We are a canadian marriage who happens to live and breathe animation. If you want to support us with our creations, you can do it so through our Patreon page!
Hello! I’d like to pass an official note about out Patreon, since today, it is officially closed and we won’t be accepting any further donations. THank you very much for your support so far, you are the best guys.
Anonymous asked: Please I NEED help and you guys are amazing at animation sooo I got a problem: I'm on my last year of animation school and I'm still terrible at it. I don't improve. Just don't. But I don't wanna give up, even with everybody telling me that. THE PROBLEM IS we don't have many jobs in my country and not being good enough means no money and I'm so afraid BC my time is running and I don't wanna give up but I don't improve. What do I do??
Hi! I thought I would post a public reply about this, since this is a very valid, serious question.
It happens that sometimes, animation and art schools don’t fit well with some students, you may have a few lacks in your basic training, and if left unattended, those can come and haunt you while looking for a job.
The good news is that with a bit of clarity on what you need to have in your portfolio, you can solve that problem in 6 to 12 months of intensive practice and training.
It’s all about focusing on ONE position, and training solely for it, producing portfolio piece after portfolio piece along the way. Schools scatter your training, this is the opposite approach.
You will need around 6 hours per day, minimum, to make sure you get a fair chance, and in the meanwhile, you can get a part time job and settle your finances so you can sustain yourself. I also recommend networking with some industry workers and actively seeking mentorship, I am too mentoring and being mentored, it’s the best thing ever.
Bobby Chiu often recommends jobs like being a night guard, because that kind of task leaves you with countless empty hours that you can fill with sounded practice, most guards just binge on Netflix, but you can be wiser about how you use your time.
We figured out this new rigging system for TB this weekend. It is a neat little trick that allows you to control multiple elements at once. Or do a deformer within a deformer (something impossible till today) woo hoo!
The only way to do this in Flash is to hand draw it, so this is a huge time saver.
Recently, we had a rather unique commission stream in youtube. We never open C-work, but we did for that one. And the commissioner requested we would draw his vision of the “Choices†ending. With the two sisters confronting Discord at his peak. I had a different ending in mind, but that was the funny fact about the project, I wasn’t in full control of the story. :) This could have been a prelude of a final battle.
The first tool we have released is the speed color action, we tested it with fellow professional character designers from both the video game and animation industries, comic artists (IDW) and commission artists.
No matter what method was used, the speed color action cut it by 1/3. If you are working in Photoshop.
This is one of our most coveted Patreon tools, and as we stated, the price of the products has increased since last year, as they have been carefully tested to ensure they would be an asset for the artist using them.
Month of May… Heard at work that there was a ‘MerMay’ challenge around. So I went out and had fun with it. Here’s a little preview of how she looked like in the end :)
Kept the higher resolutions and other goodies for our awesome patrons :)
Anonymous asked: You've shown us how the helios rig works for relatively flat 2d characters such as My Little Pony, but what about characters with more dimension? Disney's 'Tarzan', for example, had a very muscular leopard 2d character, and in Dreamwork's 'Spirit', all of the horses had animated muscles. Could artists use the helios system to create characters with more physique?
Short answer, Yes. But it would be quite complicated to get all of that working with solely Helios. With my current pipeline and test that I have done with my module, I would do some parts with Helios and others with more proven rig techniques.
koolfrood asked: hello is koolfrood again, I want to ask if there is any classes that YOU took to get into toon boom animation because I'm trying to make an animation but its kinda complicated to be self taught about it. I did make an animatic with sketches but camera movements were from toon boom if you can help me the video is on youtube under unleash the magic animatic... i hope to hear from you again...
Hi! Sorry for the long reply. I did not learn toonboom through classed, but rather by myself through youtube videos. Look up Kyu Bum Lee, he has good Toonboom Rigging tutorials that are easy to follow and understand :)
Diamonds song instrumental. Official release with lyrics on screen. It took, a while to complete this one, and we are going to start working on the vocals on March.
I wanted to drop a quick note today. As artists, we have to accept the critiques of the audience, no matter what. This is a reality we accept.
When people send us a critique, we are usually delighted, a chance to improve! to learn! The critiques issued here have been the best I’ve ever seen. You TUMBLRS are gold.
Not only you give the GOOD kind of critique, you even come and HELP! and they say TUMBLR is rough!, I’d say you’ve been very good to us!. It is for this that I want to thank you, TUMBLR audience.
In the last months, on the other hand, we have noticed somehow of an expectation for our productions to be TV quality from the YT comments, and because we work in the industry, and we strive for Disneyesque, then,the logic goes:
Duo Cartoonist= Disney thus their work = a multi million production with 300+staff. They have no deadline so it’s totally fair
We are being required to be expert storytellers, writers, animators, designers, sound editors, SFX artists, video editors, composers, lyric artists, sound engineers, managers, producers and post producers…
…that’s a bit too much, and we do what we can with what we have, always pushing for more.
Thanks goodness the TUMBLR audience helps.
The last thing I want to is set an excuse to allow us to curl into mediocrity (we are small, don’t expect much!) this is not the case, I just want to remind everyone and myself that at the end of the day, we are only human.
This is Helios in action, over the Mrs. Brisby rig that you saw before. We decided to reproduce an scene from NIMH to visually explain the difference between our way of doing stuff and a 3D toon shaded head. If you do animation or art in general, you will feel the gap right away.
We know it is not a 100% match with the classical, but the goal of this test was to show how Helios preserves the character on model 100% of the time. The next step will be altering such integrity as the hand drawn guys do with their cheats to bring out more appeal to the drawing.
It was really surprising to see, frame by frame, how the original model was cheated in volume, constantly!. I bow before Don Bluth and his crew’s mastery.
Beginning 2017, we are proud to present a new song from the “Choices†project.
Run Away, sung by a much more grown up Celestia. This song was made by me and KC Guzman.
To listen, click the image, and you will be directed to Bandcamp, where you can enjoy the instrumental and support the artist, he definitely deserves it.
WELCOME TO HELIOS. AN ALTERNATE WAY TO DO 2D ANIMATION.
This is a preview of HELIOS, a new animation system created by us, in response to today’s production demands.
Helios is a custom-made Toon Boom Harmony module that allows to rotate a 2D character in real time in any angle on a 360 sphere . It also controls every facial feature of said character:
Helios is not something that you can just reproduce in Toon Boom, but a very sophisticated plugin with thousands of lines of code.
It has the potential of speeding the animation process 5 to 8 times, according to our calculations, in between other conveniences.
We are pending a test for the Oculus with 2D characters.True classical toons.
We chose Mrs Brisby for being a classic character, to give us a challenge of maximal difficulty. What you are seeing here is 95% complete, minus a few patches.We are aware of slight breaks in the character, this is the first ever Helios construction and thus, we are are still testing the limits of the system and figuring the pipeline out.
Hi Guys. We finally made a little test about the channel’s Mascot for QA, little tutorials and so and so.
