Animation

May 24, 2013 Department: VFX About the Position: The VFX Artist is an energetic and enthusiastic individual with strong VFX skills and experience in visual effects for broadcast television or feature film production. The VFX Artist excels at creating high calibre dynamic and riveting visual effects while at the same time meeting production deadlines. They follow the creative direction of the production from an FX standpoint and report regularly to the Visual Effects Supervisor informing them of any concerns or new developments. Responsibilities and duties: Construct creative solutions for recurring visual effects in TV production Be aware of what is happening on the team at all times and identify problems to the Lead Train and mentor new Effects Animators and compositors who are placed on the crew and explain production methods Create complex effects sequences as assigned by the Lead/Director Identify to the Visual Effects Lead problems that could potentially affect timelines and delivery schedules Respect and adapt to the Nerd Corps system of data storage and retrieval through the use of the in-house software Balance the creative needs and technical resources available Ensure that all production deadlines are met while providing work at a quality level in keeping with production requirements. Carry out duties in a professional and positive manner Create and deliver FX for the series in a timely manner Train the junior staff and make sure they are working using the proper methods Create and deliver show specific FX in a timely manner Qualifications and competencies: Able to multi-task and prioritize Intermediate understanding of 3D texturing, modeling and lighting Advanced understanding of compositing. Advanced knowledge of XSI Advanced knowledge of particle systems Creative with timing and color Work well in a team atmosphere Able to take directions and work independently Very good at improvising and problem solving Good on being able to predict upcoming problems with production and communicating those problems/concerns to the Visual Effects Lead Good communication skills Thrive in a high pressure, deadline oriented environment Degree/diploma in fine arts or animation or equivalent experience an asset Experience as an FX Animator or equivalent experience About us: Nerd Corps is one of the largest animation studios in Canada boasting a diverse portfolio of award-winning original properties such as Slugterra, League of Super Evil, Storm Hawks and Rated A for Awesome. But we’re more than just an animation studio.  We build stories, worlds, and experiences for kids that cut across platforms from television to online, games, toys, mobile—wherever kids are spending time.  We handle all stages of our process in-house, including IP creation and development, animation production, finance, sales and distribution, licensing and consumer products, and interactive development.  We’re a rarity in the industry, and are looking for the best talent to join our team! We would like to convey our sincere thanks to all those who express interest in being a part of the Nerd Corps team. Unfortunately, due to the volume of applications we receive, we may be unable to reply to all applicants. If we feel that you may be a good match for one of our current openings you will be contacted. Please email your resume, portfolio/demo reel link and cover letter explaining why you feel you would be a great fit: recruiting@nerdcorps.ca

Blue Sky’s eighth feature film, Epic, directed by Chris Wedge and based on a book by children’s author Bill Joyce, opens in the United States today. Reception to the film has been fair to middling. The film currently owns a 63% critics’ rating and 74% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Stephen Holden in the NY Times sums up the majority viewpoint: “As beautiful as it is, Epic is fatally lacking in visceral momentum and dramatic edge.” Check out the film and report back here with your opinion in the comments below. As always, this talkback is open only to those who have seen the film and wish to share an opinion about it. (Epic Billboard via Daily Billboard)

Character Design Pinterest Boards!Ummm, Holy Cow!

On Thursday, May 30th, the Museum of of Contemporary Art in downtown LA will present a screening of Aboveground Animation featuring new commissions by Kathleen Daniel, Barry Doupe, Erin Dunn, Casey Jane Ellison, Lauren Gregory, Jacolby Satterwhite, Katie Torn, and the premiere of a video work by Ben Jones (Paper Rad, The Problem Solverz). The screening will be followed by a conversation with Aboveground Animation curator Casey Jane Ellison and Ben Jones, moderated by MOCAtv creative director Emma Reeves. The screening will take place at MOCA Grand Avenue’s Ahmanson Auditorium (250 South Grand Avenue, LA, CA 90012). Doors open at 7pm, screening at 8pm. RSVP at rsvp.mocatv@gmail.com.

This summer, Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida will open a Simpsons-themed area at its park to complement its existing Simpsons ride. The new space will allow visitors to walk around Springfield and spend their hard-earned dollars on Simpsons-related food, like Duff Beer, which will be brewed exclusively for the park. Simpsons creator Matt Groening has said in the past that he wouldn’t allow actual Duff beer to be brewed because he didn’t want to encourage kids to drink. The press release describes how parkgoers will be able to buy other food items as well: “[You] will be able to grab Krusty-certified meat sandwich at Krusty Burger, snatch the catch of the day at the Frying Dutchman, get a slice at Luigi’s Pizza, go nuts for donuts at Lard Lad, enjoy a ‘Taco Fresho; with Bumblebee Man and imbibe at Moe’s Tavern.” The area will also feature a new attraction—Kang & Kodos’ Twirl ‘n’ Hurl—as well as the statue of Springfield founder Jebediah Springfield. Cick on the image at top for a close-up rendering of the new area.

