The Animation Podcast: Talent Development and Summer Internship Programs

 

The Animation Podcast is a great collection of classic animator interviews.  I have listened to them all and if you have a long car ride coming up, download them all for the ride;  it will be well worth it.  The latest interview is very interesting which explores Disney's Talent Development Program.  Put it on your iPhone today so you have it for that next traffic jam.  - Cornell

In the latest podcast: 

“You learn everything from every production that you’re on, even if it’s, you know, a commercial that lasts three weeks. You learn something from it.” It’s finally here – my exclusive podcast for Animation Mentor! It marks a few firsts: my first podcast in over a year; my first roundtable with five guests; my first women guests! Since this is an exclusive, you’ll need to head over to Animation Mentor to listen and download the show. My focus for this show was to grab five artists at Disney who recently went through the Talent Development Program at Disney and talk about how they got there and what it’s like to work at the studio. My guests include Story Artist Jeremy Spears, Visual Development Artist Lorelay Bove, Rough Inbetweener/Jack of all Trades Joe Pitt, 2D Animator Sarah Airriess, and CG Animator (and Animation Mentor alumni) Kira Lehtomaki. Please leave your comments and feedback on this this post. I’d love to hear what you think.

Don Blooth Animation Resources

Now some say traditional animation dead, but it is not and it will never die.  Check out Don Blooths Animation Tutorials, they are not free, but worth having in your library.  - Cornell

Don Bluth Animation Tutorials So, you want to be an animator? Learn from an Animation Master, Don Bluth, through his animation tutorials which are jam-packed with phenomenal techniques and secrets. Get inspired with expert Tips that will instruct you how to design entertaining characters and show you how to develop fresh ideas quickly. These DVD tutorials are intended to expand your understanding of both Traditional and CG animation techniques.  With these informative lessons, you too can have a successful career in the animation industry. Don's highly instructional animation dvd's will motivate you to greater heights whether you're a young student or a seasoned professional.  All your animation technique questions will be answered in these awesome tutorials. Learn More

About Don: Bluth's passion for the Art of Animation is the driving force that fueled his film career for a period of more than four decades. According to Bluth, he was not driven to animation but extremely attracted to it mainly because of the sheer beauty of its look. Don grew up on the early Disney films, Snow White, Bambi and Pinocchio. He was only four years old when these pictures inspired him. He knew immediately that someday, it would be part of his world. Bluth is considered by some critics to be unique in that he successfully challenged the powers of the ‘Mouse House,’ as a serious competitor, bringing to the silver screen such memorable milestones as The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, The Land Before Time, and Anastasia.’ All in all, Don and his partner, Gary Goldman, produced twelve animated features and three video games including, Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace.

Carlos Baena: PLANNING: INCREDIBLES

Carlos Baena is one of my favorite animators.  Yea there are a lot of great animators out there and honestly I do not know that many, but he has skills.  I hung out with him one night and on top of being a great animator, he is a cool guy to hang with.  My wife is also from Spain, but from a different island and made sure I did not butcher his name.  Emphasizing the wrong vowel could get you to say whale, but I am sure he is used to Americans mispronunciations by now.   Either way, He visited Denver to speak at one of the local schools and his presentation on animation was just phenomenal.  Now nothing beats talking with him in person, but here is a portion of the presentation similar to the one he made that day.  Now I know The Incredibles was not that recent, but I just came across this presentation and I had to share it.  Check it out! – Cornell

http://www.carlosbaena.com/resource/resource_tips_planning.html

Animation School Guide from Animation Magazine

Choosing the right school is really tough these days; there are tons of options and promises from schools.  And with many schools it is just a business, making money is more important than provide a quality education.  Schools have to pay for their program, that is a given, but choosing a school is not something to take lightly. 

As a teacher, parents are always asking me what to do.  Should we go into debt?  Will there be jobs? Does a school really make a difference? I think it is different for every student, so there is definitely not one answer.  I have visited a number of schools and there has bee a huge range quality and costs.  I think there can be great teachers anywhere, but what I always tell my students is that your peers can push you that much more.  So you want to be surrounded by the best in the price range you can afford.  Also a good school with a great scholarship, wins over a great school with tons of debt. 

On another note, some what I call “pay schools” (schools that look at your stock portfolio vs. your art portfolio) have their advantages for a select group of top students.  These students will be marketing tools for the school, which means that they will do what ever it takes to get them a top internship and/or industry job.   So as I said, there is not just one answer.  Here is a guide that I came across, hope it helps. – Cornell    

 

http://www.animationmagazine.net/school_guide_2010.html

130 Free XfrogPlants Now Available!

Download free 3d plant and tree models from each of the 30 XfrogPlants libraries!

Three to nine 3d plant models are included in each of the 30 species below, and best of all, they are completely FREE! Download the plants, browse their documentation PDFs, try them in your favorite software and see firsthand our high quality modeling work. If you like them, buy and download any of the 3d libraries, instantly from our shop.

Our Botanical experts go out in the field and photograph each plant, for their references and to capture firsthand the leaf and bark textures.  They then compare the plant in Nature, to established printed research work, and build 3 to 9 ages of the plant. This set of ages is required for ecosystem work – to give enough variation for instancing the models across a terrain. And if you own Xfrog 3.5, you can easily edit any of the models for additional variations !