Skip to main content

RWBY Animation ID

I first posted the following a few weeks ago, and thanks to the newsletter from Smith Micro I now know this new project is not Machinima, but is being created in Poser Pro. I didn’t know you could get that kind of Anime style from the software, I find myself quite impressed. RWBY won’t be kicking off until July or so, but I like the trailers and am looking forward to the new project. Here is the original posting:

Rooster Teeth, the folks who brought us that masterpiece of combat comedy Red Vs. Blue, have a tasty new animation project: RWBY. The latest trailer is the top one, the Black trailer. After that are the earlier trailers, the White and Red. They haven’t released the Yellow trailer yet, but this will give you an idea of what the new series is up to. I find the style on these very interesting, almost like they recorded Machinima and then rotoscoped them into Anime. Which wouldn’t be a huge surprise, since Red Vs. Blue was some of the finest machinima ever made.

Kryton’s Electric Car Reviews

Robert Llewellyn, the actor who plays Kryton on Red Dwarf, does some great electric car reviews on his streaming video show Fully Charged. In a way it is the anti-Top Gear show, since the things he is looking for that define a good vehicle are pretty much the opposite of what Jamie and the gang want to see. If you were thinking of upgrading your archaic gas guzzler for a modern electric vehicle his site is an excellent place to start. Since he has a huge collection of detailed reviews, each filmed from inside the car in question while he took it on a test drive (sometimes going quite a distance), you can get a pretty good idea of the pros and cons for each model.

Streaming Anime: Hulu

Hulu runs an amazing collection of Anime both in its free service and in it’s Plus subscription product.Some shows are only available until the next season comes out, some only while the current season is running, and some titles last for years. As with the other streaming services there is a lot of overlap as to what is available from which service, so you will want to look at what each one offers. It may be that you only need one or two of the ones mentioned over the last week to cover your favorite shows, or maybe two at the paid service level and a few more of the free service level. I actually got my Hulu Plus subscription as the only way to watch Misfits a day after the new episodes air in the UK, and then discovered their Anime section, so I consider that Bonus!

Streaming Anime: Nozomi, Right Stuff

Nozomi Entertainment has a channel full of their own Anime for you to stream and enjoy, as does Right Stuff (even though the latter is all silly). This is yet another streaming source that gives you entire episodes of anime programs, although in this case they save the cost of installing, configuring, and running their own video servers by using the YouTube service as their delivery platform. I like the concept, and appreciate it means they get to supply us with yet more free to watch anime from an amazing range of classic productions. I end up buying the majority of my Anime DVDs from Right Stuf, simply because their prices tend to beat everybody else’s by a noticeable percentage. And as with the other suppliers, being able to watch the shows for free definitely helps me remember why they need to be part of my permanent collection.

Streaming Anime: Viz

I have never had a Viz Media paid subscription, so I know nothing about their paid services, it’s quality, etc. But they do put a bunch of stuff on streaming for free, and they have some kick ass programs, including One Piece, Naruto, and Tiger and Bunny, to name a few. Like most everybody else they stream to a number of platforms, which seems to have a bit of emphasis to the X-Box in their case. Like Funimation, they are a distribution house, which means they only carry licensed programs that they can also sell you on a disc. But they have a large enough library of product that they keep constantly updating that you will probably be pleased with the selection.

Streaming Anime: Funimation

Funimation is another site that has streaming Anime that I decided to try out a subscription with. Like others, it includes both Anime and live action, and it also has simulcasts, meaning you can see an episode within a short amount of time of when it originally airs across the Pacific. It takes a slightly different approach on its subscription service than some others, in that it only gives you the first one to 3 episodes free on a number of series. If you want to keep watching after that you have to buy the subscription service. Note that that is only for a selection of it’s series, with other shows being available for free from beginning to end, and I haven’t noticed that a paid subscription gives you other advantages, like 720i or 1080P video quality. So while I still currently maintain my subscription, I am thinking about whether I should keep paying the monthly premium. I suspect it will ending up boiling down to what they are willing to add to the lineup each week or month; if I have already seen the ones I am interested in, then we will be finished. At the moment, they have a LOT of shows I am interested in, but they need to keep adding to that library if they want to retain me as a customer.