Welcome to Active Art Animations

Your youngest daughter just graduated and wants to start a 3D animation studio business. However, she doesn’t have the capital required to start, and your older kids can’t help her out with the staggering economic recession. You’ve also checked your pension1savings and investments, and nothing seems to add up to the total amount she needs. You’ve seen her work and can attest to her prowess in the field, so this will be a fantastic investment. After failed attempts at getting the amount required, you suddenly get a light bulb moment – equity release. Equity release mortgage is a financial plan that offers you tax-free cash and allows you to continue living in your home till you pass on or move into residential care. To qualify for this incredible scheme, you only have to be 55 years and above, a UK resident, and own a home worth at least €70,000. Since you’re 60 and own a home in Edinburg, you only have to find out your estate’s worth since the estate market value keeps fluctuating. After some equity release advice from your financial advisor, and a visit from an independent surveyor, you discover that your home is worth €560,000. What’s the Equity Release Process? Well, now, you can start the equity release2 process and be closer to getting the cash to actualize your favourite daughter’s dream. The home equity release process is rigorous and offers you the opportunity to think through carefully about the plan. It involves several steps which vary from one equity release company to another. Nonetheless, the standard process involves: Selecting a financial advisor – Choosing a financial advisor is one of the most critical steps to take. Since you already have an advisor, you can go on to the second step. In case you don’t, you have

You have a small art display show in your gallery and are now looking forward to hosting the annual art show. However, you’ve received complaints of stuffiness and pet hair issues from some of your loyal clients. Since you don’t want to face the embarrassment during the major art event, you’re looking for ways to combat these issues. After reading through some articles, you discover the best vacuum cleaner for pets. However, since you don’t know anything about the types of vacuum cleaners, here’s a comprehensive guide to choosing pet vacuums. How to Choose the Best Pet Vacuum Cleaner When selecting the best vacuum cleaner to get rid of the pet hair issues in your studio, you need to consider these factors: The Type of Vacuum Cleaner You Need You need to be sure if you want an upright, canister, cordless or bagged vacuum cleaner. Upright vacuum cleaners, for instance, are perfect for large spaces, like your studio. What makes them the right fit is that you only have to push the vacuum in front and don’t have to bend down to clean. They also have the best turbo brushes. Bagged vacuum cleaners, on the other hand, capture all the dust in a disposable bag. The hoovers also feature larger capacities, so there’s less maintenance and contact with dust. However, you’ll have to purchase replacements frequently. Your Budgetary Options You might also want to consider your financial situation. How much can you afford to buy a vacuum cleaner? According to most experts, buying a pet hair vacuum cleaner would cost anywhere between $50 and $1000. Cordless vacuum cleaners tend to be more costly, particularly if you want one with exemplary battery life. Extra-Mini Tools You also need to consider the extra tools or accessories that come with vacuum cleaners. These

If you’re thinking about a career in animation, you’ve probably done some animating. Maybe you’ve always doodled on a flipbook. Or you might have grown up with a computer animation program. In any case, you have a pretty good idea of what is animation, or you wouldn’t be thinking about making it your career! But, no matter what animating you’ve done, you’ve probably only used one of the 5 basic types of animation. For example, your flipbook animations are an example of 2D animation, or traditional animation. The work you’ve done on a computer is probably and example of 3D or computer animation. 5 BASIC TYPES OF ANIMATION Here’s a quick look at 5 types of animation to help you have a better idea of the possibilities for a career in animation. Traditional 2D Animation – One of the older forms of animation, every frame of a traditional animation sequence is created by hand, similar to what you did with with flipbooks. Back in the day, animators used a process called onion skinning. Working on a light table, animators could see previous drawings through the paper so they could draw the next frame in the sequence. Today, even traditional animation is created using a computer. Disney’s classic animated films and the old Bugs Bunny cartoons are examples of traditional animation. 2D Vector-Based Animation – In addition to aiding in the process of traditional animation, computer technology makes it possible to create 2D vector-based animations. In addition to frame-by-frame animation, 2D vector-based animation technology gives animators the option to create ‘rigs’ for a character. This allows the animator to move individual body parts, instead of redrawing the entire character for each frame. Computer Animation – While 2D vector-based animations are created with computer, computer animation refers to 3D animations. Today, 3D animation is the most common

What are collector fairs/shows and what do I need to know? Collector shows are basically antique fairs which showcase collectable items. Collectables are deemed to be items made within the last 100 years (as opposed to antiques). Most of the shows I know of seem to have a mix between vintage and newer pieces. You may find some really special old and rare items, or have an opportunity to pick up that recent comic book or limited edition figure you may have missed the first time round. The shows consist of numerous stands of 50-500+ dealers selling everything from comic books, Disney Classics, X-Files, Star Wars, Simpsons, Felix, Bonzo, vintage character china, animation art (of course!), etc. It’s like visiting hundreds of terrific stores all located within the same place. I think that these shows are really terrific and offer collectors a great way to see what’s out there, meet other collectors, and find great stuff! There can also be special apperances by X-Files stars, or film and TV celebrities. There are a few wonderful fairs in England, and you may contact me in New York if you would like details of the ones I attend and think are relevant to animation. Rules of Thumb 1) There is usually a nominal charge of a few quid, which isn’t bad for a whole day of entertainment! There are sometimes gift bags of items worth the price of admission which are handed out upon entrance. 2) Get there early! These shows get crowded, so show up early for the best selection. Also, some shows have early admission for an extra charge. If you’re a serious collector, I recommend getting there early. 3) Bring cash. Some dealers may accept credit cards or cheques, but cash is king. It also increases your odds for

