Q. I was wondering if you had any idea about how recruiters react when seeing generic rigs in the demo reels they receive. I heard that they lose interest as soon as they see animation created using certain “free online rigs”.
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Category: Inbetweens
All the other stuff
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Q&A: Using generic rigs
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New blog section: Q&A!
The crazy thing about me doing an audio show is that I sometimes find it so darn tough to put my thoughts in to words and then have those words come out of my mouth. Go figure! While I will always strive to improve my “on the air” skills, I find that I receive quite a few questions from listeners that I would like to answer and share with everyone. Most of the time I try to reply to emails, but that only gets the info to one person. To do that in the podcasts would take more time than I’d like to admit. So today a new section is born!
Simply put, it’s Q&A.
When I get a question in an email or in the comments of one of the posts that is worthy of singling out, I’ll break it out and drop it in it’s own Q&A post. Eventually, there may be quite a bit of information here that many people would like to know so it seems logical to keep it under the Animation Notebook section of the site.
Look for the first Q&A later today.
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Listen to The Animation Podcast on your iPod Touch or iPhone
Get your fingers all over The Animation Podcast.
If you’ve got an iPod Touch or an iPhone, direct Safari to:
http://animationpodcast.com/iphone
In case you haven’t subscribed in iTunes already and find yourself out on the road, needing some animation love, you’ll find a simple page there with all the shows laid out for you. -
Under a little construction…
I threw the switch and changed the layout of the site. As I expected, some things got pretty thrown out of whack! It all seems functional now, but I’ll be fiddling with it to get it the way I like.
I should point out a few new things around here:
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Stuart Ng sketchbook printing tips
Stuart Ng always has a must-see booth at the Comicon filled with domestic and import sketchbooks and art books. His website has been redesigned and I noticed a pretty useful page filled with tips on making and selling your own artist sketchbooks. The tips are not about HOW to draw the pretty pictures – that’s up to you. Instead he details many practical tips that can help you make decisions regarding design, binding, content, printing and more. If there’s an expert on this, it’s Stuart, so it’s worth a read.
While you’re there, don’t miss the regular part of the store. There are tons of books (and sketchbooks) for sale that may inspire you to create your own.
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Sloooow dancing reference?
Here’s a little something that may be of interest to animation types who like motion analysis. David Michalek films actions in super high speed (at 1,000 frames per second) and then uses computer interpolation to slow it down even more – like 5 seconds plays in ten minutes. Click the image for a sample. That’s the only clip I found online. In this clip, check out how the feet react when they push off and land back on the floor. Subtle, but cool to see.
He’s had an exhibition in New York and if you’re in L.A. from September 17 through 26 you can see the outdoors show for free at the Music Center of Los Angeles. (Click here for details.)If you’re wondering about the process, here’s a page on the Apple site describing it. There’s also an article on Wired.com.
If you look at the Performers page of his site, you’ll see that the show promises to include some very interesting clips to watch. This one may just be too interesting to pass up.
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One of a kind Glen Keane skateboard deck
This seems like just the thing many listeners of the podcast would love to own. Past guest of the show, Glen Keane has donated his talents to the ESPN V Foundation by creating a one of a kind skateboard deck featuring a treesurfing Tarzan. It’s up for auction for eight more days. As of now, there’s only one bid for $100. Pretty cool for one lucky bidder and the proceeds go towards research to cure cancer.
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Chris Sanders’ official site
I was at the San Diego Comic Convention this weekend and discovered that Chris Sanders has created an official website which went live this past Wednesday. He says it’s still in the growing stage, but there are already some great sketches, desktop wallpapers, and a peek at his vinyl figure he debuted at the Con. Of course, I had to buy one. It’s a really great sculpt of his design. Believe me, I’ve watched plenty of his drawings become “3d” and it ain’t easy!
Here’s the link: http://chrissandersart.com/
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I’m published in Walt’s People Volume 5!

I just mentioned this in the latest show and I want to make sure no one misses it: Didier Ghez has just released his latest volume in his fantastic series Walt’s People. I’m especially excited about this one because he has included my interview with Ron Clements and John Musker. I’m published! How cool is that? I’m honored to be included in this project. I can’t wait to get my hands on this one. It’s like I’m living this scene from The Jerk:
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Requested Guests
As I mention in Show 19, here’s the list of requested guests from listeners. It’s not complete yet, but as I dig back through old emails and the survey from last year, I’ll update it. Feel free to add to it in the comments and I’ll drop those names in to the list.
NOTE: THIS IS NOT A GUARANTEE OF UPCOMING GUESTS. IT IS ONLY A WISH LIST OF NAMES THAT HAVE BEEN REQUESTED BY LISTENERS.
Roger Allers
Tony Anselmo
Xavier Atencio
Frederic Bach
Hans Bacher
Carlos Baena
Dale Baer – DONE!
Ralph Bakshi
James Baxter – DONE!
Bobby “Boom” Beck
Nancy Beiman
Mike Belzer
Bill Berg
Brad Bird
Ash Brannon
Don Bluth
Bruno Bozzetto
David Brewster
Chris Buck
Tim Burton
Hendel Butoy
John Canemaker
Brenda Chapman
Sylvain Chomet
Sandro Cleuzo
Anthony DeRosa
Pete Docter
Mark Dindal
Ken Duncan – DONE!
Will Finn
Tony Fucile
Terry Gilliam
Francis Glebas
Eric Goldberg – DONE!
Ed Gombert
Steven E. Gordon
Lenny Graves
Matt Groening
Don Hahn
Mark Henn
Jim Henson Muppetteers
Don Hertzfeldt
Stephen Hillenburg
Renee Holt
Jim Hull
Harley Jessup
Shawn Keller
Shawn Kelly
John Kricfalusi
Bill Kroyer
Vera Lanpher
John Lasseter
Caroline Leaf
Craig McCracken
Seth McFarlane
Duncan Marjoribanks
Bill Melendez
Uli Meyer
Rob Minkoff
Hayao Miyazaki
Scott Morse
Joe Moshier
Teddy Newton
Floyd Norman
Sergio Pablos
Nick Park
Bret Parker
Shannon Penner
Bill Plymton
John Pomeroy
Karen Prell
Ruben Procopio
Dave Pruiksma
Brothers Quay
Arthur Rankin Jr.
Lou Romano
Darrel Rooney
Carlos Saldanha
Chris Sanders
Bruce Smith
Pat Smith
Pete Sohn
Michael Sporn
Jan Svankmajer
Doug Sweetland
Genndy Tartakovsky
Bruce Timm
Gary Trousdale
Daryl Van Citters
Will Vinton
Frans Vischer
Dan Wagner
Steve Wahl
Chris Wedge
Richard Williams
Wallace Williamson
Kirk Wise
Ellen Woodbury
Nate Wragg
Kathy Zielinski

