Image Entertainment presents

Computer Animation Experience (2001)

Director: Various

Manufacturer: Ritek
MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (very mild animated violence)
Run Time: 00h:52:00s
Release Date: 2001-12-18
Genre: animation

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
A-	A-	A-	B	D

 

DVD Review

Computer Animation Experience is a 'sequel' of sorts to Computer Animation Adventure; it is a continuation of same general theme as it relates to showcasing great computer animated short films. There's something for almost every taste in this mixture of material, from the artistic to the downright silly. If you enjoyed Computer Animation Adventure, this is definitely the next step.

Most of the shorts are, well, short. Only a few go on much longer than a minute ortwo, but this isn't a bad thing, it just means the 52-minute running time is jam-packed withlots of different imagery and styles. Things begin with Devil's Mine Ride, asurprisingly intense film that's being used in some motion-ride theaters. Thehumorous classic Gas Planet is present, as well as three Animal shorts, asseen on Liquid Television. The disc's highlights include Theology, awonderful animation designed and directed by musician Todd Rundgren, Flora, afractal patterns experiment by Yoichiro Kawaguchi (who also created Embryofound on ComputerAnimation Adventure), and Don Quichotte, a quick interpretation of literarycharacter Don Quixote and his battle against windmills. The Making Of: WithoutBorders is a humorous short detailing the casting and directing of the animatedopening to the television nature show Without Borders some may recognize from public TV.

One of the most impressive clips is Fire Beast, an amazing demo in renderingindividual hairs on a giant wolf, probably created before current technology made it mucheasier. The disc ends with the longest short, Technological Threat, which isinteresting in that it isn't computer-animated, but rather used computer models as the basisfor traditional cel paintings. It's also a very funny and cute corporate/work satire. Thedisc also includes Styro 2, the continuation of the previous Styro shortfound on Computer Animation Adventure, although that's not saying much since the two of them combined might add up to around 20 seconds. Another lengthy short is Computer Home, an interesting film about the life of your average, everyday computer bugs. As much as I loved the previous volume in this Mind's Eye continuation, I thinkComputer Animation Experience has a slight edge in the substance of the shorts. They feel more complete and produced than the previous ones; it's a more satisfying,sit-down-and-watch disc. Another excellent group of absorbing and often goofy pieces offilmmaking in a medium where imagination seems to be the only limit.

Rating for Style: A-
Rating for Substance: A-

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Review: Varying in source material quality, none of the shorts on Computer AnimationExperience have any major issues. There's some grain in a few of the shorts (forexample, the live-action portion of Devil's Mine Ride) and black level oftenchanges depending on the film, but otherwise, there are no significant issues. Colors arealways bright and vivid without bleeding or blurring, and the transfer is free ofcompression artifacts and shimmer, with only the slightest amount of movement in someof the grainer films. As a result, each piece feels very natural and uneffected by anyinterference in the mastering stage. This is pretty much the best these shorts could get.

Image Transfer Grade: A-
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	yes

Audio Transfer Review: The audio is mixed between mono and stereo, though most are in stereo. A few of theshorts, like Devil's Mine Ride and Evolution of Form have noticeablypowerful stereo mixes, while others are virtually without any sound, leaving them in aplace free from critical discussion. Everything is generally clear and sounds as vivid as theindividual films seem to want themselves to sound. My only complaint is that the little bitof dialogue that is present in Computer Home is extremely hard to understandbecause of the flat quality of the audio (no separation between music, sound effects, anddialogue) and the heavy foreign accents of the voice actors. Otherwise, nothing stands outas either problematic or masterful.

Audio Transfer Grade: B 

Disc Extras

Animated menu with music
Scene Access with 23 cues and remote access
Packaging: Amaray
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: single

Extras Review: Apart from chapter selection, there are no additional features to the disc; pretty much"bare-bones," with basic presentation and minimal artwork.

Extras Grade: D
 

Final Comments

There's little doubt that Computer Animation Experience (especially in tandemwith ComputerAnimation Adventure) is a perfect dose of fun, animated shorts. If you're a fan ofsomething fast and entertaining, but doesn't require a great deal of attention, this discis a winner.

Dan Lopez 2001-12-12