Adam Savage Cooks the Impossible Burger with Traci Des Jardins!


Adam Savage visits chef Traci Des Jardins at her restaurant Jardinière to learn how the Impossible Burger is cooked. Traci walks us through the making of this veggie burger that looks, tastes, and feels like real meat, discussing the culinary science of how it cooks on the grill. Plus, a taste test!

Shot by Gunther Kirsch and edited by Norman Chan

Subscribe for more videos! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=testedcom
Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/testedcom
Get updates on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/testedcom

Tested is:
Adam Savage http://www.twitter.com/donttrythis
Norman Chan http://www.twitter.com/nchan
Simone Giertz http://www.twitter.com/simonegiertz
Joey Fameli http://www.twitter.com/joeyfameli
Kishore Hari http://www.twitter.com/sciencequiche
Frank Ippolito http://www.twitter.com/frankippolito
Sean Charlesworth http://www.twitter.com/cworthdynamics
Jeremy Williams http://www.twitter.com/jerware
Gunther Kirsch
Ryan Kiser

Thanks for watching!

Satisfying Slime ASMR- Crunchy Slime


So so satisfying

Those love making scenes in American Gods. W.T.F.

tmg-article_tall

Here’s my second piece for Thrillist on American Gods, which dives into the Bilquis scenes where she consumes people…as in, consumes via her vagina. It’s crazy!

The 10 fundamentals of a creative strategy on YouTube decoded by Lauren Glaubach

What sustains a YouTube channel and builds world audiences on the platform? Well, it is not rocket science, but human science. Some videos go viral while some appeal to a very niche audience. It all depends on what the creators wish to or not to communicate. In most cases, to cater to maximum audience on a digital platform, the creation has to be something which the audience demands, and what they demand is based on a set.

YouTube Family and Learning, programming head, Lauren Glaubach has with her experience, dissected the phenomena of mass appeal of content on a digital platform and provided insights of the same in her session on the first day of Animation Masters Summit 2017.

Glaubach explained the 10 fundamentals of a creative strategy on YouTube which drive towards building a loyal audience, “an audience that keeps coming back. That’s the goal,” she said. “None of these fundamentals are necessary, but they can surely help.”

  1. Shareability

To make a video viral, it is important to know if you will share a video. People share videos because of what it says about them, i.e. it’s relatable to them. “If you share a video which is funny, it means you are funny,” she added. If a video wants to be shared, it has to be topical – become a part of a conversation. One way to do that is to align your content to seasonal moments throughout the year. A video will also be shared if it provides value – teaches something or solves a problem.

  1. Conversation

It is an element of speaking directly to the audience. YouTube is a social site and people on this platform become your friends. Your favourite star talking to you or watching behind the scenes of a show that you love are powerful tools to generate loyal audience.

  1. Interactivity

Is there a way to involve the audience? “It is about them being part of the story,” Glaubach highlighted. According to her, this element provides a way for the audience to participate.

  1. Consistency

Consistency can be in the upload schedule or personality format. “Set expectations with your viewers, it makes them want to come back,” she explained.

  1. Targeting

On YouTube, you must know who your audience is and make sure you are delivering content that is for them. Even within the same channel, you can target different groups.

  1. Sustainability

“If the audience loves it, can you make more of it?” she asked. “You cannot make one thing and make it successful overnight. You need to engage and grow your audience overtime.” Dubbing the content for international audience can make the animation sustainable.

  1. Discoverability

“YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google and this fundamental is all about taking advantage of that.” Will your content get found in Search or Related Videos? “There are two ways to tap into this.” You can have content that taps into trending themes or have evergreen content.

  1. Accessibility

Can every episode be appreciated by a brand new viewer? “Having a show with standalone episodes is important because if you have series with 30 episodes, that’s 30 opportunities for a new viewer to find and enjoy your content.”

  1. Collaboration

Collaboration, featuring guest stars, is a great way to get the audience to watch your content. Cast people with similar audiences and promote your content.

  1. Inspiration

Does the idea come from a genuine place of interest? Do you love what you are doing? “Your audience can see the passion in everything that you do,” Glaubach concluded.

The post The 10 fundamentals of a creative strategy on YouTube decoded by Lauren Glaubach appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Entertain, Enrich, Explore – The 3 Es required to impact kids beyond the screen says YouTube Kids, Amy Blair

A treasure trunk of knowledge opened at Animation Masters Summit 2017 as the Masters spoke about the burning topics in the media and entertainment industry.

