Amazing Treasure Trove of Historical Illustration from the British Library

The British Library, one of the world's great archival organizations, has published a huge store of illustrations, paintings, maps, and other visual materials from its catalog of books from the 17th to 19th centuries. The materials number over one million items, and all are in the public domain. This is a  fantastic resource for research, inspiration, or just some fun browsing. I've pasted some examples below.

By the way, it has come to my attention that the emails which accompany my blog postings are missing the images, probably due to some mysterious security function within the Sheridan Server that sends them out. The blog itself is fine, though, so please take a look there if you want to see the images in the post.  ( http://sheridan4thyear.blogspot.ca )

The complete British Library archive is available from Flickr at:

one million public domain scans

Spectacular Rob Ford video from Cuppa Coffee

A little more fun at Rob Ford's expense, courtesy of Toronto's Cuppa Coffee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC5vhfF7RQs

Adobe Content Download - Sound Effects and Music Loops

I'd like to say thanks to Colin Smith of Adobe for his demo yesterday of Adobe Audition.

There was one thing Colin pointed out which wasn't obvious from the software itself - included in the software is a free download of thousands of free sound effects and music clips which you can use in your own production work.

Since all of you are owners of CS6 you are all entitled to this content as well. Go to the following link and sign in using your Adobe ID. It's a big download (several GB), so be sure your  a high-speed connection is working well:

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=auditionloopology

If you're interested in what's avaialble, here's the condensed listing. I can't vouch for all of these, but I heard a few of them in Colin's demo yesterday and they sounded pretty good.

======================================================
SOUND EFFECTS

Ambience 1 (ZIP, 1.3 GB)

Ambience 2 (ZIP, 1.16 GB)

Animals (ZIP, 95 MB)

Cartoon (ZIP, 83 MB)

Crashes (ZIP, 80 MB)

Drones (ZIP, 1.3 GB)

Emergency Effects (ZIP, 180 MB)

Fire and Explosions (ZIP, 490 MB)

Foley (ZIP, 121 MB)

Foley Footsteps (ZIP, 128 MB)

Horror (ZIP, 108 MB)

Household (ZIP, 311 MB)

Human Elements (ZIP, 203 MB)

Impacts (ZIP, 727 MB)

Industry (ZIP, 94 MB)

Liquid and Water (ZIP, 585 MB)

Imaging Elements (ZIP, 273 MB)

Impacts (ZIP, 727 MB)

Multimedia (ZIP, 180 MB)

Noise, Tones, DTMF and Tests (ZIP, 213 MB)

Production Elements (ZIP, 866 MB)

Science Fiction (ZIP, 73 MB)

Sports (ZIP, 81 MB)

Technology (ZIP, 166 MB)

Transportation (ZIP, 1.4 GB)

Underwater (ZIP, 974 MB)

Weapons (ZIP, 53 MB)

Weather (ZIP, 396 MB)

MUSIC LOOPS

Ambient (ZIP, 122 MB)

Blues (ZIP, 207 MB)

Classical Orchestral (ZIP, 179 MB)

Country (ZIP, 38 MB)

Disco (ZIP, 263 MB)

Drum One-Shots (ZIP, 83 MB)

Funk Rock 1 (ZIP, 606 MB)

Funk Rock 2 (ZIP, 434 MB)

Industrial (ZIP, 122 MB)

Latin Lounge 1 (ZIP, 372 MB)

Latin Lounge 2 (ZIP, 112 MB)

House and Noise (ZIP, 112 MB)

Reggae and Ska (ZIP, 374 MB)

Rhumba (ZIP, 104 MB)

Rockabilly (ZIP, 94 MB)

Techno and Dance 1 (ZIP, 349 MB)

Techno and Dance 2 (ZIP, 194 MB)

Urban (ZIP, 181 MB)

Wedding and Event (ZIP, 349 MB)

World Music (ZIP, 150 MB)

MUSIC BEDS

Bossa Nova (ZIP, 10 MB)

Corporate 15sec (ZIP, 14 MB)

Corporate 30sec (ZIP, 29 MB)

Funk Beds 110bpm (ZIP, 7 MB)

General 15sec (ZIP, 14 MB)

General 30sec (ZIP, 29 MB)

Rock Beds (ZIP, 9 MB)

Rockabilly and Country (ZIP, 5 MB)

Sports 15sec (ZIP, 14 MB)

Sports 30sec (ZIP, 29 MB)

Techno (ZIP, 7 MB)

Wedding and Event 15sec (ZIP, 14 MB)

Wedding and Event 30sec (ZIP, 29 MB)

Tim Horton's commercial animated with coffee grounds!

