Rodney

I hear there is now a free deluxe mega multi powered copy of 'Birds-Eye-View-Queue' with every purchased copy of Animation:Master! Now look what you've done Mr. Robert Holmen... you've convinced me to update my subscription to A:M! (Disclaimer: I have heard rumors to the effect that the B-E-V-Q offer is not available in some specific galaxies and black holes and where otherwise prohibited by law) Translation to the above: Thank you Robert for the excellent reminder of the Birds-Eye-View-Queue. I have mentioned this feature to some folks that have never used Animation:Master and there really is no way for them to properly comprehend how this works (ala Undo/Redo) without trying it for themselves. It's a great feature.

Robert mentions the book on Villains by Thomas and Johnston (and their 'Illusion of LIfe' of course is well known to animators) but their other book 'Too Funny For Words: Disney's Greatest Sight Gags' provides good insight into how to 'write' animated sequences without words. The concept of 'the gag' has largely fallen out of favor but the underlying idea of entertainment and humor is still just as popular. Something I find interesting is how Disney got the entire staff involved in coming up with good storytelling visuals and some even made some extra income by submitting gags that were used in their films. I'm sure it led to more than a few promotions as well. In part 2 Frank and Ollie break gags down into the following basic categories. The Spot Gag The Running Gag The Gag-That-Builds The Action Gag The Tableau Gag The Inanimate Character Gag The Funny Drawing Specialized Gags (Color, Effects and Caricature) It is also very interesting to me how this approach to 'writing' pulls in aspects of thumbnailing, brainstorming, storyboards, etc. The whole idea being that while dialogue and other elements of story are important it is essential to tell the story through visuals; pantomime, character, performance, mood, etc. to the point where the story can be told without them but then is plussed up even more through their inclusion. The Disney approach was of course heavily influenced by silent film and that carries through well into caricatured performances. Most of the illustrations in the book have been posted online in some form or fashion over the years but the book is unique in it's collecting of the story gags into general categories. This not to present a formulaic approach so much as to explore what makes visual storytelling work. This thought and theory then can be applied to the creation of shorts and films in animation or live action. Note: There are several books with the title 'Too Funny for Words' out there so if purchasing online make sure it's the right one.

Mesmerizing. It reminds me of some of those old lead ins for TV and movies back in the 70s that didn't have a lot to do with the show itself but did the job of setting the mood and displaying the talent involved via credits... but yours much much better.

It's great to hear from you Teresa! And good to get caught up with what you are up to. Here's hoping you make the transition to whatever will be smoothly and without too much disruption.

A:M FIlms has been disconnected for many years... both the old (classic) A:M Films as well as the updated one. You'd likely be the exception to the rule if it was working for you. There is a youtube channel that contains most of the content from earlier A:M Films (although not strickly those that use to be found via A:M FIlms): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClx0zURG5-KTOzQewFRpASg/videos There is also the Hash Inc FTP site that has quite a few videos.

There is an Animation:Master discord but... it never really took off: https://discord.gg/jtZmXvc Please feel free to drop in and make suggestions to inject some life into it. Link updated!

Just days ago I found myself wondering what Disney might end up doing with Blue Sky Studios which was part of their recent acquisition of 20th Centry Fox. Even before I got a chance to google it... into my news feed came the reports that Disney would be shutting down the Studio. Several old time Animation:Master veterans work there... a few since the very early days of Blue Sky Studios... and here's hoping they make the transition well. I saw in a separate report via Linked In that one Blue Sky Studio animator in particular, Teresa (Nord) Storhoff has recently been promoted to Training Lead which if true would suggest a role in transitioning some of the 450 employees to other studios and Disney departments. From what I understand Disney still has plans to continue the Ice Age franchise in some capacity. I fully expect to hear of a new animation startup ramping up in the not too distant future to cover the dearth of animation work on the east coast but the recent move to more telecommunicated projects prompted by Covid 19 may have animators dialing in their work from all parts of the world remotely to Disney... Good luck to everyone involved!

Congrats to all the winners! That was a fun contest.

Thanks much for the update!

Thanks John, That's a nice model. I couldn't resist doing a quick additional modification and toon render... Sf123aModtoon1.prj

Thank you for the update. Much appreciated!

Sparkly!

Very nice Madfox! (Thanks for the conversion to gif John!)

Thank you. Much appreciated!

