Animation producer Justin Weyers from Made Visual studio talks about ‘A Liar’s Autobiography – The untrue story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman’ and the huge task of pulling together 14 different companies with 17 different styles of animation to create the animated S3D feature film…

Ex-Python Graham Chapman wrote a book in 1980 entitled ‘A Liar’s Autobiography’, which is – shall we say – a biography with a twist. In 1986 while living in LA he went into his friend Harry Neilson’s studio and recorded it as an audio book, performing his parts and putting on the voices and characters for the other people in his life.

▲ The ‘Pythons’ were involved in the recordings

All Chapman’s Python colleagues took different paths in later life – be it Palin travelling around the world, or Jones and Gilliam’s directing careers – but as Graham Chapman passed away in 1989 from throat cancer, we only had his famous roles like Brian in Life Of Brian, and King Arthur in Monty Python’s Holy Grail by which to remember him. However, on release of new film A Liar’s Autobiography, Palin noted: “This is Graham’s chance to abuse you all again.”

A Liar’s Autobiography – The Untrue Story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman

Software used

Adobe CS4, CS5, CS5.5 and CS6 Production Premium (Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop, Flash), Cinema 4D, Maya and 3ds Max

• Want to create your own S3D film? Here’s an article on how to develop a process to take 2D footage and turn it into stereoscopic 3D

Release date

US: 18 October 2012
UK: 8 February 2013
(The DVD of ‘A Liar’s Autobiography – The untrue story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman’ is out now.)

In this interview we talk to Made Visual’s Justin Weyers about the new film and how it came about.

Watch the trailer for ‘A Liar’s Autobiography’ now

3D World: How did the brief come about?
Justin Weyers: Co-director Jeff Simpson discovered the original recording tapes while he was visiting Graham’s ex-partner David Sherlock and with them he approached Bill and Ben productions who had just finished making ‘Monty Python’s Almost the Truth’ – the Emmy-nominated documentary.

It was at that point the project really took off.

Ben came to me in a Soho pub with the idea of turning the tapes into a film.

At first I had no idea of where to start really and at that point the film was only going to be 2D. However, a week later in the same pub, Ben said: “So it looks like we may have some money from a 3D video-on-demand service in America… can we do it in stereoscopic 3D?”

I think I just went quiet and drank my Guinness. (SHIT)

3D World: What was your company responsible for?
JW: We had a hand in everything you see on screen. Made Visual studio was the main hub for the animation on the project and we were responsible for workflow, editing, stereoscopic quality control and training.

As Animation Producer on this film, I had a hand in everything from approaching companies, commissioning, training in workflow, stereoscopic 3D, team management, technical support, and being a buffer between directors and animators. Plus, we did the Biggles sequence of the film just for fun.

▲ Look out for the Biggles sequence in the film – which Made Visual created for a bit of fun

I’m proud of two things: firstly that we did it; and secondly that we were able to bring everyone together and give the project a real sense of creative collaboration, with each animation company having ownership of their own sequence. I have met some wonderfully talented people on this journey.

3D World: What 3D software was used to create this work?
JW: We had 14 different companies involved but the film in total has 17 different styles of animation within it from CGI and cell animation to oil-on-glass and stop-motion, and more. Each of these is completely different to the next stylistically and all have different workflows!

The animators we used were all known for a specific technique and approach to their work using packages like Maya, Cinema 4D, Studio Max, and After Effects. Different styles may be the way the artist draws or models, and some styles come about because of a certain plug-in or the workflow process of getting to the final design.

▲ Justin had the uneviable task of bringing toegther all the work from the 14 different studios involved in the animation for this feature film

Matt Walker from ArthurCox draws straight into the computer, whereas director George Sander-Jackson spent six weeks in a black room with oil on glass which was later composited in After Effects. Superfad used Autodesk’s Softimage to create the completely CGI environments or we here at Made Video created our comic-book style with a mixture of Cinema 4D, After Effects and ZBrush.

• Take a look at this amazingly high-quality animation made by 3D artist Michael Ko using using After Effects, Maya, V-Ray and Photoshop. We wouldn’t be surprised if Apple actually used this as a bona fide advert in the future!

Each and every one of us had to relearn our workflow as the film is in stereoscopic. Plug-ins that would normally be essential in 2D would no longer work in stereo3D as there would be disparity between the left and right eyes. Some third-party render software would cause issues with subtle light differences and lots of decisions depended on whether we used toe-in cameras within the CGI software or rendered as parallel.

A word of advice to readers: if you render as parallel making your width of the frame wider, it allows you to do your convergence in compositing software like After Effects.

When we started this project it was really hard to find information to help so we hit it head on really, making mistakes along the way but finding answers and workarounds too. We started a website where we put some basic tutorials showing what we had learnt. If you were thinking of approaching an animation in stereo, this would be a great place to start your journey.

▲ “Co-ordinating 17 different workflows on different operating systems in different studios, editing it all on one HP Z800 workstation and having a budget that would not have paid for one strand of Merida’s hair in Brave are all massive achievements for me,” says Justin

3D World: What was the most impressive technical aspect of the project?
JW: A few stand-out styles of animation worked really well for us on this project from a traditional 2D technique to stereoscopic 3D.

A good example is a sequence at the end of the film – Space Pods done by Matt Layzall of Treat Studios. These guys are normally cell animation artists and they made the decision early on to recreate everything in a CGI program (StudioMax). As a result they have kept a flat illustrative style within a stereo depth environment and it is a lovely mix of keeping character styles while also keeping the depth around them to draw you in further.

I guess there are many fascinating things about the film but from a technical point of view the fact that every style has a different stereo depth grade is impressive for me.

Here are three breakdowns of different parts of the film:
1. Eton Breakdown
2. Shot 4
3. Shot 13

Matt Walker’s sequence ‘Pissed in LA’, which is all done in a POV style, draws and animates in Adobe Flash then composites in After Effects and edits in Premiere Pro.

This particular sequence has drawn perspective, a scene depth of foreground, middle and background, depth of field and then the stereo depth on top of that. So many factors that, yes, look brilliant but could end up taking away from the natural character animation that Matt is known for.

The stereo did not need to come out in your face as you would then not see the beauty of the characters. This is a good example of what we learnt along the way about juggling all the styles.

As for impressive technical aspects, though, the mere fact we did it is amazing. Co-ordinating 17 different workflows on different operating systems in different studios, editing it all on one HP Z800 workstation and having a budget that would not have paid for one strand of Merida’s hair in Brave (!) are all massive achievements for me. And, of course, the fact that no-one had done any stereoscopic work before this project kicked off.

I think the whole project is pioneering in terms of achievement. But maybe I’m biased!

▲ The animated account of the late Python’s life is tackled in suitably surreal fashion, and there are a few laughs along the way

3D World: What was the most useful piece of software?
JW: There were two main stages really in making the film. 1) Each company managed their own workflow and animation techniques and plug-ins that they worked on for their sequence. Packaged files would be going backwards and forwards between us finding problems and solutions and trying to help each other.

2) Delivery, final delivery and editing. Each company would supply a final left and right eye image sequence what was wider than needed so we could actually fix any convergence if needed. We would bring these left and right sequences into After Effects and create a comp using the built-in stereo rig (or before this was released we would use the very clever scripts created by Chris Keller which enable the creation of stereo comps). On top of this we got another very talented UK-based script writer Paul Tuersley to whip up a script that would change the camera within multiple comps in After Effects to either make playback side by side, interleaved, analglyph or maybe just view the left or right eye. This little script saved so much time when rendering out version and patches.

▲ Unbelievable amounts of work were involved in the project but of course Justin would do it all again in a heartbeat!

The other amazing attribute in our workflow was ‘Dynamic Link’ between After Effects and Premiere Pro. These two Adobe programs talk to each so well that we were actually editing AE comps on the final PP timeline. This is priceless for time and flexibility and you all should be working this way if you have computers that are fast enough to do it!

Our machine was an HP Z800 Workstation, with an NVidia Quadra5000 card and about 32GB of RAM. We also played with an amazing piece of kit called an IO-Duo Card which treats RAM on the card as hard drive space a bit like an SSD card. We were getting 1.25GB read/write per second on it which is awesome.

