As an animator, I find it important to understand how we came about to the way we are. What we make, how we make it, and why. And this guy is actually is finding out:

Travel Funding for Anthro

He is heading all around America to find out why, visiting studios and psychologists. But he needs help with funding to actually get to these places. Even 1 dollar will help him; so have a look at his need, and see if it's something you would be interested in.

It's been a while since I last talked, and school didn't help either.

But finals are now done, and I have a week to work. Admittedly, I know nothing is going to get finished, but I still can make some progress.

Speaking of progress, I went to the Sakura-con this week. Not really that much into anime, but they did have Club Stripes there, so I did manage to grab some comics and a model from them. And I met alot of DA artists, talked to them about media usage in the industry, and bought/commissioned some of their work. Also grabbed some games and t-shirts, played some fun game that I haven't played in a long time. Overall worth my 60 bucks for the 3 days (even if another 500 was taken from the Exhibition Hall).

But the point being I also went to the "How to Draw" pannels. And I learned alot about overlapping, light reflecting the surface for color under the shadow, how colors can be used as central points or set the mode of the person looking at it, how to draw a t-shirt with a female, all sorts of stuff. And while I don't know if Toon Boom has all the points to make it more natural like blur for the shadows and light, I feel a little more confident about animating again.

Speaking of animation, below is a sample of what I'm working on (actually, looking at it, I really should have added the tail). But don't think that I'm anywhere done, this is still along ways in the making.

Speaking of making, once in a while I will get stuck on something and it just doesn't seem to go right. During that time I just start to draw small comics. as a way to calm down and get my head together. I'm curious to know if you would like me to submit my comics on Newgrounds?

Here is a sample of the comic (sketched), sample

Well I'm done yapping, back to work.

I over-estimated my intent and I don't think I can fit everything in the vid, so a re-think of the animation will be necessary. Not giving up on the project, just delaying probably until around Oct.

In the mean while, I cooked up a neat idea for a series. No spoilers until I get everything up and running. Once everything is set in motion, me talky about it. I'll give you a hint, it involves furries.

From the position I'm in, I don't have access to all my equipment. So I've been kinda on a dry spell of late. And then I listened to a short song and I though, "This would make a really great horror flick trailer." So I'm going to pick up my tablet up and start again. But this time I don't have to worry about sound-effects, just the music and the animation... oh, and shadows. That's important too.

Don't expect this any time soon, I'm sure this will take a few months. But I'll put some progress out here and there. Laterz.

Are you begining a new FPS and are not sure how fast objects should be going? Here's a quick way to find out:

Go to a blank section of your project in your studio, or make a blank project. Put in your desired FPS, and find a place that is blank for about 10-20 frames. Now using a 144 grid, mark a box on the left side of the frame, completely fill it with a color of some kind; if you don't have a grid on your frame, then just make a 1 by 1 inch square as best you can on the right side. Now move on to the next frame, and fill in the next 1 by 1 grid to the right of it; and keep doing this until the filled 1 by 1 grid is on the right side of the project.

Now, go back to the first frame of the filled 1 by 1 grid. Then just play the animation from there, and you'll see how long it takes for objects to move grid by grid. Hope this helps.

Now that I made my first flash, I can go over somethings that are quite useful to know.

1. If your using voices or music, get them early.

This is important for a few reasons.

A. It gives you an idea of the size of the flash
B. It gives you an idea of the length of the flash

Not to mention the lipsinking needed for your characters

2. Just accept what you can do.

Now you may get to a point where you got the right kind of drawing for a scene, but the problem is that it's the last frame of the scene. What you could do is re-draw; where you basically can redraw from the first part so that it would look like the last frame.

This is a taxing techinque however. It's quite possible to not be satisfied with the drawing and continue to redraw the scene over and over again. It's at that point where you just have to accept it, and move on.

3. Pratice, pratice, and pratice

Don't worry, you'll get better, no one is born like this. If you think your taking to long, just remeber K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid).

I'll have some more up in a bit, but for now I got to go back to my flash.

If your reading this, than either you have nothing better to do, or you want to animate. Ane while I'm no guru animator, I do have some helpful tips that will help pass the time on your project.

First of all, you should try to presue this as a hobby. There are very few who actually make a living off of it; and the avertisements offered by the site pay very little. Yes, there are some who go off and do better things because of what they accomplish here or somewhere else, but that takes years, and you have to have alot of time to invest. So if there is absolutly nothing else you want to do in your life, don't take animation to seriously. I myself got into it because I have nothing better to do.