A bit of Christmas cheer - check out this ad from Toronto animation company Common Good:



Tim Horton's "Coffee Art" (dir. cut) from Alan Poon on Vimeo.



Here's behind-the-scenes look at the how and why of the ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu2OSVSV34A&feature=youtu.be

REMINDER: ANIMATIC SCREENING - 9:30 WEDNESDAY MORNING

As planned, our annual 4th Year Animatic Screening will take place in SCAET S235, starting at 9:30 tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. A great way to wrap up the semester and get ready for the holidays. See you there!

WORKSHOP: Screening and critical discussion of "The Snowman"

Kaj Pindal will lead us through a screening and critical discussion of the The Snowman, an  animated film by Dianne Jackson and Jimmy Murakami, nominated for the 1982 Academy Award for Animated Short Film. The film was adapted from Raymond Briggs' award-winning children's book.

Made for BBC Television, the film uses traditional animation techniques, including chalk and pastel drawings. Without dialogue, it tells its story entirely by means of the animation and the wonderful musical score by Howard Blake. The British Film Institute lists it as one of the 100 greatest British Television programmes.

Join Kaj and myself for a screening of the complete film (26 minutes) followed by a critical discussion of the animation and other production values. All taking place at the usual time and place, A150 at 3 pm Wednesday.

Animation Timing - Lecture by Greg Duffell of Lightbox

We have a very special guest for our Wednesday Lecture this week: Greg Duffell, president of Lightbox Animation and graduate of the Richard Williams school of animation. Greg will repeat his talk from this year's TAAFI Festival, about the essence of Animation Timing. This should be of great interest this week as you work on your action analysis Milestone. 

                                                

Greg's animation credits include Richard Williams' The Thief and the Cobbler, and Inspector Gadget (the original), while he has also worked at Chuck Jones Film Productions, The National Film Board of Canada and Chuck Gammage Animation.  This is the first time that Greg has visited our 4th Year Lecture series, so be sure to come out for this special event. As usual the lecture begins at 11 am Wednesday in S235. 

Video Reference Examples

Here are a few selected links relating to video reference (and film reference in the pre-video days) in the creation of expressive character animation.

The use of filmed actors for character acting reference goes back to the earliest days of drawn animation. Here's a clip showing how Disney filmed  the actors from "Alice In Wonderland" (1951) as they did their voice recordings for the film, then used the film footage as reference for the animation acting.

Interesting footage from "The Little Mermaid" - many of Ariel's characteristic movements and gestures were actually invented by the 12-year actress during her voice session. Glen Keane appears for a moment in the last clip on the page:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/leonoraepstein/this-live-action-footage-for-the-little-mermaid-is-fascinati


A more recent example - Johnny Depp and other actors on the set of "Rango." Notice how most of the actors actually use their costumes to help get into character for the voice session:

Lastly, some websites specialize in providing pre-recorded video reference for common character actions such as walking, falling, fist fighting, etc.


https://vimeo.com/groups/aniref
http://www.youtube.com/user/endlessreference


Stock footage companies are an excellent source of reference for hard to shoot items like wild animals and volcanic explosions:

http://www.bbcmotiongallery.com

http://footage.shutterstock.com

http://www.stockfootageforfree.com

Acting Students Available for Character Voice Work

The acting students of Sheridan's Theatre Preparation Program are interested in doing character voices for your films.

Send an email with your basic info (contact info, what sort of voice you are looking for, male or female, etc.) to Program Co-ordinator Mark Meymick at:

 melymick@sheridancollege.ca

Combine this with some video reference and you've caught a winning combination for quality animation.

Two events focusing on Acting & Performance in animation.

To assist you with the coming Action Analysis and Performance Milestone, this week we have two events focusing on Acting & Performance in animation. In addition, for those of you doing a CG animation, Mark Palowich continues his rigging workshop series.




