July 25, 2018 : Walking Through A Portal – Animation Testing

Building off an earlier post, I spent some time having a character walk through my cartoon portal. Below is the end result (with sound effects):

You might recognize the character from a previous animated short, which was actually the inspiration for the portal idea. That earlier project is nearly 5 years old (?!). Since then, I have made numerous improvements to my rigs. However, I didn’t feel it prudent spending time creating a new or updated character at this juncture of testing.

Overall, I like how things came out. I might tweak a few things when I actually create the portal for realsies, but I like the After Effects portions used. Plus, I feel the audio really pulls everything together.

posted by Pi Visuals at 3:35 pm

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July 22, 2018 : Happy Pi Approximation Day!

Today is Pi Approximation Day… that special day where we are reminded of Pi. Actually, to be fair, I am always reminded of Pi. Is that weird? Probably. Either way, let’s bask in its glory.

This is the point in the post where I usually give some random fact about the day, but there are only so many tidbits about Pi Approximation Day; and it looks like I’ve shared them all over the years. As such, we should all just take a moment and reflect on Pi’s greatness, which has two days dedicated to its likeness.

posted by Pi Visuals at 1:40 am

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July 13, 2018 : Cartoon Portal Fun

For a while now, I have wanted to create a Cartoon Portal. I had some time lately so I tested around with some things in After Effects. Below is the final result (with sound effects!):

One piece of line art was made in Illustrator and used as the basis for the various layers.

I still need to send something (or someone) through the portal, but I don’t think it’s ready for that just yet. The technology is still in the beta stages and will require more testing. Just kidding – that is the next step. I intend on using a previously made Lightwave character.

posted by Pi Visuals at 10:10 am

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June 29, 2018 : Venture Bros. News Galore!

I read a recent interview with Christopher McCulloch (Venture Bros. creator) and io9. It’s a solid read. There are a lot of interesting topics, but I really enjoyed hearing McCulloch’s take on how the landscape of superheroes in popular culture has changed over the duration of the show.

He also talks about social media, Star Wars, and coolest of all – Go Team Venture! It is a soon to be released book that discusses the making of each episode. It includes art and even has a foreword by Patton Oswalt. Definitely cool to hear.

The interview talks about Season 7; and at the time it was published, a premiere date had not been set- although it did say this summer. A few days ago, news broke that the new season is set to kick off August 5.

This is actually ahead of schedule as the original target was November. That’s a nice change of pace for the show. There is a trailer out and about if interested, but I want to go in fresh so I’m not linking to it. I also found out that Season 8 has already been confirmed. So hopefully it won’t be another 2 or 3 year hiatus between seasons. One can dream…

 

posted by Pi Visuals at 8:08 pm

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June 15, 2018 : The Freelance Manifesto

A friend recently told me about The Freelance Manifesto, a sort of how-to guide to survey the Freelance MoGraph World. It claims to be applicable to freelancers in other fields, which I suppose can be true since much of the methodology is universal; but the main audience are Motion Designers.

It didn’t take very long to get through, which is always a good thing with non-fiction books of this sort; and Joey Korenman is very personable as an author.

The Manifesto is equal parts motivational and how-to guide. Some of the concepts were common sense (at least in my mind), but there was a fair amount of information I found useful.

All in all, it was a worthwhile read – keeping things informative and entertaining. My hope is to apply some of it to secure more clients.

posted by Pi Visuals at 11:21 pm

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June 1, 2018 : Long Overdue Reel Update

Many people I know (myself included) often say they need to update their reel. This has been on my To-Do list for quite some time, which is why I’m happy to share the link below:

As with my previous reel, I wanted to do something different with the music. This time around, I used Jazz Chord Progressions and mixed them with non-instrumental synth sounds. It took some time getting it to a place with which I was happy, but I like the end result.

posted by Pi Visuals at 8:41 pm

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May 20, 2018 : Hopping On The ‘Whiteboard Animation’ Train

Whiteboard Animations are quite the craze these days. Actually they have been popular for a while now. I’ve never made one before, but I am currently working on one for a client. I could probably use After Effects, but there are multiple software packages that specialize in the creation of these types of videos – which are more efficient.

Per the client’s request, I am using VideoScribe. It is subscription based software (what isn’t these days?), and a cheap one at that. It cost me $29 for a month of use, and it would have been less than half of that had I purchased the Yearly Plan.

This is the first time using such a program so I can’t really compare to its competitors; and while it isn’t perfect, so far it seems to do the job. I am sure there are more robust packages out there to create really complicated animations, however I have been able to couple the resulting animation with After Effects to add on a few bells and whistles and make things look solid.

I can’t say this genre is my favorite, but the project has been a nice change of pace and a fun challenge.

posted by Pi Visuals at 8:34 pm

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May 3, 2018 : Streaming Vs Cable TV – Kids Programming

An interesting article from Bloomberg details the struggles Kids’ TV networks are having ratings wise. The three networks specifically named were Nickelodeon, Disney, and Cartoon Network.

Not surprisingly, many kids in the 2-11 demographic are getting their content via streaming. In fact, Kids’ TV networks have lost half of their audiences over the past decade; and the article doesn’t paint a pretty picture moving forward.

While these networks are trying to establish their own platforms, it sounds like they are significantly behind in the game. Netflix seems to be where it’s at – and there are others that are decently positioned (YouTube, Amazon, and Hulu).

TV is still making money – and quite a lot – but the trend doesn’t look good. The younger demographics are really highlighting these issues, but it doesn’t take an expert to realize this trend is not only going to continue, but it will get worse.

As somebody who has also considered ‘cutting the cord’, I realize the business model for much of the industry is changing. I am curious where it goes – and who will do something about it to survive.

posted by Pi Visuals at 11:51 pm

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April 19, 2018 : Bebop Cafes In Japan?!

As if I needed another reason to go to Japan, in honor of its 20 Anniversary, not one but two Cowboy Bebop themed cafes will open for a limited time.

New art for the cafe was recently released, and it’s menu has even been constructed with the series in mind (presumably shiitake mushrooms are somewhere on it). Chances of me making it out there to enjoy it is rare, but I have to believe there will be plenty of cool footage about it out there on the Interwebs.

posted by Pi Visuals at 10:51 pm

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April 6, 2018 : C2E2 2018 This Weekend!

C2E2 2018 starts today, and it will be the fourth straight year I’ll be in attendance (and the third where I’ll hit all three days). As usual, there are some interesting looking panels, and there are always cool artists and merchandise booths to check out.

Sadly, I won’t partake in any cosplay this year. I just didn’t have any time to come up with an idea (not to mention actually making the costume). But that won’t stop me from enjoying other people’s excellent work.

posted by Pi Visuals at 8:50 am

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