Why I didn't use Anime Studio for a Test

DarthFurby · Post by **DarthFurby** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:18 am

I completed an animation test recently:

http://darthfurby.com/artixanimationtest.html

I was upset because I wanted to use Anime Studio instead of Flash, but building a good model would've taken too long, so I decided to go frame by frame instead. The model building approach in Anime Studio is excellent for longer projects, and series work, but it made me wonder if there was a fast and dirty way to animate for quick tests like the one above, where time is a factor.

ingie01 · Post by **ingie01** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 5:37 pm

DarthFurby what are you trying to communicate here? I really do not understand the message about animation test. There are many prerigged models that can be used in place of your own in order to preview your own animations.

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 6:25 pm

Well, OK, I could've build this example in one day, it's just a standard rigging job - for my style of rigging and me being quite familiar with AS now. But I completely understand the need for something faster sometimes. It all depends on the job. And I never would use any other character than my own. (Darth, it was a presentation to someone else, right?)

So no need to pick on him - he's right about a frame-by-frame program being faster than AS for a short clip like this, if all you need is just the clip, not a whole series.

ingie01 · Post by **ingie01** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 6:33 pm

As I said in the previous message; I don't understand anything about darthfurby's post, so I ventured a guess................ What are you both talking about? It all sounds unfamiliar to me. I consider my self a newbie and very ignorant! What aspect of the program are you talking about. I am eager to learn.

Mikdog · Post by **Mikdog** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 8:20 pm

Nice test guy. Love the running animation man.

DarthFurby · Post by **DarthFurby** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 12:40 am

Hi ingie01, a lot of animation companies require a quick animation test before they hire you. I had to draw in the company style, so using a pre-rigged character was not an option. I wanted to use Anime Studio somehow but didn't have time to build and rig a character model.

slowtiger - Because I went frame by frame, I sacrificed character design/art quality for animation. I completely butchered the company's art style, which is possbily why I didn't get the job, but perhaps my animation skills aren't quite there yet either. If I had built the model in Anime Studio it would've been much prettier to look at, but again, didn't have time. I'm a slow artist to begin with, I should probably change my name to SlowFurby.

Thanks Mikdog! Not nice enough unfortunately, but that's why I keep at it.

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 6:12 pm

In my opinion it has more to do with what you are familiar with. It would take me twice as long to animate that "test" in flash compared to AS. I would have struggled. If I had a choice I would have used AS.

The rigging for that test is very simple and I could rig that in a few minutes in AS. It's straight forward point/layer binding with bone rotation and scaling. Tweaking could be done on the points I suppose. Animating would be another story. I'm not a fast animator regardless of the technique.

How much time did you have for your test? Were they looking for speed or quality or cheap? You can have fast and cheap or fast and good or good and cheap but not all 3.

-vern

DarthFurby · Post by **DarthFurby** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 2:08 am

Maybe my workflow could be more efficient, but with frame by frame all I have to do is draw. Using Anime Studio I have to draw AND convert the drawings into a vector library of action poses. The nice thing is once I've built my library of poses, the animation itself is much faster than frame by frame, but first I have to invest the time making those poses.

They didn't set a specific deadline, but I spent 8 hours each per cycle. 24 hours total. When I said I was slow, I meant SLOOOWWWW.

Anyway, New York studios are looking for fast and cheap or free(aka internships). Like the music industry and print media, the current network/film/entertainment business model, which relies on advertising revenue to fund projects, is collapsing thanks to the internet.

ingie01 · Post by **ingie01** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:56 am

Darthfurby thank you for explaining what you were doing. Flash was used instead of AS. I have no knowledge of flash or the world of work. I am a hobbyist. Again, thank you. All I want is to learn.

DarthFurby · Post by **DarthFurby** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 7:40 pm

Hi ingie01, I'm a hobbyist too and want to learn. We're the same.