Fall Animation Festival 2010

Tuesday, December 7th!
491 Post Street (Morgan Auditorium)

7PM to 9PM

Premiere of many Short films from AAU students after lecture by Misha Klein!

Guest Lecture!

The moment you've all been waiting for!

Our first fall 2010 speaker is...
AARON HARTLINE

Aaron has worked on several companies including Game Refuge (producing the game Rampage), Big Idea (Veggie Tales) and Blue Sky (Ice Age, Robots, Horton hears a Who) before landing at PIXAR, where he worked on UP and Toy Story 3.

click here to visit his blogs!

Aaron will talk about his career and some of his shots, including Mr. Tortilla Head!

Friday, December 3rd, 8:00pm, room 804

Stay tuned in case there are any sudden changes.

Also, we will still meet at 5:00pm at the midpoint room. See you then!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

No club meeting this week of course.
See you next Friday at 5

THE BUS TO CTN

6 SPOTS LEFT ON THE BUS TO CTN

Go directly to Powell (RIGHT NOW)
talk to Monica on the 3rd floor
bring $45

Siggraph--A blurb by Lauren for those interested or in the dark...

Hi guys, So I've noticed that Siggraph 2011 as started accepting applications for their student volunteer positions. Yay! It runs from August 7 - 11, 2011.

In summary, Siggraph is one of the largest Computer Graphics Conferences in the US (and now for the very first time out of the country in Vancouver). It's hosted by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) which is pretty much the entire computer research and development community at large. ACM is separated into different categories depending on what type of research occurs.

For example, there's SIGART for artificial intelligence, SIGEVO for genetic computations, and SIGGRAPH for computer graphics and interactive techniques.

Every year, SIGGRAPH hosts a conference, which bring us back to the open application for student volunteers. If you're accepted as a volunteer, it's a 5 day conference and they pay for your entrance fee. The catch is you work for 18 hours throughout the week as a volunteer assisting with the conference. They don't cover room or board, but if we have enough friends we can make a decent room much cheaper.

At this conference it's not so much about traditional animation and illustration but more about current and emerging technologies and explanations how they created the more technology savvy parts of films and games as well as about new ways of interactivity.

I'd still suggest any CG animator to go because it's a great experience, and guess what: it's in VANCOUVER! totally excited about that. I've never been to Canada, but Vancouver is morphing into one of the key hotspots for the animation industry at the moment.

Here's the link to the student volunteer portion of their site:
http://www.siggraph.org/s2011/for_volunteers/student-volunteers

The deadline is February 14th, but be aware that to be a student volunteer at this event is insanely competitive and a bit of priority goes to those who apply first.... granted even if you don't get accepted you won't find out until maybe in spring, so it doesn't hurt to apply just in case.

Good luck to those who apply!

Reschedule

FRIDAYS GUEST SPEAKER CANCLED

Sorry all, I know you've been chomping at the bit but our presenter had a bit of a hiccup with his presentation.

We'll keep you posted on the new date and time.


Stay tuned and stop in to the club on Friday at 5!

Friday Night Speaker!

Hello ALL!


This Friday, we will receive guest speaker Kevin Chesnos

Kevin is an alumni and is currently teaching at AAU, and will talk about his experience
working on Bluesky, Disney and Pixar; as well as his student days.


Friday, November 12th, 8:00pm, room 804

Stay tuned in case there are any sudden changes.

Also, we will still meet at 5:00pm at the midpoint room. See you then!

Our First SPEAKER!

+++++ Update +++++++

Unfortunately, our guest won't be able to come this Friday!
We will re-schedule for later on.
We will still meet at 5:00 o'clock on Friday.

+++++ Update +++++++

The moment you've all been waiting for!

Our first fall 2010 speaker is...
AARON HARTLINE

Aaron has worked on several companies including Game Refuge (producing the game Rampage), Big Idea (Veggie Tales) and Blue Sky (Ice Age, Robots, Horton hears a Who) before landing at PIXAR, where he worked on UP and Toy Story 3.

click here to visit his blogs!

Aaron will talk about his career and some of his shots, including Mr. Tortilla Head!

Friday, November 5th, 8:00pm, room 804

Stay tuned in case there are any sudden changes.

Also, we will still meet at 5:00pm at the midpoint room. See you then!

Animation Club Meetings

Just in case you haven't visited Animation Club yet, the official time is...