This was animated in around 15 mins. But I really need your input. Would this be cool (better bg, better adjustted music..) or the chara is too low quality?
So far we noted
Strange shoulder deforms
Eye shapes are weird, they also don’t blink
Tweens of the head are not appealing.
Also, the lipsync cannot be fixed (for now) it will when the software will update a bit.
Please, give any input in the video. Sorry, TUMBLR is being silly with the reply system.
Hi guys. We have to write a slight hard post here, but the truth is that we are having a bit of difficulty getting the channel to survive because of Youtube’s algorithm, who compensates constant uploads and minutes watched.
This are like they are, so it is time to pat the dust off, and ask you what is what you want, as an audience, to see if we can make an interesting weekly product for you.
We thought about focused livestreams with the aid of an animated character and tutorials.
We are also developing Helios and about to use new techniques for our bgs and charas!, such as the Oculus Rift, but are you the kind of people who dig this?
So, brainstorm is open, what is what you want to see? comment below or through the ask box, it will reach us.
THank you so much for supporting us on this project. This is the most complex animation we ever tackled in our lifes, and we sincerelly hope that you will enjoy it.
Moon Rises is already up on youtube, and available for Patrons today. Tormorrow it will be officially released on the afternoon.
If you wish an early bird pass. it only takes a modest $1 pledge to get in. The pledge is not a ticket or a form of selling the short! just a help for us to finish the development of Helios, and as part of the reward set, you get to see it early.
ask-factory-scootaloo asked: Out of curosity, for the Starswirl voicelines. What's his motivation? Like what's the attitude intended for his lines? It's a small thing, but knowing what attitude is being aimed for helps. (Context can be important.)
He is technically responsible for all the Children Unicorn in there, and raised Luna for most of her life. In her first night of newly given responsibility, she breaks out in song, sends everyone into a frenzy and he arrives in the peak of the fun.
He is an old fella telling a bunch of disobeying Children to go to bed, to finally not to be listened to.
Hello my dearies! I presented Midnight Frenzy to you yesterday, and if you missed it, here is the link again.
You can download it for $1, to support KC, one of the newest members of the team. The instrumental alone is a great piece to play while working or streaming.
Now for serious beexwax here. As you know, we seek for the voices by need. And today I’ll like to reach out for a voice for STARSWIRL the Bearded.
Fairly old pony, male, mostly sounding like Merlin.
This is not going to be a paid work since this is just 14 words, and they are not sung, but if you are available later on, it will be as part of the Choices project, voicing the great magician.
If you have a good quality recording (no headset microphones please, we can’t fix that) , feel free to submit an audition to the email
You won’t believe how much fun it was to see all those ideas flowing into the post. After a lot of deliberation, I chose the suggestion of CANDASAURUS
Tend the burdens your heart carries-- CANDASAURUS come along and join the fun Loosen up, forget your worries dance with me, the night is young
Thank you so much to everybody who participated! It wasn’t easy to decide, some of that material was really good.
I am stuck good with this bit of lyrics, and since you are very creative people, I thought you could help me find the last verse I need to finish the next song. MIDNIGHT FRENZY
——Verse here——
come along and join the fun Loosen up, forget your worries dance with me, the night is young
This is awesome, this is crazy There is magic in the air give into the Midnight frenzy Party on without a care!
If you submit a great verse I’ll star you as lyrics assistant in the credits. :3
Before and after. I was so upset with how the paintings of the throne room were looking with the cupule design that we remodeled the thing, and did 10 bgs all over again.
Anonymous asked: I'm a little unclear on something on your patreon; if we pledge $10 (or however much it is, I can't seem to load your patreon page at the moment), does that mean we get to use the 'Roger' system in our own animations?
Hi! I will look into that not loading thing asap, that must be a Patreon Glitch.
The illustration “Roger†system is available already (and updated!), and for Patreons, there will be a tutorial about carding and different lighting techniques shortly, appliable to both animation and Photoshop.
However, the animation “Roger†is a Toon Boom procedure, so we don’t think it’s a good reward, since using that tool would require the license of $3k just to be able to use it.
Besides, we wouldn’t want to offer it anyway at least before we get to show you the real deal in Moon Rises and let you judge on your own if it is something for you.
We are done with the Helios shading, all Shots have the enhanced shading now.
RIght now there are exactly 24 bgs left to do (I made 7 so far) and going at a pace of 2 per day.
Then it’s 1 After effects pass and MR will be done. THe AE portion will be done in 3 days.
We estimate to be ready for Halloween.
Personally, I am very proud of the special effects. I feel that we managed to make them look quite cool, and there are way more than you probably think. Most of them are hand drawn.
Anonymous asked: Sorry if you're unable to answer this, but is Helios more of a long-term (Over a year) project, or a short-term (under a year) project? It sounds absolutely incredible!
It’s hard to calculate because we are debugging and testing the last feature, and QA is hard to predict. Helios may be a 3 months extra work. It’s already functional at 80% of it’s potential performance and we even could use it in immediate testing, but there is one laaaaast thing that we absolutely want as core functionality that is driving us nuts. Our programmer friend is tearing the guts of Toon Boom every single day in a carnage of code.
To put it in easy terms. Our first test is an accurate model of MS Brisby. We chose that character because she is a classic animation icon,. If we animate her head with Helios and we succeed in making people doubt if it’s part of the original footage, we will have a winner. But I can’t even claim that our plugin can do that until we try and test.
Anonymous asked: Will Helios be available for others to use?
We cannot answer these questions yet. Our immediate focus is to complete and perfect Helios.
The system is already in the midst of negotiations and online discretion on our part is a standard requirement to even have the opportunity to sit at the big wooden table.
We cannot demonstrate Helios or reveal any plans. That would only advantage the other side of the table. It’s a very delicate situation.
In words of Hannibal, from the A team.
“I love it when a plan comes togetherâ€
Here you can see a final shot of Moon Rises and check out our particular version of the “Roger†system for animation.
Those shadows and lights are all automatic. Our only regret? not having Helios ready for this production. Oh well, there’s always “Choices†for testing stuff.
Anonymous asked: Can you tell us more about Helios?
We can’t tell much about it except the raw concept of what it is
Helios is a hell of a Toon Boom module that allows manipulate a 2D rig in real time like you would a 3D model, and obtain a perfect result that looks JUST like hand drawn animation. Not “close to†but “Exactly like†old timey 2D. You can take that judgement from people who draw for a living.
It’s also able to handle ease in and out, and stretch squash, and pre programmed facial calls, and automatic follow through, making it the most advanced and sophisticated 2D tool created to date. There are a few programs, like live 2D, that can handle a front character with 30 degrees of rotation, and they don’t ease in our out, so they are impossible to control.
Helios provides a full 360 of any character built in it. There is something called live 2D Euclid being made right now that is close to it in concept, yet it’s unable to handle a body, which our Helios does. :)
We calculated it may speed up the animation process between 4 and 8x.