I do wish CS6 was around when we started out on this project as its loads more quickly and the background cache in After Effects is beautiful to use if you build it in to your workflow properly.

3D World: Can you think of where a specific part of the pipeline was particularly useful in fixing something?
JW: I think I mentioned earlier the idea of rendering out of the CGI program as left and right parallel cameras instead of toed-in. You preview within the programs in analgyph or whatever your output screen is which means your cameras are toed and you can set your convergence point and so forth. However, when rendering, turn your cameras to parallel, then composite in AE.

To be honest without the Adobe products and the way they can handle everything from concept/animation/editing/ to final DCP output and the fact these products are readily available to everyone, we would not have been able to finish this project on time and with the budget we had.

3D World: What did producing the work in stereoscopic 3D bring to the piece?
JW: A great deal of pain! There was a lot of going backwards and forwards between companies and we even ran some training days so we were all speaking the right language. Amazing learning curve but I would have slept a lot more if it was not in stereoscopic!

• Here’s an article by an expert from Autodesk explaining how to develop a process to take 2D footage and turn it into stereoscopic 3D (S3D)

3D World: Would you do it again?
JW: Hmm, yes probably, but ssssh, don’t tell anybody and especially not my loved ones!

Biography

Justin Weyers, Made Visual studio

Welcome to my head where everything is visual and creative and worth sharing. Originating from a place famous for Gold in Australia called Ballarat, I completed a visual communication degree and also managed to be a tap dancing cowboy on stage (but that’s another story).

Currently I run a creative agency in East London with my friend Alex Tovey where every project is different from the next. We are currently working on a variety of projects, from animation for Richard Branson’s Charity Carbon War Rooms, finishing a long-term branding and strategy project on a beauty store in Mumbai, to something on a similar scale to A Liars’ Autobiography – it will be nuts if we pull it off!

Studios involved in ‘A Liar’s Autobiography – The untrue story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman’

Superfad
Mr & Mrs
Trunk
ArthurCox
Made Visual Studio
Steven Lall
Beakus
Not To Scale
Treat Studios
Sherbet
Peepshow
A for Animation
Cake
Tundra

Details of a screening to be held in East London on 25 February 2013 can be found here

Take a look at this interview with Gary Thomas – one of the team behind the Emily’s Studio animation

▲ Dragonfly Chase shows off the hybrid 2D/3D approach Robert and Sherry took on Cup of Glitter

3D World: What do you do for a living?

Robert A Brubaker: I’m the Creative Director at Gilded Magic Publishing and Producer/Director through our multimedia production arm at Resonant Image Studios. Gilded Magic Publishing specialises in children’s books and related media. As the Creative Director, I’m responsible for developing story ideas and concepts into their final form. The stories we produce usually begin as children’s picture books, long-form narratives or graphic novels. Some of our stories, like our award-winning Cup of Glitter, are scheduled to become a series of books while others, like The Bell Ringer, are slated for production as animated films, interactive apps and games.

▲ The Bell Ringer is Robert Brubaker’s new venture into animation

3D World: At what point in your life did you make the decision that that’s what you were going to do?

RB: My journey into 3D animation and visual effects started on a Christmas Eve trip to the cinema. I watched Star Wars for the first time.

At that point most of the science-fiction films I had seen relied heavily on suspending your disbelief as a viewer, rather than on quality. For me, seeing Star Wars for the first time was like being hit by lightning. I spent months of whatever spare time I had scraping together everything I could find on George Lucas and how he and his crew produced all that amazing imagery. The more I learned, the more I wanted to do ALL of their jobs!

While at The Ohio State University, I was lucky to take a couple of animation courses offered by Jeffery B. Light who has since had a phenomenal career at ILM and DreamWorks Animation. What I liked most about Jeff’s approach was how he challenged his students to experiment, to think on their own, and to innovate beyond known methodologies. Everything from traditional cell animation techniques to slit-scan animation (famously used for the Superman titles and time warp sequence of 2001, A Space Odyssey) to creating travelling mattes on the Battelle/Mitchell computer assisted and Oxberry animation stands that Jeffery Light had set up for our department.

After graduating with a Fine Arts degree, I began cutting my teeth on 3D animation and VFX for industrial films. Later, I was able to afford my first DEC Alpha server with a Matrox Capture Card, Lightwave 3D, Elastic Effects and InSync Razor loaded on the hard drive to produce my own digitally created visual effects and animation.

In 2005 I met my wife, Sherry, who was beginning a new career as a children’s book writer. Sherry had just finished her first story, Cup of Glitter, and needed an illustrator to help bring her characters to life. Wanting to make an impression, I volunteered – pouring everything I had into the creation of her first book. What resulted was a children’s picture book that became a 2011 USA Best Book Award Winning Finalist and a 2011 International Book Award Winning Finalist. So began our venture into publishing and my renewed love for 3D Character Design and animation.

▲ Steamboat Delta was produced entirely within Vue xStream, and was Robert’s first experience with the software

3D World: From where do you draw inspiration?

RB: I find inspiration in a variety of sources; music, light and shadow, everyday items, history, classical and modern architecture, art, nature, life cycles, aged materials, people from different cultures and animals. The trick is to look at things from an unusual angle or perspective. I’ll often experiment with the scale, colour and texture to see what results.

3D World: What is the most enjoyable project you have worked on so far in your career and why?

RB: Working with my wife on Cup of Glitter was the most enjoyable project. Sherry provided the kind of freedom most artists would envy. Once the decision was made to approach the illustrations using a hybrid 2D/3D approach, Sherry would offer her suggestions on how she imagined each of the scenes in her story, and then she would let me loose on the graphics. Most of the time spent was hand drawing each of the animals and insects on a huge 20x30in digital canvas.

3D World: What 3D tools and techniques do you use on a day-to-day basis?

RB: Photoshop is my ‘Swiss Army Knife’ for illustrating, compositing, creating highly detailed UV maps and matte paintings. I use Lightwave 3D for most architecture, vehicle and character designs. Maxxon Body Paint 3D is then used for texturing.

For more complicated organic designs I sculpt with Pixologic ZBrush. E-on Software’s Vue xStream is my favourite tool for creating environments and atmospheres. To compose travelling mattes, motion graphics and special effects, I typically use Photoshop and After Effects. I’m currently working to include Houdini as part of my repertoire.

For quick mockups, storyboarding and background characters I may license off-the-shelf models and render those in Daz Studio Pro or bridge them over to Vue- xStream where characters will interact more with the environments. For films I try to stick to creating original character designs or farm out some of the work when I’m under a time crunch. Rigging and animation is done primarily in Lightwave 3D.

3D World: What’s your favourite 3D package?

RB: Mostly due to my familiarity with the product I’d have to say Newtek Lightwave 3D and related plug-ins. However, I’m looking forward to joining those who use Maya, Nuke and Houdini.

3D World: What’s your favourite film?

RB: For sentimental reasons I have to say Star Wars because of its heavy influence on my decision to career in this industry. But as I begin preproduction for The Bell Ringer, my first 3D animated film, the moments that will most influence me are the soft pastel lights of Pixar’s Ratatouille, the bright colors in Finding Nemo, the touching climax of Toy Story 3, the action sequences of DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon, the lighting and environments of ImageMovers Digital/Disney’s A Christmas Carol and all those funny moments in the Shrek series of films that kept audiences laughing long after the credits had finished rolling.

Bug 003 was created in Lightwave 3D and Photoshop

3D World: What advice can you give for aspiring 3D artists looking to break into the industry?

RB: What I say is that it pays to get really good with the tools you have at your disposal. Although the interface and program options can vary from program to program, (with a few exceptions) most of the basic processes and workflows will usually translate from one animation program to next.

There are many programs that can be downloaded at no charge. If you can’t afford Adobe Photoshop, GIMP is a nice free alternative. If you want to learn animation, but can’t afford to buy Lightwave 3D or Maya licences, start with Blender. If you want a more painted look for your images but can’t afford Corel Painter, use Art Rage. There’s a wonderful community of users and artists out there who are ready to support you too.

