This is an old one. I missed it the first time around somehow, but enjoy anyway. Creative Digital Motion points us to a great recreation of the famous speeder bike light cycle scene from Tron… Only this video has an interesting twist…

It makes me want to grab a role of duct tape and go make some movies!

The Character Design Blog (a personal favorite site of mine) brings us a nice, lengthy interview with animator and illustrator Pascal Campion. Pascal has made a name for himself for his unique and highly impactful style. I find his deceptively simple character design and his saturated, monochromatic color schemes to be simply breathtaking. His work is stunning and his blog absolutely worth bookmarking.

Interestingly enough, Pascal echos some of what I discussed in a recent post concerning motivation and self development. I’d like to believe that this is an example of “great minds think alike”…yes.

He says:

LOVE what you do. Have fun doing it. Remember why you like art…if it’s for the stories, the emotions, or just the technical aspect of it.. always remember what you like and go for it.

It’s too easy to get lost by learning all these different techniques and tricks. You’re only going to use a few anyhow to do what you want to do, and chances are, you’ll have to create them yourself in order to accomplish YOUR vision.

Don’t wait for someone to give you the go ahead to do something. Just do it. I know it’s cliché, but I’ve met so many great artist that never do anything else BUT the work they are commissioned to do because they feel like they are not giving the right opportunity. I don’t believe anybody is ever going to give it to you, you just have to go and do it If you want to do a short film, make the time for it, if you want to do a graphic novel, take the time to do it.

The sooner, the better!

Enjoy the interview!

I recently blogged about the Totoro Forest Project. Well, Bidding has now begun. Just go to the gallery and place your bid by clicking on any picture. The one I want has a “Fair Market Value” of (eep!) 1500 dollars…

…looks like I will be admiring it from afar…

Outside Hollywood has an interesting article concerning animation schools. They assert that school is a waste of time and that to become a truely great animator, all one needs is a good resource for tutorials and time.

The example they use to prove their argument is a popular student project known as “Colins Bear”. This film is Colin Sander’s final project in an animation class and stands as a special “Thanks for Nothing” to his professor.

According to an interview with the student:

The course is called Animation Arts. I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to assume that this course would then be about the art of animating…
…Unfortunately for the 55 of us in the class, our professor did not have an understanding (or at least he didn’t demonstrate an understanding) greater than an above average student. He seemed to be learning it along side of us. This video is actually my final assignment.

Alrighty, Here is the thing. I am not going to defend his professor. For purposes of this argument, lets assume that the professor was incompetent and brought no real value to the class. That still gives Colin no excuses for how his project turned out.

Because, as much as I disagree with much of what Outside-Hollywood says, they actually do have a point. You can learn how to animate on your own. After all, an animation class only meets for a few hours a week, and a teacher can only pack so many lectures into those few hours. How much technical knowledge can one really learn in a single semester from classroom instruction? Consider that there are plenty of blogs, forums, tutorials and manuals out there. Everything that one needs to know about the mechanics of 3D animation can be found on any number of websites.

So why didn’t Colin take advantage of these resources? If his teacher was so clearly unfit to teach it to him, and if Colin was as serious about wanting to learn as he seems to want people to believe, why didn’t he simply spend the time and effort to learn how to animate on his own?

The answer is simple. Colin just didn’t really care enough about the craft to bother himself with learning how to become a great animator. The proof is in his project. He had all basics down: A model, which was rigged and skinned. He knew how to move the skeleton and set his keyframes. He had everything he needed to produce a great animation. The only thing he didn’t have was a desire and the self motivation to spend the time and effort to refine and improve his skills to the point of professionalism. Or, at the very least, competency.

A truely great animation teacher brings more than a simple text book knowledge of the subject to his class. A great teacher brings an intimate knowledge of the theory and the art of animation to his class. A book can only teach you how to animate, but a teacher can give you the passion, the knowledge and the desire to become an fantastic animator.

As far as the quality of your work is concerned, here is a tip: If you are currently taking animation classes and are not please with the quality of the work you are producing, ask yourself “Am I spending enough time with my work? Am I working constantly both inside and outside of class to improve my skills? Or am I simply waiting for my teacher to get around to showing me how to press the various buttons on the screen.” The way you answer these questions should give you a very good idea of why your work is failing.

James over at LAML Radio is attempting to bring us one interview with a LEGO builder each day for the month of August. To lend a hand, I am interviewing a few of my favorite builders this month. My first builder interview is now up at the LAML Radio website.

UPDATE: I also interviewed the legendary Chris Giddens and that interview is now available as well.

The sound quality is very bad at times and I was having a very difficult time talking because I was hearing my own voice on delay in my headset. (Oh well, I am learning as I go.) Never the less, the content is still what counts right? …Right?

If your interested in LEGO space, and trains, then please feel free to check it out!

This stopmotion animation is horrific, hilarious and not suitable for children. Those three things put together make it a must watch!

via Digg

I know, I know. This is old news, but I am still trying to get caught up from being out of the country for two weeks.

Here is the teaser for Pixar’s next blockbuster: Up.

Slashfilm has some very lovely concept art from The Princess and the Frog. I gotta say that I love the more traditional feel that this film brings to the increasingly tired genre of animated features. It’s very refreshing.

Be sure to check out their site for more images.

If you are like me, and you can’t get enough of Hellboy, then head on over to CGSociety and check out the article featuring the story behind the CG creature effects from the second film about that big lovable red guy.