New Computer Tool Creates Animated Movie From Any Written Screenplay

What if you could create animation directly from your written screenplay.

Impossible right? Scary yes? Guess what? The capability is here and the beta is free!

Check out this link description:
http://www.screencraft.org/hollywoodnews/computer-tool-creates-animated-movie-written-screenplay/

And here is the official site:

https://plotagon.com/

Free Animation and Modeling Resource

Saw this magazine from Future Publishing a week ago at the bookstore and it looks like a keeper.
You can view sample pages here:
http://issuu.com/futurepublishing/docs/animation.sampler
Bonus materials from this magazine are available for free! We're talking project files, screenshots, video clip reference / tutorials and more. Granted the magazine gives you the step by step details, but it's nice to see the bonus material offered at no charge.

Is it a tease for you to purchase the magazine? Yes. But if you already know a bit about modeling and animation software you may be able to piece together the workflow concepts.

Check out this link below and enjoy.  If you get an error message you can copy and paste the link into the browser. 
http://www.creativebloq.com/3d-world/download-supporting-files-ultimate-guide-3d-animation-9134673

Disney's Comic Art Kit

Disney artist Carson Van Osten created this Toolkit as a handy guide to common problems of perspective, staging, character design and even lettering comics. Check it out:

http://comicsalliance.com/disney-comic-strip-artists-kit/

Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling

If you have a great idea but not sure how to flesh it out, take a peek at Pixar's 22 rules of storytelling.
See slide show link below and enjoy.

http://www.fastcocreate.com/3018559/pixars-22-rules-of-storytelling-visualized#1

Want more in depth analysis? Check out this PDF:
Pixar's 22 Rules Analysis

Visual Composition and Storyboarding

Here is a link that has just about everything you need to know about visual composition, dynamic character posing,  and storyboarding. Page is big so it may take an extra moment or two to load.

Great variety of examples and a MUST SEE!!

http://www.floobynooby.com/IPUB/comp1.html

23 Things Every Entrepreneur Must Know

Anyone thinking about creating a start-up should check out this link from Forbes.
A special thanks to LinkedIn for this.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/actiontrumpseverything/2013/09/22/23-things-every-entrepreneur-must-know-2/

Visual Development Tips from Sony Pictures Animation

Here is a video clip with advice for students considering becoming conceptual development artist from Sony Pictures Animation.

Thank you YouTube and LinkedIn!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF43pMRZamw

Enjoy.

Free Online Mixing Resources - Practice Music Tracks

How would you like to get a hold of music tracks to practice your mixing skills with? Mike Senior is a recording engineer and author at Cambridge Music Techlogy who graciously supplied audio tracks for just this purpose.  Check out the link below along with excerpts from his book, "Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio".

http://www.cambridge-mt.com/ms-mtk.htm

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Get on my email list and let me know which category is your favorite; animation, audio or art:
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 priority.

Sound Design - Computer Music Magazine Special # 60

Was in Fry's Electronics magazine department and saw this issue of Computer Music Magazine on Sound Design. This issue appears to be a keeper with some excellent interviews of sound designers as well as practical sound design technique with audio software. Issue comes with a  assortment of  111 sample files from Time + Space as well as links to free video tutorials. You can find this issue at Barnes and Nobles as well.

Nook  / Google Play version is $4.99 (I-Phone / I-Pad version is same price)

https://play.google.com/store/magazines/details?id=CAownM6IAg&cdid=magazineissue-CAAqBwgKMJzOiAIw4LIi&hl=en

Physical version $17.99

Want updates on new posts and upcoming publications from Triple A Dude?
Get on my email list and let me know which category is your favorite; animation, audio or art:
tripleadudeblogspot@gmail.com

We do not rent or sell your email information. Your privacy is a number one
 priority.

Adobe Products - FREE RESOURCES - CS6

As we know, pricing on Adobe Products is through the roof for most normal people.
It's really cool to come across a bargain especially from Adobe. Here is a site where you can get free resources including video tutorials and e-books on just about all of  their software.

http://prodesigntools.com/adobe-cs6-tutorials-free-videos-all-products.html

http://prodesigntools.com/download-free-adobe-cs6-ebooks.html

Bear in mind, you can also download trail versions of the software itself  to check out for free too.

