#3d industrial robotic animation

[starhaloeklypse]

I tried to make a mock-up of my own alternative take On My Little Pony: Generation 5.

I had a lot of fun designing these, I won’t lie. The main idea was to bring back the mane (main) cast of characters all having drastically contrasting, strong personalities and color palettes. I think that was what G4 succeeded best at, and would probably (I’m no expert) increase marketability and make people want to buy the toys more.

I took inspiration for the new art style direction from an MLP G4 manga cover , not sure if it’s official or not, but I like that style a ton, I think it’s super cute and would be a good direction for a new show. This is of course operating under the assumption the new generation would just stay 2D instead of branching to 3D animation. I tried my best to mimic the style , I don’t think I did the best at that, but that art style on the manga cover is what I think they should go for. Maybe with a more pencil-textured brush for the outline. Feels unique from G4, but still cute in my opinion.

Instead of Friendship or Unity, the unifying theme tying all the characters together would be Artistic creativity and using it to express yourself. All the characters would represent a different form of art. The main villain being a bat-pony with wings and a horn, a mad scientist type who builds robots and gadgets to fight the main cast with the goal of stealing their art and feeding it through big, industrial machines to pump out hodge-podge mashed together copies and create her own art museums to profit off of them. They have to fight to take back their art and create works that express who they are without it being stolen or mass produced by machines and robots. She’s kind of inspired by Opaline but I tried to give her an alternative design. I also took a bit of inspiration from Dr. Eggman from the Sonic franchise. In general my take on this generation is kind of inspired by Sonic with these animal characters fighting against robots and industrialization. Specifically the Sonic Boom Cartoon with the beachy setting and vibes.

We also have the main character, Aqua Seastar, a yellow unicorn who’s got a very curious, inquisitive, detective type personality, ( very clearly my version of Zipp from the Make Your Mark Cartoon, because I actually liked the personality they gave her there, a lot) she’s constantly trying to solve all the mysteries that crop up around the island and poking around to learn new things. She’s also an aspiring animator who wants to make a cartoon about a detective squirrel inspired by her own adventures.

Speaking of characters from G5 I’ve based these characters on, Cloudy skies is basically my version of Izzy. A very similar personality, ( particularly how she’s characterized in the movie A New Generation, I think that’s where she’s at her best) just with the added twist of her being the motherly one of the group and a bit protective and neurotic about other’s safety. Also inspired a bit by Wammawink from Centaurworld or Ragatha from TADC. She’s the arts and crafts pony , with yarn and sewing needles in her hair. She’s also a Pegasus and I swapped her mane and coat color cause I figured we needed a blue pony.

Shellda is basically my answer to Sparky, a baby sea turtle who was orphaned and no one in the sea cared for her because she couldn’t keep up and would just “slow them down” . She eventually gets adopted by the main cast as a little sister figure and starts off shy but really comes into her own over time, gaining more confidence and becoming a watercolor painter. Also she can talk. She’s more of a toddler than a newborn.

I tried to imagine this setting as playing into being on a beach / island way more . Maybe coral reefs instead of trees on the surface , mythical creatures the ponies could encounter like in G4 , but specifically based on sea and marine animals. Like crabs made of rock or something. A stage in the center of town for GlimGlam Hot-Trot to perform on that looks like a giant clam. Whenever they travel off the island they could do it on a big pirate ship instead of a hot air balloon or a plane. Stuff like that.

This generation would also have modern tech but mainly for the sake of creating art, like art tablets and programs . As well as Dr. Nightwing and Terra Byte being inventors who create gadgets.

Overall , I have way too many ideas to go over in one post but I put a lot of thought into this and I hope you guys like it. What are your thoughts ? Do you have any questions about any specific characters or anything ? Let me know, cause I love MLP especially G4 and I had a lot of fun making this. Might be using these characters again sometime, soon.

If you would like to support me , feel free to check out my Kofi page , I offer commissions and you can also just donate if you’d like to , but please don’t feel pressured. I hope you enjoyed the art and have a good rest of your day ! 💕🧡

[kaelicus]

Honestly, I'm glad Astro Bot won GOTY. Initially, I was a bit bitter Balatro lost out, but Astro Bot clowned on Sony so hard on release. It showcased all the beloved IPs Sony lets rot in obscurity, only to be acknowledged whenever they pretend to be pioneers of innovation in the industry (see their 30 year anniversary video for that). Team Asobi saw the nonsense of "we have no IPs" and within 24 hours they had an engaging, adorable, well-polished, and tight 3D platformer showing off niche characters and franchises with so much child-like glee. Like, this is a piece of art so unequivocally in love with these games and is willing to absolutely go crazy with it. All the little references and animations show real pride in these incredibly small parts of Playstation's history. And apparently Team Asobi is made of the remnants of Sony's Japan office? Herman Hulst get absolutely fucked by little robot man.

[satoshi-mochida]

Angelian Trigger launches December 12 in Japan - Gematsu

Psuedo-3D-2D-style 3D shoot ’em up Angelian Trigger will launch for Switch on December 12 in Japan for 4,950 yen, developer PiXEL announced.

A limited edition will also be available for 8,800 yen, which includes a copy of the game, an art book, two original pin badges, a pair of original 3D glasses, an Eames Detective Agency certificate, and a special box.