Wednesday 11 am S235
First up is the Wednesday lecture, where Sheridan's Stephen Barnes will offer his insights into acting as applied to animation. Stephen does this in a way that might be new to you - carefully studying the subtle cues used by actors in live-action film and television. Steve's talk, titled Inspired Acting: A Study of Great Moments From Great Actors, is essential viewing. It's also very entertaining, as Steve  peppers the talk with many fascinating and unusual film clips.







Wednesday 3 pm, A361
This is followed at 3 pm by an introduction to the Video Reference system that we have set up in the 4th Year studio. Stephen Barnes is again in charge, showing us the basic usage of video reference for animation. It would be great to have someone perform a character action scene from their film for the purpose of demonstration. Any volunteers?











Thursday 2 pm, A150

Mark Palowich will continue his series on rigging in the A150 lab. Bring your character rigs for Mark to analyse, critique and undoubtedly improve.

Professional Practices for Rigging

This week's lecture focuses on character rigging, one of the more arcane tasks in the 3D Animation workflow. Fortunately we have an expert on hand in the person of Mark Palowich.

Mark is a graduate of both the Classical and the Computer Animation programs here at Sheridan, and has been involved in the visual effects productions of many feature films, including Dawn of the Dead, Resident Evil 2, and What the Bleep Do We Know. His credits include work in Visual Effects, CG Animation, Lighting, Rendering and Layout, so he brings a broad range of experience and talent to this presentation.

There will also be some important announcements about Industry Day, courtesy of Tony Tarantini, and the usual school news and current events. As usual, things start at 11 am in S235.

U of T - Music Student Demo Reels and Contact Info

Here's the contact information and links to the demo reels for all of the student musicians who are participating in this year's Sheridan-UofT Animation Music program.

If you're still unsure about who to partner with, try downloading the Demo Reel of someone you're interested in and dropping it into a track in Adobe Premiere underneath your Leica reel. Try out a few that way to see how they sound up against your story. You might be surprised!

- bruno

==============================================================
U of T Film Music Composition Class - 2013-14
==============================================================

Professor: 

Eric Robertson

Teaching Assistant:

Chris Thornborrow

cthornrun@gmail.com

STUDENTS

Anderson, Colleen

colleen.anderson@utoronto.ca

(905) 926-‐9899

DEMO REEL

Ballyk, Mark

markballyk@hotmail.com
(647) 987-­3408

DEMO REEL

Bell, Dylan

captaindownbeat@mac.com

DEMO REEL

Denenburg, Joshua
j.denenberg42@gmail.com
(914) 500-­‐7331
DEMO REEL


Foote, Lindsay
lfoote05@yahoo.com
(647) 994-­‐3941
DEMO REEL 


Gilmartin, Bryan
bgilmartin@hotmail.com
(416) 884-­‐1952
DEMO REEL 


Gurak, Monika
monika.gurak@mail.utoronto.ca
(647) 746-­‐7591
DEMO REEL 

Ho, Tze Yeung
ty.ho@mail.utoronto.ca
(647) 678-­‐4804
DEMO REEL 


Johnson, Britta
britta.johnson@mail.utoronto.ca
(416) 662-­‐3591
DEMO REEL 

Rajabi, Shaghayegh
shgh.rajabi@yahoo.com
(647) 721-­‐4503
DEMO REEL 

Sandquist, Colin
colin.sandquist@utoronto.ca
(416) 655-­‐4473
DEMO REEL 

Taghinia, Babak
babak.t@hotmail.com
(647) 979-­‐2552
DEMO REEL 


Taylor, Robert
rbt.taylor@mail.utoronto.ca
(647) 456-­‐1618
DEMO REEL 


Tse, Roydon
roydon.tse@googlemail.com
(647) 287-­‐0266
DEMO REEL


Vrankulj, Victor
vvrankulj@gmail.com
(905) 975-­‐2115
DEMO REEL 


Woo, Mandy
mandy.wooo@gmail.com
DEMO REEL 

Wu, Joe
salvantos@hotmail.com
(647) 869-­‐0419
DEMO REEL 


Yango, Kenzie
macyango@gmail.com
(416) 856-­‐4006
DEMO REEL 

Deadline for Stuttgart Animation festival - December 1

Just got this in from the Stuttgart (student) Animation Festival. The deadline is fast approaching - December 1. Perhaps a chance for one of the last year's Group Film's?


