A Fantastic Animation - Omelette

http://vimeo.com/65107797

Omelette Review
*****

I was a little curious when a friend of mine, Sean Daily, sent me this link via Skype. I now know why he sent it to me. This animation is fantastic. It has no spoken parts so people from any country speaking any language can enjoy it. The term "man's best friend" is a literal truth in this animation about a man and his dog. I will admit I don't know much about the animation or its creator, Madeline Sharafian, but the style appears to be traditional animation in which the animator literally draws each frame. This may have been done digitally to save time, I'm not sure, but it is still truly impressive. I would encourage any animal lover or animator to watch this, but I would also encourage anyone interested in animation to watch this and enjoy it is a good animation and a good story. I rated this a 5 our of 5 because it shows a tremendous amount of skill and has a great story.

Stop-Motion Magic

Stop-Motion Magic
*****

This animation blew me away. The music is fitting and the animation is flawless. Stop-Motion, or stop-mo, is a style of animation in which a video is created by taking individual pictures and putting them together to form a video. This generates an intended "glitchy" effect. This animation doesn't tell a specific story but there is plenty of interaction and emotion. I honestly can't say enough about this animation. The title says it better than I ever could. Stop-Motion Magic. I rated this a 5 out of 5 for its stunningly great style and smooth transitions.

Evangelion 2.0 Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVZz9VGKhFY

Sean Daily's Commercial For Evangelion 2.0
****^

Sean Daily is one of my good friends and a game design student at Dakota State University. He created this piece over one month and I think it turned out fantastically. The animation is a little over one minute long and helps peak an interest in the movie without giving away any real spoilers. The tower effect is nice and it's pretty fluid. The only real problem is that towards the end there is a small volume spike that seems to come out of nowhere and disappears just as quickly. Overall I really liked the animation style and would encourage people to check out his work. For more from Sean Daily you can check out his Youtube channel here. I rated this animation a 4.5 out of 5 for its uniqueness and design but unfortunate volume spike.

A Short Animation from a Friend

A Review of My Friend, Cameron Gates', Inception Intro Project.
****

Cameron is a student at Dakota State University as well. This animation is only about 10 seconds long but it is a good piece. The font is readable and interesting. The zoom out was smooth. My favorite part is the lighting that makes it seem like the top is spinning. The reflective surface does the trick very well. As a short piece there isn't much to say but I feel he did a good job and that this piece demonstrates a certain amount of skill. I think he will do fantastic things in the animation field. I rated this a 4 out of 5 for the good skill but short length.

The Fantastic SoDak Animation Festival

SoDak Animation Festival
*****
The SoDak Animation Festival is an annual festival held in Brookings, South Dakota on the SDSU campus. Animators from all over the country submit short animations to show to viewers. There are also speakers that come in to talk about their animations and their process. This year's festival is October 17-19. There is a small cover fee to get in, but it has historically been a mere $5 per person. Any animator from any category should go to this festival if they want to submit any projects or learn from experts. Every festival will help an animator's career and, from personal experience, much can be learned from the SoDak animation festival.
Even if you aren't an animator,if you live in the mid-west, you should go to this festival as it is quite fun and very inexpensive. I would rate the SoDak Animation Festival a 5 out of 5 for its ease of access, inexpensive entrance, approachability of animators, and amazing content.

The Benefits of Dragonframe for Stop-Motion Animators

Dragonframe
***

Much like the adobe products this tool can be instrumental in an animators toolkit. It is limited in that it was created for stop motion animation only but, unlike the adobe products, it is relatively inexpensive as a software. The equipment to use the software can get expensive so I would strongly recommend doing your homework on the features you will specifically require. If you have no intention of doing stop motion, then I would not recommend this software at all, as the other softwares like After Effects will do the job better. From personal experience this software is simple to learn, and very powerful. Overall, I would rate this product as a 3 out of 5 for its limited functions and cost of tools but its simplicity and ability to render a stop motion animation with ease.

Adobe Illustrator: A Vector Art Life Saver

Adobe Illustrator
***

This Adobe product is different from others in that it primarily works in vector art. This means that while you are building your work any zoom you do does not pixilate your work. A straight line will look like a straight line and a curved line will be a smooth curved line. This means you can also adjust the size of anything you've created without losing quality. When you save the work as a picture, like a .jpg or a .png for example, it will lose this ability but it does mean that you can make the image larger within Illustrator before saving which will up the quality of a larger image, as opposed to stretching it later. The tools are a little less user friendly than other adobe products at first. They will take some getting used to, but are powerful once learned. Like the other products I strongly recommend the trial version before a purchase. The trial and full product can be found here. Overall I would rate this product a 3 out of 5. It is very powerful for an animator or graphic designer but is expensive and less user friendly initially which can be frustrating for a first time user.

Adobe Flash Pro: The Go To Software for Flash Animators

Adobe Flash Pro CS6
****

Much like After Effects this program has plenty of features to entice both the professional animator as well as the average Joe that wants to make a simple animation for any reason. Flash Pro has a code language called Action Script. This can seem a little daunting at first, as many animators don't know much about coding at first. Action Script is, luckily, very helpful in that regard. It uses fairly logical commands like onClick(do function) which makes it easier to learn than some other coding languages. There is also a system which allows the user to go through a list of functions to help build the code initially. There are also countless tutorials that, besides the ones I will post, are just a google search away. Besides the coding process this program functions similarly to other adobe products. It has basic shape tools as well as a few more advanced options to build anything from a circle that flies across the screen to a ninja jumping from building to building. The simple user interface and ability to quickly learn the functions makes this a must have for any animator. Like other Adobe products however, it is somewhat expensive but definitely worth the cost. I would recommend downloading the trial before the product itself and both can be found here. Overall I would rate this product a solid 4 out of 5 for its simplicity and look as well as for the unfortunately high price. 

Adobe After Effects: The Best Software for Animators and Movie Makers

Adobe After Effects
****

This is a program that I often use. It has tools for most of the types of animations people use. It isn't necessarily the best at all types but it is very versatile. It accepts footage and stills, with options of creating content within the program as well. There are quite a few tools for doing anything from color correction to green screening. It costs a fair bit of money but if you are planning to be a serious animator this is a program you should own. There is a free trial period to help you decide if this is the program for you. You can find the download for both here. Overall I would rate this program a 4 out of 5 for it's great versatility but unfortunate cost.