Here is an overview of the game, via PiXEL:

Story

Wati is a large city on the planet Galadsik where the Eames Detective Agency is located. While the agency is facing financial difficulties due to an influx of small cases, like investigating infidelity and finding missing pets, a request comes in from an anonymous client to investigate the green planet Sarius. Despite the unsettling indicators, such as Sarius being under the control of the Planetary Industry Minister Wizria and the client being anonymous, Mia and Sheryl take off to Sarius. This was the trigger that led them into a major conspiracy.

Gameplay

Angelian Trigger is a 3D shooting game in which you run through the screen while shooting down enemies. Each planet consists of four stages, and a stage is cleared by defeating the boss at the end. Both Story Mode and Arcade Mode contain a total of 24 stages. Arcade Mode also has unique bosses. Mia can double jump and wields two guns, while Sheryl can fly and wields a large cannon. Since each protagonist plays differently, the same stages and enemies offer a different gameplay experience depending on the character. Additionally, you can gain an edge in combat with help from your support robot O-P2, offering backing like cover fire and force fields. With homing lasers that let you lock onto multiple enemies, and bonus points when defeating groups of enemies, Angelian Trigger offers a sense of both speed and exhilaration.

Staff

Character Design: Akihiro Kimura (ZAVAS, Emerald Dragon, Alshark, Alnam no Kiba: Juuzoku Juunishinto Densetsu)

Music: Akari Kaida (Darkstalkers, Resident Evil, Breath of Fire III, Okami)

Sound Effects

Ayako Saso (Rolling Thunder 2, Ridge Racer series, Street Fighter EX series, beatmaniaIIDX series)

Takashi Okamoto (12sound) (Made in Abyss Binary Star Falling into Darkness, Gotopazu, OBAKEIDORO)

2D Animation: Yukito Tanaka

Background Art: Tomoyuki Kanazawa

Effect Design: Kazue Arai

Director: Hidekuni Sasaki

Ending Theme “HERE WITH ME”: Miho Morikawa

Watch a new trailer below. View a new set of screenshots at the gallery. Visit the official website here.

Release Date Trailer

[canmom]

post-animation night 177 comments

brief thoughts on kizazi moto (more substantial tomorrow perhaps): visually that was so lush. we're really full post-Arcane/Spiderverse nonphotorealistic stylings here, with a powerful dash of Trigger/Flying Bark-esque Neo Kanada School as well. this was like a cross-section of the current big styles in animation and it kicked ass for that. I'm not entirely sure what the production pipeline looked like - the Irish film board was apparently involved somehow! and maybe some Irish studios so it wasn't a purely African production - but it was an extremely impressive showing all round.

narratively, putting it right beside Fatenah kinda highlighted the places it wasn't willing to go. though I had heard the directors had a lot of freedom, there were some very consistent themes running throughout the anthology - nearly every film involved parent-child relationships, many of them revolving around a kid hoping to prove themselves in the eyes of their society/ancestors. the uglier side of history is touched on lightly: one film shows us a flashy cyberpunk city from an alternate timeline where 'Great Zimbabwe was never colonised', complete with 'the most advanced justice system in the multiverse' (a giant robot bird that chases our protagonists), but doesn't expand on that as more than a colourful backdrop. the last film gets closest, presenting a mother-child pair of two gods who are wounded by extractivism and retreat from the world - I appreciated the understated bleak implication of its ending.

I think while the creators were probably not given too much overt creative restriction, they were surely aware this was to be broadcast in English on Disney's streaming service, and tailored their stories accordingly. so you'd probably avoid "Disney is the face of American imperialism: the movie". Disney money is a bit of a double-edged sword that way.

besides parent/child reconciliation, we had a lot of ancestors and more than a few gods. a few stories centred on coming of age rituals; other had a more or less central focus on social media fame and its corrupting effect. at times it verges into the preachy - characters who stand between two families, or between humans and aliens, and resolve to honour both sets of ancestors - but the presentation is more than engaging enough to make it a compelling watch, regardless.

there's a lot of wonderful lighting, set design and architecture throughout. Mọrémì had a very cool desaturated style with toyetic, colourful 'soul-stealing giants' that put me a little in mind of Absolver.

Stardust had a bit of a Star Wars feel, almost feeling like an extra Visions short, but the injection of Islamic architecture was very effective.

a certain Arcane/Riot influence is very overt in many of the films - not just in the widespread use of paint textures in the CG environments and the approach to light and colour, but also with plot elements like the neon-drenched surfer gang in Surf Sangoma (episode 4) - which was definitely a fantastic-looking episode with the wonderfully out-there premise of a world where you have a squid suck on your face to gain surf skills. (just say no to squids, kids! you don't need 'em! rely on your magic ghost mum instead.) but I think this is something that's true in the animation industry more generally of late - the last few years have really kicked the door open to 2D stylings in 3D (paint textures, reduced framerates etc.). no doubt having a Spiderverse director as exec producer played a role in that too!

all in all I really enjoyed this anthology, and I'm super excited to see what comes next from the studios involved.