Always be prepared to learn something new. Consider that when you land your dream job at Disney, Pixar or DreamWorks etc, you will likely work with proprietary software designed by in-house developers. This means training. If you’re not interested in learning new technology, this is probably the last business you should consider for a career.

3D World: Please could you share a technical ‘secret’ or top tip with us on how you work?

RB: Study photography and film production and you will have a real advantage going into 3D work. There is so much about photography and cinema that naturally translates to the world of 3D.

3D World: If you have any comments on how the industry has changed since you first started, that would be great.

RB: Today the digital technology has totally revolutionised the film production and publishing industries. High Definition 3D cameras and a plethora of digital recording methods are quickly becoming the norm, along with 3D techniques for animation, related programs and downsized computers.

Publishing companies have had to change their business model due to the revolution of e-readers vs. printed books. While some jobs have died with old technology, new jobs have cropped up in their place. In either business you have to make a conscious effort to keep up with the latest developments or your career path will become very short.

Watch the CG animated short Exoids and find out how Gnomon Studios’ Meni Tsirbas created this dynamic animation using Maya, ZBrush, modo, MetalRay and V-Ray, and the help of some talented students…

You may remember Exoids as we covered it a few weeks ago when we interviewed director Meni Tsirbas about the trailer.

• Read the full making-of article on Exoids

The action takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where only slugs and robots are the survivors. A cyber-enhanced slug Gus Nitrous makes a wrong turn into the Exoids-occupied city of Los Angeles which sets off an epic battle.

Exoids has a great live-action feel to it, thanks to the camera moves and perspective tricks.

“Exoids is a culmination of many influences including post apocalyptic action films like The Road Warrior, grittier animated films like Rango, and my recent focus on live-action direction,” says Tsirbas.

• Read the making-of Rango

  – ILM shares its CG secrets on the Oscar-winning Rango

The animation was created onsite using the student talent from The Gnomon School of Visual Effects. The school selects students who then get to work on real-world productions and a professional director.

“The resulting high-end experience and demo reel material is so invaluable for the students that it usually leads to some pretty amazing industry jobs soon after graduation,” says Tsirbas.

For more about the Gnomon School of Visual Effects visit the website
For more about the Gnomon Studios visit the website

Watch EXOIDS via YouTube

See artwork and behind-the-scenes images of Exoids

Find out how 3D artist Louis Lefebvre created this animated CG short film, I, pet goat II, using Maya, V-Ray FumeFX and RealFlow

We saw I, pet goat II a few days ago and caught up with creator Louis Lefebvre to ask him about character design, environment design, the layout work, the art direction, matte painting and more.

Watch the animated short and read the interview below:

3D World: In your own words, please describe what happens in I, pet goat II.
Louis Lefebvre: The film came to me in a visual form. That is I kept seeing vivid images and symbols and I decided to follow these and see where they led.

Much like I have read about certain authors who start a book having only a character in mind and the book will be an exploration of what that character has to tell them. In my case, I kept seeing the central character on the boat and it was as if he was saying “Follow me”. I felt that I would be led to a deeper peace if I did.

So the film is about a journey through the landscape of my personal suffering using very universal symbols, a journey that leads to a more peaceful abiding place.

Throughout the process I tried to follow the story in its visual form [rather than over thinking things]. When things made sense visually and rhythmically, I went with that. In fact many times it wasn’t clear to me what the images meant and I found multiple explanations. And many people have given me alternative explanations. I think it works well that way evoking different things for different people.

Having said that, the story is clearly about the crumbling away of the hierarchical world based on control and the rising up of the spiritual man, awake to his divine nature, free of intermediaries.

3D World: What were the film’s influences, both story-wise and stylistically?
LL: I am very interested in mystical writings whether Christian, Sufiism, Advaita, Zen or others.

Films like Baraka have had a deep impact on me. Baraka mixes a gorgeous soundtrack with stunning cinematography.

Also films like the Wall I guess, to which I responded very viscerally as a child because of the intense musical score and the strong symbolism, or the Triplettes of Belleville with its mixture of dance, music and animation. Both have a strong critical message too. Which I like. Wrapping these very hard subjects in pleasing visuals and luring rhythms makes it much easier to get your point across. That’s why I chose cute little characters with vivid colors. The story line was already dark enough.

Stylistically, the initial inspiration was a Christian orthodox icon of a Christ figure in flaming reds and yellows. The idea of using gold leaf also came from there. I knew I could make it as detailed as these types of paintings so I experimented with rough brush strokes to give it an art class (a little messy) kind of finish.

There is a bit of Dali in there and the Group of Seven Painters which is a group of Canadian painters from the early twentieth century, some native American art, and many other influences in there I am sure.

The Pietà pose is borrowed from Dali and I pet goat II contains other familiar influences

3D World: What did you do on the short and what was the hardest job?
LL: Many people have contacted me thinking that we are a small company with a permanent crew. I guess that’s my fault for the way it is presented on the website. And it is my hope for the future. I am presently talking to a few producers and perhaps it will happen. We shall see.

But the truth of the matter is that it has been a mostly solitary endeavor with a few contractors hired as I needed them.
Mostly I was helped with the VFX work, the dance, the motion capture recording, some design work for the environments and some matte painting. And the music and sound.

My two pillars which did most of the VFX work were Jocelyn Simard (aka Strob of Iron Baby fame) and Hugues Coupal. Hugues was also assistant art director when I needed a second pair of eyes.

So that leaves me all of the modeling, the texturing, character animation and rigging, and most of the lighting except for effects lighting. I did all of the character design, some of the environment design, the layout work, the art direction and some matte painting.

I even was the voice at the beginning of the short.

The hardest job for me was definitely the direction; the story telling. I had never done such an extensive short so I was very insecure about my ability to do it. The subject matter was so daunting and I felt so unsure as to if I could pull it off, that it brought up a lot of stuff for me. That was the process, which was very difficult but also very rewarding.

3D World: How long did I, pet goat II take to produce?
LL: The idea started to germinate probably in 2005. As I said I kept seeing the central figure on his boat. I started to take small stabs at it while doing other work. And it started taking up more and more of my time until 2008 when I started doing it full time and hiring people punctually.

"I never thought it would take so much time," says Louis. "At first I wasn't aiming at such a high quality and the story wasn't as elaborate. But as time went on it just kept pulling me in further"

3D World: What 3D software did you use and why?
LL: I used Maya and V-Ray. Just because I have been using Maya since our company was beta testing it in the beginning when I was working in San Jose. I know myself around it really well. I script in mel and also do some coding in c++.
I chose V-Ray for the rendering because I really liked its ease of use, the way the light behaved in a natural manner and also just liked how the sss and color seemed to come out.

We used FumeFx for the natural smoke and RealFlow for the water shots.

3D World: What was the most useful piece of 3D software and why?
LL: Definitely Maya since it was the one that was overwhelmingly used on a day to day basis. Over the years I have developed an important toolset of scripts and plug-ins that help me rig more efficiently.

Most of my rigging is scripted to allow you to make easy changes at any time. In fact, even if I was alone for the character creation (modeling, animation, texturing) I approached it as a bigger studio would, having things scripted and sharing up assets (puppets, animation…).
I made making changes a lot easier.

3D World: What was the most impressive technical aspect of the project and how was it achieved using 3D software?
LL: Definitely the most technically challenging shots were the smoke and the crumbling infrastructure shots. The crumbling towers, the army of business men and the collapsing church specifically. Strob did the smoke and Hugues Coupal did the collapsing church. Strob used FumeFx in 3ds and it took some time before getting what I wanted. Same with the collapsing church. I know Hugues did a lot of scripting to get that falling the way it did. He did scripting to get all the uvs working properly and also to get the various sections to collapse at different times.

The most technically challenging shots were the smoke and the crumbling infrastructure shots

Also, just trying to coordinate everything on my end with all the smoke work which was not being done physically in the same place as me. Strob was doing the smoke from home and he was working in 3ds. Getting everything to match (lighting, cameras…) was a big headache for me. I really learned to appreciate the value of a good supervisor and coordinator.

