Vitaliy Shushko's 'X-Story' Already Looks Incredible

I couldn't rightly tell you what X-Story is about, which is wholly owed to the fact the only information released so far about Russian-based animator Vitaly Shushko's first independent short film is the trailer above, a broad tentative '2015' release date and...the announcement that it's his first film.

Quite the climb.

Still, this teaser offers more than enough to wet our appetites before the main course drops later this year. The teaser flashes images of a young man with a robotic arm riding through the desert on a crimson hover-bike, delving into the catacombs of some ancient underground labyrinth facing off against some lumbering anonymous monstrosity. Sounds like one hell of a ride, can't wait to see it in full!

Yopi the Robot

Yopi is an adorable one-minute student film courtesy of Débora Cruchon and Paula Assadourian, alumni of the prestigious CalArts and Gobelins animation academies respectively. The short, an entry in  CalArts-Gobelins 48-hour collaboration contest, follows a well-meaning robot boy-scout embarking on a nature hike on a journey to set the world right with hilarious results.

The chalky pastel backgrounds and enchantingly child-like sound design combine to create a skit worthy of a Saturday morning cartoon or an awesome bed-time story. Hope to see more work from these two in the future!

Metal Bum

Directed by Daniel Kim, Metal Bum is a heartfelt short about a turf war between a street musician and an unlikely pan handler- An obsolete robot model trying to survive in a cold urban setting (Assuming he has thermal sensors). When things come to a head, the robot is faced with a daunting decision.

Filmed using a mixture of live action and a composited 3D robot, Metal Bum is really taken to the next level thanks to the prowess of Black Rapid Media's excellent work on the sound design aspect, providing a silent film style score to this monochrome short. Loved it from start to finish.

A Story About Robots

This melodramatic partially animated short by Paramotion Films tells the very short and not-so-sweet story of one little wind-up robot. Admiring a work of art from afar, he (she? let's go with he) decides to do the unthinkable.  The plot is not intricate, but it's executed wonderfully.  The build-up in particular is fantastic.

China's Robot Noodle Chef

Awesome. A Chinese restaurateur/entrepreneur decided to bring his dream of a robotic noodle slicing army to reality, with the help of rudimenary robotics and a desire to save restaurants money and introduce novelty at the same time. The best part about these bots was the creators borrowing of Ultraman design motifs and the addition of the crazy blinking lights, which really serve no purpose whatsoever in the kitchen setting. Despite that, for $2000 a pop these little contraptions definitely seem to be doing the trick for rural businesses and saving money long term for the owners. And I'm guessing they won't pose much of a threat if they ever become aware either, so that's a definite plus.

Cup Noodle Bot

As a celebration of Cup Noodles 40th Year Anniversary, the company is releasing a special edition Cup Noodle Bot that doubles as an awesome cooking timer. Despite me swearing off the stuff after four years of college spent eating it, I'd absolutely reconsider buying an industrial sized pack of Cup Noodles if they offered this bot as an incentive outside of Japan. Who wouldn't want an army of these guys?

Epic 7 Foot Gundam Papercraft

After completing a 4 foot tall Gundam papercraft back in 2010, Taras Lesko set out to outdo himself in 2011 with a bigger, better Gundam..The RX-178 Gundam MK II from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. 1,250 pieces, 720 pages and countless man hours went into creating this impressively detailed tribute. This man is no mere mortal, by completing this insane task he has ascended to papercraft god status in our books.

Check out the behind the scenes of the 7 Foot Gundam Project after the break!

Mech Hangar

 Refuel, repair, relaunch. (Via)

This is one badass mech piece by Susan Luo, AKA TurnipSue. Absolutely love the atmosphere she captured in this image, and the spot on fluorescent lighting. Lets not forget the mech itself, pretty badass. Susan works as a concept artist at RedStorm entertainment, the studio known for the Ghost Recon franchise. Check out the step by step for this piece below.

Click for fullsize.