Fatenah meanwhile was fantastic, and an absolute gut punch. the fact that the hospital seen in the film has been in the news for being emptied out at gunpoint in the last week gave it a special level of 'oof'. its style may seem disarmingly simple, but the puppet-like styling ends up bestowing a huge degree of weight to the characters. the scenes of the border checkpoint, the monotony of cages and guards, and the concrete environment resembling a Half Life 2 map, were very impactful. highly recommend taking 20 minutes to watch this film.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Five animated features in the Top 10, all of different kinds and even mediums used... Now that's very cool.

WILD ROBOT falls a good 28% estimate, the picture is now at $83m domestic, $148m worldwide, a few clicks away from doubling its budget. Chris Sanders confirmed earlier that they're already at work on a sequel, likely adapting the actual sequel book THE WILD ROBOT ESCAPES. I won't be surprised if it's penciled in for 2027/28 by the end of the year.

PIECE BY PIECE opened with $3m, it has a smaller $16m budget to make back. If it doesn't get there, that's not too steep anyways.

At 6th place, TRANSFORMERS ONE continues to hold okay, only slipping 32%. Total sits at $52m domestically and $111m worldwide, as it now opens elsewhere little by little. $187m, which is more than 2 1/2x its budget, may be unreachable, but at least some word of mouth is kicking in and it's not disappearing altogether. The small theater showing it was packed at my cinema job, today.

A new MY HERO ACADEMIA movie opened with less than the last one (going from $6m to $3m), but still, enough to make it into the Top 10. These never really blew past $10m on opening weekend here, unlike say, one of the DEMON SLAYER movies.

And the new re-release of NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS took in an impressive $2.3m, besting this year's LION KING re-release and coming in a little below the SHREK 2 re-release. It's lower than what last year's 30th Anniversary of the film re-release achieved, but... Yeah, still pretty okay for a three decades-old movie that's been re-released a ton of times, that you can fire up on Disney+ any minute. NIGHTMARE just hits different, one you gotta see in the theaters if you never did. I know I did last year, I was barely even a year old when it first came out in 1993 and I missed all the 3D re-releases back in the day.

It's just simply NEAT that these five films are currently playing, animation is everywhere and all around. Now if only the industry knew how to treat the people behind these movies better, hmmm?

[tourneyposting]

i decided to randomise megamix

see under the cut for sourcelists & fan-names

01 - MAU5TRAP

-Claymation/Stop Motion -Gnarls Barkley & It's members -Snakes, Serpents, & Reptiles -Kero Kero Bonito

02 - Summer Swimming

-Rivals of Aether & flashygoodness -Mysteries, Detective Media, & Puzzles -Royalty & Time -School & Education

03 - Lord Farquaad

-RayWilliamJohnson -Studio Ghibli & Their Image Albums -Pre-2012 Internet Culture & Bait-And-Switch memes (NO SIIVAGUNNER)

04 - Heaven Ascension Dio

-Big Time Rush/Stephen Glickman, Boy Bands & Their solo acts -Jojo's Bizzare Adventure & other Shonen Jump media -Wayforward & ArcSystem

05 - Ace D. Copular

-Smash Mouth & Shrek Artists -Webcomics, Animated Webseries, & Indie Web Animation -Quad City DJs/Space Jam Artists

06 - Maddumb

-90s Hip Hop/Rap -Lofi Hip-Hop & Shiloh Dynasty -Dreamworks -Pokémon & It's mainstay artists

07 - Neil Cipher

-Well-Known Music Producers -Insects & Skeletons -Otaku Culture/Sex -Alt Rock, Britpop, & Post-Britpop

08 - Tomska

-Sleep, Dreams, & Nightmares -Twitch/Esports games -Jojo's major antagonists references -First Person/Class-Based shooters, & Guns

09 - Tord

-Turner Broadcasting Media -Space & Aliens -Danny Baranowsky

10 - Charles "All-Star" Barkley

-Geico Commercials/Made for Ads -Progressive House & Dubstep -Sampled by Neil/Featured in his Mouth albums -Robots, Ghosts, & Felines

11 - Hot Hats

-Lou Bega, Mambo, & Big Band -Skating/Boarding & Skate Punk/Ska -Madeon & His collaboraters

12 - Last Peace

-S3RL/Happy Hardcore -SoundClown sources & SoundCloud rappers -Gears for Breakfast/Indie Platformers & Collectathons -Racing Games, Cars, & Bikes

13 - Scatman John

-Tally Hall & It's members -Christmas, Winter, Snow, & Ice -R&B & Soul

14 - Baba

-War, Explosives, & Flight -Electro Swing -Interscope solo female artists

15 - DARK ONES

-Voxel -Halley Labs -Psychadelic/Drugs

16 - UNCRE/ATIVE

-C418, Minecraft, & Sandbox -Lil Darkie/Spider Gang & Their Producers & Collaboraters -Gangs & Organised Crime -Creepypastas

17 - Oven Beats

-RPGMaker -Hardstyle/Trap Metal -88rising & Their collaboraters

18 - Elliana

-Streamers, Streaming, & Streamer BGM -Arena Fighters & 3D Brawlers (NO ARMS) -Live Action Sitcoms

19 - Sex Rulers

-Mods -The Apocalypse -Snail's House/Kawaii Future Bass

20 - Mettaton EX

-Tyler, The Creator & His collaboraters -Damon Albarn -Eddsworld & It's collaboraters -French Touch/Ed Banger

