Here are some digital paintings I have been working on.

This is a character of my own design. I am in the process of rigging and posing her, so hopefully I will have a nice render up soon.

This is a model of a classmate of mine. It could still use some work, but I'm really happy with how it's looking so far.

Here is a male torso model I did this term. We were only given a week to complete it, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out...

This is a model I did in May of a 1910 Rolls Royce

Here is a Dr. Seuss character I took from 2D to 3D

Here are some figure drawings done in charcoal

Here are some recent drawings from reference.

Here are some recent work samples of mine. Any comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.

In the past couple of posts I talked a gret deal about Disney and Pixar, but I thought to finish up this project I would look into what some of the other major companies I looked at are working on. ILM is currently not working on any full-length computer animated films, but with Pixar looking for a new partner, that might soon change. They do have several live-action films currently in production and each of those have extensive computer generated images. Look for Pirates of the Caribbean 2 this July, and Lady in the Water later this summer. Dreamworks just released Over the Hedge, but look forward to more full-length animated films with Flushed Away in November, and Shrek the Third due out Spring 2007. As for Blue Sky Studios, Ice Age the Meltdown released earlier this year has done very well at the box office, however, I can't seem to find any works in progress. With the success of the past three films put out by Blue Sky, I expect they are just keeping things quite at the moment. That about sums up what I have been researching for the past four weeks. I am looking for to doing some more "research" at the box office this summer, and am greatly anticipating the third installment of the Shrek films since I had no idea until today that one was even going to be made. What the future of this technology holds is unimaginable and I sincerely look forward to the film milestones of the future. Thanks to anyone who reads my blog, and happy viewing!

If you checked out the links I supplied in my last blog, one of the articles stated that Disney's Home on the Range was to be the companies final 2D animated film. I can't believe that the company responsible for my interest in animation is abandoning its roots. I suppose this goes back to Glenn's question about whether films without computer effects would become novelties. It seems that 2D animation will soon be a novelty, at least with Disney. I think it is pretty sad, especially since the first couple of 3D films did not do nearly as well at the box office as the ones done with the help of Pixar. Here is an article about the film Brother Bear and the pros and cons to the 2D process on that film that I found interesting. One of Disney's next big films due out 2009 is the computer animated Rapunzel Unbraided. We will see how they do...

In my last post I gave some of my opinions on the future of digital imaging and I would like to stick with that today. So what is next for the movie industry? What does the future hold for Pixar, Dreamworks, ILM, etc? Well, word on the street is that the contract between Pixar and Disney is finished with the completion of the film Cars, which opens this month. Apparently Pixar is very relieved to be finished with the deal, and sources say that they will soon be shopping for another company to do business with. There are some rumors being spread saying that without Disney Pixar will flounder, but with the extreme success of every film they have done, I seriously doubt it. Pixar isn't going anywhere. Personally, I have always been a Disney fan. The company has made some of the most important films in the history of the medium. Pixar however, has been just as important in their time. I am confident that no matter who Pixar partners with next, or if they stride off alone the work will continue to influence animators and artists worldwide. I hope that those who read this agree with me and continue to support both companies. For more information on the Disney-Pixar conflict, here are some websites you can visit.

http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=2053
http://homepage.mac.com/mstein/iblog/C400694747/E352396113/index.html

To get started today, I wanted to respond to a couple of comments I have received. The first is in response to a comment is from my May 28th blog, the second from the 29th.

I do not think that we will reach a point in my lifetime where computer effects in film will be totally unrecognizable. I think that the human eye is looking to decipher what is real from what isn't. I think this is especially true with images of humans and animals. We know what those things are supposed to look like and we will be able to recognize when they don't look like they should. However, with inanimate objects and events like the weather we will stop paying attention. An apple sitting on a table does not draw as much attention as a person, and the way it appears could vary slightly. Conversely, while we may not believe we are looking at a real tornado in Twister, rain is easily added to movies all the time and no one pays attention to it. I do think that there will come a point where films without computer effects will be be promoted as authentic or real, but with computers making it rain on an otherwise sunny day, I think we will see less and less of these films as time goes on.

As far as your other comment Glenn, I am really not sure whether traditional animation training is better then computer animation or vice versa. I am sure there are benefits to both, that would make hiring someone with either talent a good idea. If I had to choose, I would say that a traditional animation background would be more beneficial in the film making process for creative reasons, but there will always be exceptions.

Sorry for the lack of links today, I really wanted to respond to those comments because they got me thinking. I will be back with more tomorrow. :)