3D Animation is Dead!

You heard me. I said 3D Animation is dead. For all of you out there who hoped to work on the next Pixar film or any 3D animated cartoon for that matter, pack up your things and head for home. If you're a student who is even considering majoring in Computer Animation, switch to Botany now while you still have a chance.

Okay... I'm kidding.

You'd never know it though by the huge mountain of blog postings, magazine articles, and forum topics about how "Film A" didn't do as well as everyone had hoped or how "Film B" died a quick death at the box office. If you were an outsider, you'd think that 3D Animated films had already gone the way of the Guam Flying fox (it's extinct... look it up if you don't believe me).

Disney's "The Wild" only managed to generate around $38 million at the box office.

I've also read articles in which people ask if the flooding of the market with 3D animated films this summer is a possible cause for slower-than-expected box office returns, and it probably has something to do with it. When Pixar was the only kid on the block and there wasn't any real competition, it was much easier for them to pull in massive numbers. Now with companies like Sony and Dreamworks giving them a real run for their money, customers are forced to make more decisions with their hard-earned money.

All that said though, I really don't see a need to panic just yet. Believing that a market rich with animated features is going to somehow kill the industry is like believing that way too many comedies is going to kill the comedy movie genre, which it most certainly hasn't.

It isn't the number of films in any genre that makes people stop going.


"The Ant Bully," which received overall positive reviews, isn't seeing big box office returns.

You wanna' know the real kicker? I hold the golden ticket as to how movie studios can make as many animated movies as they want and still rake in the cash.

You ready for this?

Make good movies.

Tell me that doesn't just blow your mind. The very idea that by making nothing but quality films that aren't dependent on marketing dates or reaching key demographics or coinciding with the launch of a new line of Happy Meal Toys is just about the most earth shattering idea that could have come from this tiny, little, pea brain of mine.

It sounds simple, but it obviously isn't. Hollywood studios are already doing what they do with every other successful trend, which is to release a hundred versions of that single success, only put less than a tenth of the effort into each one. After all, if you can make a film just like Pixar does on a third of the budget, you'll make even more money, right?

Wrong.


"Barnyard" is pulling in decent numbers, but nowhere near that of other summer 3D animated films.

Now I'll stop here and now and explain that I am not calling out the work of any individual, team or company, nor am I suggesting that recent films that haven't done well at the box office were due to lack of effort on the part of the team or individual contributors. No need to threaten to shoot my dog or anything like that, because I'm not implying anything at all.

What I am saying is that, when compared against each other, there are some 3D films released this year that stand out above the rest in terms of their overall presentation. It's just the way things work.


"Over the Hedge" has made over $150 million at the box office so far.

What business-minded people never seem to grasp is that while some of those lower tier films may do well initially, eventually the consumer starts to get gun-shy and will stop going to films because they're afraid they won't get a strong enough return on their investment. So pumping out sub-par films and diluting the market with them is a great short term way to make some cash, but in the end it only winds up hurting the industry.

It happened with 2D animation as well, and more than once. There was an industry that was extremely successful but then companies started to worry more about the cash flow than the product on screen and the industry shriveled up as a result. It came back even stronger, only to repeat the same mistakes and die again.


"Cars" is being touted by some as a disappointment, despite it making $240 million in domestic ticket sales alone.

In the grand scheme of film history, 3D Animation is still in its infant stages, and has the legs to potentially be around for a long time to come. It's certainly going to be around for the next 10 years at least, but it's all up to the number crunchers to decide if it's going to be around longer or not. If they have faith in their teams' visions and allow them to create the films that they have the talent to create, then there really is no end in sight. If, on the other hand, they get too greedy and allow the quality to be sacrificed in the place of the bottom dollar, then we'd all better watch as many of these films as we can, because 25 years from now, we'll all be looking back on "the golden age of Computer Animation," and talking about how great it used to be.

Blur's Warhammer Online Trailer

Those crazy folks over at Blur Studio have made themselves quite a nice little trailer for the upcoming "Warhammer Online" game. For those of you who don't know, "Warhammer Online" happens to be one of those MMORPG-FYI-BRB-BYOB things, and it's shaping up to be pretty amazing.







While the rough versions of the trailer have been floating around the net for a couple of months now, this is the final polished version. From what I understand, it took the team an extra two months just to get the lip-licking closeup nailed down.

It was totally worth it.

Honestly though, it's a great trailer and worth taking a look at. I love the fact that it's a serious trailer, yet Blur managed to squeeze in some humor with things like the wall scene.

Warhammer Trailer - Final Version

Animation Mentor Student Blogs

Since today is somewhat of a slow news day, I wanted to post the links to two of my favorite animations from the recent Animation Mentor Student Reel.

The first is from David Sloss, who did the wonderful animation of the two guys in the office:



I can't quite place where the sound clip is from, but the guy on the right sounds like Jack Black. In any case, I love the facial expressions on the sleeping guy, as well as the way he spins around in his chair.

David's Blog


The second is from Deter Brown, who created my favorite animation from the student reel, using the voice of Guy from the film, "Galaxy Quest":



Not only do I love Guy as a character, but I also really like how Deter gave new life to him with his great animation. Again, while the body language is great, I think it's the facial expressions that really sold this one for me.

Deter's Blog

Shrek the Third Teaser Site

It's actually the first Shrek the Third teaser site for the film, despite the deceptive title.