YouTube Kids programming manager, Amy Blair shared her thoughts on the topic ‘YouTube Kids (app) and Why Global Communities Matter.’ There is a lot going on in the kids and family entertainment space. “I’ve been absolutely amazed by the quality and creativity coming out of the industry,” Blair smiled. Some fundamentals are significant she thinks for YouTube Kids app to have a lasting impact on the audience even beyond screen.

YouTube Kids with its presence in 26 countries and five languages has a lot of animated and original content for the app. “What I love about the creators is that they have stories to tell,” she said, “whether they come in the form of a narrative, a memory or a lesson.”

In her career, Blair has worked with books, apps and games, and seen interactive storytelling but after working in video formats, she has realised that it is the best format to bring different mechanisms together to showcase different stories. “Kids by their very nature are open. They have no biases or expectations. They are very curious and don’t see any borders.”

How has YouTube and internet transformed the family entertainment industry into an era of no walls?

Blair explained three principles in this era of no walls:

  1. Communities are global, not local

A 10-year old Australian girl who with the help of her family makes stop-motion videos with her doll received a letter from a six-year old autistic boy of UK. “This boy – like a lot of kids with autism – doesn’t understand how people relate to one another and how conversations work. His mother wrote to Grace telling her how Grace’s videos have helped him interact,” Blair elaborated. The boy is not able to respond in a classroom or to his parents but repeats what Grace’s dolls say in the video, which has increased his ability to communicate and open-up with the world. “What is incredible is how 9,000 miles away, global impact is possible.”

  1. Access to learning is universal

There is no limitation to learn anything. Kids are influenced more than just cartoons and “as animators, you also realise that there is something far more behind a story – there is a lesson.” Kids go to the internet to figure out how to build things themselves. Kids learning stop-motion from YouTube is building a generation of kids going to YouTube to become animators of the future.

60 per cent of the views on YouTube Kids come from outside of their home country. Thus, the creators can help families around the globe discover more about the world around them. “Videos can help fulfill their thirst for knowledge.”

  1. New storytellers are emerging daily

YouTube Kids is a platform for anyone who wishes to share her / his story and memory. In an era of no walls, it is now possible for anyone to be able to create and influence.

YouTube Kids looks at programming with an impact beyond the screen by referring to what they call as the three Es – entertainment, enrichment and exploration.

Entertaining content comes in all shapes and any format, and depends on what users find entertaining. “On YouTube Kids, we make sure there is accessibility and we are not forcing one type of genre.” It can be episodic or scripted with recognisable characters, like Peppa Pig. The activities shown in this pre-school series is what kids find very relatable.

“When we say enrichment, people often jump to content about lessons, but enriching goes beyond that.” It makes kids think about the social world, ecosystem and community around them. Talking about the animated show Small Potatoes, Blair said that the starchy adorable friends “talk about amazing things that can bring enriching elements in their highly entertaining animation.”

According to Blair, kids should not just sit in front of the screen all day long. At YouTube Kids, they think about play-time and how they can interact with kids to get them active. Jaime was a yoga instructor who realised that she loved teaching Yoga to kids and started a YouTube channel Cosmic Kids Yoga which mixes an animated background and a storyline for teaching, “and it makes kids want to participate in something beyond what is only happening on the screen,” Blair explained.

“As you create and inspire the industry, we hope that you continue doing it,” she added, thanking everyone present in the crowd for contributing to breaking walls and creating content that is entertaining, enriching and exploratory.

The post Entertain, Enrich, Explore – The 3 Es required to impact kids beyond the screen says YouTube Kids, Amy Blair appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Anjum Rajabali: Mythology is all about posing contradictions of human nature

We all know the basic story of Ramayana and Mahabharata. But how many of us understand the complexities of human nature that they depict? Very few.

And among the ones who follow these texts and feel so strongly about their relevance in the contemporary world is Anjum Rajabali. The screenwriter of some of the popular Bollywood films like Ghulam, Pukar, Rajneeti and Chakravyuh, Rajabali took a session on ‘Indian Mythology and its Relevance to Modern Screenwriting’ on the first day of Animation Masters Summit 2017 in God’s own country Kerala.

