In Singapore, schools are looking to animation for more creative ways to teach national education, reports ChannelNewsAsia.com.

A particular video using sand art, which was screened at the National Day Rally, is the result of four months of hard work. The skydiving sequence alone took 10 days to create.

Mui Rui Yi, student, CHIJ St. Joseph's Convent, said, "We actually have to rehearse it 80 times, and when we feel we are ready, we did the filming, and then we actually have to film about 60 times, then we took the best part of it."

Viborg, Denmark’s The Animation Workshop announces its fall of 2006 courses. The Animation Workshop operates with the support of the MEDIA Plus Programme of the European Union, Viborg Kommune, Nordisk Film (Egmont) and Den Vestdanske Filmpulje. Courses include:

* 3D Artist for Animated Features, TV Series and Games
Advanced modeling and set-design
Sept. 11 to Dec. 15, 2006

The Cartoon Animation Institute (CAI) is opening in Los Angeles with a grand opening event on Aug. 18, 2006 from 7:00 pm to midnight, to introduce the school, its curriculum and mission objectives. Peter Shin, director on THE FAMILY GUY is ceo of CAI.

Animation Mentor, the online animation school, unveiled its first student showcase reel today, Aug. 16, 2006. Visitors to the site can view the inaugural online exhibition of student work from foundation classes one through four (previous site guests need to empty their cache). From Aug. 16-18, the reel can be seen all day and night, except 7:00-10:00 pm, PST. Beginning Aug.18, it will be accessible 24/7.

Two new Disney Learning Adventure titles were released earlier in August: WINNIE THE POOH: SHAPES AND SIZES and WINNIE THE POOH: WONDERFUL WORD ADVENTURE (Walt Disney Home Ent., $19.99). Developed by Disney and leading educators, the DVDs help build fundamental skills for kids prior to entering pre-school or kindergarten. Featuring Winnie the Pooh and his friends, the DVDs integrate entertaining stories with cognitive learning- based themes to help educate young audiences.

Building upon a successful first term with students from more than 65 countries worldwide, online visual effects training site fxphd announces their course offerings for Term Two 2006. Registration is now open at www.fxphd.com and classes begin the week of Aug. 26, 2006. To celebrate, fxphd is offering a scholarship for the most imaginative “pitch” for a visual effects shot. The best pitch will be selected and provide the winner with a full term membership to fxphd and a chance to learn Flame, Shake, da Vinci color grading or any of the others courses offered.

The Gnomon Workshop has released three DVDs by character modeler Laurent Pierlot of Blur Studios. In more than seven hours of lecture, Pierlot shares his myriad techniques for creating compelling life-like creatures. Using 3ds Max, BodyPaint, Photoshop and ZBrush, Pierlot discusses his workflow for modeling, detailing, texturing and rendering an alien creature based on a Carlos Huante design. While Max plays a key role in the development of the creature, virtually all the methods utilized apply to any leading 3D application such as Maya or XSI.

NVIDIA Corp., a worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, announced the recipients of the prestigious NVIDIA Fellowship award for the 2006-2007 academic year. The students were selected by a review committee headed by NVIDIA chief scientist David Kirk. Each winner receives a $25,000 grant.

New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) announced the launch of a new Master of Fine Arts (MFA) graduate program with a specialization in computer graphics and animation.

Accredited-Online-Colleges.com has just added 3D Training Institute to its database of online colleges and universities.

The 3D Training Institute teaches via the Internet with a live instructor online. Based on a student’s skill level, a teacher covers the 3D Project Based Course or the 3D Foundation Workshop. 3D animation classes are taught by some of the best in the industry who possess years of real world experience and/or are currently working in the 3D animation industry.

Digital-Tutors released UV LAYOUT IN XSI, a comprehensive guide to learning the fundamentals of UV layout with in XSI and the latest release in a growing library of interactive training for emerging digital artists. Containing more than three hours of project-based training, UV LAYOUT IN XSI provides artists with time-saving UV mapping techniques, creative workflow and a firm understanding of XSI's UV tools. A 30-day trial version of SOFTIMAGE|XSI Foundation is also included, allowing artists immediate access to explore the software.

AFA Academy for animation training has opened in Coimbatore, India. This is the only institute in Tamilnadu and will be teaching basic drawing to 3D animation. The offered courses are 2D animation, 3D animation, multimedia and fine arts. They will be taught at an international level so that the students will be trained for international companies.

The Gnomon Workshop announced two DVDs by character modeler Ian Joyner. In more than 11 hours of lecture, he shares his myriad techniques for creating compelling life-like characters. Using 3ds Max, BodyPaint, Photoshop and ZBrush, he discusses his workflow for modeling, detailing, texturing and posing a male character outfitted with clothing and props. While Max plays a key role in the development of the character, virtually all the methods utilized apply to any leading 3D application such as Maya or XSI.

Spanish 3D school Sintesys has launched a new 3D chat online as a service directed to its website users and school students.

DesignMentor Training announces the addition of master illustrator/animator, Chris Georgenes, to its roster of Flash trainers. Georgenes teaches Flash Animation, the final class in DesignMentor's comprehensive Flash Design Portfolio-Builder Program, where students learn character animation and techniques used to enhance any Flash design project. By using basic frame-by-frame techniques and tweening, Georgenes teaches students to draw and animate simple characters, add motion, drama and expression.

The Walt Disney Co. has launched the "Disney College Program" for 2006, reports MickeyNews.com. The program offers college students the opportunity from any academic discipline to experience working for Disney in a wide variety of roles available in the company. The program gives students a chance to work in a corporate environment, where students perform their tasks in one of the four theme parks, two water parks, resorts in dining, retail or entertainment. Students will have the opportunity to interact with the guests and develop a solid foundation working with people.

The Gnomon Workshop has released its first Maya Cloth DVD. The need for realistic clothing and fabric has become commonplace in today's effects films and feature animation. CLOTH 101: FUNDAMENTALS covers the process of modeling and animating cloth garments. Mark E.A. de Sousa, Cloth and Hair supervisor at Sony Pictures Imageworks, shares his production-tested techniques as he discusses how to control garment characteristics and demonstrates how to integrate dynamic fields.

Avid Technology Inc. announced that Chapman University, which offers a variety of undergraduate and graduate liberal arts degrees, has made a significant investment in Avid solutions for its new state-of-the-art film and media arts center in southern California. The new $41million, 76,000-square-foot facility, Marion Knott Studios, will serve as the home of the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University.

Digital-Tutors, an Autodesk Authorized Publisher, announced the availability of INTRODUCTION TO MAYA ANIMATION: WALK CYCLE, a comprehensive guide to creating convincing walk cycle animations in Maya and the latest release in a growing library of interactive training for emerging digital artists. Artists will easily learn proper body mechanics, adding personality to characters, and creating walk cycles with less time and more creativity in Maya with more than 2.5 hours of project-based training, an ideal learning resource for artists learning character animation.

Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) signed an MOU with Toonskool Advanced Animation Academy Bangalore for a three-year degree program in animation, reports EFY TIMES. With the signing of this MOU, Toonskool becomes the first accredited institute in India to train students for a B.Sc. Degree to be awarded by KSOU in the field of Animation.