==================================================================
Dear Bruno Degazio,

I’m contacting you on behalf of the submission deadline of the International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) which will take place from April 22 – 27, 2014 in Stuttgart (Germany).

Deadline for film submission is December 1, 2013!

In the past years, we received numerous submissions from students of your university / institute.
To our regret till now no films have been entered. Therefore, we kindly ask you to remind your students to submit their films in due time to participate in the pre-selection of the Stuttgart Festival.
Your students can use our online submission service at http://www.itfs.de/en/home/community/registration/. After completion of the online form the film can be uploaded. Alternatively, films can also be sent on DVD. Schools can send compilation DVDs.

In 2013, more than 80.000 visitors came to Stuttgart to watch around 1.000 films. Approximately 2.500 professionals visited the Festival. Industry professionals value the high quality and variety of the programme, the numerous workshops, lectures, information meetings and presentations. They meet in Stuttgart to maintain and establish contacts and to familiarize oneself with the latest developments in animation film. Professionals also come to Stuttgart in search of young talents.
Especially for young filmmakers the Stuttgart Festival is a perfect place to attract attention, to educate, to network, to experience new motivation and gain more insights. Artistic animation films and the support of young talents represent the core of the Festival. In the Young Animation Competition the Jury awards a prize amounting to 2,500 Euro to the best student film. The Young Animation selection committee nominates the best graduation films for participation in the International Competition. There they compete for the Lotte Reiniger Promotion Award for Animated Film, sponsored by MFG Film Funding Baden-Wuerttemberg and worth 10,000 Euro. Additionally, exclusive programmes of Film and Art Academies are presented within School Presentations during the Festival.

We are looking forward to receiving your students’ film entries.

With kind regards,
Daniela Bringer
Assistenz Programmrealisation I Assistant Programme Management
bringer@festival-gmbh.de
__________________________________
Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH
Stephanstr. 33
70173 Stuttgart
Tel.: +49-(0)711-925 46 - 0
Fax: +49-(0)711-925 46- 150
www.festival-gmbh.de 

***************************************************

Internationales Trickfilm-Festival Stuttgart 2014
Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film 2014
22. – 27. April 2014
www.itfs.de

***************************************************

Geschäftsführer: Dittmar Lumpp, Prof. Ulrich Wegenast
Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: Dr. Walter Rogg

Sitz und Registergericht: Stuttgart, HRB 21934

Time in Harmonia - PDF and demonstration video

Yesterday I gave a talk to Robin Kingsburgh's class at OCADU about my piece Harmonia, which was recently shown at Lincoln Center in New York City (as part of Peter Mettler's documentary film, The End of Time.)

I've posted the slides and a connected youtube video of the demonstration to the following address:

http://www.slideshare.net/BrunoDegazio/time-in-harmonia

This presentation might be of interest to anyone curious about the relation of musical sound and images, harmonics, motion graphics animation, OpenGL programming or Pythagorean philosophy.

Thanks for a great Meet & Greet at U of T!

Yesterday was the annual Meet & Greet session with the U of T Film Composition Course, and it went especially well this year due to the large turnout from our Sheridan students - over 70 made the GoTrain trip to downtown Toronto. Plus we had about twenty students in the UT Film class demoing their music for us. I think I can fairly say that we were all impressed with the high quality of the U of T music demos this year - a very promising start!

And as always, the coffee and donuts were amazing! :>)

The next step of this collaborative process is to lock down a partnership with one of the students you met yesterday. It's always a little tricky due to the mismatch of numbers, but it's still important to make the attempt. Work via email, chat or telephone as it suits you.

Remember that due to the mismatch in our numbers you can only partner with ONE musician. Sorry, no shopping around.

A final caveat - even the best laid plans can go awry, specially in a creative endeavour like this. It's possible that your musician may not produce exactly what you want, or may not produce anything at all! The UT students have many academic pressure on themselves, just as you do. So be safe - HAVE A BACKUP PLAN. You've already got the beginnings of one with your scratch track and temp music. Keep developing those even as the UT music track develops, just in case.