I think that there still exists a lot of confusion about the different types of animation art. So here is a full-blown glossary that should be helpful. PRODUCTION ART Animation Cel A sheet of clear acetate or nitrate which is hand-painted and then placed over a background and photographed. The outline of the character (hand-painted or xeroxed) is applied to the front of the cel. The colours are hand-painted onto the back of the cel. Nitrate Material of older cels used up until the 1950s (1940s for Disney). Often show signs of aging such as rippling or yellowing. Acetate Material used in the present day. More stable than nitrate. 12-Field Refers to a size of a cel or drawing of 10 1/2″ x 12 1/2″. Is the most standard size of art. 16-Field Cel or drawing of 12″ x 16″. Pan (Cinemascope) Cel or drawing up to 12″ x 30″. Lady and the Tramp and Sleeping Beauty used this type of artwork. Sometimes the production backgrounds were of this size as well. One may find art from these films that were once pan size, but have since been trimmed. Courvoisier A Disney cel set-up created and sold by the Courvoisier Galleries in the late 1930s/early 1940s. Characters are most often trimmed to image, glued to the background, covered with a protective top cel. Most vintage Disney pieces from this era are of this nature. In the case of a multi-cel set-up, cels are always from the same film, but may not all correspond to the same moment in time. A number of distinctive backgrounds were used. Wood veneer, polka dots, stars, and hand-painted watercolour backgrounds. The original set-ups were almost always framed in an off-white mat, penciled name of the character written, and a “WDP” stamp. Labels were attached to

This is the first of what will be a long line of articles talking about how to go about collecting, caring for and enjoying animation art. The best advice I can give a beginning collector is to educate yourself. Sadly, as there is a lack of written material on animation art collecting, I would suggest that you ask questions, and read articles. It’s a slow start, but you’ll quickly pick up speed and make sense of it all. You may also want to visit my web site which has a page with animation definitions and one comparing limited edition art and original production art. I think it’s best that one has a clear understanding of the different types of animation art that exists as it can be quite confusing. Let’s start with a few basic definitions. There are two types of animation art. The first is original production animation art. Animation art by definition is any drawing or celluloid (cel- spelled with one “l”) that was used in the making of a cartoon. These pieces are all one-of-a-kind and involve some type of a hand process- i.e. drawing or inking/painting. The other type of art is reproduction art. These are serigraph cels (sericels) and limited edition cels. This art was not used in the cartoon making process, but does resemble the art that was. Sericels are usually made in editions of a few thousand and created by a silk-screen type of process. Limited editions are made in smaller editions of around 500. They are usually hand painted and either hand or xeroxed lined. These pieces are not actually done by the animators, although they may have had creative input. Some common questions:What makes animation art collectable? Collecting animation art is a wonderful pastime. Cartoon lovers around the world take great

Surprised at the title? In my quest to advise collectors on how and what to buy, I also want to highlight reasons NOT to buy a piece. These are to be on the basis that these reasons are taken on their own. Jennifer’s Don’ts 1) Never, ever buy a piece for investment purposes only. As I have said before, it is unethical and potentially illegal, for art to be sold strictly on this basis. You may be in for a nasty surprise later. Rather, trust your own instincts. Buying a piece that you like is always the smarter move. Some of these pieces certainly do increase in value, but not until you’ve sold them. In the meantime, you have to live with them. 2) Do not buy a piece for the sole reason that it is signed. In some cases, the inside joke is that pieces NOT signed by certain individuals are more rare than signed ones. A piece signed by Walt Disney is certainly a rare occurrence. Pieces that are being “mass-signed” by animators at the moment do not have the same rarity consideration. 3) Don’t buy a piece because it’s the end of an edition, and it’s likely to be sold out soon, and thus “rare, hard-to-find, etc.” If you are truly interested in a piece, then you may need to make up your mind quickly. But not for any other reason. 4) Don’t be blinded by a great colour laser or hand-painted (hand-prepared) background. They look great, and really add to the aesthetic value of a piece, but take into account the cel that you are buying. That’s where the value of your purchase is. Same logic applies to a nice frame. 5) Don’t buy a piece because you feel that you have no other choices. You

Whether you are developing an app or working on a business presentation — you might want to spice things up with some animations. Animations can help you create a flow, they can create progress, emphasize or soften changes, catch the eye, and cause delight.Animations are great, but you need to know how to use them, otherwise they are just annoying. In this guide I will try to explain how to create a simple animations that never fails. Rule #1: Do not throw in childish animations I’ve seen too many dumb animations being used by good speakers.Dumb animations are easy to recognise: they do not have a consistent direction, they do not contribute to the flow of the presentation (or app) and usually we (the audience or the users) just want them to end. The fact that there are so many animation types is a trap because most of these types are not recommended. Rule #2: Select a simple movement direction and stick with it Select a direction to your software animation (or slides transitions) and stick with it for the entire show. Here’s an example of 3 elements flying in from the bottom of the screen. This is a classic animation that can be used in presentations or in your app (i.e. a toast flying in from the bottom of the screen with a short status update). Rule #3: Create a tiny delay between each animation You can spice things up by adding a very short delay between the animation of each element. I’m talking about a really short delay, something like 0.15 seconds delay. IMPORTANT: Do not wait to begin the second animation AFTER the first element finished, start animating the second element few milliseconds after the first element already started to move. Example: Element 1: enters in 0