Just a quick heads up to say the new Mike Afford Media promo reel is finally online. You can choose to watch it here on mikeafford.com which should be viewable (thanks to the miracle that is HTML5 with Flash fallback) on most browers and certain shiny smartphones. Or if you prefer you can always head over to the Mike Afford Media YouTube Channel and watch it there, or check the slightly higher quality version over on Vimeo
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Little Howard's Big Question (Series 2)
A reminder that the eagerly awaited second series of Little Howard’s Big Question starts this Wednesday on BBC2 at 4.00pm.
Digital compositing for this series is by Mike Afford Media and Made In Colour.
Little Howard’s Big Question is a children’s series about an animated six-year-old boy, and stars Howard Read as his (human!) housemate as they attempt to answer questions about the world around them. This first episode is called ‘Why Can’t I Get Hold of Sawblaind the Municipal?’ as Little Howard ponders why he can’t get hold of the rarest trading card in Purley, leading eventually to a daring heist of the Crown Jewels.
If you fancy a giggle, be sure to set the Sky+ and remember the Series Link! It’s on BBC2 NI – Wednesdays at 4.00pm. The first episode has a great ‘Italian Job’ style heist and a dead catchy song that I haven’t stopped humming since I did the composite a few weeks ago. Hilarious!
More details to follow, but for now here is a sneak peak at a couple of shots from the first episode…
Roger Pigeon and Little Howard plan a daring heist
Conference : 10-14 September
Exhibition : 11-15 September
Although I won’t be able to make it over to Amsterdam for IBC this year, I thought I might just give a quick heads up to all you media types that my old pals from RT Software are exhibiting again this year. RT Software’s tOG 3D system is the technology behind some of my virtual studios and many of the real-time election graphics that appear on my site.
Hairy Bikers
Be sure to watch The Hairy Bikers’ Food Tour of Britain. It’s a 30 part series that starts tonight on BBC Two at 17.15 and is broadcast every weekday over the next few weeks.
Just putting the finishing touches to the graphics for the last few episodes.
See : Broadcast Design for Hairy Bikers’ Food Tour
Read the BBC press release
Seems the latest version of After Effects from Adobe (CS4) has changed the PAL D1/DV Widescreen square pixel preset.
In CS3, compositions using that preset would be set to 1024 x 576 pixels. The new version (CS4) uses 1050 x 576.
So which is right? 1024 or 1050?
Well, to begin with, it’s all a bit complicated. I can still remember when it was first explained to me many years ago when I was still at the BBC, and it’s the kind of thing that’s quite difficult to get your head around without drawing little pictures on the back of envelopes. Anyway, there’s a few resources out there that try to explain this (links included below) – but I thought I’d have a go myself.
3D animating graphics for corporate video
Some example graphics recently completed for Headlines – one of the UK’s leading corporate communications agencies. …read more
I recently completed another virtual studio project for Setanta Sports in Dublin. This set is for their FA Cup programme – it went live on air a week or so ago. …read more
