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Wikipedia

USAnimation

May 05, 2023

For information on the United States animation industry, see History of animation § History of United States animation.

VirtualMagic Animation, Inc. (previously known as USAnimation, Inc.) was an American traditional animation studio and software development company based out of Los Angeles, California. The studio produced animation for television series and commercials, and provided ink and paint services to animated TV series such as The Ren and Stimpy Show and The Simpsons and films such as We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story. Its software division was best known for developing USAnimation, a high-end software package designed to facilitate the traditional animation process using digital technologies.

VirtualMagic Animation, Inc.
FormerlyWhitney/Demos Productions (1986–88)
Optomystic (1988–90)
Digital Animation Laboratories (1991)
USAnimation (1992–96)
TypePrivate
IndustryDigital 2D animation
PredecessorDigital Productions
FoundedJuly 14, 1986; 36 years ago (1986-07-14)
FounderJohn Whitney Jr.
Gary Demos
Defunct2003; 20 years ago (2003)
HeadquartersHollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. (1986–88, 1991–97)
Culver City, California, U.S. (1988–90)
North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. (1997–2003)
Key people
Don Spielvogel (president)
SubsidiariesVirtualMagic Asia
Website

History

John Whitney Jr. and Gary Demos worked at Digital Productions, which was bought out by Omnibus Computer Graphics in June 1986. Whitney and Demos filed a complaint against Digital, Omnibus, Ramtek, and others in June, claiming that their rights as minority shareholders of DP were breached in the Omnibus sale. In July, they were locked out of their offices and founded Whitney/Demos Productions. Omnibus alleged to a court that Whitney and Demos, who were still paid under their contracts, founded a new competitor, hired at least three Omnibus employees, and used software and other property that belonged to Omnibus. The court temporarily ordered Whitney and Demos to return certain property to Omnibus.[1]

Tom McMahon from Symbolics' Graphics Division and other private investors provided funding assistance for W/D. The following year, W/D purchased the Thinking Machines Connection Machine 2, fronted by Symbolics workstations with programming done in LISP. W/D's first project had them work with Symbolics' Graphics Division to produce the short film Stanley and Stella: Breaking the Ice. Before they could collect the rest of an initial $5 million loan, much of the CG production industry collapsed because of Omnibus's failed growth plan, and investors balked. After W/D declared bankruptcy in June 1988, Demos formed his own research company, DemoGraFX, while Whitney stayed and took the company through bankruptcy proceedings. Whintey continued the company with Karl Sims as Optomystic. When another company was found to have a similar name, Optomystic's name was changed to Digital Animation Laboratories.

Whitney developed a "paperless" animation process where animation drawn on paper was scanned into a computer to be colored and composited. He founded USAnimation in early 1992 with David Lipman as vice president and executive producer after he decided to use his technology to change how animation was produced. The animation industry was immediately receptive to this concept since digital capabilities were a powerful creative tool for the animation producer to improve the look of shows and do it more efficiently. USAnimation completed episodic projects such as Beavis and Butt-Head, The Ren & Stimpy Show and the first digitally colored episodes of The Simpsons, as well as commercial projects ranging from Lucky Charms cereal to Levi's jeans. In 1995, USAnimation began offering its digital animation system to other customers.

In 1996, USAnimation sold its software development business to Canadian competitor Toon Boom Technologies and its animation production services were renamed VirtualMagic USA.[2] Toon Boom continues development of the USAnimation software, today known as Harmony. VirtualMagic International Productions, Inc., founded in Vancouver a year prior, signed a letter of intent to acquire USAnimation's Production Services Division on August 30 and closed the deal on October 31.[3] VirtualMagic would continue to operate the company while expanding its production capacity to include CGI animation and significantly increasing employment. With resources now dedicated solely to its production expertise, VirtualMagic USA diversified itself by taking on a significant amount of interactive CD-ROM work for clients such as Disney Interactive, Broderbund, and Digital Domain.

In late-1997, the company completed changing its name to VirtualMagic Animation and moved into a new production space in the San Fernando Valley. In order to economically compete in the animated episodic series and motion picture market, VirtualMagic Animation evaluated potential affiliate foreign animation companies with digital capabilities as well as joint venture possibilities. In 1999, VirtualMagic Animation and ImagineAsia Studio formed VirtualMagic Asia, a digital ink, paint and compositing service based in Manila, Philippines. In 2003, Don Spielvogel and the company's investors put up VirtualMagic Animation for sale due to the changing dynamics of the United States' animation industry and its non-animation industry investors wishing to move on.[4] VirtualMagic Animation and VirtualMagic Asia closed the same year.

