The process behind Freakish kid's awesome "cluckie the vampire chicken"

When I started out playing around with animation as a hobby some years ago it was absolutely 2D that interested me most. And since I'm not a very good drawing artist - can't keep volume from drawing to drawing ! - I soon found 2D CG animation to be the most suitable way to go for me. I have been using a software called Anime Studio Pro (former known as 'Moho') and found it to be quite nice app, at an affordable price too. It's kind of pity that so few professionals use it... If you look it up on youtube you mostly find amateur's clips... which aren't too convincing.

But there are exceptions!

This is a good example of good use of the software AND a visual style that I like, "Cluckie the vampire chicken" by Freakish Kid:



There are clips in better resolution at Freakish kid's site. I highly recommend you go there and watch them instead!

And when you have watched the clip go here and read the story behind the production! Very interesting, I promise!

I first became aquainted with the work of this studio when I was browsing the forum for users of "Anime studio Pro".  (BTW, don't let the name fool you, it's not just for anime, it's good for all kind of styles.  It's a nice 2D / CG vectorbased animation system with bonerigged models, FK and IK, which makes it a kind of tool somewhere in between traditional 2D and 3D CG apps. A little lacking on the pipeline bells & whistles, more suitable for small studios).

Freakish kid (former "greykid") is one of the best examples of good, professional use of this piece of software that I know of.  They are based in London, UK and in Hungary and I know that they have produced a lot of stuff for Nickelodeon.

Take a peek into animationland

Got the tip about this youtube clip from a friend's blog. I just had to put it up here too, for all you people who DON'T know what CG animation is about. Take a seat in the customer's chair and go for a ride to animationland.....

Some nice tutorials from Randolf Dimalanta

Woohoo, class 1 of Animation Mentor has just begun, and I'm stunned to see how many really amazingly good artist's there are among the students. I really, really have to develop my drawing skills! :)

So, beside the standard curriculum of AM, I will continue trying to get some extra life drawing exercise.

Here are some good tutorials I found from Randolf Dimalanta's site. Good for a noob like me to watch.


Lifedrawing Demonstration: "The Gesture" from Randolf Dimalanta on Vimeo.

And if you click on this picture to the right you'll be directed to another nice life drawing tutorial at his site. 
There are some Maya stuff there too, so if you are interested in that go to the site and check them out. Have fun!
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a weird thing...

I just went to the first life drawing class of my entire life yesterday. I have never been to one of those occasions before. It wasn't uncomfortable or embarrassing - it was nice. And I even ran into an old friend there.
But still it was somehow weird! Maybe you get used to it after a little while, but there is just something odd about the whole situation; 10 or 15 people flock together in a room, most seem aquainted and the the friendly small talk is on, people socialize normally, nothing strange is going on. Then suddenly one person takes off his clothes and gets up on this podium - completely naked.

I mean... that doesn't happen very often in everyday life  :-)

the secret of Kells - pencil tests

...and speaking of the secret of Kells, here are some pencil tests uploaded to youtube by Alessandra Sorrentino who was an animator on the project.



For all of you who don't know about penciltestdepot.com yet; that's where I found this clip. Go and check that place out - it's full of interesting stuff!

The secret of Kells

I had not seen or heard about "the secret of Kells" until the academy award nomination for best animated feature some time ago. Last night I had my first chance to see it in full length - and it was a really mindblowing experience. The artwork is so beautifully done. And the mythological story is so magic and captivating. A beautiful story about the power of the imagination in hard times.

Here is a little sample. But I really do recommend you to do whatever you can to get a chance to see the whole thing. Don't miss it!



And if you want to know a little more "behind the scenes"-stuff you can read this AWN article here, where Karl Cohen talks with director Tomm Moore, exploring both the historical and thematic origins of the film. Very interesting!
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This is where the "humble" part begins.

Class 1 starts this monday. I just found out that my mentor for the following 12 weeks will be Eric Lessard - animator / senior and supervising animator at incredible stuff like all the Shrek movies, Antz, Halo3, Madagasqar 1 & 2 (oh, I love them!), Sarila, The lion of Judah - and more.

This is Eric talking about 'the lion of Judah' by Animated family films. Check out the trailer at their site. link to imdb here.




And here is the link to the trailer of "Sarila", where Eric is animation supervisor. This one is still in production I think? Anyway, looks really interesting!
Directed By Nancy Savard and coproduced by Carpediem Film & TV inc., 10th Ave Productions inc., Shax Animation France and Los Hijos de su Madre.


And let's stop here for a moment now and think: Here I am, little me, nervous newbie and excited freshman standing at the gates to the art of animation... and I, little me, get the honour of having a guy like this as my teacher and mentor!
- Woah, it's just crazy, man!

This kind of thing makes you feel really humble. :-)
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