Flash will almost certainly get the Adobe Workover(TM), which means a shiny new interface. Given how bad Flash's interface is, this might actually be a good thing. I actually hope they'll integrate some of Livemotion's interface in there, such as After Effect style timelines and easy paths. This might be the best result of the whole buy out.
*pumps fist* YESSSS! I knew this buyout would be a good thing! Flash's interface has long been annoyingly bad, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. A lot of studios that develop animated TV shows are using Flash, and the program can be an absolute nightmare to use compared to the likes of After Effects.
I'm wishing for a special version of Flash suitable for such productions, but it's still too early to pin my hopes on such a thing actually materializing...
I believe you're talking about the Chocobo Racing patch, which is at Qhimm.
However, I've had to install a couple of codec-related patches to get FF7's FMVs working in WinXP; here's a direct link to the details at NT Compatible: http://www.ntcompatible.com/cdetail5701.html
Well, it being the opener of a children's film festival, I didn't object to them humoring such questions for the most part (if it was a serious animation festival like Ottawa or Annecy, that would be a different story). And for the record, I like anything Otomo does that involves steampunk better than Akira:)
Well, as far as the Ghibli films go, there's a very simple explanation for that: Disney doesn't have merchandising rights for them. Think of how much more they'd promote the likes of Spirited Away if they did, not to mention get the damned films on DVD faster.
...this past Saturday at the Directors' Guild theater in NYC. Mr. Otomo was supposed to be there for a Q&A after the show, but he fell ill; the film's animation director (Shinji Takagi) and producer (Shinji Komori) took his place.
Overall, though it was not the best thing I'd ever seen, it was quite good. Although certain stylistic touches reminiscent of Akira are present, the overall tone of the work reminded me far more of the Otomo-directed segments in Robot Carnival and Memories-- a very good thing, believe me. The story is okay, yet (pleasantly) surprisingly Miyazaki-esque (I was reminded in particular of Laputa and Kiki's Delivery Service), and some scenes, especially toward the end, are outright spectacular in their composition and sense of imagination. The use of CG in the film also brought Miyazaki to mind, as the techniques used are much the same as those employed in Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.
The print was crisp and the dubbing was on par with Disney's work on the Ghibli films. Sony Pictures did a great job in preparing this for American audiences, IMHO-- at least as good as their work with The Triplets of Belleville.
My only gripes about the film concern the sound mix (way too loud in certain scenes-- as in, action movie loud-- for my tastes) and some of the editing decisions (there were a few jarring cuts, and more that a few that felt way too short. Long, lingering cuts are a strong point of Otomo's; as it seems, the opposite can hold true for his short cuts).
Aside from those gripes, I enjoyed it, and one can definately see the ten years' worth of work (six spent in animation!) on the screen.
P.S.- One of the questions asked after the screening were about whether or not there would be a sequel or a spinoff TV series; Mr. Komori and Mr. Takagi would neither confirm nor deny it, only saying that there's been some discussion about it. Hmm...
I never expected such an announcement (then, I never expected Scholastic to republish Bone in color, either). This almost makes up for the loss of Sam & Max 2.
That's what we're planning on doing. And thanks for the advice about taking the iBook in without powering down; makes a lot of sense, but admittedly, I wouldn't have thought about that.
Deal is, with the Logic Board Issue (which I am also an unlucky victim of), I've been told that the whole board needs replacing, and was quoted an approximate price of $600. I certainly hope what you say is true, though.
This was on the second time I had video problems, and before we figured out it was the Logic Board Issue. Once we did, we brought it back to the Genius Bar and told them we think it's the Logic Board Issue, and they took it with no complaints-- but the iBook recently came back without repairs because the repair center couldn't "replicate the problem". Arrgh -_-
*nods* I'm still on FFX-2 myself (doing some last-minute side missions at the moment), and after that, the next FF in the series I want to play is FFVI (I've played all the games in the series from FFV on, save for FFXI and FFTA).
