Software Used:
Flash CS5, Toon Boom Studio 5, Illustrator and Final Cut Pro 7.
In order for my final project to come together I needed to use software that would allow me to create a highly detailed and smooth 2D Animation. This software would have to allow me to be able to use vector graphics in order to achieve a higher quality of animation. if the software used pixels the problem would arise if i were to increase the size of any drawing objects, vectors on the other hand wouldn’t lose quality no matter what size i made the drawings. at first i wanted to only use flash as the main software for creating my animation. but i came across some issues in flash that made me switch to using Toon Boom Studio 5. I will address these issues below.
Flash CS5
Flash animation is one of the most popular programs used by animators who want to make quick and easy animation. it is the more straight to the point and easy to pick up and learn and provides the vector graphics i need to achieve the quality I am looking for.
I have used flash software in the past for previous animations, and was enjoyed using it
Post Animation Workflow
Importing files
There are different methods when it comes to creating an animation, no one method is the best but i tend to use this method more after experimenting with it and finding this easier. Before creating the animation itself i had to design the characters and the scenery by drawing them in a sketch book first. (1) after drawing them in a sketch book i then brought the images into flash using two methods, first by scanning the images in and by taking a photograph of the image using a camera. after scanning or using a camera i then cropped the image in photoshop to then remove any unwanted excess outside of the image (2-6). after cropping the image i then saved the image as a jpeg in order for me to open it in the flash. (this method of importing images also works wth toon boom, illustrator and final cut pro 7)
After importing the Image i then opened the image up in flash and created a new layer above the imported image, i did this so could draw on the layer above. the layer with the imported jpeg would have to have the opacity turned down in order for me to see the drawing on the layer above, this would act as if i was tracing over a real image.
Drawing
For a drawing to exist in any animation program a layer should be first created before drawing the object can be drawn. (1) after importing the jpeg sketch of Da Vinci from my sketch book, i then placed a new layer on the timeline above it to draw. (2) I then began tracing over the Leonardo Da Vinci figure using the brush tool. (3) after drawing the figure I then added shadow to the image to add some quality and make the character more believable. (4) and soon as that was done i then started filling in the drawing with color to bring it to life. the same drawing principles work in Flash and Toon Boom, but in Illustrator it works a little different from the two.
Layers
When using layers in any program the main reason for using layers is so that objects are separated, so that two or three separate objects do not interrupt with each other. I may want an effect on one specific layer and may not want it to effect the other layer. so keeping drawing objects on separate layers is essential and makes the animation process a whole lot easier. I use layers in all my animations.
In this example i will use Toon Boom Studio to show how i use layers. the principles are the same across both programs. I wanted this character Sir Isaac Newton to appear in front of this Tree, but i also wanted him to appear behind the castle walls. in order for me to do that i placed the castle, the tree and the character on three separate layers. this then made it easier for me to make any changes to individual layers and not effect the other layers.
The way layers work is if i wanted any drawing object to to appear as if it is infront of another drawing object, i would have to place that layer ontop of another layer that contains a drawing object. the layers beneath will always appear as if they are in the background or behind the other drawing objects. this then creates an overlapping effect and is key to my animation.
I had three layers here, one for the tree, the other for the castle and the other for the character. In order for the character to appear as if he is infront of the tree i would have to drag his layer above the layer where the tree lives. this then gives the illusion of the tree being in the background. and because i want the character to appear behind the castle at the same time i then used the same concept and dragged the castle layer above the tree and the character layer, so it overlaps both layers and appears to be infront of them. this quick animation shows the end result after i animate the character walking past the tree.
Timeline and frames and keyframes.
In order for me to get a character or object in the animation to appear as if they are moving or to be on screen for a desired length of time, I had to use frames and keyframes. frames and keyframes define the beginning, the end and the distance between a movement or change in a drawing object, image or video clip. frames help the timing of a movement or change in animation or film. they also help extend or reduce the timing and smoothness of animation.
Frames and keyframes exist only on a timeline, a timeline is a tool that helps tell how long the duration of an animation will be, and it is also the place where changes can be made in order to increase or decrease the duration, the timeline is where the layers also exist in order to appear above or below certain objects.
