Archive for the ‘Stop Motion - Breaking News’ Category
Claymation – Bottled Water in Animation !
A Press Release from The WaterTechOnline.com website in support of bottled water have opted to use a claymation character to get their point (or should I say pint ) across.
- Claymation – Supporting Bottled Water
ALEXANDRIA, VA – The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) today posted its newest video, The Real Story of Bottled Water<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwV2JpFnxWM>, on its consumer-oriented YouTube channel, Bottled Water Matters, as a humorous retort/rebuttal to misleading claims made by anti-bottled water activists. Consumers are encouraged to view the entertaining rejoinder The Real Story of Bottled Water shown below.
“In the past few months, activists have made claims that the bottled water industry ‘manufactures demand’ for bottled water,” said Tom Lauria, IBWA Vice President of Communications. “But the truth is that demand for bottled water is ‘consumer driven,’ and our video illustrates this important difference by giving viewers insightful background information about the industry and the true reasons of bottled water’s widespread popularity.”
“I expect that this video will be an eye-opener for some people who may have only heard the false and inaccurate information being disseminated by activists,” he said.
Produced in-house, IBWA’s video uses claymation, a live stop-action technique, to tell The Real Story of Bottled Water. A talking 5-gallon water cooler bottle made from blue modeling clay — addresses the YouTube audience, giving them her side of the real story of bottled water.Facts are supported by using source credits throughout the video.
The video is among more than a dozen videos on the Bottled Water Matters YouTube channel aimed at addressing misinformation about the bottled water industry.
“Lucky for us, most people use common sense and can tell when they are being misled—or they check the facts out for themselves. A lot of information-spin on the theory of the so-called ‘manufactured demand’ can be easily researched and debunked,” Mr. Lauria said.“To save consumers time, we’re happy to do it for them.”
Some comments from viewers of the video…
I love Perrier, Mountain Valley and San Pellegrino in glass! But glass is heavy and that means a potentially larger carbon footprint when shipping. You mention “filter stations” as if something needs to be done to tap water to make it drinkable. With so much packaged in plastic, it’s odd you pick on the healthiest beverage around. BTW, PET doesn’t leech.
The argument Tap vs Bottled is ridiculous: Municipal water suppliers are allowed to distribute contaminated water, as long as they “inform” the public about the contamination. I get a letter twice a year letting me know that my tap water exceeds the EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels for Arsenic and Fluoride. If this water was in a bottle it would NOT be allowed to be distributed. Also some of the first responders in a crisis for disaster relief are the bottlers with small thanks from JQ Public!
Animation in your hands
Scribble - Prototype for Flipbook Animation
Students Penn Greene, Ryan Thurmer, Chris Parker and Alexis Stepanek received a $2,500 top prize for their Scribble handheld animation prototype.
at the University of Michigan, US.
A small group of innovative University of Michigan students with an interest in animation has brought the old-school flip book into the 21st century with the “Scribble”, a handheld touchscreen toy that turns digital drawings into flipbook stop motion animations.
With a plastic-tip pen, users hand-draw and save a series of consecutive images, which the Scribble then plays back in sequence to create the illusion of movement (once saved, drawings can be edited). A functional prototype of the device recently netted first place in a toy design competition co-sponsored by the University of Michigan College of Engineering’s Center for Entrepreneurship, and Giddy Up Toys.
The Animation genius – Ray Harryhausen turns 90
Animation genius (in paticular stop motion animation ) and pioneer Ray Harryhausen turns 90 this week. To celebrate the occasion an exhibition of Harryhausen’s stop-motion work opens on 29 June 2010 at the London Film Museum. It includes original models, bronze casts and artwork from his Movies.
Movie greats such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Nick Park all cite Ray has one of their inspirational heros in the field of animation.
Harryhausen is modest about his elevated status this these Directors, he prefers to give the credit to Willis O’Brien, the visual-effects supervisor on King Kong (1933) and the man who gave Harryhausen his first feature film job, on Mighty Joe Young (1949).
