hi,
animated ape asked me to have a look here in response to one of my questions in another thread. i think this is easily one of the best reads on this forum. great stuff.
i do have a question though :) how is your animation process like you have explained different from something like Powerpuff girls or another flash show? (assuming u have the info)
thanx and congrats on a wicked job.
The show is animated at 24 frames per second Blinkme.
Skinny, Power Puff Girls wasn't animated in Flash, it's a traditionally animated show, so it differs quite a bit. The process that is used on Fosters is pretty close to how some of the other Flash to broadcast show's are animated, with slight variations here and there. Thanks for the complement Skinny.
Aloha,
the Ape
—
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
why dont some of the traditional animators do the keys, digitise them and do the IBs in Flash, it can save some time
is there a drawback to that or do people already do that?
sorry if this is OT
If the animators drew ever key frame it would be a much slower process that what they do now. That way each new keyframe and part would have to be re Flashed out. What they do is have full turn arounds of the characters, along with a munch of and and mouth shapes. The animators then use those assests to make up the keys. That way things just need to be created once.
Aloha,
the Ape
—
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
If the animators drew ever key frame it would be a much slower process that what they do now. That way each new keyframe and part would have to be re Flashed out. What they do is have full turn arounds of the characters, along with a munch of and and mouth shapes. The animators then use those assests to make up the keys. That way things just need to be created once.
Aloha,
the Ape
well that makes sense but how does that work for angle changes? also arent the keys always different considering the myriad actions that would be taking place.
Limited animated shows don't have very many high and low camera angles. As for moving the camera left and right, thats what the turn arounds are for. With the flat graphic style of the animation, side, front, 3/4, back 3/4 and back views cover everything the animators need.
Blinkme, I've worked at a bunch of places where, we the animators, had to create all the assets as well as animate. But yes, it is nice :) By learning to do everything, it will give you a better idea of what does and doesn't work later on. Also it gives you a better appreciation of what it takes when others are doing these jobs.
Thats one thing I've found, is when people haven't done everything, they tend to not understand what it takes to do a certain job. Also they tend to not know the terminology to comunicate properly. So learning every part of production is helpful and useful even if you aren't directly envolved with certain parts.
Aloha,
the Ape
—
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
Limited animated shows don't have very many high and low camera angles. As for moving the camera left and right, thats what the turn arounds are for. With the flat graphic style of the animation, side, front, 3/4, back 3/4 and back views cover everything the animators need.
Blinkme, I've worked at a bunch of places where, we the animators, had to create all the assets as well as animate. But yes, it is nice :) By learning to do everything, it will give you a better idea of what does and doesn't work later on. Also it gives you a better appreciation of what it takes when others are doing these jobs.
Thats one thing I've found, is when people haven't done everything, they tend to not understand what it takes to do a certain job. Also they tend to not know the terminology to comunicate properly. So learning every part of production is helpful and useful even if you aren't directly envolved with certain parts.
Aloha,
the Ape
oh yeah. that makes a whole lotta sense now. but i think the way your show in particular flows in and out it dosent make it feel like a limited animation show simply coz of its pace.
wicked. im gonna have to think a lot on this one.
You pretty much nailed it Blink. She was created as a modern art/cubist imaginary friend and that's why she is treated very flat and ridgid when she moves.
Aloha,
the Ape
—
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
Glad you like the show Streak, and welcome to the Forums. I don't know who the Clockcrew is, pluss the Pilot wasn't animated by the Burbank team, so I don't know if they are in the pilot or not.
All the imaginary friends have back stories. ;) Take a good look at Coco and try and figure out her backstory :)
Aloha,
the Ape
—
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
It's hard to believe the program is done in flash, made a great job of it, everything just works so well... my animations don't tend to flow so well in flash.
Do you have any other flash animations i could look at?
EDIT: and a question on the animation, from the looks of the animation most is just moving symbols? but are the symbols moved frame by frame or with motion tweens?
All the imaginary friends have back stories. Take a good look at Coco and try and figure out her backstory
the product of a child loving sugar/chocolate/candy? haha.
or should i read farther into it?
like maybe her head is a cocoa tree, and her body is like a plane that exports the cocoa to other parts of the world...or...whatever the history of cocoa is. and shes a bird because a coocoo bird has kind of a similar name? plus there is the whole COO COO for COCOA PUFFS bird.