Fridays 5PM in the Midpoint Room!

Town Hall in a Nutshell

Hey Everybody,

In case you missed the town hall meeting...here are a few important tidbits.

Take note of the legendary posters around the lab of Jason Patnode. If you are trying to join a collaborative or if you want to be involved but aren't sure where you might fit in make an appointment to see Jason in Nettie and Brian's office during business hours.

VFX Gateway is the best way to stay up on department news and ALL of the collaborative projects. http://vfxgateway.com/

On that note, email updates from the Gateway might be blasting soon so stay tuned. It might be going to your AAU email so if you don't want that, go onto SSS and change your contact email to the one that you actually use. Be prepared to receive academy emails though...

Think of some SOLUTIONS for trying to manage the busy hours at the lab...

Dila (VFX) and Mandy (ANM) are the undergrad reps. Naudia is the grad rep. Need info, have ideas, or concerns about the department? They're always in the lab somewhere.

Going to CTN? Buy your ticket and book your hotel NOW. Sign up right away in Nettie and Brian's office if you want to take the bus.

Animation Club...a boring name?

Hi Everyone,
It was suggested to us that we consider a spunky awesome name for our club...
Any suggestions? Yay or Nay?

Club meeting this FRIDAY!

Howdy everybody,

The club will be meeting in the midpoint room at 5PM on FRIDAYS starting this week.

Bring yourself and be awesome...

Animation Industry Panel: Monday October 4! 10am at Morgan Auditorium

New school year!

Hello everybody!!!

The new school year started!

We need to set a time for our Animation Club meetings.

Take the poll!!

and keep your eyes open for updates on CTN and other club related FUNZIES!!

Norman Modification Workshop Notes - Part 4...

Norman Mod Workshop Tutorial
Part 4

Tips and Ticks originally taught to the AAU Animation Club by Joshua Slice in a live demonstration on campus, is now in a SUPER EASY written tutorial by Vaughan Weigert. Enjoy!

Here are the remaining notes for you to follow along with the Norman Modification workshop. Tips and Notes on What to do and How to do it... No pictures for these, but the notes should help you as you work. Happy modding!

EARS: Hide the Original Norman Ears...

Kit bash! Get the "ART" Model out of the resources folder (or another model with higher poly mesh/ better modeled parts) and steel his nose, teeth, etc.

Tip: You can cut off art's head and use his whole body mesh as a wrap.

-Take Art's head. delete all faces but ear geo.
(Save to folder and archive body parts. Diff versions of an ear, etc.)

-File export Art geo selection --> (MayaBinary file)
-import to scene. Unlock geo and center to pivot.
-place ear.
-delete hist. / freeze transformations
-hit insert key, hold "x" to snap pivot point to center axis (zero). Then duplicate the geo and scale it -1 to opposite/even side.

--Ears and nose parent to top controller.

-make sure channels unlocked or geo will shoot out!

HAIR
- Is more difficult / time consuming. Do it on your own or steel someone's haircut, like Andy, etc. ...
To create a Buzzcut--> dup head geo, delete faces that won't be hair.
-Select hair faces and extrude faces. Then shape.
-parent hair to "last" Norman Controller / ctrl "F".


EYEBROWS:
Done the same as the hair --> dup head geo
-symmetry ---> "Move Tool" channel box -->Turn "Reflection" on, while you pull fwd top vertices.
-extrude to give some depth.
-unlock channels.
-center to axis(zero)

-Then wrap Eyebrow geo to face (in this instance)

BODY PROPORTIONS: general shoulder/ torso, etc. size/scale...

Scale the head via head ctrl: Select the control, scale it using the Scale tool.

TIP: Neck + Head - scale xyz at same time. Don't try to squash it.

Use controllers to scale/ stretch...

TIP: preserve shoulder balls round shape and where they are (position) --> for wrapping evenly around that ball and it's pivot point.

Scaling arms/legs --> use stretch, not squash, in channel box.

TIP: to get legs/arms to stretch farther in one direction, set a key on the control when the stretch (scale) is at it's max. Then go into Graph editor and move the key point farther down or up in GE.

TIP: You may have to clean up extreme short legs with blendshapes, later, but that's alright. You aren't breaking the rig.

TIP: make the neck thicker/ more normal size.
-tweak neck size: depth of bottom verts to avoid neck stick out when you rotate Head back.

