Short Cuts: Happy Hour

In issue 144 of 3D World, we talk to a group of students who reveal the pitfalls of creating a short with software still in its beta stage

Happy Hour is definitely not your average Pixar-inspired animated short.

Its creators are students of the Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Science, who thought of the story during a night at the pub.

Jyri Jernstrom, Mikko Aaltonen, Sakari Niittymaa, Miika Puustinen and Shareef Askar’s surroundings gave them the inspiration for a disturbing but hilarious idea that explains how seedy back-end bars are able to sell their beer so cheap.

The nine-month project was inspired by other comedic shorts, such as Gobelins-produced Blind Spot. The Happy Hour team decided early on that their film would take on a cartoon shape but with realistic textures, so they chose their pipeline with care.

The group had a selection of programs available at their disposal through the university, but opted for Blender 2.5 as the primary application.

To carry on reading about Happy Hour, including a full run down of the technical process, check out issue 144 of 3D World magazine.

Posted on Friday, May 27th, 2011 at 10:19 am under Magazine, Shorts, Showcase. You can subscribe to comments. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.