Not much to see yet, but it's good to see Donkey back in the film, as I had heard he was having a huge contract dispute with the Producers.

I'm such a card.

Shrek the Third Teaser Site

Blur's Next Short

With four amazing shorts already under the belts, you'd think the folks over at Blur wouldn't have any room in their pants for more. (See what I did there with the shorts and the belt and the pants?)



However, sources deep with in the studio have confirmed that the Blur minions are actually nearing completion on an all new short, titled "A Gentleman's Duel."

While little is known about the plot of the film at this time, images from the short should make their way onto the Blur Site sometime in October.

See... I said "shorts," which are normally worn inside of pants, but if you had four pairs of shorts on under your belt it would make it hard to wear a fifth pair...

Forget it.

Animation Mentor Student Reel

Animation Mentor now has this year's student reel posted on their site.



The work is amazing to say the least. It's also quite inspiring, since I will be attending the school beginning in late September.



While simply attending the school won't give me the talent to produce such amazing work, I'm hoping that I'll be able to come close to matching it if I'm willing to put in the effort that this batch of students obviously did.



Swing on over to the Animation Mentor Site and have a look at the reel for yourself.

It's quite a site to see.

10 Quick with Jamaal Bradley

I contacted today's "10 Quick" victim... err... guest, after finding his amazing art blog. It was only then that I found out not only was he an animator for "Monster House," but he's also working on the upcoming "Surf's Up" film! So not only is he a great illustrator, but he's got animation chops to boot. That's quite a one-two punch if you ask me (which you didn't).

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Jamaal Bradley!

1. Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you break into the business?

My name is Jamaal Bradley and I am originally from New Jersey. I currently live and work in Los Angeles as a character animator and Sony Imageworks. I have been animating professionally for about 6.5 years.

I actually wanted to draw comic books for the longest time until a friend convinced me to try animation (this was while I was in undergrad). I was accepted to attend the New York Figure Drawing Academy for an MFA in painting, but I decided against being a starving artist (there is nothing wrong with doing that….just how I felt at the time). I studied under Nancy Beiman (former Disney animator now teacher) then soon landed a job doing bumpers for the Cartoon Network in Atlanta GA. With 2D animation slowly decreasing in productions, I was soon motivated to learn computer animation. My first job was working for a small company called TKO-Software. I worked for a few game studios, but would always go home and work on my personal stuff. I still do to this day. My work was finally seen by some people over at Sony Imageworks/ Sony Pictures Animation. I am now working with some of the best animators…and a lot of these guys are top notch. I basically kept pushing myself and that is all you can do as an artist. The worst thing for an artist to do is become stagnant.



2. Which of your work are you most proud of?

I am excited about the work I have been doing on Surf’s Up, but I think I am most proud of my personal work. The ball is rolling on my project and I am happy that the guys that I am working with are so giving and understanding of what I am trying to accomplish. As an animator, I think it is hard to be completely satisfied with you work. It is the same with a drawing or painting. You look at it after you say its done in your head, but in your heart you know something is wrong. You have to let go at some point. I am proud and grateful to be animating for a living. I think that is the bottom line of what I am the MOST proud of.

3. What are the main tools and/or programs you use to create your work?

The main tool that I have been using lately to create my work is the pencil. We use Maya to animate, but I don’t touch the computer until I get my ideas flushed out with the paper and pencil. Then hit that camera station……..



4. What's a typical day in your life like?

Shheesh!!...um….hmmm? I get in early and drink a Rockstar or Rebull. I look at the playblast that I left up from the following day so my eyes can have a fresh look at it first thing in the morning. I then look at the notes that I made for myself before I left the previous day and see what I need to attack for the day at hand. Compare those notes to the leads or sup’s notes and then I begin my attack. This is not everyday since you may be preparing for dailies that morning or dealing with some computer issues… and if you are trying to final for that week you could be dealing with a million other notes before you can hit the personal ones you made for yourself. Its all good either way. The typical day is trying to make your animation look hot as it possibly can.



5. Who or what are some of your artistic influences?

My biggest influence is my mother. She was an art teacher early in her teaching career and always pushed me as a kid with my art. There are so many influences so lets see…..artistically…

Looney Tunes(all the animators), Tom and Jerry, JC Leyndecker, Norman Rockwell, Carravagio, Milt Kahl, Sergio Pablos, James Baxter, Eric Goldberg, Nik Raneri, Bruce Smith, Hayao Miyazaki, Virginie Augustin, Pierre Alary, Sylvain Chomet, Michelangelo, Nancy Beiman, Claire Wendeling, Stephen Silver (even though he tell me not to say it)..there are so many man….just a few that popped in my head.

6. Would you say that you're a 3D artist who dabbles in 2D from time to time, or a 2D artist who happens to work in 3D?

I think I am a 2D artist that works on the computer. I like the computer a lot, but I love the pencil. You can do some amazing things with the machine and I am happy I have a job that allows me to make some cool looking stuff. The pencil is what I started with and I hope to finish with it even if I am 85 for it to happen.



7. What are 3 of the best things about your job, and what are 3 of the worst?

I tell people at work at this…you can complain about anything, but you know what …you are animating for a living so shut the hell up! Haha..seriously… you could be doing something far worse. Yes…there are times I want to jump out a window, but I bring my self back to reality with that statement. I could be doing something far worse.

