Story Board Test Page

[Gil Russell]

Hi All,

The following image is from a development project intended to help automate the story boarding process for animated movies and the like. What's interesting is that it can be easily adapted to graphic novels and their anime derivatives. Computational tools for this type of development are fairly phenomenal in their abilities to help the story teller with the graphics end of the telling. And yes the horizontal fins are missing from the Zeppelin..., not to worry it's all in the story...,

-Gil Russell

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/2787/islandrendezvous34pe.jpg

[Charles Adams]

WOW! Looks great! But not quite sure I understand. When you say "development project" do you mean you are working on software for storyboarding, or is this is a film you are involved with?

[Gil Russell]

Hi Charles,

This part of the project was to find a way to accelerate the story boarding process as part of the overall production process. It's important to have an art style that sets the look and feel of the overall production. The fact is that non-photorealistic rendering has an appeal that is lost with the current over production through photo realistic rendering and allows the story to be told not rendered. Non-photo realistic rendering requires many times less computation time making it viable for small production houses to produce feature length animations. Answering your question directly, yes I am involved in this film project and several others. I do not plan to develop software but only to use the available packages in imaginative ways to tell the story. Did I tell you it's an artform?

-Gil Russell

[Charles Adams]

Wow! So are you a freelance artist/designer? Sounds like a fascinating project! :D

I am a freelance artist and designer myself. When I was called on to illustrate a childrens book some years ago, I had to find a way to deliver a bunch of custom artwork on time and on budget. Taking the time to draw/paint every detail simply would not have worked. So I developed a digital workflow to get the job done, yet I drew all the elements myself from scratch (on paper).

I really like the possibilities of combining digital tools/techniques with traditional or fine art. It seems so many artists these days stick with one approach or the other, but I have enjoyed combining both ever since I got my first Mac back in 1992. . .

:cheers:

[Gil Russell]

Hi Charles,

Yeah, you might call me that. I just need the right art to tell a good story. I know it when I see it. It seems to take a long time finding the right art though. ArtMaster by FO2Pix (http://www.fo2pix.com/main.php) really shortens the search cycle though. Take a look at this package and tell me what you think of it...,

-Gil Russell

[Charles Adams]

Very interesting! That looks like an advanced version of the "filters" that Photoshop uses to turn photos into art. I remember when a company first came out with such a filter package (I bought it). Shortly thereafter Adobe incorporated those filters into Photoshop itself.

I can only imagine that other companies have advanced the art of these filters and this program is one example of that. Just as specialized programs exist to generate complex mattes (masks) automatically (something else you can do manually in Photoshop), specialized programs like this help people turn photos into art more easily.

I'm sure something like this would be perfect for you in a production environment where you don't have time to experiment and tweak things until they are right. You need to get the look you're going for as quickly and easily as possible. So you need all the tools you can afford to make that happen.

I've been out of the loop on the "latest/greatest" in the graphics industry since I took a break from doing this kind of work full time a few years ago (I'm back at it now though). You might check with some of the graphic design sites or magazines to see reviews and determine the best toolset in which to invest.

Hope that helps!

[Gil Russell]

Hi Charles,

The best way to check something out is to find someone who actually has to use it in a production environment. That's when all the warts will show up. I have a lot of contact in the industry which have been very good to me in terms of giving the heads up on problem apps. Most use a maze of apps in production which is what I've come to expect as standard practice. Each seems to have a forte and if it has good export/import capability it can be worked into the flow, if not it's junk. A lot of the houses are really cautious about accepting anything new into the stable and with good reason. I have a little more lattitude in the selection as we are at the stage where we can experiment with the formula a little before the mustard needs cutting. ArtMaster isn't really an adobe filter plugin but a stand alone app intended to produce non-photorealistic art and it does that extraordinarily well. You can use the packaged wizards to do the work of turning a photograph into an art piece or do it manually recording the work process as a new wizard. It's directed toward photographers who are looking for an income boost by moonlighting in the portrait art area. Which is interesting because that's not the use I plan for it. So much for product market identification...,

Best, Gil Russell