3D World: Did you do anything wrong in the production? Did you learn anything from producing I, pet goat II?
LL: I made a lot of mistakes and much of these mistakes had to do with just not having directed or art directed anything before. I had a very strong feeling about what I wanted to say but not necessarily a clear picture of how things were going to look or be strung together in the end. So I spent a lot of time redoing things, remodeling characters, retexturing, relighting as I progressed in my craft. What I learned most I think from this project was a sense of confidence. I think if I end up doing another one, I will go straight to the point much faster, with more clarity.

Louis Lefebvre has been working in animation since 1998. He animated doctor Sid in the movie Final Fantasy: the spirit within, and worked in the animation and rigging departments at Weta for the Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers.

We’ll be doing a Meet the 3D Artist post featuring Louis Lefebvre next week

For this week’s Friday Animation Fun we’ve rounded up a collection of favourite animations as chosen by leading animators. Find out why they made the grade and see if you agree with the selection…

Think that animation history begins with Luxo Jr? Think again. We asked leading animators including Who Framed Roger Rabbit’s Richard Williams to Ren and Stimpy’s John Kricfalusi, to name the shorts that every 3D artist should see at least once in their lifetime.

The results form a cross-section of animation history, from classic Disney cel animation to the modern avant garde.

Where possible, we’ve included links to view the shorts online. As ever with online videos, please be aware that some may no longer be available when you come to view this page.

Please be warned that some of these animations deal with adult topics and are not suitable for younger viewers.

Watch the collection of best animated shorts below

1895

Priit Parn & Janno Poldma (1995)

The animated cartoon “1895″ is dedicated to the centennial of cinema. “1895″ is a picture about the life of brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere. The cartoon acquaints the public with so far unknown biographical facts and events from the life of the two celebrated brothers who have immortalized their names as inventors of cinematography. The picture is an illusion. Is illusion truth? this assertion and the subsequent question gave the authors of this cartoon the rights to declare that namely their version of the life of brothers Lumiere and the birth of cinema was the most original and unique of all. (From IMDB.)

Au Bout du Monde

Konstantin Bronzit (1998)

Badgered

Sharon Colman (2005)

Balance

Wolfgang & Christoph Lauenstein (1989)

David Anderson (1989)
Watch Deadsy via David Anderson’s website

BAFTA-winning Jojo in the Stars director Marc Craste comments on the strange appeal of Deadsy
“When I first saw David Anderson’s Deadsy, I was a fan of very traditional, big-feature animation, and the shorts I’d seen that played with different techniques hadn’t impressed me. Deadsy included lots of things I didn’t like – treated live action, what looked like scribbled-over Photostats – but presented in such an atmospheric and startling way that the result was hugely seductive.

“The film is about the Grim Reaper changing sex and becoming Miss Universe, all the better to seduce the war-mongering men of the world. These are themes far removed from what I’d been accustomed to in animation: Deadsy was unlike anything else I’d seen, and one of those rare films that you can’t imagine being done as successfully any other way.

“The surreal soundtrack and the mixed-media visuals combine to create a hallucinatory, dreamlike effect. Yet the effect doesn’t feel forced, as it so often does when so many things are thrown together: it’s a very cohesive vision. It’s also a film with quite literally lots of texture, one of the things CGI sometimes struggles with.

“Of course, Deadsy is not necessarily good simply because it’s unique, but distinctive voices in animation are rare, so originality merits watching. It’s a good short to watch if you’re stuck in a rut and everything you do is starting to look identical. It certainly opened up some horizons for me.”

Door

David Anderson (1990)
You can also view Door at David’s site

Duck Amuck

Chuck Jones, Warner Bros (1953)

Father and Daughter

Michael Dudok De Wit (2000)

Ratatouille co-director Jan Pinkava on the poignant Father and Daughter
“When I first saw Father and Daughter, I cried. It wasn’t the last time. And I’m not the only one. Not nearly. If you want to find out if your boyfriend or wife or parent really is heartless, show them Father and Daughter and watch their reaction. To this day – and I have seen it many times – I am deeply moved by the final movement of this near-perfect evocation of longing and nostalgia.

“What I know to be just drawings with timing, sounds and music, reaches inside me and touches my heart. Every time. Just like a beautiful poem. And like a poem that retains its lyrical power through the years, Father and Daughter does not diminish with repeated viewing. I am not Dutch but, in watching this film, Michael’s longing for the homeland of his childhood becomes my longing.

“Perhaps half of it is the music. For this short film, Normand Roger has (with his collaborator) composed one of the gems of his prolific and distinguished career. Music and image are beautifully sympathetic and I can’t imagine them any other way.

“To be sure, the film is only near-perfect. But that is as good as it gets. Those inevitable imperfections help us see the hand of the artist and to wonder all the more at the accomplishment. Who cares whether this is the result of genius or accident or a lot of very hard work? If this isn’t high achievement in animation craft then I’m a Dutchman!”

For the Birds

Ralph Eggleston, Pixar (2000)

Furies

Sara Petty (1977)
No link available: Recommend a link

Gerald McBoing-Boing

Robert Cannon, UPA (1951)

Going Equipped

Peter Lord, Aardman Animations (1987)

The Great Piggy Bank Robbery

Robert Clampett, Warner Bros. (1946)

While reading his favorite comic book, Daffy accidentally knocks himself unconscious and dreams he’s Duck Twacy, famous detective, trying to solve the case of the missing piggy banks. Taking a streetcar (conducted by Porky Pig, in a non-speaking cameo role) to the gangsters’ hideout, he meets up with such grotesque criminals as Pickle Puss, Eighty-Eight Teeth and Neon Noodle. (From IMDB)

Ren and Stimpy’s John Kricfalusi on The Great Piggy Bank Robbery
“I love The Great Piggy Bank Robbery Bank Robbery on many levels. First, it’s really funny. It has more energy than just about any other cartoon I’ve ever seen. Everything you imagine a cartoon to be, there it is, tenfold: surrealism, exaggeration, crazy gags, unexpected twists and turns. It’s like an ultra caricature of a cartoon. And it’s executed with almost superhuman skill by the animators and [voice artist] Mel Blanc under Bob Clampett’s larger-than-life direction.

“Daffy Duck’s acting is unbelievable – or maybe I should say all too believable. Clampett makes us feel Daffy’s every emotion. He takes us through his ordeals with huge enthusiasm and sincerity.

Daffy Duck is animated to perfection in The Great Piggy Bank Robbery

“I also identify with Daffy as he goes through this incredible tension waiting for his beloved Dick Tracy comic to come in the mail, then has conniptions reading it. This is exactly what I did reading Marvel comics as a kid – and the magic of this kind of exaggerated style of storytelling. We identify with the caricature because the details are so magnified.

“Ultimately, this is a cartoon about cartoon fans, so if you like cartoons you’ll probably love The Great Piggy Bank Robbery.”

No link available: Recommend a link

Harvie Krumpet

Adam Elliot (2003)

Oscar nominee Barry Purves on the tragicomic Harvie Krumpet
“Harvie Krumpet is a fantastic example of the concept that less is more, and should be an inspiration to more excessively kinetic CG animators. We’ve all been guilty of our passion for moving things, but Harvie Krumpet demonstrates that stillness is a vital element of movement, just as silence is to music.

“Everything about the film is economical, from the lack of camera moves, through the joyously simple animation, to the basic figures. Yet it packs in more emotion, warmth, incident, truth and invention than many an overproduced, more literal film. Harvie’s comically tragic life is so full of disaster and big issues that the film should be depressing, but its lightness of touch, its naïve imagery, and Geoffrey Rush’s poignant narration makes for a film that lifts you joyously without diluting its message at all.

“Every action, every design decision, every well-timed blink is perfectly controlled to tell the same story. All this with glorious bursts of Verdi and Respighi, defiant nudity, wonderfully timed gags, interesting ‘fakts’, the beautiful Ruby – and the heartbreakingly stoic Harvie himself and his poetically lonely testicle. Little wonder, then, that this moving film won the Oscar for best animated short.”

