<$BlogMetaData$>

Animation

AnimationMentor.com - a new online school for animators taught by professionals working at studios like Pixar, ILM and PDI. Yours Truly is an instructor!
Spline Doctors Blog - Tips and insights from some of my fellow animators at Pixar. Always lively!
Flip - An animation blog by Cameron Fielding, featuring lots of useful tips like this one on overlapping action.
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive - A virtual archive of animation history.
Lecture Notes from the 9 Old Men - hosted by AnimationMeat.com.
StrutYourReel.com - Animation forums and interviews
Animation Meat - More animation resources. Check out the downloadable notes from the likes of Ollie Johnston and Glen Keane.

Seward Street - Character animation inspiration! Loads of rare interviews, movies, etc.
Life After Pose-To-Pose - By Keith Lango. Thoughts on how to further polish your animation.

Principles For Lip-Sync Animation - By Keith Lango. Another great tut. Thanks Keith!
Pose to Pose Animation Tutorial - By Keith Lango. One approach to 3D animation.
Larry's Toon Institute - Lesson plans for learning the fundamentals of animation. Based on 2D examples, but fully applicable to 3D animation.
Origins of American Animation - A historical index.
The Scratchpost - Tips, interviews and practical resources like listings of schools and demo reel suggestions.
Idleworm - Here are a couple of traditional animation tutorials (bouncing ball and a walk) that are equally valuable to 3D animators.
Animation Tricks - Assorted hints for character animators.
The Uncanny Valley - a discussion of the phenomenon that makes the goal or "realistic" CG humans so elusive.

 


back to top

Modeling, Surfacing & Rendering

CreatureTD.com - Dedicated to the arts of modeling and rigging 3D characters for animation.
CG Education - A plethora of articles by Neil Blevins on advanced shading and rendering topics.
Rigging 101 - A site dedicated to the mystical art of articulating and rigging character models.
3dRender.com - Hosted by Jeremy Birn, author of Digital Lighting & Rendering . Lots of useful tutorials.
HighEnd3D's Rosetta Stone - An on-line encyclopedia built to help translate different 3D terms across software packages.
Turbosquid - A 3D marketplace where you can buy or sell models, textures, etc.

back to top

3D News, Communities & Forums

Animation Arena - A site for the exchange of information on all things animation.
AnimWatch - showcasing the latest independent animation.
CG Society - More great articles and interviews daily.

CG Channel - For a daily dose of what's new in the world of CG.
CGChat.com - lots of interesting forums for discussing 3D.
CG-Char - A great online forum for character animators. Be sure to check out the FAQ and Job Postings as well.
Renderosity - A great community for 3D artists. Lots of galleries and forums for all software. I've got a gallery page there, so shouldn't you have one too?
VFX Pro - Articles about the latest visual effects for movies and television.
InsideCG - News, reviews & resources

 


back to top

2D Forums & Information

The Drawing Board - A great forum for 2D illustrators
Action Cartooning Tutorials -By Ben Caldwell. He also has a forum for cartoon artists.
How to paint hair - more Bergkvist goodness.
How to paint an eye - a tutorial by Linda Bergkvist
ConceptArt.org - A forum for posting and critiquing conceptual images
FARP - Hand Study - A nice collection of hand pose photos from the Fantasy Art Resource Project.
Sijun.com Forums - Another discussion group for digital 2D art.

 


back to top

Textures, Image & Video Reference

BBC Motion Gallery - an archive of video clips from BBC and CBS news. My first stop for reference!
High-Speed Video Clips - super slow-motion clips of all kinds of stuff. Fun and informative!
Principals of Motion - Reference DVD's of humans in action
Photo Vault - A great database of free photographic images.
Australian Weather Photography - Fantastic free images of clouds, storms, etc.
Image*After - Loads of FREE hi-rez images and textures!
Texture Bin 342 - More free textures!
Hubble Newscenter - Images taken from the Hubble space telescope.
XGlobe Maps - Various "flattened" images of the Earth - great for spherical projection mapping.
The Blue Marble - Great hi-rez photography of the Earth.
Thomas Surrland's Homepage - Features blueprints of cars, planes, ships and more.
Anatomy Reference for Artists
Logotypes - a good source for corporate logos.
NOAA Photo Library - Images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

 


back to top

Careers in 3D

Career Advice from Carlos Baena - Some thoughts on pursuing work after graduating from animation school.
How to Get a Job in Computer Animation - an interview with Ed Harriss, author of a book by the same name.
AnimationMentor.com - a new online school for animators taught by professionals working at studios like Pixar, ILM and PDI. Yours Truly is an instructor!
Pixar Jobs FAQ - some good advice for animators looking for work at Pixar or another animation studio.
CG Channel: Jobs - Various services for job seekers and employers.
CG Talk Forums: Employment - Listings for employers seeking artists and vice versa.
Animation School Database - A research tool like no other...over 440 schools in 37 countries.
Animation School Advice - From animator Carlos Baena.
Gnomon School of Visual Effects - Just that. It's in Los Angeles, so they have working pros instructing courses.
DemoReels.com - an interesting resource for posting and viewing reels and hopefully getting some work!
Job Hunting 101 - Courtesy of TheScratchpost.com.
Demo Reels: Professional Perspectives - Advice on putting together demo reels of your work for job-seeking.
3D Career Demystified - Interviews with top 3D professionals who reveal the truth about working in the industry. Is it for your?
Industry and Jobs - A good resource provided by 3DRender.com.

 

back to top

Miscellaneous

After Effects Tips - a collection of small tutorials for creating neat effects in Adobe After Effects, provided by ayato@web

 

back to top