21 - Bad Snails

-Big Beat, Plunderphonics, & Turntablism -Gigi D'Agostino & Fatman Scoop -Undertale/Deltarune -Eastern European Culture, Food, & Culinary arts

22 - Sleepless Nights

-Deadmau5, his collaboraters, & Mau5trap artists -Bedroom Pop -VGM & Chiptune EDM

23 - The Mutant Enderman

-Beat Em Up -Game & Watch/Other Category -ARGs -Glam-Rock

24 - Rocque Banger

-Industrial, Dark Techno, & IDM -Bodies of Water & Sea Life -80s/90s Nintendo Non-VGM -Valve & It's fancontent

25 - CA7 & MATT

-NES, SNES, & Gameboy -FGC Competitions & 2D Fighting Games -Neil Cicierega -Money & Partying

26 - Cursed ARMS

-Nickelodeon/Nick Records -Vampires & Religion -Synthpop/Synthwave -One-Hit Wonders & 90s Hits (NO RAP/HIP HOP)

27 - Snail's Stream

-YTPs/YTPMVs & Keygen -Disney Channel/Disney XD & Disney child stars -Billboards Top 100 2010 & 2019

28 - Misako

-Newgrounds/Flash & Their creators -Rythm Games -Rick Astley/80s New Wave

29 - Lou Bega

-ARMS/Switch Exclusives -Huey Lewis & The News -Dungeon Crawlers/Roguelikes

30 - The Grinch

-Heat/Fire & Summer -Zombies -Chipzel

31 - Ke$ha

-Murder & Killing -Sports, Training Segments, & Montages -Ke$ha, Billie Eilish, & Their collaboraters

32 - GAME: BEAT: HUNT

-Cowboys, Deserts, & The Wild West -Illumination/Dr Seuss -Scatman John, Eurodance, & Jazz -Monstercat artists

i'm pretty sure i forgot a source in there. don't know what it is though. whatever it is goes to ke$ha.

[egg-emperor]

What are your thoughts on Sonic Superstars as a whole?

I liked it! It's simple and fun, it serves its purpose as a classic game and captures the feel of the 2D main titles well in a cool new 3D way in gameplay, controls, music, plot, animation, etc. Definitely prefer Mania, especially since I replayed it earlier in the year to refresh myself on it but that doesn't mean it's bad in comparison like some are saying. It holds up against all the other classic games well, I think, so I consider that a win.

I had fun with it. I had to play single player but I feel it would've been a little more enjoyable on multi because it definitely felt like some parts were designed with it in mind, such as the length of the bosses and how much damage they can take, as I can imagine it would've been over in seconds if four players were all fighting it at once if they hadn't. True or not, some feel they drag on a little too much on single player.

The bosses ranged from enjoyable to frustratingly difficult because of how long they were. I can imagine that isn't so much of a problem with multiple players. The actual stages were almost too easy in comparison, they lacked the challenge Mania constantly offered but it made for nice relaxed gameplay in comparison where I could just sit back and enjoy, (which I'd been wanting after the nightmare difficulty of Final Horizon lol) so it's not terrible.

The Eggman themed stages like Pinball Carnival, Press Factory, and Egg Fortress included basically all my favorites and that's not even just my bias, they were the most fun for me gameplay wise too- and they also looked really fucking cool. I always love when Eggman's love for carnival shows and the dark industrial pollution of Press Factory was so awesome and my element, I enjoyed the look and the stakes of act 2 🥰💜

The new robots and boss designs both the funny huge animals and ones Eggman got to pilot were really cool too! And Eggman's adorable model and all his animations were just so precious, he's so full of life and charm and character and made me so happy. 💕 I wish he'd gotten more drawn animation and context in the plot in game but combined with the prequel comic, manga, and Trio of Trouble, it was a good amount.

Admittedly, I haven't played all of the game yet, only the main story mode, so I can only speak for that. I skipped all the extra optional acts and haven't played Trip's and the Last Story. Mostly because I got the game a couple days early but was in a rush to be somewhere, so I only played what I had to get the Eggman related stuff I needed, make my video, and be on my way. XD After main story, I didn't mind spoiling myself the rest.

I find it odd how Eggman is completely absent from Trip's and the Last Story, I hoped to see more of how Trip joined his side and I also feel there at least should've been a bit of context provided for how the dragon got out to fight because it was strange how it just appeared out of nowhere and went just as fast. I didn't expect crazy depth from a classic game but that was a little too random to just throw at you like that lol

But other than that it pretty much gave us just about everything I expected and I'm happy with it. I kinda don't think it was quiiite worth £60 as I enjoyed Mania more and that was way less expensive, (though maybe that's too soon for me to say as I haven't played the other two campaigns), so I say unless you're super eager then maybe wait for a price drop- but I do recommend the experience for a nice little fun time with a faithful classic feel!

[a-suspicious-lack-of-bagel]

I've been thinking about old railway uniforms, and come to the conclusion that the textiles could be INTERESTING in a steampunk world.

If steam power is widespread and commonplace, that means that there's going to be plenty of steam piping and/or boilers around. A lot of it would probably be insulated for safety and efficiency, but that still probably means that a significant part of the population has to work around HOT steam-powered equipment fairly often. I don't think that EVERYONE would necessarily be going around in protective double denim, but I think there'd just be less demand for fabrics with worse heat resistance.

