Thursday, December 15, 2022

Winter 2023


By artist Galina Bugaevskaya who put cat faces onto different animal bodies.
Like Island of Dr. Moreaux but with more whimsy and less Brando.  kotyvezde.aqulas.me

    After the last few years, I have no idea what is coming next so Cat/Moth hybrids are as plausible as anything.

    Currently the creative world is roiling with anger, anxiety and antipathy toward AI Generated Art (read more at L.A. Times) The public release of several AI image generating tools has made this a very hot topic. I recall similar discussions in the mid '90s.about how motion capture would supplant digital animators  Likewise, around the same time period, there were conversations about photogrammetry tech replacing digital modelers...or photography replacing painting...or how television would doom live theatre and on it goes. 

    To be clear: there are a number of  issues with this AI tech that need to be resolved. Predominantly how the training images are sourced (unauthorized/uncredited/uncompensated = stolen) and how it further devalues the work of highly trained professionals. I can already imagine the unethical and uneducated managers opining that they can 'finally fire all the artists and let computers do the work.' The rise of automated checkouts is just one example of how such minds will always work. 

    It is true that new tech will sometimes change the landscape for a particular role. After all, how many farriers do you know? Also, how many of you had to look up what a farrier is? In matters of art however there seems to be a perennial need for people who create things that deeply resonate within us. While the tools we use may change, for at least 40,000 years that need has never faded.

    I think we'll be ok. 

    With increasing student enrollment and part-time teachers becoming harder to find, I've had to step away from the level 1 and 2 animation classes to focus on ANC and level 4 ANI students.
Here are the classes I teach this term, along with assignment links:

ANC Animation 2 (6017)
Weight Lift (WL)   *alternative assignment

ANI 3d Animation 4 (5023)
5023 - UbiSoft Next (UN) ~or~ Shot01
5023 - Change of Emotion (COE) ~or~ Shot02
5023 - Mocap Cleanup (MC) ~or~ Shot03
5023 - Final Animation (FA) ~or~ Shot04 *under construction

ANI Client Studio (5025)
Dailies
Checkpoint (HW)