Hasta La Motion!

THR further confirmed Sony’s choice of Serkis as a director when Venom star Tom Hardy dropped this veritable tease that Serkis was indeed going to be directing the Venom sequel:

Andy Serkis

 

As stated before: The post-credits scene of Venom introduced Woody Harrelson’s Cletus Kasady, the infamous serial killer who goes on in the comics to become the symbiote-wearing killer known as Carnage. The Venom post-credits scene all but screamed Carnage’s arrival in Venom 2, which could adapt a Marvel Comics crossover storyline like “Maximum Carnage”, which saw Venom having to team with Spider-Man and other heroes to stop Carnage and his gang of monstrous killers from massacring their way across Manhattan.

Venom

Serkis is one of the most skilled and famous pioneers of the modern motion-capture process for breathing anthropomorphic life into fantasy creature characters in films. Post his portrayal of Gollum in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, Serkis has shown his potential as a leading man by depicting the epic evolution of the ape Caesar in the Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy. Serkis was popularly credited for helping to craft the finer points of Caesar’s evolution from simple primate to the leader of an entire race of intelligent apes; moreover, Serkis helped to teach the cast of other mo-cap actors needed for the movies.

It is possible that Venom 2 will be one of the biggest Marvel movies outside of the main Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise.

Venom 2 is slated for release on 2 October 2020.

The post Venom 2 ropes in Andy Serkis as director appeared first on AnimationXpress.

ANDREW MILLSTEIN

Walt Disney Studios has brought on board Animation Studios president Andrew Millstein and Zootopia producer and creative executive Clark Spencer into new leadership positions as it integrates Blue Sky into its portfolio of kid-friendly brands.

Millstein will serve as the co-president of Blue Sky, the studio behind Ice Age and Rio, alongside current co-president Robert Baird.

Baird will continue to drive the creative direction of the studio reporting to Walt Disney Studios’ chief creative officer and co-chairman Alan Horn and co-chairman Alan Bergman. Millstein, who has served as president of Walt Disney Animation Studios since 2014 and as its general manager since 2008, will oversee day-to-day operations, focusing more on the business side. He will report to Jim Morris, who will take on a supervisory role at Blue Sky. Besides Blue Sky, Millstein will continue as the president of Pixar Animation Studios. His credits include Oscar-winning hits such as Moana, Tangled, and Zootopia.

Spencer has been named president of Walt Disney Animation Studios, reporting to Bergman and working alongside Walt Disney Animation Studios chief creative officer Jennifer Lee. This three-decade Disney veteran’s credits include Zootopia, Lilo & Stitch and Ralph Breaks the Internet.

Disney bought Blue Sky Studios as part of 21st Century Fox’s $71.3 billion acquisition of most of film and television assets. These changes have been made after Andrea Miloro left as co-president of Blue Sky Studios.

CLARK SPENCER

“We are incredibly proud of the strength and depth of leadership in our animation studios, and Andrew, Clark, and Jim are all exemplars of that. The remarkable success of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios over the past decade is due in large part to the respective leadership of Andrew and Jim and their ability to foster creativity, technology, and culture in equal parts, and we are thrilled that they will be lending their experience to the Blue Sky team along with Robert Baird’s creative guidance,” Horn and Bergman said in a joint statement.

The company is well-known for producing lower-cost animated hits, but its future has been uncertain because Disney has a wealth of talent in the family entertainment space at both its animated division and at Pixar. There had been some speculation that Blue Sky might be phased out after it releases its next few films or turned into a producer of content for Disney Plus, the company’s forthcoming streaming service. Friday’s announcement doesn’t provide much in the way of clarity, but it does signal that Disney is exerting more control and putting a greater imprint on its new purchases.

Blue Sky’s upcoming releases include Spies in Disguise, a buddy comedy with the voices of Will Smith and Tom Holland, and Nimona, an adaptation of a graphic novel.

The post Disney names Andrew Millstein and Clark Spencer for new leadership positions appeared first on AnimationXpress.

