Balance Studios proudly announces the launch of their iPhone design and development division. Learn more about Balance Mobile

epicsoft announces today the launch of the newest addition to the epicFlash Components Product Library – the epicFlashTextControl. The epicFlashTextControl is an ASP.NET server control that allows developers to create dynamic blocks of text on the fly through ASP.NET code.

Requiring minimum knowledge of flash, the epicFlashTextContol gives developers the ability to render out unique fonts that do not have to be installed on a user’s system to display correctly, eliminating the need of an image editing program.

More information on the epicFlashTextControl is available at: http://www.epicsoft.net/products/flashnet/textcontrol/

epicFlashTextControl 1.0 Features:

• Custom fonts
• Add single lines of text, or full paragraphs
• Custom strings
• Update fonts in the following ways:
  • Bold
  • Italicize
  • Underline
  • Letter-spacing (Kerning)
  • Alignment
  • Font-color
  • Indent
  • Font-size
• Allows for movie resolution size up to 800px by 600px.
• Dynamic property binding
• Quality options supported
• Flash version options supported
• Window mode options supported
• Visual Studio .NET 2001 / 2003 / 2005 / 2008 Supported

Download the epicFlashTextControl trial, which runs on localhost development only, now at: http://www.epicsoft.net/products/flashnet/textcontrol/try/

Purchase the epicFlashTextControl with full access rights for only $25 at: https://www.epicsoft.net/store/

epicsoft announces today the update of the epicFlashControl to version 2.5. The epicFlashControl is an ASP.NET server control that allows developers to easily embed Adobe Flash .swf files into their web applications. Using the epicFlashControl, it’s possible to pass information from ASP.NET to a Flash .swf, allowing .NET and Flash developers to work hand in hand on data-driven multimedia projects. Version 2.5 of the epicFlashControl provides developers with a lighter weight control, as the rendered code of the epicFlashControl has been optimized for more efficient usage.

More information on the epicFlashControl is available at: http://www.epicsoft.net/products/flashnet/control/

epicFlashControl 2.5 Updates

• Embedded JavaScript Files: Users of the epicFlashControl no longer have to worry about keeping track of the external JavaScript files that the epicFlashControl used to depend on.  These external files have now been embedded inside of the control, allowing for a more manageable control as developers move project to project.
• Optimized HTML Code: The source code in which the epicFlashControl renders out to the web browser has been optimized for a more efficient load time. 

Download the epicFlashControl 2.5 trial, which runs on localhost development only, now at: http://www.epicsoft.net/products/flashnet/control/try/

Purchase the epicFlashControl 2.5 with full access rights for only $10 at: https://www.epicsoft.net/store/

Balance Studios welcomed sister company, Believe Animation, into its family this past year. Believe Animation is an entertainment company that creates and produces original animated content and programming with a strong focus on character-driven stories for children and families.

Balance Studios teamed up with Believe Animation for the creation anof two original properties – Crazy Conrad and his Fantastic Flamingos.

Here is a short synopsis on Crazy Conrad:

Crazy Conrad and His Fantastic Flamingos, a story about a young vulture with a wild imagination who draws strength from his imaginary circus flamingo family to avoid the pressures of his older chicken-herding brother, is the epitome of sibling rivalry.

Click here view a short segment of an episode of Crazy Conrad and his Fantastic Flamingos:
http://believeanimation.com/series/Crazy-Conrad-and-his-Fantastic-Flamingos/

Balance Studios welcomed sister company, Believe Animation, into its family this past year. Believe Animation is an entertainment company that creates and produces original animated content and programming with a strong focus on character-driven stories for children and families.

Balance Studios teamed up with Believe Animation for the creation of an original property, 3D UEO (Unidentified Emerald Object).

3D UEO (Unidentified Emerald Object) takes place in a 2-dimensional pop-up book and tells the ongoing saga of a fellowship of two dimensional cardboard creatures that band together to defend and protect their three dimensional wish-maker from an eight-legged midget king and his mother.

Click here to view the animated short of 3D UEO:
http://believeanimation.com/series/3D-UEO/

epicsoft™ launches STRUCTURE
New Folder Generator streamlines the business of creativity.

