Moho Forum

Hi guys:
Here is a link to a website animation I did using Moho and Flash:

http://www.sunsilk.co.uk


Just thought you would like to see it. The animation is pretty limited as I was trying to keep the file size down as small as possible. I think it ended up around 350k.

Real nice work!

Did you do the drawings in Moho or another program?

I rough out in Painter then Clean up and colour in XaraX. From there I export my BG elements as swf and export a png into Moho as a tracing guide. The characters are traced in Moho.

I am just a little bit familiar with Xarax - can it export it´s drawings into Moho as Vector (Adobe Illustrator-type) files?
In other words, can Moho import a Xarax vector drawing or does it have to be a .png or other other image-type file?

Great work Dave!

Toontoonz wrote:I am just a little bit familiar with Xarax - can it export it´s drawings into Moho as Vector (Adobe Illustrator-type) files?
In other words, can Moho import a Xarax vector drawing or does it have to be a .png or other other image-type file?

Yes it can export .ai files but to be honest I find ai import more trouble than it is worth. For animation tracing in Moho is far superior (Works better with bones) and if I need non-animating elements transparent png files are easier out of Xara. If I need changes I just hop back to Xara and resave.

I did a Nickelodeon spot using this workflow which came out very well indeed. When I can extract a copy from them I'll post it on my site and let you all know.

Lost Marble - Great work Dave!

You are very kind. Thanks for the great tools!

Wonderful job! Thanks for sharing, and for setting the bar so high!

Yes it can export .ai files but to be honest I find ai import more trouble than it is worth.

Thanks for the info.

Regarding the quote above, in what way is it more trouble to import .ai files? Trouble on the Xara end or when the file comes into Moho - color problems, line width and shape changes or ??????

I look forward to seeing your Nickelodeon work!

Shape changes in Moho and a huge number of points. You have more control over point distribution if you trace in Moho and so you should be able to get better joint deformation.

Thanks for the reply. I will try your technique and see if it works better for me with my art that I draw in Illustrator and try to import into Moho.

Dave - how do you get work in the industry? or work for anyone? is there a site where people advertise or something?

Well. I've been in the industry for over 15 years but still have big problems with this
Currently I take out adverts in the back of 'Design Week' and 'Creative review'. The Sunsilk job was through word of mouth. I know someone who works at the agency.
What I have done, and what seems to help, is to make a CD portfolio/showreel which I can give to anyone who is interested. Sometimes more than once and sometimes multiple copies!
The website is a great help. Not that anyone looks for animators through google but in conjunction with the advertising it allows potential clients to see if my work is appropriate to their needs.
Thats it really. I guess what I do is fairly specialised and there isn't a huge demand for it. I get by though, and there is no heavy lifting

Squeakydave wrote:Well. I've been in the industry for over 15 years but still have big problems with this
Currently I take out adverts in the back of 'Design Week' and 'Creative review'. The Sunsilk job was through word of mouth. I know someone who works at the agency.
What I have done, and what seems to help, is to make a CD portfolio/showreel which I can give to anyone who is interested. Sometimes more than once and sometimes multiple copies!
The website is a great help. Not that anyone looks for animators through google but in conjunction with the advertising it allows potential clients to see if my work is appropriate to their needs.
Thats it really. I guess what I do is fairly specialised and there isn't a huge demand for it. I get by though, and there is no heavy lifting

Thanks for the reply, i might consider making a showreel as soon as i make something decent. This may be abit personal, but how much do you generally get paid to do work like this?
thanks again.

Great spot, Dave! I really like the look, and the limited animation is very well handled. Still manages to have loads of character.

Cribble:
That is something I don't think I'll disclose. Sorry. Anyway it changes from job to job and client to client. What I try to do at the onset of every job is to roughly workout how may days it will take to do and then work out how much I would like to earn a day. The Client usually has an idea of when they want the work done for and how much they want to spent. The actual fee is somewhere in the middle of this. (Or, as is sometimes the case, I don't do the job because the fee is insulting and I could make more stacking shelves in a supermarket. These type of clients think that "The computer does it all for you" and by extension that computers and software grow on trees).

Barry:
Thank you kindly Sir. The daft thing about this 'Flash' way of working is that animation keeps having to be cut out so that the thing will play back on slower machines. It was a bit of a struggle managing client expectations. They got all excited, bless them, and wanted all kinds of crowd scenes and intricate backgrounds. You know the sort of stuff. Three minutes of animation squeezed into 15 seconds. Ah Flash. a blessing and a CURSE!