I'm usually playing an earlier FF when the new one comes out, so I usually get said new ones fairly cheap later on as well;)
like an RPG with female heroes that doesn't focus on changing clothing
(laughs) I know exactly the game you're talking about, which I'm currently playing and enjoying immensely. I've also played an earlier game in said series (the fifth installment, actually) where the battle system was centered around "changing clothes", and the playable characters consist of two guys and three girls. Oh, and one of the girls was a fairly androgynous pirate captain. I agree that the former game can be rather cheesy, but the battle system is nearly as brilliant as the latter game's. In short, though I see your point, I think perhaps you're oversimplifying a little...
Oh don't worry. I noticed that the submitter of this story used his (unmunged) email address. If my experience is anything to go by, his inbox should be filling up with Nigerian spam in no time. Wouldn't be surprised to see it fill with flames as well, in this case:P
Good point. Same goes for wikis too, of course (unless there's a way to just block the page histories-- and no, I haven't RTFA yet to see if there is one).
Also: Final Fantasy XII, Kingdom Hearts 2, and Dragon Warrior VIII = Square Enix. Xenosaga 2 = third game in a series whose original installment was published by Square (yes, I'm counting Xenogears).
That's just one game, though... and one that began as being exclusive to a single platform. There's games like that in every console generation (Grand Theft Auto III in this current one).
I too don't agree that CRPG sales are "negligable" (unless he means tactical RPGs), but certainly, most non-Final Fantasy/Square Enix RPGs aren't nearly as big as your average, annually-released sports game.
I've seen "mook" used quite a bit for some high-quality Japanese magazines. For instance, I own a limited-edition Hobby Japan mook-- it's thin, but has glossy paper and high-end-paperback quality covers (like those you'd find on a graphic novel).
It seems that O'Reilly has borrowed the term from the Japanese publishing industry and have applied it to their own new magazine series. Funny thing is that I didn't make the "magazine + book" connection until now o_O;
You're right in that rotoscoping is an animation technique, but it's also one of the most boring ones out there (I point to the late-70s Bakshi films as evidence).
The most effective use of this technique that I've ever seen (in a feature film) is in An American Tale, where the humans were rotoscoped (perhaps to distance them from the fully-animated mice, cats, and birds). Unfortunately, not too many know how to really take advantage of this technique, and end up overdoing it.
One thing to keep in mind is that although rotoscoping wasn't used in any of the Disney features after Snow White, the animators would occasionally use live-action reference films (I know such films were shot for Cinderella, 101 Dalmatians, and Sleeping Beauty, among others).
The main thing to note here is that they will fuck up the movie. There is no way they can be honest to the spirit of the novel and get the movie distributed in the malls of America.
Well, from what I understand, Waking Life was hardly multiplex fare either...
It's been out for quite a bit longer, considering that it's basically the same as the one from the Tokyo Game Show. The only difference here is in quality (as in, it's not from a camcorder).
I believe you're referring to the version ripped from the Young GANGAN promo DVD, which became available in Japan on Dec. 3. However, the trailer has only been up at the official AC website since this past Friday.
Slashdot Mirror
*pumps fist* YESSSS! I knew this buyout would be a good thing! Flash's interface has long been annoyingly bad, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. A lot of studios that develop animated TV shows are using Flash, and the program can be an absolute nightmare to use compared to the likes of After Effects.
I'm wishing for a special version of Flash suitable for such productions, but it's still too early to pin my hopes on such a thing actually materializing...
</baffled>
However, I've had to install a couple of codec-related patches to get FF7's FMVs working in WinXP; here's a direct link to the details at NT Compatible: http://www.ntcompatible.com/cdetail5701.html
...and as for Harryhausen, his successful works inspired people like Spielberg and Lucas to make their own films.
Well, it being the opener of a children's film festival, I didn't object to them humoring such questions for the most part (if it was a serious animation festival like Ottawa or Annecy, that would be a different story). And for the record, I like anything Otomo does that involves steampunk better than Akira :)
Well, as far as the Ghibli films go, there's a very simple explanation for that: Disney doesn't have merchandising rights for them. Think of how much more they'd promote the likes of Spirited Away if they did, not to mention get the damned films on DVD faster.