Do a lot of testing. Try different things.

FEET: up to you, can wrap them, or make huge feet... experiment. Feet "look" not as important, relatively.

SHOULDERS:
Select verts of top/ shoulders on Norman, Duplicate and scale/ move down --> slope you like. It's a blendshape so it will affect the original.
Do the same with chest, belly.

Go back to Norman Orig. and scale CONTROLS of chest, belly for size.

Keep going back and forth between Orig. Norman CTRLS and DUP Norman Blends/verts, until "character look" feels right to you.

WRAPS

ARMS:
You must unlock dup norman arms --> so you can scale "-1" and put both arms on one side for modifying w/ lattice.
-click/drag select both "lower arm" geos, create lattice.
-Make sure to turn off "reflection" and/or "soft select" if you notice your lattice not deforming geo as expected.
-scale lower arm shapes to your preference.
TIP: rotate in "world" for symmetry.

UPPER ARM/ SHOULDER BALLS: geo is centered to shoulder ball and MUST stay perfectly centered to rotate correctly.

You want to create same joint/shape of lower arm in upper arm/shoulder socket, so do this manually, pull/ drag the verts into this basic shape.
Looks like...O<===>o<====>o
-like the arms shapes. Then duplicate the geo. Remove it from Norman Orig. outliner heirarchy and put in WRAPS group.
-Combine arm geo. You will have gap where elbow should be.
-Use APPEND tool to select edges in gap and fill in.
-will have to add (3) edge loops where arm/elbow deforms.
-Delete history on arm geo.
-Make sure pivot point is at zero. Duplicate it and scale -1 = opposite arm.
-Arm will be wrapped to Orig. Norman geo. and will deform with orig mesh -for any modification you make after that via the DUP blendshape.

CLOTHES/ sleeves:
You can duplicate shoulder ball, but can't move it.
-hit "F" in outliner to locate new DUP. Remove it from orig. Norman Group and put into WRAP group.
- if arm/ shoulder groups are "facing" opposite directions:
sel one grp (or the other) and "reverse normals"
-shoulder area won't be deformed into upper arm, so triangles in geo = OK when creating a t-shirt sleeve out of this DUP shoulder ball.

*note: keep WRAP / BLENDSHAPE / ORIG CN seperate groups

Look at WRAP OPTIONS BOX options... try different combinations. Very Trial and error procedure to see what works best.

-delete hist on wrap
-wrap Upper Arm to Orig upper arm --> then with WRAP slected, select ORIG Norman lower Arm geo and > wrap> "add influence".
-wrap Sleeve to upper arm piece.
don't parent sleve to shoulder ctrl. doesn't work.

*JOINTS: don't "Add influence" to balls/ joints. They're fine the way they are.

HANDS:
-Rotate to check for lower arm sticking out funny...
--want to do same to arm/wrist geo as with Neck check--> pull verts in/out on Arm BLENDSHAPE geo, so they don't stick out of palm.
-->wrap on Norman Orig will be affected by the DUP (blenshape) Norman.
-Rotate hand down to check.
-SCALE hand size by scaling PALM control. (scale of ".6" usually a good size)

CHEST:
Duplicate chest from ORIG Norman geo for a WRAP.
(so WRAP has shared hierarchy = no wierdness, points will overlap)

-Extrude bottom of WRAP geo in side view, to pull out a t-shirt / shaped to body form.
- take sculpt geo tool and smooth it. REshape.

-go to Sculpt Geo brush channel box --> "Reflection" for symmetry.

-delete bottom faces (just bottom) to create hole.

--"relax" button in Sculpt Geometry tool, will move everything but ends/ bottom. (More control)
--"smooth" button (less Control)

-On chest wrap geo, may need to add/ insert loops or split edge to make a "COLLAR" bone shape on chest. Do again to create/ extrude a t-shirt collar up and out.
Spend time shaping it.

MORE ADVANCED - You can add geo/ loops, for "under arm" area on chest wrap. for better cloth deformation --> ie) creating a suit/ sleeves. Create a cylinder, fit to upper arm size, and proceed...

When satisfied:
-Delete hist. on wrap geo.
-remove wrap from old hierarchy and drag into Wrap grp.
-WRAP the "chest wrap geo" to Top 3 underlying (torso) geo. TRIAL AND ERROR! See if you need to wrap it to top three AND hips... maybe you need to for your work, maybe you don't. Depends how much hips move.