Want to add speed and accuracy to your creative processes without missing a beat? Today epicsoft™ released STRUCTURE, formerly known as "fishHEAD Folder Generator" that helps project personnel create consistently effective folder structures with unsurpassed efficiency.

Easily set up your own folder structures for instantaneous creation anywhere on your network with just a click of your mouse. STRUCTURE Folder Generator eliminates the need to recreate those recurring folders required for each project, while helping to achieve the clarity and consistency that guarantee project success.

Pre-loaded template categories for project management, website development, and animation/visual fx help you get started on your creative journey. Easily modified, or used as is, these templates provide a valuable reference for creative minds seeking a market place advantage.

Want to set up a new template? It’s a snap with STRUCTURE! Easily add an infinite number of custom templates to make your project and project set-up faster and easier. Save time and money by creating your own custom folder templates designed to meet your workflow requirements. STRUCTURE provides the unsurpassed communication and task development assets needed for an unlimited range of projects. With STRUCTURE organizational bliss is just a click away.

Here is a list of creative institutions, professionals, and individuals who benefit from using STRUCTURE:
Film Production
Post Production
Animation Houses
Visual FX Houses
Audio Facilities
Administration
Producers
Executive Producers
Agencies
Design Houses

Try the free Demo version of STRUCTURE Folder Generator and you will be amazed at how simple starting a new project can be!

- Download STRUCTURE Folder Generator trial for 30 days, now at: http://www.epicsoft.net/products/structure/try/

- Purchase STRUCTURE Folder Generator with unlimited folder generation for only $35 at: https://www.epicsoft.net/store/

- More information on STRUCTURE Folder Generator is available at: http://www.epicsoft.net/products/structure/

Green Bay, October 6, 2008 – David Radford, Balance’s newest Animator, Modeler and Texture Artist, came to Balance Studios from the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles. Graduating from the DAVE (Digital Animation and Video Effects) School with an Occupational Associates Degree in Animation, David was most recently employed by a company working on a high end X-Box racing game.

Born and raised in northern Washington, David has worked intensely in 3D for ten years. When asked what he loves the most about animation, it is how he can create something from nothing.

In his free time, David enjoys aggressive rollarblading in the summer and snowboarding in the winter. Looks like he picked the right place, Green Bay winters are scream snowboarding!!!.

Balance Studios welcomed sister company, Believe Animation, into its family this past year. Believe Animation is an entertainment company that creates and produces original animated content and programming with a strong focus on character-driven stories for children and families.

Balance Studios teamed up with Believe Animation for the creation of two original properties – Crazy Conrad and his Fantastic Flamingos and 3D UEO (Unidentified Emerald Object). After months of hard work, these shows came to full fruition.

The executive team from Believe Animation traveled to Ottawa International Animation Festival in September to pitch the two properties and the capabilities of Believe Animation and Balance Studios to television industry personnel. Darren Lutz, president and creative director, and Tina J. Lutz, vice president and producer, met with a myriad of buyers and producers.

Click here to visit the Believe Animation site:
http://www.believeanimation.com

epicsoft announces today the release of epicFlashControl version 2.0 . The epicFlashControl is an ASP.NET server control that allows developers to easily embed Adobe Flash .swf files into their web applications. Using the epicFlashControl, it’s possible to pass information from ASP.NET to a Flash .swf, allowing .NET and Flash developers to work hand in hand on data-driven multimedia projects. Version 2.0 of the epicFlashControl provides enhanced features such as: partial trusted sites, allow script access and search engine optimization.

More information on the epicFlashControl is available at: http://www.epicsoft.net/products/flashnet/control/

epicFlashControl 2.0 Updates

• Partial Trusted Sites: Running on Partial Trusted Sites is now available! This means that such hosts as Go Daddy, who host their ASP.NET websites under “Partial Trust”, will no longer object to the epicFlashControl.
• The AllowScriptAccess: This property has been implemented, which is a parameter of the Macromedia Flash Player which controls the ability to perform outbound scripting from within a Flash SWF. This feature requires Flash Player 6.0 or later.
• Search Engine Optimization: This feature allows you to enter keywords and even full phrases for your flash content. This way, search engines will no longer ignore your flash files… they’ll read them and help improve your rankings!

