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ACCAD Brings Thurber Dogs to Life

January 17, 2009

ACCAD Brings Thurber Dogs to Life

dog flipping pancake

Students and Staff at Ohio State’s Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD) brought the beloved drawings of dogs by humorist James Thurber to life via animation. The animated illustrations were projected during a concert performed by Columbus’s ProMusica Chamber Orchestra on Jan 10—11, accompanied by Peter Schickele’s Thurber’s DogsSuite for Orchestra, a piece originally commissioned by ProMusica in 1994. The musical composition is based on six of Thurber’s short stories that incorporate his much-loved line drawings of dogs. The project was a collaboration with ACCAD, ProMusica and Thurber House. Nine Ohio State graduate students worked as a team to animate six sequences involving the dogs. The students built the animations around the music, tightly timing them to the piece. Using research, storyboards, 3D modeling and animation, the group spent months creating character movement that simulated hand-drawn animation and remained true to Thurber’s unique style. The project was directed by Vita Berezina-Blackburn of ACCAD. For an overview of the project, visit the website.

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