Filmography

Video games

VirtualMagic Asia

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Omnibus sues founders of its recent subsidiary". The Globe and Mail. September 2, 1986.
  2. ^ (Aug. 6, 1996). "Toon Boom Technologies enters merger transaction with USAnimation Inc" [Business Wire]. Retrieved March 17, 2008.
  3. ^ "December Issue News Section". Animation World Network.
  4. ^ "VirtualMagic Animation Up For Sale". Animation World Network. January 31, 2003.
  5. ^ Jonathan Ackley [@ackley_jonathan] (May 4, 2022). "A new art path had to be developed for Curse of #MonkeyIsland. 2D #games of the time scanned drawings straight to raster, causing heavy aliasing. We used U.S. Animation. It vectorized the line art before compositing and color/resolution reduction, creating smoother art. #gamedev" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

External links

    May 05, 2023
    usanimation, information, united, states, animation, industry, history, animation, history, united, states, animation, virtualmagic, animation, previously, known, american, traditional, animation, studio, software, development, company, based, angeles, califor. For information on the United States animation industry see History of animation History of United States animation VirtualMagic Animation Inc previously known as USAnimation Inc was an American traditional animation studio and software development company based out of Los Angeles California The studio produced animation for television series and commercials and provided ink and paint services to animated TV series such as The Ren and Stimpy Show and The Simpsons and films such as We re Back A Dinosaur s Story Its software division was best known for developing USAnimation a high end software package designed to facilitate the traditional animation process using digital technologies VirtualMagic Animation Inc FormerlyWhitney Demos Productions 1986 88 Optomystic 1988 90 Digital Animation Laboratories 1991 USAnimation 1992 96 TypePrivateIndustryDigital 2D animationPredecessorDigital ProductionsFoundedJuly 14 1986 36 years ago 1986 07 14 FounderJohn Whitney Jr Gary DemosDefunct2003 20 years ago 2003 HeadquartersHollywood Los Angeles California U S 1986 88 1991 97 Culver City California U S 1988 90 North Hollywood Los Angeles California U S 1997 2003 Key peopleDon Spielvogel president SubsidiariesVirtualMagic AsiaWebsiteOfficial website archived Contents 1 History 2 Filmography 2 1 VirtualMagic Asia 3 See also 4 Footnotes 5 External linksHistory EditJohn Whitney Jr and Gary Demos worked at Digital Productions which was bought out by Omnibus Computer Graphics in June 1986 Whitney and Demos filed a complaint against Digital Omnibus Ramtek and others in June claiming that their rights as minority shareholders of DP were breached in the Omnibus sale In July they were locked out of their offices and founded Whitney Demos Productions Omnibus alleged to a court that Whitney and Demos who were still paid under their contracts founded a new competitor hired at least three Omnibus employees and used software and other property that belonged to Omnibus The court temporarily ordered Whitney and Demos to return certain property to Omnibus 1 Tom McMahon from Symbolics Graphics Division and other private investors provided funding assistance for W D The following year W D purchased the Thinking Machines Connection Machine 2 fronted by Symbolics workstations with programming done in LISP W D s first project had them work with Symbolics Graphics Division to produce the short film Stanley and Stella Breaking the Ice Before they could collect the rest of an initial 5 million loan much of the CG production industry collapsed because of Omnibus s failed growth plan and investors balked After W D declared bankruptcy in June 1988 Demos formed his own research company DemoGraFX while Whitney stayed and took the company through bankruptcy proceedings Whintey continued the company with Karl Sims as Optomystic When another company was found to have a similar name Optomystic s name was changed to Digital Animation Laboratories Whitney developed a paperless animation process where animation drawn on paper was scanned into a computer to be colored and composited He founded USAnimation in early 1992 with David Lipman as vice president and executive producer after he decided to use his technology to change how animation was produced The animation industry was immediately receptive to this concept since digital capabilities were a powerful creative tool for the animation producer to improve the look of shows and do it more efficiently USAnimation completed episodic projects such as Beavis and Butt Head The Ren amp Stimpy Show and the first digitally colored episodes of The Simpsons as well as commercial projects ranging from Lucky Charms cereal to Levi s jeans In 1995 USAnimation began offering its digital animation system to other customers In 1996 USAnimation sold its software development business to Canadian competitor Toon