Act3animation
Encyclopedia
Act3animation is an Australian CGI
company, specializing in character animation, based in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1992 by current creative director
, Mike Hollands
, Act3 has produced various TVCs, FMV
s and short film
s.
After being founded in 1992, Act3 produced TVCs and promotional shorts up until 1999 when they broke into the game industry with an E3 promotional cinematic for Blue Tongue Entertainment's
Starship Troopers (2000), which won the AEAF award for Best Game Animation that year. Subsequent notable game cinematics include: Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis
http://au.gamespot.com/video/555744/2869072/jurassic-park-project-genesis-trailer-1 (2003), RoadKill
(2003), N.A.R.C., Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows
(2005), Neverwinter Nights 2
http://www.act3animation.com/movie/nwn2.html (2006) and Fury
(2007).
In 2005, Act3 made its short film debut with two films: Anaka
http://www.meetanaka.com/, a short film made to promote the game franchise of the same name made by fellow Melburnians Tantalus Games, and the award winning tragicomedy
Piñata
, which has been screened at various international animation festivals, most notably the Annecy International Animated Film Festival
.
December 2006 saw a new string added to Act3's bow, with the launch of Deakin University's
Motion.Lab - an $800,000 24 camera Motion Analysis brand motion capture studio
at its campus in Burwood, Victoria - with which Act3 is partnered: managing and executing its commercial captures.
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
company, specializing in character animation, based in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1992 by current creative director
Creative Director
A creative director is a position often found within the graphic design, film, music, fashion, advertising, media or entertainment industries, but may be useful in other creative organizations such as web development and software development firms as well....
, Mike Hollands
Mike Hollands
William Michael "Mike" Hollands is the creative director and founder of Melbourne based animation house Act3animation...
, Act3 has produced various TVCs, FMV
Full motion video
Full motion video based games are video games that rely upon pre-recorded TV-quality movie or animation rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models to display action in the game. In the early 1990s a diverse set of games utilized this format...
s and short film
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
s.
History
Blue Tongue Entertainment
Blue Tongue Entertainment Pty. Ltd. was an Australian video game developer founded in 1995. It was acquired by THQ on November 17, 2004, and remained an internal development studio of THQ until its closure in August 2011...
Starship Troopers (2000), which won the AEAF award for Best Game Animation that year. Subsequent notable game cinematics include: Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis
Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis
Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis is a construction and management simulation video game for the PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 based on the novel and film series Jurassic Park. The main point of the game is to recreate Jurassic Park - building a 5 star theme park with dinosaurs, and turning John...
http://au.gamespot.com/video/555744/2869072/jurassic-park-project-genesis-trailer-1 (2003), RoadKill
RoadKill
RoadKill is a video game of the action genre released in 2003 by Midway Games. The game has been described by Midway as “the only mission-based combat driving game set in a post-apocalyptic world.” Indeed, RoadKill’s gameplay features many characteristics of famous automotive combat franchises such...
(2003), N.A.R.C., Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows
Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows
Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows is the follow-up to Gauntlet Legends and Gauntlet Dark Legacy. Industry veterans John Romero and Josh Sawyer initially spearheaded Midway's San Diego studio, intent on reviving the Gauntlet action role-playing game franchise...
(2005), Neverwinter Nights 2
Neverwinter Nights 2
Neverwinter Nights 2 is a computer role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Atari. It is the sequel to BioWare's Neverwinter Nights, based on the Dungeons & Dragons pencil and paper fantasy role-playing game...
http://www.act3animation.com/movie/nwn2.html (2006) and Fury
Fury (computer game)
Fury was a player versus player competitive online role-playing game / massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Auran. It was released on 16 October 2007 and was shut down on 7 August 2008...
(2007).
In 2005, Act3 made its short film debut with two films: Anaka
Anaka
Anaka is a town in Northern Uganda. It is one if the urban centers in Nwoya District, the others being:* Nwoya Municipality* Karuma* Pakuba* Paraa-Location:...
http://www.meetanaka.com/, a short film made to promote the game franchise of the same name made by fellow Melburnians Tantalus Games, and the award winning tragicomedy
Tragicomedy
Tragicomedy is fictional work that blends aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. In English literature, from Shakespeare's time to the nineteenth century, tragicomedy referred to a serious play with either a happy ending or enough jokes throughout the play to lighten the mood.-Classical...
Piñata
Piñata (animated film)
Piñata is an animated short film, produced by Act3animation in Australia, released in 2005. It received funding from the Australian Film Commission...
, which has been screened at various international animation festivals, most notably the Annecy International Animated Film Festival
Annecy International Animated Film Festival
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring every two years, the festival became annual in 1998...
.
December 2006 saw a new string added to Act3's bow, with the launch of Deakin University's
Deakin University
Deakin University is an Australian public university with nearly 40,000 higher education students in 2010. It receives more than A$600 million in operating revenue annually, and controls more than A$1.3 billion in assets. It received more than A$35 million in research income in 2009 and had 835...
Motion.Lab - an $800,000 24 camera Motion Analysis brand motion capture studio
Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
at its campus in Burwood, Victoria - with which Act3 is partnered: managing and executing its commercial captures.
External links
- Act3animation showreel
- CGSociety - Act3animation
- Deakin Motion.Lab homepage
- Case Study: Act3animation (PDFPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
)