Not having worked in animation directly, he still feels that it has the opportunity to explore topics which live-action cannot.

“What is a story?” he asked the audience. “A story is not a documentation of life. A story is not something that faithfully depicts reality and facts. In fact, it is far from it. A story is a dramatisation of life-like events, designed to make sense.” Why is this an inherent need? “Because life when you look around, most of the times doesn’t make sense.” Stories therefore have been eternally there since the advent of civilisation, “since the time human beings learnt to communicate with each other.” Stories helped the bewildered listeners to make sense out of life.

Quoting a legendary director he said, “Reality and life don’t have to make sense, fiction and screenwriting have to.”

Stories are about truth, he feels. Truth, which is not always visible and easily available when the events of life unfold. “Stories are meant to engage and also disturb. Artists are meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted,” he said. A storyteller’s job is to become the psychologist of the society and dive into the contradictions of human nature to find its cause. Human beings are as capable of love, nurture, sublime artistic work as they are of the most horrific violence possible. “This is why stories become absolutely essential to be able to adapt empathetically and compassionately.”

What is mythology? “Let me first tell you what mythology is not.” Questioning popular and traditional notions of mythology, he said, “Mythology is not a religious text. It derives nothing from rituals. It is not a prescriptive text on the way of life.” Calling himself a student of mythology and the one who is fascinated by it, he said that it is a deep, sensitive and astute examination of the human condition, of what it is like to live. “It is a dramatised depiction of inner dilemmas and inner turmoil, which reflects the magnitude of the deep instinctual forces in human beings.” Mythology is a wise look at life.

“Stories are the most essential artistic expression. What we need desperately is great stories – about us, our experiences and the turmoil that India and our world is going through.” We draw narratives and nourishment’s from mythological archetypes. While writing for the film Rajneeti, he derived the character nuances from Mahabharata, and this is what Rajabali advices all the storytellers – to read these texts to understand the complexity of human nature and imbibe them in their characters.

The depictions of Sita and Draupadi shown in movies and live-action TV shows are meek and submissive which was not the case. Drawing references from Ramayana and Mahabharata, he said that women are not weak and powerless like portrayed in the movies and the stories which do not tend to understand mythology in its complete sense. “If you will be able to discard this shallow opinion, you will be able to recognise the strength and power of these women.”

“Mythology unites the country,” he said. A humble man but who stands strongly for his beliefs, Rajabali – with his powerful speech – held the crowd’s attention throughout his one and a half hour long session with ease. And in the end, he gave only one advice, “Read. It will be an eye-opener.”

The post Anjum Rajabali: Mythology is all about posing contradictions of human nature appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Unity to showcase it’s content creating prowess at its Mumbai Roadshow event on 9 May

Unity has been steadily making its way to become the primal name in things technical. Unity has already made it’s name in one of the budding sectors of content creation, that is virtual reality as around 80 per cent of all VR content is created through Unity. Now focusing the Indian market, Unity plans to start off showcasing its possibilities with a roadshow in association with AnimationXpress tomorrow, that is 9 May. Titled ‘Unity Roadshow for Films, Cinematics and VR Cinematic’, the event will see participation from Technical directors, supervising producers, VFX supervisors, VR / AR producers and students alike.

The key topics that would be covered in the event would be:

Unity for Films
What has already been done with Unity for Film, VFX
Making of ‘Adam’, a short film by Unity
Real time revolution- New way to create and tell a story
Timeline

Cinematics with Unity:

Learn how to tell a story in Unity. See how you can layout a scene, do the lighting, sequence cameras, animations and audio, add VFX, do the compositing/ post processing.

Cinematics VR in Unity:

Play 360 video, simple VR interactions, spatialized audio, sequencing of animations, compositing / post processing.

Spanning from 2 to 5 pm at Ramada Palm Grove, Juhu beach, Mumbai, the registrations for the event has been free and ongoing since past few weeks and the response has been really promising.

Speaking at the event would be Mathieu Muller, the global evangelist films and visual effects. He has studied in France, Switzerland and Canada and worked the last 13 years as a software engineer on professional flight simulators graphics engine and game middleware. Currently, he is based in France and holds the post of a Field Engineer for Unity and assists users over EMEA and making the link between users, devs, marketing and sales.

The event will provide rich knowledge to Unity content creators of various verticals while also a networking sessions with finger food and beverages after the event.

