Entries tagged with animation - Channel 10

trueSpace: Realistic, High-Res 3D Modeling for VE and Live Maps

sarahintampa — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:53:00 GMT

Back in February, Microsoft acquired a company called Caligari mainly for their 3D modeling and animation software, trueSpace. As of now, trueSpace is available for download – for free. With trueSpace, you can create high-resolution models, landscapes, buildings, and more for Virtual Earth and Live Maps. After creating these models, they can then be uploaded from trueSpace directly into Live Maps as a collections item. Why is trueSpace important? Well, for one, this is not sketching software – these aren’t drawings, but detailed, rich and realistic models. For example, take this Starbucks model (image to the left - see the full video on Chris Pendleton’s blog). This could either be a 3D model of the actual store or a mockup of one they’re thinking of building. That mockup could then be aaded to Live Maps in order to get feedback from the community. Even better, trueSpace supports importing of models drawn within other 3D software environments, including AutoCAD, Illustrator, and more. (The full list is here). For more details on how to use trueSpace, Chris has a great walkthough on his site. To register and download trueSpace, click here.

How To - The creation of an Imagine Cup video

Tina — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:28:00 GMT

I stopped by Worktank last week in downtown Seattle to check out the making of a really interesting Imagine Cup video. I personally have down the basics of editing but animating, not so much. Rick Wallace is the art director on the project and took some time to chat with us on how he strung the whole video together. From handdrawing the storyboards to creating movement with Adobe After Effects the entire process took him roughly six weeks. I hope you enjoy.

You can be an Animation Master

Laura — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:12:00 GMT

I've been fiddling around with Photoshop for years now and I love manipulating my pictures and putting my friends heads on Fabio's body (good times) but I've always been hesitant to make the jump into animation. I've tried here and there but never went full force into learning good technique. Then I found Animation Master. It makes animating objects really simple and fun to learn. This is definitely a program for beginners and not expert animators but for people like me, its a quick and fun way to get your foot through the animation door.

Cartoon Overlord

Tina — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 16:47:00 GMT

Joseph Limbaugh from the Acme Theatre Comedy Club is the creator of Cartoon Overlord. He's written software that allows animators to take control of these animated characters on the fly. It's pretty innovative and what a great way to take improv to the next level. He shows us first hand this digital puppetry that is guided through a third party video game controller.

GDC '07: EyeTronics

Laura — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 16:53:00 GMT

Have you ever been blown away by the realism and accuracy of a 3D facial skin? Well then the chances are you were looking at an Eyetronics creation. Check out this clip to see how its done.

Gentle Giant Studios: Part One - The Greatest Studio on Earth

Tina — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 17:45:00 GMT

Okay, so at GDC I met an artist named Scott. Scott works at Gentle Giant Studios which is one of the leading animation companies in the world. They have worked on Star Wars movies, Men in Black, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, King Kong, and hundreds of other movies and video games. They much more then just an animation studio. They do scanning, sculpting, digital modeling, marquettes, rapid prototyping, molding, casting and more. I had to split this into two pieces because there is just so much to look at.

Gentle Giant Studios Part Two: Still, the greatest Studio on Earth

Tina — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 17:44:00 GMT

Okay, in part two we dive into more of the 3D modeling and take a look at the life size Matrix figures (awesome for any Matrix fan.) We get a nice glimpse of an animated Master Chief, and we run into Yoshi for any of you older TechTV fans. :) Then we do a 3D scan

of Scott.

Newtek Lightwave 3D creates emmy nominated nuclear explosions!

Laura — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 23:08:00 GMT

If your friends are anything like mine- you guys love to settle in front of the TV and watch Jack Bauer kick ass on 24. Well- the season premiere episode this year created a ton of buzz amongst digital artists and graphic animators. Jarrod Davis of Zoic Studios created the most realistic, brilliant nuclear explosion to ever go off over the city of Angels. I tracked down the man himself to see what software, hardware and undeniable skill is required to create this kind of digital art. And now...he shares this knowledge with you. Watch and learn.

The Creation of a Comic in One Minute!

Tina — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 21:10:00 GMT

Ted Bracewell, our resident super creative comic animation maker has made a super creative one minute animation on yes you guessed it. How to create a comic! I love the music in this piece too. Check it out.

http://www.tedbracewell.com/projects/comiccovercreation.htm

Microsoft Japan flexes its creativity with animation

Jesse — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 22:16:00 GMT

Once in a while little gems of entertainment can be found buried deep within massive corporate websites, and microsoft.com is no different. Microsoft Japan's Dominoken animation that is simply good fun. It's a nice example of what can be done with Windows Presentation Foundation, so turn on your speakers and go enjoy. Also be sure to press the camera symbol at the lower left corner, and also to fly around using your arrow keys.

Ted Bracewell is back with ALIEN WASPS!

Tina — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 22:36:00 GMT

Our good friend and animator Ted Bracewell has kindly produced another animation for us. This time he's back with Alien Wasps! He also spent some time to show how he actually created the animation. Check out the video here. Enjoy!

The Creation of a Cartoon! Animation Style!

Tina — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 01:37:00 GMT

Friend and animator Ted Bracewell has graciously put together this brief how-to-create an animation cartoon for 10. The actual video for this how-to is right here. To get a glimpse of some past cartoons and one of my personal favorites check out Constipated Johnson. Now, I will let Ted take over.

