155 years ago Nikola Tesla was born. His bold experiments, mind-boggling discoveries, and startling innovations changed our understanding of electricity forever. If he had been born 75 years later, when the first electric guitar was made, would we now be playing rock music on a bolt of lightning?
I like to think so.
As seen in Pete Oswald's artwork from Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Nikola Tesla is a rockstar scientist -- or perhaps the rockstar scientist.
I wish Sony Pictures Animation would get the hint, and make these posters available for purchase. Flint shouldn't be the only one allowed to hang it in his bedroom. Man, do I want one!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Crab * Krabo
A while back, I was looking for a short project to refamiliarize myself with Adobe Flash. Then my roommate brought home some beer from the local Crabtree Brewing Company. The little tree crab on their logo caught my eye:

Although there are a few glitches with the build, and the animation leaves room for improvement, I'm relatively pleased with the result, given the small investment of time. To view it, visit the Crabtree Brewing website. Comments, as always, are welcome.
Antaŭ iom da tempo, mi serĉis etan projekton por refreŝigi mian konon de la softvaro Adobe Flash. Mia kunloĝanto hejmen portis bieron de loka bierfabrikejo (Crabtree Brewing Company). La eta arbokrabo kaptis mian atenton:
Kvankam estas kelkaj eraretoj en ĝia konstruo, kaj pli bona animacio eblas, mi pli-malpli ŝatas la rezulton, konsiderante la malgrandan tempon elspezitan. Por spekti ĝin, vizitu la retejon de Crabtree Brewing. Komentoj, kiel ĉiam, estas bonvenaj.
Simmon Keith Barney is an animator living in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Although there are a few glitches with the build, and the animation leaves room for improvement, I'm relatively pleased with the result, given the small investment of time. To view it, visit the Crabtree Brewing website. Comments, as always, are welcome.
Antaŭ iom da tempo, mi serĉis etan projekton por refreŝigi mian konon de la softvaro Adobe Flash. Mia kunloĝanto hejmen portis bieron de loka bierfabrikejo (Crabtree Brewing Company). La eta arbokrabo kaptis mian atenton:
Kvankam estas kelkaj eraretoj en ĝia konstruo, kaj pli bona animacio eblas, mi pli-malpli ŝatas la rezulton, konsiderante la malgrandan tempon elspezitan. Por spekti ĝin, vizitu la retejon de Crabtree Brewing. Komentoj, kiel ĉiam, estas bonvenaj.
Simmon Keith Barney is an animator living in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Bill Plympton = badass
"IT WAS SO AWESOME! PSHHH! Bill Plympton is a bad ass. Just sayin'. Maybe you can join next time a bad ass animator comes to town."These were the kind words I received in consolation after missing Bill Plympton's visit to Broomfield a week ago. To avoid being shamed as I've been, don't miss Bill Plympton when he comes to your area:
- Portland, OR
- July 18 - POWELL'S BOOKS @ 7:30 PM
- July 19 - Dante's Cabaret from 6 – 10
- San Diego, CA
- July 21-24 - Comic Con
- Check below for additional details & tour dates:
- http://www.plymptoons.com/news/jun_july2010.html
- http://www.plymptoons.com/booktour.html
- http://scribblejunkies.blogspot.com/2010/07/summer-events-salem-comic-con-and-more.html
Simmon Keith Barney is an animator living in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
ToonBoom
Although my film, Ĉapeloj, was animated on paper, the schedule didn't allow time to finish everything traditionally. Once upon a time, one would have to redraw everything with pen and ink onto sheets of acetate, and then fill in those drawings using brushes and acrylic paint. Finally a cameraman would photograph these, stacked seven high, meticulously following paperwork showing which drawings would appear where. This film then had to be developed, edited, and so on and so forth.
Fortunately, a lot of this process is done in the computer nowadays. The pen, paintbrush, and cameraman are replaced by a scanner and software. The software we used at Vancouver Film School was ToonBoom Harmony.
Today I noticed Ĉapeloj is being showcased on the ToonBoom website under the Schools and Students category:

http://www.toonboom.com/showcase/
Kvankam mian filmon, Ĉapeloj, mi animaciis sur papero, la horaro ne permesis tute tradician produkton. Antaŭ multaj jarcentoj, kiam la mondo estis juna, kaj kiam estis drakoj en Eŭropo, kaj kiam estis gigantoj en Azio, oni devis redesegni ĉion per plumo kaj inko sur plastikaj folioj. Poste oni devis pentri inter la inko per broso kaj farbo. Fine kameraisto devis multfoje foti ĉiun desegnaĵon en sepetaĝa fasko, detale sekvante liston da ĉiu kunigaĵo. Sekve oni revelis la fotojn, kunmutis ĉiun scenon, kaj tiel plu, ktp.
Feliĉe, multe da tio estas ĉi-epoke farite per komputilo. La plumon, farbobroson, kameraiston, kaj muntilon anstataŭigas skanilo kaj softvaro. Nia softvaro ĉe la vankuvera filma stud-ejo (VFS) nomiĝas ToonBoom Harmony.
Hodiaŭ mi rimarkis ke Ĉapeloj prezentiĝas ĉe la retejo de ToonBoom sub la kategorio Schools and Students (Lernejoj kaj Studentoj). Por vidi tion, bonvolu klaki sur la supra marko.
