Papa : I would have to say the best part about the BWB was working with the production team. You guys rock! I truly respect all of the hard work you all put into this project and it was truly a collaborative effort on everyone’s part. I also enjoyed our Sunday dinners. For everyone reading this, I also enjoy cooking and hanging out with friends, so every Sunday the production team had dinner at my house to go over the week and recap over the last week.

Jeremy: What was the hardest part of this project for you? 

Papa : I think the hardest part of this project was to not step in and solve problems. I am a problem solver and I love math games and things like that so when Maya acts up I love trying to figure out the solution. Storage became an issue towards the end of the project.  We were generating almost 18 gigs of information per day.  With so many departments and so many people working on this production we wanted to archive everything.  We were backing up to CD and DVD but that just got to time consuming and unreliable.  So luckily we got an AIT-2 Tape Backup to plug into our Fibre Channel which gave me a great deal of piece of mind.

John:  I know, there were days when we were nervous about leaving because files might get corrupted or lost.  Why did you use tape?

Papa:  There are a number of reasons but mainly the cost of the tapes is low enough that we could outfit the production storage with enough to last the project.  We are backing up twice a day so at most we will lose 12 hours of work if the server goes down or things go crazy.  

Jeremy:  You gave us a lot of room to grow on this project and I am sure it was hard at times to give up that freedom.  

Papa:  I really wanted to make sure each person involved in the production got the most from the experience both artistically and professionally. For the group, hmm… I would have to say just the endurance factor. With so many shots to get done in such little time it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We had some great leadership on this project and they all worked hard to keep everyone motivated.

Papa : Well a few of the production team members came to me with an idea and a rough story. I felt it really had something and took a leap of faith and said you know what if we do this right we could have something really nice. So from there it went to script reviews, character reviews, auditions, pipeline development and to this interview. It is funny how time flies isn’t it?

Papa : I loved it. Everyone of the production crew members is top notch and I enjoyed working right alongside with them. There are so many things that have to get done behind the scenes and my production crew understood those responsibilities. I was very fortunate to have them for this project.

Papa : I wore a number of hats for this project. As producer and supervisor my job was to make sure my money was spent wisely to put it frankly < laugh> No seriously. My job was to develop the pipeline for production and get all of the shots approved. The first few weeks of production Kyle took the job of reviewing models and making sure all was good while I worked on our render scripts. I wrote some MEL scripts to handle our smoothing of the polygons, soft body dynamics, and light linking so everything would render as planned. From there I ended up working with David (Rigging TD) and Duane (Assistant Rigging TD) to develop the rigs for these characters. From there I stepped out of the production room and into our IT office to help Tanya (IT Manager) develop the public site. During the past few days I have been working on the final look of the short and development of the DT Monthly Magazine.

Papa : Well I wasn’t supposed to but I did. We are working on a monthly magazine that will have about 15 – 20 tutorials and interviews. These magazines are under $10 with free shipping ( I had to give a sales plug)

Papa: It would have to be Tabby. She is one beautiful creature.

Papa: I am hoping to take Digital-Tutors to a new level this year. We have grown beyond our wildest dreams and I am so proud of everyone involved in this project. I am really excited about the new Backwater Bunch training kits. I personally enjoy teaching and working with people and I expect a huge growth in our training program.

John : What did you do prior to working at Digital-Tutors?

Papa : Prior to working for Digital-Tutors I was an animator for ETS (Educational Television Services). I have created work for Cingular Wireless, RSI, World Bank International, Marginal Well Commission and numerous other clients. I have also won many awards for my work including two Telly awards, Main Street America award, Trio Award, and CASE award. These are awards for my creative work I have published. Currently I am a tenured professor, author of two books and one on the way and owner of PL Studios the company who created Digital-Tutors.

Papa: I do. If you can’t tell I surround myself with awesome people and awesome tools. I love my job as an animator and at teacher. I consider myself to be an artist and a mentor.

John : Is there anything else you would like to share?

Papa: I would like to thank Joe for sharing his art with the rest of us. You are a very talented artist and I was very proud to have you as our Art Director. Your unique style and pleasant attitude towards the whole project was refreshing. Kyle, thanks so much for being my right hand man and some days my left hand man. You stuck it through and always had everything in control. Thanks for always being there for the crew and myself. Your technical knowledge is deep and your artistic skill is very wide. You are a wonderful artist and incredible technical supervisor. Tanya, thanks so much for never looking down at a challenge. We needed a large number of custom work done on this project and you stepped up to the plate with a smile on your face. On behalf of the thousands of people who visit our site daily thank you for your hard work. Brad, thanks for taking such a personal look at the footage as you were editing. That personal touch made the work you did truly special and one of a kind. Thanks for the late nights you spent in front of the editor putting all of this stuff together. David, thanks for being the assistant vfx supervisor and always coming to our meetings with a pad of paper and pen. You always noted my changes I requested and did so with a smile. I know it is hard working for me and I expect a lot out of you, but you all ways hung in there and kicked it in the ass. Thanks for your hard work and unique ways of solving problems (for our readers – David earned the nick name Dave– E because he was so efficient at his work and MEL scripted everything). John, thanks so much for being the all around MVP. You were so eager to get started and take on new challenges from heading the simulation department to working with Brad compositing the shots and get them ready for the editor. This really helped out when we had so much work to get done and were strapped for time. Thanks for taking charge when you needed to, and making sure things got done. You are a very smart and talented person and I am very proud to have worked with you. Duane, thanks for bringing such incredible talent to this project. Your background in art and eye for anatomy really helped us get the models looking great. Your animation skills are incredible and I really appreciated the expertise you shared with the teams. Dustin, thanks so much for brining a smile to all of our faces. I personally enjoyed working with you and seeing you grow as an artist. You have a wonderful style and I can’t wait to see more of your work. You did a great job and you never gave up which is very much appreciated (thanks for helping me solve the light-linking problem in the large pre-render MEL script). Jeremy, thanks for all of your help with the rendering, modeling, and scripting process. This project was completed because you were constantly on top of things and I thank you for that. Dan, thanks for the late hours you put into this project. Your help on this production was greatly needed and appreciated. Your are a very talented artist and incredible animator. Your shots and models were wonderful. Steve and Matt, thanks for all of your help on this project. Lastly, I would like to thank my wife who does all of the shipping for Digital-Tutors. You have been very helpful and encouraging when I work 20 hour days and am never home. Thanks for supporting me and this company. Again to everyone thank you so much for your extreme dedication and loyalty to me and this project. I am very proud of each and every one of you.