“I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior” – Hippolyte Taine 

On the occasion of World Cat Day on 8 August, Sony YAY! celebrated their own goofy feline duo – Honey and Bunny with some fun activities.

Honey and Bunny are immensely loved by their young fans for their wacky and comic antics. The combination of Honey’s goofiness and Bunny’s over smartness from the popular show Honey-Bunny ka Jholmaal leaves everyone in splits. Through their adventures, camaraderie and dance moves, the adorable cat duo has entertained everyone. 

So, Sony YAY! decided to make them feel special on a day dedicated to cats. The channel celebrated Honey and Bunny and called upon all feline lovers to celebrate their cats together with them.

Making it an all-cat affair, Sony YAY! hosted Honey-Bunny and all the cat lovers at Cafe Pefe, a feline-theme restaurant in Mumbai. It was a fun themed party hosted by RJ Karan from Radio City 91.1 FM with a specially crafted Honey Bunny-themed menu, Jholmaal themed games and the title track of Honey-Bunny ka Jholmaal on loop for kids to have unlimited fun.

The post Sony YAY! celebrates World Cat Day with their funny feline duo Honey-Bunny! appeared first on AnimationXpress.

With several options to choose from, which version of Cinema 4D is right for you? Follow along with this guide to choose the right version or subscription.

In an attempt to simplify the entire purchasing process, Maxon has eliminated the various versions of Cinema 4D (Studio, Prime, Broadcast, etc) and has announced that going forward there will be only one version of C4D.

While choosing the right version of Cinema 4D has now become a lot easier, choosing the right subscription bundle has users scratching their heads.

So let’s dive into the new options to pick which is right for you.

Cinema 4D Purchasing Options

Cinema 4D is available as either a one-time purchase with the perpetual license or as an ongoing subscription. For those of you with an MSA plan in place, or about to expire, be sure to reach out to your local Maxon representative and they can either discount your subscription, or help you figure out an upgrade path for specific cases.

Perpetual License

$3,495 one time purchase

A perpetual license allows you to buy a version of Cinema 4D forever. You will never lose access to the program.  It does require a serious upfront investment, but you won’t have to pay any service fees. That said, you won’t receive any future updated versions. So if you’ve never owned Cinema 4D, and you want a copy that will work forever, a perpetual license is your best option.

• Pro
  • Keep forever
  • One time purchase
  • No service or maintenance fees
• Con
  • Expensive
  • Does not include updated versions

In the past, if you purchased a copy of Cinema 4D, you would then pay an annual MSA (Maxon Service Agreement) to keep your program updated.

With the new subscription platform, Maxon has eliminated the MSA. That means if you purchase Cinema 4D R21, you will only have version R21. To update to R22+ in the future, you will need to either sign up for the subscription service or contact Maxon directly about a future upgrade path.

As of today, we have to no details on future upgrades, but Maxon is offering steep discounts for users willing to switch to subscription.

NOTE: If you are an R20 owner with an active MSA, you will receive a copy of R21. You will not be able to renew your MSA after your current one expires, so you’ll need to choose between moving to the subscription program or waiting for Maxon to release details on a future upgrade path. We highly recommend contacting your local Maxon representative as they can offer discounts and guidance for you to make the right decision.

Subscription

The Cinema 4D subscription program comes with a few options. You can either choose to get Cinema 4D by itself annually or monthly, or you can get a Cinema 4D + Redshift renderer bundle for a little bit more.