Download the epicFlashControl 2.0 trial, which runs on localhost development only, now at: http://www.epicsoft.net/products/flashnet/control/try/

Purchase the epicFlashControl 2.0 with full access rights for only $10 at:
https://www.epicsoft.net/store/

Balance Studios is an award-winning media boutique located in Green Bay Wisconsin, with a focus on animation/visual fx, interactive media development, and broadcast production.

We recently spoke with President/Director of Animation, Darren Lutz about how Balance got it’s start, what they’ve been up to and what’s on the horizon for this American cheese loving crew.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the history of Balance Studios? My name is Darren Lutz, I am the President and Director of Animation here at Balance Studios. I have been in the animation business longer than I care to admit and have been an avid user of LightWave pretty much since is inception.

My partner Tina and I had the bitter-sweet experience of starting our company on September 11, 2001. As we were signing our incorporation and lease papers, the world was changing in way that we may never understand…unbelievable to say the least. If you all remember the impact on media and marketing, needless to say the first two years were hit or miss. We have used those early days to help us stay focused on the big picture. That we may only have a minute in this world, and if that’s the case then let’s make every one of those minutes count.

Out of all of this came small but mighty production studio hailing from the big city of Green Bay Wisconsin where we work with an international client base on a very wide range and variety of projects within each of our three divisions: animation/visual fx –find out all the details below; interactive media – websites, content management systems (CMS), applications and games; broadcast/post – music videos, commercials, films, and video.

What are the benefits to being located in Green Bay?
The Packers, the Brewers, the Badgers and the Bucks. The work ethic, the people, the traffic is manageable, and beer’s made here.

Actually, we got a bit of flack from our industry brethren when we decided to locate Balance in Green Bay, WI. We like it here because it is a mid-size city with all four seasons and our families are here.

We are close to anything or anywhere we want to go. The cost of living is reasonable, there is tremendous amount of talent from the midwest and more is starting to come back. We have also been able to recruit talent from around the world and with the tools we’ve developed and other technologies available; it really doesn’t matter where your company is located anymore.

Because of our international client base, we’ve have also had the opportunity to travel all over the world which allows us to bring the creativity, ideas, technologies, and diverse cultures back to this midwest city and incorporate these unique concepts into our client and original projects.

How was Balance first introduced to LightWave?
I started out using Calagari TrueSpace back in the old days…circa 1993. It was the only cost effective 3D program that I knew of at the time. Back then tangible 3D was pretty expensive and only used commercially by larger studios, so creating a dynamic reel was pretty unheard of. If you had one, it consisted mostly of models and textures. I was hired by John Lemmon Films in Charlotte to add 3D to their already successful traditional and stop motion animation departments.

When I moved back to the midwest I needed to extend my capabilities and was on the hunt for a more capable set of tools. A developer friend of mine introduced me to two different programs, 3D Studio (on DOS) and NewTek’s LightWave. Needless to say after about two weeks of working with both, LightWave won out hands down. The modeling, the rendering, the animation tools, the tech support, everything was what I had been hoping for in a 3D package. When I relocated back to Green Bay the first thing I did was to introduce LightWave to the animation company I was hired to manage and get everyone trained. I also attended LightWave classes in San Francisco for Washburn University and dug into the current courses that were available at the time. A very exciting time indeed. When Tina and I started Balance Studios in 2001, the first set of tools we purchased were a bunch of LightWave seats. So, needless to say, LightWave has been in the toolbox for many years, and will be for many years to come.

How much of the work at Balance has been created with the aid of LightWave?
LightWave is the only 3D tool we use at Balance Studios. We do combine LightWave with Combustion and Toxic for VFX and Smoke and Final Cut 2 for edit and finishing. We have contemplated a 3D pipeline of Maya and LightWave or XSI and LightWave, but we just can’t seem to get our animators to embrace these tools when they can get the job done with LightWave faster and more efficiently.

I concur with their assessments and support their wishes for the best tools for the job. It just happens to all work inside one program. The above statement is extremely important because of the current opposition to LightWave in some areas of animation. Balance creates high-end character animation, 3D prototyping, and 2D simulated character animation along with a myriad of other animation disciplines and they all have been workable inside LightWave alone. With that said, I am a believer in that if LightWave animators would spend half the time on finding a LightWave solution than they do on, lets say learning Max, they would get everything they could want from this awesome animation package.

