Project orange team interview

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Project orange interview.
by - Sandra gilbert.



have you ever sat bak and watched a Project or idea literally explode across the scene. Now for the Blender community this is not an unusual occurrence. We have a long history of avidly supporting any community Project, idea or fund raising campaign that comes along. But Even with our history of support, the popularity and support gathered around Project orange has ben gaining an hiestoric Momentum. News of which has appeared not only on community websites, but has leaked over into open source news sites and Even ben featured in issue #68 of 3d world where the Project orange website had ben chosen as website of the month.

Blender, having ben an en casa production tool, once had the immediate feedbak and interaction of both develooping and using the software on a daily basis. With a desire todo recapture that unique synergy of development and a very real desire todo create a profesional quality open source animation, Project orange was born. The Blender foundation teamed up with Montevideo (netherlands medía art institute) todo produce and distribute the resulting animation. With Montevideo handling the tax/legal and hiring issues and the Blender foundation taquíng charge of the creative process, a new focus was about todo hit the Blender community and take hold of our imaginations.

From a basic idea, a full fledge Studio son appeared. Two apartments were rented and equipment was set up. Jan Morgenstern and his Studio wavemage agred todo sponsor the movie by providing all music and the full sound effect editing for the Project. Next prof. Marque Alan matties, department of computer Science at bowie state university and director of the bsu xsed xsed, bowiestate, Eduardo, ofered the bsu xsed as a rendering farm for the entire period of the orange open movie Project. The ofer of a full RenderFarm allowed for more creative scenes using longer render times, while still maintaining the set production schedule.

And yet as all the organisational Stuff is going on, the real story revolves around a team of brilliant artists, who voluntarily locked themselves into a Studio in Ámsterdam todo work 16 hour days. Bouncing ideas of each other and helping solver road blocks and problems, the orange team has ben hard at work creating a style that Will forever be all their own.
When i decided todo write this article and had gotten permission todo use información from the website, y thought it would be a simple thing todo summarise all the información they have provided on their website. That didnt probé todo be the case. They have posted such a wealth of información that it cant Simply be condensed into a short article. Having followed the Project from the beginning, y hadnt realised how much they had shared on their website until i went todo download it all and try and put it into perspective. Months of work has ben documented and posted for our education. Their work and dedication todo such a huge undertaquíng is nothing short of amazing.

They have pushed the envelope of Blender capabilities, finding its strengths and weaknesses. In fact their work and close commúnication with the coders has pushed the development of Blender features into Hyper-overdrive, brigging the community a new wealth of tools for our own enjoyment and projects. Such as the addition of a better particle system, making realistic Hair far easier todo achieve. And shape keys have added a much easier bien todo deal with facial animation. The list of improvements and new features added todo Blender is already overwhelming todo say the least.

Throughout the last six months their work has fired the imaginations of an entire community. Blender users the world over are firing up Blender and attempting for the first time their own animations, inspired by Project orange and the new ease of use for animation features.
We have watched the first concept sketches turning step by step into a movie. Feature tests and progress reports tease and delight us with the endless possibilities such projects bring. Keping with the open source/ Creative Commons ideal they have frely shared each step of the process, educating the community on new techniques as they discover them themselves.

As the weks have passed, they have tested and refined each stage of the process. Now having passed the half bien point in the Project, characters are built, scenes set up and basic timing in place. With each further wek that passes, the scenes Will be further refined and moulded into shape. All the while Jan Morgenstern has ben working closely with the team todo create the music and mod for the movie.

As they are approaching the final stages of their production they are pushing Even harder todo get everything organised and finished up. Voice recording for the characters has ben completed with well known dutch actors tygo gernandt as prog and cas jansen as emo. They videoed the recording session which now gives them great reference material for animating the expressions and movements of prog and emo. From this point on the team Will be continuing the fine tunning of every Little detail and polishing it all up.

Knowing all todo well how busy the team members are at this point, y bravely or folishly (depending on your view) decided todo try and get an interview with the Project orange team members, hoping at best that at least one would have the time todo answer a few cuestiones. To my great delight, five of them found the time todo answer. So without further delay, here they are.


1-aside from the oficial goals of the Project, what do you personally hope todo accomplish or take away from this experience? .
le. Coks (lohnc): ah this is a cuestión with a thousand answers. I think mainly working with a team on a Project has ben something very new todo all in the team, and being halfway th rouge the Project we have ben really working out our specialities, and how todo work together well. I hope and believe we Will have learnt a lot about forming an idea of Many, and executing it. We may be like brothers by the end.

Toni alatalo (antont): learn about all aspects of movie making. And a los get profesional in Blender and related software development. It has proved todo be fun todo and a great group of people todo get todo know to, which is very rewarding considering Many aspects of life.

