Disney Shuts Down Lucas Arts

The "House of Mouse', will be using other video game publishers to handle future Star Wars gaming projects as Lucas Arts is officially closed.

More info here:
http://kotaku.com/disney-shuts-down-lucasarts-468473749


Disney is at the top of the world now that it owns the Star Wars universe. You can bet that they will market and milk it for everything it's worth. Disney is the entertainment juggernaut now that it also has already control of  Pixar and acquired Marvel. What is next? Has the "Empire" taken over?

See more here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-01/disney-s-marvel-like-lucasfilm-deal-sees-many-avengers.html

Jack Kirby Copyright Debacle

If you are a fan of comic books than you must know what an impact Jack Kirby was to the comic book medium. He single-handily established the Marvel style and was it's greatest character creator. He was responsible for the creation of  the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Thor and more. It appears that their was a provision for creators to get copyrights back under certain circumstances but such was not the case for Kirby's heirs.

See link below for details:
 http://www.animationmagazine.net/people/judge-rules-for-marvel-in-kirby-heirs-copyright-claim/

It is important for artists / content creators to know about copyrights and contracts; especially work for hire arrangements and intellectual property clauses. That is a topic to discuss in a  post coming soon.

Android Will Be on More Devices Than All Major Operating Systems Combined

Caught this interesting article today. Apples dominance is coming to an end pretty soon. People creating apps should seriously consider the Android platform. Check out the link below for more info:


http://campustechnology.com/articles/2013/04/09/android-will-be-on-more-devices-than-all-major-operating-systems-combined.aspx?=CTNU

An insider's view of Disney - Floyd Norman

I was reading a review of  new Focal Press book called, "Animated Life" by Disney artist Floyd Norman. Not knowing the name, I did a search to find out who this person was. Found out he worked with some of the greats, worked at Pixar too, and has wonderful stories and insights of the golden days.

Check out these links and enjoy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Norman
https://twitter.com/floydnorman

MIBA Creative Workshops

MIBA Creative Workshops were officially announced at the Con-Nichiwa Anime Con this weekend.
The workshops will offer training in:

• 2D Traditional Animation, 
• 3D Animation
• Video Game Development
• Comic Book Development / Visual Storytelling
• Web Development (Web Design and Web Applications)
• Illustration (Drawing Techniques & Character Design)
•  Audio Development
  
  For more information check out www.makeitbadass.org (site will be live 3/27/13)
  or contact, info@makeitbadass.org

Con-Nichiwa Anime Con

Had a blast at the Con-Nichiwa Anime Con this weekend. Attendees did a fabulous job on costumes.

"Orange Crows" creator James Perry had informative discussion on manga creation, art tips, publishing pros and con's and getting self publishing. Awesome.

Lytro: The Future of Photography

If you haven't heard by now, the Lytro cameras push photography into a new realm. You are not taking pictures of an image. You are taking a picture of light energy. See link below and scroll for an interactive demo.

https://www.lytro.com/camera#perspective_shift