The next time we will meet as a group with the UT musicians is at the Music Spotting Session - January 22, 2014, Sheridan College, 4th Year Studio, (A361) 2 pm - 4 pm

This is the time for Sheridan animators to sit down with their UT musician and carefully discuss all the musical requirements for the film. Bring your updated Aniamatic reel with temp music carefully laid in. Be prepared to discuss the following:


• where in the project  music is required
• general mood and expression
• special sync points that the music should 'hit'
• character driven musical themes if appropriate
• extra music for titles and/or end credits
• desired musical style
• desired instrumentation
• possible changes to length/timing of your project


STAGE 3) Demo track delivery deadline (via internet) - week of February 16,  2014
UT composers will deliver a demo recording of the musical score to their Sheridan animator by this date.  


An ftp site is available to facilitate exchanging large files. Speak to Technologist Mario Positano - Mario Positano <mario.positano@sheridanc.on.ca> - about how to access the ftp site. Commercial/free services like DropBox.com also work well.


STAGE 4) Final Track Delivery Deadline (via internet) - week of March 30, 2014
UT composers will deliver finished music recordings by this date.

Reminder: NO Lecture or Workshop tomorrow!

This is a reminder that due to the U of T trip there will be no lecture or workshop tomorrow, Wednesday Nov. 13.  We will resume our normal lecture schedule next week with a talk by Mark Palowich on Professional Practices for Rigging.

Here again is the most important info about the trip, including directions and basic instructions:

====================================================================

DIRECTIONS TO UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, FACULTY OF MUSIC

Location: University of Toronto, Faculty of Music, Walter Hall
Edward Johnson Building (EJB), 80 Queen’s Park 

You can take a GO Train from Oakville station at 10:28 (also 10:58.) The train arrives at Union Station at 11:11 (or 11:41). 

From there it is a quick subway ride up the University line to Museum Station. Coffee and donuts will be available in the foyer of Walter Hall of the Edward Johnson building (where we will meet.)

The U of T Faculty of Music is located in the Edward Johnson Building (EJB) , 80 Queen’s Park, just south of the intersection of Bloor Street and Avenue Road, next door to the Royal Ontario Museum (R.O.M.)

IMPORTANT NOTE! - do not confuse the Faculty of Music with the Royal Conservatory of Music! Both are located near the ROM, but the Conservatory is on Bloor St. west of the ROM, while the Faculty of Music is on Queens Park south of the ROM. 


DIRECTIONS BY PUBLIC TRANSIT
- take Go Train from Oakville station to Union Station
- take University Subway line north to Museum Station ( 5 stops)
- exit from station to west side of University Ave (Queen’s Park Crescent).
- the EJB will be straight ahead, adjacent to the R.O.M. and behind the former
Planetarium building.
- once inside the main lobby of the EJB, take the elevator or stairs to basement level, Walter Hall


DIRECTIONS BY CAR
- QEW to Gardiner Expressway
- Gardiner Expressway to Spadina exit
- Spadina Ave. north to Harbord St.
- turn right (east) on Harbord St.
- paid street parking is available on Devonshire Place and in paid lots in vicinity



more information at: http://www.music.utoronto.ca/about/location.htm


=================================================================

THE  SCHEDULE

12 NOON - Composer Demos and Meet & Greet - November 13, 12-2 pm

Walter Hall, Faculty of Music (Edward Johnson Building), University of Toronto

This is the opportunity for Sheridan student animators to meet with the UT student composers. Each UT composer will present an example of their recent music that gives a sense of musical style. Sheridan animators will then have a chance to meet them individually and present their project in the form of their Leica Reel. 

Sheridan students, please bring the following to this session:

1. pen & notepad (for noting names and contact info)
2. your Leica reel on memory stick or disc
3. your laptop, tablet or smartphone, with your Leica in playable form
4. headphones

Note that you must commit to a working partnership within one week! You will have to stay in contact with each other via email.

Workstation Courtesy in the 4th Year Studio

It's come to my attention that some students are dominating the use of certain workstations in the 4th Year studio.

The computers are in the studio to be shared amongst everyone, so please don't take one exclusively as your own. Log out if you're leaving the studio for more than a few minutes in order to make the workstation available to others. And please keep the desks and chairs clear of personal effects such as coats and bags.

- Bruno

Another offer to help with your Animation Soundtrack

Hi All

Just got this in from Kevin Richards, a musician and drummer in Toronto who would like to offer his musical services for your film.

