Apr 28

#WhenAtHome: Diving into VFX imagery of the Walt Disney masterpiece

Posted in: Animation

How is the lockdown treating you? — Almost all of us must have at least once heard this pandemic-specific greeting from loved ones. Given the recent developments, this hackneyed question needs to be toppled on its head. The question should instead be  —How are you treating this lockdown? It’s not all doom and gloom if you look at the bright side of it. For the VFX-artists, this is the time you get to reassess your skills and learn new techniques. It’s time to see treat this lockdown as — an opportunity to grow and learn. 

Norman Rockwell Museum Presents “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ...

“A Walt Disney masterpiece with a villain that makes Darth Vader look like a pussycat!” – Visual Effects Supervisor Harrison Ellenshaw

As the world battles Covid-19, the lockdown restrictions have led many organisations to understand the plight of people and  make entertaiment as well educational freely available.

VES Society’s initiative – VFX Pros: Home Edition is offering a starry set of webcast episodes featuring the best of the best in the VFX industry speaking about the challenges and techniques in regards to the big-ticket Hollywood projects they worked on. 

— The Visual Effects Society is a professional global honorary society dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences and applications of visual effects and to upholding the highest standards and procedures for the visual effects profession. It is the entertainment industry’s only official organization representing the extended global community of visual effects practitioners, including supervisors, artists, producers, technology developers, educators and studio executives. VES’ more than 4,000 members in 40 countries worldwide contribute to all areas of entertainment – film, television, commercials, animation, music videos, games, new media and special venues.

Featuring an exclusive conversation with award-winning matte artist and visual effects supervisor Harrison Ellenshaw, VES speaking on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) — one of the classic titles on the VES 70: The Most Influential Visual Effects Films of All Time, this session is all set to broaden the perspective and educate folks about variety of nuances that embody this classic imagery. 

They shared, “Get ready for another episode of VFX Pros: Home Edition! Today we’re featuring an exclusive conversation with award-winning matte artist and visual effects supervisor Harrison Ellenshaw, VES, on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) — one of the titles on the VES 70: The Most Influential Visual Effects Films of All Time.”

Elaborating on the session, they further shared, “The animated musical fantasy film was the first full-length cel animated feature film and the earliest Disney animated feature film. You know the story of Snow White – the magic mirror, seven dwarfs, evil queen, the poison apple and true love’s kiss. Harrison takes a closer look and shares his personal tales and professional insights into the film”

From the film’s pioneering use of a multiplane camera and how Disney himself “sold” the idea of people sitting still for a 90-minute cartoon…to Harrison’s full circle journey from a young ride operator at Disneyland to supervising the Kodak/Cinesite 4K restoration of the film in the early 1990’s….to the enduring power and legacy of classic films – it’s all in here. Watch the interview and get enchanted all over again.

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Apr 28

Cardiff Animation Festival brings new animation events online during lockdown

Posted in: Animation

  • A masterclass with Cartoon Saloon Animation Director Lorraine Lordan

  • Welsh animator Kyle Legall runs a character design workshop

  • Previously unreleased award-winning animated shorts on YouTube Live

  • Independent animation for kids on Saturday morning

Lockdown might have put a stop to Cardiff Animation Festival’s physical 2020 edition, but it hasn’t stopped the Cardiff Animation Festival team. Since restrictions on gathering were introduced, Cardiff Animation Festival have sprung into action, taking events to online platforms like YouTube Live, Slack and Zoom to keep audiences and animators connected during social distancing. Now Cardiff Animation Festival have four new online events to bring animation fans from around the world together – an online masterclass with Cartoon Saloon Animation Director Lorraine Lordan, an online workshop with Welsh animator Kyle Legall, and curated online screenings of some of the best independent animation from around the world for families and adult audiences.

Cardiff Animation Festival - FilmFreeway

Cardiff Animation Nights, the CAF team’s free bi-monthly independent animation screenings, takes to YouTube Live for a second time on Thursday 30th of April at 8:15pm, with 12 brilliant new animated short films. The team took Cardiff Animation Nights online for the first time earlier this month, reaching nearly three times their usual audience numbers – over 500 people from around the world tuned in to watch independent animated short films together apart.

On Saturday morning, young animation fans can swap the usual cartoons for an hour of family-friendly independent animation. Cardiff Animation Kids will stream live on Saturday 2 May at 10:30am, including the world premiere of stop-motion animated short film Sum of its Parts directed by Alisa Stern.