One can register on the spot as well.

The post Unity to showcase it’s content creating prowess at its Mumbai Roadshow event on 9 May appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Team Entertainment appointed as exclusive sales agency for “Coconut The Little Dragon” in Italy

Team Entertainment has signed for the kids’ brand ‘Coconut The Little Dragon.’ The expert in managing international brands like Calimero, Grisù, Spike Team or Pac-Man, will represent the season one and two of the TV-series as well as the licensing programme of the orange dragon exclusively in Italy.

Based on the popular book series by German author Ingo Siegner, the adventures of “Coconut The Little Dragon“ is a global hit (books published in more than 22 countries, hundreds of licensed products). With top market shares, the CGI TV-series continues the success of Coconut’s first feature film (more than one million viewers in the German-speaking territories) – both productions of family entertainment specialist Caligari Film.

The German market leader in animation is currently working on the second Coconut feature film as well as on the season two of the TV-series and is also producing the first feature film of famous kids’ brand Capt’n Sharky (release in 2018).

The post Team Entertainment appointed as exclusive sales agency for “Coconut The Little Dragon” in Italy appeared first on AnimationXpress.

‘The Big Aristotle’ Shaquille O’Neal booms back to the court in ‘NBA 2K18 Legend Edition’

2K announced that NBA 2K will feature Hall of Fame Shaquille O’Neal on the cover of the NBA 2K18 Legend Edition. This special edition of the top-rated NBA video game simulation series for the last 16 years* gives the court to the big man who needs no introduction, “The Diesel…The Big Aristotle…Superman…Shaq Daddy…” with special Shaq-themed memorabilia and content, extending his legacy as the most dominant center in NBA history.

“I want to thank NBA 2K for their continuous support of my basketball and broadcast career,” said O’Neal, whose Hall of Fame enshrinement late last year celebrates a storied 19-year career. “I’m excited to be on the cover of the NBA 2K18 Legend Edition and I hope my fans have a blast playing it up big man style and re-creating my most legendary in-game moments!”

Gamers who pre-order the NBA 2K18 Legend Edition will receive special Shaq memorabilia, in-game content, and Early Tip-Off Access beginning 15 September, 2017.

Physical Items:
Limited-edition Shaq poster
5 Panini trading cards
Exclusive stickers

Digital Content:
100,000 Virtual Currency
20 Weekly MyTEAM Packs
Shaq in-game items
And more!

Gamers who pre-order the NBA 2K18 Legend Edition Gold will also receive Early Tip-Off Access beginning September 15, 2017 with even more exclusive Shaq memorabilia and in-game content, including:

Physical Items:

  • Limited-edition Shaq Poster
  • Lenticular
  • 10 Panini trading cards
  • Exclusive stickers

Digital Content:

  • 250,000 Virtual Currency
  • 40 Weekly MyTEAM Packs
  • Shaq in-game items
  • And more!

O’Neal’s Legend Edition appearance on NBA 2K18 marks the third NBA 2K cover appearance for the 15-time NBA All-Star and 14-time All-NBA selection. O’Neal, who played 19 NBA seasons, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

The NBA 2K18 Legend Edition and Legend Edition Gold will be available in both digital and physical formats, on PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system, and Xbox One. The NBA 2K18 Legend Edition and Legend Edition Gold will be available in physical format on Nintendo Switch.

Developed by Visual Concepts, NBA 2K18 is not yet rated by the Media Development Authority. It will be available for PlayStation 4 system and PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC platforms on September 19, 2017.

The post ‘The Big Aristotle’ Shaquille O’Neal booms back to the court in ‘NBA 2K18 Legend Edition’ appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Here’s the list for Workshops and Masterclasses at GAFX 2017

With just days to go before GAFX 2017 kicks-off in Bengaluru, here’s a quick list of all the Workshops and Masterclasses to help you plan your schedule.

Day 1:

Unity for Artists by Arvind Neelakantan

This workshop will demonstrate the use of Unity’s new artist and animation tools that will be integrated directly into Unity’s editor without writing even one line of code. This workshop will primarily concentrate on three aspects of these tools. They will be using assets from an existing app to recreate the functionalities as seen in Adam demo.

