A Word World Valentine's (Making Machine) Day

Thank goodness this Valentine's Day device didn't have to spell itself!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Architecture of Word World, Pt. 2: Things in 3-D

Just for fun – a continuation of the "architecture" necessary to design for 3-D animation; in this case for PBS Kids "Word World," where not only do you have to use an architect's sensibilities to design buildings and locations, but also to design things...some that need to be built out of their own words (Word World is "Where Words Come Alive"), some that gratefully don't. Here the design takes on the quality of product design, or toy design (which it occasionally ends up being...)

Like these first two– it wouldn't really make sense to build something that read: "Automatic Cake Frosting Gun on Wheels," or "Valentine Making Machine;" nor would it ever be possible in the space allowed. Still, you have to start with an idea of the thing in all it's 3 dimensions:

This rough idea might demonstrate just what the thing can do...

Then from b/w plan, to color...
Things that need to be constructed out of the letters of their own word can be a little trickier. 'The Educators' have to make certain that legibility isn't going to be an issue (especially for the littlest viewers)... Here's the gray model, for revisions, before painting...


....................................and don't forget space for the action figures!

The Architecture of Word World, Pt. 1: Places in 3-D

Here's a look at the architectural aspects of designing a complex 3-D animated world, like PBS Kids' Word World. In Word World, every "where" has to start somewhere, as in this sketch of even the lowliest crab shack, which in this case (like everything in Word World) had to be constructed from perfectly legible lower case letters.In Word World, every 3-D location had to be built, much like it would be in the real world. Following the visualizing sketch, there'd have to be an architectural plan, showing all the angles that the model builders need to make the new locale into a space where our 3-D actors can work...

Combined with the architectural drawing can be a detailed comprehensive color version.

Sometimes, we got away with a simpler black & white version, as with this lower case "dock," just using a plan view, placing it in the world, and showing it's panel in the storyboard...

The color comp follows the plan drawing, and places the location in the world, in it's appropriate seasonal surrounding...

With the external plan drawn up, the location in the 3-D world determined, the color figured out, etc., etc...the building and placement of the model takes place, not (as you can see) without a bit of back-and-forth. I ended up building a fence between the Schoolhouse and the train track, for safety of course!

The new School-house location needs an interior that has to be built separate from the exterior, because the interior acting space needs to be larger than the exterior plan will allow. We stay correctly related to the exterior by sticking to the proper proportions, at least...

Finally, there needs to be a very comprehensive color version, that tell the model painters pretty much exactly what we need. The look of the world itself shouldn't vary much from this full color "architectural" rendering...I got help with this Schoolhouse interior from the very talented Gideon Kendall.

Even the most atmospheric and organic locations must be created by this plan – with sketches, technical/architectural drawings, color comps, and finished color renderings, whether it's the Schoolhouse, or the bottom of the pond!

Congratulations on Our Rainbow Connection!

......................a rainbow in Word World must always be legible!

The singular purpose of Life is to transcend (but not abandon) our senses, and to live and think on the level of spirit; then we gain the self-awareness to recognize and remove the obstacles between ourselves and Love.

Congratulations! to all our brothers and sisters who have finally won their battles to make it legal for same-sex couples to get married. It's been a long time coming, and I suspect it's an issue of simple compassion that has been around for a much longer time than we think. We've always all had these little differences, it just depends on the consciousness we use to notice them.

Extending the rights of marriage to gays, lesbians, and transgendered people, as it has historically been to differing religions and races, is literally a real "no-brainer" – but it's always been an issue with those people whose thinking is dictated by fear. Folks who sing the praises of personal freedom, yet insist on playing God by denying the simplest of human unions to others whose little differences aren't identical to their own. In other words, what those people have always needed is less brain, more heart.

Nonetheless, this small breakthrough is still more evidence for the expansion of compassionate consciousness into the world – the spiritual growth of our earth-bound collective – that indicates the (albeit stubborn) relinquishment of that fearful minority's harsh judgement to the over-arching power of Love and shared enlightened consciousness.

It has always been those zealous dogmatists, forever seeking compensatory control and self-enhancement, who've led the way into that particular darkness – blindly following the delusional intelligence that in our past has been responsible for such ingeniously misguided evangelical inventions as thumb-screws, "The Iron Maiden," and the Rack, as well as the bans on gay and interracial marriage. God Bless Them. They're helping us identify with how difficult it can be to accept our differences. We have to show gentle tolerance, and try to be an example of how it really works.

Shall we toss out those resultant stigmas as we throw out their dogmas as well? None of our earthly brothers and sisters need bear any brand of separation – nothing that marks them as being anything other than "Children of God" and the expression of shared humanity—of Love—that we all are actually here to learn to be. That's our ticket to real freedom.

