Cryptic Worlds

It’s been well over 11 years since Toy Story 2 graced the silver screen, I saw Toy Story 3 in 3D just yesterday and it was exactly what I expected from Pixar, a quality movie and a quality “threequel” to boot.  I read about what it took to make Toy Story 3 and it’s pretty interesting. The original rigs and models they had used 11 years ago for Toy Story 2 were incompatible with the current software they use so everything had to be recreated for the movie, amazingly I couldn’t tell the difference however Buzz Lightyear did have a helluva lot more detail and as they stated in the article he was made up several pieces instead of a single mesh. As for the human element in the films the Hair and Fur modifier they use now is definitely well beyond what they used in the original 2 films.  Now, I didn’t have to see it in 3D but I felt compelled to dish out the extra $2 to see just how different it made the experience. It was cool, unlike some other “3D” movies where the effect was thrown on half hazardly close to premier, Toy Story 3 used it very well. On a more professional note I have to wonder what all goes into the creation of content for the Real D technology and more importantly the new technologies video game companies are going to be employer when the 3D Fad hits game consoles. I wonder where it’s gonna fall on me when I finally get a job in the industry, just what am I gonna have learn or for that matter will I be involved at all? I think it’s important to wonder these things since if the “fad” actually catches on for a while I may just be involved in it somehow.

I’ve started my 6th and final term for the animation program and I’ve just finished the first of 11 weeks until I’m finished. It’s not long at all.

We have Animation Studio as one of the most intensive classes for the term and I’m going with the modeling track. Since Game Art is what I’m shooting for I decided to make my capstone video game based as in I’m going to focus on creating content for my game except more intensive and of a much higher poly count. Since I have 2 low poly models done I’m pretty far ahead except the plan is to undo the triangulation I did on them so I can create a high poly model with intricate detail from my existing characters to later bake into a normal map to be reapplied to a lower poly model. Seems like more work then is necessary? Well for one it does give a level of detail you can’t achieve with photoshop alone not to mention I’d have examples of low and high poly respectively. I find it exciting, I dunno about you but it should be fun. What I really hope to achieve with this capstone project is to really come up with some great stuff that an employer at a Game Studio can look at and see that I am more then capable of doing the work necessary to be an asset. I really feel confident in what I may achieve with this.

In other news, I’ve gotten some XNA under my belt, the book I acquired recently is pretty good however I feel like the author assumes too much at places, now the book does do a good job of introducing XNA 3.0 but it seemed like he jumped from one way of doing it in Chapter 2 to an entirely different way in Chapters 3 and 4 which didn’t seem to relate at all. I’m like a chapter or so away from starting the 3D aspects but the 2D parts are pretty interesting. I’ll be announcing my bizarre 2D test game in a later post. I guarantee either a good laugh or a raised eyebrow lol.

I created this blog mainly to show off my progress which I’ve been seriously slacking on but my inexperience with WordPress has kept me from posting videos and such since I’ve been too lazy to upload to my Youtube account. Yeah, that would be easier but when did I ever take the easy way out? I hope to get at least 4 more posts in before the month is over so keep an eye out.

This term we have a History of Animation class, it’s one of the few academic style courses I’ve had in the program but for the most part is mainly a course where we watch cartoons from the many studios that have come and gone in the history of animated features. We only recently covered the Van Beuren Studio which besides it’s rather lackluster Felix the Cat cartoons I had never heard of before provided less then memorable fare. The stories were pretty plain and character development was practically non-existent. I was wondering when the toons we watched would suddenly be funny. Practically never. This is my general feeling for the lousy stuff that has been released in recent years like the awfully shallow flash based cartoons from Canada such as 6Teen(ugh), Total Drama Island(wretch), Total Drama Action(hmph), and this even worse one about surfing(hurls). I think all those studios still around should take a course like the one I’m taking and see what was good and what wasn’t.

I’ve loved Disney movies and animated shorts since I was little, they were for the most part timeless and memorable, even the classics that came out long before I was born. But I see a lapse in that quality, in particular.. the stuff Disney has been pumping out for the TV audience. It’s utter crap, and for the most part it seems to be promoting (and South Park got this right) sleazy teenage trends, superficiality, and a commercialism that is down right obnoxious.. What I’m really getting at is what happened to the Disney cartoons that followed the original formula that made them work? Where is the magic that made Duck Tales a timeless classic? Some more examples are Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers, Gummi Bears, Tale Spin, Darkwing Duck, Bonkers, Aladdin, Hercules, hell even The Legend of Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch and The Emperors New School were good. But where are the cartoons of this quality? They are nowhere to be found and frankly I can’t fathom how Disney could not see the need to look back at these series and make some new truly memorable cartoon series.. oh thats right.. they can make millions whoring out Hannah Montana and The Jonas Brothers as wholesome family fun when it is clearly the opposite. Shame on you Disney!

Well folks, I have been slacking on my blog big time. What I need is to really setup all my admin tools on my laptop then maybe I won’t be so lazy lol. I have a ton of 3D modeling work I’ve done during the span of my absence from taking care of this site. So keep an eye out.

As of late I’ve been watching my fair share of animated films, I enjoy them alot. Especially the 80′s – 90′s Disney and Don Bluth films which I hold in regard as the best that the US has had to offer the animated feature world. But lately all efforts by any of the still active studios in the US have been paltry offerings, from weak artistic direction to awful and shallow story lines. The other problem is the lack of actual work done on any of them by American studios, having all the actual animation work shipped off to some sweatshop animation house off in the orient. What we do have left is cheap attempts to cash in on the ‘Anime’ phenomenon that has swept the country.. for the most part this Americanime is awful and the only decent example is Avatar: the Last Airbender which actually paints a very creative and somewhat original story then the cliche stuff even Japan is pumping out to the outstretched arms of greasy Weeaboo in the US. What I really want to see is a rebirth of classic hand drawn 2D animation like Duck Tales, Secret of Nihm, Ren & Stimpy, Darkwing Duck, Rock-a-Doodle, etc… That is what we need.

The one thing I don’t miss about college (I previously obtained a BA in Theatrical Design) is the general education courses. Here in Art School I’m required to take general art courses.. well these would be cool if they wern’t the most redundant and boring experiences of my first 2 weeks of classes. Not that I don’t enjoy the art, that it’s all stuff I learned from taking art courses throughout High School and some of the electives I took in College. New stuff please??