The Hat

Michèle Cournoyer (1999)

The Hill Farm

Mark Baker (1988)

King-Size Canary

Tex Avery, MGM (1947)

Mickey’s Trailer
Ben Sharpsteen, Disney (1938)

Goofy’s in the driver’s seat, Mickey’s in the kitchen, and Donald’s in bed in Mickey’s high-tech house trailer. When Goofy comes back to eat breakfast, leaving the car on autopilot, it takes them onto a dangerous closed mountain road. When Goofy realizes this, he accidentally unhooks the trailer, sending it on a perilous route. They come very close to disaster several times, while the oblivious Goofy drives on and hooks back up to them. (From IMDB)

Double Negative’s Paul Franklin 06 on the bravura Mickey’s Trailer
“I came to love Mickey’s Trailer through regular screenings on TV in the 1970s and via the Fisher-Price Movie Viewer, an ingenious toy that allowed real film strips to be hand-cranked back and forth, thus revealing animation’s secret of living drawings to an entranced six-year-old me.

“Running a mere seven and a half minutes, the film packs in more ideas than many full-length features: every frame counts. After a short introduction, the trailer is on its way through an ever-changing landscape that rolls past in a bravura display of hand-rendered 3D perspective effects.

“The trailer’s state-of-the-art (for 1938) fixtures and fittings reveal invention piled upon invention in a stunning ballet of physical comedy. As often as not, what’s hidden is as funny as that which is actually seen; consider the scene where Mickey milks a passing cow, all played from inside the trailer with Mickey’s wiggling bottom providing the laughs.

“The animators get the max from everything in shot – even Goofy’s car becomes a character, clambering over the increasingly hazardous terrain in stutteringly comic fashion. Despite everything being in constant motion, you always know how it all fits together. Mickey’s Trailer is the perfect combination of storytelling built upon techniques that were cutting-edge for their day.”

Buy Mickey’s Trailer on DVD here

Next

Barry Purves (1989)

Oktapodi

Julien Bocabeille et al (2007)

The Old Man and the Sea

Alexander Petrov (1999)

Overtime

Oury Atlan, Thibaut Berland and Damien Ferrié (2006)
a href=”http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2011/07/26/over-time/”>View Overtime here

Pigs is Pigs

Jack Kinney, Disney (1954

Rejected

Don Hertzfeldt (2000)

Sony’s Christopher Miller and Phil Lord on Rejected
“Rejected is a great example of the power of being dumb. It presents a collection of fictitious adverts for the fictitious Family Learning Channel. Of course, these proposed adverts hit completely the wrong notes for the FLC, and that’s what lends Rejected its humour.

“3D artists could learn a lot from a minimalistic, hand-drawn film like this. The visuals teach the lesson that Simpler is Better; for all the complexity possible in CG characters, the simpler the design and the clearer the movement, the more expressive, visceral and funny the result. The complicated lumpy detailed Muppets were never as appealing as the much simpler Muppets like Kermit, Fozzie and Gonzo. And to think their eyes couldn’t even move!

“You can get so much expression out of a limited palette. Rejected really takes advantage of that. Don Hertzfeldt’s bug-eyed stick figures convey character and emotion better than the most complicated, true-to-life motion-capture rig in the world: sometimes all that realism just gets in the way of the truth. Most of all, we love this film because it takes an intelligent look at the relationship between art and commerce – and kicks them both in the groin.”

Ryan

Chris Landreth (2004)

DreamWorks’ Shelley Page on the emotional impact of Ryan
“Ryan is a very special film for me. I think it is a masterpiece, not only because of the stylistic innovations Chris Landreth developed for the two main characters, but because of the profoundly moving impact it has on the viewer. It asks disturbing questions about the nature of creativity and what it means to an artist to lose the ability – or the confidence – to create art. [An animated re-enactment of Landreth’s conversations with the Oscar-nominated animator Ryan Larkin, the film explores the role played by Larkin’s alcoholism in his descent into homelessness.]

“I followed the entire process of Ryan’s production from a few scribbled character designs Chris showed me during the Annecy Festival one summer, to the first screening of the near-completed film many months later. But the great revelation to me was the way Chris had put himself into the film. He used his own painful personal experiences to articulate Ryan’s situation for the audience, and transformed the original story idea into something stunningly raw and powerful.

“Ryan is an example of a film that is much more than simply a piece of entertainment. It was a life-transforming project for both the director and his subject. Chris was deservedly awarded his Oscar, and it was fitting that Ryan Larkin was able to enjoy the renewed appreciation of his own work.”

Screenplay

Barry Purves (1992)

Son of Satan

JJ Villard (2004)

No link available: Recommend a link

Tale of Tales

Yuri Norstein (1979)

Aardman Animations’ David Sproxton on Tale of Tales
“I first saw Tale of Tales at the Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films in 1980 or thereabouts. This was first animation festival I had attended and it was an eye-opener simply because there was so much material coming out of Eastern Europe at the time which Pete [Aardman co-founder Peter Lord] and I were totally unaware of. The film, which has no dialogue that I can recall, deals with the transience of life and the futility of war. It is seen through the eyes of a wolf watching humans do their thing.

“Although it is a cut-out animation [shot with Norstein’s unique technique of using multiple glass planes], Tale of Tales has a very three-dimensional quality. The images are simply stunning and beautifully realised and the film is clearly the work of a master. I’d never seen anything like it before and was very moved by it. It really opened my eyes to what could be achieved through animation – especially in the hands of a great artist.

“The emotional impact of the film is strong and mostly done without words. Seeing the story unfold through the eyes of the animal gives the viewer a very strong point of view. The film demonstrates so clearly that technique (in this case, cut-outs shot on a multi-plane camera) is subservient to story: a lesson that is always worth learning.”

Through My Thick Glasses

Pjotr Sapegin (2004)

View Through My Thick Glasses here

Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom

Kimball, C. August Nichols (1953)

Tortoise Wins by a Hare

Robert Clampett, Warner Bros. (1943)

The Ugly Duckling

Jack Cutting, Disney (1939)

Industry legend Richard Williams on the charm of The Ugly Duckling
“The Ugly Duckling was one of the first Disney short films where the studio had absolutely everything working perfectly together. It had brought the medium to a new high: the fine, perfectly ordered storytelling; the lovely colour and marvellous art direction; the clearly ordered and crisply timed direction – which is surprisingly tight by today’s standards; the flawless mastery of the animation performance; and the perfectly balanced and synchronised musical score. Everything was boiled down to its essentials and perfectly co-ordinated. Above all, the pathos and irrepressible charm were exquisitely realised without any hint of the corniness which crept into Disney’s work several years later.

“This is a very moving, empathetic, compulsively entertaining little film, perfect in every detail – and a model to study for any artist, animator, or director, regardless of [the medium in which they work].

The charm of the little ducks and swans is engaging because it is all based on familiar human emotions. It’s impossible not to suspend disbelief when it all goes straight to the heart.

“The animation coming out of Disney at that time [which also includes Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio] was special. The studio had developed a new art form and the unique work of that period has, in my view, never been surpassed. The Ugly Duckling is a real masterpiece.”

Buy The Ugly Duckling here

The Wrong Trousers

Nick Park, Aardman Animations (1993)

View The Wrong Trousers on YouTube

We Lived in Grass

Andreas Hykade (1995)

Buy We Lived In Grass here

Your Face

Bill Plympton (1987)

The top ten animated shorts of all time

Read the full article featuring the ten best animated shorts of all time in issue 117 of 3D World

Want to learn to animate like a pro?

Master Disney’s 12 classic principles of animation in 3D with Steve Lambert’s regular series of articles on the fundamentals of CG.

Found a dead link? Report it here
Do any of these videos infringe your copyright? Report them here

The quality of this CG animation is so good, we wouldn’t be surprised if Apple actually used this as a bona fide advert in the future. Find out how 3D artist Michael Ko used Maya, After Effects, V-Ray, PFTrack and Photoshop to create this awesome short

It’s difficult to believe that this animation is an assignment for Michael Ko’s advanced 3D class at Otis college of Art and Design, because it is an absolute belter of an advert.