8. You worked on Monster House, Open Season, and now Surf's Up. Do you see yourself staying in feature films, or would you like to branch into other areas, such as games?

I would love to work on my own projects fulltime. That would be the dream job. I worked in games..tiny stint in TV, and now film. Its fun..all of it is fun. (read the above statement)



9. Do you get to attend the premieres for the films you work on?

HA! Yeah right!...I guess they have raffles and such for one lucky person to go to the red carpet.

10. You've just been made head of Sony's animation department. What's the ideal film you would make?

My ideal movie…It would have to be dark. A dark 3D movie with no humor. I am not a dark person, but I think the industry needs it. Just a gigantic change that will make the world say ..”what in the world was that!!”



Thanks to Jamaal for the great answers. I'm sure I speak for many when I say that I'm really looking forward to seeing "Surf's Up!" next year.

Swing on by Jamaal's Blog and take a look at all of his amazing work, including a sketch from right out of "Surf's Up!"

Thanks again, Jamaal!

Really Nice Gift

What you see below is a Gopher Broke DVD, autographed by none other than the film's director and writer, Mr. Jeff Fowler, which happens to be sitting on my desk.



Though in a sense I'm bragging, more than anything I just wanted to thank Jeff for sending me such a great gift. As I've said on the blog many times, "Gopher Broke" is probably my favorite animation of the last 10 years, so to have it on DVD, signed by the Director is pretty darn amazing in my book. As you can see, I've already nerded out and purchased a little stand for it so that I can display it with pride in my office.

So a huge thank you to Jeff Fowler for sending me the DVD and the team over at Blur Studio for making such a great film.

P.S. If you look closely you can see that I have a screenshot from the short as the background on the monitor on the right. This was not intentional and I only saw it once I published the photo here on the blog.

I'm a total nerd.

Slow News Week...

This week has been pretty slow for news in the 3D world, so I thought I'd compile some links of things that I held off on posting for one reason or another.

AWN'S Ant Bully Article - This is a pretty interesting read about what DNA had to go through to get a film like the Ant Bully up and running. As I've said in the past, it's a shame that this film looks like it's going to die a horrible death at the box office, because I think there are other films that are much more deserving of such a fate.

Pixar's Next Film - Looks like, once they've wrapped up Ratatouille and Toy Story 3, Pixar is going to focus on a film called "W.A.L.-E," which I'm guessing is pronounced "Wally."

New Meet the Robinsons Images from Animated News - Animated News posted a handful of new images from next year's Meet the Robinson's film, which has been rumored to have undergone some big changes, thanks to the folks at Pixar.

Variety Focuses on the Flood of 3D Animation - A pretty good article over on Variety that speaks on the fact that while we've seen a huge upswing in the number of CG animated films this year, the overall box office numbers are starting to dip. Worth the read.

Happy Feet Website Update - Coming Soon is reporting that the Happy Feet site has been updated with videos, photos, wallpapers and more.

Finally, I'm hoping to have some news from Blur Studio that I can post about real soon. Just have to make sure it's okay first!

More as I find it!

Nice German Poster for Cars

Pretty nice looking German poster of "Cars" posted over at Upcoming Pixar:



I am surprised the German word for "Cars" isn't 26 letters long.

GTA Coke Ad

If you have yet to see this, here is the new GTA-inspired Coke ad:

Look for Jack Thompson's lawsuit, alleging that drinking Coke causes children to eat one another, to begin making its rounds shortly.

How does your favorite 3D Animated film compare?

Via the fine folks at Cartoon Brew comes an neat little chart posted over at Box Office Mojo showing how all of the 3D Animated films compare to each other in terms of lifetime revenue.



I've never even heard of "Kaena: The Prophecy," but maybe that's why it's last on the list... well, the that and the fact that it's been shown in a total of 3 theaters.

Box Office Mojo's Chart

Career vs Art

I have a weekly 1-on-1 with an Art Director in the Game Studios at Microsoft. Aside from being a really nice guy, he's also really talented, and has used that talent to get himself quite far in the art industry. I won't bore you with the list of games he's been involved with, but chances are that if you've been near a PC or Xbox in the last 5 years, you've probably at least heard of the titles he's worked on. He's currently working nights at a well known school, creating a videogame art program for them.

Each Friday we sit down for an hour, and I show him what I've been working on. He then offers advice and focuses my attention in the right direction, be it in regards to the art itself, or my career goals.

Overall it's a very rewarding experience, and one that I appreciate very much.

Today we were talking about some of the interviews he's been doing lately. I make no bones about the fact that I know my art skills aren't to a level where I could land a job in the art department of Microsoft Games Studios, so my mentor doesn't hold back in talking about the people that he does interview. The candidate he talked with today had a portfolio showing the skills he has in touching up photos, such as making a pregnant model appear as though she isn't, or touching up facial blemishes. My mentor was saying that the work looked good, but he didn't really see him fitting into games with his skills. The candidate then produced a small spiral bound book, wrapped in a rubberband. Inside were mixed media pieces he created using paint, pencils, cardboard, bits of paper, and anything else he could find.

Taking one look at this spiral book, my mentor was blown away and said, "You shouldn't be working for Microsoft. You are an amazing traditional artist. Why don't you do this for a living?"