Kevin's got a gritty, techno sound that isn';t for every film but might be right for yours. You can hear his demo music examples on sound cloud at:

soundcloud.com/kevinrichards-1

You can reach him via email at:  kevin.d.richards@hotmail.com

I'm an aspiring film composer and recent graduate, and I'd like to build my portfolio and professional network by providing music and sound for students.
I've attached a link to my soundcloud where you can find examples of some of my compositions.
Thanks and have a great day!

_kevin richards
_drums _electronic music production

Offer of Help for your Audio Production.

Are you looking for some help in creating a soundtrack for your film?

If so you might want to contact Steven Roberts, a 2nd Year student in the Media Arts program who wants specialize in Audio for Animation.  In his words,

I'm focusing on sound and my end goal is to do audio for animation....I was very much hoping I could work on some of the animation student's projects this year. This would include dialogue recording, sound effects recording and mixing. I was hoping I could help out your students and be able to start building a small portfolio of my own, and also to get some invaluable experience.

Steve can be reached at: stevergr@gmail.com

DIRECTIONS TO UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO FACULTY OF MUSIC

DIRECTIONS TO UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, FACULTY OF MUSIC

Location: University of Toronto, Faculty of Music, Walter Hall

Edward Johnson Building (EJB), 80 Queen’s Park 

The U of T Faculty of Music is located in the Edward Johnson Building (EJB) , 80 Queen’s Park, just south of the intersection of Bloor Street and Avenue Road, next door to the Royal Ontario Museum (R.O.M.)

IMPORTANT NOTE! - do not confuse the Faculty of Music with the Royal Conservatory of Music! Both are located near the ROM, but the Conservatory is on Bloor St. west of the ROM, while the Faculty of Music is on Queens Park south of the ROM. 

BY PUBLIC TRANSIT

- take Go Train from Oakville station to Union Station

- take University Subway line north to Museum Station ( 5 stops)

- exit from station to west side of University Ave (Queen’s Park Crescent).

- the EJB will be straight ahead, adjacent to the R.O.M. and behind the former

Planetarium building.

- once inside the main lobby of the EJB, take the elevator or stairs to basement level, Walter Hall

BY CAR

- QEW to Gardiner Expressway

- Gardiner Expressway to Spadina exit

- Spadina Ave. north to Harbord St.

- turn right (east) on Harbord St.

- paid street parking is available on Devonshire Place and in paid lots in vicinity

more information at: http://www.music.utoronto.ca/about/location.htm

A big week ahead: Tinman Creative and Production Planning

Hi All - I  hope you all had a great Reading Week break. We have a lot happening this week that I want to tell you about.

First up is the lecture on Wednesday, Oct. 30 - the theme is "Production Planning" and our special guests are Morghan Fortier and Brett Jubinville of Tinman Creative. I'm sure this we'll be a very interesting talk on production planning issues from the point of view of a commercial creative animation studio.

We'll also have Maury Whyte on hand to give us an introduction to his Production Worksheet for Excel, which he has created to assist you in your own Production Planning.


Next up is the Wednesday workshop, which should appeal to those of you doing a 3D project. Our own Florian Jacot will give an introduction to the ZBrush Sculpting software in lab A151 at 6 pm.  NOTE THE CHANGE OF TIME and Room !


Lastly, there is another Milestone due this week, which you might guess is related to Production Planning, including an Asset Estimate, a Shot Breakdown and a Production Schedule. It also includes a Design Package. Ask your Mentor for details.

Another suggestion from James Caswell ... Interactive Ontario - Design for Gaming

http://interactiveontario.com/events/view/1012

http://interactiveontario.com/events/view/1012

If I Were in 4th Year I'd Go To This... GAMERCAMP (via James Caswell)

www.gamercamp.ca

http://www.gamercamp.ca

Mentor Maury Whyte's Production Planning Chart

As you know, immediately after Reading Week  there is a "Production Plan" Milestone due.  Mentor Maury Whyte has extended his offer of this Excel spreadsheet , which he calls the "Production Planning Chart",  to all 4th Year students.  You can download the Excel template here: Maury's Production Planning Chart


Take a moment to check it out. If you choose to use it for your Production Planning, you can ignore the corresponding template provided in the student handbook.(You'll still need to do the others however; ask your Mentor if you have any questions about what exactly is needed for this Milestone.)

On Wednesday Oct. 30, Maury will be on hand at the lecture to briefly explain the use of this Planning Chart. We'll also have an extremely interesting discussion of Animation production planning from Morghan Fortier and Brett Jubinville of Tinman Creative  Be there!

