Blackmagic Design Inc. has announced that its Blackmagic Design capture cards are being used with Stop Motion Pro software to produce Aardman Animations’ latest children’s TV series, Timmy Time. Set to premiere in 2009, the series of 52 10-minute adventures has been pre-sold to Disney Channels Worldwide, including the U.S., as well as CBeebies in the U.K.
Featuring character designs based on sketches by Academy Award-winning Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park, Timmy Time is a spin-off of Aardman’s hit children’s series Shaun the Sheep, which is a spin-off of the Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit short A Close Shave. Timmy centers on a charming, three-year-old sheep who lives over the hill and down the lane from Shaun’s farm and has a lot to learn about his world.
Blackmagic says the DeckLink HD Extreme and Intensity Pro cards being used by Aardman are the only HD capture cards that work with Stop Motion Pro. The Blackmagic and Stop Motion Pro workflow allows Aardman animators to work in HD using uncompressed video, while being able to get instant on-set feedback with such features as onionskinning.
‘Filming stop motion animation with HD video cameras means the animators can see what they are filming in very high quality, and this speeds up the animation process enormously,’ says Ian Fleming, head of production technology at Aardman. ‘With the integration of Stop Motion Pro and Blackmagic technology, we are able to roll out a common standard of animation production across the company. Our animators can move between productions, using either digital SLR cameras or HD video cameras.’
‘Integrating Blackmagic Design technology means we can provide an uncompressed, HD video capture solution that fits the fast workflow requirements in current and future stop-motion animation productions,’ adds Paul Howell, co-founder of Stop Motion Pro. ‘We are proud to be working on such an exciting production, creating world-leading technology that will benefit the stop-motion animation industry.’
Global rights to Timmy Time have been acquired by Disney Channel programmers in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. The show will air on Playhouse Disney channels and programming blocks around the world. HIT Ent. is handling consumer products for the property.
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