What features of LightWave do you like the most?
I have a quite a few major likes and a few concerns with LightWave. The big pluses are the final rendered image. Best renderer in the Biz, and the best part…. It’s free. We all LOVE modeler and all of its tools; nothing compares. The development community as a whole is the best; I am a huge fan of Worley (Sasquatch, Fprime etc.) along with MULE from epicsoft, best network render on the market. (gotta support the little brother).

The new node editor kicks ass all over the place. We have implemented it in our pipeline and now can’t live without it. I love IK boost. What a freaky cool tool. It is SO cool we can’t find enough places to use it.

The new Camera tools are schweet. This is a major boost for us when matching plates. We have been using the new UV camera lately and love the fact that it doesn’t crash every time you use it, lol. I could go on forever.

I would like to see a muscle implementation sooner than later, either by NewTek or by a third party. As of now we have workarounds based on bones, scripts and dynamics but they are cumbersome and time consuming.

Is there any one project you’re particularly fond of?
Can I give two or three, or maybe four? I’ll make them short, I promise, Cool?, Thanks. I am really jazzed about a series of projects with our sister company Wine Studios from Sendia Japan. We are creating a series of animations with them based on children’s stories. We have the awesome opportunity to create all kinds of animation types that include 3D, simulated 2D Stop Motion and some Motion Capture that will help the kids in Japan lean English. How cool is that? We can’t show them yet because the curriculum hasn’t been “officially” released, but I thought I would share a couple of projects to show the versatility we have been able to accomplish with LightWave ranging from the most photo realistic to cartoon-like.

Pullman Porter Multi-Media Exhibit 3D AVATAR and more:
This is a pretty amazing project. The National Railroad Museum (www.nationalrrmuseum.org) is the nation’s largest railroad museum. They have contracted us to completely design their newest exhibit about the Pullman Porters of the 1930’s and 1940’s.One component of our full multi-media concept is that we are actually recreating a real Pullman Porter whose family now lives in Green Bay. This photo-real 3D representation will be the guide throughout the exhibit. We are also recreating the Pullman train car itself.

Animated Snippets: “Merry Christmas” e-card:
Animated Snippets is a Balance original – We actually use scissors, paper, and high-tech gizmos to create these loveable concepts and characters.It was an interesting process taking all of the little paper cut-out pieces, scanning them in and then getting the into LightWave for rigging and animation. In fact, this concept is becoming quite popular with our clients. The concept is currently being using for 3 minute English As A Second Language animation and a national commercial campaign.

Merry Christmas: http://www.balancestudios.com/en-us/animation/default.aspx?mid=20

MULE & Sheep: http://www.balancestudios.com/en-us/animation/default.aspx?mid=158

Mattress Cowboy – Sealy:
Based on a very similar character as Woody from Pixar’s Toy Story, we had the opportunity to create a series of 3D commercial spot animations for Sealy Mattress. The Mattress cowboy “gallops” onto screen waving his cowboy hat while riding the mattress like a real cowboy. The cowboy is a relatively simple 3D geometrically textured character with an animated marionette-type feel.The plush pillow top mattress was a subpatched model, then textured with procedurals and UV image map textures and acts as the Cowboy’s sidekick.

http://www.balancestudios.com/en-us/animation/default.aspx?mid=2

What was your most challenging project?
I would have to say there are really two major ones that stick out immediately. First, Balance and Wine Studios, our sister company from Sendia Japan, are under consideration by a top-level developer of broadcast television programming to work on one of their upcoming productions. As part of the negotiation, the producers commissioned four “audition” test shots from Balance with the challenge of creating *real* talking dogs by bringing together live-action camera footage with recorded dialogue tracks; and, through a process of CG “muzzle replacement”, to put words into the dogs’ mouths. The producers provided film plates of non-talking dogs, along with corresponding audio, and Balance took it from there…with the help of Wine Studios taking care of keying and some camera tracking. We used LightWave exclusively for modeling the snouts, UV’s and texturing. We managed the lions share of the muzzle compositing inside LightWave along with weighted morphs for the articulation animation. We also ran RPF passed into Combustion from LightWave also. This is where finished the piece for color correction etc. Judge for yourself. Which of these dogs are real talking dogs and which ones are not? Bet you can’t tell the difference!