Gene was a force to be contended with. He'd take on an animation task and plus it up 20 fold. Never to shy away from doing the hard stuff he would just dive in and do it. I've been missing Gene's presence for a long time but now that feels a bit too official.

I read an article the other day about 'crowd noise' being used in the sports arenas that are empty due to Covid19. It's like a modern day upgrade to the 'laugh track'.

in this next episode we highlight that elusively strange 'noise' dubbed the laugh track... One thing the laugh track does successfully is let the audience know that it's okay to laugh. Without knowing much more I'd say the laugh track is a carry over from the days of radio but there is quite a rich history even beyond that. I do find it interesting that even without imagery the scene is set for humor as opposed to drama, intrigue or more serious considerations. This implies that acting and pantomime plays into the scene and we might expect the unexpected to be on display as the audience is jolted out of their complacency. I can think of a few setups where if something didn't clue the audience in that the scene was humorous the audience might react in considerably different ways... even shock or horror. But today is the day Keekat gets to be funny... apparently. laughtrackA.wav

For no apparently good reason... I've always thought the audio file from TaoA:M needed a longer pause before the 'punchline' delivery. Today I added it (and some noise) to keep the pause from sounding out of place. (wav file attached below) The whole idea of the timing of dialogue delivery is a fascinating one. This bit of dialogue follows the basic pattern of such things as joke telling that is storytelling in simple form; three acts... for four if you are counting the spaces inbetween the keys. What is Keekat's secret? What can't anyone seem to keep it? Tune in next episode for more thrilling adventure! Ive got a secret w pause.wav

Note down at the bottom of the Property Info window there is an Edit button. With that we can add documentation notes to personalize the Property Info. Be aware that this Property Info data (even if edited) is contained in a file named AMAindex.txt in the root A:M installation directory. That file will be overwritten with the default AMAindex.txt upon a new install so if personalized make sure you have a backup of the file before the next installation. This can be useful even if just adding a note of personal preferences for a specific property, to ask a question that comes to mind at the time, etc. We can even add links to useful locations... such as an example of the in question being demonstrated here in the forum or a youtube video. The original goal of Property Info was to continuously plus up A:M's internal documentation but this requires a few things that don't tend to happen often: 1) The feature must actually be used 2) Individual AMAindex.txt files must be shared and the useful information collected/collated to plus up the default AMAindx.txt file that gets distributed with each new installation.

We don't see it quite as often but in the past there were a lot of folks brought up using A:M that could be occasionally seen with A:M on their monitors in places as diverse as Disney, ILM, etc. This due to the fact that while they tended to work in other applications required by the production they worked out many initial problems by using what they knew best; Animation:Master. From time to time we still see posts from people working at these studios post... for example, to prototype some of the large animatronics used in the Disney parade (think Maleficent as a huge fire breathing dragon!). Of course it can be hard to follow what folks are up to when they don't post. I suppose that is part of the fun of searching for those hidden gems. Aside: There have been a number of Japanese games/videos that I'm convinced have used Animation:Master in some capacity but I'd be hard pressed to prove that. Some have heard my story of going on vacation with my wife and family south of Tokyo and unknowingly taking her dad into an adult video store. A bit embarrassed by my ignorance, I perused the books and videos at the front of the store where they had some general products of lesser adult concern. I purchased a book and so apparently did my father in law. It was only later in the car when he revealed what he had purchased that I went into shock. The DVD my father in law had chosen off the shelves full of products was 'Haruwo', a film completely created by Shao Guee (aka Aoki Tact) with Animation:Master. Even crazier still... a film I had helped subtitle with English translation subtitles (although most of the credit there goes to Mike Stamm). Of all the videos he could have purchased he'd found the only one in the entire country of Japan that I had a personal connection to! Needless to say, I still have that hidden gem on my shelf.

I definitely recognize those cats. I'm pretty sure they made it on to the Extras CD and are very likely the work of Alain Descrochers.

John, I had to download a codec in order to view the video. This might be problematic if shared with others that don't have that codec. Cute bird!

Free... if willing to build from source. Nominal fee for current builds to fund development (available via gumroad). General use: Drag/drop obj into viewport. Paint. https://armorpaint.org/index.html Online manual: https://armorpaint.org/manual.html On Windows the application is portable (no installation required) and approx. 10MB Also runs on Linux, Mac and iPad. Even if only used to create decals via proxy model the application might allow A:M users a pipeline to use PBR materials; generating the various texture maps/decals required...

Because Robert's test deserves to be seen easily... Here it is as a gif animation: