September 30, 2016 : Dragon Ball Z: The Fall of Men
I don’t know how it took this long, but I just stumbled on this DBZ Fan Fiction live-action film. It was released a year ago and made by Black Smoke Films, a French production company.
It takes place in an alternate universe during the Android/ Cell Saga. I thoroughly enjoyed it; and given the fact that it now has over 20 million views, I am not alone.
The narrative was solid, but you have to accept that it didn’t stay true to the manga/ anime. Personally I like how they created their own spin on the story. However, what I really liked was all the subtle references to the series – both DBZ and Dragonball.
The YouTube Channel also has several Featurettes as well as an 85 minute Making-Of film. The only downside to these extras is that they are in French, but they do have English subtitles.
posted by Pi Visuals at 1:44 pm
Tags: DBZ , DragonballComment
September 15, 2016 : Talisman Communications Logo
I recently spent some time in Illustrator creating a logo for a fictional advertising agency, Talisman Communications. This is currently for a side project I have been toying around with intermittently for awhile now. At the moment, I am not sure if it will ever get turned into an animation, but it’s a possibility.
I still might tweak things a little, but I like how it’s looking. Plus, it’s always nice when I get an opportunity to flex my Illustrator muscles, which is needed to keep me sharp with the program. The real question is whether or not I take this image and create a 3D model. Realistically, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
posted by Pi Visuals at 1:41 am
Tags: Ad WizardsComment
August 29, 2016 : Spline Action!
I recently had a project that required a detailed model of a car. At first, I was hoping to use an existing model in Lightwave’s Content Library, but that was a dead end. As a result, I modeled it myself – which is something I have never done. Below is a render of the wireframe:
The model is based off the Mazda 6, with an added logo on the grill. The modeling required plenty of splines, a technique I never really used. In fact, I had to reacquaint myself many of the tools related to splines. Fortunately, I was able to pick things up quickly because there were plenty of splines used. Below is a Modeler screenshot with all the splines selected and the car model in the BG layer:
After Modeling everything, which took about 40 hours or so, I threw it into Layout and did some rendering (well technically, I did some minor rigging and animating first). I used the multi-pass rendering technique described in a previous post. The result is the render shown at the top of the post.
No doubt, detailed surfacing would have increased the amount of time needed for the model, but fortunately that was not part of the scope of the project. I did end up adding a small color correction in After Effects (the Curves effect). Below is a shot before and after the correction:
The effect was subtle and done to better match the car to the video’s color palette. All in all, the use of Splines was challenging, but I can definitely see it’s power. It would be interesting to see how I can apply the technique to other modeling; but to be honest, I think I am still much more comfortable with ‘old-school’ box modeling. Although, never say never…
posted by Pi Visuals at 2:58 pm
Tags: After Effects , LightwaveComment
August 20, 2016 : Sausage Party Not A Party For Its Animators
Sausage Party has been a surprise hit this summer – due to its solid box office sales combined with a relatively low budget. However, recent reports have highlighted some possible tactics used by the Directors against some animators at Nitrogen Studios to keep the costs down.
The contract workers at the Vancouver-based studio claim they were denied pay for overtime work and some were denied credit for even working on the film. Intimidation tactics were also used to ‘force’ animators to work longer hours, on a ‘voluntarily’ basis (i.e. free).
Sadly, it isn’t too surprising that animators were treated poorly. This is common among similar lines of work, including the VFX and Video Game industry. However, I was surprised that Canada doesn’t have an animation guild. I suppose I just assumed they did. Perhaps, they are focusing their energy on getting round wheels for their cars.
posted by Pi Visuals at 3:27 pm
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August 6, 2016 : Rurouni Kenshin’s Live Action Trilogy
Rurouni Kenshin was a solid anime – one that due to Toonami’s original demise didn’t get a fair shake on US Broadcast Television. Over the last few years, a trilogy of live action films was made; and thanks to Funimation, they are finally coming to the States – with each movie getting a limited theatrical release. Below is a teaser trailer for the trilogy:
The first film is Rurouni Kenshin: Origins, which is obviously an Origins story. It is followed by Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno, which has the anime’s biggest villain – Shishio Makoto (although I doubt it was played by Steven Blum). The final film is Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends, which wraps things up.
The action looks pretty solid; and while I don’t think all anime are meant to be converted to live action, I definitely see Rurouni as one that can. Plus, it is cool seeing many of the characters come to life. If only the anime was back on Adult Swim…
posted by Pi Visuals at 12:06 am
Tags: Rurouni KenshinComment
July 22, 2016 : Happy Pi Approximation Day!
