A newly released book by college educator Mike S. Fowler illustrates the principles of layout from an instructor's perspective. Created by Fowler to use when teaching, ANIMATION BACKGROUND LAYOUT: FROM STUDENT TO PROFESSIONAL illustrates the purpose and function of animation layout, and is applicable to both students and more experienced animators. Fowler previewed his book at this year's 2002 Ottawa International Animation Festival, and reports it received rave reviews from the staff of many colleges and universities from across North America.

Oregon3D, Inc. has appointed Mark Noland as educational director and Phillip Guzzo as associate educational director. Mark Noland has worked for over 15 years in nearly every area of digital imaging including Web, print, game, film and video production. He founded Mercury Studios in 1997 where he acted as a producer and director for clients such as Fox Sports and The Golf Channel. Phillip A.

The Gnomon Workshop has released four new training DVDs that focus on modeling and kinematics in Alias|Wavefront's Maya. This series includes two DVDs on Polygon modeling and two more titles on Maya's Kinematics engine. Each title has 110 minutes of instruction, lecture notes, scene files, resource spotlights and bonus materials. The DVDs were produced by Alex Alvarez, director of the Gnomon Workshop and Gnomon School of Visual Effects; and Darrin Krumweide, associate director of Gnomon.

Detroit, Michigan's College for Creative Studies (CCS) Animation and Digital Media department will welcome a group of industry experts in 2002. Lanfranco Aceti, Thom Gillespie and Bill Tomlinson will be guest speakers at a series of presentations hosted by the college. Lanfranco Aceti is a digital artist and a Ph.D. researcher in fine art at Central Saint Martins in London. He has been focusing on the cross-platform media as expression of the contemporary avant-garde. Aceti will be giving an open presentation on November 25, 2002 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm.

Continuing its worldwide expedition, the LightWave 7.5 Character Animation Tour consists of in-depth training on intermediate and advanced methods and techniques including modeling as related to character setup, character rigging, animation concepts and features, and advanced animation techniques. After being well received at its first two stops, Tour presenter Ford Entertainment Group has announced that the Tour will continue through spring 2003 with additional Canadian, U.S. and worldwide dates.

Starting February 2003, VanArts (Vancouver Institute of Media Arts) will launch a new full-time diploma and certificate program in Game Art & Design. Worldwide, the video game industry is worth an estimated $40 billion, out-grossing other traditional forms of entertainment including film and music.

Side Effects Software will be offering a new round of trainer certification courses for Houdini Version 5.5. Certification testing will take place November 21, 22 and 23, 2002, in Santa Monica, California. In addition to having a fully enabled license of Houdini Master for non-commercial use while certified, Houdini trainers are eligible to teach Houdini at the level certified; are invited to participate in beta testing of upcoming versions/products; have access to special Houdini technical support; and receive a listing on the Side Effects Website as a certified Houdini trainer.

Lost Pencil Animation Studios Inc. has released two new training CDs in their Just Animate series, "Lip Sync" and "Facial Expressions and Body Language." Both CDs demonstrate techniques using Lightwave 7.5, "Lip Sync" offers instruction on how to create multiple phoneme mouth morph targets and an animation of a character speaking.

Teletoon, Canada’s 24-hour animation station, has announced the twelve Canadian students who have won this year's Teletoon Animation Scholarship Award. The award is one of the few for arts students and the only formal national contest for students of animation. Since the launch of the scholarship program five years ago, Teletoon has awarded more than CAD $160,000 to students studying animation. This year’s group of winners represents a wide range of applicants from major animation schools to smaller, rural high schools.

The Gnomon Workshop has released nine new training DVDs on modeling, dynamics and expressions in Alias|Wavefront's Maya. This series includes three DVDs on NURBS modeling and four more titles on Maya's Dynamics engine produced by Alex Alvarez, director of the Gnomon Workshop and Gnomon School of Visual Effects, and Darrin Krumweide, associate director of Gnomon. Andrew Orloff, head of CG at newly opened visual effects studio Zoic and a new instructor at Gnomon, has produced two DVDs on using expressions in Maya.