One of my favorite tools out of all that I have built, projector, has been updated to version 2.4! The worst part about v2.3 was how much time reprojector took to do it’s thing and the inspector windows popping up getting in the way. The best solution I could find at the time (about 1 year ago) was using GUI scripting which was a ridiculous hack that basically just presses the correct buttons quickly. 2.4 uses and includes the command line utility “seticon” written by Sveinbjorn Thordarson which changes icons very seamlessly. This update also allows changing multiple folder icons with projector and reprojector simultaneously. So if you have multiple folders you would like to add project folders to, drag them onto projector. If you have folders that all need the same icon, drag them all onto reprojector.

projector_v2.4 download page. . .

Log:
v2.4 – reprojector reworked to change icons instantly, change multiple folder icons at the same time, error checking
v2.3 – added auto-checking for Application Support folder, allows user to add their own folders/icons, design icon
v2.2 – added Premiere Pro and Shake icons
v2.0 – released! (new workflow including reprojector)
v1.0 – released!

[ andoru.labs | $ ]

15 frames per second. It’s enough when it’s cold.

(click image to watch)

[15fps_0005 - 408frames] | prores | iphone 3GS | 2011.02.01

Music by Billie Holiday

[15fps] – a project without a time-frame. . .

projector updated to v2.3. Now allows the User to add custom icons and have then automatically recognized by the apps.

projector_v2.3 download page. . .

Log:
v2.3 – added auto-checking for Application Support folder, allows user to add their own folders/icons, design icon
v2.2 – added Premiere Pro and Shake icons
v2.0 – released! (new workflow including reprojector)
v1.0 – released!

[andoru.labs]

Rolling on a great tip off from the one and only David Bagsby, I am participating in Bill Plympton’s shot for shot remake of “Guard Dog”, a 2005 Oscar nominated short. I liked the dog, and it’s barking and what not so I will be working on shot 51 of the film. Check it out when it’s all put together later this year!

And speaking of animation, I just added 2:1 templates to my set of storyboard templates, and I have started to create dedicated pages for more of the tools under /labs.

[bill.plympton] | [david.bagsby]

15 frames per second. It’s plenty really. But your brain doesn’t like it, not one bit.

Next time point your camera at it. . .

(click image to watch)

[15fps_0004 - 536frames] | prores | iphone 3GS | 2010.9.11

Music by Rebecca Pan

[15fps] – a project without a time-frame. . .

5DtoRGB is a Mac OS X app developed by Rarevision that is “designed to transcode your footage to a camera master format, either as Apple ProRes QuickTime files or DPX files.” Not a necessity for a lot of DSLR users, but great for any medium to heavy post work and those wanting to get the most flexibility when color grading. Another interesting bit is the ability to add an alpha to ProRes 4444 clips based on the luminance, to make it quick and easy to work with footage in post. Could be very useful for those shooting effects elements, etc.

At this point in time, 5DtoRGB is still in beta and works only as a single shot transcoding method. Meaning only one clip can be processed at a time. I would imagine Rarevision is planning to add batch functionality to their app in the future, but I see this as a very useful tool that people would like to put to immediate use. I developed 5DDtoRGBB to make it simple to open multiple instances of 5DtoRGB and prepare clips for encoding. I haven’t tested encoding times thoroughly, but I would imagine opening a massive number of 5DtoRGB instances and having them all process clips simultaneously will only end in tears.

5DDtoRGBB v1.1 (9/7) addresses this by having an “Auto” mode. Not quite a batch solution, but still very useful. In Auto Mode, 5DD will allow you to select or drag and drop multiple clips, and one instance of 5DtoRGB will load up with the first clip in the queue, allow you to convert it, then quit that instance, the next one will load up, and so on and so forth. So you still need to manually choose options for conversion and select a destination, but still can save some time. This is likely going to be redundant when Rarevision puts out on update, but I find it a good exercise to help improve my current and other future workflow tools. Rarevision has confirmed that a command line version is in the works so more 5DtoRGB stuff will definitely be happening in the future.

