Steve Weymouth, Lecturer at CoFA’s School of Media Arts builds on his professional industry experience at Sony PlayStation to focus his research on various aspects of 3D animation development, including techniques, software (mechanics), historical precedents (traditions and principles) and contemporary products.
Archive for November, 2008
Kit Devine has 20 years experience as a 3D animator using packages including Softimage, Alias Power Animator and Maya. She has worked on film and TV projects in both the UK and Australia at companies incuding Photon, Rushes, GMD and Animal Logic. Her movie credits include Super Mario Brothers and Inspector Gadget 2. Her commercial work has won a large number of awards at festivals including The New York Festivals, BDA Promax Asia Hong Kong, Australian Television Awards, The Australian Effects and Animation Festival and the New York CLIO Awards. Kit has trained as a graphic designer and has completed post graduate study in Computer Science. Her short film Womb with a View was screened at the 1992 London Film Festival. Kit is currently working as a lecturer in 3D at the Australian, Film, TV and Radio School (AFTRS). She is also working on a Phd at the College of Fine Arts (COFA) in collaboration with the iCinema.
Valerie Allerton coordinates the New South Wales Film & Television Office’s Emerging Filmmakers Fund and Digital Visual Effects Scheme. She has been working in the Development and Investment Branch of the FTO since 2004. Prior to working in Australia, Valerie worked with the Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS), a world-renowned classical music training and performing institution. A classically trained musician herself, Valerie has expertise in grant development and fundraising and has worked with Board Trustees and National Council level management in these areas. She also has worked in journalism and silkscreen and textile design.
Our last event for the year was HUGE! We had a great turnout, excellent support from Ric Holland at Wacom and a brilliant presentation by Barry Dean whose passion for drawing is so contagious, it’s just as well drawing is good for you! Barry started with a short film by Adam Phillips (www.biteycastle.com) then moved into a combination lecture with exercises. He confessed that he once thought that software would never allow anyone to replicate the techniques of traditional oil painting but then showed us an amazing selection of works that challenging us to pick which ones were the digital versions and which ones were traditional works.
He then took us through a series of his own drawings explaining the techniques used and demonstrated how he built the images. It was clear from Barry’s explanations and examples that there is value in knowing both digital and traditional techniques although he did extol the virtues of Command Z which allows you to step back when you’ve faced the artist’s perennial problem of going just a bit too far when working an image.
He led us through a series of exercises playing with the ideas of line and fill and how they relate to thought and substance. We explored the extremes of drawing — working with chaos and control to learn how both contribute to a work. He recommended Rudolf Kutzli’s Creative Form Drawing for those wanting to learn more about control and find a sense of harmony, rhythm and balance in creating images.
We then explored the idea of creating a character with character and what he calls sculptural drawing before moving on to the designer’s toolkit: the oval, triangle and rectangle.
We had on hand a Cintiq tablet and Corel Painter software for people to check out (we have some brochures for those who missed out).
It was a great night and hopefully everyone took to heart the exhortation to carry a sketchbook everywhere and draw. As Barry says: Every time you draw something, you make it your own.
Thanks to everyone who made 2008 another great year. Our dates for 2009 with an events schedule will be up on the website in January.
Have a great summer! See you next year.
Shilo
Date: Wednesday 5th November 2008
Time: 7:00pm to approx 8:00pm
Venue: Elwynn Lynn Conference Centre, College of Fine Arts (CoFA), Selwyn St, Paddington
Speaker: Barry Dean
What’s it all about?
In November we are going to have the wonderful Barry Dean lead us in a drawing workshop, “Digital Drawing: the international visual language — capturing your imagination using a graphic tablet”.
Sydney born, Barry worked in the animation industry for 24 years. Initially, he produced artwork and animation for TV commercials, documentaries and feature films. In 1988 he joined Walt Disney Animation Australia as a background artist. During this time he painted more than 7 500 individual pieces of art for use in 17 feature films and 175 TV series episodes. He left the Sydney Disney studio when it closed in 2006. For more than a decade he has also been a part-time teacher at Enmore and Randwick TAFE giving lessons in drawing and animation - both traditional and digital. Throughout his career drawing and painting the human figure has remained his primary artistic passion. His favourite software is Corel Painter.
This is a wonderful opportunity for members and friends and we look forward to seeing you on 5 November for our last session of 2008.
Cost: Free for Siggraph members. $5 cover charge for refreshments for guests and non-members.
(Attendees can sign up as a new member on the night. Annual Membership fees are $40 for professionals and $20 for students)
Probably best known for the annual SIGGRAPH International conference on computer graphics for film, televisions and new media industries, ACM SIGGRAPH also puts on a variety of programs year-round and worldwide to benefit the SIGGRAPH community. The event listed above is hosted by our local chapter and is free for all chapter members.