On Saturday 2 May at 4pm, Animation Director Lorraine Lordan joins Cardiff Animation Festival live online from Ireland for a masterclass sharing insight from her varied and international career in animation, presented in collaboration with ScreenSkills. For much of her career Lorraine has worked at renowned Irish studio Cartoon Saloon, including as Animation Supervisor on the Annie-nominated TV Series Puffin Rock, Sequence Animation Supervisor on Oscar-nominated The Breadwinner and Assistant Director on the new Puffin Rock feature film; her work in animation has taken her around the world, to studios in the Czech Republic, Germany, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Cambodia and the UK. Lorraine talks life in lockdown, how she’s been able to balance making a short film with lead roles on features, and shares what she’s learned along her impressive career journey.

Aspiring animators and those looking to brush up on their skills can join an online character design workshop with Welsh animator and multi-disciplinary artist Kyle Legall on Tuesday 5th of May at 6pm, presented in collaboration with Cinema Golau. Kyle began his career making animated films about black history and his community in Butetown, Cardiff, writing, directing, designing and animating short films for Channel 4 and S4C. Having since worked extensively across numerous different art forms, including spoken word, live music, performance art, graffiti and clothing design, Kyle is now bringing his eclectic skills back to animation. Emerging and aspiring animators can draw along with Kyle as he shares tips on evoking emotion through character design.

Cardiff Animation Festival is funded by Arts Council Wales, Ffilm Cymru Wales, Film Hub Wales as part of the BFI Film Audience Network (FAN), BFI NETWORK Wales, and Ymddiried through the Owen Edwards Scholarship Fund, and sponsored by Cloth Cat Animation, Picl Animation, Creative Europe Desk UK – Wales, the University of South Wales, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Jammy Custard Animation, the British Animation Awards, S4C and by the ScreenSkills Animation Skills Fund with contributions from UK animation productions.

To keep up to date, follow Cardiff Animation Festival on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and sign up to our mailing list for more updates and announcements as they are released.

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Apr 28

YouTube witnesses significant surge in subscriber base and time spent in India during lockdown

Posted in: Animation

Ongoing till 3 May, lockdown 2.0 across the nation, has disrupted many industries and sectors. The only sector for which the lockdown has been a blessing in disguise, is the online VOD (video-on-demand) industry that has seen a massive spike in consumption, given people now have limited or no access to outdoor entertainment. 

This lockdown has enabled a singular growth story for YouTube in India, with the  Google-owned platform witnessing a 20.5 per cent surge in subscriber base in the country. As per a recent report by Mindshare India and online video intelligence and analytics platform Vidooly, YouTube alone has amassed over 300 billion views in the first quarter (Q1) of 2020, which is 13 percent more than the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2019 and 11 percent more than Q1 2019.

The statistics showcased a steep increase in the time spent by the average user to be over four hours per day as compared to one and half hours on social media platforms previously. The report also suggested that COVID-related content has seen an increase of 98 percent in terms of views and 19 per cent in terms of engagement.

The Vidooly report further disclosed that smartphones and millennials are major growth drivers for content consumption on YouTube, as 70 per cent of viewership in the country comes from the age group 18 to 34, and over 90 per cent of views come through mobiles.

The report also considered video/content consumption on Facebook and Instagram, adding that to garner better engagement, brands are indulging in out-and-out marketing through social media. In fact, Indian government’s efforts in spreading awareness about COVID and related issues have gained mileage over YouTube.

90 per cent of views on YouTube come through mobile phones

Vidooly co-founder Subrat Kar said in a statement, “The worldwide lockdown has resulted in significant shifts in audience behaviour, specifically in terms of online content consumption. In such a scenario, retention rate and watch time of videos will be the key metrics to filter and identify the best performing channels. And YouTube is surely in a great position.”

According to the BARC-Nielsen’s fourth report on consumption patterns during the COVID disruption period (4 to 10 April), YouTube witnessed 94 per cent growth in terms of users/week, which is +15 per cent growth than the pre-COVID period. There’s also an increase of +22 per cent growth in time spent/user/week (mins).

The report also revealed that news consumption across different verticals have increased by 219 per cent during the lockdown period as people are consuming news the most on every platform possible – TV, print as well as digital (including YouTube and others).

Source: BARC India

As per new insights from Bisbo, India’s first platform for news and current affairs in an animated video format, who are closely following digital viewership patterns during the current global pandemic, YouTube has seen an increase in watch time by 60 per cent, which is coming from outside the six largest metros in India, primarily fueled by affordable data plans.