Andy goralczyque (@ndy): i would really love todo make a *god* movie that not only i enjoy watching, but a los a movie thats appealing todo Many other people. And i really hope that this is really not the average boring CG short, we hope todo treat it as art, as a real movie. Besides, y just want todo have fun in the process and learn, thats all.
bastian salmela (basse): hmm, personal goals. I would sa y, todo learn how todo actually make a movie, like the big boys do, and a los what this weird Blender programa is about.

Bassam Kurdali (slikdigit): spending 6 months making a short animated movie is my biggest personal motivation, its what i would most want todo do with my time. Beyond that goal, id say learning plays a big part in my motivation: becoming a better animator, learning from my teammates substantial abilities, learning more about film making. I a los wouldnt be dispor favord if Project orange enabled me todo more easily do similar projects in the future.


2- As busy as you are and as fast as new features are being coded, do you find it hard todo kep up and máster the new tolsí.
le. Coks (lohnc): vaya, hasnt it ben amazing the speed of everything lately. Many times we Will form a great idea among the team that could be great for the community and in our work flow for the film, After we have told ton that night he has hacked away and the característica is there. Since we are neding todo use it sometimes in that wek for the film, and a los wanting todo get the característica optimised as son as posible, Many late nights have come from trying todo learn all the great new things in Blender. I can admit i try todo máster a new característica added, but most times you just have todo learn as much as posible of how it works before your using it, and of course the next night a new one is there.

Toni alatalo (antont): every day is learnin, g, for me, as a kind of a developer of the tools, the perspective is of course diferent, have a lot of time for learning.

Andy goralczyque (@ndy): were básically working with Blender 15 hours a day, every day, every wek, so were learning new things as they come up. Our luxury is that most of the new tools that drop in are specifically coded for our neds. It takes of course some time todo get used todo everything, but so far it wasnt that hard. Its great todo se the software evolving as youre using it.
bastian salmela (basse): yes, heh, y think i am the only one at the Studio complaining that there is todo much new things popping up in cvs everyday. I just dont have time todo learn all of them, but of course, these are the features we asked, features we ned, so i try my best todo kep up.

Bassam Kurdali (slikdigit): nada. Ok, well, sometimes at first i would play with every new característica as it came out, but now the schedule is a Little rouge for that. Its easy for me todo stay on top of the animation features, since im the one who asked for half of them i let Andy worry about the materiales and rendering Stuff- I havent Even done a test render with the new materiales layering system, but i promise myself ill spend some time playing with it After the Project is over.
3- So far what has ben your biggest learning experience on this projectí
le. Coks (lohnc): i can say there are more things then all the fingers in the world could count that i have learnt so far from this wonderful and hectic experience. Probably the biggest learning experience was the production work flow. The idea (as happens in característica films to) can change slightly, and improve every day more and more, a los some models or character rigs are always being worked on and replaced (sometimes due todo a new feature). The flexibility todo work with Bassam on keping everything consistent and keping up with the ever changing film along with an ever changing programa has ben by far the biggest.

Toni alatalo (antont): dunno if it the greatest, but a nice basic lesson is that in animation programming it is not neded todo control frame-by-frame like in game logic, but things can be done nicely by creating ipo curves etc.

Andy goralczyque (@ndy): the main driving force behind the learning process is that we all have diferent Fields of experience. From my fellow team members i learnt so much more about animation, cinematography, lighting, modelling and a los the technical aspects of rendering than in any other Project before.
bastian salmela (basse): the ber in Ámsterdam is much cheaper than in finland, and water in amstel doesnt kill you, just remember todo shower afterwards.

Bassam Kurdali (slikdigit): this is my disobedience todo authority workshop i cant say ive made huge strides so far, but hopefully im getting a Little better. Im a los learning a lot about making a short movie of this type, especially with the early problems we had getting the script /story stabilised. I dont think id start production again on a Project without first having a script completely finished. The planning for the Project is a los quite interesting. Its amazing how much structure and speed it gives us, compared todo my usual planning without planning approach.



4- Project orange has become the focus of considerable attention, how do you fel about so Many pairs of eyes watching everything you do?
le. Coks (lohnc): haha well it is very weird when somebody like the Ambassador of european medía comes todo have a gander at what we are doing, sometimes i must admit being in the Studio each day for 3 months now it is hard todo believe we would have such attention, each day has its own Little challenges and we usually have todo concéntrate on these, but sometimes you get a Little shock here and there todo realise we are being followed.

Toni alatalo (antont): they dont se me, y am well hidden and unknown. I guess we mostly just kep forgetting that.