PANTS:
LEGS:
First, unlock Dup norman legs --> so you can scale -1 and put both legs on one side for modifying w/ lattice.

*Need to POSE norman first, with legs out in "jumping Jack" pose, to create pants that will deform better.
-Dup ORIG hips geo. Delete one half. pull verts out of middle toward leg on deleted hip geo side-->extrude edge, rotate /angle down and shape into pant leg.

Done with pant leg= ready to duplicate for other pant leg side and merge.

FIRST: *Zero out vertice that will need to merge at center, that are out of line/ center (zero axis):
scale them down. Then hold x to snap, use move tool to toggle verts' position and put back in place.

- Dup leg, scale -1 to flip, combine geo and merge pants geo. at center verts.
-Delete history
-Select wrap pants geo and "WRAP" to ORIG norman upper legs. Then select wrap pants geo and select ORIG norman lower legs and wrap-> "Add Influence".
-Do not wrap pants to ankle joints.

DETAILS:
Trial and Error!

TRY MAKING THESE DETAILS:

LIPS: like legs, open mouth (jaw ctrl) first, dup head geo, delete all but lips geo. Delete hist on lips Wrap geo, and add as wrap to head...

FURROWED BROW detail: create while Orig norman brows/face is posed --> dup face geo, pull out in front of face a bit, sculpt furrows, delete all but "Furrowed Brow" geo. Delete hist. Apply as wrap to Orig Norman Face geo.

Local Events: Nina Paley @ Cartoon Art Museum

Sita Sings The Blues: A Benefit Screening Hosted by Nina Paley
Cartoon Art Museum/Electronic Frontier Foundation Event at the Delancey Street Foundation Screening Room: Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 7pm-10pm
Tickets: $25 in advance, $30 at the door

Join the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Cartoon Art Museum for a special evening with Nina Paley for a screening of her animated feature film Sita Sings the Blues, described by creator Nina Paley as “the greatest breakup story ever told.” Paley animated and produced the film single-handedly over the course of five years on a home computer, and take filmgoers behind the scenes of this award-winning film. This benefit screening will take place at the Delancey Street Foundation Screening Room, 600 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, from 7pm to 9pm on Tuesday, July 20. Advance tickets may be purchased online for $25 at http://action.eff.org/ninapaley, or for $30 at the door the night of the screening.

And for those of you on a tight budget, a free reception for Nina Paley at the Cartoon Art Museum on Thursday, July 29, from 7-9pm.

Local Events

LOCAL EVENTS

34th SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL LGBT FILM FESTIVAL, JUNE 17-27, TO SHOW FIVE ANIMATED SHORTS PLUS “DOTTIE’S MAGIC POCKETS”

Dottie’s Magic Pockets by Tammie Stoner is a 50-minute TV show on DVD for kids 4 – 6. Stoner says, “I created Dottie’s Magic Pockets to reflect a diverse family. I wanted to put my heart around positive gay and lesbian images. There isn’t anything else like this out there.” The show features actors, hand puppets and animated segments. The shorts are The Girl Bunnies, Hockey by Françoise Doherty, Mouse's Birthday by Barry Morse, Red Revenge by Eunha Choi, Cat's Cradle by Ray Rea and Queer Pet Adventures Episode #1 by Veronique Courtois.



Friday June 18, A TRIBUTE TO THE TOURNEE OF ANIMATION AND PRESCOTT WRIGHT, THE EARLY SHOWS at the Exploratorium, 7:30 pm, free

For many years The Tournee of Animation was the major and often the only way to see wonderful independent animated shorts from around the world. Tonight we will look at original 16mm archival prints from the first three programs distributed (1968-1970) by Prescott Wright (1936 – 2007).

The highlights to be screened include work by Richard Williams, experimental computer animation by John and Michael Whitney, gems from the Zagreb Studio, Yoji Kuri from Japan, and work from the US, UK and other nations. A wide variety of content, styles and animation techniques will be included.

When Prescott died his library of Tournee prints went to the Pacific Film Archives with a duplicate set going to ASIFA. They recently gave us sets of the first three shows. After our screening the prints will go to ASIFA-LA for preservation. Due to colors fading and some of the shorts being dated we are only showing highlights. Don’t miss what may be your only chance to see these legendary films projected in 16mm, the way they were meant to be seen.