Bisbo founder Shakir Ebrahim told AnimationXpress, “If we look at only YouTube, the platform sees 400 hours of new content nearly every minute. It has more than 400 million+ active Indian viewers, who are currently looking for news, developments and other regional content, to suit their language and cultural preferences. They also have more than enough time to watch it!”

His channel, Bisbo India has a watch time of more than half a billion minutes in eight languages, giving the platform a unique position to observe, report and share insights related to Indian YouTube audiences. Based on the popularity of its regional content and the growing popularity of local videos across YouTube, Bisbo found an increasing tendency of the Indian YouTube audiences to watch homegrown content, tailored to regional needs and aspirations.

Shakir Ebrahim

“India’s 1.3 billion populace has 125 million English speakers, but even for many of them, English is not their first language. Some people would prefer to watch content in their mother tongue, making this a huge opportunity for regional content in India on YouTube. All they need is a steady supply to meet this heavy demand for it,” added Ebrahim.

As per the recent report by KPMG, Indian (vernacular) language internet users will grow at a CAGR of 18 per cent to 536 million by 2021, while English users would increase by only 3 per cent, reaching 199 million within the same period, enabling more and more regional content consumption on platforms like YouTube that offers a vast catalogue of content across languages.

YouTube has been the flagbearer of user-generated videos in India, having the largest share of monthly active users (currently 265 million) to show for it. Now, it has competition from TikTok, a more viral platform for short, unconventional user-generated video content. Both YouTube and TikTok have seen incredible growth in tier II, tier III cities and rural India.

With streaming competitions becoming tighter everyday, to even attract even more traffic, YouTube has put a number of its original content before the pay wall, allowing unlimited free streaming to its users. Selected shows that users can watch at zero additional cost are Escape The Night, Step Up: High Water, Matpat’s Game Lab, Impulse, Sherwood, Sideswiped, The Sidemen Show, Foursome, Me and My Grandma, F2 Finding Football, Overthinking with Kat & June and The Fake Show. Apart from these, YouTube will soon add We Are Savvy, Hyperlinked, Fruit Ninja Frenzy Force and Kings of Atlantis to this list.

YouTube global head of original content Susanne Daniels told Variety, “With a diverse collection of fan-favourite YouTube originals now available to stream for free, we are continuing to promote safety while offering our users of all ages entertainment across the globe.” 

These YouTube original shows were earlier available only for the YouTube Premium subscribers. However, YouTube has not shared a fixed date for the free programme which will be valid for a limited period. After that, users will have to subscribe to the YouTube Premium subscription at Rs. 129 per month in India to access the content. 

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Apr 28

Fresh Argentinian studio Not Real walks us through their remote work process via Nike project

Posted in: Animation

Based in Buenos Aires, the creative team at Not Real has been busy developing fun yet sophisticated projects for a variety of top-notch clients. The secret to their sauce is their motto: “The more precise, the more predictable”. Let’s take a peek inside…

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Apr 27

Paytm First Games sees over five million app downloads during ongoing lockdown

Posted in: Animation

Paytm First Games, has announced that it has registered over five million app downloads during the ongoing lockdown. The gaming app has become a popular option for stay-at-home entertainment and with its games like Ludo and Rummy registering 4x to 5x growth.

Paytm First Games has more than half a million daily active gamers on the platform, spending anywhere between 32 to 45 minutes playing more than 100+ games. The app offers free to play casual games across racing, action, shooting, arcade, and also offers skill-based games like Rummy. The gaming app recently concluded esports challenge Clash Royale saw over 11,000 registrations for the tournament, making it India’s biggest e-sporting tournament ever.

Paytm First Games COO Sudhanshu Gupta said, “We continue to see a rise in user growth amidst the lockdown with over one lakh new users joining the platform every day. Our platform offers a variety of games across genres and players are also able to win rewards leading to healthy retention of these users. In order to cater to the growing engagement, we have added over 25 new games in the last two weeks and continue to receive a lot of interest from studios across India who wish to partner and showcase their games to our users.”

The gaming app offers more than 300 popular games including Rummy, Ludo, Three Cards, Bubble Shooter, 8 Ball Pool, Fantasy Football, and Bike Racing to its users. Among these games, Rummy and Ludo have gained the maximum traction with users and are played by more than 6 lakh gamers every day. In addition to this, the company offers rewards and gratification worth more than Rs 10 crores to its users every month.

