AND SO IT BEGINS...

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 5:02 am

Ha ha!

No you were very RIGHT to point at me. Anyone can be caught with their pants down so to speak. No matter what skill level.

It was no problem at all. Point away!

And yes, you can unbuckle your pants as long as you have them on. However they should not fall down embarrassingly if you have to jump up to answer the door suddenly...

... that never ever happened by the way. I swear.

-vern

artfx · Post by **artfx** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 8:27 pm

This week I have some new ideas for AS and will really push the point animation versus switch layer testing. I think I may have found my "method" but some new stuff will show for sure.

artfx · Post by **artfx** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 12:00 pm

As I mentioned, I have been doing more with my "method" and decided to put up this new scene.

I basically started with recording a sound file in Garage band and went from there through the steps to finish in AS. The video shows a couple of bits here and there of the process.

http://www.studioartfx.com/webpage6/anime001.html

T

Bones3D · Post by **Bones3D** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 2:00 pm

artfx,

I have to admit, you've completely blown me out of the water on this anime stuff. (Needless to say, I'm probably going to be asking you a lot of questions about your animation methods.)

I understand you work primarily in point-animation for the majority of the clips you've posted, so far. One thing I'm curious about though, is how you manage to do it efficiently.

For example, about how much time would you say it takes for you to produce one second of animation at that level of quality? Also, how many layers are you working with to animate your characters?

The reason I ask, is that you may be able to teach me a few things about my own work and where I need to focus on improving it.

Overall though, I'm highly impressed by what I've seen. You really seem to enjoy this kind of work. Definitely keep up the excellent work!

LittleFenris · Post by **LittleFenris** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 3:52 pm

Artfx, when do we get to see that whole video you showed bits and pieces of that looks to be a tutorial of sorts?!

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:10 pm

Very impressed with what you've done. But when I followed the link, IE choked! (And I've visited your site in the past with no ill-effects...) Pity. Would love to see it animated.

artfx · Post by **artfx** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 7:02 pm

Hey, thaks for telling me this Jahnocli. I've heard this from someone else and haven't been able to pinpoint the issue myself because it doesn't happen to me. (I use Firefox on the PC and I am usually on the Mac) I heard it could be a version issue with IE 6. I may be using some latest greatest type code on the page which requires IE 7. I will try removing any special code. Try it agin and let me know if it works. (well give me five minutes or so)

As for the whole video, I am not too sure. I was thinking of making a complete video and making the video and all associated .anme files available really cheap, but I haven't done even a quarter of what I want to cover and I am already up to three hours of material, not all necessary but still. What do you guys think?

T

Rasheed · Post by **Rasheed** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 8:05 pm

It all depends on the (educational) quality of the DVD, how many hours you've spent on producing it, and what is offered in return. I think that if you set a minimum price and leave it to people to pay more (to show their appreciation and eagerness to get more).

If you want feedback to improve the DVD, keep the price of the beta release low, and clearly state how people can give feedback. I would ask the full price for a final release, which could become be a nice source of income for you, and possibly it can be offered for sale through the e frontier website. I think there is a real demand for a video tutorial, and people are willing to pay real money to get it. This will enable you to produce more video tutorials.

My 2 cents.

Genete · Post by **Genete** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 9:12 pm

I think you can show us (spoken or with samples) what is "your method".

Meanwhile, only two questions:
1) Did you use bones in this (last) animation? (I guess not, but want to be sure).
2) Are you using any script apart of the ones that comes with AS?

(Perhaps with small questions we can discover what is "the method"

)

Thanks

Draw_Girl · Post by **Draw_Girl** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 9:18 pm

artfx wrote:Hey, thaks for telling me this Jahnocli. I've heard this from someone else and haven't been able to pinpoint the issue myself because it doesn't happen to me. (I use Firefox on the PC and I am usually on the Mac) I heard it could be a version issue with IE 6. I may be using some latest greatest type code on the page which requires IE 7. I will try removing any special code. Try it agin and let me know if it works. (well give me five minutes or so)

As for the whole video, I am not too sure. I was thinking of making a complete video and making the video and all associated .anme files available really cheap, but I haven't done even a quarter of what I want to cover and I am already up to three hours of material, not all necessary but still. What do you guys think?

T

I'm having the same IE problems too......

artfx · Post by **artfx** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 9:44 pm

Genete - I do use bones in this animation. The overall body animation in 2D, and the position of the arms is done with bones. I am not using any scripts that I am aware of.

Draw_Girl - Are you still having problems with the page? I thought I just fixed it, at least what I thought was the problem.

Rasheed - Thanks for your input. Those are very good suggestions.

Bones3D - It's difficult to say how long it would take to produce one second of animation at this quality. As you know, everything you do in Aninme Studio compounds in more and more reusable assets. The more you do, the more you can do again and much faster.

Of this particular scene, which is 5 seconds, it took about three hours starting with recording the sound file in Garage band and then going to Anime Studio to start creating the character. Since I was recording it on video, though, I am also explaining each step in the process rather than just plowing through the work.

On top of this, because of the nature of vector and Anime Studio, doing another scene with the same character eliminates a ton of that work. Also doing a scene with a similar character, since, for example, I could very quickly change the face shape, the eyes and put a new hairstyle on him and have a totally different anime character, would also take very little time.

Imagine the speed at which you could do a short film like this if you had all your basic character models done!

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 11:32 pm

artfx wrote:Try it agin and let me know if it works.

No, still the same problem...Don't want to test it too often, 'cos each time I have to re-start my browser!

artfx · Post by **artfx** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 10:30 am

Ok, I finally figured out the problem with my web page. It was a "design flaw" (another way of saying it was my fault). It has been fixed and I tested it in IE 6 on my drawing tablet with success. IE 7 Firefox and Safari were never affected.

Draw_Girl, Jahnocli or anyone using IE 6, could you please test it and see if I am not insane?

http://www.studioartfx.com/webpage6/anime001.html

Thanks.

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 11:39 am

Yeehaw! It works! You're not insane! Git me some of thet moonshine, maw!

artfx · Post by **artfx** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:29 pm

jahnocli wrote:Yeehaw! It works! You're not insane! Git me some of thet moonshine, maw!

That combined with the look of your avatar is just too funny.