Star Dogs – Muzzle Replacement/Articulation
Beagle: http://www.balancestudios.com/en-us/animation/default.aspx?mid=29
Hound: http://www.balancestudios.com/en-us/animation/default.aspx?mid=30
Sheep Dog: http://www.balancestudios.com/en-us/animation/default.aspx?mid=27
Golden Retriever: http://www.balancestudios.com/en-us/animation/default.aspx?mid=28

Second, a project for a film company called Wind Dancer. The brief was to take a live action eagle shot on green screen and attach a CG chain that was supposed to be connected to its leg. The eagle was to struggle on the ground, break the chain and fly away with the chain still attached to its leg. Not a world-ender. The problems arose when receiving the plates to work with. We finished the chain, created the sims for the chain and prepared for the final sign off on the pre-vis. In true production fashion, the client changed his mind last minute on the flight pattern for the eagle and thought that with a few clicks of a button the eagle would magically move on command. (side note: they were a wonderful client, just a bit misinformed ) Long story short, the client needed a CG ‘photo real” eagle to do the things he wanted and within the same timeline. LightWave to the rescue.

We modeled the eagle and rigged it. This will eventually become a tutorial for HDRI because there is NOTHING more complicated than a birds wings going from flight to folding all in camera. It’s a killer rig created by Jerrod Sullivan and Jeff Clifton. We created uv maps, painted the maps, created dozens of weight maps for both textures, bones, and a copious amount of Sasquatch. It turned out spectacularly and the client was ecstatic.

Wind Dancer Films: http://www.balancestudios.com/en-us/animation/default.aspx?mid=1

What is the connection between Balance and epicsoft?
Balance is always seeking and finding ways to make processes more efficient and smooth for our company, clients and the industry as a whole. Initially we create tools out of our own necessity to help make our internal production processes better so we can pass those benefit on to our clients: project collaboration, rendering, and technology bridges/components for web development.

As the benefits of using these tools became apparent in our production workflow, we thought our clients and the industry could also benefit. Hence the creation of epicsoft, LLC – a subsidiary of Balance that “creates tools for the business of creativity.”

epicsoft’s flagship applications are: MULE 1.5 – the LightWave network render controller that hauls ass; INSPIRE – the web-based communication hub for all project development; epicFlashComponent and epicFlashGallery – tools that help bridge the development gap for .NET and Flash programmers.

epicsoft has other application in the development and are looking forward to releasing them to the industry…the next to come is called STRUCTURE. www.epicsoft.net

What are the key benefits to Mule?
The fact that it works is a big plus. Honestly… we developed it for that very reason; we needed something that would work. We tried every single program on the market, starting with Spider. They all have the same issue that we just couldn’t get past. MULE is user friendly and chock full of cool features. The two I like the most are the SMARTgroups and MULEviewer. With SMARTgroups I can set up as many CPU groupings as I like and change them on the fly with a click of a button. The MULEviewer is awesome because I can see the frames rendered either in a single frame or in a sequence and then send them out to an AVI for client previews. Next to LightWave it is “the” most important tool in our whole animation process.

A kind of crazy side note to the story, when we finished MULE back in 2004 I blogged about our new development and it was picked by a few guys that go by the name of Don and Ralph, the boys from ToasterDudes…now back working at NewTek. They are the ones that got us jazzed on getting it out to the LightWave community. Honestly, without their support, I’m not sure people would be enjoying the benefits of MULE right now.

What does the team at Balance do to cut loose after a long week?
We are foosball fanatics, so we cut-loose a few times a day. We actually do quite a bit to keep everyone sane in this crazy industry we all decided to pursue. It is not uncommon to grab everyone up at 2pm on any random day of the week to go see the new film release: Pirates, Ratatouille (that’s R&D right), or a surprise-bowling trip on a Friday afternoon (beers, speed bowling, pizza… the works). We have been known to surprise the crew with concerts-most recently Weird Al-or on an REALLY challenging day, run next door to the Irish Pub for a coupla’ quick Irish Car Bombs.

