Posts from — August 2010

So this is a post about the usage of alpha channels to create image transparency - putting one image over the top of another image and the bottom image showing through the “holes” in the top image. Simple enough concept, but it has lead to many funky end results and freaked kids.

The troublesome channel - The alpha channel

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Papercraft! It’s sort of like origami, but with fewer rules. And more glue. It’s making models on the cheap, and it’s pretty cool.

Hey! Adam Walker Studio make papercraft kits and templates! Let’s check ‘em out, and I’ll take you through the process of constructing one of our more popular models, a Critter from Arcade Trap.

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+ Shortly following the release of Arcade Trap, Adam Walker Studio produced two games featuring characters and themes from the short film: Memory Bytes and Critter Rush.

Adam Reed was the lead designer working on both games, and I spoke to him about the processes involved with the development of video games at AWS.

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So if you read/saw Monday’s blog post, you now have some idea of how the animation for the short film was created - but that is only half the story. The other half… sound!

Click on the “Read More” link below to watch a video that takes you through the sound design and mixing process.

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As part of the Arcade Trap week! enjoy this insight into the character design process behind the short.

The dangerous inner workings of the character design mind

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So you have an idea for a great piece of animation. How do you actually take that idea, and turn it into a final, fully developed work?

Lead animator Aldrich knows precisely how, and in this video breakdown of one of the scenes from Arcade Trap, he takes us step-by-step through the processes involved.

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Adam Walker Studio presents the extravaganza that is: Arcade Trap week!

The 2008 AWS short Arcade Trap tells the story of a small boy who discovers a mysterious arcade machine and gets perhaps a little too engrossed in the game…

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Adam Walker Studio is pleased to present our version of Edward Lear’s 1871 nonsense poem, The Owl and the Pussycat.

This piece started out in 2003 as a training exercise for Trent, one of our 3D animators, to experiment with new 2D animation software. We then employed 2D animation within several professional projects, but never forgot about The Owl and the Pussycat.

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+ In this, the first of a series of interviews with the animators and designers of Adam Walker Studio, I talk to 3D animator Aldrich Tangpos about the importance of animating weight convincingly, the methods, and the trials associated with the procedure.
We discuss the evolution of his animation, from his Shadow of the Colossus-inspired second-year art school project, to the professional work he is involved with at Adam Walker Studio today.

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Adam Walker Studio is proud to announce the release of our latest project, an adaptation of Edward Lear’s 1871 poem, The Owl and the Pussycat.
What started several years ago as an experiment in 2D animation has grown to incorporate segments of 3D that put a uniquely AWS twist on the classic rhyme.

Sprite characters that are woven around the rhyme

AWS’s The Owl and the Pussycat will be released this Friday 13th (AAARGH!) August, but for now, we thought we’d show you some of the storyboards and design concepts that went into the production. Marvel!

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