That probably means that textile innovation wouldn't focus so hard on inventing New materials; but rather on improving natural fabrics. With a focus on mechanical innovation, I think your steampunk inventor would have an ENORMOUS array of linkages available to them - for converting a continuous mechanical input to various complicated and adjustable movement patterns. I think that having a lot more workers in hot environments would also lead to wide-spread use of mechanical refrigeration.

I've seen a few videos of industrial fabric-handling machines - they seem to have a Lot spiky metal fingers making repetitive movements. I think a steampunk world would be GREAT at making those little fingers do different, interesting patterns of movement! I recently saw a Matt Parker video about a continuous lattice of 7 different directions of pencil, and there was a cool animation of its cross-section. Imagine the funky patterns you could weave with thread going in more than 2 directions - either coplanar with eachother or in 3d space. All the cool decorative patterns woodworkers can do with plywood and veneer - imagine that with thread!

One of the reasons that a lot of tradespeople wore denim was because the pattern of the fabric obscured oil and grease stains. Could you achieve the same effect with the above funky patterns if they were dense enough? SO many workwear fashion options. And if you've got hot steam on tap as well as decent refrigeration - heat treatment would be easy to incorporate. What sort of interesting features would they be heat-setting into their clothes?

And if you want to build any sort of articulated machine/robot with steam as the power source; you need something to carry that steam - a flexible, high-pressure, heat resistant pipe. That sounds like a braided hose to me - and if you're using more colourful metals than stainless steel, your steam plumbing could get COLOURFUL! You know how we have braided hoses with a red or blue strand for hot or cold water? JUST IMAGINE the industry standard colour coding schemes for different temperatures, pressures, and phases of various fluids they could have!

Colour coded flexible pressure hose reminds me of an electrical system - I wonder how a steampunk world would do mechanical calculation? Did someone say Convoluted Fluid Based Computers?? With advances in textiles, hoses, and ropes - surely at some point they'd invent wire or fibre-wrapped pressure vessels! (Just think what they'd do with carbon fibre!) A society with (admittedly probably building-sized) computers that's used to dealing with high-pressure fluids - SURELY they'd invent jet propulsion? Perhaps not for rockets or aircraft - imagine pressure-jet steampunk ships, submarines even.

Actually where I can see modern-ish chemical rocketry in a steampunk world is in miniature steam generators - either HO bipropellant (your choice of liquid or gaseous) or peroxide monopropellant. A vigorous chemical reaction with hot, fast H2O as the product - sounds like a (rather explosive) portable power source.

Anyways, TLDR i'd LOVE to see what technological innovations a steampunk world would have. What paths they'd go down for research.

[whypolar]

Gundam Unicorn OVA 1: Day of the Unicorn

I enjoyed this quite a lot.

Banagher is a responsible father. Stick a "baby on board" decal on the back of his work mech.

I think it's probably pretty rare for fans who don't know Japanese to read the Unicorn novels before watching the anime. They weren't even fully translated until well after the anime finished airing. Even nowadays, when we have the full fan TL available, I doubt many people decide "Yes, I will read an edited machine translation of ten light novels, even though I know the series has been adapted into seven anime episodes of movie length and quality and I have never watched them". It was novel-only character information that first caught my interest, though, so I get to do it the unusual way.

Will this make a difference in my perception of the anime? Who knows. I don't actually know much about what fan reception was like back in 2010-2014, in either the west or Japan.

Thoughts below.

I'll start with complaints first, since I have only one:

👎 Removed all textual and visual indication of Banagher being multiracial / Syam being Middle Eastern.

Why did they do this. I was genuinely surprised and disappointed to see this from Gundam, since the franchise has a history of diverse casts all the way back to 1979. Gundam 00 would have finished airing just a year before this came out, and that had two brown-skinned Middle Eastern protagonists. Did they hit a quota or something?

Things I really liked:

👍 Everything is beautiful.

It's so pretty. The way characters and expressions are drawn is pretty. The mechs are pretty. The death lasers and the resulting explosions are pretty.

The backgrounds! Ship interiors, industrial sites, the signs and posters in the city. It's all gorgeous.

👍 Robot Status: Wow, Cool

I looove the design of the cockpits and UI. I'd already seen the same setup used in Hathaway's Flash, but it’s not any less impressive here. It's so cool. It's SO cool. I love watching the little markers for the funnels pop up.

The mixing of 3D and 2D for complex scenes is pretty seamless, except for the bit at the very end where the Unicorn transforms. My suspension of disbelief can easily survive a few seconds of recognizable CGI.

God, the robots are cool. I love seeing the Kshatriya in motion.

👍Great use of one of my favourite little Gundam things: characters moving around in zero / reduced gravity.

There are some real weird shots in this one.

I love specialized architecture and infrastructure for low gravity environments! I love characters who are accustomed to living in space being strangely indifferent to the concept of up and down! I love deliberately confusing or unsettling camera angles! Raaaaah!!!

👍👍👍👍👍 MUSIC

It's good music.

The part of the score where the violins start going sour while Cardeas threatens Banagher, until it's just an ugly atonal mess? Love that.

