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View Full Version : My Honest Review of "Nuts and Bolts"


Terro
03-28-2009, 05:55 PM
Hello guys and gals. The following is a honest review I did for the first DVD "Nuts and Bolts" for the Animationforum community. (Link to original review (http://www.animationforum.net/forum/showthread.php?p=47763#post47763))

Below is a copy of the review

When I got home this Friday I had a little surprise in the mail. The first two of Don Bluth’s training DVD’s had arrived. Now those of you who are not familiar with Don’s work (You should be!!!) you can see his work history over at IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0089940/)

But I’m not here to talk about what the man has done , I’m here to do a honest review of his new training DVD’s. In this post I will be reviewing the first video “Nuts and Bolts”

So the most important question is, who is this DVD targeted at? Is the content strictly entry level or does it provide valuable information for a more experienced animator? The answer is BOTH!!! and more.

Don’s starts out at the very conception of the craft, some of it’s history , and quickly moves along to the basics and requirements of animation. You’ll discover the tools used in traditional animation and absorb techniques passed on by the pioneers. Majority of this video takes place in front of an animation disk, but I found that most of the content translated pretty well into the digital era. (As long as you can wrap your head around the fact this craft is forever growing and this DVD is a glimpse at it’s proven foundation.) Sure, we no longer need to pay as much attention to Field sizes since in most cases we can Zoom and Pan, but only after learning the way it’s done in true paper and pencil fashion, do you start to appreciate the shortcuts were able to take today. Don does a wonderful job at covering light boxes, animation disks, papers, pegboards, frames, xsheets and much much more. And just when you feel like things might be getting a tad too technical he rewards us with a drawing of a familiar character.

This DVD’s isn’t something you’ll watch , learn from, and forget. It’s not a how to draw, or how to animate walk-through. At the same time, it's not really a intro to animation either.

What it is, is a great reference of a solid foundation in animation. Like a good book that you pick up once in a while, because it teaches you new things depending on your level of experience. With the only criticism being that it’s so informative that I wish it would be longer.

If you are serious about animation, this is a must have Gem for your collection. http://www.donbluthanimation.com/

Stay tuned for my review of Don’s second DVD “The Bouncing Ball” .

Terro
03-28-2009, 06:01 PM
Lol, somehow I miss-typed "Honest" + "Review" in the title. Would one of the mods please correct that for me, it should read "My Honest Review" not "my hoest revies" :)

That's what happens when you type too fast.

Thanks.

lavallelee
03-28-2009, 08:25 PM
computers might make some things quicker, but you probably wouldn't of spelt that wrong if you wrote it on paper :p

nice review terro :)

Dave
03-28-2009, 08:48 PM
Lol, somehow I miss-typed "Honest" + "Review" in the title. Would one of the mods please correct that for me, it should read "My Honest Review" not "my hoest revies" :)

That's what happens when you type too fast.

Thanks.

Eh, What error? ;) Joking... All fixed now.

zanekohler
03-30-2009, 07:15 AM
Thanks for the review! I do want to get this one. I ended up grabbing the bouncing ball first. I think your review was helpful in what to expect and getting excited to get it. When it comes to the technical stuff like field guides I have learned mostly from books. I had a basic traditional animation class and unfortunately it did not go into a lot of detail in these areas. So I am kind of excited to actually SEE some one demo it!
Thanks again.

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/obAnx2UDvY0&hl=en&fs=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed>

admin
03-30-2009, 12:11 PM
Thanks for the review Terro. We're releasing the next tutorial today. It's the first tutorial release for the Learn to Draw Catagory, and it's one of my favorites so far. It's called "Getting the feeling." I'll post an announcement with a full description on the forum as soon as the pages are configured with the details.

zanekohler
03-30-2009, 12:22 PM
Will there be a preview clip as well? Sounds really cool!

EDIT! I could not wait and checked. I saw there was a clip ;) This does look good!

admin
03-30-2009, 03:11 PM
obAnx2UDvY0

lavallelee
03-30-2009, 03:44 PM
I plan on getting the next one as soon as i work on the bouncing ball.(hopefully it gets here in the mail tommorrow)

zanekohler
03-30-2009, 03:55 PM
Same here. I am kinda hoping it will be there when I get home! :D . The tracking says it is in town as of yesterday. However even if it comes tomorrow I have to say thanks to the speedy delivery!

Terro
03-30-2009, 07:52 PM
You guys will enjoy the bouncing ball one, there's a couple of cool twists in there. I will leave all the details for my next review though. I should have it up tomorrow if time permits.