Hey all,
So I racked up my second Pixar rejection letter, which is a little dissapointing yada yada. However, one of my very talented classmates, Priscila Vertamatti (her website even has a cooler name than mine toonsoul.com), did land the internship! Of course I’m jealous, but she definitely deserves it and I’m just stoked that I know someone who got it—it means I’m on the right track.
The class I had with Priscila, taught by Pixar Animators Austin Madison and Paul Mendoza, ended last Tuesday. Austin awesomely posted some photos on his blog. There was a guest lecture at the end of the class, and our guest was none other than Mark Andrews, the director of Brave. Mark also directed and co-wrote the Pixar short “One Man Band”, which is part inspiration for my own short. Needless to say it was rad.
After class was over we all went out to an irish pub. It was so great to hang out with my classmates outside class. I’ve been so focused on finishing my work that I have had literally no social life for months, couple this with the fact that I’m shy as a woodland creature and you’ve got a real problem. It was great to find that not only are they good animators, they’re good people. I hope I get to work with them someday soon.
And it just get’s more awesome. All the instructors came to the bar too, and I got to chat with Austin over a beer. He gave us a lot of encouragement, and even went through my sketchbook with me and gave me his pen—now I just need the resurrection stone and the cloak of invisibility. After he shook my hand when he left, I was like “somebody put a computer mouse in my hand! I must animate! My hand done been blessed!”
Just kidding. But I wonder if they know just how much we idolize them.
Hey all, I’ve been planning on posting some work this month in anticipation of a school deadline. They’re giving each graduating student 10-seconds during the Spring Show in May to show some work, so I did a little last minute work on a shot and tried to make it look pretty to turn in today. Then yesterday I found out Pixar is offering an Animation Internship and that today is (was) the deadline. So I cleared my schedule (Who needs sleep?) and by 4am I had a reel worthy of mumble mumble… anyway I made the deadline so check out my reel!
There’s a good amount of unrendered animation from my short in this reel, a little taste of what I hope to have finished in time for the Spring Show. I’m very nearly done animating, and I just got the musical score from a talented fellow student named Jose Gonzalez-Granero. It’s going to be close, but I think I can pull it off.
Thanks for watching!
-Justin
This comic from XKCD made me guffaw. My Shakespeare inspired short is almost totally animated. I’m hoping to have it presentable by May, when I graduate.
I’ll probably be able to find a moment to share some more of my recent animation in April. Till then, it’s back to work!
Man, what are they feeding those kids in the Netherlands? Two student shorts I saw recently via Cartoon Brew were by students from the Utrecht School of Art. They’re pretty dang good, without taking into consideration that they only took seven and four months to make, respectively.
Sheeped Away from Junaid Chundrigar on Vimeo.
Branch Line from Arthur Gorissen on Vimeo.
My mom was actually the first to tell me about RPG Metanoia some weeks ago, but recently it’s been getting a little more attention online. Unfortunately it will probably never be released in the US, but I’m pretty excited for my ancestral homeland—this is the Philippines first full-length CG film.
Judging from the trailer, the animation has the feel of a video game cinematic, which gives me some pause but since the title includes the words “RPG” I think we can count it as a stylistic choice. I can’t speak Tagalog, but it looks pretty cool to me. I’m just worried about all the child concussions that will follow the resurgence of the yo-yo as a weapon.
Flutter is the thesis project of a friend of mine, a fellow animator who goes by the name of Faith. I’ve seen her animatic and it looks like it’s going to be a really great short. The blog is new so there’s not much posted yet, though there are some nice models of her characters. Flutter is one to keep an eye on, Faith is a talented animator.
-Justin
Hey all,
Internship applications have gone well, I should begin working soon. The place is a start-up and I’m excited to be part of their first production.
Anywho, I’ve been thinking about the title sequence for my short and in my wanderings I happened upon this great site called ArtoftheTitle.com. They have a nice collection of title sequences for your viewing pleasure. Most of the title sequences on the Art of the Title website are as long as my entire short, but sometimes a lot of effort goes into these little masterpieces, these oft-forgotten ushers of film.
O Title! My Title!
-Justin
Hey all, I’m going to apply to internships this month so I put together some work for my demo reel. It starts off with a couple clips from my thesis short.
Thanks for watching!
-Justin
Pixar posted this Cars 2 opening sequence breakdown on Facebook, I love that they’re willing to share production stuff. It always bolsters my spirits to see how a Pixar shot comes together; Everyone puts their pants on one leg at a time, as the saying goes.
Hey guys, the Spring semester has been out for a week or two now, but I’ve been keeping busy in a workshop run by a couple current Pixar animators, so that’s been awesome.
I just wanted to write a quick post to hopefully clarify how Autodesk offers their software free to students. My student license just expired and I was ready to tear my hair out at the mere thought of buying Maya ($3000+). If I’m going to spend that much money I’d better be able to drive to work in whatever I just bought.
Sadly, you may only ride the hovercraft vicariously.
If you go to Students.Autodesk.com and follow the instructions to register and prove your studenthood, you’ll have access to Autodesks entire arsenal. I only use Maya, but there are a ton of programs.
The only difference between the pro version and the student version is that when you open the Maya file it tells you “this was made with a student version of maya”, that’s it. No watermarks on your playblasts/renders or anything like that, and all the tools are available to you. Pretty awesome.
For 13-months.
After that, you have a few choices (after 23-months I believe you can renew your student license, or sell your car and buy a pro version), but only one real option: buy a perpetual student license from a reseller.
The Autodesk website directs you to JourneyEd and Studica for perpetual student licenses, but Studica doesn’t currently have a mac version of Maya, and JourneyEd has got some pretty terrible reviews. So I went with CreationEngine.com, they’re located 45-minutes from the city and my copy of Maya arrived the next day. I know the website looks like crap, but so do the webistes of JourneyEd and Studica so don’t let it bother you too much.
As it stands you can only purchase the perpetual student license version of Maya in a bundle along with other 3d software, only Maya and Mudbox are compatible with not just PC but Mac as well. At about $400 all told, this is a great deal and the only way to own Maya on a student budget. Plus, after you graduate upgrading to the pro version is only 33% the regular cost (same as my schools graduation rate!) So if you’re planning on owning Maya in the future, this would be a good investment.
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