Toon Boom's advanced 2D animation system used on new Paul McCartney animation venture

Sir Paul McCartney has produced a new DVD titled "Paul McCartney: The Music and Animation Collection", which includes the critically acclaimed new film, "Tuesday".

The film is produced by Sir Paul and directed by Geoff Dunbar. The colour work and compositing for both film and DVD linking sequences were provided by King Camera, the leading digital animation bureau, based in London's Soho film village. Chris King, Director and System Administrator, teamed with Tim Barter, the very talented young Digital Artist and Compositor, worked closely with Geoff Dunbar to achieve the high quality look. The film is based on the award-winning book by David Weisner and has a highly textured illustrated style; both Paul and Geoff did not want the flat impersonal style that they felt computers to date can offer.

"With production guidance from Jacqui Davies and the skill of King Camera the results are more than satisfactory." quotes Geoff Dunbar at High Eagle Productions.

This resulted in a BAFTA nomination for "Tuesday" and both Paul and Geoff are quick to point out the excellent contribution of King Camera. The DVD is due for release in the U.K. on 27 September 2004 after a very successful release in the USA. It also features the chart topper, "Rupert and the FROGGO Song" and "Tropic Island Hum", another of Sir Paul's vibrant all family entertainment songs heralding the arrival of a new set of characters to cartoon folk lore, Wirral the Squirrel, his girlfriend Wilhemina and their eccentric friend Froggo, among others.

King Camera used Toon Boom's advanced 2D animation system, USAnimation, as their main tool to assemble the film and linking material. USAnimation is vector-based and is able to handle productions of any duration or resolution. King Camera rendered Film and High Definition resolutions for the DVD and "Tuesday" while other productions have been simultaneously rendered to Macromedia(r) Flash(tm). "With "Tuesday" we had to incorporate extensive use of textures, automatic tones and highlights, mist, light and focal effects, sparkles, ripples, colour timing changes and multi-planning, sometimes for as many as eighty characters per scene, all with separate peg moves! Coupled with the freedom to create and digitally animate many of the scenes from scratch, USAnimation was an ideal tool, allowing us to easily integrate all aspects of the production, make real time changes with Geoff and Jacqui and produce a unique aesthetic look for both film and DVD extras." explains Tim Barter, Digital Artist and Compositor at King Camera.

CREDITS TO ACKNOWLEDGE:
Chris King, System Administrator at King Camera; Tim Barter, Senior Digital Artist & Compositor at King Camera; Judith Roberts & Jacqui Davies, Producer at High Eagle Productions; Geoff Dunbar, Director at High Eagle Productions; Sir Paul McCartney, Executive Producer at MPL Communications Ltd, Stills and images published are courtesy of King Camera, High Eagle Productions, MPL Communications Ltd and Buena Vista Home Entertainment Inc.

About King Camera........Based in Soho, London, King Camera is a facility for TV production, commercials and animation. Retooled in the mid nineties, as a digital Ink and Paint bureau for broadcast video and motion picture film, King Camera has gone from strength to strength, working on a plethora of high profile, award-winning productions. Whether it is scanning, digital colouring, compositing or rendering, King Camera has brought its formidable talents to a vast array of productions. King Camera also provides rostrum camera facilities for TV, production alongside title design and graphics. King Camera prides itself on being a high quality, fast, competitively priced facility for getting your productions to the edit on time and on budget. View King Camera's website at www.kingcamera.co.uk

About Toon Boom Animation Inc.........Building on a decade of great successes, Toon Boom has entered a new era. Designated as Toon Boom Animation Inc., the company carries several leading animation products, including USAnimation OPUS and Toon Boom Studio. Toon Boom also offers consulting and training services dedicated to increasing animation production efficiency and quality. Concerto, a new solution designed to meet digital and paperless animation production needs, is implemented in prestigious animation studios worldwide.

With these great offerings, Toon Boom Animation is well poised, as the world-leading supplier of animation solutions, to continue delivering quality, efficiency and reliability to the animation community - for all animation styles and formats. Toon Boom's client base ranges from major studios creating Hollywood-blockbuster animated films to individual animators creating their first masterpieces. Market-leading studios using Toon Boom's products include Nelvana, Klasky Csupo, Warner Bros., DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures, Universal, Mercury Filmworks, Wild Brain, King Camera, Cromosoma and Lanterna Magica, to name a few. For additional information, visit Toon Boom on the Web at www.toonboom.com.

Concerto(tm), OPUS(tm) and USAnimation(r) are trademarks of Toon Boom Animation Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information, contact:
Toon Boom Animation Inc.
Karina Bessoudo
(514) 278-8666, extension 248
karina@toonboom.com