In 2015 the Blender Institute produced a new 3 minute cartoon short with a simple story, snappy animation and rendered in a non photo-realistic style. The focus was on short form storytelling, good design and clear animation.

Two amateur art critics meet in a gallery and argue passionately about the pieces they see, causing chaos for everyone else, until finally they find a piece on which they can agree...

Assets and tutorials in Glass Half focus on:

• the script writing process for shorts, from original concept through script development to the finished animatic
• production design and concept art; the process of coming up with appealing, stylised designs which support of the story
• non photo-realistic rendering; how to make appealing cartoony images in blender, favouring good design and clarity over realism
• snappy cartoon animation and pantomime acting
• simple and clear asset management for short films

Also, as part of the process we will be producing a flexible character rig that you can customise to make your own cartoon characters!

The short was in pre-production for July and August, with full production taking place in September and October.

The project was directed and written by Beorn Leonard, designed by Sarah Laufer and realized by the whole crew at the Blender Institute.