"who wouldn't want to make stuff for me? I'm awesome." -Bloo
I love the show. The best and most animated show on TV and finally a show with characters that are pleasing to the eye. I've got one question for you.
You say the characters are animated in Flash then composited with the backgrounds in After Effects. So when you are done animating in Flash how do you output the animation to easily use it wth After Effects? Do you use a colored background in Flash that is cut out in AE or do you make a mask or something in AE? Thanks for answering all the questions it has been exetremely informative and keep up the great work! :)
im going to say this is one of the better Flash made shows on tv and i think its more so because the production studio is within and closely allied to the creative team and the supervision is immediate.
while this must be f****** expensive, the result is there to see.
As for more Cheese... I donno, like Bloo said, a little cheese goes a long way :P I don't know if they plan on bringing Cheese back, but you never know. He is after all Mac's neighbor.
I actually came back to this thread because of Cheese. That episode alone is going to get me to buy a DVR (that and Madame Foster's "Smokey and the Bandit" Trans Am images)! Just wanted to let you know that almost everytime I am on campus at my kids elementary school, I hear some kid quoting a "Foster's" line, especially "I like chocolate milk..." in character as Cheese. lol!
I hope they have considered another Cheese episode, it would be great to see him again.
Ape. quik question and i hope you are free to answer it. Is your version of Flash the same as the one bought off the shelf ? or do you have some custom plug ins created or third party stuff you use for Flash?
Actually there is an awesome tool to do just that. You can have an unlimited number of layers in Flash. Then choose export, it will export in 3 formats, SWF, Quicktime, and PNG with alpha support. You can select frame ranges, and layers to export to. It even has the ability to change DPI upon export. An awesome tool, go to: http://www.4gsw.com
Our show, "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends," is on this month's cover of "Animation Magazine." There is also a multi page article about our show and with the show's creator, Craig McCracken. So happy reading. :)
The Ape
Some how I can't relate to that show, althogh it has interesting concepts.........ENJOY it while you can, come the fall of next year, MY CARTOON WILL BECOME THE NEW "FAD."
My Marketing approach will send other "it" cartoons scampering back to the drawing boards, DARE DEFY? OR DE-FEND!
Contest is what I want, it will only make me enjoy what I do even more, I didn't mean to sound rash, but I'm just excited, from one producer to another, understand :)
He who seeks the truth, must first empty his heart of a false pursuit.
Some how I can't relate to that show, althogh it has interesting concepts.........ENJOY it while you can, come the fall of next year, MY CARTOON WILL BECOME THE NEW "FAD."
My Marketing approach will send other "it" cartoons scampering back to the drawing boards, DARE DEFY? OR DE-FEND!
Contest is what I want, it will only make me enjoy what I do even more, I didn't mean to sound rash, but I'm just excited, from one producer to another, understand :)
Sorry Diemeras, I don't quite understand what you're talking about. I hope your new show does really well.
ghDude, Goo's a semi-main character, so she won't be in all the shows, she'll be popping in and out of the show from time to time.
Aloha,
the Ape
—
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
Sorry Diemeras, I don't quite understand what you're talking about. I hope your new show does really well.
ghDude, Goo's a semi-main character, so she won't be in all the shows, she'll be popping in and out of the show from time to time.
Aloha,
the Ape
Don't worry, I was only being a little too in the moment, but I will be looking to start some drama when my cartoon hits the air, and I ain't playing, some people's shows are gonna get hurt :cool: you better hear that.
He who seeks the truth, must first empty his heart of a false pursuit.
The Christmas special - A Lost Claus - was awesome!
No doubt Lauren was inspired by the perennial chesnut A Charlie Brown Christmas what with the reference to Snoopy's Doghouse and the puny little tree and the jazz rendetion of the theme.
Oh man, Fosters is playing all the time now on cartoon network. it is awesome.
what framerate do you guys animate on?
