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Scott Heming

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What is your name?
Scott Heming

What would you say has been your primary job in animation?
For most of my Computer Graphics career (Since the early 90’s) I have been a 3D artist. I have done my share of animation, video, short corporate films,  and web media. The smaller the company I work for, the more animation I seem to do.  I often have to wear an Animators hat when its called for. So, I would say I primarily do 3D Pre-Visaliaztion Animated films, well at lest I did for many years before I started working in the game industry.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century (DIC-1999?) – mostly because it was early 2D/3D mixing on a project that was supposed to be another cheap DIC p.o.s. The show was typically short handed but everyone involved really got into it and I think it shows. It was Emmy nominated and still gets airplay 10 years later.

Curious George (TV series Universal 2006-2010) Kids and adults like it despite PBS’s educational mandate. Fun crew to work with. It’s a character I remember fondly from my childhood, so it’s been a privilege to ‘play’ in the world.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Fred Wolf Films – early 90’s) It was my second job in animation. A real trial by fire because of the insane schedule that first year. I had to learn a lot fast to survive, so I guess the pride comes from that…survival. We did something like 95 1/2 hours of animation in one year – Turtles, James Bond Jr., Toxic Crusaders… it wasn’t all pretty – but it got done.
How did you become interested in animation?
I was assisting doing comic books – which meant spotting blacks, doing backgrounds…doing grunt work. It didn’t pay shit but it got me out of the vacuum I’d been drawing in. One of the guys at the little studio we worked at was doing freelance props for DIC. I asked him how well it paid. He drew a quick ellipse  inside of an ellipse and said, ʺ See that? That’s a plate. That’s $35.ʺ Continue reading

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Roger Eschbacher

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 What is your name?
Roger Eschbacher
What would you say has been your primary job in animation?
I’ve primarily worked as a writer.
An outrageously fun side job I had was doing a voice on a cartoon (“Detention”). Unfortunately, with so many incredibly skilled voice actors and celebrities in the mix, that work is wicked difficult for an average Joe comedic actor (like me) to get.
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Before coming out to Hollywood, I worked in the paint shop at a company that made those open refrigeration units you see at supermarkets. My job was to rub down sheet metal with solvent, hang it on racks, then wheel the racks into walk in ovens (which were always running) after the metal had been were painted. To say that job was a motivating factor in my move would be an understatement.
Since moving to Hollywood, most of my crazier jobs have been as an actor.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I presume you mean animation projects. Let’s see…Currently, I’m very much enjoying writing for “Scooby Doo, Mystery Incorporated”. The people there are great and they’re really putting a lot of thought into the series-wide arc and the whole re-invention of a classic series. Come on, it’s Scooby! What’s not to like?! In the past, I’ve enjoyed writing for “Histeria!” and Continue reading

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Model 86- Self Help Dance Teaser (NSFW)

