New Animation Project

[JasonReicherAnimation]

I'm working on an animated short about a police man fighting crime.
I haven't officially started yet but I have made some test scenes to see how my rig animates.

Heres the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puQZNfoQ2yg

Just to note, I'm only 16
and i am aware that the police man does'nt have any arms yet.

Thanks
Jason

[Genete]

Excellent style!

The music reminds me to "Monester Inc" film. Be sure to not copy it for legal issues.

Keep the good work!

[Rasheed]

I love your 1950s animation style.

BTW There are a lot of options for using music legally. Search for creative commons music, e.g. Magnatunes, ccMixter, etc. Mostly for non-commercial use, though. If you are willing to pay, search for royalty free music (there is even free royalty free music). Remember, though that royalty free music is often stock music.

[JasonReicherAnimation]

thank you guys!
and you guessed it, the music is from Monsters Inc by Randy Newman.

How would I find a nice jazzy royalty free soundtrack? Would I need to hire someone professionally?

Again thanks for the feedback.

[Rasheed]

How would I find a nice jazzy royalty free soundtrack? Would I need to hire someone professionally?

It depends on your budget.

There are musician who compose themselves and write professional music for you. Leo Laporte had his theme music made by Ashley Witt. I personally also like Geoff Smith. I'm sure there are many more composers online, in every genre, including Jazz.

Of course, there is also royaltyfreemusic.com, for stock music. Very affordable if you have a budget.

[JasonReicherAnimation]

ok thanks Rasheed, I'll definitely look into this.

What is the rule with music used in films already? Will their royalty ever "expire"?

Thanks again for the nice comments, and any more would be appreciated.

Jason

[Rasheed]

What is the rule with music used in films already? Will their royalty ever "expire"?

That depends on your contract with the music supplier. They can set an expiration date, or not.

You know, if you live in the US, the copyright laws for music are quite complicated. There are synchronization rights, mechanical rights, master use rights, and performing rights. You can read more about those on this website I found through Google:

• Music License and Copyright

The general rule is if you don't have written conformation of what you can do with the music, you can't use it. By law, the moment you (or someone else) create something it is protected by copyright. This is to protect the livelihood of the creator, so (s)he gets compensated for his/her efforts. Mind you, this only applies to physical products, not to ideas.

That's about the extent of my knowledge. Now do your research.

Also note that there is difference between using music for personal use (only for yourself), and for instance putting it onto YouTube. If you put it on YouTube, and it can be traced back to you, you are responsible for clearing any rights and fulfilling any contractual agreements (such as crediting any contributors to your animation).

You do not want to be sued by the RIAA (or the license holder) over music you put into your YouTube animation. Really, you don't. The statuary damages can be thousands of dollars, and even higher if the plaintiff can prove you did it on purpose.

Also remember that the creator of a piece can decide to allow certain rights to be free of charge (under restrictions, such as crediting) if your derivative work meets certain criteria (e.g. non-commercial). This is called Creative Commons. You can read more about this at:

• Creative Commons

______

PS If you haven't already found out yourself, the Indaba Music website is where you can find music creators.

[JasonReicherAnimation]

Here's the 1st shot.
Its the outside of a coffee shop, where the main character will be eating a donut.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-TphbwenMmU