Synopses & Reviews
This book brilliantly guides readers, using colorful images and step-by-step instructions, through all aspects of creating a digital short film, from the development stage (story, character design, animatics), through the production process (animation, camera direction, lighting), as well as the post-production phase (editing, submitting to festivals and contests). By the time readers complete "Inspired 3D Short Film Production", they will have received an overview of all the steps involved in creating a digital short, as well as having witnessed the production of a student's short film from concept through completion. Co-Author Jeremy Cantor's latest CG short film, "Squaring Off" will be featured in "North America's Best Animated Shorts" (DVD collection) scheduled for release this Spring. Co-Author Pepe Valencia is currently lending his character animation skills to "Tadpole," 'Sony Imageworks' second animated CG short. An exciting companion DVD features several student and professional animated shorts, and includes examples performed in the book's tutorials. "Inspired 3D Short Film Production" provides budding filmmakers with the necessary inspiration, examples, and pipeline suggestions to help them turn their story ideas into reality through the medium of the 3D animated CG short.
Synopsis
Covering every aspect of the short-film production pipeline, this book demonstrates each concept and technique through a combination of general theories, examples, exercises, case studies, and interviews with short-film directors and industry specialists. Full of amazing imagery and one-of-a-kind content (including a robust DVD filled with dozens of award-winning short films) it is a must-read book for current and future animated filmmakers.
Synopsis
Covering every aspect of the short-film production pipeline, this book demonstrates each concept and technique through a combination of general theories, examples, exercises, case studies, and interviews with short-film directors and industry specialists. Full of amazing imagery and one-of-a-kind content (including a robust DVD filled with dozens of award-winning short films) it is a must-read book for current and future animated filmmakers.
About the Author
Jeremy Cantor has nearly 20 years of experience as an animator, rigger, and supervisor in the film and video game industries, having worked at various production houses including Industrial Light and Magic, Sony Imageworks, Tippett Studio, Insomniac Games, Sega of America, and Radar Film (in Copenhagen, Denmark). His film credits include Starship Troopers, Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone, Hollow Man, Evolution, Sunshine Barry and The Disco Worms, Transformers 2, Avatar, Super 8, and Rango. Video game credits include Full Spectrum Warrior, Ratchet: Deadlocked, Resistance: Fall of Man, and the original digital pet projects, Catz and Dogz. Jeremy has had three short films in touring animation festivals and has taught CG character animation classes at venues such as Calarts, Gnomon School of VFX, The Academy of Art University, M.I.T.,and Animatonmentor.com. Secrets of CG Short Filmmakers represents his third book credit, having previously co-authored Inspired 3D Short Film Production (2004) and serving as the content and technical editor of Fight Choreography:The Art of Non-Verbal Dialogue (2007). In 2011, Jeremy hung up his production hat and joined the computer animation department of Ringling College of Art + Design in Sarasota, Florida as a full time instructor. Pepe Valencia has been at Sony Pictures Imageworks since 1996 where he was recently supervising the animation on "Charlie¿s Angels 2". Previous projects at Sony include: "Stuart Little", "Stuart Little 2", "Charlie¿s Angels", "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer¿s Stone", "Hollowman", "Godzilla", "Starship Troopers", and "Snow Falling on Cedars". Before joining Sony, he worked at Cinesite as a Technical Director on Space Jam and at a number of smaller production houses. Previous to that, he spent five years animating and lighting TV Commercials. His independent work has been shown at SIGGRAPH ¿90, Imagina 92, Art Futura 92, and Cannes ¿94. He served as a member of the Short Animated Films jury for the 2001 ASIFA Annie Awards and has written articles for "Cinevideo 20" and "Campana". He has lectured at the Reina Sofia Art Center, the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and taught courses at the Centro Monserrat and the Gnomon School of Visual Effects. In addition to a strong background in both the visual arts and computer technology, he brings to animation a breadth of experience in theater including four years with TEC in Madrid. Pepe teaches the Digital Shorts Workshop at the California Institute of the Arts and is currently lending his character animation skills to Tadpole, Sony Imageworks¿ second animated CG short film.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1. Getting Started 2. Story 3. Character Development and Design 4. Art Direction 5. Storyboarding 6. Case Study 1: Virgil and Maurice 7. Production Planning 8. Case Study 2: Silhouette 9. Vocal Tracks 10. Story Reels and 2D Animatics 11. 3D Animatics, Layout, and Camera Direction 12. Modeling 13. Materials and Textures 14. Character Setup 15. An Interview with Jim McCampbell 16. Animation 17. Case Study 3: Squaring Off 18. Lighting and Rendering 19. Visual Effects 20. Compositing 21. Sound Effects and Music 22. Titles and Credits 23. Case Study 4: Early Bloomer 24. Marketing and Distribution Appendices A: Short List B: Suggested Reading C: Selected Resources D: Full Image Credits E: DVD Contents