"Get Behind the Scenes; be inspired at the Walt Disney animation Studio"
A group of ETC Silicon Valley students and faculty was invited to participate in the Disney Animation Studio's "Get Behind the Scenes" Event on April 3rd. The ETC-SV folks had such an amazing time at Disney Animation Studio.
Disney presented a full day of inspirational lectures on how they create the 'magic' for feature films.
In the morning session, the ETC students heard great presentations about Disney's film making process. The day started off with Directors Dave Goetz and Dan Cooper doing a session on Art Direction. 3D Visual Effects Supervisor Steve Goldberg talked about the 3D Animation Pipeline. Then, to finish the morning session, 2D Visual Effects Supervisors Kyle Odermatt and Jenni MacGee Cook presented on the Classic 2D Animation Pipeline, and Production Management.
In the afternoon, there were two tracks from which the students could choose, "CG track : What inspires You?" and "2D Hand Drawn Animation : What Inspires You?" – most of the SV folks participated on CG track. There, we heard presentations about what it's like to work on animated feature films from three different perspectives. Animator -- Wayne Unten, TD -- Heather Pritchett, and Modeler / Sculptor – Dan Platt who has done tremendous sculpture and modeling for many movies and showed us his portfolio. (http://tinyurl.com/3l2dcd)
Finally, we had a chance to tour the Disney Animation Studio to close the day.
The event was a lot of fun, and it was definitely worth our day trip from Silicon Valley to Burbank. The SV folks got a lot of inspiration from the events. Not only the great presentations, but the students' feedback session was also spectacular.
Disney also announced their summer internship program, "Talent Development & Associate Programs". This program is a great opportunity to look behind the scenes and experience the process. http://corporate.disney.go.com/careers/walt_disney_animation_studios_int...
CMU's Johnny Lee gave a talk on his Wiimote research at TED2008.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/245
ETC TO BE FEATURED IN NEW WQED RICK SEBAK DOCUMENTARY IN HONOR OF PITTSBURGH’S 250 TH ANNIVERSARY
Rick Sebak is a great storyteller. Over the last two decades, his documentaries about the history of the Pittsburgh region and his national shows about such varied topics like market houses, amusement parks, hot dogs, flea markets and sandwiches have endeared him to a national audience. We’re very lucky to have Rick here in Pittsburgh and producing at WQED.
ETC Japan Official Opening a Major Media Event for Osaka
The official opening of ETC-Japan, Osaka served as a major media event featuring the glitterati and power brokers of Japanese politics, business, and culture from throughout Japan’s second largest city. Guests observed the breadth of ETC projects as represented by posters from ETC projects old and new. They were also feted to the visual feast that is the work of Burton Morris as Carnegie Mellon alumnus Burton Morris donated signed artwork for hanging in ETC-Japan.
Represented first and foremost by Osaka Mayor Kunio Hiramatsu, and joined in remarks by United States Consul General Daniel Russel, both men graciously welcomed the ETC to Osaka and expressed hope the ETC’s presence would ultimately spur on a surge of entrepreneurial thinking on par with what has occurred in Pittsburgh.
ETC-Japan Visits CyLab Kobe
Carnegie Mellon collegiality was on full display last week as students and faculty from ETC-Osaka traveled to Kobe to visit the facilities of Cylab-Japan. Located approximately one hour from Osaka via train, the ETCers were treated to a stimulating presentation on the history and mission of Cylab Japan by Program Director, Shizuo Asogawa.
Afterwards there was a brief presentation about the ETC, a Q&A about each other’s programs, and a meet and greet between the nine students of Cylab Kobe, the five students of ETC-Japan, and the assembled faculty. Finally we toured the handsome and fully equipped facilities of Cylab Kobe with stunning views of the Port of Kobe and the city and mountains.
Next, there was a quick tour of Mosaic, a mall on the waterfront overlooking the Kobe Port Tower with many restaurants, shops and entertainment venues.