In fact, the quality of the rendering in this animation is so good that if Ko didn’t say it was created with CG, one might assume he had built the set by hand.

We caught up with the 3D artist to ask him how he created the cute animation. Check out the film and then read his story below.

Watch Michael Ko’s iPhone – Diorama

“The initial assignment/idea was to create three still shots using a diorama of any kind,” Ko says. “I’ve always wanted to create a miniature city using any sort of medium. So I thought it would be a great opportunity to build a miniature city using 3D software.”

“From there, I researched digital artists, magazines and web blogs to develop my miniature concept.”

Through this research, Ko found loads of inspirational phone commercials created using 3D software, and he discovered that the iPhone was the most popular phone out of them all, and that’s when he decided to use the iPhone for the animation.

He looked to projects done by Yum Yum and Vinicious Coasta for inspiration. “I’ve always loved Yum Yum’s cute models and cheerful colours in his projects. So I tried to practice using his colour palettes and styles with my project,” says Ko.

“For animation in particular, one of the projects done by Vinicious Coasta, Zune, shows holographic buildings/environment popping up on top of a phone. This really caught my eye, so I thought it would be fun to try them out on my project.”

Building the diorama

Maya 2012 was the main software used on the project. “I started out with getting the concept through research, laying out the shots to find angles to match the storyboard, and modelling the phone with orthographic view of an iPhone 4s.”

iPhone - Diorama offers a glimpse at what the future may hold for iPhone technology. We think the animation here is so good it could be picked up by Apple and used in future 3D iPhone campaigns

“Then, before I proceeded to the next step in Maya, I asked my friend to shoot the footages based on my storyboard and the HDR for lighting purposes,” Ko continues.

• Read a review of Maya 2012

“The next task was to track the footage using PFTrack. After I tracked the footage, I continued to model buildings, cars, and other props.”

Ko kept the buildings and props low in polycount to make it easier to layout the UVs and textures.

“I laid out UVs in Maya in a way I can cover one entire building with single file for efficiency,” he says. “All the textures were created in Photoshop with the combination of solid colors with overlaid color paper textures.”

• Read a review of Photoshop CS6

After a week researching and developing the ways he could animate based on his storyboard, Ko decided to manually animate every object in the scene.

“I thought it would be most efficient because that way I’d have total control over timing,” he says.

The whole animation process took about a week to finish. “After animation, I used an HDR image for the base light and two V-Ray rectangular lights to light the scene,” Ko explains.

Ko says that the most interesting shot was the beginning establishing shot. “I usually put all my effort into the first shot to grab the attention of the audience,” Ko says. “After I finished comping the first establishing shot, I showed people to judge if the shot felt complete. The biggest moment was when my instructor didn’t notice that the iphone was CG.”

It’s a good point. We hadn’t really thought about that either! Check out the fine details and reflections of the pastel-coloured buildings by clicking on the images in this post.

Many thanks to Michael Ko for granting us this interview. We hope to see more from this talented artist in the future.

Let us know what you think of this 3D animation

Have your say on Twitter, Facebook, or via the Comments box below.

Want to see your work in 3D World? The send uus your shorts (CG ones!)

We love to see new 3D art and you could gain exposure you never dreamed of.

Many 3D artists currently working in the 3D industry have been spotted in 3D World first – after all, Oscar-winning VFX supervisors and leading studios all over the world read 3D World.

If you would like to see your work featured in 3D World or on the website, email us, attaching three low-res stills and a brief synopsis. enquiries@3dworldmag.com

Fancy looking at some awesome 3D eye candy while also learning about the artist’s inspiration and techniques? Then check out this showreel from VFX TD Jordan Walsh

Here we aim to spotlight talented 3D artists and showcase the best 3D.

For this series, we’ve found some truly inspirational artists who have been kind enough to share their CG tips and secrets with us.

We hope that you learn new techniques to help you to improve your CG skills, and most of all, that you enjoy the cool 3D artwork displayed here…

Jordan Walsh is a Melbourne-based FX Technical Director and Artist and has over 12 years’ industry experience. He has worked on many game cinematics, TV commercials and is currently working in the film department at Iloura

Watch Jordan’s inspirational showreel

3D World: How did you break into the industry?
Jordan: After studying Industrial Design for two years I realised it wasn’t for me and I left uni to develop my hobby for 3D into a profession.

It took me a about 18 months of learning, doing a few freelance jobs, and applying for every 3D job I could find (even just cold calling places in the yellow pages) before I got a call back from a boutique animation house called Act3 Animation.

I was initially working on low poly modelling for game assets but soon moved on to do some great game cinematics and within a few years our staff had quadrupled and I was their lead Lighting TD and Pipeline TD.

3DW: What first inspired you to become a 3D artist?
Jordan: I was lucky that a couple of my best mates through high school were also very much into computers. We used to spend a lot of time messing around with code and old graphics programs like Corel draw and POVray to make custom Doom 2 maps for our gaming sessions.

I think one of the real turning points was when my dad came back from Hong Kong with a copy of Mech Warrior 2 and a disk with some “trial” versions of 3D Studio Max v1 and Softimage on it.

I was absolutely blown away by the cut scenes throughout Mech Warrior and I think it was at that time I knew I wanted to someday create this type of thing.

Through high school and university 3D was a big hobby for me and by the time I realised that Industrial Design would not be creative enough for me I made the decision then to leave and pursue a career in 3D Animation and VFX.

3DW: Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Jordan: I think I was always inspired by nature and the world around me. The smallest thing like a drop of water running down a window could captivate me. I would watch things like that and really think about what caused it to change direction, or why something would bend and twist a certain way.

My other big inspiration are the talented people I work with. I’m constantly amazed at seeing great work others produce and it inspires me to push myself harder. There is of course a lot of art and media (Games, Films, Art) that inspire you but its the things closer to home that have the biggest impact.

Jordan's favourite film work to date is Ghost Rider

3DW: Your showreel shows work from many blockbuster movies, but what is the most enjoyable project you have worked on so far in your career and why?
Jordan: Ghost Rider 2 was probably the best project I have worked on so far. We had so much fire and explosion FX work to do on the film (albeit I have never worked so much overtime in my life!) it felt really good to knock out that much work.

I did a lot of RnD and look development for Ghost Riders flames, it was very satisfying seeing the early fire/smoke work carried through about 300 or more shots (Iloura did about 450-500 shots on GR2).

I also was responsible for getting the 3ds Max/FumeFX pipleine working with Iloura’s existing pipeline. This involved creating a lot of maxscript tools for bringing in presets, enabling the artists to save and share setups across shots, building all the render passes automatically and creating network simulation tools that would help the artist’s productivity greatly.

Working in stereo was quite cool too, especially with all the fire and particles going everywhere too although you have to be careful with how far you try to push the effect.

The first time I showed some stereo shots from Sanctum (the first stereo film I worked on at Iloura) in our theatrette, after thinking the stereo looked good on my 21″ 3D monitor, everyone let out a howl and yanked their glasses off because the stereo was so full on. I think everyone instantly felt nauseous! I made sure I was extra careful after that!

3DW: What 3D tools and techniques do you use on a day-to-day basis?
Jordan: I have been using 3D Studio Max as my main package for almost 17 years and with its wealth of plugins and very shallow learning curve it has been great to work with on projects like TVCs and game cinematics.

You can get from RnD to final frames in staggering small amount of time. From an FX TD/ Pipeline TD point of view, the more I get into bigger film projects the harder it is to get 3Ds Max to do what you want.

Houdini is a great tool for FX work in a larger pipeline environment and I love its open and consistant workflow and how much power you can get from it. Houdini takes a bit longer to get things going but you can get exactly what you want out of it.

3DW: What’s your favourite film?
Jordan: My favourite 3D film is Surf’s Up, I loved the documentary style of the film and thought the characters were well written and beautifully animated, but the star of the show for me was the waves!

The animation and simulation of the water and wave effects were spot on! I think I prefer the stylistic way of simulation/animating waves rather than the giant mass destruction of films such as 2012, although it was amazing!