"who wouldn't want to make stuff for me? I'm awesome." -Bloo
hi,
animated ape asked me to have a look here in response to one of my questions in another thread. i think this is easily one of the best reads on this forum. great stuff.
i do have a question though :) how is your animation process like you have explained different from something like Powerpuff girls or another flash show? (assuming u have the info)
thanx and congrats on a wicked job.
The show is animated at 24 frames per second Blinkme.
Skinny, Power Puff Girls wasn't animated in Flash, it's a traditionally animated show, so it differs quite a bit. The process that is used on Fosters is pretty close to how some of the other Flash to broadcast show's are animated, with slight variations here and there. Thanks for the complement Skinny.
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
dude, do you ever sleep?
:)
why dont some of the traditional animators do the keys, digitise them and do the IBs in Flash, it can save some time
is there a drawback to that or do people already do that?
sorry if this is OT
Sleep? Is that a Yetish word or something? I don't understand... ;)
Ontiaous
Black Anvil Designs©
Sleep does not compute.
If the animators drew ever key frame it would be a much slower process that what they do now. That way each new keyframe and part would have to be re Flashed out. What they do is have full turn arounds of the characters, along with a munch of and and mouth shapes. The animators then use those assests to make up the keys. That way things just need to be created once.
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
it must be nice to have the stuff created and you just animate it.
In school it is pretty much all self designed, self made/drawn/modeled, self animated.
"who wouldn't want to make stuff for me? I'm awesome." -Bloo
well that makes sense but how does that work for angle changes? also arent the keys always different considering the myriad actions that would be taking place.
Limited animated shows don't have very many high and low camera angles. As for moving the camera left and right, thats what the turn arounds are for. With the flat graphic style of the animation, side, front, 3/4, back 3/4 and back views cover everything the animators need.
Blinkme, I've worked at a bunch of places where, we the animators, had to create all the assets as well as animate. But yes, it is nice :) By learning to do everything, it will give you a better idea of what does and doesn't work later on. Also it gives you a better appreciation of what it takes when others are doing these jobs.
Thats one thing I've found, is when people haven't done everything, they tend to not understand what it takes to do a certain job. Also they tend to not know the terminology to comunicate properly. So learning every part of production is helpful and useful even if you aren't directly envolved with certain parts.
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
Hey, ape. My friend as well is into fosters, and i was just talking to him over InstantMessanger when he was in the middle of watching an episode.
so he asks me "is dutchess 2d?"
then i was like "oh....good question"
Because i notice when dutches turns she goes flat then faces the other direction. Just like when you tween a flash symbol facing the opposite way.
So why is dutchess animated this way? is she paper thin in relation to the fosters world?
"who wouldn't want to make stuff for me? I'm awesome." -Bloo
oh yeah. that makes a whole lotta sense now. but i think the way your show in particular flows in and out it dosent make it feel like a limited animation show simply coz of its pace.
wicked. im gonna have to think a lot on this one.
You pretty much nailed it Blink. She was created as a modern art/cubist imaginary friend and that's why she is treated very flat and ridgid when she moves.
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
hey, i'm new to the forum, a flash animator myself, and first of all i'd like to say i think the show rocks :)
I heard a rumour that in the pilot episode, there were members of the clockcrew in photos on the walls? is this true?
ooo, now im thinking about character backgrounds.
Is there any like reasoning Wilt is like missing most of on of his arms? or is it just in the character design, no real meaning or reason.
It is something i have always been asking myself when i see him: "whats the deal with his arm?"
"who wouldn't want to make stuff for me? I'm awesome." -Bloo
Glad you like the show Streak, and welcome to the Forums. I don't know who the Clockcrew is, pluss the Pilot wasn't animated by the Burbank team, so I don't know if they are in the pilot or not.
All the imaginary friends have back stories. ;) Take a good look at Coco and try and figure out her backstory :)
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
It's hard to believe the program is done in flash, made a great job of it, everything just works so well... my animations don't tend to flow so well in flash.
Do you have any other flash animations i could look at?