Hello Everybody! We have finally gone through all the FX of Moon Rises, and that particularly time consuming part of the project is done and done forever.
Remaining work:
- Background rendering and paint over (20 bgs)
- Postproduction 36 scenes
There is no animation left to be done, every animation and FX are now complete!
Hi there people! As we are on vacation this week we are trying to
bring on new songs for choices, and probably a Steven universe one, if I
am able to actually set my mind to it (I have little control about how
these come since I don’t have much experience)
Next songs will be
Run away. — By Tia (teenager version)
Midnight Frenzy – By young Luna (Woona or Lulu) + StarsSwirl
Here you can listen to the skeletal (keyword is SKELETAL) version of Midnight Frenzy, which is a mix between Aloha e Komo Mai and Sisi ni Sawa.
You can get a hold of little Lulu’s personality in Choices, I made sure the sisters had character added to them, and one of Lulu’s main points is a love for fun and a total disdain for responsibility, so Let’s party on all night!
Lyrics
Eeeh Oooh Eh Oh Ha I won’t let you sleep now Come to party all night
Eeeh Oooh Eh Oh Ha let’s go dance together Under the moon light
huh!
As the sun light leaves and darkness brings along a starry sky You will dive into your dreams Laying down you close your eyes
But there are so many wonders missing out that can’t be right (that you are missing out at night) jump off bed, come on and join us party on until sunrise
Eeeh Oooh Eh Oh Ha I won’t let you sleep now Come to party all night
Eeeh Oooh Eh Oh Ha let’s go dance together The moon’s shining bright
HUH!
We are the night shift,we are silent watching out as you all shun but these rules can be so boring so let’s break them and have fun (so today we’ll make it fun)
Giggles ring as it’s exciting doing things you'are not allowed would you dare to break out havoc beat the drums and sing out looooud?
Eeeh Oooh Eh Oh Ha I won’t let you sleep now Come to party all night
Eeeh Oooh Eh Oh Ha let’s go dance together Under the moon light
STARSWIRL You are too young to be up late! LULU Loosen up and celebrate!
STARSWIRL
Hooves are banging on the floor!
LULU!
That’s a nice beat do some more!
Everybody
YAAAY
Eeeh Oooh Eh Oh Ha I won’t let you sleep now Come to party all night
Eeeh Oooh Eh Oh Ha let’s go dance together The moon’s shining bright!
HA!
Eeeh Oooh Eh Oh Ha I won’t let you sleep now Come to party all night
Eeeh Oooh Eh Oh Ha let’s go dance together The moon’s shining bright!
We just finished the revision stage for “The Moon Rises†now all that’s left are FX, Some backgrounds and the post-production (with minor editing)
Helios is a propietary animation system that we are developing with the aid of a programmer. It contains a series of features that no software in the market offer, and ideally, it will allow us to pull 2 mins of full animation of maximal quality in 10 man hours of work.
Lion and I do meetings frequently about what projects we would like to animate.
Many are proposed, and 99% rejected. Here is a little List
SkyDoll- We can’t do , it’s innapropriate for many audiences, and there are a lot of kiddos watching the channel.
Steven universe - We were about to make it, then a lot of bad stuff happened on the internet regarding this thing and we got scared, we made the Gravity falls one instead. Evreytime we bring the project up, something scares us out of it.
FNAF- Could be fun, but much too complex.
Undertale- Plausible for Helios
Calvin and Hobbes-- Is not Lion’s cup of tea, maybe I’ll do it on my own.Plausible as a Helios test
Ghostbusters, Dan Schoening version. Plausible for Helios, Lion would likely drool.
Hi Everybody! I promised if “Trust in me†would reach 100k views, I would extend it, and since it is happening, I have wrote a reply for little TIa (takes two to tango, right?) But! I am very wary of the rhyme problems the Discord part has, so if you don’t mind, I want to present you the lyrics before hand this time.
If it doesn’t work, please, by all means, reply to the post or send a message. I’m not even native in English so writing decent lyric,s that sound good to Anglophone ears, is a bit of a stretch for me.
Guzman, Chichi and I have been working like busy bees developing “First Flightâ€, the second song for “Choices’. I am very happy with the result, and If you wish to hear it, just follow the Bandcamp link. Worry not, listening to it costs nothing! but if you like it, the instrumental is for sale for just 1$, and it would support and encourage one of our dear team members.
I am very excited about this one because we have lined up none other than “Megaphoric†for voicing Melody!
Today Lion just animated the last shot. Moon Rises animation stage is complete. Now we need to do a few retakes, FX and Postpro over it. The worst is behind.
THis is how our animatics look like in first stage, I almost don’t care about the drawing as long as I can just get a whole unit out of my head and on the computer, from there I just roll my sleeves and make it “non sanscrit†in the cleanup.
I am very curious about if any of you can see anything besides a mash of spaghetti on these panels, and if you understand what is going on. Do comment if you do! Tomorrow this thing will be all cleaned up (hopefully) and become part of “Choicesâ€
Fun fact, Lion gave me the ? look when I showed him, because it was just like chinese to him.
Like I said in the videos, the songs are only possible thanks to good feedback, and a wonderful team.
Today I would like to draw your attention towards Chichi’s work. Her role on the making is to make the first skeletal pass of the song after I provide a very fish-bone melody. She usually fixes the tempo, timing, adds flare to the whole AND a very nice vocal pass that the singers and composers need to proceed further.
She became part of the team because in one of our reach outs she surprised us what would “first passes†became now. Plus, She had such a good VA take that I instantly offered her the role of Tia.
This is a childhood dream come true. a Disneyesque original song.
Thanks to EVERYBODY who helped. Starting with Chisanaai, Weim LCC, Blake Swift and , of course, REV. And thanks to the Patrons, without them, this would have never happened. ANd MITRA! for goodness sake, thank you Persian poetess for fixing the lyrics and text for choices.
And how could I forget? Thank YOU all TUMBLR followers. I can’t believe you put up with my early MEOWS.
b-is-always-for-blu-deactivated asked: Since you're very close to finishing what you've worked on, may I ask if you could estimate a sort of release date? I'd love to hear what you think!
What separates artistic from commercial animation is the deadline.
I could say, based on the data I have, “Two months†and then, in the end of the second month, BOOM! pet gets sick, family emergency, move, professional compromises that cannot be avoided.. you name it, the adult world is a box of chocolates.! .. and then we are in deep doo doo.
Right now, giving a deadline to Moon Rises is simply the equivalent of shooting ourselves in the foot, because out of professionalism we would have to deliver on time, even if that means shaving on quality. NO SHADOWS FOR THE PROJECT YAY! No paint corrections on the BGS! let it be ridges! Special effects? Not possible! people will have to imagine them.
Moon Rises is a testing field for animation techniques and software development, and heaven knows if we will find a bump in the road. We have made great discoveries that led to the creation of propietary software for next project, and that’s the priority.
