blah blah

back

2009-04-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

blog is back up. Lots of images missing. Still recovering from the crash.

website is back up.

Will start meaningful posting soon.

TAKSHAA MONSTERS

2007-12-15T03:09:00.000-08:00

Hey,

Takshaa animation students have a blog. Please head over and check out their latest WIPs

ANIMATION MONSTERS

Apple - Trailers - Horton Hears a Who - HD

2007-12-15T03:07:00.000-08:00

Awesome! I love love the design and the animation treatment. Freshest thing I have seen in a long long time. Have really high hopes for this.

Apple - Trailers - Horton Hears a Who - HD

cool

2007-11-06T04:57:00.000-08:00

Tossed-Out Electronics Are Reincarnated as Stop-Mo Animal Bots

A Gentlemen's Duel :: Funny

2007-11-05T05:06:00.000-08:00

A Gentlemen's Duel :: Funny

Funny Cute

2007-09-13T01:54:00.000-07:00

Funny Cute

information overload. Great blog here too.

all kinds of stuff

2007-09-13T01:27:00.000-07:00

all kinds of stuff

My new most favourite place in the world. Imagine what a treat it is to find so much matter all in one place. It like being in a class, having many hot cups of coffee at a cafe and a detailed telphatic session with one of the greatest cartoonists of all time - John K.

I know what i am doing this weekend. Do you?

Cooked Art: (Yet Another) Glen Keane Lecture

2007-08-29T02:10:00.000-07:00

Cooked Art: (Yet Another) Glen Keane Lecture

watch and learn kids..

this guy is just too good.

Scientists recreate out-of-body experiences (no drugs) - Yahoo! News

2007-08-24T01:23:00.000-07:00

One of the most amazing things I have ever read.

Scientists recreate out-of-body experiences (no drugs) - Yahoo! News:

QUOTE :
"Using virtual reality goggles to mix up the sensory signals reaching the brain, they induced the volunteers into projecting their awareness into a virtual body. Participants confirmed they had experienced sitting behind their physical body and looking at it. The illusion was so strong that the volunteers reacted with a palpable sense of fear when their virtual selves were threatened with physical force."

4pm

2007-08-11T02:01:00.001-07:00

lovely line test from a calarts student. I love the hands. So physcical and delicious.

Fantasia 2000

2007-08-11T01:58:00.001-07:00

A pencil test is probably the most beautiful thing ever.

Check out this cool one from Fantasia 2000

amazing!

2007-08-11T00:04:00.000-07:00

Animated Views � Phil Nibbelink: Sealed With A Kiss

Click on the link above to read a crazy story. Ex Disney Animator Nibbelink animated an entire feature film all by himself! What an astounding acomplishment. Definitly getting the DVD to check it out.

Here is a review of the film itself

http://animated-views.com/2007/sealed-with-a-kiss-dvd-review/

really awesome photo

2007-08-08T23:42:00.000-07:00

Ale's: Alfred vs. Darth <---- go here for a good picture

New Studio Website

2007-06-09T02:37:00.000-07:00

A new website for our studio should be up today!

Monster Mania Update

2007-06-08T22:29:00.000-07:00

Check out these beautiful posters!

work life balancen humor .. confused ramblings

2007-01-07T00:20:00.000-08:00

This is an ongoing issue that I am sure everyone faces. How does one balance work and life?

For the art to be authentic it has to come from life. Art as such is a way of life. But to be really honest one has to experience it in life. How does one portray it in the movie if one has not experienced it oneself? Great comedians take personal experience and then from that extract humor. Humor as such is merely a point of view.

Classically speaking the only thing that exists is tragedy and humor is merely a way of looking at tragedy.

I used to really laugh and Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. But not anymore! Its not like I don't like it anymore. I still LOVE watching them. Its just that i cant laugh at it anymore. I understand where the humor comes from. It comes from a place of so much pain that I find it hard to not try and analyze what experiences led to that bit in the movie.

Come back to work life balance. It is important to go out and live life and experience everything and from that experience create something if it demands to be created. Nothing is more boring or pretentious than forced art.

teaching

2007-01-06T01:20:00.000-08:00

So i have been teaching a few hours a week for the last almost one year. Last semester at Takshaa i started teaching basic animation acting. I have to say I was kinda nervous about teaching classes but since i have been doing it I have started to really look forward to it.

Teaching something.. or in my case trying to teach something forces you to look at the subject in a very different manner than you normally would in a work environment. You are forced to come up with reasons why shots dont work or the physics doesnt look right. A lot of this stuff becomes instinct over time. And also over time a lot of this instinct can be forgetten. Everytime my shot doesnt look right is because i have forgotten to put something utterly basic in it. Or i have not planned it right.

Teaching forces you to come up with an ideal way of working for animation. It makes it obivious to you and the students why things dont work.

