Inspired 3D Short Film Production [Paperback]

Jeremy Cantor (Author), Pepe Valencia (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 10, 2004 | ISBN-10: 1592001173 | ISBN-13: 978-1592001170 | Edition: 1

This book brilliantly guides readers, using colorful images and step-by-step instructions, through all aspects of creating a digital short film, from the development stage (story, character design, animatics), through the production process (animation, camera direction, lighting), as well as the post-production phase (editing, submitting to festivals and contests). By the time readers complete "Inspired 3D Short Film Production", they will have received an overview of all the steps involved in creating a digital short, as well as having witnessed the production of a student's short film from concept through completion. Co-Author Jeremy Cantor's latest CG short film, "Squaring Off" will be featured in "North America's Best Animated Shorts" (DVD collection) scheduled for release this Spring. Co-Author Pepe Valencia is currently lending his character animation skills to "Tadpole," 'Sony Imageworks' second animated CG short. An exciting companion DVD features several student and professional animated shorts, and includes examples performed in the book's tutorials. "Inspired 3D Short Film Production" provides budding filmmakers with the necessary inspiration, examples, and pipeline suggestions to help them turn their story ideas into reality through the medium of the 3D animated CG short.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jeremy Cantor dropped out of his Computer Science/ Math/ Pre-Med studies in the mid 1980s and ran away to art school, hoping to never touch a computer again. Jeremy "made the jump to light speed" when he landed a job as a lead creature animator on Starship Troopers (Academy Award Nominee for Visual Effects) at Tippett Studios in Berkeley. He stayed at Tippett for a few years, helping with the animation supervision on Disney's My Favorite Martian and several other film demos and pre-production sequences. In the fall of 1998, Jeremy returned to Los Angeles as Sony Imageworks' Animation & Character Setup Supervisor on the Academy Award nominated "Hollow Man" (Best Visual Effects). Recently he has worked as a lead animator on "Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Evolution". Currently, Jeremy is the Art & Animation director on "Full Spectrum Warrior", a console based training simulation project for the U.S. Army, on which he is responsible for all visual assets and animation-related tools programming. He also teaches CG Character Animation at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, and his latest CG short film, "Squaring Off" will be featured in "North America’s Best Animated Shorts" (DVD collection) scheduled for release this Spring.

Pepe Valencia has been at Sony Pictures Imageworks since 1996 where he was recently supervising the animation on "Charlie’s Angels 2". Previous projects at Sony include: "Stuart Little", "Stuart Little 2", "Charlie’s Angels", "Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone", "Hollowman", "Godzilla", "Starship Troopers", & "Snow Falling on Cedars". Before joining Sony, he worked at Cinesite as a Technical Director on Space Jam and at a number of smaller production houses. Previous to that, he spent five years animating and lighting TV Commercials. His independent work has been shown at SIGGRAPH ’90, Imagina 92, Art Futura 92, and Cannes ’94. He served as a member of the Short Animated Films jury for the 2001 ASIFA Annie Awards and has written articles for "Cinevideo 20" and "Campana". He has lectured at the Reina Sofia Art Center, the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and taught courses at the Centro Monserrat and the Gnomon School of Visual Effects. In addition to a strong background in both the visual arts and computer technology, he brings to animation a breadth of experience in theater including four years with TEC in Madrid. Pepe teaches the Digital Shorts Workshop at the California Institute of the Arts and is currently lending his character animation skills to Tadpole, Sony Imageworks’ second animated CG short film.

Product Details

• Paperback: 470 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 1 edition (June 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592001173
• ISBN-13: 978-1592001170
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 9.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #297,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but too much spend on things better covered in another book, August 20, 2005

By 

J. Jolton "CG Addict" (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inspired 3D Short Film Production (Paperback)

I love the case studies in this book, as well as the format of using a workflow to structure the book, much as a project might be. But the authors spend too much time on story and character, material which is better covered in books dedicated to the subject (and written to hold your interest a little more as well). While the importance of these elements is significant and must not be overlooked, this is not why I bought this book. I would have been more satisfied had the space been used for more interviews and case studies (where an emphasis could have been placed on the storytelling). Other than that, I found the book inspirational and very helpful in encouraging my own ambitions towards making a short CG film - I especially appreciated how it stayed away from the platform and software wars, and focused on the things that just about every platform and software can (or should be able to) do.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Totally fantastic!, May 13, 2007

By 

go vegan - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Inspired 3D Short Film Production (Paperback)

This book has everything you need to know about making a short 3D film. (I'm making one about a box turtle (I love turtles!) and a butterfly using Hexagon and Carrara.) The CD containing 39 short films is icing on the cake. This book makes the best kind of teacher - you don't just learn from it, but are inspired by it!

17 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Covers every aspect of Short Film production., July 7, 2004

By 

Jim Stavropoulos "jims2575" (San Pedro, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inspired 3D Short Film Production (Paperback)

"Inspired 3D Short Film Production" covers every aspect of the short-film production pipeline, demonstrating each concept and technique through a combination of general theories, examples, exercises, case studies, and interviews with short-film directors and industry specialists. Full of amazing imagery and one-of-a-kind content, "Inspired 3D Short Film Production" is a must-read book for current and future animated filmmakers.

It's really well laid out to keep it interesting. Easy to read. Easy to learn. Lots of great information. Five out of Five stars.