danallison.org/blog http://danallison.org/blog Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:13:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Graduation! http://danallison.org/blog/2010/06/07/graduation/ http://danallison.org/blog/2010/06/07/graduation/#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:12:40 +0000 Administrator http://danallison.org/blog/?p=103
I graduated! Yessireebob. Now I’m off to that “real world” I keep hearing about, which means that I am now open for business. Need an animator and/or illustrator in the Chicago area? Drop me a line: dan@danallison.org

]]> http://danallison.org/blog/2010/06/07/graduation/feed/ 0 Love & Theft http://danallison.org/blog/2010/05/11/love-theft/ http://danallison.org/blog/2010/05/11/love-theft/#comments Tue, 11 May 2010 05:16:45 +0000 Administrator http://danallison.org/blog/?p=100 I thoroughly enjoyed this trippy, hypnotic short film. It’s a good animation history lesson, too.

]]> http://danallison.org/blog/2010/05/11/love-theft/feed/ 0 The Father http://danallison.org/blog/2010/04/06/the-father/ http://danallison.org/blog/2010/04/06/the-father/#comments Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:13:04 +0000 Administrator http://danallison.org/blog/?p=96 I really enjoyed this short from Sticky Monster Lab. It’s a sad story, but a resonant one (for me at least, as both a father and a son). It gets better with repeated viewings.

The Father from fla on Vimeo.

]]> http://danallison.org/blog/2010/04/06/the-father/feed/ 0 Atticus James Allison http://danallison.org/blog/2010/03/14/atticus-james-allison/ http://danallison.org/blog/2010/03/14/atticus-james-allison/#comments Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:19:36 +0000 Administrator http://danallison.org/blog/?p=94 My son, Atticus James Allison, was born on Friday, March 5, 2010, at 10:13am.
Atticus James Allison

]]> http://danallison.org/blog/2010/03/14/atticus-james-allison/feed/ 0 Sol Design http://danallison.org/blog/2009/10/27/sol-design/ http://danallison.org/blog/2009/10/27/sol-design/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:17:53 +0000 Administrator http://danallison.org/blog/?p=88 Yesterday, I and my fellow animation/vfx students at Flashpoint got to take a tour of Sol Design, which is a design and effects studio in downtown Chicago. You’ve probably seen a lot of the commercials they’ve done. I recommend checking out their “before and after” reel, which is on the “works” section of their website. It shows their visual effects process, basically all the steps involved in going from raw footage to finished product. It’s pretty amazing.

The tour lasted about four hours. We got to talk to a multitude of employees who showed us what they were working on and answered all our questions. Overall, it was pretty inspiring to me to get to see the whole process and get a better understanding of how the commercials I see on TV get made, and it motivated me to work a little harder at school so I’ll be more up to snuff for employers like Sol Design by the time I graduate.

]]> http://danallison.org/blog/2009/10/27/sol-design/feed/ 0 Story, Poem, and Illustrations in School Paper http://danallison.org/blog/2009/10/27/story-poem-and-illustrations-in-school-paper/ http://danallison.org/blog/2009/10/27/story-poem-and-illustrations-in-school-paper/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:08:23 +0000 Administrator http://danallison.org/blog/?p=86 The most recent issue of my school’s school paper features a short story, a poem, and three illustrations by yours truly. You can check it out here, or you can go directly to the story, the poem, or the illustrations.

]]> http://danallison.org/blog/2009/10/27/story-poem-and-illustrations-in-school-paper/feed/ 0 Today’s Edward Tufte Seminar http://danallison.org/blog/2009/10/20/reflections-on-the-tufte-seminar/ http://danallison.org/blog/2009/10/20/reflections-on-the-tufte-seminar/#comments Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:39:22 +0000 Administrator http://danallison.org/blog/?p=82 Today I attended a one-day course titled “Presenting Data and Information” taught by Edward Tufte in Chicago, which I signed up for on somewhat of a whim a month or two ago. Though the topic of the seminar wasn’t directly related to my field, per se, I thought it was relevant enough to my work as an animator and illustrator to warrant attending. I am, after all, a creator of graphics. And even if it had no relevance whatsoever, I still find Tufte’s work intriguing. So that alone was reason enough to go.

I enjoyed the course greatly. Topics covered included interface design, integration of graphics with text, the importance of resolution, what makes a graphic engaging and communicative vs boring or confusing or irrelevant, and why PowerPoint is the most god-awful way to present information ever. A lot of time was dedicated to that last point. Too much time, in fact. I guess it was justifiable considering that the audience consisted mostly of business types who probably give PowerPoint presentations all the time. I, however, wanted to hear more about the graphics.

Overall, I would say that my biggest take-away from the seminar can be summed up in a quote that Tufte said toward the beginning of the day,

There is no such thing as information overload, only failure of design.

]]> http://danallison.org/blog/2009/10/20/reflections-on-the-tufte-seminar/feed/ 0 New Illustrations http://danallison.org/blog/2009/09/05/new-illustrations/ http://danallison.org/blog/2009/09/05/new-illustrations/#comments Sat, 05 Sep 2009 05:19:16 +0000 Administrator http://danallison.org/blog/?p=78 I’ve been playing with my new Cintiq tablet, and that play has yielded some new drawings. Enjoy!

Nude in Space, Gazing Upon a Red Planet
Nude in Space, Gazing Upon a Red Planet

A Trail!
A Trail!

Woman’s Face in a Box on the Street
Woman's Face in a Box on the Street

Middle Aged Man Returning Somewhere
Middle Aged Man Returning Somewhere

Boy Reaching for Something
Boy Reaching for Something

]]> http://danallison.org/blog/2009/09/05/new-illustrations/feed/ 0 The Astronomer’s Dream http://danallison.org/blog/2009/08/05/the-astronomers-dream/ http://danallison.org/blog/2009/08/05/the-astronomers-dream/#comments Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:24:24 +0000 Administrator http://danallison.org/blog/?p=75 Below is a film by Malcolm Sutherland called The Astronomer’s Dream, of which I am quite fond. What I enjoy most about this film is the strange logic of it, and by that I mean how it seems very strange and surreal while also making sense from an engineering point of view. Films like these are the ones that inspire me the most, as both an animator and a person.

The Astronomer’s Dream (2009) from Animalcolm on Vimeo.

]]> http://danallison.org/blog/2009/08/05/the-astronomers-dream/feed/ 0 Stereoscopic Illustration http://danallison.org/blog/2009/07/21/stereoscopic-illustration/ http://danallison.org/blog/2009/07/21/stereoscopic-illustration/#comments Tue, 21 Jul 2009 04:40:06 +0000 Administrator http://danallison.org/blog/?p=73 I wanted to see if I could turn one of my 2D illustrations into a 3D stereoscopic image using Photoshop and Softimage. So I gave it a go using my Snakes on a Tower illustration, and it worked! I think. It’s hard to tell when I’ve been working on it and staring at it for several hours. But I’m pretty sure that it works.

As always, to view, cross your eyes until the two images become one (or see this tutorial).
Snakes on a Tower, Stereoscopic

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