Amiga Computing - Commodore Is Awesome

Himminen and 50r1
0
the
ucked
top
away
floor
in
is
a
an
London
Amiga 4000
terrace
and
house
Silicon
on
Graphics side by side. The owner. Mariut
Renminen, has been producing animation for the
last 20 years. An animation director by trade.
computers have only just begun taking a very
actms role In her work. On board is her son Dan
ArraII, a computer operator and animator whose
expertise has also helped Jonathan Hodgson.
I was in 1974 that she had her first experience
with a computer: "I was in London to shoot
a commercial with Electronic Arts and became
involved because the media was interesting and
new. Unfortunately at that time, the whole
computer operation was in the hands of the
engineers not the creatives due to the inaccessitdey
of the hardware and software" commented
Rimminen.
Subsequently, she didn't return to the computer
scene for another 20 years. In the meantime,
she continued with her commercial work and
has tad venous animations shown on Channel
4. /ter next foray into computers was the Amiga
500, owned by her son, which came with Deluxe
Paint 3. So impressed with the standard possible,
she quickly invested in a 4000 and a
PARcarcl The machine is currently being used
on another Channel 4 Four Mations anim in conjunction
with the Silicon Graphics. With the
mock-up created on the Amiga already, the bulk
of the final version is being produced on the SGI.
RISKY BUSINESS
While some Amiga owners maybe fuming at
the thought, Rimminen is quick to point out that
one of the reasons for bringing in the SGI was
me cloud of doubt hanging over Commodore's
luture 'We had planned to go with Arnigas solely,
but with such an investment in something that
was looking decidedly shaky it was just too
much of a risk.
- Indeed, she sings the Amiga's praises: "I've
werked with Macs as well and it has lots of interesting
programs but its still not a great machine.
It the Amiga was developed in the same way as •
the Mac - easy to use in other words - it would
be ideal"
Star of the show though, yet again, is the
PARcard. While shooting the live footage at
hired studios, they used a Hi-8 video camera
and stored each frame directly onto the card
which was set up nearby. The Amiga has also
taped her puppet skills as well - while shooting
a particular scene, Rimminen needed to him a
dill rolling out a handbag_ Instead of the usual
painstaking set-up required to perform such an
anirrelion feat, she simply held the doll in the relevant
position for each frame and then took out
her fingers using Brilliance in post production. 1
hnd the system very tactile which is unusual for a
computer._ it enables me to use my puppet skills
and help in the process
- While s h the e SGI takes centre stage in this prodaction,
c o mRimminen m e n is t obviously a true enthusiast.
e 'While d . at a show recently, I met dozens of
animators all singing the praises of the machine.
Even after all this time, there's a real community
saint tor the Amiga. II Escom succeed. I think the
future for the Amiga in the animation sector is
excellent."
Mang Happq Return5
A theme-heavy animation portraying how the
present is both formed from the past and the
future - because of our experiences and
hopes, there's no such thing as objective reality.
The anim explores this with a mixture of
computer and live action
Mainlined wa s pla ce d on a spinning
cha ir in this shot. The MVO
was tha n mite re d a nd turne d into a n
anintbrush. The pa le tte wa s
cha nge d a nd the fina l ima ge
ste ncilte d into the live a ction lore .
ground with... Brillia nce !
Amiga Computing
OCTOBER 1995
Dan Arna li a nd fila rtut
illimmine rc "I find the
Amiga ve ry ta ctile
which is unusua l tor A
compute r— it e na ble s
me to use my puppe t
skills a nd he lp in the
process."
Sit this sce ne , the M ints in the ve ne tia n blind ta ke
oil a nd fly a cross the a ce sie n. Rinwnine n's fe c•
was put ove r the top AS A 2 0 pe r ce nt
transparency with a riiiia nce . The birds
themseives sta rte d a s dots ma pping the ir flight
plans a nd the n we re subse que ntly dra wn in with
Brillia nce with a slight tra nspa re ncy.
Other work
41 M orph Plus wa s use d to distort the fa ce
into a va mpa ric ima go. The ta ttoos on the
face we re ske tche d 041 with Brillia nce by
, digita l a rtist Ja ck Schute e
in the ba ckground bomb, ca n be se e n
dropping - this e ffe ct wa s a chie ve d by
simply shooting a book pa ge on vide o
while tilting the ca llie ra down, The
Houses of Pa rlia me nt we re corn posite d
over the lop a nd e dge s we re blurre d to
se e m life like . The broa dca ste rs we re
taken from the vide o re corde r a nd
picked up a s a n a nimbrush e nd pla ce d
V on top of the a ction
Afte r usktg AluitiFra nte a s a
compositor a nd dra wing a n a lpha
cha nne l for e a ch live fra me of Um
actor. the re st of the shot wa s
ima ge proce sse d with the tine a rt
option using AdPro a nd Ahdlifra me
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