And you know what surpirsing it is always the basic stuff. Animation is a really really complex art but at the heart of it is made up of really really itterly simple common sense concepts. Infact we owe a lot to the animators of the past who were able to boild animation down to such simple elegance. Mess ups happen not because some major intricate concept was forgotten but because some simple principle was not applied!

This has happened so many times in class that I was completely taken aback.

Next week is the finals for my students. If the students are ok I will post some of the best work out here.

12/18/2006: "Joe Barbera, RIP"

2006-12-19T06:45:00.002-08:00

12/18/2006: "Joe Barbera, RIP"

Tom and Jerry is the reason why I became an animator. What and awesome carrer and what a huge contribution Joe Barbera has made to animation. Thank you for the countless hours of fun!

12/18/2006: "Joe Barbera, RIP"

2006-12-19T06:45:00.001-08:00

12/18/2006: "Joe Barbera, RIP"/>

Tom and Jerry is the reason why I became an animator. What and awesome carrer and what a huge contribution Joe Barbera has made to animation. Thank you for the countless hours of fun!

12/18/2006: "Joe Barbera, RIP"

2006-12-19T06:45:00.000-08:00

12/18/2006: "Joe Barbera, RIP">

Tom and Jerry is the reason why I became an animator. What and awesome carrer and what a huge contribution Joe Barbera has made to animation. Thank you for the countless hours of fun!

12/18/2006: "Joe Barbera, RIP"

2006-12-19T06:44:00.000-08:00

12/18/2006: "Joe Barbera, RIP"
Tom and Jerry is the reason why I became an animator. What and awesome carrer and what a huge contribution Joe Barbera has made to animation. Thank you for the countless hours of fun!

back

2006-12-06T22:16:00.000-08:00

sorry been away so long. Will try and post regularly from now on. Having a blog is like having a conscience. It keeps pricking at you till your drawn back to you. I been very busy at work but I am finding a couple of hours a week to teach. I will try and document those expereince over the next few weeks.

Uli Meyer Press Release

2006-08-05T22:40:00.000-07:00

MONSTERMANIA!

CLICK HERE FOR PRESS RELEASE

Animation Podcast

2006-05-04T01:28:00.000-07:00

This has got to be the best site on animation ever. I find myself waiting for each new update....

http://www.animationpodcast.com/

acting - breakdown I

2006-05-01T00:33:00.000-07:00

I think there are many ways to classify acting. One of it is implicit and explicit.

In explicit acting the character is visually/verbally presenting his accurate emotions. Like if a char is happy then its YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEE! and jumping up and down. If he is morose then its frown and heavy steps.

In implicit acting the chracter is not Visually/verbally true to his inner emotions. If the character is happy then he pretends to sad or normal while trying to contain all the energy from his true emotion. This is fun acting, lots of oppourtunities for animators to be animators.

Every kind of acting has its place even hammy acting. A good movie will have a nice texture of the various types of acting shots.

talk on indian animation in LA

2006-04-13T23:37:00.000-07:00

Found out from the animaionnation.com

http://www.animationnation.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=000284

I wont be able to make it. If anyone is then please let me know how it went.

another take on big idea

2006-04-13T04:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/005/4.44.html

what killed big idea?

2006-04-13T04:17:00.000-07:00

What a heart breaking story to read! I dont if his analysis is correct but its an informative (and painful) story to read, all 22 pages of it.

http://www.philvischer.com/bigidea_archives/Killed_BigIdea1.htm

strut your reel

2006-03-31T20:55:00.000-08:00

great website..

:: Featured Artist- Aaron Hartline ::

language

2006-03-26T06:44:00.000-08:00

I always thought animation looks more real and belivable and live action. I think this is because animation depecits the "feeling" or "emotion" of the character than the character itself. Animation just feels right!

A smile on screen is just a few centimeters more than "default". But in animation u can have a smile that literally goes from ear to ear! It LOOKS like how you feel and so the viewer just believes it.

Are you depressed? So depression feels like you are limp and flat on the ground. A live actor may try to do something to approximate that more so in pantomime or vaudeville than in drama. But in animation the character is limp! He is FLAT!

Getting hit on the head feels like it became flat. In animation it looks flat!

Animation speaks directly to the heart. It doesnt rely on the eye as much as live action. Its the animation language.

Exactly what I mean!!!!!

2006-03-15T21:12:00.000-08:00

This is exactly the kind of thing i mentioned when i said hype in indian animation. Look at this article.

Mumbai Mirror
Mumbai Mirror

What!! Where did you hear that? Which company in india worked on incredibles? No facts, just gas.. absolutely Shameful reporting.

a scanner darkly

2006-02-27T00:55:00.000-08:00

Cool style by the director of waking life. I can wait to see it. Probably wont release in India so have to wait for the DVD.

trailer

HYPE!

2006-02-26T22:24:00.000-08:00

There is so much hype here in india about animation. Everyday there is something or the other in the newpapers and online news services jump over one another to print the latest statement from the animation companies. Its really ridicilous and i think its giving birth to insane hype and is presenting an image that is as close to being absolute falsehood as possible.

