What is this industry turning into? It seems that studios these days do not want artists, but "operators", bodies to fill chairs and press the right buttons to churn out the graphics they want to see. Creativity is no longer a valued commodity. This is why the indie artist must pave their own path. Create their own worlds and express themselves to the best of their own ability. Only then will we see product which rises above what many studios are putting out these days.

Apparently it has been confirmed. Westwood Studios is no more. Animation Magazine online has an article speaking of EA folding their studios into one LA location. There's even an ex-Westwood yahoo group now.

The more I think about it, the best road for the indie content creator is the feature length project. The market which is best will be DVD. Only in the realm of DVD is there even a remote possibility of the creator retaining any level of control. If the forces fall in your favor, you could considerably do it all yourself, every step of the process to having a final pressed and packaged disc in your hand.

The market varies depending on each country. For example, in Japan it may be more common for the fan to pay as much as $50.00 US equivalent for a single 25 minute episode of an original video animation. Such a thing would never happen in the American market. In fact, I don't think original video animation series can happen at all in this market. With the exception of something like Veggie Tales, which is really aimed at an entirely different market than we would likely be going for, and still released in a format of stand-alone shorter features, the market will not support local production of original series based content. The many series brought from Japan only incur the cost of dubbing and repackaging, negligible by comparison to the cost of production even a single episode of traditional animation.

The American market responds well to the feature length title, and the price must be right. The direct-to-video can do well as it has shown for Hollywood films, but in animation, production costs are a bit prohibitive. That's where the technology of this new age comes in!

I believe it's time for me to put up or shut up. It's time to do such a feature.

The word is going around that the place I once called home, Westwood Studios in Las Vegas, has shut it doors. This has not yet been verified from any official source, though someone said that Gamasutra ran the story, but either way, the word is going around from reputable sources. The end of an era.

Granted I have long since been detached from the game industry. I actually don't even play much any more. It's been well over year since I left there and I realized long ago that anime is the place to be for me. Well.. anime and manga right?

Some interesting news...

Cartoon Network will apparently be kicking of a Giant Robot week starting on February 24th, featuring not only never before seen on U.S. TV shows like Daiguard and Nadesico, but also Evangelion and Robotech. It will supposedly conclude with a special presentation of The Iron Giant, a great Warner Bros. giant robot film, worth seeing for any animation fan who hasn't yet done so.

On another note, Devil May Cry 2 seems to be getting hyped about a bit and is apparently available in stores now. I played the Japanese version of the original, and though it isn't exactly my type of game (I prefer a bit slower pace and more RPG elements) I really enjoyed the action and incredible graphics. I certainly wouldn't mind giving it another go.

If I am to do a manga, I will do it 100% digital. Many manga artists in Japan have already switched to using tools like the Cintiq to do their comics digitally. Some still do it the old fashion way. For me, this is where my favorite software. Aura 2.5 comes in. With this tool and my tablet I can do everything I need to and get the quality I want without any major struggle. Don't get me wrong, I have a ways to go and a lot to learn, but I have to start somewhere right?

PS2 to the rescue again. Now I am not talking about just any PS2, but the infamous model 10000 Japanese version. I was watching American Pop on DVD, which you may remember me posting about before. Well, I was watching on an Xbox, which I have noticed has had problems with a few DVD videos. Now The first time I watched this DVD was on an old Sony DVD player and it was without issue. Now on the Xbox, in the last few minutes I was encountering freezing, large green blocks and so on... I encountered the same type of errors with a few Hong Kong DVDs I was looking at. So I popped it into the Japanese PS2, and viola! I was able to watch the end of the movie without any problems. Why is this?

In continuing to think about and study the art of manga, since I will soon be doing one, I just read MARS volume 4. It is a great story, but the thing which gets me the most is that the artist has such a grasp of human form and panel layout that makes for incredible pages. I definitely realize why some are the kings (or queens in this case) of manga in Japan. Some people just know how to do it right. All this I will have to learn and through practice and repetition, aside from continued study. Experience of course is always number one.

I guess that means it's time to begin. The place to start is with what is called the "bible" for the particular book. Everything needs to be designed, planned and laid out so as to have a concrete roadmap of where things are going. That is the first step.