Like it or not (and I do), even with the most stubbornly prideful, egoically deluded of us, our inner and outer obstacle-walls to Love come tumbling down, and what's simply humane, just, and divinely blessed inevitably overcomes even the staunchest advocates of self-hatred. It's a spiritual evolution that we're taking part in, and evolution can't reverse itself unless a species is extinguished (which might seem like an option at this particular point), an outcome that's very unlikely in light of our growing enlightenment.

What's more likely is that we are learning to Love each other – differences and all – and are inevitably overcoming the petty greed and intolerance that threatens us, and this beautiful Earth, as we know it.

"Love thy neighbor as thyself."

Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:39

For the lucky, ever-increasing number of us for whom that Christian dictum has always been a simple function of karma (likewise a "no-brainer"), that beatitudinal expression has always worked in both of the directions that it was intended to. Outward, and inward, which is where it all really starts—with ourselves. Treating our fellow human beings well is an easy enough principle to understand, but how about loving Thyself with the same kind of unconditional compassion?

As we are all essentially the same player in on this stage, judging our brothers and sisters, and their choices and expressions in Life, is always simply a form of unnecessarily harsh self-punishment. Now it can be released at the same time as our stridently illogical and intolerant  traditional "Laws of Nature" deconstruct themselves, revealed and overturned by compassionate consciousness. Only then can intuitive intelligence and reason be freed up, and allowed to demonstrate where our boundaries really need to be. Where boundaries make sense for everyone – boundaries against needless destruction and gross inequality. Boundaries like those defining the need to save all the life of our precious Earth.

What do you say we finally let ourselves off the hook (along with all the rest of God's creatures), and instead of identifying ourselves with life's painful obstacles to happiness and fulfillment, finally accept our true potential as channels and stewards of the Divine Spirit of Love?

"Would it be possible for you to hate your brother if you were like him? Could you attack him if you realize your journey with him, to a goal that is the same?"

A Course in Miracles, 24.I.6

Read about this and much more in the new book: How to Get to Heaven (Without Really Dying), Wisdom From a Near-Death Survivor is due out early 2018, from Llewellyn Worldwide can be pre-ordered online. The first book: How to Survive Life (and Death), A Guide To Happiness In This World and Beyond is available everywhere – but ask for it it at your local bookstore!

BGs Stayin' Alive, A Bunch of Recent Hi-Lites

Here are a few across the board. It's fun to do different things...

click on anything to see it bigger

Da Alps, a few show design samples for animation and presentation, Tricycle/Random House for KidScreen

A Morrocan gate...

and a "Boxetship" to the moon

a corporate office BG for a contractually undisclosed client...very mysterious

A laundromat for Word World Jr. online

Pig's good ol' BARN for Word World online

Building the new 3-D Lighthouse for Word World,

new season on-the-air now

Science Lab in color...

A field and a half of Science Lab for Curious/PBS Kids

Show design for Krudnut/PBS Kids

A rose, by any other name, spelled out for Word World/PBS Kids

A Website Update

This is to announce that I've just completed an update of my website, with the help of Mike Perkins at Setstatic. Aside from a new palette, there's lots of new material to see in Animation Design & Art Direction - with a whole new Development Art & Design page (featuring three new projects); a bunch of new Word World, Season Three; and an all-new Online Design page. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks, Mike.

Here's how that red firetruck turned out...

Reading Things and Places...

Earlier, I showed what it's like to build readable lower case characters for Word World, like with the cat and the pelican. Here's a legible place, and a couple of things built out of the letters that spell what they are, like everything has to do "where words come alive."

From WordWorld Season Three: The legible Mr. Fox. For most of the first, and some of the second season, everything in WordWorld was made out of capital letters, not so Season Three, when lower case took over. For a show called, I think, "X Marks the Spot."

Building a Pelican That Reads

A sneak peek at season three of Word World, where Art Direction/Design means building characters, locations, and props; creating, balancing and adjusting colors; and following up the 3-D building of it - making sure that everything looks right in the world.

Here are the stages of creating a character that "says it's own name" for a world where words come alive...Start with a drawing, a lot like an architectural plan...

Get it built in a 3-D grayscale version...

Then color rough it, and check the final word character, come to life!

A little piece of Word World scene design...

As long as the next post takes place in a tropical lagoon, here's the bottom rough color art for Duck's Pond in Word World, Season Two!

I noticed the new season of Word World is on now, so I'll put up a few designs that are finally airing...

Here's a color comp for the Monkey's hut,

and here's how complete the 3-D design plan has to be...

2D design to 3D design

Designing for 3D requires a lot of architecture. As you see here, not only for architectural locations, but also for the creation of characters. It's necessary to be technically specific even when it comes to aspects of the character's "charm." Notice how the "a" changed from the plan drawing to the color model, to enhance legibility.
...this 3/4 rear drawing is by the very talented Kevin Kobasic, who did the original turn-arounds of the cat character, as well as a lot of other characters on the show.

Here's my first take at 3D design, a couple years ago in a film I did for Herman Miller called "Purple," where fixtures came to life...