July 17, 2012 : Tom Hanks’ Electric City
Tom Hanks created a new animated series called Electric City. The interesting thing about this series is that it will air exclusively online – on Yahoo’s video site, Yahoo! Screen. It is one of the first major animation productions specifically designed for online viewing (at least that I know of). Today, the first ten episodes aired, each one 5-7 minutes. Over the next two days, the remaining ten will be released. Below is the first episode:
The animation clearly has a decent sized budget, and the story concept is pretty interesting; however I think it’s a little underdeveloped and stalls at times. While I am mildly curious to see how the series wraps up, I am more interested to see what kind of impact, in any, it has on future online animated series. I’m not sure exactly what the business model is for this type of roll out, but it’s different… and that definitely catches my attention.
posted by Pi Visuals at 10:22 pm
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July 12, 2012 : Relish Episode 11 Of Ninja Tales
Episode number eleven of Ninja Tales is up, online, and ready for your viewing pleasure. The second to last short is called “Mission Is A Glow” and can be seen below.
I used a semi-opaque blue mask to create the sense of the blacklight. The glowing of the chest and glow sticks were added in post (in After Effects). It took several attempts to get the desired look, but I am happy with how it turned out.
posted by Pi Visuals at 11:37 am
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July 10, 2012 : Anime Back In Full Force
With Toonami’s recent return to Adult Swim, enjoyable anime is once again on TV. Deadman Wonderland has been impressive (although Cashern is still subpar). The concept is original, and it has moved at a very brisk pace. It’s unlikely Bleach will ever return to its prime, so hopefully Toonami will continue to pick up solid new anime. One show I’m hoping they get the rights to is Panty And Stocking With Garterbelt. The official trailer is below.
It’s obviously bizarre – yet again, that shouldn’t be too surprising since it’s by the creators of FLCL. The director of Garterbelt was also heavily involved in that show. The only drawback I can think about the series is that there isn’t any music from The Pillows.
posted by Pi Visuals at 12:39 am
Tags: Adult Swim , Bleach , Deadland Wonderland , FLCL , Toonami0 Comments | Post a comment
July 7, 2012 : Ninja Tales In The Can (Almost)
The last short of Ninja Tales is done… and with nearly two weeks to spare. Actually, the final episode took a bit longer than expected due to various conflicts. However, between completing most of the other shorts ahead of schedule and making sure I allotted more than enough time at the start of the whole production process, I was never worried about finishing the final short in time.
Bottom line, the 12th short of Ninja Tales was never rushed, and I am incredibly pleased with how it turned out. In fact, even though it won’t be put online for another 12 days, below is a really cool pic from the episode that I love.
Technically, this doesn’t mean I’m completely done with production on the last two shorts. A few days before I put up an episode, I review the short to see if there are any last minutes changes I need to make prior to putting it online. These tend to be small changes I know would bother me if I left them as is – trimming a few frames, moving a facial feature slightly up the timeline, adding a small sound effect, etc. Usually, these tweaks are minor, but there is still a little work to be done with our favorite ninjas.
posted by Pi Visuals at 1:42 am
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July 5, 2012 : Take In Episode 10 Of Ninja Tales
The tenth episode of Ninja Tales is waiting for you to view it… several times in fact. This short is titled “Dress Code”.
The sweater required a separate model for Quick Stab, along with some detailed texture mapping to get the hideous pattern. The only other option would have been to add the sweater after the fact in After Effects, however I was worried that would have limited Quick Stab’s movements too much to pull off.
posted by Pi Visuals at 3:14 pm
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June 28, 2012 : Savor The Flavor Of Ninja Tales Episode 9
Episode number nine of Ninja Tales is now perusing the interwebs. Follow the series of tubes and enjoy it for all it’s worth. This episode is called ‘Throwing The Blame’ and can be viewed below.
This short had more weapons than any of the previous ones. Even though there were daggers and blow darts, the ninja stars held the prominent role in the scene. They were modeled by Moridin – unfortunately, there weren’t any close shots to fully appreciate them. Still, the design was very sleek.
posted by Pi Visuals at 2:47 pm
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June 21, 2012 : Soak In Ninja Tales Episode 8
The eighth episode of Ninja Tales is online and awaits your command. Actually it is just waiting for you to watch it. The short is called ‘Scaling It Back’ and can be viewed below.
Considering they were hanging by cords, I was a little concerned that the ninjas wouldn’t look right. I didn’t want them to look too stationary or rigid throughout the short. After some testing, I was able to get the look I wanted, which I think helps establish the scene’s setting.
posted by Pi Visuals at 11:20 am
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June 14, 2012 : Enjoy Episode 7 Of Ninja Tales
Episode number 7 of Ninja Tales is up and ready for viewing. It is called ‘Budget Cuts’ and can be viewed below.
The smoke was created in After Effects. While the smoke from the smoke bombs in previous episodes had a cartoony look, I wanted the gas from the canister to be more realistic. I don’t think it would have looked as good had I kept it the same.
posted by Pi Visuals at 11:30 am
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June 7, 2012 : Get Acquainted With Ninja Tales Episode 6
The sixth episode of Ninja Tales is online, and I am very pleased with it. In fact, I might go as far to say it is my favorite one out of the bunch. It’s entitled ‘Mission Terminated’ and can be viewed below.
The poster in the background with the Beastie Boys reference was made several months ago – considerably before Adam Yauch’s untimely passing. I really liked it when it was made, but now it brings an extra smile to my face.
posted by Pi Visuals at 12:45 pm
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May 31, 2012 : View The Hilarity Of Ninja Tales Episode 5
Episode number 5 of Ninja Tales is now out to be viewed by one and all. It is called ‘In The Closet’ and is only the second short that has all four of the main characters in it.
It was a bit of a challenge to make a 90 second short set in such a confined space. A big concern of mine was preventing the episode from moving too slowly, but I liked the overall flow and think it moved quite well.
posted by Pi Visuals at 12:04 pm
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