Off-the-shelf wasn't an option for filmmakers Matt and Dan O'Donnell, who couldn't find commercial software with the shading and facial animation tools they wanted for their 3-D short,Officer Down. So the 27-year-old twins learned to code, then wrote their own proprietary Java app called Mexico, which uses natural-language parsing technology to animate scenes, cutting about 90 percent of the usual steps. (Check it out at www.cicada.net.) "The characters respond to stage direction," says Matt. "You create a model, and you say, 'Snookie: Walk to Captain,' and it will compute the subanimations."
The O'Donnell brothers, who both earned a master's in engineering, have taken on Web-design and programming gigs for the likes of Silicon Graphics and flooz.com to support their film habit. They'll finish their first full-length feature this year.
ELECTRIC WORD
Design Coup
Splice of Life
Spandinavia
Double Feature
Portal Call
Imaginear