Cinema 4D Only Subscription

• $59.99/month with a 1-year plan
  • $719.88 paid at once upfront
• $94.99/month with a 1-month plan

Cinema 4D + Redshift for C4D Subscription

• $81.99/month with a 1-year plan
  • $983.88 paid at once upfront
• $116.99/month with a 1-month plan

As for the good and bad of the subscription,

• Pro
  • Updates and new versions available upon release
  • Cheaper than perpetual license
  • Cheaper than old MSA maintenance plan
• Con
  • Pay upfront for annual subscription
  • Lose access to Cinema 4D when cancelled
  • The included version of Redshift only works with Cinema 4D
    • Cannot use this version of Redshift with other 3D programs

Choosing the right subscription is really going to come down to a few factors, primarily being if you will be using Redshift with other DCC (Houdini, Maya, 3ds Max, etc)

If you already own Redshift, and use it with other 3D programs, it makes sense to purchase the annual Cinema 4D only subscription. By keeping your Redshift license separate, not only can you still use Redshift anywhere, the price of a C4D subscription + regular Redshift maintenance fee is lower than the annual bundle.

Cinema 4D annual subscription with standard Redshift maintenance

$719.88 + $250 = $969.88

Cinema 4D + Redshift annual bundle

$983.88

If you do not own Redshift, you still have a few things to think over. If you only plan on using Redshift with Cinema 4D, the bundle is actually the best option for new users. But, if you plan on using Redshift with other 3D programs, it doesn’t make sense to subscribe to the bundle, as the bundled Redshift renderer only works with Cinema 4D.

Cinema 4D annual subscription with new Redshift license

$719.88 + $500 = $1219.88

Cinema 4D + Redshift (only for C4d) annual bundle

$983.88

As stated previously, while the bundle is the cheaper option for new users, if you intend to use Redshift with any other compatible 3D program, you need to buy a new license from Redshift. The bundled Redshift renderer only works with Cinema 4D.

Greyscalegorilla Guide to Choosing Your Cinema 4D Subscription

Now we know this is a lot of information to take in, so we wanted to simplify the process with this mind-map guide. It’s a choose-your-own adventure style choice of picking the right version of Cinema 4D for you and your team. (You can click on the image for a high-resolution PNG.)

Click image for high resolution.

The Best Purchasing Options for Users New to Cinema 4D

So, you are considering moving to Cinema 4D. Maybe you are new to 3D in general, or perhaps you are moving from another Digital Content Creation (DCC) app like Blender, 3ds Max, or Maya. Here’s what you need to know.

First things first, download a free Trial of Cinema 4D to make sure it’s the right fit for you. Maxon offers a 14-day free trial of C4D, and I’d also suggest signing up for our free Intro to Cinema 4D course to help you get started.

Should you fall in love with Cinema 4D like we have, then you have all the options above to choose from.

Previous Owners Upgrading to a Cinema 4D Subscription

Now let’s say that you are an existing Cinema 4D user, and you want to upgrade to the latest version of Cinema 4D. Follow along with the guide as you do have some challenges presented to you. If you’re MSA is up to date, you will get R21, but after that it’s going to be up to you to decide. I would note that it’s worth calling Maxon to determine your best course of action, because they are offering discounts.

Users moving to a subscription now are being offered deals, so definitely look into any possible discount you are eligible for.

Previous Owners Not Wanting a Cinema 4D Subscription

If you are set on avoiding the subscription entirely, your only course of action is to contact Maxon directly. The company has assured us that an upgrade path will be made available to perpetual license owners, but those details have not been made public. Do expect to pay more than the subscription to maintain a perpetual license, but as of now we don’t know anything more than that.

Want to work faster and do more in Cinema 4D?

After you’ve determined your best path forward, you can rest assured knowing that Greyscalegorilla plugins, assets, and training will all be compatible with the new Cinema 4D subscription.

So be sure to check out best-selling plugins like Light Kit Pro 3, HDRI Link, and Signal. The beloved Everyday Material Collection, HDRI packs, and asset packs are also ready to use with our simple drag-and-drop workflow.

Want to stay up to date with the latest software? Browse our free tutorials and check out Greyscalegorilla Plus for all the professional training 3D artists and motion designers need to hone their skills. Learn about the latest Cinema 4D features, updates to Redshift, X-Particles, and so much more.

The post What Version of Cinema 4D Should I Buy or Subscribe to? appeared first on Greyscalegorilla.