Creative Planet launched a brand new discussion forum:
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:
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
services, events and other resources around the world, feel free to
submit them to us by sending an email to editor@awn.com.
