Stan Lee is one of the instructors at the Smithsonian class The Rise of Superheroes and Their Impact On Pop Culture, along with several others. The basic course takes 6 weeks and is free, but if you want a verified certificate that will cost $50; if you pass the class, besides the certificate itself you will get digital artwork created by comic book artist Dennis Calero (X-Factor, X-Men Noir). It was created just for this course, and is digitally signed by Stan Lee and Michael Uslan. This is the 4th time they are holding the course, and the first class took place/was posted this week, on the 17th. Since it is an online course, you can take it at any time, but it is fun having the forums to interact with your classmates and instructors as each week’s materials are posted. EdX is a massively open online educational system with some very interesting classes started by a collaboration between MIT and Harvard that quickly expanded to some of the best schools on the planet.
Want to convert something into Bronze? The Lost-Wax Technique really does date back to the Bronze Age, or as close as makes no difference from my perspective. This great little animation from Renana Aldor & Kobi Vogman was made for the Hadrian Exhibition at the Israel Museum, and it gives you the entire process step by step. Of course, there are some details you will have to learn with research or by trial and error, but everything you need to get started is included. I like it as much for the excellent use of simple animation techniques to create the educational presentation (2D animation and stop motion photography, both tools first developed in the 1880s) as for the information contained within it. Whether you are looking to cast bronze or create educational videos, this is worth watching.
Hadrian / Bronze Casting Using The Lost-Wax Technique from Renana Aldor & Kobi Vogman on Vimeo.
Another classic weapon from Sword Art Online, Kirito’s Elucidator, was recently built in the real world, and this is how.
One of the best Star Wars Fan Films I have seen in the last decade, DARTH MAUL: Apprentice tells a lot of story for being less than 18 minutes long. Pretty much the best Fan Film I have seen so far this year, as well. Enjoy!
The SIGGRAPH 2016: Computer Animation Festival is the heart of what comes next for movies, games, and so much more. Watch and be amazed, and remember, no show gets more than 5 or 10 seconds of screen time! I would love to make this gathering in person and see each entire presentation come the 24th through the 28th of July 2016 in Anaheim, California.
This Variety Artisans special is all about how the visual effects were put together for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the amazing continuation of the series that has taken the franchise to the next level. They produce a new episode of Artisans every week, and every one so far has given excellent insight into the approach creators of the various disciplines take to achieve their results. If you want to create your own stories in a visual media, there is no better place to become inspired than from this series.