Boom Technologies and its animation production services were renamed VirtualMagic USA 2 Toon Boom continues development of the USAnimation software today known as Harmony VirtualMagic International Productions Inc founded in Vancouver a year prior signed a letter of intent to acquire USAnimation s Production Services Division on August 30 and closed the deal on October 31 3 VirtualMagic would continue to operate the company while expanding its production capacity to include CGI animation and significantly increasing employment With resources now dedicated solely to its production expertise VirtualMagic USA diversified itself by taking on a significant amount of interactive CD ROM work for clients such as Disney Interactive Broderbund and Digital Domain In late 1997 the company completed changing its name to VirtualMagic Animation and moved into a new production space in the San Fernando Valley In order to economically compete in the animated episodic series and motion picture market VirtualMagic Animation evaluated potential affiliate foreign animation companies with digital capabilities as well as joint venture possibilities In 1999 VirtualMagic Animation and ImagineAsia Studio formed VirtualMagic Asia a digital ink paint and compositing service based in Manila Philippines In 2003 Don Spielvogel and the company s investors put up VirtualMagic Animation for sale due to the changing dynamics of the United States animation industry and its non animation industry investors wishing to move on 4 VirtualMagic Animation and VirtualMagic Asia closed the same year Filmography EditVarious commercials for Acme Filmworks Duck Soup Produckions J J Sedelmaier Productions Klasky Csupo Inc MTV Animation Renegade Animation Spaff Animation Incorporated Spumco Warner Bros Animation and Wild Brain Stanley and Stella Breaking the Ice 1987 short film co produced with Symbolics The Earth Day Special 1990 special effects Captain Planet and the Planeteers 1990 main title digital scene simulation The Ren amp Stimpy Show 5 episodes Beavis and Butt Head 29 episodes We re Back A Dinosaur s Story additional electronic ink amp paint digital composting David Macaulay Roman City The Simpsons Radioactive Man and The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular The Nanny Oy to the World The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest In the Realm of the Condor Gargoyles The Goliath Chronicles main title Jumanji main title Hey Arnold main title Love Rollercoaster music video Extreme Ghostbusters main title One Saturday Morning Great Minds Think for Themselves shorts Channel Umptee 3 main title Men in Black The Series main title Cartoon Sushi Oh Yeah Cartoons Planet Kate Godzilla The Series CatDog Fetch Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot main title Boo Boo Runs Wild The Tigger Movie additional ink and paint Joseph King of Dreams digital painting Freddy Got Fingered animation coloring and compositing The Cartoon Cartoon Show Captain Sturdy Back in Action Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law episodes 2 6 digital composite The Powerpuff Girls Movie Lenny amp Sid Love Thy Neighbor All Hands on Deck color styling Video games Wanna Be A Dino Finder Disney s Animated Storybook 101 Dalmatians sing along digital ink and paint Nightmare Ned ink and paint 101 Dalmatians Escape from DeVil Manor graphics Carmen Sandiego Word Detective ink and paint Disney s Hercules ink and paint Living Books Arthur s Computer Adventure ink and paint Rugrats Adventure Game The Curse of Monkey Island 5 VirtualMagic Asia Edit God the Devil and Bob Adventures from the Book of Virtues Humility and Compassion Part 1 Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law episodes 2 6 digital ink and paint See also EditToon Boom Technologies which acquired USAnimation s software development business Cambridge Animation Systems Toonz another prolific animation software used by the 2D industry in the 1990s and 2000s Computer Animation Production System CAPS used by Disney from the 1990s to the mid 2000s Adobe Flash List of 2D animation softwareFootnotes Edit Omnibus sues founders of its recent subsidiary The Globe and Mail September 2 1986 Aug 6 1996 Toon Boom Technologies enters merger transaction with USAnimation Inc Business Wire Retrieved March 17 2008 December Issue News Section Animation World Network VirtualMagic Animation Up For Sale Animation World Network January 31 2003 Jonathan Ackley ackley jonathan May 4 2022 A new art path had to be developed for Curse of MonkeyIsland 2D games of the time scanned drawings straight to raster causing heavy aliasing We used U S Animation It vectorized the line art before compositing and color resolution reduction creating smoother art gamedev Tweet via Twitter External links EditOfficial website archived Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title USAnimation amp oldid 1125356698, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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