For this scene i used toon boom studio, i wanted to animate the tail of a cow, i wanted it to move from left to right; so in order for me to do that, i first i needed to create a new frame after the first frame in order for the movement to work.
after extending the exposure i then used the keyboard short cut cmd + D on the mac to duplicate the frame. this then made a replica but enabled me to make changes without effecting the original drawing.
after duplicating the drawing i then erased the drawing and clicked on the onion skin button so i could see the previous drawing on the previous frame. this then showed me what the old tail looked like but it highlighted it in a different color and low opacity. this acts as a guide so i could draw more accurately and redraw the tail in a different position but still look like the same tail.
after using the same process i then got to a stage were i had about 5 frames of different tail drawings. so in order to see if the movement was believable i pressed he keyboard shortcut ‘P’ to quickly play through the frames. after doing so i was pleased with the result. and in order for the animation to be more believable i had to either space out the frames or to draw more frames. the more frames the longer the animation would be. and the less frames the shorter the animation would be.
Exporting
Because i will use final cut pro to edit together the final piece, i exported the animation using apple pro res 422. this format allows the colours and detail to be preserved, and is a format I’m used to working with in Final Cut Pro.
After exporting an animated sequence to see if the speed and quality were just right, I came across some issues. the issues i had were unwanted trails from previous frames bleeding through after the rotating screw had been rotated. this was definitely not the result i wanted and after many attempts of exporting it using a different formats other than apple pro res 422, i still remained with the same problem this then left me no choice but to find another solution.
Some problems i faced using flash were not that major and were easy to overcome but the trails left behind in the Archemedes sequence left me no choice but to find another equivalent to flash in order to continue working on my animations. i didn’t want to continue working hard to then find future problems with my animations since i was putting in so much time to create these animations.
here is a link to show the trails left behind
Other problems using Flash
The Other problems i faced when using flash, were problems that were in the previous versions of Flash. These problems were problems i thought the Flash developers would have sorted ironed out by now.
The Brush Tool
The main issues with Flash when using the brush tool were gaps left when drawing a curved line, these gaps occurred when using the brush at reduced size. The gaps became a problem because i would have unfinished lines meaning i would have to constantly zoom into the image in order for me to draw a more accurate line without gaps. what also frustrated me was the ability not to fill an empty object with color even if the gap was very small. i had to make sure all the gaps were filled in.
- circle with gap
- circle without gap
Random Color fill
sometimes when resizing a drawing object flash would automatically fill in the drawn object with the color black. this resulted in an undesired effect and was not what i wanted, because i just wanted to resize the drawing object to a desired size rather than changing the color of my drawing object. this problem also occurred in previous flash projects i created. So in order to correct the problem i had to redo the changes and copy the same drawing object to a new layer and then delete the corrupted layer. although fixing the problem wasn’t a main issue, it took up time and slowed down my progress.
Constant Crashing
Flash would more than once close the program unannounced, it would simply crash and not give me a valid reason. this affected my progress because if i forgot to save at a certain point once flash crashed i would lose my progress and be forced to redraw what i had lost.
IIlustrator CS5
Illustrator is a program that is used for creating high quality vector graphics, it can be used for logo design, illustration and text. it is popular because files created in illustrator can be resized to any size and not loose quality. it can also be used to create high quality images that can be exported for animation. I found out that i could use illustrator with Flash and with Toon Boom, Illustrator would be used for drawing and exporting artwork to either Flash or Toon Boom.
Benefits of working with Illustrator
The benefits of working with Illustrator were
Improved brush tool
The brush tool in illustrator provided me with sharp and continous lines that did not change shape or size when drawing a curved line. the gap issues i had with Flash were not present in Illustrator. Drawing in illustrator was a big improvement and meant i never had to zoom in to fill any gaps. i used the erase tool less in illustrator and was more impressed with the level of detail provided within illustrator.
Flash and Illustrator work flow
being able to use Illustrators improved brush tool meant the drawings and characters would look better and this improved the quality of the animation. in order to get a drawing object from illustrator to flash i could either export the illustrator file as a png, or i could copy and paste right from illustrator straight into flash.
Problems using Flash and Illustrator
Just as everything seemed perfect another problem arose.
