15.February.1999
Glass
A decade ago, the most expensive and powerful graphics workstations were needed to make the same 3D animations you can make on a home computer today. In its subtext, Glass suggests how the latest technological advances empower today's digital filmmakers.
Animated by
Jay Brewer
Stills from "Glass"
Brewer offers you a succinct, ambient digital flick in the vein of classic computer animation.
New Venue:
What is Glass?
Brewer:
Glass is an exploration of a green glass texture trapped in a sphere. As the sphere travels, the green glass texture persists treating all things trapped like glass. The glass sphere reflects the glass to the surroundings and provides an outer texture that the glass resides in as well.
New Venue:
How do you take into account the constraints of the Internet?
Brewer:
I designed it with the internet in mind. The thought behind Glass was to share the texture and presentation of a short that might be too short for the mainstream medium of film. I think that the Internet has the ability to share a very different kind of movie experience and since it's free - sharing a short on glass is something you can do that you couldn't do if you had to pay for it. Also I like the idea of my short being able to be viewed at anytime, anywhere in the world, by anyone that comes to the New Venue to see it.
New Venue:
What technology did you use?
Brewer:
Macintosh. I used a combination of Poser 2, Bryce 3D, and infini-d for 3D stuff. All the textures and such for mapping were done in Photoshop. I then edited everything with Premiere and After Effects (very little in After Effects - a little blurring). The music and sound effects were stock - copyright free stuff and I messed around (slowing down and combining them) with Sound Edit 16.
New Venue:
A few years ago, wouldn't you have needed a much more powerful computer to do this?
Brewer:
That's what still amazes me. I've got this Macintosh that can do just about anything even if it takes a little more time than the big boys.
View this movie.
You can find out about other digital flicks in the New Venue Archives.