Guest Speaker, Jeep Naarkom, This Friday 8:30pm in room 140B at the 180 Building.

This Friday we have Jeep Naarkom, current AAU student and previously an animator at Electronic Arts, coming to tell us a bit about himself and about animation for games.

The lecture will start at 8:30pm. Room 140B.

We're all excited for this Friday's lecture and as usual, expect this to be a well attended event. Show up early & on time to be sure you get a seat or a good standing space.

Guest Speaker, Josh Cooley, This Friday 8:30pm in room 140B at the 180 Building.

Our guest speaker for the week will be Josh Cooley! He is a storyboard artist over at Pixar and will be talking a little bit about himself and his work. As always, it will be packed so come early for good seats! Same place, same time.

The Slovak Impact

Next Wed April 28th: "The Allure of Hayao Miyazaki" at The Cartoon Art Museum

The Allure of Hayao Miyazaki
Slide lecture with authors Frederik L. Schodt and Beth Cary
Cartoon Art Museum Event: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 7pm - 9pm
$5 suggested donation

AT THE CARTOON ART MUSEUM

If you have been thrilled by the images and touched by the heartwarming stories of Hayao Miyazaki’s animations, you may count yourself among the vast numbers of fans of this revered filmmaker. One of the greatest animators of all time, his legions of fans include the viewing audience as well as those working in the field of manga and anime, both in Japan and around the world. He is also a prolific writer and speaker whose volume of writings has been translated into English as Starting Point: 1979-1996, published by Viz Media. In an illustrated talk, Beth Cary and Frederik Schodt, the translators of this work, will explore the reasons for the appeal of Miyazaki and his films, in both Japan and the United States.
The suggested donation for this event is $5.

Frederik L. Schodt’s writings on manga, and his translations of them, have helped trigger the current popularity of Japanese comics in the English-speaking world. In 2009, the Japanese Government presented him with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette for his work in helping to promote Japan’s popular culture in the United States. He has written widely on Japanese history, popular culture, and technology.

Beth Cary has interpreted for many Japanese artists, including Hayao Miyazaki, at their presentations in the Bay Area. As a translator she has translated Japanese fiction and nonfiction works into English. The topics of these books range from the social sciences to literary reflections. Recently she has translated several award-winning mystery stories for the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.

Books will be available for purchase at the event.

CO-SPONSORED BY The Japan Society of Northern California

Founded in 1905, the Japan Society of Northern California is the West Coast’s leading forum on Japan and US-Japan relations. Its mission is to strengthen cooperation and understanding between the peoples of the United States and Japan by providing programs that help to expand knowledge, increase personal interaction and facilitate discussion of important issues.

-Posted by ASIFA

Guest Speaker, Kent Brown, THIS Friday! 8:30pm in room 140B at the 180 Building.

This Friday Kent Brown will be giving a lecture on preparing a good demo reel package complete with awesome resume and cover letter. This is a process often overlooked by students which can make or break your chances on getting that dream job you've always wanted. Kent has worked in HR and knows the do's and dont's to applying for a job.

Same Place, Same Time (8:30 in room 140B at the 180 building)

ASIFA SF EVENT: April 1st GUMBY TRIBUTE at THE BALBOA

Thurs. April 1, COME OUT AND CELEBRATE APRIL FOOLS DAY WITH A GUMBY TRIBUTE AT THE BALBOA featuring The Emmy award winning feature Gumby Dharma by Tim Hittle, Robina Marchesi and Karla Gunning-Harris plus see shorts and some of the artists in-person talking about working with Art Clokey (Gumby’s creator) who died in January, 2010. Check the Balboa’s website and local movie listings for details in late March.

Gumby Dharma explores why a man would spend his 85 years on earth playing with lumps of colored clay. His world famous characters, Gumby and Pokey, and Davy and Goliath, echo the spiritual path of their creator. Art's journey takes us from the orphanage to inspiring adopted father, from the Seminary to the Hollywood movie business, and from traditional Episcopalian church values to Buddhism and Indian guru Sai Baba. It is a fascinating life and career in it's own right but also in how it gently influenced his characters and story lines for over 40 years. Clokey’s work is one of the few animation characters that have survived the test of time to become a true American Icon. Interviews with contemporary leaders in animation, including Director Henry Selick (Coraline, Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach) and special effects legend Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts, Adventures of Sinbad), place Clokey’s work in perspective with the history of animation and explore stop motion’s future in a computer graphics world. THIS IS ALSO A DVD RELEASE PARTY OF “GUMBY DHARMA” Details at www.gumbydharma.com

Don’t forget April 1 is the annual St. Stupid’s Day Parade at noon.