Production Planning Chart

LEICA REEL SCREENING - 10 AM Wednesday morning, S235

Even as I write this, technologist Nicolas Hesler is assembling the presentation reel for tomorrow's Leica Reel screening. The screening will last about 2 1/2 hours, with 95 submissions. (Because all 4th Year screenings are mandatory, students who did not submit will receive a grade penalty.)

Please note the early start time tomorrow - 10 AM, an hour earlier than usual. I'll be there at 9:30 pm to set up. See you tomorrow!

- bruno

LEICA REEL SCREENING - HOW TO OUTPUT YOUR VIDEO FILE

Apparently the Animation Wiki is temporarily unavailable, but just in case you want to know how to create a BluRay compatible video file, the following detailed description is from technologist Nicolas Hesler. Please keep it handy for reference when you're submitting your file for the screening.

Note that there is also a video tutorial on this topic available on the Handouts Drive, located at:

O:\Resources\_Video_Tutorials\Export-from-Adobe-Premiere-CS6-for-SCREENINGS.mp4 

Thanks, Nic!

(link to pdf) Exporting for Sheridan Animation Screenings from Adobe Premiere CS6 

Exporting for Sheridan Animation Screenings from Adobe Premiere CS6

1. Select the Sequence you want to export.
   
2. Ensure the Work Area Bar In and Out points are set at the beginning and end of your program.
   
3. From the File menu, select Export...Media... (Ctrl-M)
   
4. In the Export Settings window:
   
   • From the Format dropdown, select H.264 Blu-ray.
     
   • From the Preset dropdown, select Sheridan Blu-ray.
     *** Note: It is important that you select the above preset to ensure perfect audio synchronization and good picture quality.
     
   5. Set an Output Name for your exported video and audio files.
      
   6. Select the Queue button to launch Adobe Media Encoder and queue your export job.
      
   7. In Adobe Media Encoder, press the Play button to begin the export.
      

The Sheridan Blu-ray format will export several files including a .m4v (video) file, a .wav (audio) file and a .xmpses (metadata) file. In order to create a playable video file *with* audio, you need to mux (join) the video and audio files together.
To mux the .m4v and .wav files into a single .m2ts file:

1. Launch tsMuxer
   
2. Click and drag the .m4v file into the tsMuxer window.
   
3. Click and drag the .wav file into the tsMuxer window.
   
4. Click the M2TS muxing option box.
   
5. Click the Start Muxing button.
   

Review your video file with the .m2ts file extension. Play the file using Media Player Classic - Home Cinema (MPCHC). VLC will also play the file, but you may notice that the colors might be slightly washed out.
Ensure that the entire file plays correctly before submitting your file.
For a video tutorial that follows these same instructions, go to the Resources folder in the Handouts
drive O:\ O:\Resources\_Video_Tutorials\Export-from-Adobe-Premiere-CS6-for-SCREENINGS.mp4

LEICA REEL SCREENING - ESSENTIAL INFO

SUBMISSION: 

Due to the Thanksgiving long-weekend, the Leica reel submission deadline will be:

7 am, Tuesday October 15

Note the early hour! This is essential to give Mario and his tech team enough time to prepare the BluRay disc for presentation. In effect it means that your reel has to be ready for submission the night before.

The short time before screening also means that there will be no time to make corrections to your video if there is a technical error.  Make sure your video file plays correctly,  BOTH SOUND & PICTURE  before you submit it!

The procedure for creating the appropriate BluRay-ready video file is on the Animation Wiki. Please consult it carefully before handing in your video file.


SCREENING:

The screening will take place in S235 at:

10 am, Wednesday, October 16

This is an hour earlier than our usual time slot! (We may need the extra time to allow room to present everyone's Leica.)

Note that this screening is mandatory and is graded. Showing your film in public, even in this early stage of development, is an essential part of the process!

WEEK 6 - GUEST LECTURE BY PETER BIELICKI - MENTOR GROUP LEICA REEL CRITIQUE

We're very lucky to have Peter Bielicki here this week to give us some ideas about visual design in his lecture and workshop on Guerrilla Design. The lecture as usual is at 11 am in S235, the workshop follows in the afternoon, 3 pm in A150. (Note the return to our usual time slot for the workshop.)

