Creative Planet launched a brand new discussion forum:

Animation

Tools And Techniques, hosted by award winning animator and educator

Larry Lauria. Anyone who has been in the business long enough knows

that no two animated projects are ever alike -- that's the challenge

and fascination of the art form. The A T & T (uh-oh) forum is a place

to share your thoughts and expertise about animation. Whether you

draw, paint, sculpt or dabble, animation offers an outlet. Pick a

topic, a technique or a tool and let's go! Other

Animation/Graphics/FX forums include: Animation Café; Animation Jobs,

Networking, Portfolio; Career Issues for Graphic Designers; Motion

Graphics Café; Motion Graphics Design; and Visual Effects. All forums

are hosted by leading experts in their respective fields who are

there to facilitate conversation, answer questions and refer users to

Creative Planet and outside content. You can interact with your

community by logging on to the Web site or by subscribing to the

forums via e-mail. All suggestions and comments are welcomed in the

"Give Feedback" forum!





Larry Lauria's Web site, the Toon

Institute, is a part of the AWN

family. The Toon Institute offers free animation lessons and tips on

character design and is visited by students and instructors from all

over the world.





Suggested animation technique-related readings:





- Animation

Look-A-Likes: Mobilux Lumia and Other Real-Time Technologies


Beginning in the late `50s there was an inspired flow of clever

techniques that seemed like animation, but really weren't. These

cartoon look-a-likes were shot in real-time and not frame-by-frame.

Howard Beckerman takes a look back on a few of these fleeting methods.





- CG

101: A Computer Graphics Industry Reference


Paul Younghusband reviews CG 101, a general, but detailed, book which

covers a wide range of topics, from visual effects techniques, to

terminology, job descriptions and visual effects history.





- The

Art and Science of Digital Compositing


Paul Younghusband reviews this text which delves into the artistic

and scientific techniques used to blend multiple 2D elements

seamlessly.





- Director

and After Effects: Storyboarding Innovations on The Iron Giant


Brad Bird, director of Warner Bros. Feature Animation's The Iron

Giant, discusses the latest in storyboarding techniques and how he

applied them to the film.





Other resources:





Creative Planet, AWN's parent company recently launched the beta

version of CreativePlanet.com,

a cutting-edge portal for

entertainment industry professionals. The editors who bring you

industry-leading online publications such as Animation World Network,

DirectorsWorld and VFXPro have scoured the Web to assemble and

present the most valuable news, links and job services, along with

discussion forums and a Research Center providing you with the most

up-to-date data and information affecting your career. We invite you

to visit CreativePlanet.com, share your thoughts and join our

community. If you know of top animation books, directories, job