The candidate thought for a moment and replied, "I love it too much."

That's quite a statement when you really think about it... to love and care for something that you've created so much that you wouldn't want to do it for a living.

I've devoted myself to becoming a 3D artist, but frankly the comment scared the crap out of me. Each night when I get home, I have a nibble of food, pet my dogs, and then hop in front of my PC or drawing pad and begin creating artwork. While I have an amazing job, there are days when I'm literally counting the minutes to get out of there so that I can get home to my art and get lost in creating it.

So what happens if five years from now, I find myself in the 3D industry, and I'm in some sort of crunch mode, struggling to kick out one final animation, and I realize that I'm not happy? What then?

I've always thought that, if you want to succeed in your career, you should find the one thing you truly enjoy doing and do it for a living. As I've said in the past, I enjoy creating artwork and entertaining people. 3D animation would provide me with ability to do both of things, and that is why I've chosen to pursue a career in it. But what if the grind of being forced to create things paints me into a corner to the point where I can't stand creating art any longer?

I drew a moderately successful comic strip for a while, and at first I loved it. However towards the end of the comic strip's life, I dreaded it. Even though I was creating artwork and entertaining an audience, I totally burnt myself out at it to the point where I just stopped.

Could the same thing happen to me with 3D artwork?

It's tough to say for sure, and I'll never know unless I try. Sure there is a risk that I'll wind up hating the very thing that I'm now so overly motivated to become, but as far as I'm concerned, this candidate made a decision just as risky as that one. What if he got into a career as a mixed media artist and loved every second of it? What if he woke up each day and couldn't wait to get to work, because he knew that he was supporting his family while at the same time creating rewarding pieces of work that he knew others would enjoy?

So to anyone out there in a similar situation to me, take a moment to stop and think about the ramifications of what could happen if you wind up getting exactly what you're wishing for, and then make the decision for yourself.

As for me? I can't see myself doing anything but art for a living.

I love it too much.

Breathed's Opus Opus

According to Coming Soon, a movie based on everyone's favorite penguin, Opus, will be released just in time for Christmas of 2008.



I for one am a HUGE fan of Breathed's work, whether it be in Bloom County, Outland or his current Sunday-only strip, Opus. So I was super excited when I read this. Then I saw that the Weinstein Company was behind it, and my excitement faded a bit to more of a reserved anticipation. I know at one point Blur had done some 3D tests for Opus, and my hope is that they still have a hand in this project in some form.

Either way, for a massive Opus fan like me, this is great news!

Coming Soon's Opus Info

10 Quick With David Chiapperino

So I know you got up this morning and rolled out of bed, rubbed your tired little eyes and then suddenly thought, "What in the heck is an Animation Technical Director?"

I know I did.

Well today's 10 Quick happens to be with an Animation Technical Director, by the name of David Chiapperino, and aside from being on of "those," he happens to also be an extremely talented artist.

Take it away, David!

1. Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you break into the business?

For as long as I can remember, I have been creating stories and drawing. I went to college in Philadelphia and was very determined. While in college, I met my good friend Chris Cherubini. We started up a little freelance business and snatched up every job we could. We would often take 3D jobs without any clue as to how we would do them. These freelance experiences were invaluable and I earned enough to pay for supplies and an occasional Nachos Bell Grande. Though mostly I lived off spaghetti and butter. And often we'd run out of butter!

When I graduated, I must have sent out at least 30 reels only to be followed by letters of rejection. Come to think of it, I have never gotten a job from a blind submission. There is always a friend who says "I know this guy..." My first full-time job in the animation field was for a startup 3D animation company in Philly creating flying logos and industrial animations for tradeshows. One day out of the blue, one of my college roommates called me and told me that there was artist/animator opening at Funnybone Interactive ( in Canton Connecticut). When I started, the studio was almost all 2D. I started as a digital clean-up artist. At the time, game sprites were not anti-aliased, so it was my job to go through all of the artwork and clean up the pixels on the edges of the digital artwork. In about a month I moved from clean-up artist to a traditional animator. After work I would stay late and recreate the characters and environments in 3D. I would stay until they would kick me out of the building. Eventually the extra work paid off and the Funnybone 3D department was born. First thing I did was get Chris hired. Over the next few years we grew the department and it was a starting point for quite a few very successful artists and animators.

Over those years, Funnybone was absorbed several times. Eventually it became a division of Vivendi-Universal. This was great because I was able to help manage a team on quite a range of titles including: Jurassic Park games, a couple of direct to video movies, Jumpstart, Rescue Heroes and even one called (don't laugh) Kelly's Pet Parade. When VU Games decided to close down the studio it was time to move to Los Angeles. The amount of opportunity in LA was quite an eye-opener. Here I have worked on a variety of projects that were more realistic and for older audiences. While on these projects, I really started to become interested in production pipelines and how things were being built. I joined Disney's VR Studio in spring of 2005 as the Animation Technical Director.



2. Which of your work are you most proud of?

I am most proud of the work that has come out of my own head. You can see one these ideas here: www.wishcommandos.com

3. What are the main tools and/or programs you use to create your work?

At work I use Maya, Photoshop, a sketchbook, a text editor, and a bunch of scribbled on scrap paper.

