Archive Blog

Ever wondered what goes into post-production of photogrammetry scans? Ursula Ackah gives us a precise step-by-step guide of her photogrammetry process, digitising Toad from our collection for Steve Henderson, Damien Markey and the CHFA. See the results of Ursula’s scans over on our new Sketchfab account.

Over the last year the value of digital collections and utilising 3D technology to share collections online has significantly increased. In this blog post our Archive Manager Rosy Whittemore discusses the process we went through with Reanimate, a 3D scanning project in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University we undertook in 2019.

Bringing together the CHF archive with partners from Manchester Metropolitan University including the Animation department, students, MSc Industrial Design 3D and Print City facilities at MMU. This project aimed to bridge the gap between stop motion animation and new digital technology, by using new technology to explore new ways of digitising the collection. Connecting audiences to new technologies through cultural assets. The project used existing cultural assets from our archive as a vehicle for researching and experimenting with 3D printing and industrial manufacturing facilities at MMU. The project aimed to instigate an exchange of knowledge, skills, research and materials between fields. Particularly animation students and MMU MSc Industrial Digitalisation course at MMU. We aim to create a new way of preserving the detail in more vulnerable models whilst also creating a more widely accessible digital collection. 3D scanning has been an opportunity to experiment with animation, bridge the gap between analog and digital technologies. Encouraging animation students to embrace digital manufacturing and 3D print, whilst remaining faithful to the medium of stop motion animation.

11 - 14 November 2020 - Digital Edition

Now in its sixth year, Puppet Masters is the UK’s number one conference for animators from all backgrounds, featuring masterclass talks from leading figures in animation. This year it will be accessed virtually through Diverge, with four events over four evenings, opening up the opportunity for a wider international audience to take part.

This is a series of free digital events to be streamed on Waterside’s brand new online hub, Diverge.

In September the archive welcomed Justin P. Lees who has been working on an animation project with James Pollit and the team at Venture Arts in Manchester. In his personal animation project Justin had been experimenting with ways to combine his drawn characters with backgrounds. With this in mind we looked at background art and cels to show how these different styles could be combined - over to Justin!

To celebrate the opening of our new exhibition Cosgrove Hall: Frame by Frame we’re looking back at the first Cosgrove Hall exhibition held at Waterside in 2017. In October 2017 Waterside Arts hosted our first Cosgrove Hall Films Exhibition. Showcasing highlights from the archive was the perfect way to welcome the archive to its new location at the venue.

'I honesty felt, at that tender age, that I had genuinely found my place in the world and was more than eager, to one day return and become part of it!’

Niki Hutchinson, reminisces about his his experience visiting Cosgrove Hall studios in 2003 as a teenager. Niki has volunteered with the Cosgrove Hall Films Archive and continues to support our work - a special thank you to Niki for his contribution.