tween

There’s some interesting 3D work over at the Luxology Image Gallery.

Picture Mill’s opening titles for “I, Robot” operate as a kind of prescient dream sequence that foreshadow elements of the plot and build the conceptual framework from which the film derives its dramatic tension.

Text bursts majestically into air bubbles, liquid circuitry reflects cold beams of blue light and an ominous red orb illuminates the title card, all making reference to key plot-points later in the film. The Three Laws are artfully presented as well, fulfilling the title sequence’s role not just as a presenter of names but as an integral part of the narrative structure.

The end credits also incorporate the movie’s storyline, though in a subtler fashion. The integration of organic light-swells with schematic-style circuitry echo the blurry semi-human condition of the NS-5s, the movie’s real stars. (Sorry, Will Smith, but these CG marvels had you beat from the first frame.)

Great work, Picture Mill.

Contact sheets (100k each):
Opening titles
Three laws
End titles

(Special thanks to Ty VanHuisen of Picture Mill for supplying these images.)

In addition to the technical mastery and hard-work that went into The Cocoe Conspiracy Vol. 1, there’s a heapin’ spoonful of wit, too.

Product labels from public domain footage have been painstakingly replaced with “Cocoe” variations, suggesting that all these consumable manifestations of corporate America are linked via a shadowy conspiracy of some sort. An eerie interview makes reference to “the signal” and time-warped clips create hypnotic visual cadences. Before you know it, you too will crave Cocoe.

(By the way, if you’ve never checked out the Prelinger Archive, the treasure-trove of public doman footage Cocoe used to create this piece, I highly recommend it.)

loyalkaspar recently finished a series of beautiful station id’s for Equator HD, a new satellite channel that covers nature and culture from around the world.

I really like the expansiveness of these pieces. loyalkaspar struck a nice balance between natural forms and geometric abstraction, knowing exactly when and how to personalize them. The palettes are lush, the animation organic and the pacing relaxed, all of which ground the pieces in the station’s identity. Great work.

Asia
Savannah
Spring
Winter
Tropical
Ireland

(Thanks to Alex Gorodetzki for supplying these links.)

James Frost of Conceive Media directed five blips to promote the Beastie Boy’s latest album, “To the 5 Boroughs.” Each blip, logically enough, is dedicated to one of New York’s five boroughs, featuring landmarks like the Bronx Zoo, Chrysler Building and, less recognizably, Hornblowers (standing in for Nathan’s Hot Dogs as a veiled shout-out to Nathaniel Hornblower, the director of the B-Boys’ music videos.)

Check out all five blips here.

I just returned from a week-long Maya class at Oregon3D, a training and visualization facility located in the bustling, beautiful town of Portland. While Oregon3D is probably the best place on the planet to undergo any computer-based training, this Tween post is about my instructor: Jason “Buzz” Busby.

Buzz is a freak of nature. He had more energy than our entire class of eight people. He started the day with a bang and maintained his enthusiasm and focus until we finished at 6pm, two hours after the “official” end of class.

He’s a walking encyclopedia of knowledge about Maya, 3DS Max, Combustion, Houdini, SoftImage, character animation, C++ and god knows what else. But he’s more than a human database; he knows how to use all this stuff in the real world, mainly because he DOES use this stuff in the real world on a regular basis.

He knows how to push students to their limits, giving us brain-puzzlers that forced us to get under the hood of Maya and stay up past our bedtimes. And he’s a big fan of holding a stopwatch and telling you something like, “Okay, you have 30 seconds to build a ball who’s translateY value is defined by the sum of the translateY values of two locators, each of which can be independently positioned. GO!”

Simply put, Buzz loves to teach. He’s clear, concise and incredibly patient, probably because he truly loves to help people. In fact, he’s created hours of free Video Training Module (VTMs) and put them on his site, 3dbuzz.com. No strings attached, he just wants you to learn.

If you are considering training in any 3D app or are looking to get into game development or character animation, I highly suggest you check with Buzz first. He teaches regularly at Oregon3D and at the Renaissance Center outside of Nashville, Tennessee. I won’t give out his email address, but I encourage you to lurk around 3dbuzz.com. Make sure to post in the forums and check out the VTMs.

(Sorry for the length of this post. Mr. Busby deserves it.)