4. What's a typical day in your life like?

Here is my typical weekday breaks down:
Work, gym, personal animation projects, salsa dancing. Thats right! Though, the order changes from day to day.

5. Who or what are some of your artistic influences?

I am inspired by artists such as Tim Burton, Bruce Timm, Rodin, The Brothers Chaps, Bill Waterson. I'm inspired by games too. Halflife2, The Mark of Kri, Black and White, and the old Sierra adventure games (Kings Quest, Police Quest,and Space Quest). My favorite games artistically are: Neverhood, Skull Monkeys, and everything created by Oddworld. The most meaningful artistic influences in my life have been from the artsists/musicians/techies that I have known, worked with, and have helped me personally. Guys like: Chris Cherubini, Phil Straub, Mark Covell, Dominic Massaro and Jason Taylor (who I see you've already interviewed).



6. Would you say that you're a 3D artist who dabbles in 2D from time to time, or a 2D artist who happens to work in 3D?

I love the technology. I do draw quite a bit, but most of my work time is spent in virtual space.

7. What are 3 of the best things about your job, and what are 3 of the worst?

Best:
A. Working with talented diverse group. They are a crew with experience in games, features (animated and live action) and imagineers all working together.
B. I like that I get to be involved on so many aspects of the project. I never know what new challenges will spring up from day to day.
C. I enjoy the content.

Worst:

I really have no major complaints to report. This is a good gig for sure. Here is what I could come up with:

A. I wish the games industry as a whole would take more risks and produce more original lP's.
B. I’m not a big fan of cubicles.

8. What exactly is a Technical Director and what can you tell us about Disney's Virtual Reality Studio?

Disney's VR Studio has its roots with Imagineering. Their focus was to research and develop virtual reality simulations and 3D software. Some of these projects can still be seen at Disney World today. More recently they have created the award winning massive multi-player online game, Toontown Online. Toontown is continually expanding and we are currently working on a new MMO, Pirates of the Caribbean Online.

A Technical Director's role is very different depending on the studio your working for. Often larger studios have a small army of TD's. At the VR Studio, I am the only Technical Director. I work with modelers, animators, programmers, and game designers to find the best way possible to integrate characters and animation into a game. I rig all of the creatures, humans, trees, and almost everything that moves. These rigs have to be intuitive for the artists and clean and precisely built for the programming team. Rigging is only a part of my job. While in production, TD's work on a multitude of miscellaneous artistic and technical obstacles. It’s a very dynamic job.



9. You've worked on a variety of projects, from Barbie to Socom. Do you prefer working more on cartoon style characters or more realistic characters?

I enjoy working on projects that aren't too serious in their content. I also prefer more illustrative styles.

10. You have a really good set of "art chops" on you, but you also seem very technical. Would you say you're more of a right brain person or a left brain person?

Thanks! I really attack projects with both sides of my brain at the same time. I am middle-brained. There really is something satisfying to me about the tech and artistic vision coming together.


Thanks to David Chiapperino for answering this weeks "10 Quick" with us!

Everyone should take a moment to swing on by his site and check out all of his exceptional work!

Thanks again, David!

Barnyard Review

I've decided to scrap my old format for reviewing movies as it was pretty long and drawn out. As most of you probably just skipped to the last paragraph to read my summary, my reviews will now be just that.

Barnyard is a decent movie. Don't walk into it expecting Pixar, Dreamworks or Sony and you won't walk out disappointed. Sure the premise is almost identical to "The Lion King," but it works well enough. There are some decent gags and a couple of scenes, like the pizza delivery, that make the film worth at least a matinee viewing. While I could have done without Courtney Cox, the rest of the cast does a decent job, though I do wish they would have allowed Kevin James more room to act as goofy as he normally does. I happened to go with 3 of my nieces, who are 15, 10 and 7, and they all loved it. So if you've got kids, they'll probably have a good time watching it too.

Final Score: 7.5 (out of 10)

MonsterMania set to do the Monster Mash in 2008

According to what I assume to be the official blogUli Meyer Animation, has made the official announcement that they are working on a new 3D Animated feature film titled, "MonsterMania."



According to the post:

Uli Meyer Animation has started production on MonsterMania!, a fully computer-animated feature film comedy featuring the classic movie monsters. Scripted by award-winning British horror writers Michael Marshall Smith and Stephen Jones, based on an idea by Uli Meyer, Stephen Jones and Michael Marshall Smith, MonsterMania! has been in active development for the past three years at the company’s London-based animation studios.

MonsterMania! tells the story of young scientist Max van Helsing, who is plunged into an exciting and dangerous adventure by his late grandfather’s will. He embarks on a life-changing quest that takes him to the heart of the Eastern European country of Wallachia. There Max encounters the classic monsters, including Frankenstein’s creation, a werewolf, a lagoon creature and many other bizarre and creepy characters, as he sets out to save the girl of his dreams from the greatest evil the world has ever known . . . Vlad, Count Dracula!

More info on the blog!

UMBACKAGAIN Blog

Andrew Burke's "Ant Bully" Animations

10 Quick alum and all around nice guy, Andrew Burke has posted some clips showcasing his animation work in the Ant Bully.



Swing on over and check out Mr. Burke's Blog while you're at it. He's one crazy cat.

Did you know he works for Valve and is working on Team Fortress 2? I bet he could get you a job there if asked really nicely. You should all take a moment to send him an email and ask him. Just so you know, anyone who works at Valve drives a golden car and works at desks made of candy.