3DW: What’s your favourite animation?
Jordan: My favourite animation is definitely Miyazaki’s My Neighbour Totoro. I love all the films that come out of Studio Ghibly. It’s so refreshing to watch such unique films that so beautifully capture the essence and spirituality of the Japanese culture.

3DW: What’s your favourite film in terms of VFX?
Jordan: Funnily enough, I’m not really that into big blockbuster action films so I don’t really have a favourite VFX film. Although I do love seeing the bar being risen with each new film release. The Transformers series has done some awesome work, the tentacle Deceptacon that destroyed the building in Dark of the Moon was stunning. Also any film that features a mega pirana, mega shark or a sharktopus are awesome!

• Read the making of Transformers articles on 3D World

Jordan's favourite VFX films are the Transformers movies. He enjoys seeing how studios push the envelop... Read how ILM created the fantastic VFX in our making-of articles

• Follow our free video tutorial to make your very own Transformer

3DW: Who’s been a key influence, whether that be a director, animator, colleague, friend or hero?
Jordan: I get most of my influence from the great people I have worked with over my career and all the people in the VFX community. One person in the industry that stands out for me is Borislav “Bobo” Petrov. Not only He has a great technical mind and has given so much to the VFX community. He has helped me out many times over the years.

3DW: What advice can you give for aspiring VFX artists looking to break into the industry?
Jordan: I think the most important thing young artists can do is to be very proactive and be prepared to do their own work and learning outside school/university, do things that set them apart from classmates.

I see a lot of people come straight out of courses and think that’s all that they need to get their foot in the door when in reality they end up with the same type of reel as every other student.

3DW: Please could you share a technical ‘secret’ or top tip with us on how you work?
Jordan: I, personally, like to try to keep as organised as possible right from the start. Keeping things named consistently, having layers setup and maintained well and generally being as logical as possible when starting has help me later on down the line when things get complex.

Things generally go wrong at the 11th hour and the last thing you want to do is spend extra time trawling through a pile of sphere01 or Box11 objects when troubleshooting.

Also I make a point of trying to script things as much as possible. Picking up scripting early on and being able to create my own tools has made my productivity skyrocket. This is important to me as a TD but I have certainly worked with many talented people that don’t work like this, so it can be a very personal thing.

3DW: Have you any comments on how VFX have changed since you first started?
Jordan: I don’t think the industry has changed that much over the years, Computing power gets better and we always try to push the detail and realism that one step further. We still work to crazy deadlines sometimes, and other times there are dream jobs.

I love the fact that we seem to be riding the wave of hardware and software technology and I expect the industry will follow the same trends it has for a while now.

3DW: What’s next for you?
Jordan: I seem to have a never ending list of new things I want to learn and try out so I’ll try to keep on top of that in my spare time.

I’m currently working at Iloura in Melbourne, Australia, which has been expanding quite solidly over the last few years, so it will be interesting to see where that takes me.

Check out Jordan’s Maxscripts that he’s released to the public
Find Jordan Walsh via IMBD
Find Jordan Walsh on LinkedIn

Check this colourful CG animation that offers some smile-inducing home truths about the world of advertising and find out how Chilean-based studio Leyenda created it…

In December 2011, Leyenda’s CEO and General Director, Juan Paulo Mardónez, was invited to present a masterclass in a new animation festival in Chile – Chilemonos.

“To make things more interesting and challenging I proposed to the organisers that we could create a script contest for advertising creative professionals, and the winning idea would be animated by us and presented as a case of study in the masterclass,” says Mardónez.

Out of this novel idea Buey de Piraña was born…

Watch Buey de Piraña

The winning script was the one that had the best potential to be animated: In Buey de Piraña the main character (a creative guy) is depicted presenting an idea to a client. Since there’s lot of exaggeration it suited the brief the best.

“The first decision we took was removing dialogue,” explains Mardónez, “which was pretty good by the way, and replacing it with acting.”

“The second decision was to get into the main character’s mind and show his idea from his point of view as he was the leading character of the commercial he was selling. All of this needed a strong stylistic platform to be developed.”

Leyenda was inspired by the legendary UPA Animation Studio and Jim Flora, best-known for his wild jazz and classical album covers for Columbia Records (late 1940s) and RCA Victor (1950s).

Leyenda was inspired by the artist Jim Flora, best-known for his wild jazz and classical album covers for Columbia Records (late 1940s) and RCA Victor (1950s)

Leyenda’s pipeline

Once the script had been chosen, everything was prevized with pencil and paper.

Leyenda used Maya and modo for the modelling and UV layout, Mudbox and ZBrush for texturing, Maya for animation and Mental Ray for rendering. The backgrounds were created using Photoshop and After Effects was used for compositing and effects. The editing was done in Final Cut Pro.

Mardónez says that the combination of software and methodology made the film successful.

“Maya is our main animation software; we’ve used it since version 1.0, so we really know how to handle it. The method was to animate pose to pose with step keyframes to evaluate basic timing and posing.”

“Later our animators went into the Graph Editor to tweak the animation curves and polish everything. We were after a different style of animation than usual so this method turned out really well.”

After Effects was also particularly useful as it made compositing easy: “We took the background styleframes we had and simply composed 3D animation on top of them.”

Freeform modelling and useful scripts

The studio wanted to create original characters, both in terms of form and behaviour, and Mardónez thinks that modo was instrumental in allowing them to model freely: “It’s great with organic forms,” he says.

They also changed the way in which they rig for this animation. “We always create rigs with curve controls over the character, so animators they tumble around the character, select controls and keyframe,” he says. “But one animator created external interfaces with all the controls in them so they saved lots of time searching controls and clicking them. This may sound like nothing important, but I’m pretty sure we saved hours of work with that little script.”

The team had to rework some rigging as they didn’t plan enough about 3D deformations, but the simplicity of the characters meant that this was a fairly easy task. “Since our characters were very low geometry, it was easy to correct. Of course working with referenced rigs was a big help!” admits Mardónez.

“The festival was a great success,” Mardónez concludes. “And now we want to expand the contest to the world and do it once a year. We believe there’s lots of guys with creative minds wanting to see their ideas animated, so this should be a great opportunity for them and for us too.”

See more great work from Leyenda at its website

Magic Dumpling Entertainment’s Tofu Boy is a model of a modern international co-production. To accompany our feature on funding independent animations in issue 155, we asked CEO Kevin Geiger how the studio found investors willing to put up the movie’s estimated $5 million budget. Read his top tips and the extended interview here…

As part of Indie Film Week we bring you this interview from Magic Dumpling Entertainment’s CEO Kevin Geiger who reveals how he poured in funds from his own pocket to get Tofu Boy started, before he found $5m worth of investment for the feature!

Tofu Boy is a modern Chinese spin on Pinocchio. It is planned as a $5m animated feature, plus accompanying TV series, social media and gaming apps. Find out how it all happened…

• You can buy an issue of 3D World featuring the interview and more information on how to fund your very own CG movie now!

Kevin Geiger interview

3D World: How do you find backers for a movie like Tofu Boy?
Kevin Geiger: We came out of the gate by introducing ourselves at [Italian animation festival] Cartoons on the Bay, and the rest of 2010 was occupied by similar opportunities.

We were also accepted into the project pitch sessions for the Shanghai International Film Festival, which was our big ‘coming out’ for potential investors in China and surrounding Asian territories.

I also participated in [US trade show] the American Film Market, and because I’m lucky enough to have executive-level contacts at most major studios, set up meetings with potential US distributors.

To fund Tofu Boy and its four other development projects, Magic Dumpling has entered negotiations with investors and distributors in the US, China and other Asian territories

3DW: What are those early discussions like?
KG: Financing is like dating: it’s a courtship process, and you have to find out who’s serious and who’s fishing around. We had to wade through a lot of people who came disguised as investors but were actually just casing the project, particularly in China.

Now we’re at the point where if everybody’s in, we can complete the financing : the next hurdle is getting all those puzzle pieces together. For example, US investors typically want to see a completion bond in place, but many Chinese investors are unfamiliar with the concept and question why you’re going to put up 2-4 per cent of your budget for insurance on the completion of the film.

