My day was brightened this morning by an email notice that Lots of Robots, Volume Two is up. LOR is an ambitious computer animated feature film being created singlehandedly by the multi-talented Andy Murdock. His artistic and technical mastery are astonishing.

I first learned of LOR in Brian Taylor’s online Rust Boy diary a couple of years ago. Rust Boy is similarly a one-man effort to create a feature film using computer animation. Both of these projects demonstrate just how much creative leverage ordinary computers can provide an individual nowadays when talent and ingenuity are applied (not to mention shear effort and persistence).

I have been following both Rust Boy and LOR with great interest over the past few years. Rust Boy’s Brian Taylor has been making very few diary entries lately, hopefully because he’s been too busy working on the film. A book about the making of Rust Boy was published last year. I bought a copy and would recommend it. The price is a tad high for something like this, but it’s nice to know that you are helping to finance his efforts. Still, it’s very nicely produced and with 3-D pictures and anaglyphic glasses with which to view them.

The Lots of Robots site has had very few updates since I first visited it, except to announce the release of the first DVD. Of course, I bought a copy. The Quicktime sample of the film looks pretty good on Murdock’s site, but it’s nothing compared to seeing it on a big screen with 5.1 surround sound. It’s also fascinating to watch the making-of tutorials (at least to me) and I’m looking forward to ordering the new DVD. There goes another $30, but I know it’ll be worth it.