Anime - Concept to Reality

Rating:
Summary: Anyone can be a critic - I say, "TERRENCE ROCKS!"
Review: As the owner, operator of a one-woman studio, I had the pleasure of seeing Terrence's work last year when I ordered both shorts from his website. I am deeply interested in what other small studios are doing and capable of doing. No, Terrence's work doesn't look or sound like Disney, Pixar, or Miyazaki, but was it supposed to? His work is outstanding, inspiring, and a real technical breakthrough BECAUSE HE IS ONE PERSON DOING WHAT THE CORPORATE STUDIO'S TAKE 500 TO 1,000 PEOPLE TO DO. Jeffrey Lew's "Killer Bean" didn't look or sound like 'Shrek' or 'Monsters Inc.' either. But the work of both these men breaks new ground and I, for one, am thankful. I salute Mr. Walker and StudioArtFX on bringing originality, courage, and persistence to the task of one-person/one computer animation production. I am pleased and proud to be amoung such talented people.
C.M. Ralph
Owner, Digital Backlot Studio

Rating:
Summary: Stop Hatin', Walker's work is pure innovation!
Review: Charles Solomon's editorial criticism is more misleading than his recommendations. I bought Concept to Reality, in addition to those suggested by Solomon, to ensure that if Walker had been lax in his explanations I'd have other pieces of "Edu-tainment" to keep me satisfied. However, now I know it was unnecessary to buy the other pieces that do nothing more than detract from the central issues of learning digital manga techniques. Walker's DVD goes into more depth on the use of Lightwave and Aura software to achieve a 2D art look with 3D objects than any other DVD I've seen.

Walker also appears to be the only english speaking artist, since the others use subtitles, and delayed voice overs.
But, in sum, Terrence Walker should be given more credit for having built an independent film catalogue without all the resources that abound for artists, only in Japan.

So, if you're new to the processes of digital manga, and living in the U.S. I would strongly recommend that you take a look at Walker's techniques, they're the most practical.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Incredible!
Review: I think a lot of people have little idea what anime really is. On the net it seems you get the ludest otaku who think that if it isn't fresh from Japan it must be bad. I am GLAD I didn't listen to the naysayers!

I wavered a long time on this one, but I finally had to get it and I can only say ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! I wish there was something like this out a long time ago! I am still having trouble believing one artist did all this. What's even better is that he doesn't make a secret about it. He shows exactly how you can do it too! HE shows what software he uses for each step from storyboarding down to music and final editing. I never even considered that one guy could do it, let alone on one computer! It's like Robert Rodriguez on the "Mexico" DVD but for anime!

I've been drawing since I was a child and dreamed of doing something like this, but I always saw hundreds of names in the credits for most shows. "Voices of a Distant Star" looked good, but it was heavy on the 3D stuff and the 2D character stuff was somewhat lacking. Anime: Concept to Reality uses 3D also, but he makes it really look hand drawn. I couldn't even tell what was what, until I watched how it was put together.

I know now that even I could put a show together and make it look good without becoming homeless trying to do it.

Rating:
Summary: Anime in the U.S.A.
Review: Terrence Walker, creator of the Tokyo Pop comic World Of Hartz, originally started out doing his own independent anime-styled animation. This collects his short feature, Understanding Chaos, which is like Armitage III meets Total Recal, and the first episode of his series, Shadowskin, about a fugitive in a cybersuit who is on the run from an evil orginization. The DVD also tells a little about how he creates each feature. The animation is a little basic compared to even some other indpendent CGI animation, but still available at an affordable price.