Here’s a couple short must-see CG demos by animator Bernhard Haux. In the first video, Haux incorporates a dynamic wave principle into his CG rig. In the second video, Haux creates a tool to help make his CG poses cartoonier and more appealing. Animator Keith Lango calls this “a very cool screen space mesh deformer that lets you sculpt the geometry based on the image plane, not just with deformer nodes in the rig.”

It’s always exciting to see artists pushing CG beyond its default mode, not because I want to see CG mimic hand-drawn animation, but because adding the flexibility of drawn animation to CG will only help push the technique forward and allow it to go places we can’t even imagine yet. I’m not sure whether the second tool already exists in the major studios like Pixar and DreamWorks though I assume it’s available to animators in one form or another. What I do know is that the average piece of non-big budget commercial CG could greatly benefit from an easy-to-use tool like this which allows animators to sculpt their poses.

(Thanks, David Maas)

The Ottawa International Animation Festival has released an AUDIO PODCAST of a talk given at the festival last month by JibJab co-founder Evan Spiridellis. I haven’t listened to the podcast yet but I was there in attendance and it was a terrific and inspiring talk. Evan walks the audience through the trials and tribulations of starting an indie animation studio and his experience is well worth hearing for anyone who’s thinking of becoming an independent. (Note: Only the first half of his talk is posted though I assume the second part will also be posted soon.)

(Thanks, Ward)

Next year’s animated feature slate continues to look better and better. With The Simpsons Movie, Brad Bird’s latest from Pixar, and Shrek The Third leading the pack, I’ve got high hopes for 2007. Even the independent and foreign releases look promising.Sony Pictures Classics (who did a great job distributing The Triplettes of Belleville a few years ago) has picked up another interesting foreign animated film. PERSEPOLIS is a hand drawn, black and white animated feature described as “a coming-of-age story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl that begins during the Islamic Revolution”. It is based on Marjane Satrapi’s best-selling and award-winning comic book autobiography. The film started production in October 2005, at Bibo Films, Bibo Bergeron’s (The Road to El Dorado) studio in Paris. Author Satrapi and cartoonist Vincent Paronnaud (aka Winshluss) wrote and are co-directing the film, which is being executive produced by Kathleen Kennedy (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, An American Tail, etc.). Satrapi has started a production blog to document her experience with the animation process. Still pictures from the film are posted here. Sony Pictures Classics plans to release the film in the US in the fall of 2007.

Fred Seibert, the only major animation producer who has his own blog, weighs in with his thoughts on the recent discussion about pitching in TV animation. You can read this thoughts HERE. He writes:

Too many people are interested in getting their own series rather than making great, commercial, films. Or just great films period. Me, I love commercial TV, always have, so setting that goal works for me. But, you know, I made lots and lots (and lots, I should add) not commercial stuff too, just trying to figure out how to make stuff that I loved. Without that training I wouldn’t have been able to work in cartoons. It just wouldn’t have worked.

All that being said, looking at everyone’s comments, I actually agree with everyone. They’re all right. A rare thing I must say. Go for it folks. Let’s have a few more good arguments in animation. Maybe we’ll even get a hit series somewhere on television again someday.

Nobody, but nobody, draws old Jewish comedians better than Drew Friedman. Drew will be making a one-time-only Los Angeles appearance, to celebrate his new collection of portraits featuring many of Hollywood’s most famous personalities, next Thursday night in Hollywood.WHAT: DREW FRIEDMAN talk and signing
WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 2 at 7:30PM
WHERE: Skylight Books
1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Feliz
WHY: Old Jewish Comedians!

With all the recent discussion here about pitching in TV animation, this is an event that is timely and also somewhat ironic. On Monday, December 4, Rita Street will be hosting a seminar on how to sell an animated TV series. The event takes place in West Hollywood and costs $65 per person. Here’s the description of the talk:

Think you’ve got the next SpongeBob SquarePants? Whether you’re moving over from live action to cartoons, or planning to start a career in animation, you need to know how this highly specialized area of the industry actually works. Pitching the animated series and landing a sale is an art form all on its own and demands a unique tool kit. In this course, you’ll learn how to fill up your own animated toolbox with strong character profiles, producer know-how, and a sales bible that helps a buyer visualize your unique concept.

In addition to tips and tricks for pitches and samples from real-world bibles, this seminar will take some of the mystery out of the global animation business. You’ll learn how co-production deals work, why it’s sometimes better to sell your show to an independent production house rather than a network, and how best to move forward if your show is actually based on a game, toy or, heaven forbid, a t-shirt!

Sign-up info is at MediaBistro.com.

(Thanks, Casey Shaw)

This past weekend, a number of Pixar directors and story artists spoke at the Screenwriting Expo in Los Angeles. Kevin Koch, president of the Animation Guild Local 839, has written a nice summary of the keynote speech presented by FINDING NEMO director Andrew Stanton. There’s plenty of solid ideas here that are worth checking out. A lot of Stanton’s advice sounds like fundamental storytelling 101 and just plain common sense, though judging from the quality of storytelling in most animated features nowadays, one would never know that.

PINGMAG has an INTERVIEW with Run Wrake, director of the excellent animated short, RABBIT. The film has been well received at festivals all over the world, and it’s one of the few animated shorts I’ve seen this year that I feel is fully deserving of an Oscar nomination. If you haven’t seen RABBIT yet, there’s a decent-sized version that can be seen HERE.