There are also three annual traditions at Balance: The Annual Christmas Pajama Party; The Annual Whistle Pig Extravaganza (This is our Ground Hog’s Day celebration where all of our clients, employee and friends have to dress up in a costume and come to commemorate Punxsutawney Phil and his prediction); and Half Way to St. Paddy’s Day where we bring in national Irish bands (one of our favs, Ceili Rain (www.ceilirain.com) we all sport kilts, part-take in annual ceremonies, crown the annual Charlie Mopps (King for a day) and invite the town.

What does Balance look for when adding a new member to the team?
Desire, talent and an internal need to improve yourself each and every day. You can tell on a reel if they can animate, even if the amount of animation is lacking, the same goes for lighting and texturing. It’s doesn’t have to be over the top for us to understand if you are capable or not. It just needs to show that you understand the basics. For example; three well-placed lights can look far better that 15 poorly placed spots. Attitude is very important for me when evaluating talent. Desire to learn and continue to learn is also a prerequisite here at Balance. I have hired people with very little on their reel but was literally in tears when talking about getting into this industry. They had the desire and passion and they have turned out to be phenomenal talents.

Do you have any advice for someone new to 3D?
First, you need to really love animation. I mean really love animation because if you are to make it in today’s animation market you need to be passionate and you need to be good. And to be good you need to be dedicated to the craft. Study animation history. Learn the rudiments. That has been a HUGE problem that I have seen when evaluating student reels. I am a firm believer that traditional animation is not dead. So, study the old pros like Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas or Mark Davis. Read their books and absorb all they have to offer. Work hard and work late. Being an animator is not and will never be a 9-5 job. If thinking about going to college for animation and are to be successful in the biz, you really will need to put in every waking hour into your craft. It will be one year of commitment and intense training but in the end you will come out an animator ready for prime time. Don’t expect the big bucks when you first arrive. No matter what’s on your reel, you will still need to prove yourself. Stay focused and stay passionate. If you are lucky enough to have been bitten by the animation bug, then buckle up and prepare for the ride because it is awesome, fulfilling and just about the most fun a person can have with their clothes on.

What is your favorite type of cheese?
American all the way, oh, and headcheese, but the kind you can actually put on your head. Get all prepared for the big game!

What’s next for Balance?
There is so much on the horizon. Let’s see if I can sum it up??? Blackbeard and pirate ships, film pre-vis, finalizing negotiations for potentially producing a visual fx heavy film where principal photography takes place in Ireland, 3D photo real AVATARs, Animation for Education…talk about having fun with diversity of project types.

We have also been contracted by our Japanese sister company to create Animated stories for their English As A Second Language curriculum. We are slated to work on some pre-vis for a $60 million film, and we have the great relationships with our long-standing clients where we will continue to help them.

Honestly though, it has been a long and challenging 6 years. My partner Tina and I and our crew have worked very hard for a long time to get where we are today. One of the reasons we created Balance was so we could take a project from concept to completion. Including ideation, animation/visual fx, filming, editing, creating the marketing/brand materials, web and DVD development.

We do this for clients all the time, but now we are finally in the position to also follow our hearts and dreams of creating our own original properties. We recently started Believe Animation Studios where we have four original properties in development: 3 animated children’s series and one CG/Live Action feature film.

Thanks very much for taking the time to talk to us, Darren!
Thank you for the chat. If you can’t tell by now, we sure do love what we do, and we sure love the tools that the industry has created for us. I often think about where we would be without the likes NewTek. They were the innovators in 3D animation and Non-Linear editing. Anyone remember the Amiga? We wouldn’t have Balance without NewTek because you gave us a platform for which to work. 3D animation as we know it today would be drastically different, dare I say not for the better? There would be no MULE, there would be no sunshine. Viva Le NewTek.

Salute to the NewTek community as a whole, Prosit to Don and Ralph, and Proton, and Ron Thornton, and Sláinte to all the developers and innovators, the teachers of the animation industry as whole. For more information about Balance be sure to visit them online at:

http://www.balancestudios.com

http://www.balancestudios.com

To view the article: http://www.newtek.com/lightwave/profile_detail.php?recordID=1

Green Bay, December 3, 2007 – Heidi Katchkey, Interactive Project Coordinator and Studio Production Assistant, graduated with degrees in Journalism and Women’s Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Spending two years coordinating eMarketing projects for one of the worlds largest furniture companies before joining Balance Studios, Heidi works with the interactive team to manage projects, as well as assisting the Director and Producer with a multitude of media projects.