Enjoy.

Social Media / Advertising & Marketing Resources

If you have created a product, service or content that you now want to tell the world about, you had better get savvy on leveraging social media.

Here are a list of sources for information Social Media / Advertising & Marketing:

http://careerinsiderorg.tradepub.com/
(select the marketing tab topic on the left and also advertising and promotion)
http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-resources
http://blog.hootsuite.com/category/resources/


TradePub.com in particular has some amazing free e-publications in a variety of topics.
Check it out.

A discussion about content ownership and going indie will be coming soon!

New Animation Projects at Disney

Here is a link that talks about new animation projects being developed at Disney. They mention a bit on the thought process behind story creation. Very interesting indeed!


http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-disney-big-hero-6-frozen-20130508-dto,0,4722556.htmlstory

Career Advice for College Grads

Reid Hoffman, co founder of LinkedIn and Ben Casnocha co-authored a book called "The Start-Up of You.

The link below is a fantastic and inspirational slide show that nails the essence of what to do when you begin to question where your life is headed, and how to overcome the fears that we face in the real world. The advice is for everyone regardless of whether have graduated or not.  Scroll down to see the slide show. Check it out. It's awesome!

www.businessinsider.com/amazing-career-advice-for-college-grads-from-linkedins-billionaire-founder-2013-5?op=1

Ray Harryhausen, Stop Motion Master passed away this week.

The GGI community owes a debt of gratitude to effects master Ray Harryhausen. Prior to computer graphics revolution blossoming in the late 1980's, the only way to bring fantastic creatures to life onscreen was through the magic of stop motion.

Inspired by George Pal "Puppetoons" of the 1940's, Harryhausen got his big break on the film "Mighty Joe Young" (1949) by helping his mentor Willis O'Brien, creator of  "King Kong" (1933). 

His career really took off when he joined forces with producer Charles H. Schneer  to create some of the most memorable movies of all time: 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958),  Jason and the Argonauts (1963), One Million Years BC (1966), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973), Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977), and the classic Clash of the Titans (1981).

Harryhausen was a true innovator and inspiration to anyone into animation and special effects.
Rest in peace, Ray.

Check out these two links:
http://www.rayharryhausen.com/index.php
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/05/07/ray-harryhausen-obit/2141651/
(link above includes film clips)

Sound Design Audio Links

I recently responded to a post on LinkedIn (Game Audio Group), about learning sound design and resources. Here were some links I suggested for research:

http://designingsound.org/
http://soundworkscollection.com/
http://filmsound.org/
http://audio.tutsplus.com/
http://www.epicsound.com/sfx/

If you know of any good resources concerning sound design please respond to this post.

If you are registered to LinkedIn, sign up to the Game Audio group and check it out. Full post is here:

http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=93720&type=member&item=237815194&commentID=135761010&qid=efbef770-2dac-4db8-89ea-62e1323a9241&goback=.gmp_93720#commentID_135761010

Oblivion - Practical Effects

If you have not seen the new Tom Cruise movie "Oblivion", you are missing out. Make sure to see it on the big screen. There are amazing visuals, cinematography and  location shooting. Check out the behind the scene clips on the effects work.

Also, there is a nice discussion on UI design for graphic artist and game designers.

http://www.awn.com/news/films/oblivion-featurette-spotlights-practical-effects

Manga Studio / Moho / Anime Studio Support

Met James Perry, "Orange Crows" manga creator at the Con-Nichiwa Anime convention this past March. He had recommended using Manga Studio EX 4 software for manga and comic book creation. 

Smith Micro no longer supports Manga studio or Clip Studio. Take a look here to see who is supporting Manga Studio / Moho / Anime Studio.

Making of the Croods, Animated Movie.

