My Aniboom History challenge

Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at Aniboom

This weekend I had a few beers, grilled some steak, and animated my arse off. This was the result. If you like it, please go over to the Aniboom website and give me a good vote.

Gullible isn't in the dictionary

So tonight I got two emails from my mother that had been forwarded to her via a long line of gullible people (including one of my sisters). The first one was about an internet virus hooked up to a Hallmark postcard. The second one was about carjackers using paper taped to your rear window to trick you into getting out of your running vehicle to remove it. Both emails are scams.

Snopes is your friend.

John K Does A Cartoon Pitch

John Kircfalusi did a great panel at Comic Con where he pitched a cartoon. It sounds simple, but as anyone who has done a storyboard pitch can tell you, it's not a simple thing. Check out the video and see for yourself.

Spiders

I spent the day animating a spider walking out from its den, only to later in the day have the location of the den moved somewhere else. The bad news is I have to pretty much start over. The good news is that I have pretty well nailed the leg patterns of a walking spider, so I should be able to animate it much faster this second time around (and the spider doesn't have as far to walk now, either).

No word on if the spiders will have to bark or not.

A dated demo reel

With Ice Age 3 doing so well in theaters (it's a pretty good movie), many people have asked me about what I did on the first film, nearly nine years ago. I found this older demo reel that includes some shots from Ice Age. The reel also contains some clips from other projects, including several proof of concept/pitch animations and some shots from 6 Monsters.

Milt Kahl Goodness

Milt Kahl (Mowgli) from Victor Ens on Vimeo.

Milt Kahl was solid.

Very cool building projection

555 KUBIK_ extended version from urbanscreen on Vimeo.

I thought this was pretty cool. The amount of set up must have been huge, but the results are nothing short of amazing. This would be great to see in person.

CG Society goes to Comic Con

I was quoted in the Comic Con 2009 story from CG Society.

"Even though it's a game for kids, we're not skimping on any of the graphics quality or game play," said Floyd Bishop, senior animator for 'Free Realms'.

What? You haven't played it yet? What are you waiting for?

Frederator blogger no more

Well, my stint as a blogger for Channel Frederator has come to a close. Times are tough all around, and fat must be trimmed. It looks like it's time to get my own blog up to speed once again. I've neglected it for far too long. Hopefully some readers from Frederator follow me over to my new digs.

An easy to understand breakdown of the Writer's Strike (WGA)

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays from Bishop Animation!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

The California fires

It's been a crazy couple of days out here in Southern California. There have been (and still are) fires burning across much of Southern California. There are several people injured, a few that were killed, many acres burned, and many houses destroyed.

My family and I were some of the 500,000 + people that were evacuated. We actually left before we were asked to. My wife and I had been talking last week about what we would do in the event of wildfires, and we stuck to our plan. We put the kids, the dog, some paperwork, and some hard drives in the van and took off.



We left our home around 11PM on Sunday. We drove to Mira Mesa high school and stopped there. My wife and kids slept while I stayed awake, listening to the radio news reports and watching the large flag in the parking lot to get an idea of wind speed and direction. The shelter filled up fast. My family stayed in the van so that others could have the cots and such in the shelter (the gym of the high school). I did go in to the school from time to time to find out what was going on from some of the workers there as well as grab some coffee from the Red Cross.



We left the shelter parking lot at around 4AM. We made a brief stop in Sorrento Valley so I could check online to see where the fires were and how widespread they had become. Most of the sites from the local news stations were down or had not been updated since midnight. I drove to the beach, figuring we would only have to worry about fire from one side then. We headed north on the Pacific Coast Highway and then on the 5 North until we got to an area where the air quality was better.



We saw some more smoke up ahead, farther up the 5, but it was far enough away that we felt like we were safe. We found a hotel just north of San Juan Capistrano. I was beat by the time we checked in and got everyone in an unpacked.

After nearly a week of watching the news and not knowing what was going on at our home, we finally got back today. The Rancho Bernardo area lost several homes, and there were two people found burned to death in Poway. There was no fire damage in our neighborhood, and only some signs of strong winds at my house.

We lucked out, but there are many people in the greater San Diego and Southern California area who didn't do too well. If you would like to help, money seems to be the best thing you can donate at this time.

Here are some ways you can help.

Here is how YOU can be ready for an emergency

The next few days will be interesting. Just because the fires are out (or close to being out) doesn't mean the crisis is over. There are many families with no place to go, and nothing but the clothes on their backs. The clean up and rebuilding efforts will continue for months. The investigation and search for the arsonists who started some of the fires that started when the blazes began will continue until the crimes are solved.

On an animation note, the Walt Disney Company pledged Wednesday to contribute $2 million to restore burned areas and help victims of the Southern California wildfires. It is going to be quite some time until the area returns to some semblance of normal, but with the nation's help, we can get there faster.

Best of luck to anyone affected by the fires.

The Happy Pumpkin

Here's a quick Halloween greeting cartoon we made. Enjoy!

Coming in October...

keep watching for further details!

A quick fluid sim test

This is a quick fluid sim test I did using Real Flow. I animated it in about six hours, using a character model and rig from another project.

Revamped website

So we've updated our website. It's been a wild and crazy few months, with a complete overhaul of the company, moving from one coast to the other, and the birth of my latest child (that makes four for those who are keeping track).

We've also been asked by Fred Seibert to create the logo for Frederator Films. It's pretty exciting, since one of the projects they have announced is a Samurai Jack feature film.

San Diego CG group screening of " Ratatouille"

Next Friday, June 29th, the San Diego CG group will be watching "Ratatouille" at the Mira Mesa Edwards Cinema at the 9:35PM screening. You may want to Fandango your tickets now to make sure you get a seat. We'll be headed to the Studio Diner afterwards for a discussion of the film as well as planning upcoming meetings. I hope to see you there!