Nov
20
1950s closing credits
Posted in: Animation
Closing credits for 10 different 1950s television series. Because why not? I love closing credits, I wonder if anyone else does. The shows themselves have already been uploaded by others.
Nov
20
Roopak Nair from JetSynthesys opens up about celebrity games being the new bandwagon
Posted in: Animation
Roopak Nair, Jet Synthesys
JetSynthesys which recently launched the game Sachin Saga Cricket Champions is based on the legendary cricketer’s career that starts from the age of 16 till his last matches. PlayIzzOn is the gaming development and publishing company under JetSynthesys has exclusive global gaming rights of Sachin Tendulkar (Sachin Saga Cricket Champions) and Salman Khan (Being Salman, the official game) alongwith a number of other Bollywood and Hollywood stars.
It is also into publishing side where it works with local companies in India and abroad, especially the western markets. Animation Xpress had a chat with vice president product and marketing JetSynthesys Private Limited, Roopak Nair who spoke about celebrity games, Jetsynthesys and the gaming industry.
What is the reason behind developing celebrity games?
People find it difficult to locate the game because every week 20 new games feature on the app store within a week’s release of a game. So, when you have 1000 games coming in a year, how many games can you really spend time on? Having a celebrity associated with a game helps in recall value.
Do celebrity games also have a shelf-life?
For the initial two months, the celebrity factor will play its part in keeping the players hooked to the game. Post that, it is the social elements inside it.
Do you help other gaming bodies publish games?
We help them monetise and market themselves. Basically, we are into all aspects of publishing which could be engaging players in terms of community management, post launch etc. It’s all done by the division under us called JetPlay.
We also have a division primarily focusing on India-based celebrity games targeting solely the Indian market. Furthermore, we have a partnership with a company based in US called Hitcents and that actually entity is called Pro Entertainment.
Do you invest in other companies?
We also have a division where we also do investments in companies at a majority stake. One is Nordwin, which is an e-sports division, and they work with all the brands, they run e-sports; Noah Plays is our PC gaming division. Here we cater to everyone who plays on Steam, and that is around 10 million according to statistics.
Is the focus more on mobile gaming?
The players are quite into mobile gaming. There are millions of downloads on Google Play every month. It is going to multiply several number of times.
What are your plans after ‘Sachin Saga Champions’?
We have about four titles in development, one of which is also a celebrity title. Two others are non-IP based. We are also planning to have a casual game which would be non-IP and that’s for global audience. We also have a real-time multiplayer games in pipeline.
Are you planning to make ‘Sachin Saga Champions’ a multiplayer game?
It’s already going to happen. For example, if today you’re competing against somebody in the US or UK, tomorrow you would do that on a leaderboard.
Where was the game developed and where was the motion capture done? Do you have footages of Sachin while making the motion-capture?
The game was developed inhouse in our Pune studio and the motion capture was done by us. We will release the official footages soon.
Are there other cricketers who have been motion captured as well alongwith Sachin?
We have motion-captured Sachin but not other cricketers. We have motion-captured all of his 15-20 shots that’s typically done on console gaming. There are a lot of camera angles that we have captured. He runs, skips, balls and then there a lot of diving shots we have captured.
Have you mentioned the historical details of the games too?
Yes we have done so. When you start the game, a screen appears upon which one can see the facts about what happened with Sachin in that match and what was India’s score in it. There’s a lot of emotional value to Sachin himself, as well as to other players. What is important to watch here is the way he strikes the ball. We have paid attention to the small nuances which are super realistic.
How much time it took to develop the game?
It’s been more than a year. The work that went behind it, such as capturing frames, innovating on the graphics, bringing a real world motion capture into a mobile device, it all took a lot of time to get them done perfectly.
On what platforms can the game be played?
It’s an android-based game so it can be played on all android devices, especially the mobile phones. But soon, we will be getting the PC version of it too. Unity was the software used.
Tell us about the journey to start the game ‘Sachin Saga’.
The journey to develop this started about a year ago. For the weekend of the launch, we are giving a big discount. The game was tested with 10,000 players. We had more than 25,000 people writing to us but tested it with just 10,000 because 25,000 is a huge number.
When are you launching the game? What’s the timeline for the game?
It will be available from December 2017 onwards on Google Play. It starts from 1989 and goes all the way till 2012.
What’s the age group between which the game became most popular?
According to Google reports, the game was popular between people of the age group 18-24 in India.
There are more number of guys playing games like Counter Strike or Dota 2, while girls play more of Candy Crush?
The competitive spirit in women is as much as it is in men. It’s just that the console gaming revolves around either shooting, car racing, or action, some of the key genres of the games of the past. These are the genres that normally cater to male audience and there are more number of games catering to them than the women.
Why are games catering to women aren’t being made?