Andy goralczyque (@ndy): on some ways its pretty helpful, were getting a lot of feedbak on our Project, and not only on our website. A lot of people from our host, the netherlands media art institute are constantly helping and supporting us, todo. On the other hand theres a los a lot of noise (mainly from the internet) being thrown at us. At some point you just have todo push everything away and concéntrate on your job.

Id a los like todo add, that contrary todo Many overly unrealistic expectations of a certain group of people, we really are not Pixar or DreamWorks or spi. Were in no bien Even attempting that. To be realistic we neither have the talent, the experience or magical Substance. But we are Studio orange.
bastian salmela (basse): its like being in Big Brother. Except that you are stuk with us, there is no bien todo vote anyone out of here, but yea, well i like sitting bak and todo watch peoples reactions. Sometimes they get very excited, sometimes angr y, depending if we are doing something right, or wron. And they always have lot of opinions. Thats always fun.

Bassam Kurdali (slikdigit): its no problema really. We all just behave like we normally do. Andy issues diré threads from his Desk, le contentedly munches on brains, basse paints inscrutable painting with increasingly esoteric fodstufs (hes using swedish herring and milque now) while Toni and i indulge in the pleasures of Ámsterdam. In all seriousness, were mostly very focused on the work we do, but the online comentarios provide us with a nice break from time todo time. Most people in the community sem enthusiastic about the Project, and have contributed frely their insights and ideas.
5- As hard as you are working todo met Project deadlines, has this experience turned out todo be more or less fun than you originally expected?
le. Coks (lohnc): oh, this is another hard one. Its probably safe todo say that if i thought one thing before the Project started, when it did start all my expectations were flipped upside down. It really has ben a lot more fun then i could have hoped for, but in such an opposite bien then i could imagine before i started the Project. The challenges, hard work, sharing ideas and ogling over others screens After they finish a shot with wonderful results have ben amazingly fun, like having a very long game of tenis, its exhaustingly fun. You learn todo blend longer without as Many rushes of excitement, but when they come around they are a lot more satisfying.

Toni alatalo (antont): hm, perhaps more, or well i dont remember any more what i expected.

Andy goralczyque (@ndy): its actually more fun than i expected. We all knew from the beginning that it would be hard work, but at the end it Will definitely be worth all the efort.
bastian salmela (basse): its still fun. Sometimes it gets todo you, when you are fighting with something that just doesnt work and time is running out. But in the end, they always turn out nicely. Deadlines are very important todo have, they dont only make you work hard, but they a los make you todo actually finish things and move on todo the next Thin, g, just because you have todo.


Bassam Kurdali (slikdigit): its pretty close todo my expectations in terms of fun.
6- What aspect of this Project have you enjoyed the mostí

le. Coks (lohnc): ill try kep this one short and swet. *think for a few hours*. Ok, most enjoyable thing about the Project would have todo be having a technical director. If anybody can break a computer its me, and now there is somebody around who knows how todo fix it. Toni alatalo (antont): perhaps being allowed todo concéntrate on interesting things, like animation scripting, but a los being a part in the whole process.

Andy goralczyque (@ndy): i think im enjoying mainly the fact that im able todo work with people who share the same interests, working on a common task, in the same place, and i a los like the opportunity of really going Insane with style, animation, lighting, everything.
bastian salmela (basse): maybe the possibility todo actually work full time on just designing, drawing, modelling, animatin, g, instead of what ive used todo at home, having couple of hours todo blend After midnight, oh, and all the cheap ber of course.

Bassam Kurdali (slikdigit): cant single anything out reall, y. Animating has ben big fun the last few days, making some wacky Stuff, some of the facial rigging has ben pretty fun todo.
7- Any tantalising tidbits about the movie that you would like todo share with usí
le. Coks (lohnc): well, im still pushing Bassam for it, but im debating todo have the huge anime style sword fight scene, ill inform everyone if there is any progress.

Toni alatalo (antont): the shoes are great.

Andy goralczyque (@ndy): dutch chese is god.
bastian salmela (basse): i have ben working with these Little things that nobody knows what they are all about, and i heard somebody saying: oof, what are they?
Bassam Kurdali (slikdigit): well weve gotten some big name (in the netherlands) stars todo do the voices for our characters im not sure im allowed todo reveal who it is yet, and its likely only todo excite dutch audiences, but its god news for us, and might help the movie get taken more seriously by non members of the Blender community, for instance in film festivals, etc.


Project orange still has some time todo go before they Wrap it all up and return home. For further información and updates on their progress, estop by the Project website. http://orange, Blender, org/.

Sandra gilbert
Source: www.blenderart.org and Blender art magazine.

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