Another Great guest lecture and more on the way

Thanks for coming out to JD's lecture last Friday!

It was a great lecture and another huge turn out. There will be no guest speaker this Friday, as school is out for Spring Break this week. Watch for updates for the next guest lecture, coming soon.

AAU Coming Events: Alumni Comic Book Panel

April 1st, Morgan Auditorium 7pm!

Guest Speaker, Jean-Denis Hass, THIS Friday! 8:30pm in room 140B at the 180 Building.

This Friday we have Jean-Denis Hass, "JD" coming to talk to tell us a bit about himself and about animation. JD is a former AAU student, instructor and is an Animator at ILM. The lecture will start at 8:30pm. Room 140B.

We're all excited for this Friday's lecture and expect this to be a well attended event. Show up early & on time to be sure you get a seat or a good standing space.

JD Lecture Postponed, Robert Steele talk this Friday!

Sorry guys, due to some family concerns JD can't make it out this Friday. We will be rescheduling with JD, likely for next week. Just stay tuned for the update.

However we're in luck, our very own Robert Steele has graciously offered to drop in and give us a talking to. Join the Club for an eye opening talk this Friday at 8:30pm in the 79 Theater.

Bob Steele is a current full time faculty at the Academy and a great guy to ask questions to about story, storyboarding, layout, camera, preproduction and portfolio concerns, among other things. Come with questions and a sense of humor. He'll give you some straight answers and very likely some good stories.

Robert Steele's professional background includes: Working as Art Director and Computer Animator for various video game companies such as Sega Technical Institute, Captivation Digital Laboratories, Full-On Amusement Company Blizzard Entertainment, and Virgin Entertainment.

Project credits include Diablo 2, Diehard Arcade, ComicZone, Robocop vs. Terminator, and Disney’s The Jungle Book video games.

He also produced Commercial Animatics and Storyboards at Jim Keeshen Studios in Los Angeles, California and was a Storyboard Artist for the Widget and Mr. Bogus animated television series for Calico Creations.

He was Producer on animated short, “Monkey Love " at Jim Keeshen Studios which was a Nominee for Animated Short Film ASIFA 1996 and recipient of the Golden Gate Award, San Francisco Independent Film Festival, 1997.

UPDATE: Gest Lecture NEXT Friday, the 12th.

Hey Club,

We will be doing the next guest speaker event NEXT Friday instead of this Friday. Update your calendars!

Next Friday we will have Jean-Denis Hass, "JD" coming to talk to tell us a bit about himself and about animation. JD is a former AAU student, instructor and is an Animator at ILM. The lecture will start at 8:30pm. Room 140B.

Thanks again go out to Brian Shirmer in the Anim & VFX dept for securing the room!

And thanks to you guys and gals in the club for tuning in to the blog posts and turning out for the speakers. We're looking forward to next Friday's event.

Guest Speaker this Friday 8:30pm, Jean-Denis Haas

Wow guys! We had a great turn out for last week's guest speaker, Michal Makarewicz. Thank you for coming out and we hope you all took something away from that event that helped you.

This Friday, Jean-Denis Hass, "JD" will be coming to talk to tell us a bit about himself and about animation. JD is a former AAU instructor and is an animator at ILM. The lecture will start at 8:30pm. Room TBA. Keep posted for Updates!

REQUESTS for GUEST SPEAKERS:
People at last week's event had some requests for Storyboard and Rigging guest speakers and the Club is going to get right on that.

Keep in mind that this group is about us students, pooling our efforts and resources to help each other. All the events, meetings and trips are ideas that people in the club wanted to do and we made the effort to get school resources and friends behind it to make it happen. So the direction of the club and its events are up to you as much as they are up to the people who posts these updates. Come to the meetings, post to the blog, speak up and we'll all listen and work together to help get the most out of our time at the Academy.

