Chad Essley's Tablet Pc SketchBlog

Very impressive. I'm taking some computer science classes and have learned some basic Java programming but nothing useful as of yet. You should post some programs/software you use to create your animations. I'd like to try animating.

Hey thanks.
Actually, the programming isn't all my work.. the program itself.. was created using another simple scripting language, and actually, a lot of help from the users at the autohotkey forums.. Check it out! Google "autohotkey" and you'll find the program that does it... It's an interesting app that controlls almost any aspect of windows.. Easy to write and test scripts, and then compile an executable file that runs by itself.

As for posting apps: Can't do it.. but I would advise you to check out books on animation, (Preston Blair's Cartoon Animation) - and Richard William's "The Animator's Survival Kit" -http://www.theanimatorssurvivalkit.com/among others. If you're interested in drawn animation, -download a free trial of (now owned by Adobe) Flash, and a copy of Mirage from www.bauhaussoftware.com -they're fully functional for 30 days, as a trial. -Then you can try some lessons from these books on your own. There's also a great distance learning animation school that you can 'go to' online, -the name of which escapes me at the moment..
But I'll post a link to that when I find it..

Good luck learning animation. It can be a lot of fun, and really rewarding.
Although ..for the big $, I might put more stock into the programming as a long term career.. the animation world can be a trial... by fire.

;-)
Best,
C

Hey Chad, I was wondering if you had an opinion on the choice of tools as in "industry insider". :) I have a ~700 frame cartoon I did in high school. I'd love to scan in my frames and assemble them into a digital movie. I need to add color, shadows, possible camera movements, etc... The thought of doing all this in Photoshop kills my motivation, so I'd like a more specialized tool help to bring my humble toon to the 21st century.

I'm also interested in the possibilities of an all digital production pipeline for new animations. I'd like whatever software I chose to be an all-encompasing visual creation tool. (Understandiing that scoring and sound effects may be better suited for a NLE.) I don't care much about web and Flash, but that ability to easily move there is appreciated.

The two packages I'm considering are Mirage and Toon Boom Studio. You've talked highly of Mirage in the past, but I'm not clear if it will do everything I'd like. The cost also puts me off a little, but I'm willing to pay if it will do everything I need. Do you know if what I'm looking for can be accomplished with either of these packages or should I consider other packages. (Or is what I'm looking for not available as a single package and should I be looking at seperate software for the seperate steps?)

http://www.bauhaussoftware.com/products_mirage_LP.php
http://www.toonboom.com/products/toonBoomStudio/

Thanks,
-Mike

I would absolutely check out Mirage. It will do anything, and everything. It dosen't limit you in terms of style, as it's all bitmap, -like photoshop, rather than vector based.

I believe Bauhaus offers a serious student discount, you should check into it. Flash is a valuable tool for any web animator, and can do broadcast if the person driving it can push it's look to a higher level through line quality etc.

The ONLY reason to have Toonboom would be it's 3-D camera system. It is pretty neat to use, but honestly, anyone could re-produce that sort of effect in Mirage or Flash / After Effects easily, if you've done any study into animation at all.
(Multi-plane effects) Also, ToonBoom made the gigantic mistake of trying to bring an old fashioned way of doing animation into the 21st century. That is, they brought in a horrible exposure sheet, that is just plain outdated. The software probably made a few older traditional animators from the old days go 'wow', but you'd be better off learning Mirage or Flash, honestly.

Hope this helps in your decision making..!
Best
C

That does help, thanks. (Although the thought of going back to school scares me more than paying full price!)

Actually I just meant for you to just say what programs you used. I would never want anyone to illegally host applications to download. I just really like your work and wondered what program you used to make them in.

Ah ok!
Well, Flash and Mirage mainly. Also Sketchbook Pro!
These and my Tablet PC. Thanks for all the comments on my work. It's good to hear, and inspires me to keep going!

Best,
Chad