File size and lag
Copying and pasting from program to program was a dream until the issue of lag came into play. i would test render the movie just to view how the quality of animation was only to find my frame rate slowing down to a point were lag and trails were present. i checked my settings to see if it was still at 30fps but despite changing it to a higher frame rate the lag still remained. i then tried exporting it to see if the issue would still remain. but despite exporting it many times in different formats the issue was still not resolved. I then removed the layer were i had placed the castle drawing object to see if it was the cause of the problem, since it was the biggest drawing object on screen. After removing the castle layer I then exported a quick test movie without using the castle layer to see if the frame rate would be affected.
Removing the layer didn’t work either and the frame rate still slowed down. the problem was that the illustrator file had too much detail and was too big. so i had to resize the document so that it would work more effectively in flash. after resizing the castle i then realised that the frame rate issues still remained, this then caused me to stop using illustrator and flash just incase future animations would be hindered.
Conclusion while working in flash
Flash kept crashing and very thing i exported had trails and failed to play smoothly, so i had no choice but to move to Toon Boom Studio 5. Toon Boom Studio is another equivalent to Flash CS5 but it has more features within it to make the animation process easier. I used this program as a last resort because it is a bit harder and requires some time set aside to learn how to use it more effectively. After watching and reading some tutorials i was then ready to use Toon Boom.
Animating with Toon Boom Studio 5
Benefits of working in Toon Boom Studio 5 over Flash CS5
Animating the Camera
The main difference in Toon Boom over Flash is the ability to use a camera that can be animated. this feature allows the user to animate the camera in a X and Y axis. The black box on the left represents the camera and the viewable area when exported. it also has a zooming feature that allows the camera to move further or closer away to the drawing objects. This is a big feature that i think is essential, because flash doesn’t have a camera that can be animated, the user has to select the individual layers of the drawing objects and move them in order to create the illusion of a camera movement. this is time consuming and slows the workflow down. Animating the camera is the fun part of all the hard work, after creating the scene and all that is in it, i then finish off by animating the camera and getting good close up shots or distant shots. to animate the camera i attached it to a peg. this peg acts very similar to a real peg that holds washing on a washing line. if u move the peg the clothes attached to the peg move with it. so like the camera attached to the peg. if the peg has any changes or movements made to it. it then effects the camera. so by using keyframes i can pin point the beginning and then the ending of my camera movement. the calculations in-between the two keyframes are done by the computer automatically. so it will drag the camera from left to right or up and down however i want.
No Lag or Trails left behind after export
Toon Boom never gave me any issues when it came to exporting my files, the quality came out smooth and the results were always what i wanted. no frame bleeding was present at all meaning that no trails would be left behind from previous frames when exporting, that then meant that the frame rate would stay consistant throughout the animation. this video is an example of an exported scene in toon boom of a double decker bus showing the smoothness and quality of the animation, the animation has no lag or trails in it.
Illustrator and Toon boom work well together
Toon Boom deals with Illustrator much better when it comes to importing drawings from Illustrator to Toon boom. i imported the same Isaac Newton scene that i had the lag problem with in flash. after importing the Illustrator file to Toon boom, i realised after exporting a test movie, that the problem i had in flash with lag and slow frame rate had gone. Toon boom seemed to handle illustrator files a lot better than flash, but by this stage i had already used the toon boom’s brush tool to draw out my scenes and characters. even re drew the whole Isaac Newton Scene to be on the safe side.
Problems with Toon Boom
I prefer working in Toon boom rather than working in flash because the problems i had in flash are none existent with toon boom. but toon boom does it has its own problems aswell.
No Glow Options
Although flash cs5 has its problems one feature that flash does have is the glow properties that allow glow to be added to a drawing object. but toon boom studio does not have this feature available. this is not very essential but it does then cut back on options available if i did want to have a glowing object in the animation.
No movie clip option
One thing flash does have over toon boom is that it has the option to save an animation as a movie clip and then this can be reused and duplicated as many times as desired. toon boom doesn’t have this feature but what it does have is the option to save the animation but not be able to have it loop continuously.
Conclusion
After lengthy trial and error i realised using flash cs5 would hold me back from progressing further, so i ended up using Toon Boom Studio 5. despite some of its flaws, I was still able to use it and and continue creating high quality animation. Toon Boom seems to be the program i will continue using to complete this project it has tools that make it easier for me to create animation sequences. it doesn’t crash like flash, it also doesn’t leave trails from previous frames when exporting a final sequence. The animation Iam creating has to give a message to the viewers and leave them thinking about the possibility of a future in which Stem cells are used to create limbs and organs, and this life changing operation would only take seconds in my not so distant future. the whole animation is meant to show human values and how far we have come as human beings. it is centred around Humanism and focuses on what we have achieved and what we can achieve by looking at our past. I am pleased with the progress and feel that i will be successful but I am still in progress with the final animation at this stage.
