Moho Forum

My pro6 shiping date was change to july 8 or 18 so while Im waiting I'll read up on the ANIME STUDIO THE Official Guide.

Great story there, Tonim.

I think that the most demanding task for an animator is to make the viewer forget he/she is watching drawings. Simple as that. If the viewer starts to empatize with the characters, tries to get into the story, laughs (or cry) with the situations... Then you got them.

As for me, I'm still working in the "take", that is, the litlle movement that a character makes just before the main movement. The little details can create life.

When I was teaching martial arts I was asked quite frequently "what's the secret to martial arts mastery." When I told them "repetition" they looked at me like I was nuts.

Dedication and patience.

Insanity and stubborness. FNAR!!!

Jackass;

In becoming a good animator, you must master the power of 'Cycle' (the repetive action), as in walking, running jumping or dancing. Master those and the rest will follow.

Producing/Directing an animated film is a different discipline. They are more of a supervisor than artist, although the best ones are artists too.

I'm working on a large animation also, and I wish I had more help. It's not easy to get friends to help. Ther're all enthusiastic at first, but as time wares on, their enthusiasm and help will wane. There's something to be said for the power of the paycheck. The mercenary will stick with you even if they don't beleive in your cause.

So, keep looking for friends who really want to help, because like most of us, there is no money to pay them (for now).

F.C.Snow

is anime pro 6 capble of making background of likes of bambi and other animated classics or will i be better off with artrage.

You can make great backgrounds in ASpro.

My advice would be, don't worry so much about what apps you need.
You have AS and can make animations with that. If you want to make
backgrounds, start drawing. Scan those in, put them in an image layer
and trace over the top with the create point tool. Mess about with shapes,
effects, styles, masking, to get a look you like.

You'll end up with a couple of backgrounds, and looking back at them
you'll see improvement with each one, and all this in the time you could
have wasted learning the UI for an app you don't really need.

Don't worry about artrage (in my humble opinion.)
Get a pencil and a sharpener. And and eraser - you'll be using it

jackass: Have a look at Hans Bacher's blog http://one1more2time3.wordpress.com/tag/bambi/ where he collects lots of Bambi artwork. Read about how it was done. Get an understanding of basic painting techniques. Then you can answer your question for yourself.

FCSnow wrote: In becoming a good animator, you must master the power of 'Cycle' (the repetive action), as in walking, running jumping or dancing. Master those and the rest will follow.

I'm curious about what's behind that? Is it that cycles are an important technique, or that the skills you learn from creating cycles are beneficial (and then you can go on merrily not doing them)?

I vote for a good story. Drawing skills too.

DM;

The power in the CYCLE is in its economy, An example, imagine a scene you have been commissioned to animate:

FADE IN, INT. NIGHT, ESTABLISHING SHOT.

Sherlock Holmes sits it a Queen Ann chair in his library. His hand firmly gripping his pipe as he smokes. On a small table next to him sits a open book and flickering candle. The glow from a fire in a fireplace lights the room. Holmes pauses in his thoughts, lowers his pipe and turns to the camera.

HOLMES
"Eliminatory, my dear Watson."

FADE OUT

The first thing any animator does is determine what is moving and what is not. Next is where can I use a cycle. Then he considers the non-repetitive actions, the arm movement and Holmes head turn and speaking.

There is no rule that says you must do these things in that order. But it helps the work flow to get the easy or boring stuff done first. Then concentrate on the more difficult actions.

So where are the cycles? The obvious ones are: smoke from the pipe. The candle flame. Fire in the fireplace. But what about that dancing shadow from the fireplace, on the wall behind Holmes? Or the light on his face? The last two could be eliminated, but they do add to the mood of the scene. And a producer may say that he wants them in.

Cycles can be short, long or layered together to create more random appearance. They go beyond just the walk, run, jump or skip.

In summary, without the cycle a lot of animations would be reduced to nothing more than talking heads. Or static poses with the backgrounds sliding by.

Good Luck
F. C. Snow