Candy Crush is a good example of one such game catering to the women audience. I’m sure we’ll have more female-centric games in the future. We also work with celebrities like Priyanka Chopra, so we’re sure to come up with more games catering to the audience.
How big is the gaming market in India right now?
It is the no.1 market in the world in terms of downloads. It has surpassed US recently and the same was announced on Google Play this year. In the last few months, there have also been talks about taking it 3x times further.
But isn’t India lagging behind when it comes to developing original gaming IPs?
India is maturing as a game development eco-system. The game development began 30 years ago, but in India, it happened barely a decade ago, because not many gaming companies existed back then.
There are cases where people unable to start IPs due to lack of funds. Your take?
It is a challenge faced in every creative industry. If someone tries to make a game or a movie with a creative pursuit, the risk involved is very high. As a game developing company, if you have the right tools and the right engine, it might make sense for some of the publishers to begin work with.
Do you have an in-house team to look after the ideas being pitched?
We evaluate it from a gameplay stand-point, depth of the idea, passion of the team, and look if they what it takes to sustain for multiple years.
Do you envision a game running for a year or two and then come up with a new one?
When you make a game, we actually think of the systems that we have to put into the game. We think about the real-world systems that we can incorporate into the game, in its design. Doing these things post launch is very difficult.You design a game which lasts for years, at least one year. But when you launch, you might launch with just a part of it. Every month you roll out a new version.
Were you a gamer yourself?
I was always gaming on my own. It was my passion. I was into PC gaming; I used to play Commandos, FIFA 98 etc. during my engineering graduate days. Then I got into IT companies; I worked for Mindtree, Microsoft and then IBM. But then I got a chance to work in Reliance games.
The post Roopak Nair from JetSynthesys opens up about celebrity games being the new bandwagon appeared first on AnimationXpress.
Nov
20
In a first for Pixar, ‘Coco’ had people outside studio as part of creative process
Posted in: AnimationDirector Lee Unkrich was in the talks after the success of Toy Story 3 and his win at the Oscar’s. He immediately started working on a movie that focused on the Mexican holiday. Seven years later, the movie – Coco – is now releasing and the experience of making it was unlike any other Pixar movie.
John Lasseter has been the head of the Pixar/Walt Disney Animation department for over two decades and has been a major reason for the visionaries behind the scenes. For Unkrich, it was the Day of the Dead holiday that really fascinated him as an entry into telling a story. It would be the first time that Pixar would tell a story around a cultural celebration.
Coco follows the story of a young boy named Miguel who secretly wants to be a famous musician, though his family has forbidden music after his great-great-grandfather left the family to seek out fame as a musician. While celebrating Day of the Dead, Miguel magically ends up in the Land of the Dead, and must go on a journey to find his way back to the living while also searching for his great-great-grandfather.
The director admitted to the fact that making Coco has been a learning process from the start but they really hit their stride when they put together a group of cultural consultants. It was the first time on any Pixar movie that outsiders were allowed into the studio’s creative process. And getting the feedback of outsiders didn’t stop there. These meetings with the consultants and Latino community didn’t lead to any major changes to the story, Unkrich said, however they were responsible for many small tweaks that increased the movie’s connection to Mexican culture.
“We ended up bringing in periodically big groups of all sorts of folks from the Latino community, from artists to writers to political figures to media executives, because we wanted to get a lot of different perspectives,” Unkrich said. “What we quickly learned is there is no one right way to tell a story set in the Latino community, there are a lot of different opinions. Part of our challenge was trying to navigate all those different opinions to figure out our path forward.”
One example is a change in how the character of Miguel’s grandmother, Abuelita, disciplines people. “In her earlier conception we gave her a wooden spoon that was tucked into her apron string and she would whip that out and kind of hit you to express displeasure,” Unkrich said. “It was at one of our earlier screenings that a couple of our cultural consultants said: A spoon has nothing to do with Latino culture, she should really pull off her chancla, her slipper, and hit them with it. And that was the first time we learned about la chancla, and we embraced the idea fully. That one adjustment has proven to win us a lot of points in the Latino community because it’s something a lot of people grew up fearing.”
Miguel’s grandmother Abuelita hitting with a la chancla
Lee Unkrich wanted his this movie to be perfect and tried to leave no stone unturned while researching and making changes in the script according to the changes that were suggested.
Disney-Pixar’s Coco, directed by Lee Unkrich, co-directed by Adrian Molina and starring Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal and Benjamin Bratt sets off on an adventure of music and mystery on 24 November 2017.
The post In a first for Pixar, ‘Coco’ had people outside studio as part of creative process appeared first on AnimationXpress.
