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A.i.Solve describes itself as "an Artificial Intelligence Solutions provider bringing together the best in AI, VR & MR products and solutions". We asked Cristian to tell us a little about the new position, what is involved, and how he secured that crucial first job in the animation industry.  Cristian Pall...with cucumbers What is your new job? My new job as a 3D Artist and Animator with A.i. Solve Limited.  I will be creating assets and props that go in the environments, and creatures that will give a good scare once headsets are put on! Also, I will be responsible of rigging and animating the characters I create – which is super awesome. How did you get the job? I had been preparing for this job since childhood without even knowing it. I have studied Fine Arts in high-school and University, and although I’ve spent most of my spare time playing games as a teenager and young adult, the idea of making a career as a games artist only came to me afte...

VIEW panel. From left: Amy Smith, Giorgio Xhaxho, Alex Williams, Tiffany Feeney, Angie Wojak What do Animation recruiters look for from recent graduates?  How do they find fresh talent? At last week's VIEW conference in Turin I was invited onto a recruitment panel hosted by New York's School of Visual Arts (SVA). Also on the panel were two recruiters, Amy Smith from Framestore and Tiffany Feeney of Talent Outpost, an independent recruitment agency based in Switzerland.  Both of them had a lot to say on the subject of student demo reels. But most of all, it turns out that recruiters want one thing from animation graduates... Be on Linkedin Both Amy and Tiffany stressed the importance of students and recent graduates being on Linkedin. As Tiffany put it: "I live on Linkedin" . Linkedin is where recruiters go to find talent, and find out what talent is now available - or will be available soon.  Above all, Linkedin is "your brand", a...

Registration is still open for the Blue GFX Expo taking place tomorrow in London on Thursday 9th November 2017 . We're encouraging all our students in the London area to  attend this excellent (and free!) event. What's BlueGFX Expo all about? BlueGFX Expo is a superb opportunity to learn about the latest developments in our industry. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet industry folks and try out the latest products.  This year speakers include Tom Box from Blue Zoo, one of the UK's biggest TV animation companies, Stuart Penn from Framestore, and experts from Autodesk showing the latest tools. For animation students, this is a great chance to catch up with new technology and meet in person people from the UK's top animation and visual effects houses. You can see the full agenda below: Recruiters BlueGFX Expo is always well-attended by recruiters from London's animation and VFX houses, scouting for talent. Having the opportunity to mee...

Panel Forge Pro, extensively tested at Blue Zoo on Miffy the Rabbit and Digby Dragon , makes use of 3D Layouts to save time in Storyboarding, allowing board artists to use low resolution 3D assets to help set up camera angles and layouts.  Good news then for storyboard artists, who can now learn to use this new software for free. Problem solving Panel Forge is all about solving problems. And the biggest problem with storyboarding is you have to do too much all at once. Board artists have to deal with drawing sets and layouts (drawing in perspective), designing camera angles accurately and - all at the same time - describing the action of the shot and also expressing the character's emotions and feelings. It's a lot to do, all at the same time. Solving Layout problems up front Storyboard artists use the 3D layout tools to set up their shots right from the start - thus saving time in storyboarding - because the 3D layout problems have been solved in the beginn...

Finding Nemo Colour Script. Colour Scripts are an important part of the animation process; they allow the director to get a feel for what the movie will look like, long before the animation and lighting is complete. Sequence by sequence, and even shot by shot, colour stylists (i.e. painters) plan the mood and look of the film as part of the pre-production process. Of course, animators rarely dig deep into the initial look development of a project, and don't usually get called upon to do colour work like this. But for animators working on their own short film projects (and isn't that most of us?) an understanding of colour theory, and how to achieve an attractive colour palette, is essential. And, as so often in our industry, Pixar leads the way.

Mental Ray 3D Render Mental Ray used to come bundled free with Autodesk Maya and, until recently, have released a version of their software which is free for student use. This was good news for animation students, because Mental Ray has a number of advantages over its successor Arnold.  In particular, you can achieve some very quick and attractive lighting setups in Mental ray using Physical Sun & Sky, the closest thing Maya has to a "Make It Look Cool" button.  This can be done in just a few quick steps - and gets a great result in a hurry.

Where can animators find useful live action reference? Reference is often a necessary starting point for producing believable animation. Of course, YouTube is a great resource, but it can be hard to find what you want, and you may need to dig within YouTube to find particular channels that specialise in what you need.  Below is a list of some of the best online resources that we are recommending to find the perfect live action reference. YouTube The most obvious place to look. But, there is lots of material to wade through, and plenty of it isn't suitable for one reason or another. The Animator's Resource Kit The great blog that we're recommending to our students for all kinds of stuff. It has useful posts on books to buy, jobs to apply for, rigs that work, and links to other sites like video reference material for download. Overall, it's a great site - well worth checking out. You and your camera Of course, nothing beats shooting your own reference. If ...