I am upset that media only focuses on these things and doesnt really probe behind the statements.

Media should focus on the art of animation. What makes animation they way it is? Why is it so hard to produce? What are the characteristics of companies such as DreamWorks, Disney, Pixar? Why do they produce such good content? Where is the empashis laid in such companies? What is it going to take to do work like that here? What steps need to be taken to open India as a market? What is story and storytelling? Artists need to develop observation and sensitivity. Press needs to show that these things are lacking. When press comes out with statements like India will do the next big movie in 6 months time they need to know that there is an animation community out there laughing at them.

Ittina Animation Studios and takshaa pictures

2006-02-16T04:20:00.000-08:00

Here is what we've been working away at.. still in progress but getting there rapidly....Pictures of our animation company at whitefield, Bangalore.

whats gonna define animation? OR my reactions on seeing narnia

2006-02-01T09:48:00.000-08:00

wrote this abt a month ago.. dont know why it didn't get uploaded.. any where here it is.

Finally saw narnia in the theater. It took a while to come out. about 12 of us from the studio went to see it. Let me first say that the visuals were absolutely stunning. The modellers and the fur guys couldn't resist exclaiming wow every time there was an aslan shot. Congrats to R and H for such a wonderful achievement. The whole look flowed together with a cohesiveness rarely seen in a live action special effects extravaganza.

Technology is so advanced. It seems like nothing is impossible. If we can dream it we can create it. But one thing i noticed at narnia was that the audiences are so used to getting this quality of work in their movies that they take it for granted. Fewer people go to see movies just for effects alone as they would have a decade ago. CG has become a part of the filmmakers toolkit. Its absence is noticed and not its presense. For some reason the only thing that continues to attract audiences to theaters is still the same thing that used to 2000 yrs ago.

Story, drama, emotion, appeal etc. These things never ever get old. No one ever gets bored of these.

As CG becomes more and more powerful these words the only thing thats gonna differentiate a good movie from a bad one is still these basic ideas. I think the future of animation is still what it always was - appeal.

Pixar disney

2006-01-28T08:39:00.000-08:00

I know I am little late commenting on this. But I am not a commentator.

Anyway, I can make some observations. I havent spoken to any friends at pixar so i dont know what their take it. But I think this just means good news for the industry. I cant interpret it as anything but good. I think this gives the industry a great sense of direction. The focus has been reinforced on quality and storytelling as is sometimes forgotten.

Raise a glass to the future of the greatest art ever!

cheers

Spline Doctors

2006-01-28T07:54:00.000-08:00

MY God what an awesome reference!!! I cant believe it took me so long to find it. I am sure everyone knows abt this by now. A blog by some of my past instructors. Its like being in class all over again. LISTEN to these guys. They teach how to make magic......Spline Doctors

. Schulz'y .

2006-01-28T07:48:00.000-08:00

My friend Brett blog.. just found it today. Check it out.... Schulz'y .

Back from nasscom

2006-01-15T01:28:00.000-08:00

Phew whats a hectic few days. Lots of 5 am wake up calls and 11 pm dinners. I was in NASSCOM thursday and Friday and we flew back from hyderabad on friday night. Flight was delayed by 3 plus hours. So it took off at 1130 pm. The return flight was like a who's who of bangalore animation business. Rajesh was there, thhe guys from virgin and dr nandish from paprikas besided modi and bill. Lots of vendors sun, amd and ibm also were sprinkled around the cabin.

Back home and back to team. The next day we had a seminar. More than 120 people showed up. We had seats for 67 in the screening room. It was standing room only and then even that was gone. Great time for the AC to break down. But people bore it bravely as they put up with my bad jokes and listened as bill aaraty and raj spent time convincing them why the computer is not such a great thing. The mind is...

Why is this so hard to understand???? The computer doesnt do anything its the person behind it. learning a software is not gonna make u an artist. Its just so frustrating when students for takshaa ask for xsi or maya or max. Even after all the lectures abt art, it still comes back to software. They think that knowing software will get them all there is to know about animation.

Here r my notes from the talk as nasscom. I used some of it and did not use a lot of it. And I said somethings not in these notes.

NASSCOM_notes.pdf

clarification

2006-01-11T08:30:00.000-08:00

Business standard did misquote bill and I on key facts but I did speak to the journalist. In my previous post I was refering to the awn article which sourced the business standard article and then further misquoted the misquotes. I immediatly came out with the blog post but avoided mentioning AWN. I Also took this up with AWN and they very kindly corrected the article. The revised version of which appears here ------> awn article

Nasscom

2006-01-09T23:16:00.000-08:00

I am off to nasscom hyderabad on Wednesday. I am pretty exicted to meet the rest of the folks involved in animation in india and i think its great to have a forum like this to exchange ideas. Lots and lots of great people expected.