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Inspired by Jorge Louis Borges, Chris Marker and David Lynch, Dagher’s highly stylised monochrome visuals perfectly complement the music’s filmic style. He says of the piece: “Keeping it black and white and raw was important while trying to translate the feeling of each track into an animated vignette. The tracks are so versatile and eclectic and it was a lot of fun to try and tie them all up together visually.”　
*PRESS RELEASE*
　
‘If debut track ‘Friend’ is anything to go by then Model 86 might just be the most eclectic producer in London at this given moment.’ – NME
‘New EP ‘Self Help Dance’ recalls early 90s Warp – the woozy, hypnagogic realm of Scottish duo Boards Of Canada or the more blissful sides of LFO.’ – Clash
　
Emerging from the electronic music scene is Manchester-born, London-based producer MODEL 86, with his debut EP ‘Self Help Dance’, due for release on 18th September.
　
Enigmas in modern music are no new thing, but MODEL 86, the moniker of Matthew James Wilcock, takes things further than pseudonyms, masks and no shows. His minimalist facebook profile states his gender as neutral, and this refusal to ascribe to cultural definitions translates to his shape-shifting musical style.
　
Written over the past year, ‘Self Help Dance’ defies genres, taking influences from modern electronica, 90’s hip hop, film scores, unusual samples and sound design in a style that calls to mind the likes of Flying Lotus, Boards of Canada and Dorian Concept, while retaining a bold originality.
　
At times soaring and melodic, at others driving and percussive, ‘Self Help Dance’ is an EP of true sonic experimentalism. Whilst tracks such as ‘CTRL’ create an ethereal atmosphere with ambient chimes and progressive highs, tracks such as ‘LA’ and ‘Friend’ combine chaotic beats with melodic tweaks, fizzles and cinematic glitches.
　
Accompanying the EP is a hypnotic teaser video directed by the award-winning Ely Dagher, who also provides the full colour matte print artwork for the vinyl. Inspired by Jorge Louis Borges, Chris Marker and David Lynch, Dagher’s highly stylised monochrome visuals perfectly complement the music’s filmic style. The pair are no strangers to collaborating, having also worked together on the short animated film ‘Waves 98’, for which MODEL 86 composed the soundtrack and Dagher was awarded the highly acclaimed Palme d’Or award for ‘Best Short Film’ at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. A trailer for the film also featured on VICE/The Creators Project.
　
An artist who spent his formative years listening to NY hip hop artists such as MF Doom and Edan, and discovering a range of genres from 70s funk and jazz to Polish progressive rock, MODEL 86 began developing his style at a young age, when he first discovered Acid Pro and bought an MPC 2000XL. Dropping out of art school to pursue his desire to express himself through sound, he perfected his talent by producing music and sound design work for rappers, commercials, TV and film, for which he will produce several new scores this year.
　
Now finally coming into his own, this special 10-track EP features bonus track ‘Swell’ on digital, whilst the vinyl release will feature ‘Friend’ and ‘C.T.A.S’, alongside exclusive 7″ track ‘Hangin With Virginia’.
　
Seeing many people from his youth stuck with narrowed prospects from growing up in one of Manchester’s most　underprivileged areas, MODEL 86 places a strong importance on helping yourself. This, mixed with his own psychological and　physiological　experiences of anti-depressants and a fascination with mental health, is reflected here in the EP’s title ‘Self Help Dance’, making an intimate offering　which is sure to resonate long after listening.
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Gatorade | Fuel the Fire

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Gatorade | Fuel the Fire

GoldenWolf/UK

Anselm von Seherr-Thoss explains how RealFlow was used to make some amazing effects for the Gatorade commercial featuring football superstars Lionel Messi and James Rodríguez.

About the company

Incendii is located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Nowadays New Orleans is known for a lot of filming but not so much for post production or VFX. So it is an exotic entity in this area.

The problem

Besides the Gatorade fluids itself a lot of atmospheric effects like dust and smoke needed to be created. The fluid was definitely the secret here besides the actual soccer icons like Messi, etc. So getting the message across that Gatorade refuels and powers the athletes was crucial. Lots of high velocity flowing through tiny tubes and pipes which called for pretty significant detail even given the more toon-ish, not 101% photorealistic look. Besides the pipes and objects emerging out of volumes of fluids we made a bunch of generic splash and paint bucket type elements to be added as needed on the motion graphics side.

We worked on these commercials for two months on and off. Incendii also helped pitching the project prior to the production schedule earlier. I would say on the Gatorade team there were about ten over all at GoldenWolf and on the Incendii side two artists for fluid simulations and dust/rubble/fire, etc. But the lines blurred here. Whoever was free for a task picked it up. Time is always against you on a commercial project. With budget constraints come time constraints come shortcuts. But I think we managed well! The team was GREAT! Constant communication was very important.

The solution

RealFlow was used in connection with Houdini for the Gatorade simulation splashing and running through pipes of all sorts and for the big splashes where barrels are poured over. We also emerged a running engine from a pool of Gatorade and filled up a battery all using SPH.