I like that spooky echo sound they use sometimes-- I'm genuinely not sure whether it's built into the music tracks or an added sound effect? I interpreted it at first as an indication of Newtype Shenanigans, but it also seemed to show up in other moments that were dramatic or had a lot of deaths. Though I suppose a lot of people dying is something newtypes would pick up, so maybe it still is meant to represent that. I don't know. The sound is cool.

Some miscellaneous commentary, mostly but not exclusively about comparisons the novels:

Things move more quickly in the OVA than the novels, and the audience knows less about the characters. This is an inherent difference of medium and format. We spend less time inside the characters' heads, and this can give a very different first impression-- particularly of Banagher as the protagonist.

My impression of OVA Banagher is that he's a daydreamer, longing for something he can't place. Novel Banagher can also be described this way, but at least to me he felt more worn down and resigned in his detachment. The anime version has more of a wistful, almost romantic vibe. Maybe it's just those big ol' eyes.

Once he's seen the Unicorn, OVA Banagher has some kind of switch flip in his brain. From that point on, as soon as he gets an impulse, he is GOING. We aren't privy to any of his internal deliberation, just the snap decisions as they happen. He seems a lot more confident without his internal thoughts narrating everything, but also less socially aware.

Here's an actual change for you: in the OVA, Banagher actively volunteers to help Audrey get to the colony builder when she starts to leave. In the novel, she directly asks for his help-- and he says no!

He felt a pull to help when he saw she was in danger, but after they crashed he could hear police sirens. He didn't want to get in any more trouble after his little stunt, so she called him spineless and ran off. He has a whole little arc where he tries to just go back to school like nothing happened until Marida shows up and literally twists his arm. The guilt of ratting Audrey out is the push that makes him change his mind and go after her.

Some of the scenes this change skips were cute, but getting more of Banagher hanging out with Mineva when they aren't being actively chased is nice. It's also just a smartly economical use of time. I do think the change makes Banagher feel meaningfully different, though.

I was fond of him being a little more conflicted and moody, but there's also something really funny about a guy who so single-mindedly barrels into situations. He really does seem supernaturally compelled.

Just a laser guided missile of a boy. Hyperfocus: maximum.

Knowing a bit less about characters like Audrey and Marida works very well. We know about as much as Banagher.

Audrey is obviously someone important, but they don't even say the word "princess" until the VERY end-- like four minutes left on the runtime. They never drop her real name. We get all that through narration long before this in the novels (as well as a lot more direct discussion of the Sleeves and Zeon in general).

We get ZERO interiority or backstory for Riddhe in this first one. His first introduction is saving Audrey and Banagher's friends. They pointedly show you his little airplane charm with a special sound effect for like, two seconds maybe, so quickly you can barely process what it is. Very interesting.

We also know less about Banagher's mom… not necessarily a LOT less, but enough to feel like she's being kept a mystery.

Trust the process, Banagher.

This whole scene-- especially the face journey Banagher goes through-- is lovely.

Marida's civilian disguise is better in this version. Like, in-universe, I mean. She's serious and imposing at a glance in this coat look, which is important when we don't get to see her terrorize and physically overpower Banagher. Probably the right choice to redesign the look, but I did like the novel's gag of her being dressed like sharp-dressed secretary except conspicuously wearing sports shoes so she can still run and fight.

Very fun framing here of Cardeas' dramatic lore dump about newtypes, where it's being told over cool mech combat for the audience, but then they cut back to Zinnerman, who is already sick to bastard death of this guy. Stop expositing, old man, I'm here for a business transaction.

I always love when characters see a Gundam and just say "Gundam". It's good every time.

Gundam.

[borrelia]

okay here are my combined takeaways from the director/producer commentary on robots (2005):

production designer william joyce was also a creative lead on rolie polie olie (started in 1998). so you may connect some stylistic similarities there lol

he and director chris wedge knew each other for quite a while before this and had been dreaming up this movie since, if I heard them correctly, they were teenagers?

the movie started from the setting, then characters and story were developed for it.

they took a Lot of pride in the setting, in figuring out how a world of metal people would function. artists would design Cool Things In The World and they would scramble to figure out where they could put it in the movie. they knew that including lots of background details would give the world life, and they were very happy to see it

if you don't remember the 3d animation scene in the early 2000s, you might not intuit that they were constantly amazed by what they were able to do. the technology was in a rapid stage of development, so there is physics and rendering in the complete movie that they simply could not have done at the start of production. these two were in constant awe of how good the movie looked

on that note, lighting was a big priority for them. they talked a lot about trying to find ways to texture and light metal so that it could look friendly, or so that the main characters would pop in a crowd.

the dominoes thing wasn't initially intentional. they were pretty late in production when they figured out that the way they would approach bigweld's reclusiveness would be Big Dominoes.

oh right, they were writing the story like As it was being animated. this was not a very linear production. the script was Not finished when they moved to the next steps.

they both liked to point out the Function of scenes. like "ok here's where we had to put in more exposition, here's where we had to introduce the stakes, this scene is important for letting the movie Breathe after all that action" etc etc. as part of that, they also liked to point out scenes that Didn't have a function, they were just extended gags or maybe at best helped to flesh out (hah) the world. they liked these scenes tho :) they took a lot of inspiration from buster keaton gags

there was originally a lot more stuff about cappy and from her pov :( her whole deal was that she was Also, like rodney, a small-town bot, but she upgraded herself in order to succeed in the industry. so that was like, her motivation to sympathy and to help the heroes. also that was the connection point between her and rodney from which they built their romance, which, was also, largely cut.

