In our 65th podcast we interviewed industry veteran and our Pre-Viz instructor, Conan Low. Conan is a 20 year veteran of the film entertainment industry and has worked on a wide range of projects from groundbreaking television, beginning with the pioneering computer generated animated series Reboot to box office movie hits like Madagascar 3 and Rogue One. After working on the first four seasons of Futurama and the first season of Genndy Tartakovsky’s Star Wars: Clone Wars with Rough Draft Studios, Conan joined the CGI pioneers in Northern California at PDI/Dreamworks where he supervised teams in their pre-visualization department. Anytime you can interview someone who is excited about our art form and been in the industry for 20 plus years, you're sure to learn something.

If you would like to find out more about pre-visulation visit our Pre-Viz Workshops page.

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In our 64th podcast we interviewed game animator Lana Bachynski. Lana is currently a Senior Animator at Blizzard Entertainment and has been working on Heroes of the Storm where she was instrumental in bringing the original character Orphea life. In addition to animating at Blizzard, Lana also has taken up the gauntlet of running the Animation Boot Camp held each year at GDC.
Lana had some great insight to working in this industry as well as a genuine enthusiastic attitude that made this interview a lot of fun.

If you would like to find out more about animating in games visit our Game Animation Workshops page.

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Have a look at this prototype built in Unreal by former iAnimate student Stephen Slack. Stephen was one of the first Unreal Engine workshop student and came into the course with no prior knowledge of UE4. After the 11 hour workshop, he decided to build his own game, taking what he learned and figured out some additional mechanics. This video is a great example of what you can achieve with a little bit of help to navigate the basics of the engine. Visit the Unreal Engine workshop page for more information about the workshop.

Click 'Continue Reading' to watch Stephen's Unreal prototype.

For our 63rd interview we spoke with ILM Senior Animator, Erik Morgansen. Erik has been working as an animator for more than 20 years. Erik's film career began upon completing the Animating Assistant Training Program at the Disney Feature Studio with work on 'Meet the Robinsons'. Previous to that he'd worked at a number of studios doing real-time animation, game cinematics, location-based entertainment and commercials. As a senior animator at ILM he's worked on such films as 'Rango', 'Ready Player One', 'Bumble Bee', 'Jurassic World', and 'Pacific Rim'. Erik's excitement for animation bleeds throughout this interview.

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In our 62nd podcast we interviewed past iAnimate feature student and current Pixar animator, Frank Abney. In addition to Pixar Animation, Frank has had the opportunity to work for Dreamworks Animation and the Walt Disney Animation Studio. During his time at three of the top studios he has been able to work on such films as Kung Fu Panda 3, Coco, Incredibles 2, Frozen, and most recently Toy Story 4. With a resume like that and Frank's own personal project 'Canvas', this made for a great animation conversation.

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"iAnimate's Creature Workshop 3, Flight School and Fantasy Creatures, didn't just help me improve my technical understanding of animation, but provided we with a deep and thorough knowledge of bird anatomy, mechanics, and behavior. When it comes to flight, Brendan Body knows his stuff, and thanks to his help, I am now professionally animating birds on a daily basis. Understanding of flight is rare in the industry, and it's worth learning, whether you're a veteran animator or just starting out."

- Bre Melvin

Click 'Continue Reading' to see Bre's creature animation reel.

In our 61st podcast we interview Tina Nawrocki. Tina is a 2D animator and worked on the critically acclaimed game Cuphead! Tina's passion for animation and art shined in this interview and made for some great conversation.

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Our very own Ric Arroyo (Senior Art Animation Director, Ubisoft) will be a guest at AnimState during their 2019 Animation Exchange. The event will be starting at 12:00pm Pacific Time on Tuesday, March 19th. They will be sharing a lot of great insight and knowledge all from their Twitch Office channel. Mark you calendars, because I'm sure you won't want to miss this. For more information and schedule visit their site HERE.