Nov
20
‘Justice League’ review: VFX takes the cake in a reasonably pleasing superhero fantasy
Posted in: Animation
Contrary to all the chatters of another botched-up DC superhero flick to be a mere damp squib, Justice League, for all the hoopla, conjures just enough to leave you satiated and satisfied. Whilst some of the glaring loopholes that continue to gnaw the DC movies keep it from emulating the dizzy standards of its Marvel equivalent The Avengers, Zack Snyder’s very own band of swashbucklers are a thrill to watch nonetheless.
Set in the aftermath of Superman’s death, the world stares down the barrel without their iconic superhero and with the impending threat of Steppenwolf and his army of hideous parademons looming large upon them. The onus is now on Bruce Wayne (an ageing Ben Affleck) and Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) to assemble a “team of warriors” to take them down and protect the city.
Constituting as much as “93.18 per cent” of CGI and VFX, as Ray Fisher (Cyborg) puts it, Justice League meticulously knits the tale of how a group of genetically advantaged figures (and Batman) put aside their egos and combine to form a team. Whilst the narrative seems habitual, the set-pieces spurned around this heroes-vs-villains yarn make for a contented experience.
With a theme that’s darker and more dystopic than the one in Dawn of Justice, the visual effects, regardless, are eye-popping. Each character in the movie exudes superpowers that are crafted with stunning visuals.
The ones by the Flash and you-know-who, are the sights to behold. The confrontation between Steppenwolf and the Justice League, especially in the climax is completely made on green screen, as the dusty and begrimed surroundings complement the atmosphere of horror that has engulfed the world.
Aquaman’s under-water sequences are just pristine, and a special mention to the movie’s chiaroscuro that never digresses from its gloomy setting, as well as to Fabian Wagner’s impeccable cinematography.
Like any other big-budget superhero film packed to the rafters with special effects, Justice League too is backed by a number of VFX studios as Double Negative, MPC, Weta Digital, Scanline VFX, Pixomondo, Shade VFX and Blind, who all weigh in to produce a rollicking visual experience, if not something totally awe-inspiring.
The central characters dispatch their respective roles with perfection – Gal Gadot is as vibrant as we saw in her standalone film earlier this year, whilst Ezra Miller (The Flash) provides an added comic relief. Jason Momoa (Aquaman) and Ray Fisher are welcome debutants too. Ciaran Hinds as the towering Steppenwolf is more putrid than petrifying, completely unrecognisable after being buried 20,000 feet under CGI.
Clocking at just over two hours, Justice League is neither a slog nor feels hurried despite being the shortest DC film to date. Director Zack Snyder really has upped the ante by a notch or two since the lackluster Dawn of Justice in 2016, but still falls some way short in emulating the aura that hung around Patt Jenkins’ Wonder Woman.
The hardcore DC aficionados and action junkies wouldn’t be disappointed, but for neutrals heading in with too many expectations, you fellas might just be.
A Warner Bros. Pictures distribution, Justice League is based on DC Comics and released on 17 November 2017.
The post ‘Justice League’ review: VFX takes the cake in a reasonably pleasing superhero fantasy appeared first on AnimationXpress.
Nov
20
Limpidfrog Entertainment
Posted in: Animation
“Limpidfrog Entertainment is a Hyderabad based creative Studio established to produce Games, IP, graphical contents and content creation service for Television and Digital Networks.”
Please send your CV, show-reel, and salary expectations to – info@limpidfrog.com
JOB REQUIREMENTS – 2D ARTIST
Functional Responsibilities
- Good in making 2D UI designs.
- You will prepare the storyboards for production, including indications of dialogue, character and camera moves, and have to create cleaned-up drawings for production
- Creating concept art for characters, environments, objects to various levels of finish and time constraints
- Creating illustrations for key frames, box art and other marketing purposes
- Speed paintings of Composition, Mood
- Character design – Creative, unique and interesting characters in a range of styles
Skills Required
- Fluent with Photoshop, and a high capacity to learn new tools.
- Strong art background in traditional art skills.
- Good sense of light, form, tone, palette.
- Anatomical knowledge
- Good sense of light, form, tone, palette
- Must be able to paint/sketch at speed
Skills Considered a Bonus
- Experience with 3-D software (Z-Brush, MODO, 3DSMax or Maya etc) a plus
- Good knowledge of videogames and films.
- Experience working within a videogame, agency or film-production environment.
Education and Experience
- A portfolio that demonstrates a potential to meet industry standard level of concept art, storyboard, key frames, mood boards, illustrations.
- Professional art training is desirable but not essential
- 0-2years of experience and above.
Personal Specification
In addition to having a good foundation of artistic ability, the role requires working as part of a team and so enthusiasm and good communication skills are needed. We are looking for a grounded and pragmatic team
player. Confident without being arrogant, this person will want to play an active role in building an awesome culture within our new studio.