Very exicted to meet everyone. If one reading this is gonna be there and wants to hang out email me at mittina@hotmail.com

Wow

2006-01-09T07:26:00.000-08:00

WOW! I really mean WOW! Today has been a wierd day. So, Bill calls me up and says that there is been an article on a leading online animation news site. I thought maybe some sort of article about creating IP( intellectual property) or something cause that was the last topic of discussion with Bill.

He proceeds to read the article and my heart begins to sink. Then he continues and my heart begins to dig a hole in the ground and sink deeper. Then I thought he was joking. Then I am totally stunned.

Turns out there has been an article published online which totally out of the blue made up statements and attributed it to me. They had me claim that our studio produced 12 seconds of animation a day per artist!!!!! It had me say that in Dreamwork and pixar people did a measly 3 sec a day!! I worked at dreamworks and I know what it took to get a shot finalled. I have never spoken to any journalist from the site. Nor have I ever said to anybody words to that extent.

Where the journo got the words from remains a mystery. Why were we the chosen target, remains a mystery.

Our goal has always been to go good quality animation. The best we can. Bill and I are trying to bring that appreciation for quality in everything we do. We tell everyone who will listen that animation is hard. It takes patience. In our studio we constantly discuss milt kahl and go over the nine old men's work frame by frame. We appreciate how much work it takes to do good work.

One of the reasons why we setup up a studio of our own was to do just that.

I hate that I was made to say things that are so contrary to what I believe. If it was a typo I would have understood. But this article made seem that that we "boasted" that we can produce 12 secs of animation per day per artist. It seemed that wee pited pixar and dreamworks who could do only 3-5 secs a day!!! Reading that article made me visualize of us as fat, cigar chomping sweatshop owners with whips, leaning back in plush room while gloating about our "efficent" meathods of production.

To create images - That is the power of media. I am trying to correct our image in anyway I can. Please link to this entry and help me.

Artists create images too. Ittina animation studios tries to do the best work it can. Our goal is to not compromise in quality in anyway. We have utmost respect for quality animation and dont denegrate it in any way. We love what we do and are proud of what we do. We stand behind our work for it is who we are ( "your shots are there for ever" - ollie johnson) And we have stories to tell and miles to go before we sleep.

"A Conversation with Eric Goldberg"

2005-12-19T01:22:00.000-08:00

seen on animated news

MADAGASCAR DVD releases in india.

2005-12-04T00:52:00.000-08:00

Is being relesed with much fan fare in India. I wont say i am bog fan of the ad's. They are done very badly. There is no sense of unity with them. You are bombarded with random clips from the movie and its seems like the editors is hoping they will add up to something. All it does add up to nonsense.

Honestly very disspointing TV spots being played here. Reflects the Big studios lack of understanding of the indian audience.

I love blogging

2005-11-21T07:07:00.000-08:00

When you decide to create a blog its like you create a concience. Its is always there, sitting in the corner of your mind reminding you to reflect and observe. Not matter how long you stay away, the fact that you have one reminds you to come back to it.

Its been such a long time since i last updated this but having a blog is a constant reminder that i have to come back to it. It doesnt matter if i write something productive or not. But just the act of having a place where I can sit down and think and write a few lines is surprisingly relaxing. And I know exactly what the frame of my mind was when i was writing even after many many months.

This is a most useless entry but i still love it. Who do i thank for blogging?

first four minutes of chicken little

2005-10-15T04:19:00.000-07:00

on the threedy forums download here ---> chicken little

Death Fall | Open Season

2005-10-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

Death Fall | Open Season: "BULLY "

got this from ethans blog. Looking like a lot of fun :) I like the story line. Its what animation should be about - whimsy.

ummm.. yeah the whole autodesk maya thing

2005-10-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

I dont think anyone was expecting this especially after seeing how MAX and MAYA salesmen bitch .. i mean pitch. It took me a little while to get access to this news. At first I was like hmm.. took me a sec to realise that MAX was Autodesk. THen I was like WHAT! Then Bill, Raj and I went WHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT! Then we were like ok.. this could be good.

I dont really think they gonna stop making maya or anything drastic like that. Nothing for end users to worry about. I think the lack of competition could become a problem. But these things have a way of correcting themselevs with new competition. I need to start looking at softimage and other animation packages. Jason says in his blog that its all about workflow. I cannot agree more. Working on a whole project and not just a little piece as I was used to doing in PDI I can see that a BIGGGG part of executing a project is having a good pipeline and a software or a team of engineers that can help you design your pipe line. So i really hope MAYA MAX version 1 will address that :)

While I am looking into my crystal orb let me make another prediction. PRICE! DOLLARS! DINARO AND RUPEES! Maya and max will become more expensive over time ( if there is no effort by the current competion to use this op to start cracking on things)

Thats it - the bottom line is the money.

It would not be a bad idea for a bunch of good programmers to start a site and begin to create a open source 3d program. It might take a while but if its anything as sucessful as linux then....

