5280 Comic Book Classroom

Comic book enthusiasts and animators are friends or one in the same.   I know many of the university animation programs  are partnering up with local high schools, so I thought it might be of interest to you all and  maybe your area has similar initiatives.  This year a group of Denver area comic book enthusiasts and educators  founded the 5280 Comic Book Classroom .    It is nonprofit organization that presents comics as an educational tool,  creating programs to  provide alternative approaches to literacy, learning, and character development.  Check out their site and initiative.  -  Cornell

http://5280comicbookclassroom.org/

Making of . . .

I don't know about you guys, but I am the one who buys the DVD “special editions”. I love watching the 'making of' section of the DVD and probably watch it more times then the actual movie itself. I even bought a movie just because I heard the 'making of' was good. It was “The Core”.

Recently I can across an awesome site, www.MakingOf.com. It provides a behind-the scenes look at the film industry through interviews with filmmakers, actors, directors, writers, producers and pretty much the key players.  So if you are teaching a specific area of the industry, you can share those interviews based on that topic. The categories are broken down to directors, editors, production designers, special effects/vfx, actors, producers, costume designers, cinematographers, composers, stunts, screenwriters, camera / elect. Dept, casting directors, and art directors. But with that said, the bulk of interviews are with directors, with over 120 videos which is great and 90 or so with actors. The remaining categories tend to be a bit limited, but the site is still relatively new and dynamically growing. Either way, check it out. – Cornell

Autodesk Media and Entertainment Education Showreel 2010

Check out the 2010 Autodesk Education Showreel released in November.   Students content from all around the world were chosen and then compiled into an awesome reel.   What an honor for students who were chosen and  I think it was a brilliant idea from Autodesk.  Students will be vying to be apart of this reel in future years.  Great Job guys, let keep on pushing the bar!  - Cornell
 

Unity Powers Scion's Ultimate Car Customization Experience

Unity is a great tool to have in your toolbox and on top of that, it has a great license – free.  When we think of game design, we think of Mario and Doom.  At least I do, but that might date me a bit.  These game engines are being introduced into a number of fields from medical, military, forensics and marketing.  One of Unity’s strengths is web interactive and here is a very cool marketing tool developed by Works Zebra using the Unity engine.  It ran a bit slow, when I first logged in, but it is a lot more fun that the old Flash car sites.  Check it out . . .  Cornell

Unity 3 is a game development tool that has been designed to let you focus on creating amazing games. If you've tried Unity before, see whats new in 3.0. If this is your first time, take a look around or try Unity for yourself. http://unity3d.com/

 

3D Development Platform Takes Interactivity to a New Level

Unity Technologies, provider of the Unity development platform for highly interactive 3D content on the web, iPhone, iPad, PC, Mac, Android, Wii™, Xbox 360 and PlayStation®3, today announced that Unity is powering the virtual visualization experience for Scion’s Canadian website that went live in the last 24 hours at www.scionnation.ca.

Scion brings Toyota brand quality to the table but with a distinct twist - delivering designs and vehicles custom-built for personal expression that target a different market with an entirely distinct mission. Scion set out to build vehicles tailored to the needs and tastes of a new generation of trendsetting drivers. The outcome is a complete range of iconic urban vehicles that combine attitude, affordability, quality and fuel economy. Each Scion offers a broad array of dealer-installed Scion accessories and TRD Performance Parts that give every Scion driver the means to boldly express their personality and individuality.   (MORE)

http://www.scionnation.ca/scion/build-price/tc#build-your-scion

Share The Planet CG Artist Competition

Contest Deadline: 28th Feb 2011

Share The Planet: Categories

The competition has ten routine categories and one special category.

Routine Category

1. Portrait (digital painting): entry must portray no more than five wild animals. Recommended strategy: to capture their expression and behavior.
2. Portrait (digital sculpture): entry must portray no more than five wild animals. Recommended strategy: to capture their expression and behavior.
3. Herd (digital painting): entry must portray no less than 5 animals. Recommended strategy: focus on representing magnificent scene and the sociality of the animal.
4. Herd (digital sculpture): entry must portray no less than 5 animals. Recommended strategy: focus on representing magnificent scene and the sociality of the animal.
5. Mother’s love (digital painting): entry must portray mothers and their cubs. Recommended strategy: focus on representing emotional interactions or communication between mother and her child.
6. Mother’s love (digital sculpture): entry must portray mothers and their cubs. Recommended strategy: focus on representing emotional interactions or communication between mother and her child.
7. Prey and Predator (digital painting): entry must portray a scene of animal hunting animal. Recommended strategy: portray the moment of killing, the silent waiting for ambuscade etc.; focus on representing the hunting behavior of the animal.
8. Prey and Predator (digital sculpture): entry must portray a scene of animal hunting animal. Recommended strategy: portray the moment of killing, the silent waiting for ambuscade etc.; focus on representing the hunting behavior of the animal.
9. Harmony (digital painting): entry must portray a scene that shows the harmonious relationship between mankind and animals. Recommended strategy: emphasis the emotional interactions of your characters, or create a scene that mankind and animals share the world peacefully.
10. Harmony (digital sculpture): entry must portray a scene that shows the harmonious relationship between mankind and animals. Recommended strategy: emphasis the emotional interactions of your characters, or create a scene that mankind and animals share the world peacefully.

Special Category

Swan Lake (digital painting): entry in this category must choose Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) as its sole theme. Artists are allowed to portray any scene as long as it contains only Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus). This category is set to support “’Rongcheng Swan Lake’ Wetland Ecosystem Restoration Project” carried out in Shandong province, China.

http://www.shareoneplanet.org/