More professional quality tutorials for AS

And right after that I said that there are no good tutorials around for AS I start finding them everywhere. :-)

Check this youtube channel out. I don't know who the author of the videos is really, but he made a good job out of it.
http://www.youtube.com/user/animationfun101#p/u/48/s3kXt9BCQK4

These tutorials are well adapted for the novice beginner, but there are actually a lot of good hardcore tips for the more experienced animator too, who is interested in advanced cutout techniques and efficient workflow in this specific program environment.

In this clip you can see how the "actions"-function in AS (recoradable and reusable bits of animation) can be combined in a clever way to achive efficient overlapping animation in the character. (Make sure you watch the videos all the way to clip nr 10.24)

More AS tutorials from Mike Kelley.

Talking about good tutorials for Anime Studio Pro I can of course not leave Mike Kelley out from my list.

This is one of the clips from his vimeo channel. Highly recommendable!

Character Rigging Tutorial Part 1 -- Head from Mike Kelley on Vimeo.

If you are interested in Anime Studio you can check out the so called "inofficial AS forum" too.... http://www.kelleytown.com/forum/animators/default.asp

Good workflow tutorial for Anime Studio

It's rare to find any professionally made tutorials, aimed at professionals, when it comes to one of my favorite animation tools, anime studio pro. (well, except for the two AS forums I often visit, there are loads of good and sound information, tips and advice. http://www.lostmarble.com/forum/ and http://www.kelleytown.com/forum/animators/default.asp)

This is one of the rare tutorials I've found just googling around...
It presents one way of working key poses, breakdowns, follow through and vector fixing in this vectorbased 2D tool.

Our Animation Process - Anime Studio Pro from A Man And Ink on Vimeo.

Cat out

Here is a nice work of cutout animation. It was made by ECAT animation in Argentina. Also have a look at Jorge Cuellar's blog at http://jorgemcuellar.blogspot.com/ There are some really cool sketches!

CAT OUT (2010) from catout on Vimeo.

Ehow: career options for animators

Here are some nice videos from ehow.com. Good, informative stuff to watch, especially for the young, aspiring animator.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGfaU5yJRfM&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=SPB4D6DB894E474E2B

This is one of the clips in the series: "Career Options for Animators"

Heroes of my childhood

Let me tell you a little story.

Asterix and Obelix were the true heroes of my childhood. You know? The two gauls with superhuman strength (thanks to the magic potion made by the village druid) always ready to smack down any bypassing roman soldiers. I really loved those stories. And I still have ALL the comic albums in my bookshelf, the complete series!

The very first animation attempt I ever made was a shot with Asterix walking across the screen. I was about 9 years old and had decided to make my own feature film with Asterix and his friends. So I nagged on my parents for a couple of weeks until they finally bought me twenty celluloids and a couple of pens with ink that you could wash away with water.   (See? I was smart! I was planning to reuse those celluloids for the whole feature!)   I borrowed my father's double-8 camera, which you could cheat to take just one frame at a time if you hit the record button hard and fast.

And so I drew and painted my 20 celluloids with Asterix walking across the screen and recorded it one drawing at a time, slamming that record-button on my father's camera once for every piece of celluloid.  Then, after everything was filmed, the filmcassette was sent away to be developed at Kodak's factory somewhere in Germany, I think. I had to wait for over 2 weeks to get the developed film back, and by then I was shivering with excitement to see my completed masterpiece.

And yes, sure enough, my Asterix took his two steps across the screen........ but for some strange reason that I couldn't quite understand my hero kind of shrunk by half of his length while walking that short distance AND somehow he was also deformed into a increasingly shapeless blob by the end of this masterful 2 second shot.
- I was so disappointed! I put the celluloids and the pens in a drawer and didn't touch them again for almost 30 years.

But I never stopped re-reading the comic books.   :-)



Here are some fun interpretations of the two characters, made by different artists, googled from the net....

NOT for children

As a producer/director of children's tv shows, working at a public service company and often sitting in either end of the pitching process i.e. giving or recieveing a pitch depending on the situation... I must say I find this clip hilarious.

http://dauid.com/video/qt/barnen.mov

NOTE: you have to understand swedish to get the point. It's mostly dialouge anyway. AND you have to have a good stomach and not be sensitive to adult material, too. :-)

I'm pretty convinced that the guy behind this clip has had his share of experiences trying to sell his ideas to public service companies... (he is actually a accomplished animator!)

The title of the clip is "för barnen" ("for the children" in english)
Don't say I didn't warn ya.