It's pretty fancy.

Note: I honestly doubt he can get you a job there, and I knew a guy who worked at Valve and drove an 89 Camry. It was not made of gold.

No Updates Today

Sorry for the lack of updates today. I've got a doctor thing going on, and it involves me being medicated, which involves things happening to my body, which involve things you don't want to hear about.

As a result, updates will kick back in tomorrow.

You know... in the meantime, you can swing on over to 3Dave.com which now has a fancy new box that allows you to leave a quick comment for me. I think it's called a shoutbox... or a talkbox... or a yellbox... or a cardboard box.

I think it's that last one.

See you tomorrow!

Cars DVD Cover

From DVDActive comes the first glimpse of the "Cars" DVD release:



The single-disc release will present the film with an anamorphic transfer at its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and include the brand new animated short "Mater and the Ghostlight" as well as the Academy Award nominated short "One Man Band". Other extras will include a behind-the-scenes featurette entitled 'Inspiration For Cars', four deleted scenes, and a preview for Disney & Pixar's upcoming feature, Ratatouille.

One more shot by following the link below.

The link below.

Ba Da Ba CHING!

Great Barnyard Article

The fine folks over at Animation World Network have another great interview up, this time with the filmmakers behind "Barnyard."



“Because of the economics that are present in CG filmmaking right now, sometimes a crowd scene lacks energy or you catch the repetition of characters. Steve really wanted to throw a party. That’s the concept behind, why have all these characters? As a producer I went ‘Whoo! 180 characters!’ But it’s amazing how we came up with technical solutions to achieve this and support this look. The crowd shots look pretty amazing. I don’t think we’ve seen that energy in CG films at this point."

Read the entire article here!

Madagascar Gets Sequelized

Via Dark Horizons via Animated News, it looks like a Madagascar sequel will be hitting theaters on November 7, 2008.



The first film was certainly above average, so I'm somewhat excited for the sequel.

Especially since I hear that in this one Alex comes out of retirement for one last boxing match and to prove to the world that he has the heart of a champion.

I may be getting this confused with another sequel...

3Dave.com Is Open!

For a couple of months now, I've had 3Dave.com redirected to this here blog. This weekend I finally got off my butt and created a true website to showcase my work in both 2D and 3D. You can now find it at the all-new 3Dave.com



Here you will find links to my illustration work, some of my comic strips, my 3D models and soon enough you'll be seeing the very first pieces that I create as part of my schooling at Animation Mentor.

The site is a bit slow right now, as I work the kinks out and get it optimized, but it should give you a good sense of where the site is heading, and hopefully spur you to check in every once in a while.

Just so you know, this blog will continue to be updated just as often as it has in the past, so don't think I'm going to stop posting here. You'll still be able to check on the progress of various projects I'm working on, as well as get daily updates on the world of 3D animation and art.

Swing on by and let me know what you think!

Cars on DVD November 7th!

Mike Snider of USA Today is reporting that Pixar's latest will hit the DVD shelves this November.



'Cars' rolls out on DVD on Nov. 7

Ka-Chow! Lightning McQueen and the crew from Disney and Pixar's summer hit Cars will cruise into stores on DVD Nov. 7. The disc includes an all-new short film Mater and the Ghostlight. A behind-the-scenes feature, Inspiration for Cars, tells how writer/director John Lasseter made the film, which already has grossed more than $235 million. Also on the $30 DVD is One Man Band, the Academy Award-nominated short that played in theaters before Cars, and four deleted scenes and a sneak peek at next summer's Disney/Pixar animated feature film Ratatouille, about a French rat who aspires to be a chef.

As always, I'm sure the DVD will be packed with extras and will be followed two months later by the "Special 2 Month Anniversary Special Edition Extravaganza Special Features Edition Spectacular Mondo Edition!" which will contain even more features, which will force me to buy it as well.

That's right... I said force. As in twist my arm, gun to my head, John Lasseter in my living room force.

USA Today's Coming Attractions

Barnyard Slops Into Theaters Today!

Looking like a version of Gary Larson's wildest fantasies put to 3D, Barnyard: The Original Part Animals hits theaters today!

While the film sits at a 31% overall on Rotten Tomatoes right now, I can't help but be excited to see this. The mechanical man, the pizza delivery guys, the little yellow chick... the film just totally looks like my cup of tea.

It just so happens that my cup of tea is made up of a collection of ground up cows, baby chicks, and pizza delivery guys.

Goes great with toast.

10 Quick with Jeff Fowler

Alright let's just face facts here, folks...

I run a blog.

I don't know if you've noticed or not, but there happens to be more than a couple of blogs on the internet. So I am but a small spec on the ass of the internet. Frankly I wouldn't give myself the time of day on most days.

So it's been an amazing experience for a dork like me to get to talk with all of the wonderful artists that we've had as a part of the "10 Quick" interview series.

Today's interview is no exception.

Jeff Fowler is a clown. Don't believe me? Well what if I told you that he had a degree from Ringling? As in the circus. Sure he doesn't have a degree in the science of clown on paper, but one look at his Monkey Pit short or his work on Blur Studio's "Gopher Broke" short, and it's obvious that, though he did major in computer animation, he at least minored in clown science.

