editor@awn.com
Rankin/Bass Rehash
I'm really glad I read your review of
the Rankin/Bass book (Maiko
2.12) before plunking down some cash for it.
I was really hoping that it would contain some behind the scenes material,
as well as information on the puppet fabrication, etc. I can't believe
that these puppets were thrown out! I love Rankin/Bass stop-motion
animation, and the very thought is revolting!
Where the heck would someone get more information on Rankin/Bass animation?
There isn't any significant information about their shows on the web, at
least not that I've found. I know that their productions were done in Japan
for the most part, but there's got to be somebody out there with the information.
All of the elements which you indicated are missing from the book are the
exact ones I was hoping this book would have. Again, thanks for the review,
it saved me some money.
I still can't believe they threw those puppets out!
Thank you,
Travis Cutbirth
More Roto Info Please
Today I received my update on the contents of the May issue and immediately
went to the "Rotoscoping in the Modern Age" article by Marian
Rudnyk (Rudnyk
3.2). As a future roto artist, it was particularly
helpful to me as to the exact type of work I will be expected to perform
in a "real world" post-production environment. It is exactly
the type of information (tips/specific techniques) I need to learn/hear
and I commend Mr. Rudnyk on his article. I hope more articles of this nature
are contributed to AWM.
Thank you,
A Future Roto Artist
P.S. Does he have any tips for rotoscoping hair extremely accurately against
a not-so perfect bluescreen?
Marian responds:
Thank you for the kind comments. AWM has indeed run some fine articles
on a variety of interesting aspects of the animation industry. I was pleased
to add my article on the often neglected and/or forgotten field of rotoscoping.
Also, I wish you well in your new rotoscoping career. It's a very tough
market out there with so much of the new 3-D software encroaching on our
"turf."
As for rotoing fine details of hair against a not so perfect bluescreen...
I have to tell you: you're lucky to have even that. More often than not,
in my experience, you are rotoing a matte within a semi-finished shot so
you have all manner of background and foreground clutter, and even blurring
of the to-be-matted subject, confusing and challenging you. My advice is
practice makes perfect. The more you do it the easier it will become. Knowing
where to set up your key-points to get the precisely moving curves to create
that "perfect" matte is still an art in and of itself.
I can tell you this though: for most software you will use, such as Matador,
it is better, when doing complex fine detail, to use B-Splines rather than
Bezier curves because the "handles" get in the way and clutter
your work. Also, the B-Splines offer better control if you set up your
points in clusters around key areas. Take the time to get the feel of working
with them, at first they may seem slower to work with, but in time you
will "fly" with them! For large simple mattes however, go with
Bezier. For me, this has worked best.
Good luck to you!
Marian Rudnyk
Digital Artist
(Titanic, Armageddon)
Vacuums Anyone?
I am working on a project that requires knowledge of classic gags in
animation. One area in particular that has risen to the top of my list
is Vacuum Gags. I currently know of a few old Warner Bros. treatments,
the Roger Rabbit gag, and a gag used in a classic Tom & Jerry
episode.
Could you please help me with any information that you may have or point
me in a direction that could help me? I appreciate all of your time.
Thanks,
Christopher Malnar
Editorial assistant Katie Mason did some research and responds:
Good luck on your cartoon gag searches. Some cartoon vacuum gags that occurred
to me were in Compressed Hare, Mouse Placed Kitten, and It's
Nice to Have a Mouse Around the House, all classic Warner Brothers cartoons.
For summaries of these and other Warner Brothers cartoons, see Jerry Beck
and Will Friedwald's Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies: A Complete
Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons.
Under the Digital Radar
In response to Laybourne
3.3.
Dear Mr. Laybourne,
Although you bring up many fine and thought provoking points, I wish to
respond to your question, "But aren't computers their own art form?"
Here at Modern Cartoons we specialize in real-time animation driven with
motion capture from body suits and face trackers. Everyday we create animation
that is truly the art form of the computer. It has its roots in rotoscoping
and therefore traditional animation and a bit of puppetry and plain old
human performance, but the animation we produce takes a rather unique form
and is enough unlike its ancestors to be its own.
During a taping session, we get impromptu performances, directorial spontaneity
and especially hilarious outtakes -- things that the computer affords.
The imagery that we create is truly cutting edge, not so much because it
is on the forefront technologically but because it walks that edge between
what you've seen and are familiar with and what is fresh.
I'm sure that you could site many projects, from Toy Story to South
Park, that use the art form of computers in a new way, but I found
your questions to be a definite and celebratory yes and would prompt you
to think of some additional queries.
As to where the medium's breakthroughs may go, Modern Cartoons is currently
following a path towards TV -- not exactly one that leads "below the
radar."
Regards,
Conor Libby
Creative Producer
Modern Cartoons Ltd.
Kit responds:
You're dead-on that motion control techniques are clearly emerging as a
form that goes well beyond the technique's roots in 3-D, puppetry and stop-motion.
The alchemy of digital form always seems to breathe fresh life and startling
new dimensions into its own source materials. In that process what you
guys at Modern Cartoons are doing will, in due course, become the source
materials for a next wave of innovators.
Editorial note: To find out more about Modern Cartoons read "A
Conversation With....Chris Walker and Corky Quakenbush," in our February 1998 issue, where Chris Walker, President
of Modern Cartoons spends an afternoon with outrageous animator Corky Quakenbush.
Whose Golden Age?: Canadian Animation
In The 1990s
In response to Robinson
3.3.
Dear Mr. Robinson,
Thank you for your excellent article. I wanted to comment that I recently
graduated from Vancouver Film School, Classical Animation, and I certainly
agree with what you said about such industrially-oriented programs. I did
survive however, and to my knowledge, I am the only person who has come
out of Vancouver Film School to have made, or is in the process of making,
another film independently. I have been joined by another woman from my
particular course and we have set up "Pigpen Pictures" in a garage
here in darkest Wiltshire, U.K. We are really doing this for the love of
it and we have much to learn and relearn. So, I just wanted to say that
these intense vocational courses don't beat the art out of everybody, though
they sure give it a try, and for me it was also a beginning.
Yours,
Maita Robinson
Jared Doesn't JUST Sing!
In response to Jackson
3.3.:
If you let the "about" box in Macromedia Director 6 go on long
enough, Jared eventually appears, bouncing around the screen, singing away......
Brian Nicolucci
Thanks Brian. This editorial staff is sure to try it out soon!
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.
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