:)

setting up anything

2005-10-02T07:41:00.000-07:00

is so hard. Raj and I are in bangalore setting up our next venture. There is so many variables in the equation. A teacher once gave me a good metaphor for animation. Imagine a stick on which a plate is very delicatly balanced. Now imagine wine glasses on each end of the plate. It is the animators job to fill up all the glasses to the brim without the whole arrangement crashing down.

Now imagine doing this with a hundred different setups like this. Then you understand what i am going through now. running around, selecting, ignoring, remembering to remember. Making a million choices all day. This is why a directors job is so hard.

You try to have good taste. So you choose the right things and it all falls magically into place :)

I am a bad blogger

2005-09-19T01:25:00.000-07:00

Not really been updating this site. Been very busy. Holy crap I have a 4 inch stack of visiting cards from all the people i met in the last 2 weeks. I was in bombay then I went to delhi then back to bangalore and then back to bombay and then chennai and then back to bangalore. Phew.. I feel like air port is my home now. But that is over for now. So i am back to base. The film is progressing well ( touch wood) but i am still getting nervous. But exicted. Also nervous.

Hmm sounds like direction from a bad director.. make him exicted and nervous. and keep him sad with a some joy too..

But thats how i feel exicted, nervous happy ..sad..

Zoo gets world's first elephant treadmill -

2005-09-16T05:22:00.000-07:00

Somebody must have been seeing madagascar

LINK

seeing Madagascar

2005-09-02T01:16:00.000-07:00

Finally I got to see Madagascar. It was an early show but with lots and lots of kids. I dont know why but kids LOOOOOOOVE animation. I have never ever seen a audience laugh and cheer so much even at jokes which I am sure they did not understand. After a long time I got to see an animated movie without the critic in my mind going blah blah. And I loved it. The kids seem to walk out of the theater a few inches above ground after the show. Reminded of why i joined this industry in the first place.

While I admit Mad is not a perfect animated film or a perfect film. I think its sucess with the audience is a testament to the fact that animated storytelling has an uncanny way to get connected to the audience. Nothing else explains the sucess of so many below average TV shows or Disneys Direct to videos.

Yay Animation!

scale of the lord of the rings

2005-08-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

..boggles the mind.

The films were seven years in the making – two years
of pre-production, two of main production and three of
post-production. The scale of the project is shown in
New Line Production’s number list:

100,000,000 - estimated number of people worldwide who
have read the trilogy.

40 - languages (at least) into which the books have
been translated.

12,500,000 --hand-linked rings used to create chain
mail by Weta workshop for the films.

3,000,000 - feet of film (at least) used to film the
trilogy.

250,000 - silk leaves applied by hand to a tree in
Hobbiton.

90,000 - still photographs shot on set.

48,000 - swords, scabbards, axes, shields made by Weta
workshop for the films.

20,602 - extras cast for the films.

15,000 - costumes made by costume department for the
films.

10,000 - members of crowd at New Zealand cricket game
recorded making Orc sounds.

5,000 - cubic meters of vegetables and flowers planted
in Hobbiton a year before filming started.

2,400 - crew members at height of production.

2,000 - illustrations drawn for production by
conceptual designer Alan Lee.

1,600 - pairs of prosthetic Hobbit feet used by
principal Hobbit cast.

1,460 - largest number of eggs served at breakfast for
crew.

800 - largest number of lunches served on set at once.

900 - suits of armor made by Weta workshop.

550 - hours of film (at least) shot on set for
behind-the-scenes footage.

350 - sets constructed for films.

300 - handmade, knotted wigs made for films.

274 - shooting days for trilogy.

250 - horses used in one scene.

200 - individually crafted Orc masks created by Weta
workshop.

180 - artists created computerized effects at Weta
digital.

114 - speaking roles.

100 - locations, at least.

100 - hand-forged, inlaid weapons crafted by Weta
workshop.

68 - miniature sets.

30 - actors trained by two dialect and creative
languages coaches.

13 - months the Fellowship travels on its journey in
the trilogy.

9 - the numeral, in Elvish script, tattooed on nine
members of the cast following the shoot.

8 - acres of farm land in Matamata, New Zealand, used
for set of Hobbiton.

7 - years of development of the film trilogy by
writer/producer/director Peter Jackson.

5 - shooting units : Unit 1, two second units,
blue-screen unit and miniature unit.

(source: www.lordoftherings.net)

LOTR won seventeen Oscars in total, including eleven
for The Return of the King

Intelligent Falling

2005-08-22T23:05:00.000-07:00

THe onion.. these guys do it every time.. this time its Intelligent Falling

Shane Acker on "9"

2005-08-20T00:34:00.000-07:00

Got this link from Jasons blog. Very nice article.
AnimationTrip.com News: "started going to school there in ’99 a"

Joe Ranft

2005-08-20T00:24:00.000-07:00

Joe Ranft of Pixar has died in a car accident. He was a brilliant and extremly funny individual. I had the honour to meet him once. He was giving a guest lecture at one of the story boarding classes i was taking. Even though he came after a very long day at work he gave us a very inspiring lecture on story. The awesome thing was he seemed to get energized the more he talked. He was filled with passion and believed so much in what he had to say that. After class he spent time with us and looked over our work and gave us comments on it. It is a very sad time for pixar and the animation community in general.