"I HAVE CLASS DURING THE CLUB MEETING":
If you have a class during our Friday meeting times, you can always step out of class for a quick bathroom break and swing by the meeting to pop in quickly for some feedback or just to see what's happening. You can also post to the blog through the critique login to ask questions or get feedback.

NEWS, LINKS and EVENTS:
ASIFA-SF recently screened the 5 Oscar nominated animation shorts over at Dolby Labs. It was a great animation community event and a rare opportunity to see the shorts as well as meet some of the creators and hear them talk about their work. Don't miss out on future events like this. The event was free with membership to ASIFA! Join ASIFA now.

Link: Animation World Network, Oscar Tour Travelogue
"Follow the animated short film Oscar Nominees annual big studio screening and schmoozing tour. This annual tour, founded and coordinated by AWN's president Ron Diamond, is an animation industry star studded extravaganza. Various editors, lead by AWN's Content Director Rick DeMott, have chronicled the tour since 2007 as they've journeyed to Disney, Dreamworks, Sony Imageworks, ILM, PDI to name a few."

Guest Speaker, Michal Makarewicz Friday 8:30pm in room 140B at the 180 building

Hi Club,

Our second guest speaking event is confirmed for this Friday 8:30pm in ROOM 140B, at the 180 Building. Thanks to Brian in the Animation & VFX office for helping us get the space!

This room is through the door directly across from the main entrance of the 180 building. We will post signs and don't anticipate people having any trouble finding the room.

To avoid interruptions in the presentation, we'll be shutting the door to the room at 8:45pm.

Look forward to an insightful talk from Michal Makarewicz, Pixar animator and awesome guy.

We expect this to be a well attended event, so show up early & on time to be sure you get a seat or a good standing space.

Sony Imageworks at Morgan Auditorium, March 4th at 10am

Guest Speaker this Friday 8:30pm, Michal Makarewicz.

Our second guest speaker of the year, Michal Makarewicz. He is an AAU grad and Animator at Pixar.

Michal will be coming to the Academy to talk to the Animation Club about his experience at school and Pixar. He will also be talking about some shots he's worked on as well as doing a short demo of his workflow approach, using an exercise like a head turn, or short dialogue clip.

The club will be meeting for this guest speaker event this Friday at 8:30pm. Room TBA shortly.

We're going to try to have this event in the 79 theater, but if not, it will be at the 180 building in a large classroom.

Watch for updates and join us for another great talk on Friday!

Animation Club Guest Speaker this Friday 8:30pm at 180

Our first guest speaker of the new year, Terry Song. He is a recent AAU grad and is currently working at Pixar as a Fix Animator.

Terry will be coming to the Academy to talk to some of the members of the Animation Club about his experience at school and at Pixar.

The club will be meeting for this guest speaker event on Friday at 8:30pm in one of the 3rd floor classrooms at 180.

Room TBA shortly! Watch for updates and join us for a great talk on Friday!

Disney on Campus event: Morgan Auditorium, Thursday Feb 25th at 10AM

Industry on Campus: Monday Feb. 22! 7pm

New Semester & New Club Meeting Time

Welcome back Club! Here's the new news:

NEW Club Meeting Time and Day
Based on the poll we took, the majority of people would like to have the club meetings on Fridays. So we have reserved the midpoint meeting room on the 3rd floor of the 180 bldg. for Fridays, from 12:00-1:00pm.

We have reserved this time of day, so that our meetings will not interfere with finals, midpoint or final review schedules. We'll see how the time and day change goes and we can adjust the time, if need be.

Collaborative Projects: available for school credit and for those interested in volunteering.
"One So Young" and "Junior Giants" are two student collaborative projects going on at the Academy right now that are open to students who would like collaborative experience and/or would like to work on the collaborative for school credit. Watch out for fliers posted on the bulletin boards for more info, or go see Chris Armstrong on the 3rd floor of 180 bldg. for more details.

Guest Speakers, Demos and Workshop Q/A
This February is a slow month for some of our friends in the industry who have graciously offered their time to show and tell us a thing or two about animation. We look forward to arranging one or two guest speakers this month. We'll keep you posted once we've confirmed the dates and times. Be sure to check the blog for updates!

Flying Pendulum Test!

I have a new animation for overlapping action, a flying pendulum.

Flying Pendulum Test - Overlapping! from Andrei Radacina on Vimeo.

I hope you will e-critique this animation the overlapping, imapact and the timing.

Regards,

Andrei.