Here is a behind the scene discussion of the animated movie, the Croods.

http://www.animationmagazine.net/features/the-croods-come-out-of-the-

cave/?goback=.gde_2148332_member_234037845


Link to Carter Goodrich; character designer:
http://cartergoodrich.com/

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Disney Shuts Down Lucas Arts

The "House of Mouse', will be using other video game publishers to handle future Star Wars gaming projects as Lucas Arts is officially closed.

More info here:
http://kotaku.com/disney-shuts-down-lucasarts-468473749


Disney is at the top of the world now that it owns the Star Wars universe. You can bet that they will market and milk it for everything it's worth. Disney is the entertainment juggernaut now that it also has already control of  Pixar and acquired Marvel. What is next? Has the "Empire" taken over?

See more here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-01/disney-s-marvel-like-lucasfilm-deal-sees-many-avengers.html

Jack Kirby Copyright Debacle

If you are a fan of comic books than you must know what an impact Jack Kirby was to the comic book medium. He single-handily established the Marvel style and was it's greatest character creator. He was responsible for the creation of  the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Thor and more. It appears that their was a provision for creators to get copyrights back under certain circumstances but such was not the case for Kirby's heirs.

See link below for details:
 http://www.animationmagazine.net/people/judge-rules-for-marvel-in-kirby-heirs-copyright-claim/

It is important for artists / content creators to know about copyrights and contracts; especially work for hire arrangements and intellectual property clauses. That is a topic to discuss in a  post coming soon.

Android Will Be on More Devices Than All Major Operating Systems Combined

Caught this interesting article today. Apples dominance is coming to an end pretty soon. People creating apps should seriously consider the Android platform. Check out the link below for more info:


http://campustechnology.com/articles/2013/04/09/android-will-be-on-more-devices-than-all-major-operating-systems-combined.aspx?=CTNU

An insider's view of Disney - Floyd Norman

I was reading a review of  new Focal Press book called, "Animated Life" by Disney artist Floyd Norman. Not knowing the name, I did a search to find out who this person was. Found out he worked with some of the greats, worked at Pixar too, and has wonderful stories and insights of the golden days.

Check out these links and enjoy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Norman
https://twitter.com/floydnorman

MIBA Creative Workshops

MIBA Creative Workshops were officially announced at the Con-Nichiwa Anime Con this weekend.
The workshops will offer training in:

• 2D Traditional Animation, 
• 3D Animation
• Video Game Development
• Comic Book Development / Visual Storytelling
• Web Development (Web Design and Web Applications)
• Illustration (Drawing Techniques & Character Design)
•  Audio Development
  
  For more information check out www.makeitbadass.org (site will be live 3/27/13)
  or contact, info@makeitbadass.org

Con-Nichiwa Anime Con

Had a blast at the Con-Nichiwa Anime Con this weekend. Attendees did a fabulous job on costumes.

"Orange Crows" creator James Perry had informative discussion on manga creation, art tips, publishing pros and con's and getting self publishing. Awesome.

Lytro: The Future of Photography

If you haven't heard by now, the Lytro cameras push photography into a new realm. You are not taking pictures of an image. You are taking a picture of light energy. See link below and scroll for an interactive demo.

https://www.lytro.com/camera#perspective_shift

An Animation Learning Site That Looks Promising

Alejandro Garcia is an animation pro who migrated all his tutorials to his YouTube channel. These clips should help traditional animators and 3d artists as well. His specialty is physics and movement. 

Check out Alejandro Garcia's YouTube Channel here.

Paperman Animated Short wins Oscar

Disney won an Oscar for this best animated short. Could not resist posting this. View full short here:
Paperman Short YouTube

A little behind the scenes info:

01 - http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671941/why-this-oscar-nominated-disney-short-looks-like-nothing-made-before#1

02 - http://www.fastcompany.com/3006276/creative-conversations/trying-woo-animators-disney-accidentally-invents-paperman-method

4 Ways to Amplify Creativity

Came across this article at the Fast Company website that takes a
very interesting look at creativity for us creative folks. Enjoy.

.http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671773/4-ways-to-amplify-your-creativity