Before i created any animation, i looked up animation cycles online. these are cycles that have been drawn out and show step by step how movement of a character works. they give a insight on how smooth movement should look and feel when placed on each frame.
http://www.toonboom.com/support/
The Simpsons analysis
The whole reason i got into animation was because of watching cartoons as a kid , from the transformers, to GI Joe, and the main one and my personal favourite the Simpsons. The Simpsons inspired me to draw more and strive to want to be able to animate just like the pros. This is how i came across Toon Boom Studio, The creators of the Simpsons use a high end version of toon boom called toon boom animate pro. this version has added features that the studio version doesn’t. like 3d compositing, and effects including the glow effect that is absent in the Studio version.
After watching the show for years i admire the animation and the humour that bring it to life, it touches on real life issues and makes a mockery out of everyday situations. Some times it is hard to kind of get to grasps with who The Simpsons main target audience is because at times the cartoon can be quite some parents don’t allow their children to watch the program because they believe it can be quite anti family and unsavoury. they represent a dysfunctional family with a father who drinks, is rude and lazy is never responsible for his actions and usually fights with his wife marge.
their son is the typical hell raiser brat who represents the rebellious child, the Simpsons although dysfunctional actually relate to a lot of people and thats what i think is likeable about them. they are not your perfect family with everything going well for them in life. they go through problems and always seem to find a way out a kind of reflection of the majority of the viewers. In reality there is no such thing as a perfect family, some may have it easier but thats what i like about the Simpsons. i like how relatable they are to the viewers. how they seem to touch up on serious issues and then create entertaining scenarios that leave us thinking why we get so wound up over our own problems. maybe some of us do take certain situations to seriously, but The Simpsons demonstrate that they seem to pull through any circumstance and show that despite the dysfunction in their family. despite their flaws there is still that core that holds them together. Some times its not the quality of the drawing but the animation and the ability to tell the story properly. thats the influence i need when working on my animation.
Futurama
Is perhaps more related to my work because I am trying to imagine the future and the way life might be in 100-150 years. futurama the story of a pizza delivery boy frozen in time for a thousand years. although this is set further into the future than my animation, i still got ideas watching some episodes while looking for some form of inspiration. they show case hover cars space ships and technology far advanced whereas i see the future in a hundred years not to be too advanced but to get there medically and in the way we do things for the planet and and nature around us. I believe our knowledge will grow and exceed expectations of todays minds.
External Project (Music Video)
For this project i won’t go into great detail but i will explain how i came about to create this music Video. This Video is a piece that i was commissioned to do for a record label called Lion Mountain Records. The Artist under the label is a girl named Stardo Karle, who sang the entire song and played a part in the music video swell. the song basically reflects on her past relationships and how she was heart broken. the box represents all her emotions and heart break stored up. she gives the box to her ex in the end symbolising that its his time to hurt aswell after she has all this time, while keeping the box.
The Tools used for this was the Canon 5D mark ii which i personally prefer to all the other cameras out there, it boasts a full frame sensor, i get the full image and not a cropped one like on other digital Slrs. The 5d mark ii allows me to film at 1080p and at 30fps. The storyboards here show how i and the singer pieced it together story board page 1 verse 1 dancer in room and stardo in room and stardo in orange dress with mobile phone stuff
story board page 2 introduction to buddha location
story board page 3- 1st chorus budda loc and beg. verse 2 bandstand
story board page 4 end of verse 1:chorus
story board page 5 verse 2 bandstand
story board page 6 verse 2 bandstand
story board page 8 bridge rooftop
story board page 9 bridge rooftop
after the story board was done we got the dancers to rehearse their dance ruitines so that when it came to filming that everything would fall into place. the filming was on four different days each day covering a different location. we filmed in 4 days because of peoples availability. for the video editing i used final cut pro and color to color grade the footage to give it that filmy effect. The Video was a success and I am pleased with it.