Joe Ranft -- Pixar animation artist, voice of characters

Interview

2005-08-19T23:40:00.000-07:00

cgTantra interviews moi..

Interview

On the web at cgTantra

work culture at pixar through the eys of Brad Bird

2005-08-19T22:27:00.000-07:00

I have posted this before but still an interesting read.

Wired article

fresh off the farm

2005-08-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

Just rendered some old work. Done before 2002.

Marlon Brando Dialogue

Waiting

Box lift

lamp interacting with a ball

Wow a blog on just rigging

2005-08-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

Check it out.

Creature Rigging

MADAGASCAR releases in india.

2005-08-13T01:17:00.000-07:00

It never is a good feeling when I can't get tickets to a movie I want to see. I hate having to wait to watch a movie. Then it follows that I must be very disspointed to not get tickets in not one but two cities in india for a movie. But no! I am very happy cause that movie happens to be madagascar.

With very little fanfare Madagascar released all over india on friday. I happened to be in mumbai and oh joy! was unable to get tickets because theaters were sold out. Today, I am in delhi and WOW no tickets here either. So i guess I will have to see it when i get back to my home town Bangalore tomorrow.

Try to post some pictures on people watching the movie and maybe some reactions from the audience.

I am hoping I wont be able to get tickets. :D

for those of us who did not go to siggraph....

2005-08-08T22:53:00.000-07:00

Some really cool looking disney stuff. Thanks to Dan for the link

Disney stuff on aintitcool

Bunny suicides

2005-08-01T04:36:00.000-07:00

interesting and very very wierd

Bunny suicides

some old work

2005-07-30T04:57:00.000-07:00

As some may know, due to some freak accident I lost all my old renders. Which explains why I have never updated my portfolio page. The task of redoing it was just too daunting, so i just shut my eyes and pretend to be somewhere else. Well I just found this file, it was done abt ..oh.. 2001 ish. I was studying under Scott Clark and Pete Nash, both from Pixar. They gave us this luxo model and told us to animate it interacting with a ball. It was a lot of fun and provided me with my first insight of how pixar animators thought. I think animation is all about how you think. There is skill involved in transfering that thought into your medium of choice. But the real entertainment comes from the thought and not the skill. This is the advantage animators have over actors. An animator gets to try and see a couple of dozen times if his thought is working out on screen the way he wants it to work out. He can tweek it frame by frame. Actors dont have that luxury.

I hope I am not violating any copyright by putting up a luxo model on my site.

Lamp interacting with a ball

Finding this has inspired to me re-render atleast some of the shots that I did. Hope you like it.

Blogs galore

2005-07-30T04:13:00.000-07:00

You go away for a few months and you come back and everybody you know and their mom has a blog! So just decided to put a links section for people to take a stroll on. More to come soon.

I am gonna need a good software to read up on all these.

rex looking like this!!!

2005-07-29T05:19:00.000-07:00

He used to look like alex the lion!!

Shh-Life-Er! � Blog Archive � Rex gets trimmed to help Madagascar..

BTW Jason's blog -> http://jonhandhisdog.com/shh-life-er/

How does he do it?

2005-07-29T05:13:00.000-07:00

Jason Schleifer- master of many trades and a mind boggler

CGTalk - Meet the Artist: Jason Schleifer

OH MY GAWWWWWD!

2005-07-29T05:09:00.000-07:00

this is what is called too cool -

The Animation Podcast

adding events

2005-07-28T05:17:00.000-07:00

I read somewhere that music is not actually about the the sound. But is about the silence between the sounds and how everything adds up. I was thinking about this in terms of story today. It doesn't really matter what the incidents in a characters life are what is important is what happens between the incidents and how the incidents add up to form the final picture. Just as how the sounds add up to make music. And in the space between the sounds emotion is generated. I think one of the main reasons why artists create art is to evoke emotion.

Reading what i have written, it seems i am saying that the whole is more important than the parts. I think what i really mean is that the main function of the parts is to add up! Their sum must be more than parts. 1+1 must equal 3!

eChalk colour perception: This is the most amazing optical effect in the world

2005-07-26T03:46:00.000-07:00

Interesting link to a site that demonstrates some illusions created due to our color perception

eChalk colour perception: This is the most amazing optical effect in the world

story

2005-07-23T04:14:00.000-07:00

Story is a very elusive thing. It is like a wet fish that slips out your fist everytime you think you've caught it . Thats my simile of the day. :)

I have been reading a lot of books on Dramatic technique and story telling. WHile reading them i had a lot of euphoric realisations about the nature of story. But once you lay the books down ,you realise that those books are just praises of story. Commentaries of symphonies cant teach you how to write one. It can only help you to understand some of the ideas behind its creation.

