Marvellous Disney

Amazing statistic: There are more than 5,000 Marvel characters.

Mind Mapping & Idea Generating Software

Mind mapping software won’t actually start breeding ideas for your essays on its own, but it will certainly help you to organise and structure your thoughts, and many other useful things besides.

(Please click this image to enlarge it)

FreeMind is very highly thought of, because of its ease of use, and its ability to deal with many types of information input. Give it a go! It’s Free!

Here’s the FreeMind wiki, and there’s a good explanatory video to download here. Here’s the all important download link. Because it’s written in Java, it will run on Apple, Linux and Windows. (Check that download link for details).

Ideal essay writing tool.

If you prefer to share your mind maps with a group online, have a look at the web based MindMeister.

Get brainstorming!

25,000 Visitors

And still counting....

Some time last night, the twenty five thousandth visitor dropped by.

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity

This man thinks that schools discourage creativity...

It’s worth taking 19 minutes 24 seconds out of your busy lives and watching this video from TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) in which educationalist Ken Robinson argues that in the future, your future, creativity is going to be more important than academic attainment in education. He’s funny, too.
Here’s the link to his talk. Please take a moment to post your reactions to his ideas in the comment box, too.

Brush Up Your Typing Skillls

Make your fingers more productive.

If you feel that your typing skills need a bit of practice (and I know mine are absolute crop), have a look at this highly commended typing tutor called: “TypingWeb”. If you register with TypingWeb, the site will record and measure your improvement each visit. Here’s the link.
Ready? fff jjj fff jjj fff ffj jjf ffj etc., etc…

Live Action Reference for Facial Expressions

Amelie and that bloke off the telly

Audrey Tautou (Amelie) and Mackenzie Crook (Gareth Keenan)

Sometimes it helps to have a variety of facial expressions to study when you’re looking for that “just right” pose. There’s a website (of course!) called Leave Me The White that contains thousands of sequential stills from feature films and television series, which might help if you don’t get overwhelmed by the sheer number of pictures. There’s also a really useful interactive facial muscle emulator at Artnatomy

Jane Horrocks as Bubbles in Ab Fab

The wonderfully elastic face Jane Horrocks, looking a bit gobsmacked in Absolutely Fabulous
Interestingly, she is now the voice of Fairy Mary in Tinker Bell

How to Make Things Stop

Getting things moving in CG is challenging enough, but how do you bring it all to a halt?

Just watch things stop in the next CG animation you see, and you’ll know it’s not right.

This might help you get started. It’s by the bloke who wrote Picasa (he was later snapped up by Google).

xkcd – Students

The awful moment when it dawns on you...

Click here to see the whole strip.
xkcd rules.

Ponyo On A Cliff – Coming Soon

The image above is a screengrab from the trailer for Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film: Ponyo On A Cliff. The true release date for the UK still seems to be under discussion….
Meanwhile, have a look at this recent trailer for the French market, where the release date is the first week of April. Keep up with Ghibli Studio news here.

Animation Weekly Newsletter

This is a comprehensive text format overview of the world animation scene that’s published once a week and read by thousands of subscribers.
Grab it here!
animation_flash_newsletter_vol13_issue50

You’ll find the newsletter at Animation World Network’s site : http//www.awn.com. There is a sister publication for people working in the VFX industry, called VFX Newswire. Both publications edited by Dan Sarto.

70 Animated Films on National Film Board of Canada Site

Canadian National Film Board

The National Film Board of Canada has a long and honourable history of supporting animators of every persuasion, and promoting their works.
As part of this ongoing effort, they have been slowly augmenting their online collection of Canadian animator’s short films.
Make sure you explore beyond the more famous Canadian animators (Paul Driessen, Caroline Leaf, David Fine & Alison Snowden, Norman McLaren,
Pierre Trudeau, etcetera), and you will discover some real gems of animation art.
Link: http://www3.nfb.ca/animation/objanim/en/index.php

Google Scholar

When you’re searching the web for academic texts to support your arguments and ideas in essays and dissertations, don’t forget Google Scholar.

Bet you try to enter text in this box!

It’s a specialised search engine that only searches for academic writing.
How useful is that!
Read the Help page, and the Advanced Search Options page, and you will hone in on your desired texts really quickly.
Don’t forget to activate Zotero! … and have your Athens login handy!

Last word…. Don’t forget Google Books, too.

The European Animation Business

Tim Westcott's European Animation website

This site, called “animation Europe” gives you a broad overview of all the current (28 films in production and another 29 in pre-production) animation projects in production throughout (most of) Europe.

200+ Animated Films on the BBC Film Network

200 animated films on the BBC Film Network website

The BBC hosts a wide variety of animated shorts on its Film Network site. All these films have been produced in the UK, and for the most part they are non-commercial.

Here’s the link.

Karen J Lloyd’s Storyboard Blog

It’s worth taking your time to read Karen J Lloyd’s Storyboard blog

She writes with such honesty about a part of the animation business that isn’t often discussed on the web. She includes comprehensive tutorials and some very useful downloads.

I’d advise starting with her series of posts that dissects Wall-E, and see her demonstration of what is being conveyed to the audience, shot by shot.

An excellent resource, that is now featured in the links page.