by Rob Kohr

This clip has been going around the gaming blogs as of late. The game, Little Big Planet developed by Media Molecule, is the newest of the next GEN game console games. This one will be out for the Playstation 3 soon. What I found the most interesting, which I hope you will see as well, is the very unique treatment of the game. It looks more like a stop-motion film than a video game. The game play resembles that of Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo Game Cube. (Read the article)

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by Rob Kohr

Variety reports that the indie short “That”, produced by Forum Snowboards is now listed in the iTunes store for purchase. Amongst the other shows available, “That” is the only independent film for purchase on iTunes. Following a 10 month long negotiation over the price point, it seems to be finally agreed that the price of the video be the standard $1.99. Although the Direct-to-DVD has its own price.

“There is one single team in snowboarding that has led the charge in progressing the level of snowboarding, defining the formula that all others have since tried to duplicate. That team is the Forum team, and the time for THAT team video is now. (Read the article)

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by Rob Kohr

Axiotron and Other World Computing have teamed up to make the first ever Mac Tablet PC dubbed the ModBook. ModBook is basically a modded MacBook that is purchased from apple, the screen and keyboard are removed, then a Wacom Penable tablet screen in place on time making this machine a slate tablet pc, er um mac. Its available in all the MacBook configurations and also retains the iSight camera that is built into the cover.

Having a tablet PC myself (Motion Computing’s M1400) and seeing this in action, I have a few thoughts. First I tend you use quick access buttons a lot especially one that will mimic the space bar. This is a necessity if you want to move around in Photoshop or Alias Sketchbook. On my Motion Computing machine I have 4 buttons which I can assign any number of key board commands. Ones I also find useful include buttons that allow me to skip forward and back frame by frame in Flash. The ModBook does not have this.

On the plus side the ModBook actually has an eraser on its pen. This might sound surprising, but since most tablet PCs are not geared to artists, they tend to neglect what the artist needs. Unlike my Wacom Cintiq the M1400 tablet PC seems more geared to the mobile business type. In fact the first tablet PC I owned was a Compaq, which didn’t even have pressure sensitivity! (Read the article)

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[ http://www.animonger.com/flashtools.html ]

by Rob Kohr

In the animation industry there exists a driving force to always do stuff cheaper and faster without sacrificing quality. About 5 years ago most independent animators began to make films using the computer, and little has changed over the years expense wise. Either you shell out the big bucks for animation packages such as Toons or Harmony or you look to the cheaper applications such as After Effects or Flash. More and more the industry is moving to these cheaper applications to do everything from TV animation to web. However these programs generally mean more complex workflows as well as longer production schedules.

Flash has a little known ability that allows those that know how, to program plug-ins to improve the workflow. In my search to save time at work I found this neat little plug-in for Flash MX 2004 and Flash 8 called the AnimSlider. (Read the article)

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