blog.conigs.com » Finds

It’s Vivifying!

conigs — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:02:49 +0000

I got this link to a 1898 yearbook (30MB PDF warning) for The West Side High School from my sister-in-law. It’s a fascinating glimpse of life over a century ago, but what I found more amazing were the ads, like the one to the left.

It’s well worth digging around and discovering the ornate borders, intricate typography, and detailed line drawings, as well as some interesting student illustrations. Not surprisingly, photography is very limited (mostly just faculty, staff, and the building itself).

But I digress. You really need to take a look at these ads! (And if you make it to the end, there’s a special surprise!)

Vintage Ads circa 1898

(Click on any image to view larger & bring up gallery controls.)

Roll Your Own Vintage Ad

But what could be better than these vintage ads? Twisting them into your own ready-to-go Internet memes! I’ve provided blanks for three of these ads. Take them, put in your own witty type and post links back here. Here’s one to get you started:

Centercut Safe in Final Cut Pro

conigs — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:05:19 +0000

While I would rather have better control of the title-/sction-safe within the built-in overlay, this is the next best thing. DH Widesafe from Digital Heaven. The downside it that it uses a video track and will cause re-renders if you use it frequently. Still, it’s better than nothing.

Ramen – Not Just Cheap Noodles

conigs — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:12:40 +0000

I just found out about Ramen, an open-source, node-based compositing application today. It looks promising, if for no reason other than to get node-based workflows in the hands of more people.

I’ll have to give this a try tonight when I get home… Maybe. The only way to get the software is to download the source and compile it yourself. I’m pretty sure that means I’ll be messing around with installing dependencies for a while before I ever get to try it out.

If and when I get around to compiling, installing, and playing with this, I’ll post a review.

(via @Kashaan & @BoundaryVFX)

Mograph Workflow for NY Times

conigs — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:25:15 +0000

With so many newspapers seeing decline in their physical circulation, it’s nice to see a paper like the New York Times embracing the flexibility of content that the Internet can offer.

Recently, their After Effects workflow was posted on digitalartwork.net. It’s a little rough and they fully admit they’re new to the mograph game, but it’s always interesting to see how someone else works.

Now if only other papers would realize Internet distribution offers more than digital copies of their print.

Here’s the New Your Times’ demo reel:

Making of Classic HBO Intro

conigs — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:00:19 +0000

A Behind-the-scenes about the “HBO Starship” intro from the 1980s. It’s good to remind ourselves how far effects, graphics, & animation have come in only 30 years. I’m also tempted to use some of these techniques digitally.

[via Motionographer]

Remember When You Were a Kid

conigs — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:38:38 +0000

I’m really growing tired of this typography treatment, but this video is done very well and I love the message.

[via swissmiss]

Arial vs Helvetica

conigs — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:53:41 +0000

I ran across this quiz today on Ironic Sans: So you think you can tell Arial from Helvetica? Several logos using Helvetica were altered to use Arial. Pretty ingenious test.

I scored 20/20, but Mattell & Toyota were difficult as they are all caps and don’t use the tell-tale characters. Of course, it helps that this chart showed up the other day as well.

[via Daring Fireball & swissmiss]

Innovative Motion Capture: Mova Contour

conigs — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:34:45 +0000

Typical motion capture uses tracking points placed on the actor at specific areas. This usually only works really well for skeletal tracking, like position of joints, etc. Though, it has been taken to extremes for films such as Appleseed where many tracking point were placed on actors’ faces.

Mova developed something different. It uses phosphorescent makeup & dye to create a random pattern of tracking points across skin & cloth to create pretty damn accurate tracking. You just have to take a look to really understand how it works.

[via @alba]

The 8 Types of Bad Creative Critics

conigs — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:23:04 +0000

I can honestly say I’ve run across each of these:

I know it’s from 2006, and I’m clearly late to the game, but this will always be relevant.

For more from Brand Camp, check out Tom Fishbourne’s page.

3D Breakdown – Ice Age

conigs — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:41:59 +0000

Caught this yesterday and forgot to post it. Jeff Gabor posted two quicktimes. First, a 4-screen breakdown of several character animations for the latest Ice Age movie: Reference, Blocking (rough animation), Splining (model refinements), and Lighting. The other is an evolution reel, from rough poses all the way through final polish.

They’re large quicktimes, so be warned, but it’s worth the wait to get a small glimpse at how complex 3D scenes are built. All too often, it seems animators and designers want to jump right in and work on the final product, skipping steps. This is a reminder that as with nearly everything, it’s best to start from a general, big picture perspective, then refine as you go along.

[via Motionographer & someone on Twitter, but couldn't find it anymore]