The animators now have their own cozy little abode downstairs in Suite D.  Today was Ryan and Jenna’s first day with us.  Our old friend Suzanne Kaufman (3D animator and instructor at Digipen) is also contributing to the CO2 in that little tiny room…  We’re happy to have them all here at Plexipixel!

I’ll be at the Ion Conference right here in Seattle starting tomorrow through Thursday.  If you’re planning on attending, don’t forget to say “hello!”

Also, on Friday, Matt and I will be flying out to Burbank for a few animation events:

• Screening of “Endangered Species” at Mockfest 2008: “Endangered Species” is a film by Tony White that showcases the great and classic moments of animation’s history.
• Animation Book Look 2008: co-hosted by Van Eaton Galleries and Creative Talent Network, is a gathering of animation authors and artists as well as a number of industry insiders.  Nickelodeon reps will also be there doing portfolio reviews. 
• Ollie Johnston’s Train Station Dedication: Ollie Johnston, the very last of Walt’s “Nine Old Men”, was considered one of the world’s leading train enthusiasts.  There will be a dedication at Walt’s Barn in Griffith Park on Sunday.

We’ll be in LA from Friday, May 16th until Monday May 19th.  Give a shout if you’re in the area! 

6th Annual ECCC :: May 10th & 11th, 2008 :: Seattle, WA
Washington State Convention & Trade Center
http://www.emeraldcitycomicon.com/

1. awesome costumes–like the Wolverine we saw last year with butter knives taped to his hands
2. great artists like Peter Bagge and Ellen Forney
3. a bunch of extra talented comic artists I totally don’t know
4. the hot dude from Battlestar Galatica
5. fun people to meet like Suzanne Kaufmann—the 3D animator who will be working with us this summer who we met at the ComiCon years ago
6. amazing up-in-coming illustrators, animators, comic book artists you haven’t heard of, yet
7. being able to buy that Yoda or Strawberry Shortcake toy you remember having as a kid
8. Wil Wheaton, AGAIN?!?
9. watching people you know totally NERD out
10. urmmm… the Suicide Girls?

See you there! Be forewarned that photos of the event will of course be posted…

Our latest casual game, Sushi-Me, is up for nomination this year in the Zeebys!  Sushi-Me is an online casual game created for play on PC, Mac, touch-screen and Nintendo Wii that combines fast-paced action, cute characters, hilarious animation, catchy audio, and witty writing.  It’s “winning rave reviews throughout the seven seas!”  Everything including character design, audio, and even the very witty copy for Sushi-Me was done in-house by our super talented Plexi peeps.

If you haven’t heard of them, the Zeebys are the Annual Casual Game Award with games from casual game developers of all sizes—even huge companies like Vivendi and Ubisoft!  Award winners will be announced at the Casual Connect Conference 2008 being held in Seattle this July. 

We’re in the running for:

• Best Web Game of the Year
• Best Visual Arts of the Year
• Most Innovative Game of the Year
• Best Story, Narrative or Original Character of the Year 
• Best Audio of the Year

You must be a current member of the CGA to vote.  If you’re not yet a member of the CGA, you can sign up here for free and be eligible to vote in this years awards!

You can also check out the winners from last year on the Zeeby’s website.  Happy casual gaming!

Kristi and Matt created the animation, designed and developed the original Photosynth site a few years ago (it’s morphed a little since then).  Photosynth was developed in conjunction with University of Washington and Microsoft researchers and Seadragon technology. 

Photosynth technology was used in the “CSI:NY” episode last night with just a small amount of Hollywood magic.  It’s a pretty crazy application so it might have seemed like a bunch of hocus pocus, but nope…  It is actually that cool.  You can even download a demo of the application and try it out yourself.

  

Showing their work

Originally uploaded by ChrisB in SEA

Every third Monday of every month a collision of burlesque, life drawing, booze, and bawdy humor takes place at Rendezvous’ JewelBox Theatre in downtown Seattle. Last month, Troy–our Design Director– took two of our Designers to Dr. Sketchy’s. A good time was apparently had by Troy, Drake and Devi. Here’s a photo from the Dr. Sketchy Seattle Flickr photo album to document the event.

This month, we’re opening up the invitation to anyone from the studio. Who knows… maybe the woman in the office/closet in the corner of Suite C might break out her charcoals and kneady eraser and join in on the fun.

Martin Ontiveros will be showing at Schmancy Toys this Friday.  If you haven’t seen any of Martin’s work, you gotta come down a take a peek!  His paintings are totally amazing and he’s had a number of vinyl toys created based on his character designs like the super cool Ojo Rojo. 

Check out a bunch of his work and other artist’s Martin-inspired work featured at Portland’s very own Grass Hut.

See yas down there! 

Schmancy
1932 2nd Ave
Seattle, WA 98101

Friday, April 11, 2008
6pm - 9pm

Yeah, we karaoke… every year at our annual Plexi holiday party.  But that was insider information until Google outed us.  It’s true we are karaoke fools!

Evidence, circa December 2006.

I

I’ve been a resident of the north area of Seattle for over 15 years and the Ballard Denny’s located on the corner of Market St. and 15th has been a very important landmark for me.  Unfortunately, the building–which is a great example of mid-century Googie architecture–has been vacant since it was sold to ill-fated monorail project in 2007 and is slated for demolition.  The land is tragically slated to be developed into yet another condo with a Rite-Aid on the corner.

The building was built in the mid-60’s as the Manning’s Cafeteria and was one of many Manning’s restaurants up and down the west coast.  Manning’s was one of Seattle’s longest running and successful chains.  The Manning’s Cafeteria Building was the only building in Seattle designed by Clarence Mayhew, a very well-regarded Bay Area architect.  More information about the building can be found on Docomom WEWA’s website.

Tomorrow, the building will be up for nomination as a historic landmark at a public hearing.  Here are the details:

Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 3:30 p.m.
Municipal Tower, 700 Fifth Ave., Room 4060. The meeting will be open to the public.

Hope to see you there!