Animax Visit

Last night Heather and I had an amazing opportunity to go visit Animax Designs here in Nashville.  The meeting was set up by a former student of mine, Henry Kiltpatrick, who works there now.  They are working on some super amazing stuff, of which almost nothing I can talk about - but they have announced recent work includes the T-Rex from Jurassic World Live and creating Hagrid and the Screwt for the new Harry Potter attraction at Universal Orlando.

We met some awesome people and saw some incredible things. Pretty great to have a place like this in our backyard...

Full Racing Legends Ride Video

You can now check out the full Racing Legends ride video from Tau Films.  Really fun getting to see the final rendered result! I helped out with the cars/cameras for the opening sequence, the ride around Rome, and the final Future Track.

Racing Legends Ride Thru

This is the best video I've seen yet for Racing Legends.  I animated the first Barcelona sequence, the Rome bit, and the Future Track at the very end.  Really fun to see in action, even if it's handheld non-stereo...

Work in New Mousetrappe Reel

Mousetrappe posted an updated reel called Shifting Perspectives today - and it features work from both Heather and I.  Which is really fun!  The second shot is mine and you get a few glimpses of the Racing Legends ride in action.  The shots of Happily Ever After features Heather's work on the Hunchback of Notre Dame sequences.  Really excited to see all the amazing work this company is creating!

My Shot In Racing Legends Promo Image

Looks like PortAventura World finally updated the Racing Legends portion of their WEBSITE - and the image they picked for the promo shot is one of the ones I worked on!

This is the start of the Rome section, which another animator had initially taken a pass at.  After client reviews there was extensive notes and I basically reworked the entire animation.  It became faster (and therefore a bit shorter) and more action packed.  I actually spent the most time on this section of the ride.  It was really fun to get in there and add in the "wow" factor.  I'm really excited to see the final renders of it - the assets and lighting teams really made this look amazing!

Here's a closer look at just the promo image:

Racing Legends LA Times Article

Today the LA Times had an INTERVIEW with the Creative Director at Mousetrappe behind the Ferrari Experience attractions.  They also posted a few photos of the rides.  The stills aren't from the scenes I worked on, but it's fun to finally see some hi-res images of the actual footage.  Here's a description of the experience from the article:

Racing Legends, Mousetrappe’s other Ferrari Land attraction, combines Universal’s Simpsons simulator ride experience with the test drive conceit of Epcot’s Test Track in Florida. Built by Britain-based Simworx, the domed screen and motion simulator attraction features wind, water and aroma effects.

Riders climb into one of 10 Ferrari F1 race cars arrayed before a 75-foot diameter domed screen.  The backstory places riders in a Ferrari racing simulator used to train up-and-coming drivers on race tracks from any era. 

The journey starts in present-day Spain behind the wheel of a Ferrari F1 on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Traveling back in time, the car company’s founder, Enzo Ferrari, battles up a bumpy and muddy 1919 hill-climb race in Parma, Italy. The time-traveling race continues in 1960 on the banked corners of Italy’s Autodromo Nazionale Monza, hopping over perilous hills at Germany’s Nürburgring in 1975 and ducking and weaving on the Circuit de Mónaco course in present day. Graphics-heavy computer transitions call up each new course. 

Theme park fantasy takes over near the end of the trip with a Formula 1 car speeding through several scent-centric near misses on the streets of Rome and a futuristic concept car trek on a Speed Racer-like looping course. 

"Racing Legends" Ride Footage

There was a few articles going around about the company that built the vehicles for Racing Legends.  I've also seen a few videos getting posted of the ride footage.  I worked on the first scene, the Rome one, and the final futuristic one.  It's fun to see the final footage in context.  Apparently in additional to the vehicles moving, they also have "4D" effects like wind and water mist during the ride.  Pretty fun to get an idea of the omni theater setup.

I also ran across some promotional posters that a design company produced for Mousetrappe for use in the attractions.  It was a series of travel posters for many of the areas visited over the course of the attractions.  It's just fun to see all the peripheral design that goes on with any attraction.

Heather's "Happily Ever After"

Heather has been able to once again work on a theme park show - this time its the brand new nighttime fireworks show at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.  Called Happily Ever After it premiers tonight!

Check out more of the behind the scenes clips below - it looks like it's going to be one hell of a show. They are bringing in just about every disney character ever and creating original 2D animations for the show.  Heather has been helping Mousetrappe create the background projections that will be displayed on the castle.  This is as close as you can come to traveling back in time and getting the chance to work on Aladdin, Lion King, or the other classics of the "Disney Renaissance"

I'm so damn proud of her!

"Racing Legends" Theme Park Attraction

This is the main show building at PortAventura World's new Ferrari Land expansion that opens today.  I had the chance to work with Tau Films to animate multiple racing scenes for the attraction Racing Legends.  The ride, which is an omni dome simulator experience, is located in the main Ferrari Experience show building seen above.  From the press release:

Racing Legends allows visitors the opportunity to put their driving skills to the test. They can drive a Ferrari through the streets of Rome and along the most famous racing circuits in the world. They can even drive around imaginary futuristic scenes. The Omnimax simulator experience begins with a call for ‘drivers of the future’ who will experience the adventure on one of 10 mobile platforms.

Starting from a previs, I amped up the action with the animated the cars and camera animation.  I took on the initial track of Barcelona, Rome, and the futuristic Tron-like final course.  You can read more about how Mousetrappe and Tau Films approached the ride HERE

I have always been a big nerd and fan when it comes to theme parks, so I loved the opportunity to work on one!  I just need to get to Spain now to go see it in person....

Heather and Disney

So proud of Heather this month. She has TWO amazing Disney projects being released!

First of all is the release of Moana in theaters. Heather worked on some of the very first sequences in production on this film. We finally got to take our two boys to it this week, and it's a stunning and beautiful film. I'm so excited my wife got to contribute to this film - one that joins the family of such classics as The Little Mermaid (in fact, they had the same directors).

The second project is the debut of Mickey's Most Merriest Celebration at Walt Disney World. Heather helped create the imagery that is projected on Cinderella's Castle at the Magic Kingdom. It's part of a night-time stage show during the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party special event.

I have to admit being extremely jealous. To be able to have worked on a Disney animated musical and contribute to an attraction at Disney World are probably the two greatest reasons I got into this industry myself. I'm so proud of my wife, and that she has been able to make her dreams come true.