But it is Harryhausen who, on the occasion of his 90th birthday this week, will be celebrated with the exhibition of his drawings, models and film footage at the London Film Museum, and by a collectible limited-edition book called Ray Harryhausen: A Life in Pictures. And it’s Harryhausen who is cited as an influence by film-makers from Steven Spielberg (“I salute him every day”) to James Cameron (“We all owe Ray a great debt”); from Pixar (who named a restaurant after him in Monsters Inc) to Tim Burton (who said Mars Attacks! was a direct homage).
Nick Park, the Oscar-winning animator behind Wallace and Gromit and another avowed Harryhausen fan, says that Gromit’s famously expressive eyebrows were partially inspired by those of Mighty Joe Young. “I remember seeing Ray Harryhausen on I think it was a TV programme called Screen Test. I just got to work straight away in my own little attic studio. I made a brontosaurus out of coat-hanger wire and foam and my mum’s old tights.”
Live long and prosper Ray. We look up to you and celebrate with you on your upcoming birthday.
Cartoon Network is to revive “Looney Tunes”
New Look Cartoon Network Looney Tunes
One of the worlds largest cartoon publishers “Cartoon Network” are planning to breathe new life in to the classic Warner Brothers Looney Tunes shows. Just last month Cartoon Network during its upfront presentation, announced a number of new animated shows including an animated version of the Mad magazine.
The new Looney tunes shows which will included the ususal suspects of Daffy Duck , Bugs Bunny, Sylvester , Yosemite and more will see a new format. Rather than the original 7 minute cartoon the network is planning half hour slots for the animated series. Also Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny will be moved out of the woods and placed in a suburbian neighbourhood.
However the half hour episodes will be interspersed by cartoons within the cartoon. There will be two-minute ‘Merrie Melodies’ music videos — original songs sung by such characters as the Tasmanian Devil, Speedy Gonzalez, and Marvin the Martian – and two and a half minute Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote shorts, which will be computer-animated.
However Cartoon Network modern take on these originals does not go down well with some of the original fans of the format. For example Fatty Fat comments ..
I just plain don’t get the need to tinker with Looney Tunes at all. It’s just more reinventing the wheel. I’m nostalgic for the originals that were around in syndication all during my childhood, and if I can be nostaligic for cartoons that were made 50 years before I was born, so can/have/will others. It’s not like I was sitting through Bugs Bunny cartoons thinking, “I’d be interested in this if they’d just make this character edgier…maybe Rastafarianize him by, say 30%…now that’d be a totally outrageous paradigm!”
For me I welcome the reviving of these old cartoons for a whole new generation by Cartoon Network. Us old folks should just move on and hand over the good times to the next generation.
Disney Recommendation for iKITMovie
We had a very pleasant surprise last week to find Disneys’ FamilyFun magazine recommend iKITMovie animation software!
Disneys' Familyfun - iKITMovie
It was Recommended by FamilyFun digital manager Samuel Mead and kids, Ruby, age 8, and Finn, 5 (plus cousins Cedar, 15, Silas, 11, Matia, 12, and Noah, 9) – Their tips were ..
Our Tips
Stop-motion animation programs are compatible with most digital video cameras and some digital still cameras (check before you download). I had to adjust my camera’s settings from HD to DV before beginning. For a more professional look, we set our camera on a tripod and shot against a flat, brightly lit sheet of white paper. To inspire my young animators, I showed them some of the many finished works posted online. The kids were particularly jazzed by a short called “Western Spaghetti” (eatpes.com).
Also we got an really nice article by Karin Piper author of “Charter Schools – The Ultimate Guide for Parents” about us on Examiner.com.
Karin is a speaker, school choice advocate and author of award winning Charter Schools: The Ultimate Handbook for Parents. Karin provides communications and tools necessary for parents to become informed decision makers in the expanding world of education options. She also works with various organizations in engaging with surrounding communities and creating dynamic relationships with families. Karin can be contacted through Karin@theeducationchoiceexpert.com or visit her website at charterschoolmom.com.
Animation News – How to train your Dragon
How to Train Your Dragon from Dreamworks animation will be in theaters March 26, 2010. Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrara, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Craig Ferguson, Kristen Wiig and T.J. Miller are the voice actors in the film. It’s directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. The trailer is below for your enjoyment. I hope they improve on the graphics for the main dragon, as it currently stands it looks out of place with the other characters and background. While it may well be worth going to see if only for the 3D experience it does not look as good as Pixar’s recent offerings.