I just watched the latest Matrix trailer on the Warner Bros. site. It is a nice, huge Quicktime file and is of the utmost quality. Definitely worth checking out. I look forward to seeing this one!

As for me, it's time to get serious about the world of manga. I keep studying, learning and trying to get the art down. Soon it really begins!

I was just looking at the Penny Arcade site and I notice that these guys seem to have more posts in a day than I sometimes have in a WEEK! Maybe I need to post more often and keep you guys all updated huh?

More to come later today. For SURE!

I got a few major updates I'd like to get to today. Along the way I'll explain in a bit more detail what I've been doing and what may be coming down the line. This year looks to be exciting.

I continue to study. I continue to learn. Recent anime has truly changed a lot. Gone are the ways of old.

Recently, I was watching an anime called Chobits. The first thing that impressed me about this title was its being done in widescreen 16:9 mode. After seeing Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Macross Zero, it's starting to look like this is the new standard. Granted, I've been doing widescreen only from the start, but I am glad to see it become commonplace. Still, that's not all. There is something to be said for the quality of these new shows as well. Now I am not sure if this is a result of the proliferation of digital animation technology, or if they are simply spending more money on popular shows, but the days of TV anime being done on the level of Dragonball Z seem to be over.

I remember I one posted in an anime newsgroup that it would be great to see all TV start to approach the quality of the anime features. Not surprisingly, fans seemed to disagree with that notion, saying that the level of quality to which TV series are typically done is part of their "charm". Oh well, to each their own I guess, but it looks like I'll be the one getting my wish. These new shows really are starting to blur the line between TV anime and features. This is not to say they suddenly look like Akira, but they are really improving. This may be in part due to the use of Cg to cover things like vehicles and FX which leaves more room for cel work, even on a lower budget. Whatever the reason, I can only imagine what we'll be seeing in the near future.

I've been doing some research and I realize that in the future I am going to need new and more advance MPEG encoding tools. The reason for this being that the tools I have don't support some much needed abilities. DVD, for example, can save space and get higher quality by actually encoding a film at a true 24fps data rate. A "repeat first field" flag is set which tells the player to perform a realtime 3:2 pulldown allowing you to view it properly on your TV. None of my encoders can do this it seems. I guess support for this in consumer software encoders is very recent. Anyway, I am now getting a demo of the Ligos LSX MPEG encoder for Premiere (I don't want a stand alone encoder) to see if it can do this. (I cannot determine whether or not it truly supports this from their site.)

I also see HDTV resolution animation being the standard for me in the future. I certainly don't want to deal with this uncompressed. I will need a good MPEG2 encoder that supports some HD standards, if for no other reason than to allow me to actually watch something I am creating at such resolutions.

On another note, I have been looking at some recent anime, particularly Ghost in the Shell TV, Arjuna and Heat Guy. I am noticing that even the TV level stuff is getting very advanced, thanks in no small part to the addition of 3D CGI. Gone are the days of improperly blended CG that destroys the show. These shows have Cg that fits well and ads to the quality of the overall production, especially Arjuna. What this also does is free the cel count (Japanese studios are given cel limits based on budget) for higher quality 2D animation. The end result is a TV show that in many ways approached the quality of some of the anime films. Things are really picking up. My next production will have to keep all of this in mind!

I haven't updated in a while have I? I must not let this neglect of my page continue!

Here's what's been going on. I shipped the animation for Episodes 4 and 5 of J4A off to Florida on Monday, but they still haven't arrived. I guess UPS is sending them by mule! Different from the last two episodes, number 6 places our heroes back in the school. This type of thing is a blessing on the animation schedule for a series. All the reusable footage! This is made even more so by the use of 3D animation since models for sets and characters are already reusable.

I've been delving further into the world of manga. Lately I've been reading GTO which is a great story. Manga is certainly an entirely different art from anime. What may work on the screen doesn't necessarily fly in a panel. After recently watching the GTO anime on DVD, I can see the difference as plain as day. Having the same story and characters to study in both mediums is a big plus. I truly enjoy drawing and have a vision of what I want to do, but I no doubt have a lot to learn and must improve greatly.