Born and raised in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Heidi loves the ever-changing world of information technology and social networking, as well as Film and Animation.

In her free time, Heidi enjoys cooking, being crafty, and playing the viola with a local symphony orchestra.

Green Bay, December 3, 2007 – John Hirt, Character Animator and Lighting Technical Director, a graduate from the DAVE (Digital Animation and Video Effects) School with an Occupational Associates Degree in Animation and ITT-Tech with an Associates Degree in Multimedia. Known as the go to guy at the DAVE School, John took pride in their projects by staying enthusiastic and keeping a positive attitude with his team. By teaching the team to keep communications open for feedback, critique and support, his team produced a stellar animated short for their final project.

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, John says using animation he can mimic real life, whether it is a photo-real render or bringing a character to life.

In John’s free time, he is a connoisseur of great food and multiple forms of sports – from the UFC fights to golf. John also enjoys gaming on his X-Box 360.

Earlier this year, the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, WI, had a particular item on exhibition that they thought was in need of expert restoration — so they turned to Balance Studios to put things back on “track” for them. (‘Twas their Web site, of course!)

The Railroad Museum already had a very strong visual identity in their printed materials and in the decorative/educational elements displayed within their museum, however the Web site was pale by comparison. Content required significant updating as well, so museum staff seized upon the opportunity to commission a simultaneous overhaul in design and architecture, and to implement several new dynamic media offerings into the site.

Balance went to work, first by retrofitting the legacy coal-and-steam mechanics with a modern system of silicon chips and kilobytes, and then a visual, icon-based interactive “museum-style” experience was created for visitors that would have appeal not just for train enthusiasts, but also for museum buffs and the general public.

Built with ASP.NET 2.0, the Railroad Museum Web site empowers museum staff members with administration tools to conveniently modify much of the site’s content themselves via a user-friendly back-end interface. This regeneration of ‘nationalRRmuseum.org‘ should ensure that information on the site remains current and powering forward like the well-maintained locomotive engines preserved in the museum’s impressive collection.

Since the new Web site has been launched, already visitor traffic has doubled vs. the whole of last year. Online membership has risen significantly. Visitors spend much longer perusing the content. (And we hope for the Museum that all of this translates into an increase in visitor pilgrimage to their real-world Railroad Museum as well!)

Check out the National Railroad Museum Web site here»
www.nationalRRmuseum.org

And then check out the actual museum right here!»
2285 S. Broadway, Green Bay, WI

Balance favorites and international purveyors of Celtic rock extraordinaire, Ceili Rain, have enjoyed a complete revamping of their popular home on the Web ~ CeiliRain.com ~ designed and engineered by Balance Studios.

For a variety of reasons, an evolution in architecture was a logical progression for Ceili Rain’s Web presence. Built entirely with “Web 2.0″ technologies, this new site is easy to maintain and modify — much of it by Ceili Rain themselves via a content management system (CMS) interface. Like the band itself, the visual design presents a melding of old and new; Celtic style and cyberspace.

This update was done for the fans! CeiliRain.com is very robust in its feature-offerings. With video and photo galleries, an updateable tour schedule, personal blog, online merchandise store, and a significant amount of great content, this Web site is a dynamic wellspring for Ceili’s reign!

Check it out and immerse yourself in Ceili Rain» http://www.ceilirain.com

Balance Studios Animation is embarking upon an internal project with the notion of reviving classic techniques abandoned by most animation studios in pursuit of faster and cheaper methods.

Throughout the past decade-or-more, the advancing power/availability of desktop computers has introduced alternatives to certain established processes and forms of labor in the production pipelines of animation. But this “progress” has come at the extremely unfortunate expense of one hundred years’ worth of mastery and wisdom cultivated around the art of hand-drawn animation.

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, insightful techniques had been discovered, pioneered, taught and apprenticed down through the masters at Disney, Warners, and other great studios, and there was really no other way to learn the “secret” nuances of animation, except from within a working studio.

However, around the turn of our last century, pink-slips started flying and the old-guard was driven out, while punky upstart schools churned out fresh-faced graduates to take their place, hastily trained in the use of clever software programs.