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Apr 27

Government of Karnataka and MPL to host online Chess tournament to raise funds for COVID-19 relief

Posted in: Animation

The Karnataka Youth Empowerment and Sports Department, Government of Karnataka,  announced that it will be hosting an online Chess Tournament to raise funds for Covid-19 relief, in association with United Karnataka Chess Association (Affiliated to AICF, recognised by the Karnataka Government) and Bengaluru-based Mobile Premier League (MPL), a mobile gaming platforms.

“We are humbled and honoured to be partnering with the Karnataka Government for such a noble cause. This is a time when the entire nation needs to come together and fight Covid-19. We are expecting participation in huge numbers and looking forward to the tournament,” said Mobile Premier League co-founder and CEO Sai Srinivas Kiran.

The tournament will be held on 2 May and 3 May 2020, on the MPL app and all proceeds from the tournament (after accounting for prize money) will be donated to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for Karnataka with respect to COVID-19.

Youth Empowerment and Sports minister, C.T Ravi said, “In these challenging times, it is essential that we remain strong and united. Today our common enemy is the Coronavirus. It has taken away the lives of few and disrupted the livelihood of many. Through chess we can all come together on the weekend of May 2nd and 3rd, contribute for a good cause and raise money which will be donated to the CM Relief Fund. I request the chess players of the nation to come forward and donate liberally to the cause in your own way and also challenge themselves to think, strategise and move and thereby checkmate COVID-19. Let’s fight Corona together. Department of Sports is supporting this unique cause to enable people to become mentally strong and also contribute to the CM Relief Fund as sports bring people together both in the physical world and online world.”

This online Chess tournament is open to everyone across India for an entry fee of Rs 50. The total prize pool for the tournament is Rs 10 lakh and the first prize consists of Rs 1 lakh. MPL currently has a userbase of over 40 million across the country and a huge number is expected to participate in the tournament. Registration for the tournament is open on the MPL app.

United Karnataka Chess Association secretary R Hanumantha said, “We are greatly appreciative of the work done by the Government and by MPL and for their cooperation on this matter. We will mobilise the chess community in Karnataka and other states to ensure this becomes a way to demonstrate solidarity and resilience.”

 

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Apr 27

Xilam Animation scores new sales in Southern Europe

Posted in: Animation

Award-winning French animation studio, Xilam Animation has secured a number of new deals in Southern Europe, across its portfolio of internationally successful content. The deals also include a pair of package deals in Portugal which will see a total of 100 hours of content heading to the territory, and new sales in Turkey and Greece.

Athleticus

In Portugal, public broadcaster RTP has acquired almost 80 hours of programming across Xilam’s titles like Coach Me If You Can (52×13’), The Daltons (195×7’), Athleticus (60×2’15’) along with renewals for both seasons of Floopaloo, Where Are You? (104×13’) and What’s the Big Idea? (52×5′). Xilam has also scored a new deal with Dreamia for its pay TV children’s channel Biggs covering over 25 hours of content comprising Moka’s Fabulous Adventures (78×7’) and Hubert & Takako (78×7’).

Xilam has partnered with Warner Media in Turkey for fifth to seventh seasons of Oggy and the Cockroaches and Oggy and the Cockroaches – The Movie (1×80’) which launched on Boomerang on 6 April. Additionally, local network Minika Cocuk has acquired Athleticus and Moka’s Fabulous Adventures for the market which will start airing this summer.

In Greece, Xilam has signed a free-to-air and VOD deal with public broadcaster ERT for titles including Athleticus; seasons one and two of Floopaloo, Where Are You?; seasons two and three of Zig & Sharko; If I were an Animal (52 x 5’); Paprika and Oggy and the Cockroaches – The Movie.

Commenting on the deals, Xilam Animation Distribution EVP Morgann Favennec said, “As we continue to strengthen our Southern European footprint, these new deals provide a significant boost to our existing presence in the region. We look forward to bringing audiences of all demographics – from preschoolers, through to older kids and family audiences – this new wave of titles which are brimming with all the characteristics Xilam content is known and loved for – engaging storylines, fantastic characters, plenty of humour and lots of heart.”

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Apr 27

SIGGRAPH 2020 Canceled; Event to be launched in a Virtual Conference Format

Posted in: Animation

Organizers of the the world’s leading conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques recently canceled the 2020 edition, set for July 19-23 in Washington, D.C., amidst COVID-19 pandemic; details of move to virtual conference format will be rolled out soon.

The world’s premiere conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques will move online as a virtual conference; details of the digital event will be released in the due course of time.

