Bob Sabiston

Bob Sabiston

Birth : 1967-01-01, United States

History

Bob Sabiston (born 1967) is an American film art director, computer programmer, and creator of the Rotoshop software program for computer animation. Sabiston began developing software as an undergraduate and then graduate researcher in the MIT Media Lab from 1986 to 1991. While at MIT, and also after moving to Austin, Texas, in 1993, Sabiston used his 2D/3D software to create several short films, including God's Little Monkey (1994), "Beat Dedication" (1988), and "Grinning Evil Death" (1990). "Grinning Evil Death" was widely seen on the first episode of MTV's "Liquid Television" show. "God's Little Monkey" won the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica award for 1994. In 1997, he developed his interpolating rotoscope program, Rotoshop,[1] for an animation contest sponsored by MTV. The software was used to produce a series of 25 30-second interstitials in New York, collectively entitled "Project Incognito." He moved back to Austin in 1998 and with the help of local artists made the short film "RoadHead." This was followed in 1999 by short "Snack and Drink" in collaboration with Tommy Pallotta. "Snack and Drink" won several film festival awards and resides in the MOMA video collection. The shorts collection "Figures of Speech" followed in late 1999, for PBS. In 2000, Sabiston hired thirty graphic artists in the Austin area[citation needed] to help makeRichard Linklater's film Waking Life.[2] After Waking Life Sabiston spent several years making more rotoscoped short films, including "Yard", "Earthlink Sucks", "Grasshopper". He directed a series of shorts for the PBS show "Life360". In 2003 he directed a short segment for the Lars von Trier film The Five Obstructions. Both "Grasshopper" and "The Five Obstructions" were shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. In 2004 Sabiston was hired as Head of Animation for Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly. He modified the software substantially for the film. Since 2005 he has also directed the "Talk to Chuck" campaign of animated advertisements for Charles Schwab. Sabiston developed Rotoshop as a means to make rotoscoping easier for artists by automating the interpolation of hand-drawn shapes and lines over video. The software isproprietary and currently not available for use outside of Sabiston's production company, Flat Black Films. Sabiston is also the creator of Inchworm Animation, a paint and animation program for the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS. It was released on April 25, 2011 in North America and subsequently in Europe, Australia, and Japan.[3] Since 2008 Sabiston has developed several apps for iOS: the 3d mind-mapping app "Headspace", the modeling/3d-printing app "Voxel", the videogame "Retroid", and a drawing keyboard "Jot Keyboard". In 2015 he released "Lowlander", a tribute to Richard Garriott's classic videogame "Ultima II".

Profile

Bob Sabiston
Bob Sabiston

Movies

Snack And Drink
Animation
In this short film, filmmakers Bob Sabiston and Tommy Pallotta accompany Ryan, a six-foot-tall, 13-year-old autistic boy, to a local convenience store to purchase a "snack and drink".
Snack And Drink
Director
In this short film, filmmakers Bob Sabiston and Tommy Pallotta accompany Ryan, a six-foot-tall, 13-year-old autistic boy, to a local convenience store to purchase a "snack and drink".
Modern Love: Broken Heart Doctor
Animation
After Thomas Hooven graduated from medical school, his girlfriend of 12 years ended their relationship. It was only three weeks before they planned to marry.
Modern Love: Broken Heart Doctor
Director
After Thomas Hooven graduated from medical school, his girlfriend of 12 years ended their relationship. It was only three weeks before they planned to marry.
The Even More Fun Trip
Animation
Ryan Power is back and he means business. This second trip to Fiesta Texas is done ride-by-ride “just like last time.” Thrill to the psychedelic sights and sounds of a Texas theme park as you are slowly worn down by the implacable will of this young man. Ryan previously appeared in our short Snack and Drink and the ‘unreleased’ Ryan’s Capitol Tour. He also shows up briefly in Waking Life (as an alien leaving Earth).
The Even More Fun Trip
Director
Ryan Power is back and he means business. This second trip to Fiesta Texas is done ride-by-ride “just like last time.” Thrill to the psychedelic sights and sounds of a Texas theme park as you are slowly worn down by the implacable will of this young man. Ryan previously appeared in our short Snack and Drink and the ‘unreleased’ Ryan’s Capitol Tour. He also shows up briefly in Waking Life (as an alien leaving Earth).
Ryan's Capitol Tour
Director
Ryan gives a tour of the Capitol in Austin, Texas
I Am a Sex Addict
Animation
Just moments before his third wedding, Zahedi relates with utter sincerity and astonishing candor his obsession with prostitutes. He retraces his romantic and sexual history, including his ideological commitment to open relationships, that led to two disastrous marriages and several very pissed off ex-girlfriends.
Grasshopper
Director
In Grasshopper, park-bench philosopher AJ Vadehra expounds on astrology and more productive avenues of contemplation. Done all in grey-green, this animated but otherwise unedited interview is a good example of what happens when you approach the right stranger with a camera. Grasshopper premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and has since played in many other festivals worldwide.
The Five Obstructions
Himself
Lars von Trier challenges his mentor, filmmaker Jørgen Leth, to remake Leth’s 1967 short film The Perfect Human five times, each with a different set of bizarre and challenging rules.
Figures of Speech
Director
In 1999 we got a contract from ITVS to make a series of animated short documentaries in the vein of Snack and Drink. The twelve segments of Figures of Speech feature subjects interviewed in Austin and on the road between there and San Francisco.
Color Test
Animation
Color test for animation by Bob Sabiston
Color Test
Director
Color test for animation by Bob Sabiston
Roadhead
Director
This is the first ‘independent’ use made of our “rotoshop” software. It was quite primitive in the beginning. This is a short road-trip documentary consisting of animated interviews with people found along the route from New York to Austin.
Project Incognito
Director
Flat Black Films’ rotoscoping software was originally developed for an MTV contest. It is 34 animated interviews with random people encountered in NY’s Washington Square Park.
God's Little Monkey
Animation
This abbreviated short, though never finished, got into Siggraph’s Electronic Theater for 1994. An early Bob Sabiston animated short
God's Little Monkey
Director
This abbreviated short, though never finished, got into Siggraph’s Electronic Theater for 1994. An early Bob Sabiston animated short
The Trees
Director
An animated short about recycling.
Grinning Evil Death
Director
A sinister flying pod crashes to Earth and unleashes a giant mechanical roach that attacks the city.
Beat Dedication
Director
A robot plays the drums. An insect, bearing a familiar logo, buzzes around it.