Author Archives: Mike

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Alternatives to Final Draft

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final-draft

Since you can’t very well create animation with a story, you’re gonna need script writing software. Below is a list of 21 alternatives (read: cheaper) to Final Draft. Personally my favorite is Adobe Story mostly because it syncs to The Cloud and allows me to use it on multiple computers but you might have different ideas.

  1. Scrivener
    Commercial by Literature & Latte | Mac, Windows, Linux

    Scrivener is a word processor and project management tool created specifically for writers of long texts such as novels and research papers.

  2. Freemium by Greyfirst Corporation | Mac, Web / Cloud, Android, iPhone, Android Tablet, iPad

    Based on the Firefox engine, supports standards, visual storyboarding, prod. sceduling, publication and international languages MUI support. you can even get a portable version by googling for it. .

  3. Free by Spacejock Software (Simon Haynes) | Windows

    yWriter is a word processor which breaks your novel into chapters and scenes, helping you keep track of your work while leaving your mind free to create.

  4.  Trelby
    Open Source by Trelby.org | Windows, Linux

    Trelby is simple, fast and elegantly laid out to make screenwriting simple. It is infinitely configurable. *

  5. Commercial by Anthemion Software Ltd. | Mac, Windows, Linux

    Write a novel or screenplay with Writers Cafe: a powerful but fun writers environment that includes the StoryLines structuring tool, a notebook, journal, writing quotations, and scrapbook organizer

  6. Freemium by Dimka Novikov | Mac, Windows, Linux

    Simple and powerful application for writing movie scripts.

  7. Free | Mac, Windows, Linux, LibreOffice, Apache OpenOffice

    Organon – Navigation and Organization Tool for OpenOffice and LibreOffice

  8. Freemium | Mac, Windows, Linux, Web / Cloud

    Adobe® Story software lets you outline your ideas, write scripts quickly with automatic formatting, and collaborate online.

  9. Free | Web / Cloud

    Plotbot is free screenwriting software. You can write your screenplay with as many or a few people as you want–right from your browser. We handle the formatting so you can concentrate on writing!

  10. Commercial by Mariner Software | Mac

    Storymill is a creative writing tool geared towards book writers; although, it could easily be used for other big creative writing projects, like scripts.

  11. Commercial by Stroyist Software | Mac

    Designed exclusively for Mac OS X, Storyist is a powerful story development tool for novelists and screenwriters.

  12. Free by Guy Goldstein | Web / Cloud

    Collaborative screenwriting for everyone* *Great for solo writers as well!

  13. Commercial by Write Brothers, Inc. | Windows

    Outline 4D is an outlining and writing program that lets you brainstorm, create, structure and organize your ideas.

  14. Commercial by J Nozzi | Mac

    CopyWrite is the award-winning creative writing project management system for Mac OS X.

  15. Commercial by Act Focused Media LLC | Mac

    Slugline is a minimal, distraction-free environment for the most important part of screenwriting—the writing part. Slugline works with plain text.

  16. Commercial | Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, iPhone, iPad

    Fade In Professional Screenwriting Software is a complete application for writing motion picture screenplays, including tools for outlining, organizing, and navigating, plus extensive screenplay formatting.

  17. Open Source | Windows

    Page 2 Stage is screenwriting software designed expressly for people writing screenplays, scripts, and plays. It provides numerous features needed by screenwriters not found in standard word processors.

  18. Commercial by Cinovation | Mac, Windows

    Scriptware scriptwriting software, for writing scripts faster and easier than ever. Screenplay software for script writers.

  19. Commercial by Quote-Unquote Apps | Mac

    *** 2013 Macworld Eddy Winner! – Best of 2013 *** With Highland, crafting a perfectly-formatted screenplay is as simple as writing an email. Just type. Highland will make it look good.

  20. Commercial by blankpageapp | Web / Cloud

    Helps writers become authors. BlankPage is a full writing environment with a minimalist text editor, a powerful outlining tool, and social features all centered around motivational cues to help you keep writing.

    BlankPage gives you detailed statistics about when and how you write. Intelligent reminders for when you should write and a never ending stream of inspirational content to help you get going.

  21. Commercial | Windows

    Word processor specifically for screenplays.

 

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Jobs: Character Designer- Mrs Wordsmith and Animal Students

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Mrs Wordsmith

Title: Character Designer- Mrs Wordsmith and Animal Students
Candidate Search:Location: London, UK or anywhere – remote work acceptable
Candidate Ideally has… Prior experience with Pixar or BlueSky or similar helpful

 

Description
We are creating imaginative and original educational products that are disruptive – as seen through the eyes of a child – from paper to robotics.

These products are woven into the narrative of Mrs Wordsmith who is an eccentric and wild English teacher who runs a dilapidated boarding school for animals who are desperate to learn how to speak English, somewhere in England.

Responsibilities:

§      Work with the founders to develop Mrs. Wordsmith and 10 animal students on our brief. A tight narrative with names and descriptions will be provided.