All kidding aside (apparently you're not supposed to make clown jokes as Jeff mentions right off the bat), I'm honored to get to interview Jeff. I've said enough about Gopher Broke on this site by now that you already know what a brilliant creation I think it is, and according to Jason Taylor from his "10 Quick":

"Jeff Fowler deserves all the praise for Gopher. He wrote and directed it... t'was his vision."

This means that I got to ask some questions of the guy who had the vision to create what I consider to be one of the best animated pieces of the past 10 years. Heck... the dang thing was nominated for an Academy Award. They don't do that for a walk cycle, folks.

I could babble on and on, but you get the idea. Jeff is an amazing talent, and a "10 Quick" that I had looked forward to posting for some time. So enough from me...

1. Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you break into the business?

I graduated from the Ringling School of Art and Design n the spring of 2002. (yes... the same Ringling as the circus, but Jeebus help you if you make a clown joke) I did a short film called "Monkey Pit" as part o my senior thesis program at Ringling, which I sent out to prospective employers in hopes of getting my foot in the door. Tim Miller, the creative director and co-founder of Blur Studio, eventually saw the piece, which spoke to his passion for bare monkey ass. Consequently, he got in touch with me in regards to coming to work for Blur. I readily accepted, and have been trying to get out ever since. (Haha... I'm joking, I love it)



2. Which of your work are you most proud of?

Without a doubt, the joy of my professional life comes from the five months I spent with that buck-toothed, vegetable-grubbing thief from "Gopher Broke." It was the most amazing experience to be given a crew of professional artists to help make one of my ideas. To this day, I still have trouble believing someone trusted me with that much money! I doubt I'll ever get to have as much personal involvement with a project as I did with GB, where I wrote, storyboarded, and animate d throughout the film. For that reason, the project was very personal, and something I'm tremendously proud of.



3. What are the main tools and/or programs you use to create your work?

I use Discreet's 3D Studio Max for most of my animation work in the studio, although Blur has begun using Softimage XSI as well, so we'll see how that goes. For editing, I use Adobe's Premiere Pro.

4. What's a typical day in your life like?

I usually try and get to the studio around 9am while things are still fairly "quiet." (most people roll in between 10 and 11, which is a nice option to have ;) I swear, you learn more about the shots you're working on with that first set of fresh eyes you lay on it in the morning than you will all day. I do my lunchin' around 12:30, sampling some of Venice's finest cafes and sandwich shops (hardly any food chains here, it's soooo nice!) Afternoons are a mix of animation reviews, occasional meetings, and the explosive bombardment of profanity that comes with a Quake game every afternoon. After the dust settles, I buckle down and try to squeeze a few final hours of work in, which usually ends around 6:30pm.



5. Who or what are some of your artistic influences?

Influences are everywhere. I think my most immediate influences come from my peers. In college, it was looking over the shoulders of my fellow students and seeing the amazing work they were doing which pushed me to work harder. In a studio like Blur, the level of work that my co-workers produce inspires me on a whole new level. The beauty of the internet has been to allow the spread of work on a worldwide stage. I'm always finding inspirational animations, images, or sketches all across the web. In a broader sense, I certainly feel influenced by historical figures like Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, and more recently, John Lasseter and his crew at Pixar. But the list is endless, and there are certainly live-action films, paintings, and sculptures which do as much to inspire me as works of animation.

6. Would you say that you're a 3D artist who dabbles in 2D from time to time, or a 2D artist who happens to work in 3D?

I'd say I'm a 3D artist who wonders why he doesn't do more dabbling in 2D. I'm forsaking my roots! I've been doing a lot of writing, though... what do you call those guys? 1D artists?



7. What are 3 of the best things about your job, and what are 3 of the worst?

Best
1.) Opportunities to write and direct short films.
2.) Greatest atmosphere in the history of paid work.
3.) Proximity to the beach.

Worst
1.) Knowing said beach is there but not being able to go because you're WORKING!
2.) Sometimes clients can be wanky, but not too often.
3.) "TMB" - Too many Belgians. No, wait, that's not true. Actually, I love the Belgians. One of them was my animation supervisor on GB, and he did a "crepe-y" job. Hahaha... ahem.



8. As I did with Jason Taylor's 10 Quick, I'm going to now proceed to gush a bit. "Gopher Broke," is without a doubt my single favorite piece of animation to hit in the past 5 years, if not 10. The character designs, the facial expressions, the timing, the colors... it's simply a joy to watch from start to finish! Jason mentioned you were a huge reason for this. What was your role in "Gopher," and will you be as heavily involved in the full-length feature?

Please, gush away my good man! No... really... keep gushing. I said....(fist shaking) keep gushing!

Thanks for the kind words, though... it really was a joy to produce. Much of the credit goes to the uber-talented boys and girl at Blur. (sadly, that's not a typo) I wrote and directed the piece, and occassionally bought bagels for the noble crew. No hand/wrist massages, though... that would have been crossing the line.

As far as the feature goes, needless to say no one hands over $40+ million lightly, so we've been having our fair share of conversations and meetings to work out the details. Nothing is certain, but everyone here is remaining optimistic. With a little bit of luck, I'll be writing and directing the feature as well.