the voice actors never recorded together. at all. but would come back and do retakes when they heard the others' line reads.

they point out that robots is Almost a musical. which, yeah! it does feel like that! there are musical moments, or moments that feel like they Belong in a musical. but besides fender's singing in the oil song (which robin williams just. made. unprompted. bc of course he did) there's no actual singing.

bigweld has two designs, i never noticed! between the time the children's show was shot and the next time we see him, he got upgrades. apparently most other people didn't notice either so I'm glad I'm not alone lol

robots fun movie with a lot of love in it and these two seemed exceptionally proud of the result :)

[buckevantommy]

It's not a shortcut because it's fun though, it was specifically selected to create the feel they wanted. Also it's weird that you bring up 3D modeling as an example, because that was an ACTUAL example of a computer artform replacing a more expensive and labor intensive traditional artform. There hasn't been a Disney traditionally animated film in over a decade and for a lot of that time there weren't many 2D animated movies from anyone else, either, and a lot of the attempts to change that flopped hard, something that's only changing a little bit now. Would you put the slippery slope argument on any use of 3D modelling? Or is it a tool that artists can use for specific purposes that have to be analyzed on their individual merit instead of inherently representing the sum total of the tool's (HYPOTHETICAL!) effect on the industry

i get what you're saying about the 2d-3d stuff, but how can you deny that using ai - that's ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, not some helpful program - is worrisome not just for creators who don't use it but for every kind of creative endeavour moving forward? are you not paying attention to the way ai has begun to permeate the creative market in recent months? every app update boasts using ai.

and you know what? it starts with art because art is pretty harmless, right? make a movie or show using ai in any aspect and see what happens. but then it moves on to bigger, scarier things (and my mind goes to things like using robots for surgery and autopilot on commercial airlines - but we already have those things, so someone more knowledgable about how those things and other computer-assisted inventions differ from ai, please advise, but i already know it's different because ai is a new thing).

you seem pretty amped up to defend the use of ai so i'm curious: are you an artist? someone who uses computers for their work? or just an audience member who saw the title sequence, read that they used ai, and foolishly jumped on the that's so cool! train without thinking about the implications of ai in creative endeavours and what that may lead to for ai in our world?

[opossumprince]

Ok if you've seen this moral panic post going around about this film's backgrounds done "in Al" I just want to say fuck it and fuck everyone complaining about "oh no robots are stealing Actual Real Human Jobs don't watch it !!!". Here's some info :

A lot of your favorite anime shows have backgrounds TRACED STRAIGHT FROM PHOTOS, sometimes even just photos processed to look like they're drawn. Also you may not know this if you've never set foot in the actual animation industry but your favorite modern digital animated shows and films all use automation in some way to the point where programs like TV Paint have built-in auto coloring and stabilizing the frames, After Effects has interpolation and movement/timing/deformation keys, because it makes things way easier and faster. That's the thing about film and art, there isn't just "one proper way" to make something. If you think it's unethicaI of this film's crew to not hire background artists, why don't you start insulting digital animation films and shows for not hiring inkers and cell painters ? It's too bad the GAN users aren't properly named in this film's credits, but let's get real, that's no reason to morph into the "techonology is bad fire is scary Edison was a witch" guy (and if they were credited you fuckers would send them death threats to no end like you already do with artists that work with Al).

And if you think a good film has to have everything and every frame drawn and animated by hand, if you think using anything other than fully hand drawn backgrounds (say, actual photos or random paint splatter for backgrounds) would be cheating, you are not only against some of the big studio films you love, but also reactionary and very much against experimental digital media.

Not to mention the appeal to emotions with that "3D and Al and automation is stealing Real Artists' jobs, we must protect background artists" shit and a fucking reaction pic of Miyazaki is laughable when you know the horrible "you have to work harder and overtime and cheaper because that's what Real Artists do" workplace environment many GhibIi artists and animators faced. The man's studios broke labor laws, he thinks 3D is the end of animation because it's not the kind of animation he's been making for decades, and you fuckers applaud him as the ~icon of cottagecore anti-technology true artisan workers that makes his employees do RealArtTM which takes 10000 hours~.

No, drawing isn't over because photography exists, hand drawn animation isn't over because 3D exists, and hand drawn backgrounds won't be over if some anime studios use GANs to generate some instead of taking photos and running them through Photoshop like they used to.

[lakanakana]

rules: seven comfort films, seven people

also an additional personal rule: no anime because what am i? a weeb?

tagged by @abadbadbrujah

1. Computer Dreams (1988)

this fucking thang doesn't have any related gifs showing up in the gif search (fuck you aesthetic bloggers spamming in unrelated fucking tags) so have a youtube clip instead

Computer Dreams is basically just a collection of "latest tech and highest quality" CGI effects and animation from the time it was released. It's narrated by a woman that also had a role in the movie and tv series Max Headroom (gifs below) which was super popular at the time and idk just having a second grade celebrity tossed in just fits the vibe!!