Included in the download is 5DDtoRGBB, and a Reset 5DDtoRGBB Preferences app which does exactly that. It sends the preference file (which is stored at ~/Library/Preferences/com.andorulabs.5DDtoRGBB.plist) to the trash. As you may have noticed, I also included a nice unofficial icon for 5DtoRGB as well. Let’s see if Rarevision is interested. . .

Demo:

Download: 5DDtoRGBB (871KB .zip)

Log:
-2010.9.06 – v1.0 Released!
-2010.9.07 – v1.1 added “Auto” and “Manual” modes

I have contacted Rarevision with the hopes that they will add command line functionality to their app so I can incorporate 5DtoRGB encoding into my RenderQ app and have a single simple solution for all heavy duty processing I do on my workstation. In the meantime, I am working on adding drag and drop functionality to this tool, and the ability to open multiple clips up in their own separate instance of 5DtoRGB, ready to press convert and began encoding when ready. Still not a complete batch processing solution, but a good workaround until. . .

Update (9/7): Rarevision says a command line version is indeed in the works and more features are coming soon.

If there are any issues or concerns please contact: andoruLABS.support. Also, this tool is free but feel free to donate if you find it useful.

[5DtoRGB] | [andoru.labs]

Probably the most valuable couple of megabytes on this site, my storyboard templates have continuously been one of the top sources of traffic. For me, storyboarding is simultaneously the most rewarding and frustrating part of the film making process. It is very rare that a scripted scene survives the storyboarding step unscathed. While you really don’t need anything special to produce a great sequence of storyboard panels (choices range from the lowly diner napkin to the highest end Wacom Cintiq), we live in a world where people offer up all shorts of wonderful options and tools free of charge, and you would be silly not to take a look at them. I never found anything I really liked to draw my panels on so I put together some of my own a little while back.

Recently I updated them just a bit and while I tend to do most of by story boarding on one of these beauties. . .

. . . I also put together some .psd versions for people that like to work digitally from start to finish. Working in Photoshop also gives you the ability to mask off panels and shuffle things around easily.

You can checkout some examples of these templates in use on my current Floating World project page.

Demo:

QuickTime Version 1280×800 (26MB)

iPhone Version (8MB)

Download: andoru.LABS 2010 Storyboard Templates (1.54MB .zip)

Log:
[feel free to use and distribute these in accordance to the CC license presented at the bottom of this site]
-2010.8.06 – Updated for 2010 and simplified
-2010.8.06 – Added .PSD templates for digital storyboarding

Like I already mentioned, there are many ways to create a storyboard. Being arguably the most important part of the film-making process I recommend doing it with some class. . .

If there are any issues or concerns please contact: andoruLABS.support. Also, these templates are free but feel free to donate if you find them useful.

[andoru.labs]

Full steam ahead. Dried Up (a film some good friends of mine made) received the Silver Medal in Animation at the Student Academy awards on June 12th in Beverly Hills. Even better the award was presented by Henry Selick.

From Right. Henry Selick, Isaiah Powers, Jeremy Casper.

If you haven’t already make sure to check out the film:

Congratulations to all those involved. Very well deserved!

[dried up] | [isaiah.powers] | [jeremy.casper] | [stuart.bury]

15 frames per second. That’s 54000 an hour. Your brain doesn’t like it, not at all, it has been trained to need 9 frames more per second to be happy.

Most people don’t appreciate how much is really going on in a lamp:

(click image to watch)

[15fps_0002 - 239frames] | prores | iphone | 2010.3.27

Music by Ennio Morricone

[15fps] – a project without a time-frame. . .

Click image to watch High-Bandwidth version.
Low-Bandwidth Version (iPhone)

The amount of tools they developed, with the amount of people they had working (around 90), in the amount of time they had to do it, is extremely impressive. And another reason why anyone interested in vfx/animation/film should definitely take a very hard look at Nuke.

