To do this you’ll need:

- Maya (I’m using 2010)
- Resource Hacker (link)
- An image editing program (Photoshop etc.)

So first things first. Make sure Maya is closed, if it’s open, bad things can and will happen. Next, we need to make a copy of the file we’re going to edit, just in case things get borked. So, point your clickin’ fingers over to your Maya\bin directory. In Windows it will be something like:

- C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2010\bin -

In there you’ll find a file called MayaRes.dll, make a copy of this file and keep it in a safe place.

Next, download the program “Resource Hacker” from here. Unzip it and run ResHacker.exe.

Go to File>Open and navigate to …Autodesk\Maya2010\bin\MayaRes.dll.

Expand the “Bitmap” column in the left pane and navigate to MAYASTARTUPIMAGE.XPM. Expand it and click on the icon, you should now see the default Maya logo in the right pane. Right click the bitmaps icon and select Save [Bitmap MAYASTARTUPIMAGE.XPM:1033]… You’re only doing this so you can use the dimensions as a reference and back up the file if you like.

Open the newly saved bitmap in Photoshop and customize it to your hearts content. There are no naming conventions to follow, but you need to save the file as a bmp. Once you’re satisfied with your new image, go back to Resource Hacker and right click on that 1033 icon again. This time select Replace Resource and navigate to your new .bmp image

Once you’ve done all that save the MayaRes.dll by clicking File>Save in Resource Hacker. Close Resource Hacker and open Maya. You should now see your new splash screen at start up! If you want to change it back you can always replace the new MayaRes.dll file with the one you backed up earlier. Or you can use Resource Hacker to simply replace the bitmap image.

I’m responsible for the animation only.

modelled & Textured by: Billy Butler
www.pieanimation.com
Rigging by:- Kurt & Oyvind
animationstudios.com.au

Onward!

Blocking pass

Audio Source: The Hunt for Red October.
“Norman” Character was produced by the Academy of Art University.

Many of the comments on that article go on to talk about how in many industries people don’t get credit at then end of a final product. This is true, and I can see that there is an obvious point to be made: that you can’t ship a list of credits with an automobile etc. But the creative industry has long practiced giving credit to the individuals who labored, sometimes rather intensely, on a film, tv show, or game. Not that I’m always one for silly traditions, but the entertainment industry has been using this as leverage in some instances: promising a pseudo promotion of a fancier credit but wihtout the compensation. What’s worse is that some employees aren’t included intentionally as a form of punishment or just flat out laziness. Forcing someone off of a game credit listing because they left the company before the product shipped is just wrong. As is baiting someone into shipping a game with the promise of a “lead” credit when they are not paid as such, though I can see how many developers might be a bit more willing to overlook this instance. I’ve happily done things in the past that were far outside the scope of my job description. It’s the nature of the beast, sometimes Animation gets slow and you have to move some verts around. But, without fail, it’s something that is abused in game development. The “I did more work than was in my job description but was not compensated” discussion is one for another day though.

Others have also stated that it doesn’t really matter as your resume/CV really shows your credit anyways. That’s fine I guess, until you consider the astounding amount of fraud and theft that takes place, especially amongst artists in this industry. I think the only way you can prove which titles you’ve been on is through some kind of standardized crediting.

It’s easy to take the “who cares” attitude towards something like this. But if that’s the case then why not just take a few hours and get a proper credit list shipped? You’re going to ship credits anyways, and it’s not as if the printing presses charge by the line. So do your employees a service and give them the credit for which they’ve worked.

Simply stated, it’s a story about WWII from the perspective of a woman from Eastern Russia, and the toll it takes on her and her family. While I am still and will always be a huge fan of silly cartoons, this video sure does accentuate the spellbinding affect art can have on an audience. I know a lot of people cry during Bambi or Beauty and the Beast but this is different. You’ll notice a lot of the audience members getting pretty emotional during the presentation. At the above mentioned site it explains that nearly every member of the audience lost someone close to them during the German invasion.

A very heartfelt and stunning work. I hope I can find out more about the process she went through to learn it. And a big congratulations to Ms. Simonova for actually winning the entire contest.

Started in 1998, Pandemic has been responsible for the “Destroy All Humans!” franchise, “Star Wars: Battlefront”, and “Full Spectrum Warrior” to name a few. More recently “Mercenaries 2: World in Flames” and “Lord of the Rings: Conquest”, their latest releases, haven’t done well with critics or audiences unfortunately and “The Saboteur“, which ships in just a couple of weeks, will be the last title released by the original Pandemic. Part of the studio has been assumed under EA Los Angeles and it looks as though EA will be continuing development of some of the franchises under the Pandemic brand. Unfortunately, 200 jobs, including the three founders of Pandemic, have been cut. It comes at a particularly difficult time as the holidays are just around the corner and California’s economy isn’t exactly booming these days. I wish all those affected including their families the best moving forward. Sorry to hear the news.

In a pretty hilarious gesture of protest, a few of the now former Pandemic employees decided to shoot the following video in an effort to vent some frustration, and perhaps make fun out of a pretty awful situation. Well played sirs. Well played.

Laird posted his reaction to the “fans” on his blog Saturday which you can read here. He really owes nothing to the nay-sayers as he’s already dedicated over two decades of his life to TMNT but instead left a tasteful explanation as to why he’s selling. I’m happy for him and the rest of the people involved and I hope things move in exciting and new directions. One thing people often forget in times like these is that in reality this is a business. No one is taking the old stuff away either. All those books you still have, the VHS Tapes, comics, coloring books, folders, that’s all still there for you to enjoy. This just marks a new era, among many, for the Turtles. One thing that I’m sure is a bit odd, as one commenter had already posted on Jim Lawson’s blog: it must have been hard keeping this whole thing private from the staff at Mirage and hopefully there isn’t any bad blood. Especially with guys like Jim Lawson who have been with Mirage since the beginning. So good luck to everyone at Mirage in this giant transition.

On another interesting note. A new CG TMNT film is slated for release in 2012 which will be distributed by Paramount (also of the Viacom family). It would also seem that Dreamworks and Paramount have had an exclusive distribution deal since 2005. While that doesn’t really mean anything since Paramount isn’t required to use Dreamworks as their sole means for content creation (it’s not a two way deal) it is an interesting prospect. Dreamworks has been pushing those new 3D projectors as well. All just me speculating, but it would make for some juicy nerd-like gossip.

If you click on over to Vimeo you’ll see all of it’s awards and nominations etc. It’s really no wonder. Good work by all involved.