It begins with a basic idea, usually something simple and small. But, inevitably the final product is never what I originally envisioned. I tend not to think of a project as a whole, but rather as a series of small steps. Most times I don’t know what direction it will go, or how it will even end. But, I always know how it will begin, and that’s the most important step.

Once I have an idea, I do a few storyboards to get things rolling. Some storyboards are very detailed, while others can be nothing more than a series of hastily drawn sketches (most are usually stick figures J).

Once several storyboards have been completed, and a basic sense of the shots that will be required has been obtained, the elements (characters, backgrounds, etc) that will be needed to achieve the necessary shots are hand drawn on paper and scanned into Adobe Photoshop for coloring.

The characters (namely the pilot and the wasps) are created using a series of images that are moved together to create expressions and motion. Each character is broken down into pieces. The face, eyelids, nose, torso, arms, hands, and even fingers…

…or in the case of the wasps, the head, torso, stinger, wings, and leg segments.

All of the character elements are placed together into a single Photoshop composition.

That composition is then imported into Adobe After Effects where the individual pieces are placed into an animation composition where they can be manipulated. To create facial movement the eyes, nose, mouth, and eyebrows are moved independently of each other to achieve the desired expression. It’s almost like a digital puppet. Tilting the eyebrows one way can create an expression of worry or sadness, while tilting the other creates a look of anger. Motion is achieved by selecting the position in the After Effects timeline where you want the motion to begin, then clicking the key frame icon. This creates the motion starting point. You then move further down the timeline to where you want the motion to end. If you rotate or move the element (eyebrow, mouth, nose, etc.) a key frame is automatically created at the new point. The total motion then occurs between the two created key frames.

The backgrounds are created the same way, still elements manipulated to create motion. In a panning shot the elements that are meant to appear closest to the camera are panned quickly, while objects in the distance are moved at a slower rate to create the illusion of depth.

Shots that appear to be 3D, for instance the scenes where the ship is flying through a tunnel towards the camera, are done using the Basic 3D filter (found under Perspective in the Effect drop down menu), which allows you to smoothly zoom in or out on an image. A single tunnel image is drawn and colored.

The image is then imported into After Effects and placed into a new composition. By using the Basic 3D filter to zoom out on the tunnel drawing it creates the illusion of flying through it. The single tunnel image is then repeated dozens of times to suggest a long tunnel that stretches for miles. Additional effects, such as motion blur, are then added to enhance the illusion of movement.

As each individual shot is completed they are placed into a main composition where they can be shortened, lengthened, sped up, or slowed down until an even flow is achieved from beginning to end.

Once the animation is fully complete, a low quality video is rendered out and imported into Adobe Premiere where sound effects and music are added and synched to the action. Using a website such as www.findsounds.com , I search for the various sounds that will be required to create the audio track. When a sound that fits is found it’s downloaded, then imported into a program such as Sound Forge where it’s cropped and enhanced to improve the quality. Sometimes a change in pitch or the addition of reverb is used to create the desired effect. Once all of the necessary sound effects have been obtained, the low quality video render is placed into the Adobe Premiere video timeline, and the sound files are placed in the corresponding audio track at the appropriate place in the timeline and synched to the action in the video.

Additional effects are added to certain sounds during this process. For instance in a shot that shows the ship flying across the screen, an audio panning effect is added to the ship sound to create a stereo effect when you watch the video. If the ship moves from right to left onscreen, the ship sound will move from your right computer speaker to your left. Once the entire sound effects track is complete it’s rendered out as an uncompressed .wav file.

Next is the most important audio track of all, the music. There are countless music-licensing sites on the internet, but I prefer www.musicbakery.com. Once I’ve found a track that suits it’s paid for and downloaded (the prices of the tracks are relative to the length, some being as low as $10 and others as much as $50). The music track is imported into Adobe Premiere, and edited and remixed to match the action in the video, and to create the most dramatic effect possible. The music track is then rendered into an uncompressed .wav file, the same as the audio track.

Both the sound effects and music .wav files are important into the original Adobe After Effects project and added to the main animation composition. The last step is to render out your final video and show it to the world.

Hitachi promises laptop disk encryption in 2007

Jesse — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 18:43:00 GMT

Thanks to the magic of Get Perpendicular, Hitachi hopes to ship 750GB laptop HDDs next year (2.5 inch for those keeping score at home). If that weren't enough to get our blood pumping a bit quicker, these drives will also come in hybrid flavors, which will allow for better performance and lower power consumption. Great right?

Well that's not all folks. These same hybrid disks will feature AES-based encryption. Using a key generated from your password, both the data on flash memory and the disk platters will be wrapped in a blanket of mathematics so complex...well let's just say Setec Astronomy ;)

(via Engadget)

The Adventures of Constipated Johnson!

Tina — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 21:48:00 GMT

For a few years now I have been a huge fan of artist Ted Bracewell. He's designed some personal comics for me over the years and his short animated films are some of the best around. He's clever, creative and as you will see, really funny. To make constipated Johnson he used mostly adobe products like Photoshop, after effects and premiere. He's been an integral part of the 10 community and he's a great example of somebody who uses the power of the internet and technology to market and showcase their talents.

Video: The Adventures of Constipated Johnson: Episode 1

It's just a matter of time before Ted gets scooped up by some major network and signs some fat television deal. So before that happens sit back, relax and enjoy The Adventures of Constipated Johnson!