[fxGuideTV]
[Image Engine]

Sarah talked about working under the scrutiny of the one and only Henry Selick and her specific roles on the project. Her main responsibility was the cat character, along with other characters that would appear in these scenes, as well as multiple other bits and pieces, such as Coraline hand close-ups, tests and development for things like bed covers, Coraline’s toys, etc.

Everyone is always excited to have Sarah visit because she is just a die hard animator, she knows what people that share her interest want to see so every time she visits everyone’s motivation level shoots up a notch. Thanks again for taking the time to stop by Sarah!

I just had the opportunity to check this out, and I must say I was very surprised to see something like this, and there are some things I definitely like and some things that just don’t quite fit. Still, going back to re-work something like this is quite an undertaking, and I have found that I really like some of the changes, the overall color scheme shift really does change the mood of certain parts of the film. And the new audio is absolutely phenomenal in most cases.

From what I have heard, the changes were mainly motivated by Oshii himself.


click to view full size

As an animator that absolutely loves both the original, the sequel, and the the series, I have to say I find some of the enhancements to be extremely well done. The only thing out of the entire thing that really bothers me is the recreation of Motoko in CG for the opening. It was done in a way that actually looks quite nice and it seems to make sense as an opening, but I definitely believe it would have looked better with enhancements on the compositing or re-done 2D animation (only the extended falling sequence would have had to be re-done) to better fit the new environments.

Something that is fantastic though, is how some of these changes have improved the cinematography, like many animated films of its time, Ghost in the Shell definitely suffered from the panning “moving” camera and immediate stop syndrome, having that alone taken better care of here is a great improvement for me.

click to view full size

And as far as the environments go, I am a huge fan of the Interface and Environmental stuff that was done in Innocence, so I find the change to the opening score sequence to be quite an improvement. Something about the orange that really gets me, and it really works well for this world.


click to view full size

Something that always bothered me about the original audio was that all of the English voice actors, except for the Puppet Master, were kind of lame, while all the Japanese voice actors, except the Japanese Puppet Master, were fantastic. This version uses the Female voice actor who played Haraway (woman with short white hair) in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. I think Project 2501 works a little bit better as a female actually, although maybe a certain type of distortion in the voice or something would have added a little more. But it definitely makes more sense to me to have this self-aware entity taking on a voice that actually suits its current shell.

click to view full size

Again, I think with a re-work of CG Motoko, you would have a truly excellent re-telling of this story, the animation is already there, it is just the look that is present in the rest of the film that is missing there.

If I get crazy enough, I may say copyright be damned and do everything I can to re-create those CG versions of Motoko in a well composited 2D handrawn form, with the new environments.

I now have a side-project that will always be in the back of my mind. . .what do you all think?

Everything aside though, I must admit that I am a little nerdy for this whole thing, I really love the new orange look, many of the changes make it a better film for me, but my reasoning is pretty biased and specific. I am interested in what other people think, I am sure a lot of people will really hate the CG opening Motoko stuff, but all in all I don’t think it was done poorly, it just causes some of the emotion to change a little too much.

I still haven’t got to see The Sky Crawlers, and it looks like Oshii is going to be a Samurai film next about Miyamoto Musashi, awesome, there is a Teaser Site already up for that.

UDPATE: Just finished watching the entire new film, and I must say, I really do think it is an improvement, the overall feeling that evokes is just stronger, the overall look, the sound, the characters, and everything else just seems to work better. I highly recommend checking it out.

[Pretty good overview of the changes made]
[Wikipedia]

Wikipedia – List of Animated Feature Films

also check the bottom of the list for more categories, and hey if you know one that isn’t on the list, or is in red, add to it, that is how wikipedia works, or how it should work.

here is the original short:

I am really liking the character’s I hope this turns out to be a good one. Check out Shake Acker’s site. While the animation in the short seems a little limited, there seems to be a big improvement in the feature trailer. The timing in the original short is a little odd too, some moments just seem to take way longer than they should and there isn’t much subtlety. Excited to see this one though.

[Apple]