BENEFITS
Limpidfrog offer a number of schemes to full time members of the team and have a structured approach to training and development.
JOB REQUIREMENTS – SENIOR 2D ARTIST
Functional Responsibilities
- You will illustrate the script in 2D with animation assets, plan shots and draw panels to demonstrate action and maintain continuity between scenes.
- You will work closely with the Creative Director, Producer and the client to visualize and tell the story as concept artist
- You will prepare the storyboards for production, including indications of dialogue, character and camera moves, and have to create cleaned-up drawings for production
- Creating concept art for characters, environments, objects to various levels of finish and time constraints
- Creating illustrations for key frames, box art and other marketing purposes
- Speed paintings of Composition, Mood
- Visual storytelling, ensuring that the image captivates the viewer’s imagination
- Character design – Creative, unique and interesting characters in a range of styles
Skills Required
- Fluent with Photoshop, and a high capacity to learn new tools.
- Strong art background in traditional art skills.
- Good sense of light, form, tone, palette.
- Anatomical knowledge
- Architectural knowledge
- Must be able to paint/sketch at speed
WHAT WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR:
- Lone Wolves who just want to do it “their” way.
- Portfolios only featuring Portraits and Self-Portraits.
- Non-Team player.
Skills Considered a Bonus
- Experience with 3-D software (Z-Brush, MODO, 3DSMax or Maya etc) a plus
- Good knowledge of videogames and films.
- Experience working within a videogame, agency or film-production environment.
Education and Experience
- A portfolio that demonstrates a potential to meet industry standard level of concept art, storyboard, key frames, mood boards, illustrations.
- Professional art training is desirable but not essential
- 4years+ of experience and above.
Personal Specification
In addition to having a good foundation of artistic ability, the role requires working as part of a team and so enthusiasm and good communication skills are needed. We are looking for a grounded and pragmatic team player. Confident without being arrogant, this person will want to play an active role in building an awesome culture within our new studio.
BENEFITS
Limpidfrog offers a number of schemes to full time members of the team and has a structured approach to training and development
- The ability to shape and design the future of our company, client relationships and directing meaningful new projects.
- Working within an absolutely amazing team of high end professionals with some of the most exciting artists in the industry today, a team of more than 30yrs of experience combined.
- Becoming a key factor in the company’s growth and expansion.
- In long term we intend to give a % of profit from any IP you contribute massively, *condition apply.
- You are free to suggest ideas and lead any IP, our team will work with you to take it globally.
Offered salary – As per Industry standard
The post Limpidfrog Entertainment appeared first on AnimationXpress.
Nov
19
The 2017 Motion Awards
Posted in: Animation
Call for entries now open: motionawards.com Directed by Gunner Audio by Antfood Illustration: Ian Sigmon, Rachel Reid, John Hughes, Jon Riedell, Marcus Bakke Animation: Jon Riedell, John Hughes, Ian Sigmon, Rachel Reid, Steve Savalle, Austin Robert, Mel McCann 3D Modeling: Mike Dupree, Marcus Bakke 3D Texturing & Dev: Nick Forshee, Steve Savalle Project Coordinator: Brandon Delis
Nov
19
Music by Pracs: https://soundcloud.com/pracs
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Nov
19
Holden Sevens
Posted in: Animation
It’s no secret 7 that we were in 7th heaven working on this spot all about the magnificent 7 in all of it’s forms.
Nov
19
TED-Ed commissioned us to make a video to accompany their lesson about “The Dunning Kruger effect” by Mr David Dunning. This effect is a cognitive phenomenon wherein people of low ability suffer from illusory superiority. The aim of this film is to help us to discover wether we are as good at things as we think we are. We were very lucky to get to work with a brilliant animation team, made up of Russ Etheridge, Eze Matteo, Ian Pinder, Andrew Embury, and Allen Laseter. With sound and music from the talented Tom Drew. Please check out their work, they’re amazing! For the full lesson, visit: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-incompetent-people-think-they-re-amazing-david-dunning ____________________________________________ CREDITS Direction& Design & Animation: Wednesday Studio Animation: Russ Etheridge, Ezequiel Matteo, Allen Laseter, Andrew Embury, Ian Pinder Production: Wednesday Studio Sound & Music: Tom Drew Voice: Addison Anderson Lesson: David Dunning Client: TED-Ed
Nov
19
"Eye On" Episode 2: IBM Design
Posted in: Animation
“Eye On” is a film series focusing on the increasingly convergent worlds of science, technology and art. In this episode, we introduce IBM Plex, our first bespoke typeface, visit a pirate radio station in Austin, Texas, learn how to screenprint, how to create your own magazine, and learn what it takes to design a mainframe.
Learn more about IBM Design: https://www.ibm.com/design/
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