If we have to start to pull blank nights and affect our day jobs work performances due to that.. this would be madness. That’s why we don’t like to impose deadlines in projects that we do for our personal development or for fun.
Since we are receiving a cascade of comments about this I want to clarify one thing about our current production, The Moon Rises.
We are very aware about the existence of Kristen’s version, we had it on our hands months before release, and we chose Ely Monty’s for our production without even doubting.
WHile Kristen has done a wonderful job on the song, with a Broadway flare, Ely’s version has a better grip on performance and giving queues for animation, because she is an actress before she is a singer.
What do we mean by “better grip on performanceâ€. Well, little queues that are easy to visualize as animated pieces, and also the fact that the animatic was concocted with a mix of Ponyphonic’s cover and Eileens. Then we got Kristen’s and it had a different grip on it, it was much too late to go back, and the track didn’t fit the project. Eileen was the best fit.
If you listen to Kristen’s song with our Current preview, it simply falls apart because the emotions are completely different. When Ely sighs in frustration, Kristen let’s a shake in her voice appear, which indicates defeat or nervousness. It would work great for a play! heck! it would be great to have it in your MP3! but it just didn’t work for our project
In a nutshell, Ely’s performance is closer to our vision for this project. She also a great singer and VA, but of course that is a skill that Kristen also shares. There are times when you have to choose like this, and you have to follow your needs, you can’t please everybody.
If you want to judge by yourselves, be free to do it. We appreciate your opinions, but we stand for our choice.
emokidwatson asked: Hello. How does one learn a software without any education? Basically, being self taught?
Most creators will stress this over and over, it is not about the software, it’s about the skill, but they never tell you why or how that works.
Say that you want to do beautiful drawings, and for that you want to learn Photoshop.,Here are two mindsets about it
1 Software oriented. Some people are tempted to learn the software and master it first, and overall, it will take them around 9 to 11 months, being self taught or with a teacher, to get an intermediate level in most beastly programs.
Then they will try to make a cool drawing, just like their favorite series or like their favorite art idol! And BOOM! the artistic dead end for 99% people who try this mindset will be found right there and then.
It just won’t work! If you don’t have the composition, color, anatomy and perspective skills to get that art done it’s over!, the software is just useless electronic support. Your head will be filled with junk knowledge that you won’t have use for, and you’ll loose it all in a couple of months.
2. Goal oriented.
Now the same example with a goal oriented person. From day one he specifies what he wants “I want to do character design and spawn 9 different variations of a character on the fly, just like Stephen Silverâ€
Now we are cooking! You need to be able to do this with pencil and paper first, Heck! with a stick and sand if you don’t have any better means! And once you are confident with your skill, you open ANY software and start focusing in ONE step at a time.
OK, I want inking .. How do I get gorgeus inking done.. Google search.. Youtube tutorial.. OK .. aha.. INKING DONE! YAY!
NEXT PROBLEM PLEASE! I want color, how do I do color.. Rinse and repeat… google search.. youtube.. DONE!
And so and so for shadows, FX… This is called a “low information diet†and you only learn ONE thing at a time for that particular drawing when you need it.
THe result? in 1 month, or 15 drawings, you are ready to work professionally with the software. That is how you self teach yourself! In a few months, you no longer learn anything, but instead, you end up figuring out about efficency.
It is a matter of realizing that learning anything that you are not going to use right away is just brain junk, it will take your energy and it won’t stick, and you’ll have to relearn it the day you need it anyway. Trust me, makes no sense.
Our school system makes it super hard to learn this lesson because they teach us that accumulating junky trivia will bring us success in life.. HARDY HAR.
This is exactly how we learned Cinema 4D, Max, Maya, Toon Boom, Sketchbook pro, Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects.. and .. a lot more that I can’t recall out of the bat. We are used to the drag to have to perform with a different software each 4 months, it’s just how our industry goes.
Do you want to learn even faster? get a mentor that will cut the research as you need it, we offer that through our Patreon on a monthly basis. OR get a buddy to learn along with you, it will baffle you how much faster you go, that’s how I learned! I had Lion and Jan animations as buds, and in time I ended up teaching them a few tricks as well. :)
… Nop. What we offer through Patreon in form of mentorship is 10 years of combined life experience in the industry.
A degree is a diploma, which in the art/animation world is as valuable as a napkin. It is not even a requirement for grants, and studios, frankly, only rise an eyebrow if they are from the 4 Eilite schools, then your portfolio makes it or breaks it.
*We teach how to present yourself in an event, and help you find your strategy
*How to craft your cover letter and portfolio, and make an impression, even when you have zero experience
* How many months, and what kind of practice you need for entering XYZ studio.
xristh-deactivated20180806 asked: What the standar industry contract and that NDA (?) Thing dont let disclose? Like what you cant share. Im curious on those restrictions and sure some aspiring artists will want know too... if is possible. If is not I will underestand.
The NDA is a “Non Disclosure Agreement†and the standard contract is.. a contract for hire. Together they form a legal bond that we gingerly call “the industry shacklesâ€. One prevents anyone to tell about the shows that are being worked on, the other, keeps company’s techniques, assets, tools.. etc.. from being shared as well.
I cannot offer specific information about our contracts because the two legal documents combined prevent us from doing so. When you’ll join the industry, you’ll have to read yours carefully and ask your hiring manager in depth.
emokidwatson asked: Hello. How do you guys make animation puppet builds in flash and toon boom? Can I have a process in full detail?
Because of how the standard industry contract and reguar NDAS work we are not allowed, nor ever will be allowed, to disclose how props or characters are built in Flash or Toon Boom. This is also true for all artists in the industry because we are all affected by the same rules.
If you wish to learn building you must seek builds online and figure it out on your own, that is the only way.
Anonymous asked: You're using Kristens cover of moon rises right? cause I found a weird coinicidence that a new version of the song released and you guys are supposedly using eile montys cover. please you kristens, eilemonty is already in EVERYTHING. :c
*STOMPS FOOT ON THE GROUND* ABsolutely not.
Kristen did a wonderful job singing Moon Rises, I won’t deny it, I have it on my MP3 player and all!, and we respect that. She did a melodic, wonderful, Broadway-ish version of it.
I had the choice then and I reiterate it, Eileen’s version is exactly what the production needed. Her experienced VA inflections are something only people who have worked in animation can do.
Hello my dears! We are almost ready doing MOON RISES! Lion is animating the 3 final shots. WOO HOO! After that, all that will be left will be some background paintings, postpro and FX, so this thing is happening!
Choices is advancing nicely as well.
We have came up with a super good pipeline, one song is in the works by Weim and reaching out has been initiated to make those happen faster. However, there is a bump in the yellow brick road!
Our musician, Tristan, is a little bit too busy, so we need someone to do sound scores. If you can reblog and reach out some friends, that would be stupendous.
We will need to listen to a few samples. In overall, we are looking for someone capable of doing film score, and that requires an orchestral sound library, and also the capability of conveying mood through music.