So imagination is the only way to create art or story for that matter . Nothing can be a shortcut to creation. Not even theory and technique. Perhaps inspiration could be. But who can count on that.

end of abstract thinking for the day.

update

2005-07-22T04:14:00.000-07:00

I am in india right now and am working on a film. Still haven't got a chance to see the Madagascar with a regualar ticket buying audience. Glad to see that it has done well.

While here I am immersing myself with hong kong cinema particularly Wong Kar Wai. Really good stuff. Check it out.

just a quick note for when you are feeling too tired to work on your shot

2005-03-09T13:39:00.000-08:00

frank and ollie say - "Remember your shots are there forever.."

no time..

2005-03-02T09:43:00.000-08:00

We are in a "this is it" stage of production on Madagascar. I am learning heaps but unfortunalty i have no time to share it with you. Apologies to those to check everyday.

IFILM - Movies: A Scanner Darkly

2005-02-21T13:03:00.000-08:00

very interesting.. check it out

IFILM - Movies: A Scanner Darkly

Robots Trailers & Clips - Yahoo! Movies

2005-02-16T10:07:00.000-08:00

Robots Trailers & Clips - Yahoo! Movies

another review of madagascar

2005-02-14T10:56:00.000-08:00

hard not to jump into this one. But still no comments from me..

Ain't It Cool News - View Article

New Madagascar trailer

2005-02-10T17:51:00.000-08:00

Click here. Enjoy

Ain't It Cool News - madagascar review

2005-02-09T10:06:00.000-08:00

No comments from me.

Ain't It Cool News - View Article

nice interview

2005-02-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

i love video games and i think these guys are smart.

The Onion A.V. Club | Feature

wired article on pixar

2005-02-01T17:05:00.000-08:00

interesting.

Wired 12.06: Welcome to Planet Pixar

"Surprise" Incredibles wins big at annie awards

2005-01-31T11:36:00.000-08:00

NOT. :) As expected. Incredibles mopped up any and all awards that existed at the annies.

32nd Annual Annie Award Nominess and Winners

Coming Soon! - Latest News

2005-01-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

Coming Soon! - Latest News click that link for cool madagascar posters. Hope you like em.

Will Eisner passes away

2005-01-04T11:23:00.000-08:00

http://www.willeisner.com/ Most awesome genius comic book artist Will Eisner has passed away. He leaves behind a treasure trove of graphic novels and learning materials for the world to enjoy. I found his book "Comics and Sequential Art" when I was a student and it influenced me strongly. I admire his approach and dedication to his art and credit him with creating the graphic novel as we know it today. Thank you Will Eisner.

happy accidents

2004-12-13T21:30:00.000-08:00

I was talking to an animator at work, whose work I admire very much. She always manages bring appeal and charm to her shots. We were talking about happy accidents. Basically she told me in very clear terms that she does not accept happy accidents in her work. The animation has to turn out to be exactly what she had visualized, till such point she will continue to work on her shot. This topic came up because there was change up in her shot that I liked and she said she was going to change it because it did not come out the way she wanted it to be. It was an entertaining moment and she could have kept it and gone home but she wanted to get what she originally planned.

There have been times when I have pushed a curve this way or that and have liked the results and kept it. I think an accident should be just that, an accident. One should not go searching for it. :) Experimentation is good and is a part of a lifelong process of learning. But as far as possible an animator should try and plan out as much appeal and charm he or she can before hand and then strive to execute that, rather than throw a bunch a curves together and hope something emerges from the chaos.

site feed

2004-12-04T13:49:00.000-08:00

Quite a few people have asked me to create a site feed for syndication, so that they can view it easier. So here it is ---> http://manuittina.com/atom.xml

commitment

2004-12-03T14:00:00.000-08:00

Eric Darnell ( co-director of Madagascar) was talking about commitment by an actor to a gesture. If the actor is not completely commited to a gesture it looks like - well just that - uncommited. As animators we have a pick a gesture an go with it. Every single attibute at our disposal - composition, squash, stretch, eyes, line of action, timing etc should go into reinforce that gesture. Commitment to communicate a specific idea and to do it in a specific way.

physics of emotion

2004-11-27T07:58:00.000-08:00

In reality a ball takes a certain amount of time to fall from a certain height. This time is the same whether it is a tennis ball or a cannon ball. But do we really want this to be case? This is where emotional physics comes into place. What world do the chracters inhabit ? - the mental and physical world. Is this a character that will need a 4 frame recovery after a jump or a 9 frame recovery? This is a decision that I feel most animators make instinctively. OR they talk about it in terms of believability or acting. No matter what terms are used it is a decision that every animator has to make.

cutting on an action

2004-11-23T09:53:00.000-08:00

Some tips I got when I was trying to continue an action between two shots. ( in my case turning)

It is OK to cheat.