Today there are multiple routes to the creation of animated content where a pencil and paper are completely unnecessary anywhere in the process. It’s a post-modern age, and often the warmth of human craftsmanship is missing from the final product. But there’s a resurgence afoot! Disney Animation, for one, is making every effort they can to recapture the expertise they foolishly tossed away in their quests for easy profit. Hand-drawn animation is once again a “fresh” thing to see. (Give or take a hundred years.)

So with this same spirit in mind, Balance is delving into the creation of a hand-drawn, pencil-on-paper, short animated cartoon entitled “Happy Birthday, Victoria!”, about a medieval birthday party and the interaction between a chubby dragon “piñata” and the adorably scrappy little girl trying to smack it silly. The piece shall be designed and drawn on paper, and then brought into the computer world for coloring, compositing, and additional CG components.

For now, here’s a peek at some conceptual artwork — and we’ll let you know how to screen the finished piece when the time comes!

A pleasant bit of news for all of you LightWavers out there. (You know who you are!) epicsoft has updated MULE — the premiere tool for LightWave network rendering and asset management — and has streamlined the licensing cost to boot.

epicsoft’s MULE 1.5 Enterprise, Unlimited-seat Edition, is now on the loose and ready to haul! With added support for multiple camera types, ray trace occlusion, and more, MULE 1.5 is compatible with LightWave 9.3 and Windows Vista.

Additionally, what used to be a multi-tiered array of MULE package choices, now is optimized into a single, “gotta-have-it!” package for a single, “whoa-I’ll-take-two-of-’em!” price of $125 for the unlimited render-node MULE 1.5 Enterprise Edition.

But hold on! For existing owners of MULE, your update to the MULE 1.5 Enterprise Edition is ready-and-waiting for you at an unbeatably low price of $ABSOLUTELY FREE! Simply download your copy and follow the installation instructions defined in the bundled .PDF file.

If you’re a user of NewTek’s LightWave 3D product, and you don’t already enjoy the benefits of having a MULE on your render farm, there’s no better time to improve the quality of life than right now. Download your fully-functional MULE 30-day Learner’s Edition and discover the pixel-hauling power you’ve been missing.
So with this same spirit in mind, Balance is delving into the creation of a hand-drawn, pencil-on-paper, short animated cartoon entitled “Happy Birthday, Victoria!”, about a medieval birthday party and the interaction between a chubby dragon “piñata” and the adorably scrappy little girl trying to smack it silly. The piece shall be designed and drawn on paper, and then brought into the computer world for coloring, compositing, and additional CG components.

Happy Hauling, everybody!

For more information, visit »
http://www.epicsoft.net/products/mule/enterprise/

Folks often say that “A housepainter’s home is never painted.” But we don’t say that here at Balance. We usually say “A liontamer’s home is always filled with a bunch of uncontrollably ferocious carnivores” because that’s a lot more exciting.

Indeed, the analogy was true for Balance Studios’ own Web site for a while. Ravenous lions and frightening tigers lurked in the margins, and there were some alligators, even a crazy T-Rex to add injury to injury. Our virtual edifice was a perilous jungle while we diligently worked elsewhere, taming other lions in front of throngs of enthusiastic spectators.

In the meantime, Balance Studios, the flesh-and-blood company, has been steadily solidifying and expanding in our offerings and capabilities throughout our six-year existence. The ‘Balance Studios’ brand has strengthened and the Web site needed to reflect that!

So, despite our typically-busy summer liontaming schedule, including the lions featured on this blog and others, we made time to stop and… uh… “paint our house”, as some folks say. We overhauled Balance’s e-presence, freshened-up the content and streamlined user accessibility — all for you.

For those with an interest in the work we do here — taming lions and painting houses and whatnot — we’ve provided convenient links to our department demo reels and portfolio gallery links right on the home page.

Stop by and take another look!» http://www.balancestudios.com

When epicsoft, LLC — the sister company of Balance Studios — saw that Balance was strutting around the World Wide Web in flashy new threads, epicsoft one-upped them by seeking out the best Web design firm around ( Balance Studios of Green Bay, WI ) to build a slick new Web presence for them as well! (Eat your heart out, Balance.)

Clean and lean, epicsoft.net strives to promote the epicsoft brand, offering innovative, downloadable products through the storefront, along with a wealth of information for user support and education.

Get “Inspired” at» http://www.epicsoft.net