Speaking of the GTO anime, I was greatly impressed by the opening animation for that show. It appears to use a heavy live action reference, though I wouldn't exactly call it rotoscoping. I have always been in favor of this method for human character animation. I personally prefer my human animated characters to be a bit more realistic in their movement. This is why I like the way characters are done in films like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Anastasia. The GTO intro is very well done in this style. It would be nice if they could do a GTO feature, completely animated in such fashion.

Anyway, for me it's back to drawing. I won't slack on the page updates anymore!

Production moves ahead on Episode 6 of J4A. There will also soon be some interesting storyboards for my next original film popping up. A lot of plans in the works.

Lately I've been thinking about a new reel. Not something that would be thrown together anytime soon, mind you, but I thought it would be cool to do new that not only shows off some of what's been done, but actually gives some glimpses into planned future projects as well. This would be a bit longer reel and need some cool music of course, but I think it would be a blast.

Animation production is complete for Episode 5 of J4A. The train keeps on rolling. Today, however, I will be suffering the bowels of the DMV. Car registration time...

I watched an anime called Macross Zero today. Basically it's a prequel to the original Macross saga titled Robotech on American TV. Now for me, Robotech was the big thing when I was a kid. I had seen anime before, but this was probably the first time I knew I was watching it. Since that time I haven't had much exposure to Macross with perhaps the exception of Macross Plus and the recent Xbox game. So watching this new anime was a huge dose of nostalgia. To see the original mecha and even one of the original characters was really cool!

TALK ABOUT INSPIRING

I saw Makoto Shinkai's (creator of Voices of a Distant Star) new trailer this morning. It can be found here. Just scroll down to the mpeg links. I guess I can officially quit now...

Just kidding. It's quite amazing to see what other indie artists are out there doing. His new show looks spectacular. Being that he's a Lightwave user like myself, it's al the more gratifying to see work of this magnitude. This what we have been looking for. This is what kind of quality the indies need to show the majors and make them quiver in fear!!!

It's amazing to think how much power truly lies in 2D compositing and post processing. This is coming from someone who is a big advocate of "all-in-camera" 3D work. That's not to say I am converted, there are still some things I would want to do that way, but when working in layers and compositing there's just so much that can be done.

Even the most basic painting can be made into something cool to look at. Run it through a few filters, duplicate it to another layer and offset or blur it, any number of 2D effects can be added to spice up the work. Once I started to think this way over all, I found myself not even setting up 3D scenes at all. I would just create each element that I need for the final shot individually, however it suited me!

NO MORE MONKEY BUSINESS!

As production continues on J4A Episode 5, I am taking care of business elsewhere as well. Remember that little list? Well I finished the two empty pages here. I organized my favorites into an easily accessible and manageable form and I fixed my J-Page. I've been doing quite a bit of drawing as well. New characters and new ideas are forming. Now it's time for a bit of manga studying. Soon the first page will surface!

It looks like I just found a major problem on my page. I have heard from people before that my "contact" links were broken, but I have never been able to verify this because clicking them had always worked for me. Well, I think it could be because I exist under my own address book, or maybe it's mail reader specific, but the problem was that the "mailto" link was written with a "space" before the name! So it's likely that any mail sent through those links wouldn't reach me at all.

All contact links should be fixed now. Be sure to refresh your pages when you check. Send me some test mails!

Well, I did say I needed to update this page and now that has been done. I put some content on both the services page and the links page. I wouldn't exactly call it complete, but at least it's not totally empty right?

BACK IN FULL SWING!

Well I'm back in full swing with J4A production in this new year. Episode 05 is underway and presenting new dangers to our team of heroes.

But that's not all. I've got some manga to check out. What can I say? I'm hooked! As I said earlier, I'm going manga crazy this year. But it won't just be reading them!

Here are some interesting, minor things which really need to get done in this new year:

1. Organize favorites - My IE6 favorites are so unorganized that I can't find anything! Hardly useful right?

2. Finish THIS PAGE! - There is still nothing on the services and links pages.

3. Fix my J PAGE - There are places where the page uses images when it should use text. It's also long overdue for an major updating.

I could go on and add little things like cleaning my room or taking out the trash, but you get the idea right?

The way to insure this new year is special is to make it special!

OK! Time to WORK!

THE NEW YEAR IS HERE!

This is it folks. This year will see many new adventures in independent animation for Studio ArtFX, including, but not limited to, going manga crazy!! For now though, I am going to sleep.

And when I awake...