Congratulations to Animation Mentor Class of '08!

This past Saturday I had the honor of attending and presenting at the graduation ceremonies for Classes 5 and 6 of Animation Mentor. It was a lot of fun to meet many of my students in person and hang out with the other mentors, as well as the founders, Bobby, Shawn and Carlos. I got to present the Student Choice Award for Walk Cycle With The Most Personality. You can get a much better description (with photos) on Bobby Beck's Blog. If you haven't already, be sure to check out some of the graduates' work in the latest AM showreel.

New Miyazaki Interview

Hayoa Miyazaki discusses his upcoming film on ghibliworld.com - they are not using any CG in this production.
Here's an interesting quote:

I always tell my staff that if they don’t like to draw by hand deliberately, then they should give up animation. It’s easy to distinguish if pictures are drawn by machines or human hands. If we give up the tough way, we will lose the richness in our art.