How do animators "move" into the future?

Learning to respect the past is an important aspect of building a better future. By understanding the past we can learn and avoid repeating mistakes.

In the early days our studio animated with clay and made 2D commercials with painted cels. Before that I did a similar stint at Will Vinton Studios working on Pop Tarts and Fanta Orange Soda, and a few other fun things.

The big shift in our industry happened when independent studios jumped on the technology wagon and started creating commercials with the Amiga computer.?

The cool thing about the Amiga was something called ARexx, which allowed a coder like our friend “Super Dave” to control our digital imaging processes and have the computer basically drive the car for you, and you could access every piece of software through code. It sure took a long time to render by today’s standards.

The Amiga was considered a game computer, not a professional art tool. Now, decades later, what made me see the power of the future with ARexx is what's alive in Ai and the Blockchain. These are just new systems based on the same desire to connect all systems efficiently and effectively.?

Respecting the past also means acknowledging and honoring the contributions of those who came before us. By noting their legacy, we show appreciation for the progress that has been made, even as we work to improve upon it.

When my wife, Amy, and I started Happy Trails Animation I learned a lot from watching Will Vinton himself, at Vinton Studios. "Be careful what you wish for" was a big lesson. Once the studio got to the level of producing TV shows like the PJ’s, ?it changed what the studio needed to survive. The very thing that widened their spotlight as a production studio was what actually took them down, two seasons later.

One thing I learned was that producing a TV show is not like making commercials, no matter how awesome they are (California Raisins). Vinton Studios was slow to jump on the technology wagon, and that hurt them. Fast-forward to today: folks are making movies with their iPhones. The studios first CG campaign were the M&M's spots. They were originally animated in Lightwave and today that would be Blender.

Learning about the past can help us understand our own cultural identity and heritage. This reminds me of where I grew up, Aspen Colorado. It used to be a town where the haves and that have nots would sit together at the joiner’s table, solving world problems. There was a respect for each person’s point of view. These were happy times for me. I recently wrote a book with a few friends about these times, and what they meant to us.

Respecting the past is also an important aspect of promoting empathy and understanding. For me, this connection between art and tech all started when a crazy Aspen local, and international computer guy, built my school’s first computer. That guy was Nick DeWolf… Nick was the guy behind what we now know as Google Maps, which he was working on all the way back in 1982.

I was taken by how his magic machine spoke in ones and zeros. That computer ultimately replaced the exacto knives, paper, and spraymount we used to make animation with at Jim Blashfield’s Studio.?I saw how the power of a computer's "tap and fill" function was replacing having to paint and dry traditional cels. What I got from the masters was that in their day, they'd been the ones who'd pushed the limits and reached for the stars. Their ingenuity carried us forward to where we are today.

Nick DeWolf had a dream and created many things which evolved far beyond their original concept and intent. In light of his example, there's no need to fear our future. And we shouldn’t erase or dismiss the past. Why there are so many fans of new, cool trends like Steampunk? It pulls from new and old, sci-fi and history; an evolutional genre.

Learning to respect the past is essential for building a better future, which is why our studio has joined forces with MC Kimball and Associates, Inc & Kendall Zoller to make digital organics and animation for their, We’ve Got Your Back (WGYB) project. The WGYB student and teacher courses bring a team approach to school safety training. ?By pairing powerful new tech tools like Ai with our current methods, their lessons can connect and educate like never before.

I am taking my time with how we're integrating art and tech through Ai and the blockchain. Innovation is alive and well... and with the development of this project I believe we can make education fun again.

Remember, the tools of the future are not only about how you use them, but also about how we got to this point. We can learn from our past to design and build a better tomorrow.

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