'Disney Animated' App

[Rodney]

For those who have an iPad Disney is joining the growing number of organizations that are opening their vaults for a peek inside production.

I posted briefly about Richard Williams's app that puts his video and text from "The Animation Survival Kit" elsewhere...

 

The primary reason I post on this is that it seems to be a trend to repurpose older material for new audiences using new digital (interactive) technology.

At it's core this seems to be a smart move on behalf of Disney because frankly, if they don't do it someone else will.

 

Of particular interest to animators is that the various references from the "Principles of Animation" chapter in Frank and Ollie's book, "Disney's Illusion of Life" are collected and on display.

 

Bonus content

Disney Animated contains an unabridged version of the Principles of Animation chapter from the iconic work The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Unlike in the print edition, all the illustrations move when touched.

 

While not everyone has an iPad... one could hope that it will be the beginning of a whole new generation of aspiring animators gaining access to hard to find reference and experiencing the behind the scenes process of classic Disney animation first hand.

 

There's even a part of the app (a Workshop) where you can animate a CG Disney character in 3D (Vanellope from 'Wreck it Ralph").

 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id632312737?

 

I see it has 30,349,980 likes on iTunes... around 8 million at the app store.

That's a lot of folks that like Disney animation.

[fae_alba]

I see it has 30,349,980 likes on iTunes... around 8 million at the app store.

That's a lot of folks that like Disney animation.

 

I'd seen this on the Disney news site. Wish I were an Ipad user!

[Rodney]

I would guess that a lot of the programs are at the lower level of skill to make it entry-level but any information that gets out is generally a good thing.

I see from their FAQ the following:

 

Can I create my own animations with Disney Animated?

 

A range of Disney’s animation techniques have been uniquely adapted for the iPad, so you can experiment with your own sequences and share them with your family and friends. By optimizing their animation techniques for iPad, Walt Disney Animation Studios is, for the first time, sharing some of the actual animation tools used to make their films, including:

 

Animation Workshop: Create and share your own animated sequences with Wreck-It Ralph’s Vanellope

 

Elsa’s Snow: We've recreated the snow effect from the upcoming film Frozen especially for this app, allowing you to experiment with your own special snow animations

 

Mood Shifter: What mood should Maximus from Tangled be in today? Grumpy, confused, or friendly, it’s up to you! Try your hand at creating his expressions with this tool

 

Bouncing Ball: Try the core animation principle of ‘Squash and Stretch’ by creating your own bouncing ball sequence

 

Well, the jury is still out on whether these are the actual tools...

The Snow FX app sounds intriquing and who knows... it could inspire the next generation of SFX animators.

The Mood Shifter will certainly get kids going on facial expressions.

As it is one of my personal favorite animation exercises to theorize about, I'd be interested to see what their Bouncing Ball program entails.

[largento]

I'm not sure how "serious" the app is. It seems like it may be something more for the casual animation enthusiast.

 

There are whole school districts giving their students iPads, so I'm sure there'll be some future animators who are inspired by the app.

 

It shows how these phone app stores have changed our view of application pricing. My first thought was that $13.99 was a bit pricey, but I'm sure a DVD-ROM back in the day would have been priced in the $40+ range. It's hard to buy a regular book for less than $14 these days.

[Rodney]

Here's a pretty cheesy* ad for the app...

(It does show a few short shots of the screen)

 

3Cn0OpH9yyA

 

 

 

*by 'cheesy' I think I mean 'awkward' but I'm not quite sure about that.

[fae_alba]

Here's a pretty cheesy* ad for the app...

(It does show a few short shots of the screen)

 

*by 'cheesy' I think I mean 'awkward' but I'm not quite sure about that.

 

it looks like the interactive bits are more in support of the documentary portion. Almost feels like the digital encyclopedias of the 90's. Really if that were true, the app would be worth it for me. I'm still a little flomuxed that it is not being ported to the win or droid tablet platforms.

[largento]

It may come to the other app stores if it's successful enough. Given the numbers, it makes sense to release for iOS first (and even only.) Despite Android's increasing market share, app revenue is still largely in favor of iOS. iOS' daily app revenue is five times Android's. Given Windows 8's tiny market share, they don't even factor it into it. I saw a story recently that of the 100 best selling mobile apps, Windows 8's app store carries less than half.

 

Additionally, there's that old "has to work on everything" problem. Features available in high-end Android phones are not present in low-end models. Not to mention that Apple has lots of features in iOS that were designed just for this kind of an app. Jobs' whole textbook initiative shortly before his death was to create these kinds of educational books for students. Heck, this book could have been initiated during that period.

 

Also, don't forget that Disney and Apple still have significant ties. Jobs' widow should be the largest individual share holder in Disney (from the Pixar acquisition.) Jobs even had a seat on Disney's Board of Directors.

 

Here's some interesting comments from a mobile app developer:

 

iOS and Android are not equal when it comes to cost to develop and this is a crucial consideration. Though there is some fragmentation on iOS, over 90% of users are running the latest operating system in contrast to Android users mostly running a version that is a couple years old. So in order to build and develop an application running on Android or iOS that will hit most users of the platform you have to consider the additional time and complexity of building, testing, and customizing the app for all the various OS versions, APIs, and devices your users may have. And although Androids SDK is getting better all the time, Apple's iOS SDK has a longer history and is more stable. This is why it is generally more expensive to develop an Android app vs iOS app when looking at time and complexity. There is a trade off though. There are a lot more developers that understand Java than do Objective-C and therefore chances of rates being lower when looking for Android developers is more likely than with iOS.

As Rahul pointed out, you should have a good understanding of your users. You also have a to have a clear business model. When I talk to clients that want their app on all platforms or a single platform, my first question is why. I ask them why, so that everyone understands the cost, potential ROI, and risk in the decision. This is not something that should be taken lightly whether you are developing apps yourself or contracting an app through a development company.