We do offer compensation in various forms, if you are interested, please, submit your samples to spiritandlion (AT)gmail.com
As for the samples, the golden ticket that would sell us your talent would be someone who can make a score like the one in “Once Upon a Time†but without ripping off the original.
Second pass to the cave. I felt like It needed value work. So I am focusing on that. Every hole in the wall may or may not be the home of a creature with rather an appetite.
The survey goal has been hit! Thank you so much for your answers guys, you are solid gold. So I believe I promised a preview and it is time to deliver.
This production will be brought to a very polished animatic and it will NEVER be animated beyond maybe, a section or two. The lines have yet NOT been completed, and we are pending Tia’s performance. This animatic is not final , as new cuts and breakdowns will be added shortly.
The text has been edited by Mitra,so REV (who is performing as Discord) will have to retake part of these lines (Spirit’s fault, for giving him the outdated script). We listened to your advice when you pointed the original text needed work, so we outsourced it. :)
When I first started boarding “Choices†I was a little bit bummed about how my first batch of panels looked like. And the worst part is that whatever I could think of to make them better, meant an extra time investment per panel, something that I couldn’t afford.
It was a case of the never ending nag "you need to practice" ‘good work takes time"… you will find it on 90% of the art advice out there, and if you don’t, the back of your head will give you the memo because is common knowledge.
So what happens is that you know that you “need to work on improving your artâ€, but you guilt trip on never doing that. Because you only have “20 mins per panelâ€, and no matter how many you make, there is no dramatic improvement. That is called “grinding†and it is beyond frustrating. Will it take you years to see an improvement that way? yes, yes it will.
The only way out is to focus on the core skills, and that takes a little extra time and energy that you don’t have.
So here is a different concept: redistribute that time.
In the “Choices†project, 20 minutes per panel was my breaking point, and very likely, there was something slowing things down, and I needed a solution that didn’t involve shaving quality of the visual look to push the core skills (In this case,posing and drawing on model).
I needed automation.
After observing a recording of my own work, I noticed that I spent about 10 to 15 minutes blocking the characters with the lasso tool. That made no sense, and it had to go.
Fast forward over the research process, and what I found out is that Photoshop has something called QUICK SELECTION.
It even selects open lines, and all you have to do is brush over your character very lightly.
This was one of the three things that I did to automate my process, and here you can see the end result:
I recommend you to give Quick Selection a shot and see if it speeds you up like it did for me, so you can focus your energy on what really matters and still make your art the way you want it to look like.
Check the following video with specific instructions on how to use it if you wish to add it to your tool stash.
Anonymous asked: the only thing thats really off about 'The Moon Rises' is Starswirl being there. he was around during the founding of equestria, which was presumably a long while before Celestia and Luna were alicorns
Fair point, yet according to Cannon. The book of the two sisters CLEARLY states that Starswirl was the tutor of Luna and Celestia in full alicornhood. It’s an official publication so… *shrugs*
There are four art schools in the world that are known to make industry recruiters rub their hands, which you can see right in this infographic, but man! are they pricy!
To make this chart we have calculated how much a year of tuition would cost you, plus $5500 USD to ensure that you can cover all your living expenses. Of course, living in Singapore is less costly than living in California.
IF you want to calculate the living budget with accuracy, we recommend you
Now for a cold truth. Usually, Calarts grads come out with a student debt of 100 to 250 K in average, which is the price of a house in red numbers. It takes them an average of 5 to 15 years to pay that, trying their best with the US animation circuit rates.
Also, there is a percent of employability that goes as this
From any given year of graduates
* 2% will turn into industry rocks stars (Lauren Faust, John Lasseter… etc) and make a very decent living.
* 80% will have standard jobs and pay the debt in the 8 to 15 years frame of time.
* 18% Will not be employable upon graduation and they will have to either change career or extend their practice/formation.
This is the quickest door to the industry, true, but not even this one comes without a risk.
NEXT WEEK: Why is this kid better than I?
Why talent is a myth and you should never feel jealous of a fellow artist.
In order to finish choices in the highest quality possible, we are in need of a 3D modeller. who will block this model in Zbrush or sculptris and give us an OBJ we can use in Photoshop. We are not looking for ultimate beauty, but something that can skip us the layout. We have a budget of $50 from the funding for this work, any takers?
If so, send an email with a sample of your models to spiritandlion(at)gmail.com.
PS: No need to model the cobwebs. We don’t need it textured, but the floor needs to have cracks. The candles are not a big deal so you don’t have to “nail†them. The THrone, floor,mirror and curtain are the real meat of this scene.
You want to change the events ahead for you dread what you’ve seen through the glass…
so if you pay the price and make a deal with me.
the day she exhales her final breath will never come to pass..
You can trust in me I’m not as bad, as you’ve been told You’ll find I’m rather fair to save your sister, just go and pay the toll
I understand you have your reservations not knowing what I’ll ask from you it’s reason to think twice but I give you my word, you both will be safe and sound
although you shall know magic never comes without a price…
You can trust in me I’m not as bad, as you’ve been told You’ll find I’m rather fair to save your sister, just go pay the toll
Spirit and Tristan M
are doing a big experiment and see if we can finally bring you some
original songs “a la “ Disney from the 90′s.
Just recently we found that we gained the ability to pull tunes that sound ultra
familiar, yet we could swear they are original, but we need to test a draft with you, to see if we pass “le tour de forceâ€.
This one is a test subject to see if there are any kind musicians out there that would round this with some tango baseline. And to everyone else, just let us know honestly, if it is original or not (because we have no idea).
It is inspired on several Disney villain songs
Trust in me+ Poor Unfortunate soul
Yet I’d be darn because I could swear is not a copy of either of them, but we shall let you judge.
The song would be fitting the scenes of Choices where Discord offers Tia the deal for the first time.
Here is the musical base, no fandom is as talented as the bronies for music, so I wonder if anyone will shape this out.
As a bonus, you can laugh at Spirit forever, because we are uploading the vocal draft as well.
Note that Spirit is not only NOT A SINGER, but the furtest thing from.
But it is the only way we have to get to get the tunes out from our heads, so if anyone can sing it better, by all means, be our guest! be our guest, be our guest!
:)
If you want to hear the vocal track on time, just click here.
Today’s Sharing Saturday because
Spirit has decided to share a jewel of her super secret personal stash, and that is MASTER LOOMINOUS.
This is a sample of Loominous’ art.
Spirit would love to talk for 5
minutes to this guy over a coffee, or
Skype, but she never succeeded cause the man is a pure mystery. We believe his
name is Marcus Kroopa. but we are not sure, and he can only be found through
this link and running through his posts.
His art is simply gorgeous, and he does the most amazing tutorials you
could ever dream to find. We are posting one as a sample, purely for
educational value (all credit to him, of course).
If you dig through his posts you’ll find a hidden treasure of jewels like
this. He is undiscovered, you WILL NOT FIND
his art on Pinterest, DA, TUMBLR, BEHANCE or FACEBOOK, just this obscure site.