Overall, though it was not the best thing I'd ever seen, it was quite good. Although certain stylistic touches reminiscent of Akira are present, the overall tone of the work reminded me far more of the Otomo-directed segments in Robot Carnival and Memories-- a very good thing, believe me. The story is okay, yet (pleasantly) surprisingly Miyazaki-esque (I was reminded in particular of Laputa and Kiki's Delivery Service), and some scenes, especially toward the end, are outright spectacular in their composition and sense of imagination. The use of CG in the film also brought Miyazaki to mind, as the techniques used are much the same as those employed in Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.
The print was crisp and the dubbing was on par with Disney's work on the Ghibli films. Sony Pictures did a great job in preparing this for American audiences, IMHO-- at least as good as their work with The Triplets of Belleville.
My only gripes about the film concern the sound mix (way too loud in certain scenes-- as in, action movie loud-- for my tastes) and some of the editing decisions (there were a few jarring cuts, and more that a few that felt way too short. Long, lingering cuts are a strong point of Otomo's; as it seems, the opposite can hold true for his short cuts).
Aside from those gripes, I enjoyed it, and one can definately see the ten years' worth of work (six spent in animation!) on the screen.
P.S.- One of the questions asked after the screening were about whether or not there would be a sequel or a spinoff TV series; Mr. Komori and Mr. Takagi would neither confirm nor deny it, only saying that there's been some discussion about it. Hmm...
I never expected such an announcement (then, I never expected Scholastic to republish Bone in color, either). This almost makes up for the loss of Sam & Max 2.
That's what we're planning on doing. And thanks for the advice about taking the iBook in without powering down; makes a lot of sense, but admittedly, I wouldn't have thought about that.
This was on the second time I had video problems, and before we figured out it was the Logic Board Issue. Once we did, we brought it back to the Genius Bar and told them we think it's the Logic Board Issue, and they took it with no complaints-- but the iBook recently came back without repairs because the repair center couldn't "replicate the problem". Arrgh -_-
I'm usually playing an earlier FF when the new one comes out, so I usually get said new ones fairly cheap later on as well ;)
That might negate the sarcasm though; after all, the OP could've mentioned FFX-2 by name...
(laughs) I know exactly the game you're talking about, which I'm currently playing and enjoying immensely. I've also played an earlier game in said series (the fifth installment, actually) where the battle system was centered around "changing clothes", and the playable characters consist of two guys and three girls. Oh, and one of the girls was a fairly androgynous pirate captain. I agree that the former game can be rather cheesy, but the battle system is nearly as brilliant as the latter game's. In short, though I see your point, I think perhaps you're oversimplifying a little...
Oh don't worry. I noticed that the submitter of this story used his (unmunged) email address. If my experience is anything to go by, his inbox should be filling up with Nigerian spam in no time. Wouldn't be surprised to see it fill with flames as well, in this case :P
Good point. Same goes for wikis too, of course (unless there's a way to just block the page histories-- and no, I haven't RTFA yet to see if there is one).
Point still stands.
I realize the RPG market in Japan is huge, but I was talking about N. America. Sorry I didn't make that clear...
I too don't agree that CRPG sales are "negligable" (unless he means tactical RPGs), but certainly, most non-Final Fantasy/Square Enix RPGs aren't nearly as big as your average, annually-released sports game.
It seems that O'Reilly has borrowed the term from the Japanese publishing industry and have applied it to their own new magazine series. Funny thing is that I didn't make the "magazine + book" connection until now o_O;
The most effective use of this technique that I've ever seen (in a feature film) is in An American Tale, where the humans were rotoscoped (perhaps to distance them from the fully-animated mice, cats, and birds). Unfortunately, not too many know how to really take advantage of this technique, and end up overdoing it.
One thing to keep in mind is that although rotoscoping wasn't used in any of the Disney features after Snow White, the animators would occasionally use live-action reference films (I know such films were shot for Cinderella, 101 Dalmatians, and Sleeping Beauty, among others).
Well, from what I understand, Waking Life was hardly multiplex fare either...
I believe you're referring to the version ripped from the Young GANGAN promo DVD, which became available in Japan on Dec. 3. However, the trailer has only been up at the official AC website since this past Friday.
"Devil May Cry" Dante, I'm guessing.
And the VG Cats link!