Robot Ping-Pong

Cheesy elevator music aside, this clip of two Chinese robots playing ping-pong together is pretty f**king rad.  Even better, there's a human vs. robot challenge towards the end.  Does this indicate that the premise of "Real Steel" could, in fact, be real??  Nah, probably not, that's just silly.  Right...?

Apparat: Song Of Los

The German electro entity known as Apparat (Sacha Ring) just released a new music video from  his upcoming release, The Devils Walk which comes out on the 26th. Apparat's always been pretty experimental with his work, dipping into all kind of subgenres of electronica over the course of his career..But the music video seems to deliver the message that we might be seeing some sort of rebirth of the artist with this new album. Lets hope it pans out well.

IAM8BIT Roombas

Now this is how you market a damn Roomba to people like me. These custom Roombas were created as a fun addition to the already 100+ pieces for the videogame tribute show iam8bit, and featured Goombas, Octoroks and the dreaded Green and Red Homing Shell from Mario Kart. Pretty awesome way to combine plush art and utility in one fell swoop! These guys wander around the Los Angeles HQ of iam8bit and clean the 4,500 or so square feet of the venue. Hook us up!

Chatbot Vs. Chatbot

What might happen if you pit Cleverbot against Cleverbot?  Cornell University decided to find out.  Nonsensical argument ensues, including "I am not a robot, I am a unicorn."  Sure you are, guys. I was kind of worried that these guys would be able to carry out a proper conversation, but I was kind of glad to see the conversation spiral into gibberish so fast. The machines are not aware just yet.

Kitty Voltron: ASSEMBLE!

(Via)

In an ideal world, this is what the actual Voltron design would have looked like. I'LL FORM THE HEAD! This needs to be made into a poster.

Gaiking Pilot

This was one of the two pilots that Toei Animation put forward in the last two years for a possible western adaptation to be released in 2012-2013, along with Captain Harlock..both classic anime series from the golden age of Japanese animation. I've heard news about the Captain Harlock reboot, but what about Gaiking? This pilot was insanely cool with its giant mecha action and redesigns..I just hope Michael Bay never discovers it.

Kid Walker Is A Badass

(Via)

I recently ran into these images of a kid manning some kind of mech floating around online, and set out to find who made it and if it worked at all. Turns out, its a fully functional mini mech made for the kid of a guy who runs an agricultural robotics plant in Japan called Sakakibara-Kikai . While making giant machines for farming purposes as their main source of income, these guys create mechs and robots for fun on the side. No really, they literally have a section on their website called 'Amusement,' showcasing fully functional mech prototypes. Japan, you never fail to make me feel stupid. Check out the video of Kid Walker after the jump!

Astray Gunframe IV Custom

This is an amazing paint job/kitbash of the Gundam known as Astray Red Frame Kai by the Turkish model kit enthusiast Volkan over at Deviant art. Two more images of this awesome mech after the jump!

Starcraft 2 Siege tank

More Lego madness, this time featuring a fully deployable and remote controlled Terran Siege Tank from Starcraft 2. And it even has the legit sound effects! Another amazing tribute by masterclass Lego builders.

Robot Dubstep

Mike Diva delivers yet another fun exercise in editing with some other Youtube 'star' of sorts. Considering how much dubstep we've covered as of late, my only niggle with the video is that the music really isn't dubstep.  Woops. 

Android Malfunction

The closest thing we'll probably see in our lifetime to a glitchy, b-boy dance robot.  Due to the odd shape of the suit, the movements end up being so hilariously unnatural that you just can't stop watching. 

Blinky™

With Christian Bale's debut within the Terminator-verse and a handful of other sub-par robot movies being less than amazing, it became about time for a new robot to take charge. That robot happens to be horrifyingly adorable Blinky™. With it's non-stop smile and constant need to "be your friend" there's not much else in the world of robotics that can live up to Blinky's awesomeness.
Director, Ruairi Robinson created this 13-minute minute story, telling the tale of a robot within a broken family. It's an incredible piece of work, one which I expect to spawn an incredible sci-fi filled career for Mr. Robinson.