I learned more about painting and
environment design from this secret link than I even did from CGMA, Gnomon
Workshop or Schoolism. com So I refer
to him as MASTER LOOMINOUS, like a kung fu hero.
My dearies, I have plans for the sharing Saturday and the Thursday tips for a while. But it would greatly help if you send in over your questions, lots and lots of questions! so granny Spirit and Grandpa Lion can keep well noted what buzzes in your nut, and lecture you
with those infographics
like a good ol’ couple of geezers
Hope it will help you to choose your trusty art weapon in the future, it is the most valuable tool an artist can have, and it not only can change your speed of production, but bring to skill to a whole new height.
Next week we will dive into a different topic, and I will be showcasing which are the four world class animation schools and more importantly, how much tuition costs in these places.
We want to make that post for everybody who doesn’t know where to head, or how much it will cost, a map with the bare facts, and no kumbayah, may let you know what you are getting into.
* Which are the four Elite of the animation/concept art world, or otherwise said, a school that will make a recruiter grin and nod the minute you mention it.
* How students of the four elite end up with a post graduation debt between 50 and 100K
* How much of a year of tuition+living costs in these places.
We are gonna ruffle feathers with this one,cause we are not affiliated with these institutions, so we’ll say it as it is.
NEXT WEEK: HOW MUCH IT COSTS TO JOIN ELITE ART SCHOOLS?
Welp! it’s been two whole years since I professionally joined the
animation industry, and I should also count the three years I spent
in games as a concept artist.
Curiously enough there is a
certain “frown†that is layed upon fans , but I feel that a word needs to be said in favor of being a
fan, and enjoying whatever you treasure with the might of a child,
which is what most people in this turf are at heart.
According
to the general rule, fanworks are lesser because they don’t create
anything original. Not exactly right…
and here are top 3 reasons why:
* Today you draw a pony, tomorrow a Disney pony, eventually, maybe your own colorful horse world. Reproducing what you love sets the foundation for creation. * When you work in an animation /game studio, most of the time you will work with someone else’s IP,
unless you are a concept artist which is 05% of the job positions
available. What good are you to a studio if you can’t match the IP
look? p-lease! * Whatever you love is a source of positive energy,
which when put to good use can get you to achieve things that you
thought impossible, exactly how I build this here:
This is an official reach out for someone who may help editing the text of “Choices†so the dialogue gets a proper writer’s pass. The story is evolving and the public decides the key choices, so there is little work to do, and only from time to time.
Also, we are starting to contact VA’s who can perform as Discord, any recommendations?
We do have a pool of options for Little Tia, but if you wish to audition, feel free to send a voice sample to spiritandlion (at) gmail.
Writing and sound have been weaknesses of our team in the past, and we have learned from our struggles. Outsourcing the fandom’s talent is the best choice.
Discord test line
“Of course I was once young too, and much like you I did want to change fate and bend it to my will…. and that was why I was thrown in here to rot!â€
The future should be filled with magic Dreams and wishes brought to life But the days ahead are dark and tragic No time for hope when all is strife
…
With the inestimable help of Tasha J for the inkwork
“Luna! this can’t be happening! they said it was just a bad cold!â€
“ Don’t act so surprised, you wouldn’t have risked it all coming down here if you trusted the doctors at all. But you asked to see the future! so let’s see what fate has designedâ€.
Third beat, what will the mirror show little Tia? What is Discord leading her to?
Remember that Patrons of $1 and above get the high res version, and $10 and more, the PSD, to be uploaded as a reward, TODAY. Plus, the goodies that will come from the SHARING SATURDAY post, giving you tools to do artwork faster, easier, and often times, better. That is how we are producing this panels so fast.
It has five panels so far
(already drawn) and I will publish them during the weekend. Feel free
to comment and guess where it is going. I am all up for “show, don’t
tellâ€.
I based Discord on some Glen Keane’s drawing, and the bgs are inspired from Don Bluth Movies.
Patrons that pledge $1 or more will get the high res versions.
Choosing tablets is like choosing weapons. More important than you think, since they are not exactly cheap and you want them to be your companions for at least 3 years.
So Lion and I crammed all of our career experience in this cheat sheet, hoping to help you with your choice.
PREVIOUS WEEK: HOW LONG IT TAKES TO LEARN ANIMATION INDUSTRY SOFTWARE?
The baseline today is Princess
Platinum, with a total of 10 hours of work. Today, the challenge is to
use a set of tools to rock your socks to down that to 1 hour for this
portrait. Can I do it? Will I make it? come and see!
Remember
that the streams are surprising and hard to catch, if you wish to get
the secret kung fu moves for better, faster art, all you need to do is
become part of our Patron community.
Most artists will face the choice of software more than once in their
lives, and that is the reason we made a guide of the most used programs
in the animation industry a while ago.
But
maybe need is pressing you to get something done “NOW†and you need to
learn a new skill, like.. PRONTO!! which tool to use then? can you
estimate the time of completing such feat?
We personally
consulted an animation college teacher and he agreed that an average
person can learn the basics of any given software in 4 hours of fiddling
with it intensely. Yet we believe that dealing with a beast that takes
10 months to master is not the same than one that takes only 3 days.
Here is a guide that we put together so you will know what you are getting into.
next week: How to choose your first Cintiq
Here is a more polished version of our “AUTO FLAMEâ€
The only setback is that it doesn’t loop, but for production, you can make it burn for as long as you want, so it’s not even necessary.
It’s 100% CG and it responds to movement, (if you move a torch, the flame will bend and follow) and you can regulate the intensity. Anything from a Candle to good flamethrower, done in 10 minutes of setting the parameters instead of 5 painful hours of hand drawn pyros.
The ones in Moon rises will have an extra level of love added.
We owe this to our wonderful patrons.
Anyone can generate the flame basis, and then a polishing pass is required.
Do you see Celestia as Nightmare Star? what do you think?
Thanks to our patrons we came up with a new system of creating 2D special FX for Moon Rises. That Fire? We didn’t animate a frame, it’s all automatic.
We are not dead! and actually, working on Moon Rises and the other projects FULL STEAM. Spirit has a little hiccup for which she would like to do a TUMBLR shout out. SHe would very much like to consult a few pages of this book, just four pages! but the darn thing is elusive.
Do any of you have it? Spi will be ecstatic if she gets to look at those. :)
EDIT
Thank you guys. It is a bit of a tough one to find, but eventually, it will appear. I will leave the post in here for if it appears somehow. IF someone from TUMBLR or PATREON ends up showing up with the pages I need to check, I believe that one will deserve a honorary animated GIF. :D!
What do you wish to know most about Luna and the Children of the Night?
Hello dearies!
We are working very hard in the animatic, but since COTN is beloved by the community, we want to include you all in the making. We want to know what aspect of the story you wish to know about the most.
To let us know, click the permalink and you’ll get access to Disqus comments! which are open for guests. :) You can also use the ask button if you prefer.