Second of all is everyone around you. If you want actually do this, and everyone says don't; then obviously don't listen to them. You got to stop caring what people think about what you do, otherwise you'll never be able to get anything done with you life; it's your life, not their's. But then again, if they are supportive, well more power to you.

Thirdly is your style. If you never drew anything in your life, and when you try to draw something you think it's horrible; stop. Don't go in thinking that you'll just be like such-and-such, it doesn't work like that. You got to find your own and stick to it. I myself can't draw straight or curve lines, I have to scribble them in; but because my lines are wiggly, many people would scoff at it; but this is how I draw, I can't change it so I accept it. And eventually I will get better; same goes for you too, you can't get better if you don't try.

Ok, if you still think your interested, it's time to go over the setup:

The Hardware

Drawing Tablet

This is quite vital. It is possible to use the mouse, but the result won't be the same, or it might not be what you were wanting. In order to get the best result, you need a tablet. I myself use a Bamboo Pen.

Now the next set are completly optional, you do not need them to animate. But because of the fact that I don't have any friends or have any projects out yet, I resort to these items to get the best flash I can. If I were you, I would ask around the Newgrounds community for assistance first; I guarantee that they are the most helpful community you will ever find. Then if none are willing to help, then you might have to resort to these:

Microphone-

Voices to flashes are like butter to toast. This doesn't mean you need to have voices in your flash in order for it to be great (Katan is such an example), however it does present the project with some character. Of course, this also depends on the project and what your wanting to do it.

There are many microphones to chose from, I myself use a 2 dollar USB microphone that was used for an Eidos promotion.

Music-

This can be classified by either software or hardware, but I use a keyboard so I'll classify as hardware for now. Music is magic, it can do anything. It can set the tone, it can make a suprise, it can terrify, it can make you sad. How you choose to use your music can very well make or break you flash.

Software

Drawing Studio

You obviously need one if your going to be putting out flashes. There are many versions, and most do just about the same thing, it's just that some are easier to use, and thus more expensive.

The most expensive I've come across is actually the most popular that I know of, it's probably becasue you can also make Flash games from it as well, The CS5 Flash Pro is a whopping $700. But your here for animation, and supposing you don't have 700, we shall got to the next software. This one I use myself, it basically has the same tools as the CS5 Flash, but the software is more tuned for animations than anything else, Toon Boom Studio will set you back only 200 dollars. But suppose you don't have any money, I can only think of one other. This software is very, very basic, Pencil and the software is free.

Music player-

This is important for voices and music (duh). Mostly needed for organization. This would also be a good time to look at the type of audio file your voices or music are.

The software that I use for animation has a section for importing files like music and such, but it can't upload .wma files; and if you ripped a CD using WMP or recorded your voices over Microsoft Sound Recorder, then all of those files are .wma. A simple solution I found over the .wma problem is downloading a file converter, you'll find hundreds of them on the internet. It converts your .wma files into mp3 format. Like I said this is for my software, and I'm not sure what the others are like; but your more than likely to get into a few situations like this.

I think that's everything. Now supposing that you have all the software and hardware needed, and your ready to start, here are some things you need to know.

1. Use the tablet only for drawing

At first I was unaware of closing all corners and then using the Paint command, I actually just drew all the spaces. It took quite a toll on my tablet, but I learned from it. And don't worry about resting your hand on it, it was designed that way.

2. Save often

There will be times when you will accidentally hit a button with your pen in which the drawing space turns into something else and you can't undo it, I myself having to close the program and restarting from my last save. It sucks when I have to redraw the 20 frames I didn't save. So I suggest saving one second of your FPS, maybe even half one-second depending on your FPS.

3. Set goals

Make a list of what your planning to do in the flash, what sound effects (if any), voices, or music will you have. Setup a screenplay or a script if it's big. Have a deadline for how many frames you'll do for a day, it's a great sense of progress. Or if you get bored with something else, you can just come back to your project and not be so bored.

4. Have fun

Flashes don't happen over night (well, some do, but they are rather short), they take time and focus. Have a comfertable working space, play for favorite music in the background, and just enjoy yourself. And don't consern yourself with 'does this look good enough', there is no good enough, there is just you and your dream. Now go after it.