Try and have similar silhouettes between the last and the first poses.

It is very important to follow the same arc of motion as the previous shot. Like say if an arm is awooping down in the previous shot have it swoop up continuing the arc on the next shot. ( this is where you'll have to cheat.)

No need to be exact, have some purposeful mistakes. If it is too exact it might look like a pop.

On a side note: Unless a shot absolutly demands it, DO NOT have the character start and stop at the head and tail of shot. It looks very odd if all shots in a sequence are like that. And there is a tendency to do that in CG. Animate through the cut, it feels much better.

2d nature of things

2004-11-17T13:42:00.000-08:00

Even tho we use 3d models to animate, the end result is flat. Even though the pose looks good in the regular 3d viewer, the animation is not strong till it looks good in the camera view. I have seen some animators really scale arms and legs many times over to get it to "look right" in the camera view. So tip of the the moment - camera is all that matters.

cutting tip

2004-11-16T17:22:00.000-08:00

when u cut in between shots, it looks nice when u cut on an action. In animation there is a tendency to start motion at the first frame and end it at the last frame. So something to keep in mind when u animate a shot - unless it is required to start and stop, on a cut keep the motion alive. it add that extra bit of realism. Tip from rex.

polish - I

2004-11-15T09:19:00.000-08:00

After the thinking has been done, after the poses have been laid out, after the acting has been deemd as working - You start polishing. Initially, I saw this as a chore, as somethign that needs to be done AFTER the fun part of blocking is over.

But polishing is much more than that. It is the stage of animation, where the character actually comes to life. This is stage which will aid in suspension of disbelif. It might be a minor ease in, or a minor overshoot but every thing you do will make the character seem more real. The monitor turns into a window and you just happen to be looking at the character doing his thing through it.

So, learn to enjoy polishing. Cause it aint going away.

Cars trailer

2004-11-05T10:25:00.000-08:00

Cars Every site abt animation probably has this. My thoughts? I was a little underwhelmed but am will to give them the benifit of the doubt. It is only a trailer after all.

Double blinks

2004-11-04T09:31:00.000-08:00

Doubles blinks look better when the first blink is only a half blink. Remember the eyes lids slow in and slow out too.

yahoo article on animators salaries

2004-11-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

Yahoo! News - Toonsters wait for big payoff

Bill Tytla Says-

2004-10-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

There are only three things in animation -

1. Anticipation
2. Action
3. Reaction

And these imply the rest. Learn to do these things well - and you can animate well.

"Be Simple"
"Be Direct"
"Be Clear"

"Be Very Simple"

Make a statement and FINISH it - simply.

The Animation "Business"

2004-10-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

ah Animation! so much fun, so cool and creative and insanely time consuming and therby expensive. So business are built to manage it. Studios, theme parks, TV station empires are built around this. These are managed by..um.. managers? Originally management was there just to smoothen the process, keep track of all the dots and dashes. As the industry grew so did the need for people to keep track of all the dots and dashes. Over time , due to the pressures of the market, they began to decide what sells the best and therefore what must be made., how and when and by whom. This started to be a problem. Dont get me wrong I think management is great! They have a very tough job and have lots of moolah on the line with every decision.

Sometimes these desisions are spelt L A Y O F F. As somebody who has many friends in the animation industry who were laid off and as somebody who came this >< close to being laid off, I know how hard this can be. The entire cycle of emotions - anger, sadness, bitterness etc. It is a major blow to the ego. The only way to deal with this is to accept this as a fact of the industry. The "business" is extremely big and big decisons are a part of its fabric. It is also extremely prone to change. I mean look at the last 10 years! There is no such thing as a stable job. Animation is change! At times like this I always go back to the first things that made me want to be an animator. Tom and Jerry cartoons, Bugs bunny, Jungle Book and I always go back to watching that dinky little moniter in SVA's animation test room. It was bright and hot and there was line of impatient students with stacks of drawings outside and I was seeing my drawings move for the first time.

And while we are at this... management need to find a better way to do business.

Frank Thomas says -

2004-10-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

- Nothing ever happens between the drawings! If you want something to happen - you've got to draw it in there.

If you haven't drawn it - its not going to be there.

Updated resources section

2004-10-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

Managed a get a tip of the iceberg of notes I have in to the Resources section. Most of it came from Adrian D'Alimonte who used to run the awesome site animatic.cjb.net ( no longer active) Speal thanks to Animation meat for letiing me use some of ther resources.

Watch out the Don Graham Lecture on Forces and a Milt Kahl interview to be posted up this weekend.

Madagascar international trailer... German

2004-10-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

The German version of the Madagascar trailer here. I like this more than the domestic trailer released in front of Sharktale. But then I also saw it before it was dubbed into german.