Happy monday everybody! We are giving the TUMBLR blog a big make over
From now on comments are activated, so you don’t have to rely exclusively on the ask button and I can start writing less posts in form of a question. You can comment just like you do in Equestria Daily IF you are on our TUMBLR page
reversalmushroom asked: Why is it going to be an animatic and not a cartoon?
We are currently on production of Moon Rises,we are just taking a 1 week break to release what we deem is long overdue. COTN was meant to end with the song, but people kept asking about the story. After all this time, we feel we can give it closure.
We are not going to turn it into a series, or a second animation. We have to be selective over the themes we choose, and COTN has run it’s course.
Here’s a quick and very rough test I made on this new program I’ve been messing with recently, CACAni. It’s pretty amazing when it comes to automatic inbetweens and, when mastered, it will save a lot of time! Obviously I will still use Flash for most of my works, but a mix of both program will surely bring good!
Have a little loop gif!
Jan talked me about Cacani some time ago and he finally decided to give a test run to the software while we were on call. The result is very good! considering he only drew two poses. If you are wondering, Cacani is a new software, mostly meant for anime.
Here is the hidden pony. Do you remember her? She is back along with her 11 peers. She told you how they began to be, but isn’t it time she finished her story? Children of the Night 2, The forgotten Mountains
Art by the amazing Trish Forstner, the original Gari.
Note: This won’t be an animation like the last time, COTN 2 will conclude the story and will not be an animation nor a series, but an animatic with final VA and music.
I left clues in the picture to let you know what it is. It’s been very demanded. And I challenge you to guess what is this place, and who is that pony… yes.. she is there, look hard.
As artists , we are all challenged sometimes with something that is really hard for us to overcome.
For Spirit, it is high level digital painting, she actually has spent years studying the matter, yet she very often still fells challenged by it. And don’t talk to her about perspective unless you prior bribe her with Mochis.
For Lion it was consistency on model, a problem that is not unknown to classic animators and comic artists. The character kept stepping out of model after a few hundred frames, no matter what he did? How the hell the Disney guys managed not to get insane in the golden years?
But we are here for you! And we want to know YOUR biggest problem. What is the one thing that you wish to do, but keeps slipping through your fingers?
Is it choosing software? Perhaps you don’t know if art school is for you, or how to choose one? Maybe your problem is a bit more technical. Could it be perspective? discipline perhaps? color is a big stinker!
Tell us through the answer button! we want to know it all, and whatever you truly hate about art, we want to know why!
Anonymous asked: ... Frisk isn't a girl, though. They're non-binary.
I know Frisk isn’t a girl. I just made Frisk more feminine than masculine. That’s how I saw the character in my head. What I am making is an artist’s interpretation of a game experience, not a Wiki of the game.
Just like good cover singers give their own twist to a song, I do so with the visuals. If you want accuracy, there’s the original.
Voiced by Zachary McKenna. I believe I will have to wait till tomorrow to thank every single person who submitted an audition individually! It was veeery tight, and I was tempted to go with a female voice.
But this guy really nailed Flowey’s crazy flow, plus he is hilarious.
One thing. If youa re a VA (but please, make sure you can record well), and if you decide to play FLOWEY’s Dialogue, I’ll definitely work it up in Flash and put in on youtube.
Anonymous asked: Great animatic, but curious: why the use of 3d modeled backgrounds? Do you do basic architecture in 3d first and then draw over it with HQ painting (so that you have proper architecture angles?)
We used 3D because those are architectonical bgs, and drawing them perfectly takes foerver. Modeling them to shoot the animatic saves a LOT of time. Mmh.. this panel doesn’t work.. can we fix the angle? Yes we can! in ten mins we have a fully detailed shot.
Then they are painted over, and the geometry gets smoothed. It’s to ensure there are no layout errors.
Hello guys! The first batch of rewards has been released. The patrons who pledged $5 or more have access now to the first secret stash of concept art, plus the animatic of “the Moon Risesâ€.
If you wish access to the content in advance, you’ll be welcome to join us in Patreon. Every bit helps!
Another day, another video! I turned replies on so you can tell me if it gave you value, or if it didn’t met your expectations for not being a scripted animation.
What do you think?
PS:
Also, if you are a VA (male), and you can bring a good quality young DIscord (by quality I mean both performance and recording), message me, darling, I’m looking for you. (To contact us, use the ask button)
We promise, thus we deliver! Do you need some help doing backgrounds? Then give 2 minutes of your time to the royals, and they’ll show you the magic behind them.
If you like the video, by all means, share! Testify my friends! testify!
From the cast of Heaven’s light (because it would have been a shame to
waste them) a video tutorial. I could describe it, but I think it will
be better if you watch it when it comes, that is, if you want Tia, Dissy
and Lulu to tell you some spells to make backgrounds.
It seems that I caused a miss understanding, but you guys totally touched my heart today.
Wen I said “message me†in the last post, I was talking about a new TUMBLR feature that somehow replaced the old comment system.
It is actually a new widget that only activates if somebody contacts you through it.. give it a couple of days and you will see it all over the place.
Instead you were ever so sweet to go and give me kind messages through the ask button. I felt like D’aaaawing forever, you guys touched me, seriously.
Annnd.. I just found out that if you title the post in form of a question, TUMBLR lets you reply once again. Figures.
I promised I would fix the issue, and I did. COTN is back.
Now please, please, understand that if in the future I say that “I am working on fixing an issue†it is likely something very delicate that can blow out of proportion if not dealt with carefully, but that can STILL be fixed.
If something would come and terminate the video, or if we would get “the letterâ€, I would let you guys know for sure, then and there, in the minute.
HI there fellas! I had an interesting conversation, and I decided to venture in a little experiment/wager
If you could wish for an animation just like that, any animation, what would it be?
To make it simple, I will say, fanart, MLP, and just say it in less than two lines.
For example “Discord’s backstory†or “ Celestia when she thinks nobody is watching herâ€. Short and simple.
My theory is that there ARE certain things that will pop up more than once, my counterpart says there is NO WAY, because people don’t know what they want.
Bet’s on! tell me your take through the ask button. :)
(Btw, I will publish the result, and the best answers)
reversalmushroom asked: Why don't you use Flash? I heard it was great.
PRRRRRTTTT!!!! *SPITS COFFEE* LOL!
Best one I heard in the whole week.
Now seriously, no, it is not a good tool. Flash is mostly dead, and reserved for very specific shows. If you ask us, particularly Lion, Toon Boom forevah!
In our defense, we are able to use Flash, and it served us in the past, but since we tried TB, we never looked back.
paraspritehugger-deactivated201 asked: Is there a particular reason why you set "Children of the Night" to private? I really loved the animation. What ever your reasons are, I want to say thank you for your art.
There is a slight Youtube hicccup. We are working on bringing COTN back as soon as we can. Don’t worry, the video still lives and it’s not going anywhere. THank you for following us, we have a lot more content in store.