§  Create covers for the core product and a few settings

§  Illustrate 200 words in a variety of comical poses – also part of the brief.

§  Complete work on schedule.  Timing of 1 month.

§  Check in every second day with the founders and discuss designs.

§      Designs need to be fully rendered in a painterly or almost 3d look and feel.  We can provide examples.

§   There will be the opportunity to join the team to create full 3d animations and the partipate on the development of the full range of products and content.

Basic Qualifications:

§      Must demonstrate proficiency in creating characters in style of films like Madagascar and Rio.

§      Strong character design and construction/mechanical skills

§      Must be proficient with Photoshop, & Illustrator.

§      Strong time-management skills

§      Flexible and likes working as part of an energetic team.

§    Interesting in possibly joining a dynamic start-up down the road and building a team to create world class products

 

Desired Qualifications:

§      BA in Fine Arts or Animation or equivalent work experience highly desired

 

HOW TO APPLY
You MUST submit a portfolio or link in order to be considered for artistic positions to sofia@wonderpl.com
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Adobe’s New App Turns 2-D Selfies Into 3-D Magic

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FastCodesign.com has an article up about a fascinating new tech from Adobe that turns 2d pictures into 3d. It’s cool, but clearly has it’s limits. I can’t imagine the practicality of it above and beyond, “Hey check out how cool this is.

From the site:

To be presented tonight at Adobe MAX Sneaks, the Photoshop maker’s annual peek inside their development labs, 3-D Portraits smartly recognizes faces, eyes, mouths, and hair, and then efficiently turns them into a usable 3-D model. This is actually already possible in Photoshop, but it requires a number of tedious manual steps, and the results can range in quality. Thanks to research by Menglei Chai, a PhD student from Zhejiang University, and a team of Adobe Research scientists, though, they’ve now figured out how to largely automate the process.

You can read the whole article here.

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Joaquin Baldwin

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Sebastian’s Voodoo: 
What is your name and your current occupation? 
I’m Joaquin Baldwin, I work at the Walt Disney Animation Studios as a CG Layout Artist, I’m currently working on the film Wreck-It Ralph that should come out in November of 2012. Here’s some more info on Wreck-It Ralph:
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I cleaned a ceramics lab and worked in the admissions office at my old college (CCAD). I was also a webdesigner for about 6 years, which is not a crazy job, but sometimes you gotta make porn sites 🙂
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of? 
I made 3 short films recently while finishing my studies at UCLA: Sebastian’s Voodoo, Papiroflexia and The Windmill Farmer. They were incredibly fun to make, and getting a chance at going out to film festivals all over the place with them was a unique experience all filmmakers should experience at least once.
How did you become interested in animation?
I was a computer nerd and used to experiment with computer graphics while in high-school. I liked blowing shit up (in the computer, but also in real life making explosives but that’s another story). I learned a lot of technical things this way, but not much on the artistic side. I came to the US to study art and webdesign and decided that I kind of hated it, and doing animation was more fun. It wasn’t until that point that I embraced animation as a way to Continue reading
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Guy Vasilovich

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What is your name and your current occupation? 
Guy Vasilovich. Animation Director, creator, writer

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation? 
I drew caricatures of patrons on the ceiling of a beer bar.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Art Directed the Great Mouse Detective. Created the animated series Moville Mysteries and Iggy Arbuckle nature Freak. Co-created the internationally syndicated comic strip: When I was Short

How did you become interested in animation? 
I practiced drawing from the Preston Blair since I could hold a crayon.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business? 
Chicago Illinois. I was accepted to Continue reading

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Never-Before-Seen Robin Williams ‘Aladdin’ Outtakes Revealed in New Blu-ray Edition

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“He was the genie. He was bigger than life.”

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that there will be some never before seen outtakes in the new Blueray edition of Aladdin.

In 1992, Disney’s animated classic Aladdin became a hit with adults and children alike, with much credit due to the performance of Robin Williams as the unforgettable genie.

Now, almost 25 years later, Disney is releasing the Aladdin Diamond Edition Blu-ray Combo Pack with never-before seen outtakes of Williams in the recording studio — all of his unstoppable talent on full display. To celebrate the launch of the new edition, the directors, composer and voices behind the film appeared on Good Morning America to pay tribute to the late actor and all that he contributed to the film.

“It was amazing working with Robin, absolutely incredible,” said composer Alan Menken.

“We wrote the part with Robin in mind,” added co-director John Musker mused. “We didn’t know if he would do it. We were totally walking down the plank; if he didn’t want to do it, we were in big trouble because the whole concept was built around Robin — fortunately, he agreed to do it.”

“Nobody else could be the genie,” co-director Ron Clemens mused. “We recorded him in four-hour sessions and he would be going for four-hours straight. By the end, he was just drenched in sweat. He had so much energy and so much passion.”

“He was the genie,” added Musker. “He was bigger than life,”

Watch the full clip below.