360 Google Spotlight Story: On Ice

Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Shannon Tindle (Go Goo Go) and Google ATAP’s Spotlight Stories have released ON ICE to YouTube TODAY. “On Ice,” is viewable in the Google Spotlight Stories YouTube channel app on many Android devices, and also with Google Cardboard. We’ll also bring “On Ice” to the Google Spotlight Stories apps (on iOS and Android) soon.

ON ICE is about an over-the-top, sci-fi themed ice show and its star (a la Flash Gordon), who suddenly finds he has competition for the spotlight from an unlikely rival…a bear.

ON ICE was directed by Shannon Tindle, and created in collaboration with Evil Eye Pictures. There are hidden surprises, both audio and visual, that occur on stage and off, including one musical surprise that pays homage to Queen! Ice skating techniques are drawn from both accuracy and creative liberties – and you can also catch the highlights you missed on the MainStage on the Jumbotron, just look up!

Google Spotlight Stories is a new form of storytelling made specifically for mobile and VR. In these 360-degree, interactive stories, your phone becomes a window to a world all around you. The sensors on your phone allow the story to be interactive; when you move your phone to various scenes, you are able to unlock mini-stories within the story.

In addition to ON ICE, we’re bringing Justin Lin’s HELP to YouTube later this week as well. HELP was released last year on our Android and iOS app, is our first live action piece, and received a nomination for a Visual Media Experience Award at this year’s SXSW.

Show off you Workspace!

My last post about Japanese artists showing off their workspaces got me to thinking it would be cool for animators around the world to do the same. So, if you’re interested in doing so, snap a pic of your workstation either at work or at home (or both) and email it to mike@animationinsider.com or link to it in the comments and I’ll gather them together and make one big post. Animators represent! As a start here’s mine:

Mike-Milo-workspace

#showoffyourworkspace

Batz, a Shortfilm by Max Maleo & Aurelien Prédal

 

A truly GORGEOUS animated and designed short funded entirely by Kickstarter! I would MUCH rather see a full length feature in this style than yet another fully rendered realistic one.

Batz, a Shortfilm by Max Maleo & Aurelien Prédal

Website : batz-themovie.com
Facebook : facebook.com/KawaBATZ

Production : Kawanimation Paris

Written by Max Maleo, Aurélien Predal, Pierre Razetto & Dimitri Cohen Tanugi

FR: Vamp et Rouss sont deux chauve-souris que tout semble opposer. Leur rencontre explosive va les propulser dans une aventure déjantée qui va mettre leur vie sens dessus dessous !

UK: Vamp and Rouss are two bats that everything seems to oppose. Their explosive meeting will propel them into a crazy adventure that will put their lives upside down!

All rights reserved – Kawanimation Paris – June 2013

Created by
Max Maleo & Aurélien Predal

Director
Max Maleo

Art director
Aurélien Predal

Producerz
Pierre Razetto & Dimitri Cohen Tanugi

Written by
Max Maleo
Aurélien Predal
Pierre Razetto
Dimitri Cohen Tanugi

Head of Production
Alexis Laffaille

Production Assistant
Eugény Couture
Morgane Souris
Marion Vermogen
Anne De Valors

Voice of Batz
Martial Le Minoux (ROUSS)
Antoine Schoumsky (VAMP)

Technical director
Thomas Liebert

Character Modeling
Martin Coustenoble

Character Rigging
Damien Gautron

Light & Rendering
Jean Marc Lepretre

Assistant Director
Guillaume Bonnaire

FX
Pascal Gaubertier
Thibaud Petitpas

Sound Design & Mixed by
Gautier de Faultrier
Clément Maleo

Music By
Jerome Bessout
Ghislain Fracapane
Florian Jamelot
Matthieu Fisson

Score
Victor Belin

Animatorz
Emmanuel Asquier-Brassart
Eve Guastella
Yoann Bomal
Jeanne Irzenski Gueye
Guillaume Bonnaire
Helene Leroux
Julien Bouquet
Max Maleo
Daniel Callaby
Gael Matchabelli
Marie Celaya
Bart Maunoury
Julie Cervantès
David Nasser
Augustin Clermont
Gwenolé Oul’chen
Paolo Cogliati
Thibaud Petitpas
Jean philipe Descoins
Jean Michel Ponthieux
Moze Essame
Sylvain Rohart
Karina Gazizova
Marion Roussel
Jean-Charles Gonin
Pierre Rutz
Romain Vacher
Manu Vergne

CG Internship
Charles Lemor
Rebecca Joly

Fur technology makes Zootopia’s bunnies believable

Screenshot 2016-03-04 13.16.03

Engadget has an interesting article up about creating fur for Zootopia. Apparently the amount of fur each character has climbs easily into the millions!

To make the animals look realistic, Disney’s trusty team of engineers introduced iGroom, a fur-controlling tool that had never been used before. The software helped shape about 2.5 million hairs on the leading bunny and about the same on the fox. A giraffe in the movie walks around with 9 million hairs, while a gerbil has about 480,000 (even the rodent in the movie beats Elsa’s 400,000 strands in Frozen).

You can read the entire article here.

Blender’s new Grease Pencil

Wow! Mind. BLOWN!

There’s a new version of Blender (a free 3d program that will let you draw, push, pull and manipulate drawings in a 3d environment. It’ looks incredible! Furthermore, it appears to have symbols and a library you can drag and drop assets in. All in all a pretty incredible new feature for the animation industry. Check it out below!

Danielle Mascaro Pioli

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What is your name and your current occupation?
 My name is Danielle Mascaro Pioli, and I’m a freelance artist.What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I’ve never worked before I get into animation.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I did some illustrations for my boyfriend’s personal short film. It’s not done yet, but I’m proud of being a part of his first classic animation work.
How did you become interested in animation?
I always loved drawing. Since I can remember. But I didn’t know what to do with it until I decided to learn 3D software. When I really got into this world (thanks to my sister, my boyfriend and my cousin), I started to understand how Continue reading