I was rather tickled pink when a good friend showed me this leaked image from an upcoming MLP episode featuring some ponies in various anime character outfits (especially the Sailor Moon pony at the far left!). I had drawn my own version of a Sailor Moon pony over a year ago and, regardless of drawing it a while back, it seems I was pretty accurate to the show’s portrayal! xD
Maybe I will redraw my Sailor pony and do the remaining senshi as well. :)
Just a small note: I have only watched 3 episodes of mlp:fim, so I am not overly familiar with the series; apologies! ^^;
That is so awesome! I just laughed and then had to spread the joy :)
Painting the layout that Lion started last week. And finishing it TODAY live! The stream is starting at 5:10 EDT (starting in 1 min after this post), and finishing at 8 PM.
This is my very first gif! :D Luna is giving you a “kitty kiss†and probably wants some pets :3
I haven’t animated in quite a while so my skills need some dusting off, but this was SO MUCH FUN. I am rather proud that I was able to draw her on model. There is a total of 25 frames for this little animation, which is a decent workout! I once had a pure black cat who was like my Luna, so this is dedicated to her <3
Hey there folks! A dear friend of ours just started a blog on TUMBLR. THe whole reason we decided to start in here was because we talked with her about TUMBLR debuts. SHe is a fellow pro, and she is specialized in Sailor Moon. Right now she is trying to get her TB going, so you can expect great things from her!
Someone asked what is the industry mainstream regarding software, this is our mental map, to arrive to OZ, follow the yellow sidewalk! :)
Please take this with a grain of salt. This is just valid for 2015, and this is a set of recommended choices if you want a pro life, not if you are an occasional artist.
I made the post because we both faced a choice once, and we chose Max instead of Maya.. Director instead of Flash.. UGH.
liane-animatromo asked: The closest thing I can use is GIF. And Photoshop? Cool. So wait. Are those computer compatible only, and do you need extra parts? You don't have to answer those. I don't want you thinking I'm stealing any techniques.
Every piece of software we use is for both mac and PC. It doesn’t matter what you have. A laptop, a mac.. a PC … an abacus.. what matters is YOU, the artist makes the animation, not the tool. The same way you can use a hammer to either crash a window or build an entire house. The animation style DOES NOT come from the software either, but from the designer and observation, although I admit some softwares tend to give certain specific characteristics to what you do, such as stiffness in Flash.
We recommend a stationary computer (it will last you longer), and software that is INDUSTRY MAINSTREAM, anything else is a waste of your time if you want to become a pro. :) If professional art is not your Cutie Mark, then anything that is comfy for you.
And nope,you don’t need extra parts aside from probably a Cintiq.
sutamatorega-crokertopoulos asked: Might I ask you how you copy animation styles, as well as some tips on creating "animation puppets"?
Puppets for animation can be made in many different ways but the fastest way to learn is to see someone do one, either via a tutorial or personal experience. After that, the best tip I can give is to test it by animating with it. If a simple movement makes you lazy about doing it, then the puppet is not well done and has to be adjusted.
As for animation styles: Observation. Check out sequences you like frame by frame and check the timing and spacings of the frames. If you don’t know what those two words mean, you may not be ready for animation yet :) Take your time to do something right and you won’t regret it :)
Someone asked about some specifics of the mane and tail. The one you saw wasn’t final, and as a matter of fact, it was Luna’s not NMM’s.
Here is the concept art for her mane. We love when people give constructive critique about the production. We always pay close attention if one aspect comes up frequently.
nelomsoul asked: that NMM animation is pretty cute/awesome. Although her cutie mark have placement error/is misplaced and falls out her butt ;p hope that if you will finish it (finish her mane, etc) you will also make non vampire wings version :) DAMN I just love her expression!
While the mane needs work, this is her first actual real animation test to see if the build holds up when moved around. The bat wings are to stay and what gives you the illusion that her CM is misplaced is simply that it hits the border of her flank, changing the outline color. Still, glad she looks evil enough :)
sixthousandbees asked: also there should be a way to make a FAQ so you don't get lots of "what are you using to animate???", "whos animating" "when will the next thing be out?" etcetcetc. It's probably fine now, as you've just created the blog and are answering questions immediately. but if you leave or if your followers explode the numbers of asks you'll have will be lots. jus' sayin'.
Dear, that is a most excellent idea, we are definitely going to do that. Thank you for the suggestion.
See up my first rendition of NMM. The nebulous mane always caught my eye, and as a FX animator, I always wondered if I could reproduce it. But in COTN we noticed that these manes tend to look a bit stiff in practice.
Time passed and if you have been wondering what we been up to, you can see it in the second panel. We are working on a Ponyphonic song “The Moon Rises†, voiced by Eileen Monty.
To avoid any confusions with the actual show we have done things our way, and gave her a Maleficent Flare (and a dash of Ariel too!). What do you think?
I love how Lion is animating her. :3
PS: Do not ask us when it will be done, quality is the priority, for growing both as an animator and a painter. Also, this rendition of the character is not final. FX and lighting are missing, as well as fx for the scene.
argentum-amphipteros asked: Is there a place to discuss it? For example in my opinion new model is a bit lacking in "smoothness" because of extra lines and edges. Combined with plain colors it makes character a bit older (lines that looks like wrinkles and died out colors).
Actually, I am not an expert on TUMBLR, if you guys know a way to make comments work in here, please, let us know. The opinion on the model is much appreciated, yet, this new style only works in context, as we will show this evening. :)
One of the things we have been working on is bring the old cartoon 3D volume to the pony kind. We like to bring our own style to the parody. Here is a design of AB for a potential animation of “Story of the Blanks’
There are three classic charas that I took as ref to make her look like this. Extra brownie points if you guess which ones!
meganegz asked: Since I don't know much about "Past Sins", I recommend "Story of the Blanks". It was a very interesting take on horror, something that I'm not normally all that into (although in all fairness, I did not know it was a horror game at the time, as I did not find the original post on Newgrounds until after the fact). But that's just me and my biased self talking. Really, I like anything that you guys do. :3
Yeah! We actually both love Story of the Blanks. Spirit is not much for Past SIns, but we both that game. Sometimes we think about doing Disneyesque take on what it is, in a nutshell, an 8 bit game piece of storytelling. But what a piece!
This is a little thing that Lion did in his spare time a while ago. He wanted to animate some passes of “Past Sinsâ€, I wanted to do “the Story of the Blanks†I wonder who will win this battle of wills.
HI there guys! We are Duo Cartoonist. A husband and a wife from Canada, and we happen to be super fans of a certain cartoon horse show called My LIttle Pony. We once did an animation called “Children of the Night’ and we are still doing many more! but we never get to interact with any of the viewers, so … TUMBLR blog, activate!
Feel free to ask anything you want, like.. what are you doing right now.. or where did the wife’s art go to? We’ll be happy to answer you and to show you what we have been brewing since COTN