You know what day it is – actually, you probably don’t – but I sure do. It’s Pi Approximation Day! So be sure to nerd it up today… or more so than normal.
It isn’t the most recognized holiday in July (or popular Pi-related day), but that doesn’t mean it should be overlooked. At least that’s how I feel. No doubt this can be attributed to my irrational love of Pi… and puns.
posted by Pi Visuals at 8:33 am
Tags: PiComment
July 19, 2016 : China’s Monkey King: Hero Is Back
China’s highest-grossing domestic animated film, Monkey King: Hero Is Back, is finally getting distribution in the United States, due to a partnership with DirecTV. Below is the English trailer:
While the trailer doesn’t jump out at me, the movie’s success does have potential significance. Having grossed US$153 million during last year’s release in China on a mere $16 million budget has pushed a lot of other animation features into production.
If this movie’s limited American release and On-Demand rentals prove fruitful, it will only kick things into a higher gear. I believe the increased demand will result in higher budgets and better projects coming out of China.
posted by Pi Visuals at 10:50 am
Tags: AnimationComment
July 6, 2016 : Plenty Coming Down Toonami’s Pipeline
Anime tends to be comprised of short runs – either for a season or the series as a whole. This means Toonami must frequently add new material to its lineup; and there has recently been much to talk about their schedule, both in the short-term and long-term.
In the immediate future, One-Punch Man will be starting on July 16th, and it looks… interesting.
One-Punch Man started as a Web-comic back in 2009 and quickly went viral. The webcomic is still ongoing, but it was also remade into a digital manga and that was later adapted into an anime series. It apparently parodies the superhero genre as well as martial arts anime (like DBZ). Needless to say, I am intrigued.
The next bit of news is the announcement that Season 2 of Attack On Titan will air next Spring. For the record, I believe this is the Japanese premiere date and not Toonami’s. However, given Titan’s popularity, smart money says it will soon follow.
To be honest, I am mixed on this show. It had so much promise, but I felt the second half of the the first season really dragged. As a side note, the first season was made in 2013 (and aired on Toonami back in 2014) – it seems they are taking a page from the Venture Bros.’ production schedule.
Lastly, Adult Swim released a cool behind-the-scenes video for Samarai Jack. It doesn’t show any footage, but it has plenty of Genndy – and that’s more than enough to get me even more excited for the show’s return. I always prefer these types of videos versus trailers because they remain spoiler free, yet still provide insight into show.
I was originally going to start the post with this info, but decided against it since I have talked plenty about Samarai Jack lately. I was going to type that I’ve talked about it ‘more than enough’, but I don’t think you can ever talk enough about Jack.
posted by Pi Visuals at 11:53 pm
Tags: DBZ , Genndy Tartakovsky , Samurai Jack , Toonami , Venture Bros.Comment
June 23, 2016 : Samurai Jack Update
During the recent Annecy Interational Animated Film Festival, Genndy Tartakovsky revealed some updates on the new Samurai Jack, along with some concept art.
While a premiere date for the new season was not mentioned, they did say it will be 10 episodes long – and with a pacing of a “five-hour movie”. It will also take place 50 years after the events of the last episode. I’m not sure how they will address Jack being 50 years older, but I assume it won’t be a Batman Beyond situation.
The article goes on to state the tone of the show will be darker and more mature than the previous iteration, which makes sense since it will air on Adult Swim. While some are worried this change in the show’s makeup will do harm, I’m optimistic Samurai Jack will still Samurai Jack.
posted by Pi Visuals at 12:47 pm
Tags: Genndy Tartakovsky , Samurai JackComment
June 14, 2016 : Dexter’s Laboratory’s Importance To Cartoon Network
Den Of Geek has a solid article about the impact of Dexter’s Laboratory on the Cartoon Network’s success over the last twenty years. It talks about the history of the network as well as the origins of the series.
Besides Genndy Tartakovsky, who created the show, it mentions other important people involved with production who went on to have very successful animation careers: specifically Butch Hartman, Craig McCracken, and Seth MacFarlane. The article is an interesting read.
Even though I didn’t get Cartoon Network obsessed until after Dexter’s Laboratory, I always enjoyed reruns whenever on. For me, its greater value was paving the way for shows I really enjoyed. Most importantly, it allowed Genndy to create more – specifically Samurai Jack (and to a lesser extent Star Wars: Clone Wars and Sym-Bionic Titan…sigh, RIP). For that, props to you Dexter’s Laboratory!
posted by Pi Visuals at 11:16 pm
Tags: Genndy Tartakovsky , Samurai Jack , Sym-Bionic TitanComment