> Toys to Life LEGO Dimensions Year 2 1 - 50 of 50 items Everyone's favourite creative toy meets gaming in a huge way; with Lego Dimensions the gaming possibilities are endless. Mix and match your favourite characters, vehicles and gadgets however you want, and jump in-game using the Lego Dimensions starter pack that you can build. We have a huge range of products including the Lego Dimensions ghost busters packs and figures. We offer these games on every platform so you can play your Lego Dimensions on PS4, PS3 and Xbox 360. If you prefer your gaming experience a little more physical we also have have Dimensions on the Nintendo Wii, then we offer that too. Toys to Life is a genre of video game using physical figurines or action figures to interact within the game and usually connect to apps or devices to connect the offline world to the online gaming world which brings a whole new edge to gaming and have been incredibly successful and are constantly growing as a genre.
Whether CG or traditional, animation isn't just about the big Hollywood movies. It's a discipline in demand across a range of media channels, from apps to advertising, websites to music videos and beyond.Plus the distinction between live action and animation is narrowing all the time, as shown in two of the biggest hits of the year, Guardians of the Galaxy and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which depended as much on the believability of their animated/motion captured characters as much as the 'real actors'.In this article, I'll look back at some of the most notable developments of the past year and the animation trends that are most likely to continue into 2015...So what trends can we identify in 2014's output that can show us what's ahead for 2015? Let's start by looking at Disney/Pixar and their latest feature, Big Hero 6.Based on the Marvel Comic about a Japanese Super Hero team, the film concentrates on the relationship between Hiro Hamada and the robot he creates, Baymax.The film has been well received by cinemagoers in the US, and with its mix of western and eastern stylistic influences is receiving plaudits for its visual originality.
With an entire generation of Western animators influenced by the likes of Hayao Miyazaki now coming to the fore, we can expect this cross-continental mix to grow more and more important on both sides of the Pacific.If a mixture of styles is becoming much more prevalent throughout the world of animation, so is an increasing reliance on NPR (Non-Photorealistic Rendering). This is where, rather than a CG animator striving to create a realistic world, the 3D software is instead used to create impressionistic animation that's much more like hand-drawn media.As an example, Psyop's latest piece for AirBnb, Walls and Chains, is evocatively analogue, but throughout you can see where CGI has aided this beautiful piece.A lot of this kind of work is run through specialist software such as CelAction, which can be used to create an illustrative style which can be then animated more easily than in applications such as After Effects.Part of the reason for this trend is that the animation tools have become so advanced that photoreal CGI is now more straightforward to acquire thanks to advances in render engines such as Arnold.To my mind the greatest achievement in 2014 was the
work by Animal Logic for The Lego Movie where every single brick was CGI, but with a desire from CG team to create a look as if the Lego was being shot for real, hence Depth of Field equivalent to a macro lens and glorious scratches and wear on the minifigs and bricks.Another thing to note in both the Psyop's AirBnb and Lego Movie is that the animation befits the medium the story is told in. This ability to mimic organic media, ranging from film to watercolour, is not just about capturing a 'look'; it's about understanding the properties of the medium in question.Girl Hub by Man vs Magnet is an excellent example of this, where motion graphics meld with traditional stylised animation to create a truly memorable piece.Another good example of this is Riot Games' The Harrowing from Elastic, famous for their Game of Thrones title.The Harrowing is an brilliant execution of using CG animation to create 'realistic' objects (in this case, string puppets) but in an environment that would be costly or just impractical to build using traditonial set building techniques.
Now here's an example in completely the opposite direction. Instead of using CG for the creation process, The Outside Collective worked with production company Brain London to mix traditional media (in the form of spray paint and a empty warehouse) with advanced post production techniques, to quickly turnaround this viral for the new Little Big Planet PS4 game.The trend for mixing CG and traditional effects reached its zenith this year with the release of Laika Studio's Boxtrolls.While a stop motion film, using traditional photography, CG and VFX tech was used extensively throughout the production pipeline from VFX either as standalone graphics to create set extensions and more complex animation, or to augment existing practical elements. It's a trend many other animators are likely to draw inspiration from in 2015.The Boxtrolls is also notable for its use of 3D printing to build the practical models – something has finally come mainstream in a huge variety of creative disciplines.Laika were able to utilise the latest in technology to augment their already excellent traditional skills, and you can read more about how they went about here.
Here's hoping that in 2015 we will see more of this kind of analogue and digital mash-up to create truly unique visions!Mike Griggs is a freelance 3D, VFX, mograph artist and technical writer. Select Range 8am - Noon Noon - 4pm 4pm - 8pm 8pm - 1am 612 East River Road, New Glasgow, NS, B2H 3S2 Theatre Info & Prices Tickets are available in-theatre at Box Office Directed by: Toni Myers A breath-taking portrait of the planet captured from the International Space Station. more info & trailer 2017China / US103 min Directed by: Zhang Yimou Cast: Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe Two tough, rascally fighting men (Damon and Pascal, who was Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones) travel to China, get captured, are beguiled by a warrior princess (Jing) and besieged by beasties. Director Zhang is going for full-on blockbuster: plot and character are less important than spectacular action, Damon is likeable, and it's all spiffing hooey. Directed by: Chris McKay
Cast: Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes Batman (Arnett) is such a self-absorbed loner that even the Joker (Galifianakis) is peeved that Bats won’t recognise him as his greatest enemy, so the villain constructs a dastardly plot that incorporates every villain he can find, including the Daleks. Packed with gags and inventiveness, it’s tremendous fun. read reviewmore info & trailer Directed by: James Mangold Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, Stephen Merchant Grey-haired, boozy and ailing, Logan (Jackman) is caring for the now elderly Charles Xavier (Stewart) when he encounters a young mutant girl, Laura (Keen). A glorious swansong for Wolverine; the world-weary tone, low-key setting and ballsy climax really impress. Directed by: Greg MacGillivray Written by: Stephen Judson A tale of survival at the top of the world. Directed by: Howard Hall Jim Carrey narrates an underwater 3D look at the impact of global warming upon the diverse coastal regions of Southern Australia, New Guinea and the Indo-Pacific areas.