The techniques applied were a mix of RealFlow and Houdini. In RealFlow for small confined spaces SPH works better with Hybrido. Hybrido shines when you have large pools of fluids or huge pours. We used both on a per task basis. Great to have them both in there! The new node based interface is making it easy to even take on shots from other artists because the connections are so clearly visible and notes can be put beside to get everybody up to speed.

Some of the pipes the fluids go through were very small in diameter; it took a bit of testing to get the detail we wanted to achieve. SPH worked better on some, Hybrido on others. It was great to have a choice. Also the emerging engine was a bit of a task since the pistons were running at a high speed. Adjusting the sub samples took care of a good bit as well as the new meshing options. Small droplets required quite a bit of detail.

Why RealFlow?

With the exchange plug-in for 3ds Max it is very easy to render in VRay and Krakatoa or even just loading the RealFlow particles into Particle Flow for further treatment like shape instances. Sometimes particles get cached out of 3ds Max and then meshed in RealFlow or even used as drivers. I use it both ways really. Especially with tools like Thinkbox’s Stoke you can generate nice motion easily and then pull that into RealFlow for meshing or emitters.  I love the node based interface and interchange features with 3ds Max and others. Now I am no RealFlow expert by any stretch, but I like what I see and so do the clients. The rental option is also nice for a project which requires a little extra for a limited time.

The greatest benefit of RealFlow is how well it plays with 3ds Max with its exchange plug-in. Also since Thinkbox products can write BIN files now making motions in other tools and importing it into RealFlow for further treatment works nicely. I like meshing in RealFlow over using Frost some times as well.

The team at GoldenWolf was awesome to work with. This project was different from what I usually get to do so I really like the look and feel of it. It is more toony/stylized than photorealistic. Great job everyone!

GoldenWolf/UK 

Incendii LLC – Visual effects

Credits


 

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Colter Avara

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Colter Avara. I am currently a freelance illustrator, animator and designer. Most of my clients are mobile game and app developers!

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Oh man, I think I am pretty fortunate on that front. I spent several years working various IT jobs, unfortunately that isn’t crazy. Just boring. The craziest job I ever had was given to me by my dad. When I was a kid, I really wanted a video game. I think it was Sonic The Hedgehog 2 but I’m not 100% sure, I wanted pretty much every game.  In an attempt to teach me about working for things in life, he told me that he would buy the game for me if I plucked every clover flower in our yard. Our yard was over an acre and full of mostly clover, just to give you an idea of what I was dealing with. It was crazy! I spent almost an entire week filling up drywall buckets with flowers. I don’t think either of my parents predicted that I would be so diligent, but the buckets of clover flowers and the swarm of pissed off honey bees told them otherwise. They had me stop at around 4-5 buckets.  I earned the video game and possibly destroyed an ecosystem in the process. Sorry, to any honey bees out there. I’m probably going to get trolled by honey bees now.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I enjoyed working on all of my projects, but I had the most fun on the projects where I had a little more creative freedom, particularly on a social game that I worked on called, Rock Riot. It was a guitar hero style facebook game. The team really let me take the reigns creatively and the player community was really into it! That was the best part, seeing the players enjoy the items I had created. I’ll never forget the first time I saw players using the turkey guitar I made for Thanksgiving. That was hilarious.

 

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I am originally from Maryland and I am now living in Pennsylvania. My professional career started in 2008 when I worked with John Kricfalusi on The George Liquor Program. After that, Continue reading

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Frank Detrano

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What is your name and occupation?
Frank Detrano. Storyboard Artist & Character Designer for Finetoon Animation

What have been some of the crazier jobs you’ve had before getting into animation?
I think I’ve had a more interesting and varied past than most artists in the field, having been a professional opera singer, a teacher of ancient history and a personal trainer.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Mostly all of the shows have found a personal niche in me. However, if I had to choose one it would be Clifford Puppy Days. It was educational and entertaining at the same time. Plus I would draw dogs frolicking and playing all day and always came home in a great mood.

How did you become interested in animation?
I could always draw, even from an early age and did Continue reading