We have a gift for you – Free Webcam
I have been asked many many times by those new to stop motion for advice on what web camera to buy when starting out with animation. We have reviewed a number of web cameras on our site in the last year and in general we have been happy to recommend Logitech® and Microsoft®. So as a gift to new customers we are giving away Logitech C200 webcams with our flagship software iKITMovie 1.6. The Logitech C200 is very new to the market and signals a real coming of age for affordable webcams. For stop motion it is most comfortable at 640×480 at 30FPS (image refresh that is ,not the capture frame rate). It can capture images up to 1.3 MP with software enhancement. What is best about Logitech cameras however are the drivers. They give excellent control of brightness, contrast, White balance etc, all essential to getting the best quality possible with the lens supplied. There is manual zoom on this model which works very well for close up work.
So if you are looking for a complete kit for stop motion it is a very good package indeed.
Giant to Invade Scotland !
A Giant called “The Big Man” is set to invade the streets of Scotland starting in Bute on the 26th and 27th of September.
The “Big Man” is a mythical giant who has come back to Scotland after 10,000 years. He is going to walk through the streets and towns to view (via a webcam inserted in his head) what the inhabitants are doing to welcome him back. The webcam view will be viewable live on his website TheBigManWalking.com. The Big Man is 8 metres tall and weight 0.6 tons. He is held in place by a telehandler (crane). He is made from polystyrene and steel. A group of eight puppeteers assist him walking using a very unique internal clockwork mechanism.
Find more videos like this on Big Man Walking
Simon McIntyre, artistic director who conceived this idea and is anxious to get ducks in a row for first walkabout on the 26th..and I quote
Phase 1 the build is finished. Phase 2 rehearsals are progressing smoothly. There are a few operational snags but we are all eager to bring the Big Man from his secret location to the first event in Bute on the 26th September. Be prepared for his …
Edinburgh’s Puppet Animation Festival and Puppet Lab put their £450,000 award towards its Big Man Walking venture. We wish Simon and the crew every success in the forthcoming return of the “Giant Man” and we hope that he may even make it further afield across the oceans. I am sure we would all welcome him.
Stop Motion – New Installer
We have just completed development and testing of our new installer for all versions of iKITMovie Stop Motion software. Up to this we had been using straightforward setup executables for the three versions of iKITMovie. But this caused some issues for those using Vista. With the new MSI (Microsoft Installer) format, users of any windows operating system can install without having to use the “setup as administrator” option. Also the new format will allow us to give check for updates functionality to customers in future releases. Users will still need to have the administrator password, but this is normal for installing any software.
Also Cecil ( our mascot ) gets more exposure in the setup. He sure likes the limelight.
Cecil in the Limelight Again!
The MSI version of the Trial copy of our stop motion software also now allows trial users to test the export of their movie made in iKITMovie. This will allow the testing of export and upload to Youtube and so forth. There is a watermark on export to indicate it is a trial version but this will be removed on purchase of a full license.
NEWS Item – Stop Motion Software – New Free Trial
Following a number of requests by existing trial download users of stop motion software iKITMovie I would like to tell everyone that we will release a new free trial download on the 1st of September 2009.
Cecil
This new version of our stop motion software, version 1.6, will now include export functionality. This will allow trial users to export their movies in MP4 or WMV format. The exported movie will have a watermark however but this will be removed from the snapshots taken if a license is purchased. So you will not lose any projects you have created in the trial version.
This extended trial is to allow everyone to better experience this innovative stop motion software. As usual the first sound of every category in the sound fx library will also be accessible. You can also add your own sounds in MP3 or Wav format. Voice over can be added and exported in this new trial.
Note that there is a limit of 300 frames in the trial version. This will allow you to test you stop motion skills, while checking your webcamera and digital still image imports.
The new trial download is now smaller in size. Thanks to the msi format the install will run simply by double clicking on the file once downloaded.
We are planning a number of new and exciting features in future releases of iKITMovie Stop Motion software so stay tuned and come back and visit again.
Also if you have any questions we now have a handy contact us form. We will respond within 24 hours max.
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