive paid summer internships at Warner Bros. Animation in Burbank while in college. How freakin’ awesome is that?

Applicants must complete the application and return it, along with support materials, no later than 5:00 pm on the first Monday in February. The winner will be notified in early March 2008.

Applications and more info can be obtained via Michelle.Crozier@WarnerBros.com or at www.warnerbros.com

The Hollywood Animation Film Festival is currently accepting entries for the annual film festival. It’s a competitive film festival that highlights both domestic and international animated films. Selected animated films compete in the festival’s main competition.

Hollywood Film Festival 2008
Hollywood, California, USA
Oct. 15-20, 2008
Deadline: June 30, 2008

For more info, visit www.hollywoodawards.com.

John K. has produced a wonderful step-by-step construction lesson video that feature a frame from a Tex Avery short, Heckling Hare, featuring Bugs Bunny.

John breaks down every step and simplifies things to the basics of drawing. It is definitely worth a look and it’s very cool to be able to see an animation master at work.

John K has written a great post at his blog which talks about the role of the “Director” in the animation industry in the past and in the present.

It’s a very interesting read with plenty of visual examples. If you haven’t already, make sure to add John K’s blog to your bookmarks and/or RSS reader – you won’t be dissapointed.

And in case you don’t know John K is the creator of Ren & Stimpy!

Honestech today announced the release of “Claymation Studio Deluxe,” an easy-to-use stop-motion authoring software suite that enables novice users to create claymation, stop-motion video, animation and cell-based videos from imported images, photographs, music audio and recorded sound tracks.

The price is currently set at $39.99 on the company’s website. Quite a bargain for those looking to get started with stop-motion animation.

The software allows users to capture images using a digital camera, webcam, DV camcorder or any digital image source, create characters, apply small changes, and add background images and music to create complete claymation movies.

You obviously won’t create the next Wallace & Gromit but this will help you get started even if you don’t plan on making it a career and simply want something fun and different to do.

A lot of you already know of John K’s blog. Some of you may not. For those who don’t you owe it to yourself to visit it daily or even better, subscribe to its RSS feed to know exactly when a new post goes live!

John Kricfalusi is an Emmy-nominated Canadian animator, better known as John K. He is creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show and The Ripping Friends animated series, The Goddamn George Liquor Program, the first animated series made using Macromedia Flash.

He is a huge fan of classic cartoons and what they can teach today’s animators. He constantly posts very detailed posts teaching essentials that every animator should know. If you’re into animation or are thinking of getting into the scene, check out John K’s blog today!

I’m very sad to report that James Street, a voice actor for STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE series since 2004, died on July 4, 2007. His death was caused by injuries he obtained in a skateboarding accident. He was 13 years old.

James was also the voice of Pepito in MADELINE. He was born in London, England, but moved to California at eight months old.

The “James David Street Memorial Fund” has been set up and donations can be sent to California Oaks State Bank, P.O. Box 5038, Thousand Oaks, California 91359-9873.

Service will be held at 11:00 am Friday, July 13, at the Chapel of the Hills Conejo Mountain Funeral Home.

It’s very sad to hear that a member of the animation industry has left us. It’s even sadder because he was just a child. May he rest in peace.

AWN is reporting:

TELETOON, Canada’s only all animation network, announced that for the 10th edition of the TELETOON Animation Scholarship, the total prize money has more than doubled to more than $70,000 to support the development of nine talented animation students across Canada. TELETOON is also rewarding cartoon fans with the new Voter’s Choice Award to allow would-be cartoon critics to have their say and possibly win $500. Applications for the Scholarship are now being accepted until June 15, 2007. More information and rules of entry are available at www.teletoon.com