Golam Ashraf

Mathematics in Entertainment by Golam Ashraf

This six hour workshop gives a solid foundation for solving computational problems faced during CG asset creation or shot production.  Aspects explored will be the fundamental application of vectors, matrices, noise and fractals in computer graphics. Codes will be written to solve problems and build tools for transforms, collisions and deformation. The speaker will share some real case studies from his research and production wrangling days, where these techniques have helped him immensely. After going through this workshop, participants will be able to take on any visual problem and solve it efficiently. MEL and Python in Maya, and one example in Unity C# will be used. The concepts covered translate easily to any graphics software or API.

Audience: Technical Directors, Technical Artists, Engineering students

Prerequisite: Programming knowledge in any language

An Organic Approach to Visual Effects by Joseph Gilland

In this inspirational workshop with master special effects animator and Disney Veteran, Joseph Gilland, and based on his ground-breaking book Elemental Magic: The Classical Art of Hand-Drawn Special Effects Animation, the author brings a fresh perspective to understanding the underlying energy behind elemental special effects such as fire, water, smoke, explosions and magic.

Drawing on a life-long mission to capture the essential energy of the elements, Gilland urges his workshop participants to explore the natural world around them and inside them, to tap into the true nature of the elements and thus bring fresh, dynamic energy to the visual effects that they create. Traditional and digital artists, technical directors and computer programmers alike will discover fresh new ways to approach visual effects animation.

Alejandro Garcia

Physics of Animation by Alejandro Garcia

An understanding of physics is essential for creating believable animated motion. The workshop covers essential topics from physical mechanics to basic bio-mechanics that apply specifically to character animation. A must attend for all character animators.

High-end Character Creation for Games by Steve Walker

It’s the new era in 3D character creation for Games and VR, where the advent in technology constantly pushes the envelope of realism and immersive quality of games. This workshop by Dhruva Interactive, character art director, Steve Walker, in a broader sense is a dialogue to address THAT very shift in the gaming paradigm. With emphasis on the ever-increasing importance of art fundamentals, technology improvements and changes in the production pipeline, it will walk you through the full process of how characters are made for games, along with insights on how to achieve the highest quality for the biggest blockbuster games.

3D Character Animation by Anand Baid

Jam-packed with animation goodness and professional knowledge, Baid will talk on various topics listed below in a highly energetic and interactive session.

The session will conclude with Baid moderating a Q&A and panel-discussion that includes accomplished personalities from the world of Animation – Philippe Gluckman (creative director at DreamWorks Animation for over 20 years, now Mikros), Viren Patil (creative director at Xentrix Animation Studios), PC Vikram (art director, animation film-maker, formerly with Zynga Games).

Storytelling with Light by Sharon Calahan

A look at how to create beautiful and memorable images to enhance storytelling.

Unity for Films, Cinematics and Cinematic VR

Cinematics with Unity (1hr) – Live demo on how to tell a story in Unity covering scene layout, lighting, camera sequencing, animation, audio, VFX, compositing/post processing.

Cinematic VR in Unity (1hr) – Live demo in Unity on covering how to play 360 video, simple VR interactions, spatialised audio, sequencing animation, compositing/post processing.

Masterclass on Story by Craig Caldwell

Craig Caldwell

More and more story development is taking place at the pre-visualisation and post-visualisation phases. It is not exclusively a writer’s domain any longer. This session is designed specifically for non-writers, designed for technical directors, artists, animators, modellers, designers etc. who’s work is essential in making the “story” come to life.

This session focuses on how story development stimulates emotion in the audience. To be covered backstory, character profiles, generating ideas, iteration, brainstorming, What-if etc. Plot covers the outer journey; story development is about the character’s inner journey (how conflict reveals who the characters are under pressure which is really why a viewer watches).

It covers basics such as unity of opposites, creating identification, making difficult choices, transformation, and that it is not enough to just understand your characters… you have to care about them, even the villains. Story essentials include the five fundamental goals in a story (to win, to escape, to stop, to deliver, or to retrieve something) as well as what is at stake (i.e. survival, safety, love, esteem, etc.) that motivates the main character to move from their ordinary world to a different world, where the story really starts. Tip: All stories start better with a crisis.

Day 2:

Organic Approach to Visual Effects by Joseph Gilland

Technical Workshop – Scripting in Animation by Dr. Golam Ashraf

The post Here’s the list for Workshops and Masterclasses at GAFX 2017 appeared first on AnimationXpress.