Simmon Keith Barney is an animator living in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Fortunately, a lot of this process is done in the computer nowadays. The pen, paintbrush, and cameraman are replaced by a scanner and software. The software we used at Vancouver Film School was ToonBoom Harmony.
Today I noticed Ĉapeloj is being showcased on the ToonBoom website under the Schools and Students category:
http://www.toonboom.com/showcase/
Kvankam mian filmon, Ĉapeloj, mi animaciis sur papero, la horaro ne permesis tute tradician produkton. Antaŭ multaj jarcentoj, kiam la mondo estis juna, kaj kiam estis drakoj en Eŭropo, kaj kiam estis gigantoj en Azio, oni devis redesegni ĉion per plumo kaj inko sur plastikaj folioj. Poste oni devis pentri inter la inko per broso kaj farbo. Fine kameraisto devis multfoje foti ĉiun desegnaĵon en sepetaĝa fasko, detale sekvante liston da ĉiu kunigaĵo. Sekve oni revelis la fotojn, kunmutis ĉiun scenon, kaj tiel plu, ktp.
Feliĉe, multe da tio estas ĉi-epoke farite per komputilo. La plumon, farbobroson, kameraiston, kaj muntilon anstataŭigas skanilo kaj softvaro. Nia softvaro ĉe la vankuvera filma stud-ejo (VFS) nomiĝas ToonBoom Harmony.
Hodiaŭ mi rimarkis ke Ĉapeloj prezentiĝas ĉe la retejo de ToonBoom sub la kategorio Schools and Students (Lernejoj kaj Studentoj). Por vidi tion, bonvolu klaki sur la supra marko.
Simmon Keith Barney is an animator living in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Varsovia Vento
I was recently interviewed by a radio program broadcast out of Warsaw, Polland. We talked about a lot of things including my film, Ĉapeloj, and other projects I plan to tackle in the future. I was nervous at first, but I got over that the more we talked. Although the internet makes it possible to use Esperanto daily, I hadn't actually spoken it aloud in nearly four months. It felt so good.
http://www.podkasto.net/2011/05/05/la-70a-elsendo
Min lastatempe intervjuis Varsovia Vento. Ni parolis pri multaj temoj, inkluzive mian filmon, Ĉapeloj, kaj aliajn projektojn, kiujn mi klopodos realigi. Mi komence sentis min malkomforta, sed trankviliĝis post pli da babilado. Kvankam mi uzas E-on ĉiutage per la interreto, ĝis la intervjuo mi ne voĉe parolis la lingvon dum preskaŭ kvar monatoj. Kia sento!
Simmon Keith Barney is an animator living in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Min lastatempe intervjuis Varsovia Vento. Ni parolis pri multaj temoj, inkluzive mian filmon, Ĉapeloj, kaj aliajn projektojn, kiujn mi klopodos realigi. Mi komence sentis min malkomforta, sed trankviliĝis post pli da babilado. Kvankam mi uzas E-on ĉiutage per la interreto, ĝis la intervjuo mi ne voĉe parolis la lingvon dum preskaŭ kvar monatoj. Kia sento!
Simmon Keith Barney is an animator living in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Plagiarized Portfolio
Recently I met a guy seeking traditional animators. He gave me his card and asked that I send him my demo reel. I rejoiced. It was just the opportunity I was waiting for! Or was it?
Fortunately, I did what every applicant should do before sending a resume and portfolio. I researched the company I was applying for. While exploring the website, I watched his demo reel to get a feel for what I should include in my own. In it I recognized some of the work. At first I was excited. This was clearly a seasoned animator who I could learn a lot from.
But my spidey sense began to tingle. Soon I found myself looking where I first saw the piece of animation I recognized. To my shock and disappointment I found a different animator's name attached to it. So I continued my research. An instructor was able to identify another piece from the reel and gave me the name of the studio. Within an hour of sending an inquiry, the Executive Producer of the studio wrote back to confirm the clip in question (and a dozen others in the reel) did not belong to the artist claiming ownership. Later that day, a handful of scathing comments appeared on the video telling the artist not to steal other people's work. By the next day, the video had been removed.
While I'm disappointed not to be involved in a project that sounded very interesting, I am quite happy not to be working for someone who thinks it's okay to take credit for another artist's work. Good thing I did my research.
Simmon Keith Barney is an animator living in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Fortunately, I did what every applicant should do before sending a resume and portfolio. I researched the company I was applying for. While exploring the website, I watched his demo reel to get a feel for what I should include in my own. In it I recognized some of the work. At first I was excited. This was clearly a seasoned animator who I could learn a lot from.
But my spidey sense began to tingle. Soon I found myself looking where I first saw the piece of animation I recognized. To my shock and disappointment I found a different animator's name attached to it. So I continued my research. An instructor was able to identify another piece from the reel and gave me the name of the studio. Within an hour of sending an inquiry, the Executive Producer of the studio wrote back to confirm the clip in question (and a dozen others in the reel) did not belong to the artist claiming ownership. Later that day, a handful of scathing comments appeared on the video telling the artist not to steal other people's work. By the next day, the video had been removed.
While I'm disappointed not to be involved in a project that sounded very interesting, I am quite happy not to be working for someone who thinks it's okay to take credit for another artist's work. Good thing I did my research.
Simmon Keith Barney is an animator living in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Kia animacio en Esperanto plej interesus vin?
Simono KEITH estas animaciisto loĝanta en Fort Collins, Koloradio, Usono.
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