Here is the full statement released on the conference website:

HEALTH AND SAFETY

The safety and well-being of conference participants is our top priority. Please bookmark this page for updates that pertain to health and safety at SIGGRAPH 2020.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update

24 April 2020: Concerns about the health and safety of conference participants as well as recent news that the Walter E. Washington Convention Center has been designated a future alternate care site during the COVID-19 pandemic make it impossible to host SIGGRAPH 2020 in Washington, D.C. as planned. With this development, we have decided to move to a virtual conference format.

Our conference theme, Think Beyond, will take on new meaning as we move to a virtual footprint. In collaboration with our hundreds of contributors, we look forward to letting our outstanding content shine in our new digital venue. We are confident that we will deliver a strong SIGGRAPH 2020 that celebrates this year’s advancements and achievements in computer graphics and interactive techniques. Additionally, we are optimistic that this new format will allow more of our global community to come together and participate.

As details of this experience become clear, our SIGGRAPH community will be the first to hear.

SIGGRAPH 2020 is the most recent entrant in the ever-expanding list of animation, VFX, and gaming-related events to cancel or otherwise postpone their 2020 editions, including Comic-Con, Annecy, FMX, ITFS, MIPTV, and GDC. Many, including Annecy, ITFS, and now SIGGRAPH, are shifting to online editions in a bid of bring some level of continuity, community, and collaboration to avoid a physical gathering.

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Apr 27

Tibu spreads awareness on covid-19 through kids friendly comics

Posted in: Animation

The covid-19 pandemic has made every artist reach out the human race in his/ her own way, spreading awareness, sharing hopeful insights, showcasing the horrifying situation, or just putting the current scenario on paper.

There’s a lot of information going around in traditional as well as social media platforms keeping everyone well informed about the grim happenings out there. Magic Elements Studios chose to focus on sticking to how Tibu, an eight year old creative individual, could react in the same situation which we all are facing currently and of course in her own jovial manner and perspective. The fun, cute comics can be seen on the official Instagram page of Tibu Comics.

A few days before the Janta Curfew on 22 March, the studio did a post stating ‘(Better) Things to do at Home’ where Tibu does what she enjoys the most while being at home. Then during the lockdown a series of comics was shown with Tibu saluting and appreciating the role of all the doctors, health workers and emergency workers who are working round the clock to cure those infected.

Later there was a prevention post, appealing to every Tibu friend out there to stay safe. Tibu was also seen requesting God to end this long holiday, in another comic. An important comic spreading awareness on social-distancing where she is in a spacecraft on the Moon far from Earth, made rounds and was appreciated too. Magic Elements Studios founder and creative director Nikhil Salvi mentioned that the latest animated comic will be followed by a few more.

“Overall the young audience is enjoying and appreciating the posts. We are glad to lighten up the spirit of at least a sizable bunch of them showing Tibu’s take on the same situations we all face currently,” added Salvi.

Comic certainly helps in bringing fresh air in an already murky situation and Tibu alongwith many other kids’ characters is making the situation less stressful, for young and adults alike.

 

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Apr 27

Man breaks wife’s spine after she defeats him in Ludo Game

Posted in: Animation

An online game of ludo took a aggressive turn when 24-year-old woman’s spine was fractured by her husband after she defeated him. The woman suffered serious spinal cord injuries and had to be sent to the Vadodara hospital.

According to 181 Abhayam helpline counsellors, the woman conducted home tuitions in Vemali to support the family with income. To keep her husband from spending time outside with other people in the society and to make him stay indoors, she told her husband to play online ludo on his mobile phone. After he agreed to play the game, his wife continuously defeated him in three to four rounds consecutively.

A counsellor from 181 Abhayam mentioned in a statement given to talkesports.com that, “A sore loser, he (the wife’s husband) started arguing with his wife and the verbal duel turned ugly. He started beating her with such ferocity that the woman developed a gap between two of her vertebrae.”

The counsellor further added by saying that, “His ego was hurt thinking that wife outsmarted him and was way more intelligent as she also contributed to the family income.”

The accused man works in a private electronics company and earns enough money to fend for the family.

After the incident surfaced, the woman was taken to an orthopaedic surgeon and she decided to move back to her parents instead of going back to his husband after the treatment. “But before that she wanted to go to her home to collect some documents. We then counselled them both”, the counsellor further added.

Chandrakant Makwana, the project coordinator said to the same portal,“Our counsellors gave options to the woman whether she wanted to lodge a police complaint or settle the issue. In this case since the husband apologized and the woman did not wish to register an offence.”

The man apologized to his wife. She agreed to return to him after spending a few days with her parents,” the counsellor informed.

 

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