EDIT: and a question on the animation, from the looks of the animation most is just moving symbols? but are the symbols moved frame by frame or with motion tweens?
the product of a child loving sugar/chocolate/candy? haha.
or should i read farther into it?
like maybe her head is a cocoa tree, and her body is like a plane that exports the cocoa to other parts of the world...or...whatever the history of cocoa is. and shes a bird because a coocoo bird has kind of a similar name? plus there is the whole COO COO for COCOA PUFFS bird.
"who wouldn't want to make stuff for me? I'm awesome." -Bloo
Hiya Ape,
I love the show. The best and most animated show on TV and finally a show with characters that are pleasing to the eye. I've got one question for you.
You say the characters are animated in Flash then composited with the backgrounds in After Effects. So when you are done animating in Flash how do you output the animation to easily use it wth After Effects? Do you use a colored background in Flash that is cut out in AE or do you make a mask or something in AE? Thanks for answering all the questions it has been exetremely informative and keep up the great work! :)
im going to say this is one of the better Flash made shows on tv and i think its more so because the production studio is within and closely allied to the creative team and the supervision is immediate.
while this must be f****** expensive, the result is there to see.
I don't know if i've comented here yet. but I love Foster's. It's a great inspritation.
My two favorite episodes have to be the one with Blue's party. Mac hopped up on all that sugar, hilarious!
Number two, is the one where Mac and Blue spent the whole episode trying to get downstairs and always ending up back on the roof. hehe.
Oh, and the episode with Cheese.
Website http://dapper-dandy.com
Cartoon Syndicate project
http://cartoon-syndicate.com
I don't know After Effects Phorbin, I just animated and let the compositing team work their voodoo.
The animation costs are pretty close to shipping it overseas, so thats not a big issue.
Mahalo,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
I actually came back to this thread because of Cheese. That episode alone is going to get me to buy a DVR (that and Madame Foster's "Smokey and the Bandit" Trans Am images)! Just wanted to let you know that almost everytime I am on campus at my kids elementary school, I hear some kid quoting a "Foster's" line, especially "I like chocolate milk..." in character as Cheese. lol!
I hope they have considered another Cheese episode, it would be great to see him again.
Ape. quik question and i hope you are free to answer it. Is your version of Flash the same as the one bought off the shelf ? or do you have some custom plug ins created or third party stuff you use for Flash?
It's the straight consumer version.
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
man, you guys are ****** ***** ***** good.
I think Foster's is great!
I like Goo... saw the episode 3 times.
hope you bring her back in future episodes.
Hi All,
Actually there is an awesome tool to do just that. You can have an unlimited number of layers in Flash. Then choose export, it will export in 3 formats, SWF, Quicktime, and PNG with alpha support. You can select frame ranges, and layers to export to. It even has the ability to change DPI upon export. An awesome tool, go to: http://www.4gsw.com
--
Tazz, animator
Some how I can't relate to that show, althogh it has interesting concepts.........ENJOY it while you can, come the fall of next year, MY CARTOON WILL BECOME THE NEW "FAD."
My Marketing approach will send other "it" cartoons scampering back to the drawing boards, DARE DEFY? OR DE-FEND!
Contest is what I want, it will only make me enjoy what I do even more, I didn't mean to sound rash, but I'm just excited, from one producer to another, understand :)
He who seeks the truth, must first empty his heart of a false pursuit.
Diemeras Dark Angel
Sorry Diemeras, I don't quite understand what you're talking about. I hope your new show does really well.
ghDude, Goo's a semi-main character, so she won't be in all the shows, she'll be popping in and out of the show from time to time.
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
Don't worry, I was only being a little too in the moment, but I will be looking to start some drama when my cartoon hits the air, and I ain't playing, some people's shows are gonna get hurt :cool: you better hear that.
He who seeks the truth, must first empty his heart of a false pursuit.
Diemeras Dark Angel
The Christmas special - A Lost Claus - was awesome!
No doubt Lauren was inspired by the perennial chesnut A Charlie Brown Christmas what with the reference to Snoopy's Doghouse and the puny little tree and the jazz rendetion of the theme.
Blahdy blahdy blahdy blahdy blahady...
any way i can get him or lauren tom to consider having the kankers guest star in a future episode, since they managed to get the eds in one?
because just once i'd like to see them in that show for a laugh.
http://www.incorporateds.faithweb.com/
love is the answer
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