• Read 10 Golden Rules of Animation Funding

3DW: What’s more important: the strength of your pitch, or that of your business plan?
KG: You can be great in the room, but at the end of the day, the business decisions are really what rule. The vast majority of films lose money, and there’s no guarantee of profit from quality. I’m not saying that quality is unimportant – it’s extremely important – but just because a film is good, there’s no guarantee it will do well.

Investors typically look for a slate of projects: just like a good mutual fund, they want a collection of properties that in the aggregate will give them a good return on their investment. That means you need a compelling business plan not only for your property but for your company. The research you put into leveraging ancillary revenue streams is very important to potential investors.

3DW: Once an investor is interested, how do you close the deal?
KG: You need to find their magic button, their tipping point. Of course, profit is paramount, but what else are you offering?

For example, a studio might be interested in a project to build their reputation in the industry. And there are some investors who are looking to have a little fun. If your budget is pocket change to them, relatively speaking, they often don’t mind investing in exchange for an executive producer credit and the chance to come by the studio and check out the work.

3DW: In order to get to that point, you need to be able to show investors the script and the concept art. How do you fund that development work?
KG: It’s a combination of angel investment, some from my own pocket, and work for hire. We do story work and design work for other companies where it’s just cash on the barrrel; and consulting worth, both for Chinese studios looking to become more international, and American companies who want to get involved in China but don’t know where to start.

One advantage of being in China is that we can work cheaper than almost anywhere in the world. Also, our executive salaries our deferred, so neither I nor my co-founders currently take anything other than the bare minimum we need to make rent. That focuses our start-up capital on our artistic talent and affords us the luxury of time to develop the project properly.

3DW: You mentioned ancillary revenue streams. Can you elaborate on that?
KG: Right from the start, there should be a co-ordinated effort to link the theatrical release of the film to other media.

In the case of Tofu Boy, we have a comprehensive ‘transmedia bible’ that shows how the storyline develops across three feature films, two seasons of a TV series and a variety of social media and gaming apps. As a producer, this exponentially compounds the planning you have to do, but it gives you a bigger sandbox to play in.

Merchandising is unfortunately a necessary evil: "It may sound like heresy, but it’s a reality. Given the huge cost of production, you’re lucky to break even from the theatrical or DVD release alone," admits CEO Kevin Geiger

3DW: Is advertising revenue a consideration for Tofu Boy?
KG: Yes, we’re talking to major internet portals in mainland China. But you have to be careful, because you don’t want to be crass and clutter up the [online presence] with a lot of ads that reduces the suspension of disbelief which is essential for any project. And in my mind, outright product placement has no place within animated content . It’s very easy for an animation project to date itself by including advertising.

3DW: What about merchandising? Is it a necessary evil?
KG: Yes. Given the huge cost of production, you’re lucky to break even from the theatrical or DVD release alone, so in essence, the feature is advertising for the toys. That may sound like heresy, but it’s a reality. I can picture readers looking at that line and wanting to puke, but it’s something you want to address rather than avoid. You see many people whose ‘merchandising plan’ is a PowerPoint slide that shows their character slapped onto T-shirts and coffee mugs, and that’s just mindless.

3DW: How important is it to find global distribution?
KG: As an indie producer, you need to think internationally. Europeans have been ahead of the curve on this due to geography, and Americans now see that in order to maximise profits, international distribution should no longer be treated as an extra, but as an essential. You need to consider not only the size of each territory, but how it has responded to similar projects in the past. For example, although India has 17-18 per cent of the world population, it represents about 1 per cent of our projected revenues from Tofu Boy, because India has traditionally not embraced Chinese-themed content.

3DW: Are there any ‘don’ts’ when it comes to negotiating funding?
KG: I think the only ‘don’t’ is: ‘Don’t rule anything out’. It’s very natural to be protective of your creation, but it’s a mistake to hold on too tightly. Sharing control can actually be to your benefit, because the advice an experienced distributor has to offer can be quite valuable.

The bottom line is that copyright is something you should actually want to cash in at some point : just to the right person, and for the right terms. We all hear horror stories about how the creators of Superman gave up the rights for $500, and that’s not what I’m advocating., The conversion of copyright to cash is what enables you to stay alive to do the next project. It’s wise to stay involved in terms of some percentage of profit share, but you have to be careful that participation isn’t structured in such a way that you’ll never see it.

Actually, there is another ‘don’t’: ‘Don’t do your own legal’. Make sure that you as a producer can handle the main talking points of the deal, but when it comes to the actual contract, get aqualified lawyer, preferably one who understands international IP law, to set eyes on the paper.

Tofu Boy is currently in the final stages of development and is entering into pre-production. The movie is planned for a cinematic release in Asia and a DVD release in the West.

You can read the full article, including a guide to using crowd funding sites like Kickstarter and Indie Go Go to fund lower-budget shorts, in issue 155 of 3D World.

Find out how you can get finiancial support for your very own CG movie, and meet the artists who have won funding and brought their own visions to a global audience

Killer tips for indie producers distilled from Kevin’s experiences in the US and China.

01 | Build brand awareness
If you aren’t based on an existing book or game, consider giving away teaser content for free.

02 | Don’t hide your development work
The best insurance against having your work stolen is to let the world know it’s yours from the start.

03 | Learn from your pitches
If something falls flat when you pitch it to investors, feed this back to the creative team.

04 | Get to know your potential investors
Are they serious about the project, or just fishing? What do they stand to gain by investing?

05 | Don’t just think in terms of animation
Investors usually invest in other industries too – many of which offer higher, faster rates of return.

06 | Partner with other studios
It enables you to scale up more quickly. Illumination Entertainment did this for Despicable Me.

07 | Think ‘transmedia’
Don’t think about TV or web spin-offs once the film becomes successful: plan these from the start.

08 | Take control of merchandising
It’s better to plan your tie-in products creatively than to be forced into incompatible directions.

09 | Negotiate internationally
Overseas distribution and co-productions are essentials, not optional extras.

10 | Get a good lawyer
Know enough about IP law to negotiate major deal points – then hand the contract over to the professionals.

Find out how this epic animated short about monsters vs robots was created using a combination of Autodesk’s Maya, Adobe’s After Effects and Photoshop. Watch the film here too

As Indie Film Week continues, we catch up with Hillary Yeo, director of the short film Godaizer, to find out how he managed to fund his ambitious project.

• Find out more about how Hillary Yeo funded his project in issue 155 of 3D World

At 19-minutes long, Godaizer is not your average animated short. It tells the story of a young boy names Ah Seng, who lives and works with his elderly grandfather. Together they run a storage warehouse, which houses all kinds of robots in various states of repair.

As the pair go about their daily routine, an experiment in a nearby secret government facility goes wrong and a giant monster escape. With the military unable to destroy the creature, Ah Seng and his grandfather use their robot Godaizer to stop it.

“The film started out when I quit from Lucasfilm Singapore in 2007,” Yeo says. “I always wanted to do a 3D fight scene between a robot and giant monsters, so I tried to build a decent story around that.”

This led to the introduction of the film’s two human characters, which were inspired by actors in old Kung Fu movies.

“I am always drawn to the relationship between an old grandfather and his grandson,” Yeo explains. “A mentor-student relationship. And it’s kind of based on Mr Miyagi and Alfredo from Cinema Paradiso and a Hong Kong actor called Law Yar Ying. I was keen to explore the different types of relationship dynamics within this construct.”

Early sketches were made of the film's environments in order to finalise the overall style and mood. The designs were heavily influenced by Yeo's love of artists Kazuo Oga and Yoshiyuki Takani

Characters and environments set, the next thing for the director to decide was the overall style of the film, which was heavily inspired by the background paintings that feature in Studio Ghilbi movies. “Kazuo Oga, who painted many of these, was a huge influence on me visually. To me his work always triggers an emotional reaction and I desperately wanted to capture that.

“Another inspirational source was Yoshiyuki Takani whose cover art feature prominently on the old Japanese toy box covers. Something about his paintings evoke a sense of awe and believeability of those robots. Absolutely brilliant.”

Click Next to read more