The thing itself is actually pretty educational, brushing over some (very) basic level computer generated imagery tech and explains how the effects are done. There's also a clip made by NASA, showcasing their latest concept of a future Mars rover project and the narrator says that it will one day come true. They didn't even know that they only had to wait 8 more years until the first one was launched and that today we have more little (ok pretty large) critters going all over the place there and I'm just ugly sobbing rn

Fuck it I'll just link the entire thing here

2. Tron: Legacy (2010)

Continuing with the CGI theme, this is a sequel to a groundbreaking 80s CGI movie, Tron. The original movie is also pretty fun when you start recognizing how familiar all the stuff feels either because they're being referenced in later works, or because there really was just a small bunch of nerds that knew how to do this stuff and ended up accidentally carrying the entire industry on their backs.

Tron: Legacy itself is actually pretty trashy movie but goddamn is it pretty!!!!!

And the reason I'm picking it over the original is because it has Daft Punk in its soundtrack :>

3. Her (2013)

Now that you've probably realized that I'm down bad for CGI, you're ready for a movie about a guy who's down bad for a computer program.

Idk what to say here tho since my faceblind ass can't really follow non-animated stuff so um

4. Shrek 2 (2004)

honestly this movie serves pussy so hard nothing else needs to be said

5. Pelikaanimies (2004)

fUCK I spiraled right back into 3D CGI again so I'll pick something from my country because the CG animated movies from my country suck

My 5 y.o. ass wanted to bang this dude so hard oh my god and now I also have intense gender envy for him to top it off

girl you have ruined my life

6. Brother Bear (2003)

TH BG ARTISTS DIDN'T NEED TO GO THIS HARD AND YET THEY DID I COULD WATCH THIS FOREVER

7. Pacific Rim (2013)

big ass robots so cool so sexy

picking 7 latest rebloggers

@jeokinz @meggiscat @mansikka-wizard @kalmariini @enviousjam @sandutita @vesikasidesi

[marselianawhitcomb]

This is a music video for a song called Worms by Ashnikko and the video was created by a studio called Blinkink.

I thought this video was a create thing to put on my blog because of the use stop motion and it links perfectly into the theme of aliens and robots.

Blinkink is a creative studio known for its work in animation, design, and visual storytelling. Founded in London, the studio has gained recognition for its unique approach to combining various artistic styles and techniques to create engaging content. They work on a range of projects, including commercials, music videos, and short films, often collaborating with well-known brands and artists

The studio's work is characterized by its vibrant visuals and imaginative narratives, making them a popular choice in the advertising and

entertainment industries. Blinkink's team comprises talented animators, directors, and artists who push the boundaries of creativity and innovation in their projects. Their portfolio showcases a diverse array of styles, from hand-drawn animation to stop-motion and 3D animation, reflecting their versatility and commitment to high-quality production.

[animationillustrationlp863]

Animation Principles

Animation Skills Week 6-12

The principle of animation, slow in and slow out, refers to the way movement beings slowly, gains speed and then finishes slowly. This principle helps replicate real-life movement and is important for that reason. On the other hand, movement by things that are no alive, like a robot, move differently and consistently make their movements at the same speed. When drawing in 2D animation, this is achieved by drawing most of your "in-between frames" at the beginning and end of the movement, rather than having frames being consistent throughout.

Arcs is an animation principle that shows how living creatures move in circular motions rather than straight forward or backwards. This is practiced within animation by making the Y-axis of a movement curved but keeping the X-axis straight. A ball would not bounce upwards in a straight line, it would curve as it reaches its peak and curve again when it drops back down. This principle also gives movements to bodies more expression.

Another animation principle is secondary action. A primary action is the main action of a character or object in a scene and the secondary object supports that. A character may jump, so their legs would be the primary action, but their clothes moving with them would be secondary. Secondary action can also tell the viewer more about the emotion of a character; for example, banging on a door with two scrunched up fists or an sad face while walking along.

Timing is a principle of animation that describes how the amount of frames being used for an action will lengthen the time of that action. This is due to more frames taking up more time within the length of the animation. An action with less frames can seem more violent or swift, but an action with more frames can appear softer and lighter. Depending on the amount of frames used, it can completely change how the action comes across the audience. With the industry standard being 24 frames per second, if an action takes 24 frames to be expressed, it will take an entire second to be carried out.

The principle of animation, exaggeration, is exactly that! It refers to the use of over-exaggerating an expression or movement to make it more "realistic". This is especially useful in cartoon animations as to add more of a human essence to the characters. This principle is done by taking an emotion like sadness and making the expression extremely sad.

Solid drawing is about making sure a figure in an animation looks like it fits in a 3D space. To do this, you would need knowledge and practice of 3D drawing and how to make, for example, features of a face be placed correctly on a curve (as faces are curved). A useful skill in drawing three dimensionally is using basic shapes to create the form, but you should be careful to not make the edges parallel and rather bent towards a vanishing point.

The last principle is Appeal. This simply refers to making a character appealing to look at, which can be tricky as everyone has a different opinion on what looks appealing. Focusing on making sure your characters have dynamic design and original concepts is a great start, but also aiming your design towards the demographic the animation is for is important. Furthermore, using a variety of sizes in your characters will make them look more interesting and unique from one another. Playing with proportions is also a great way to grab the eye of your viewers. Finally, keeping the character design simple and not overloading them with too many details, makes it easier for the consumers to look at and understand what the character is supposed to be.