Peter has worked as a background designer and layout artist on such films as Disney's Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Mulan (1998) and Atlantis:The Lost Empire (2001.)
Peter currently operates SHow Communications, which specializes in multi-media exhibit design; art direction and direction for live action; and animated educational film.

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This is also a big week in your production timeline, because your Leica Reels are presented for a critique session in your Mentor Group meetings. Your Mentor will invite a guest to view the reels with you and offer constructive criticisms and story suggestions. It's an opportunity for a fresh point-of-view and maybe some new ideas to help solve problems in the story development and visual presentation.

A MUSIC SCORE for your Senior Animation Project

I recently received this email from a musician who would like to offer his scoring services for your film project. He's done some nice work for Sheridan students in the past. Take a look at his demo reel (at the link below, fast forward to the end, where the Sheridan projects are.)

Contact him at the address below if you'd like to explore further. Here's a good use for your freshly minted Leica Reel! 

(from Elliot)

I wanted to provide your students with the option of having their 4th year projects scored.  I've done this in the past for Sheridan students and others.   I was wondering about posting a flyer at the school or posting something online, specifically for your students, where I could make my services available.  If you could advise as to whether that is possible or how I would go about getting approval it would be much appreciated.  I've provided a link to my demo reel, as well as website, please feel free to watch.  

Demo Reel Link:

https://vimeo.com/76300373

Website Link:

elliottjmarshall.com

Thank you for your time, 

Elliott J. Marshall

647-876-7887

info@elliottjmarshall.com

elliottjmarshall.com

Master Class with Film Titles Designer Karin Fong

This just in from James Caswell:


BELL LIGHTBOX - Friday, November 8 from 11:00am to 12:30pm


Master Class with Film Titles Designer Karin Fong

Karin Fong joins post-secondary students and faculty for a behind-the-scenes look at the development of creative content for commercial advertising, digital and interactive platforms, feature films, and global brands. Her reel includes the main titles for Boardwalk Empire, Charlotte’s Web, The Pink Panther 2, Terminator: Salvation, Hellboy, and Ray. This event is a co-presentation with the Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD).



Jim has 10 tickets to this event. If you're interested, contact him at: jcaswell@caswelldesign.com

The Wonderful World of Color Keys

This week we have a new lecture by our very own Nancy Beiman on the subject of color design for animation. Titled "The Wonderful World of Color Keys" (a play on the title of the classic early color TV program, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color), Nancy's talk will investigate the use of color in animated cartoons past and present, including examples from classic designers Maurice Noble, Jules Engel, Ken O'Connor, Ty Wong and current Sheridan students.

Of particular interest to some of you will be Nancy's examples from a beautiful recently published book, The Noble Approach, by Ted Polson, based on the design notes of Maurice Noble, featuring artwork from such classic Warner Bros cartoons as What's Opera, Doc?



In addition, given that your Leica reels are due in a week or so, I'll give a quick guide to recording  a dialog scratch track using the resources available here at Sheridan, including the new high-quality, easy-to-use "Snowball" USB microphones that are availble for sign out.













Last but not least, the workshop this week will also be of interest to you as you design your film: A Character Design Critique by our own Peter Emslie. Bring your character designs to A150 for discussion, beginning at 4 pm (note the change of time!)

(Character design inspiration for an ugly animal?)

- bruno

ANIMATION SCRIPT EXAMPLES

We didnt have a chance to get into detail on this at yesterday's lecture, but in case you are wondering what is expected in the script part of next week's milestone, take a look at these examples.

POLAR BEAR DELIVERY

Here is a script, by 4th Year student Bora Moon (graduated 2009), for what turned out to be a very successful Senior Project  film. Notice that there is NO dialogue at all in this project, but the script is still a very clear description of her film: 

http://www-acad.sheridanc.on.ca/~degazio/BAA4thYear/Examples%20of%20Student%20Work/7-3R&Dpackage/PolarBearScript.html

PIG OF A PROBLEM

And here is the script for a complete episode from a production TV Show, WETA-Nelvana's "Jane and the Dragon" (2004). This, like all TV animation, is far more dialogue oriented than the previous example:

http://www-acad.sheridanc.on.ca/~degazio/BAA4thYear/PDFs/12_Pig_of_a_Problem.pdf