Part 7 in a weekly series exploring the adaptation of a childhood creation into a new comic for TR!CKSTER's 2013 volume, Childhood Heroes. Next Week: The Chase!21 days...

Thanks for watching my animation! I did it in order to teach myself Cinema 4D and Vray, the renders aren't perfect but the best I could get out of my machine. While I setup up most of the geometry using tracers, Xpresso and Thinking Particles, I had some help along the way from the following great resources... I edited the motion captures from this archive >>> sites.google.com/a/cgspeed.com/cgspeed/motion-capture and used Microsoft Kinect for some parts aswell I tweaked the character models from >>> thefree3dmodels.com/ Sound effects we're mostly sourced from >>> freesound.org And the music is obviously from Capcom's Street Fighter 2, play it here >>> itunes.apple.com/ie/app/street-fighter-ii-collection/id459660048?mt=8 If you like this, then checkout the far superior Quayola and Memo 'Forms' >>> vimeo.com/37967381 Peace! Gif> tinyurl.com/afmwoss Now in PG!Cast: dantheadmanTags: street fighter mograph, cinema 4d, vray, 3D, snes, xpresso, thinking particles, ken, ryu, blanka, chun li, guile, test, street, fighter, mograph, motion, sculptures and motion sculptures

When Jace Cooke and Alex Chung founded Giphy, they simply wanted a convenient platform for sharing and searching GIFs. But now, Giphy, which launched in Febrary, is reaching beyond its search engine origins and aims to serve as a tool to empower artists and animators. The first round of features to roll out on Giphy over the coming month are built to serve GIF makers rather than consumers. Artists will have dedicated URLs, making their work easily accessible for fans. When embedded on another blog, each GIF will include a coded block that shows the creator’s name. That’s right, no more stumbling onto a great GIF on Tumblr and wondering who created it. “I want Giphy to be what Vimeo is for videographers or Soundcloud is for musicians,” co-founder Jace Cooke told Cartoon Brew. Cooke invited several notable GIF makers to launch artist pages, including  animator Frank Macchia (see GIF below) and wildly popular Tumblr GIF artist Matthew DiVito (aka mr. div). The next step will be providing GIF makers with uncapped uploads—Tumblr, for example, has a maximum upload of 1 MB per GIF. Eventually, artists will have personalized dashboard with analytics for tracking where their GIFs are being shared. “I want to lend more credence to GIFs, give them a wider audience and open up the possibility of monetization for artists,” adds Cooke. Read more Animated GIF coverage on the Brew. For Cooke there are two major questions going forward: For GIF makers, how can Giphy adapt to best serve their needs? For everyone else, how can Giphy encourage more people to try creating GIFs? Cook is turning to the animation community to find answers to these questions, particularly the latter. Many creative people who work in CGI are interested in GIFs, but they haven’t yet given it a shot. “There’s a learning curve,” Cooke says . “They understand the value and they’re excited about it, but they’re a little apprehensive.” Ultimately, Cooke hopes to see more animators embrace GIFs, which he describes as “animated trading cards.” Even though there are many GIF repositories and search engines like GIFSoup, Tumblr, and Google’s new animated image search, Giphy is the first coherent attempt to elevate GIFs as an artform. “There is something really powerful about an art that is halfway between a photo and a video,” says Cooke. “GIFs are a legit medium, a form of expression that’s only going to grow.”

A scattered array of fifty mirror balls reflect light from three projectors, filling a room completely with small reflections, casting patterns that fill the visitor’s peripheral vision. Creating a curious space that alternates between a meditative state, and an uneasy imbalance. An experiment in combining a found object with computer vision to create a profound and unusual experience. Created with Jonas Jongejan at CLICK Festival 2013. halfdanj.dk clickfestival.dk/program-2013%20/light-leaks Music: "And They All Look Broken Hearted" by Four TetCast: Kyle McDonaldTags: openFrameworks, structured light, disco, mirror and art

This is the second part of the book for youngsters written and illustrated by Dick Moores from his comic strip, Gasoline Alley. Moores took over the strip when Frank King, the originator, retired. I’ve written frequently that i love this edition of the strip. Dick Moores’ open, rounded line work is just beautiful to me, and I like his compositions as well. It’s interesting in this book how he keeps to closeups of the characters leaving a lot of white space to work against his linar shading. Only rarely do we get a longer, establishing shot of the scenes. It’s quite effective in its own way and, at the same time, gives it a variance to the strip done for syndication. Many thanks to Bill Peckmann for scanning and forwarding the book to us for posting. I love it. Book Cover 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 Notes about the book series.