9. How long did it take you to create "Monkey Pit," and did you have any outside help, or was it just you?

No help, just me and ma monkey! (which is why the fur looked as crappy as it did ;) It was part of the Senior Thesis program at the Ringling School of Art and Design, which is the finest animation program in the country, IMO. Here's how the thesis project goes: You + One Year + Coffee = Short Film



10. How about some demo reel advice for everyone reading. What would be 3 "dos" and 3 "dont's" for a good demo reel, in your opinion?

The DO's!!!

1.) DO keep it short and sweet... only your best stuff! If you're on the fence about something, it's cut! Chopped! Dumped! Deleted! ! You get the idea...

2.) DO try and find someone to contact at the studio you're applying to... WHO you know is as important as WHAT you know! (sad, I know... but that's the dealio)

3.) DO put it on the internet! While physical reels are important, your chances of getting some good exposure from having it online are too great to be ignored!!!

The DON'T's!!!

1.) DON'T forget to update your website! We've received applicants that literally HAD THE JOB from a reel they sent in, but provided a link to their website, which displayed some pretty mediocre(and probably old) work, which blew the deal...

2.) DON'T listen to Jason Taylor. Haha... I kid, I kid. Jason is actually one of my amigos at the studio here, and a very talented animator to boot. I couldn't follow in his "10 Quick" footsteps without taking some opportunity to bust his chops. Seriously, though... you should send him emails with all your questions: www.captainkeyframe.com

3.) DON'T lose hope. (cheesy, but true!) Hiring comes in waves, often times it's either NO ONE'S hiring or EVERYONE'S hiring. Just keep sending out your stuff until the drought lifts.

Good luck! If we do a GB movie, you can all come work for us! ;)


A huge thank you to Jeff Fowler for taking the time to do this interview. He had better be careful what he says in regards to working on the Gopher Broke movie, or he might find me on his doorstep one of these days.

Make sure you swing on over to Jeff's website to check out his "Monkey Pit" short, as well as Blur Studio's Site to watch "Gopher Broke" if you haven't already.

Thanks again, Jeff!

Ladies Wanted

No I'm not looking for a date because my wife happens to be out of town. I'm looking for female artists and/or animators who would be willing to answer 10 Quick questions as part of this blog's weekly interview series.

Not that the interviews with the male artists have been horrible or anything, but I'd really like to get a female perspective as well. If you are a female artist working in the industry, or you know of any, please get in touch with me at davesj*at*gmail*dot*com.

And make sure you tune in tomorrow, as we'll be talking with Jeff Fowler, the driving force behind Blur's "Gopher Broke":



If you haven't heard me gush enough about this amazing short, just wait until tomorrow, bucko... just you wait.

Hotel Transylvania

From the fine folks over at Animated News comes the news of the upcoming Sony film "Hotel Transylvania."



The comedy Hotel Transylvania has been given the greenlight at Sony Pictures Animation, says Variety via Coming Soon. The project will be directed by Anthony Stacchi and David Feiss, while Michelle Murdocca will produce. Screenwriter Don Rhymer is penning the screenplay. Hotel Transylvania looks at "a group of classic monsters including Frankenstein, the Mummy, Dracula and the Werewolf who are hiding out in a hotel on the outskirts of Transylvania now that 21st century technology has seemingly made them irrelevant." The film is aiming for a 2009 due date, while Sony Pictures Animation remains busy with this fall's Open Season and next summer's Surf's Up.

The premise sounds intriguing and, if done well, could be a lot of fun!

So in other words, hopefully this one isn't another brain dead animated film that was wrapped too early and sucks, or it will leave me howling.

See what I did there? I made a Frankenstein/Mummy/Dracula/Werewolf pun, all in one sentence. I didn't say it was good... I just said I did it.

BY DAVE: Pin Nears Completion!

As you can see by this image, Pin the dog is very near completion:



He's got little sprouts of hair on his head now, as well as a shiny new collar. Not only that but I managed to finally get the controller working on his right eye so that he can now move them independently and blink if he needs to!

Ant Bully Article

Animation World Network has an interesting article up right now about what DNA Productions had to go through in creating their current release, The Ant Bully.



“For The Ant Bully, we completely gutted our pipeline and built something new. We didn’t use any of the tools we used on Neutron,” offers Davis, a self-taught 3D animator who created his first shorts with off-the-shelf software. “We needed to raise the bar in render quality and the amount of detail and complexity of the characters. That’s what excited the whole team but also killed us for a couple of years. We didn’t have a year of R&D going in; everything happened all at once and, ultimately, it was through sheer force of will, plus blood, sweat and tears that we got the look I wanted within our time and budget limits."

It's a shame that the film isn't doing better at the box office, as the reviews are actually pretty decent with the film sitting at a 66% overall on Rotten Tomatoes.

I have not seen the film yet, but plan to some time this week. Maybe a bunch of people had to stuff going on this weekend like me, and will turn out in droves on Wednesday night alongside me to watch it. I highly doubt it, but you never know...

Read the entire AWN article here!

Dude! Surf's Up!

Sony put up a new teaser site for next summer's Surf's Up



One poster and the penguins already look way more appealing to me than those found in Happy Feet.

Man... could we get one more movie about penguins though? I mean really... you had "Madagascar," "March of the Penguins," "Batman Returns," and "Surf's Up," all which featured penguins in a major role. Okay so "Batman Returns" came out around 14 years ago, but still...

Click to visit the teaser site!