//subdivision

Client: Multinational media training institute
Location: London, UK
Date first run: August 2006
Involvement: Entire process, solo project
Applications: Cinema 4D
Target: Potential 3d and multimedia students
I ran this workshop several times throughout 2006, as a promotion for a 3D Animation diploma. The workshop was aimed at complete beginners not only to 3D, but often to application use in [...]

We all hear Gnomon (Hollywood) and VanArts (Vancouver) being namedropped all the time, but here's a look at some of the big name schools from the Animex festival.

Supinfocom Arles, France
Ecole des Metiers du Cinema d'Animation, France
Ecole Emile Cohl, France
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, UK
Glasgow School of Art, UK
Thames Valley-Ealing, UK
Duncan of Jordanstone [...]

Here: http://www.animex.net
2D, 3D, Stop frame, motion graphics, Visual effects...
Aim to submit your finals for the 2008 awards and note how simple yet innovative and polished some of the animations are, and also how they use audio.

Keyframing in 3D applications - soft interpolation vs linear
Hi, prompted by a question by Jason, here's a look at what happens and why when you keyframe in Cinema 4D.
As default, Cinema 4D uses curves between keyframes, making your animation smooth, which is usually a good thing.
However, look at the following example. Lets say I want [...]

I lead a group to the to the Pixar exhibtion last Friday, followed by an excellent talk by Tim Searle. It was really felt that the visit was much more worthwhile with the talk, although the exhibition was great too. I thought Tim's clips of early work (such as the first intro to "Have I [...]

Bakedbeats#2 - 24th June

http://www.bakedbeats.com
Saturday 24th June, 2.00pm - 11.00pm
Shillibeers, Carpenters Mews, North Road, London N1 8PL
Tickets
Bakedbeats is a live multi-performance music event in Shillibeers (next-door to SAE). Your work is wanted to display alongside the performances...
The last all-dayer May 1st event was a real success, with a chilled family atmosphere in the day following through [...]

Ren asked about whether you can make a 16:9 movie rather than 4:3 for your project. I am fine with this, although it can be a bit fiddly setting it up correctly for a DVD.
There are various standards of widescreen, to aid compatibility with older TV sets.
Letterboxed - actually 4:3 ratio (like 'normal' TV) but [...]

This was an animation week centered on making a non-deforming object hierarchy and rig suitable for forward and inverse kinematic manipulation.
Wednesday:
The key topics here were:
Setting up a suitable hierarchy of body parts for IK/FK animation
Placing those body parts' axes in the correct positions for suitable rotation
a) We began by making a simple 'robotic' character out [...]

Refraction index numbers can be used in the transparency section of material properties to simulate glass, water etc. Note that sometimes you need to deviate if the refraction looks wrong.
Sorry the image is hard to read, it's a capture of a scan of a scan.

OK, what should your storyboard look like? Storyboards are very personal, and differ massively from the detailed character studies in the Matrix to the stick figures used by many.
Here are some options of what you could include, however as a general guide, think the following: If your storyboard carries enough information for you to trust [...]