Outsourcing animation, in order to save costs, has been a mainstay of the American animation industry for more than two decades now. Numerous countries, where labor is much cheaper than hiring homegrown talent, have seen the struggling animation industry through many trials over the years. Now, however, the tables have turned. With the U.S. dollar at the lowest it's been in 13 years, Chinese companies have begun outsourcing their animation to operations here in the U.S.

To that end, Studio ArtFX and Terrence Walker have been offered $438.00 American dollars to animate a 90 minute feature film for burgeoning Chinese technology firm Siu Kru Yu. Although the firm, which has specialized in IT since its inception, has never ventured into entertainment before, the team of managers in charge of the project seem confident that the script, penned by the bosses wife, will break them into the business with a bang. Company president Chien Lee Zhang, however, has chosen not to be personally involved in the project.

"My wife has wanted to write since she was a child." Spoke the aging CEO. "Even though she has never written a story before, I am certain that her script might find some viewers." Although turned down by numerous studios in China, the prospect of animating the film for a low cost in the U.S., with its steadily weakening dollar, has made company president Zhang's wife's dream a reality.

"This would not have been possibly if not for current economic circumstances." laughed Zhang. "Films take a long time to make. If the dollar continues to fall, it'll be like getting all that work done for free."

Tags: Art

I posted this in the Daz forums yesterday and it sparked an interesting debate, so I decided to repost it here:
(all images from Daz and Vue galleries)

There is much that can be said in praise of CG art where the creator did everything themselves, and I think we all know of certain CG sites where the type of art we do here is seriously looked down upon or even viciously attacked.

I used to be a professional artist (and all that implies). Human characters and rigs was my focus. I was very good at it and achieved photorealism on more than one occasion. I have modeled sub-D characters, NURB characters, and polygon characters. I have worked in video games, TV and film. For most of that time I knew very little, if anything, about the whole Poser world. What little I did hear, coming from "professional artists" was not good. Sadly, I believed it without ever having looked at the program for myself. These guys use Maya. They must be right, right?

The first time someone really tried to push me into Poser was quite a few years ago when I was at the now defunct EA Vegas, formerly known as Westwood Studios. He was an avid Poser user and did a lot of matte paintings for Threshold, on the Mortal Kombat movies and TV series. When you see those little people walking around in the matte paintings, those are Poser people.

So one day he said, "I can't imagine why you don't use Poser. It's perfect for what you do!" I replied, "Yeah, yeah..." Still he decided to show me just how quick and easy it was to populate a scene with characters walking and running around. He also showed me how much content, as far as human styles and costumes, there was available. Still I thought, "Maybe I use it for extras or background characters." On one of the Command & Conquer games there was a scene where Cain, the bad guy, is giving a speech to a bunch of soldiers. He did the crowd in Poser. It was easy.

That was a long time ago, so it must have been Poser 2 or 3. Over the years I saw Poser get better, but never gave it much more thought. Then something changed.

Around 2006 I was working on a movie, a low budget creature flick directed by the guy who designed the dragons for Reign of Fire. Because he had a name and had worked on quite a few big movies, he had connections. This allowed him to "borrow" sets for his film that we could never afford. Being an art director, he threw up some tarps, some lanterns and some good lighting and BOOM! New set. He did the same with costumes. He knew people and it helped. So did we have totally original stuff of our creation in the film? No, but it made our movie of less than $2 million look like it must have cost $20 million or more. That's when I gave Poser more serious consideration.

If there's one thing I never liked to model, it's generic, real world things, like, say, a Baretta 9mm pistol. I modeled one once. Did a great job too, near photoreal, but it took a lot of time and effort and had I known about this site back then I would have paid $20 for a pack of guns and moved on.

As I mentioned before, human characters was my focus and I had been modeling them for ages before I found about this site. When I saw the latest versions of Poser and then later found this site I was truly happy! Why should I continue to model human characters? There comes a point past which human characters are not getting any better. And that goes double for generic clothing like T-Shirts, jeans, underwear, bikinis and the like. They are everywhere here! If there's one thing I don't believe in, it's reinventing the wheel.

I mentioned in another thread how I paid nearly $50 for a mask on Turbo Squid. I was working on a scene where I needed it and at that point I had two choices. Pull out a card, pay the $50. Drop the mask in the scene and move on, OR drop everything I am doing and spend the time to model up and texture a mask to go on the wall in the background of my scene. Personally, I would rather spend m time focusing on my story, characters, good lighting etc.

Buying content that does what you need simply makes sense, and the prices on this site can't be beat. You think Stone Mason's prices are high? A few buildings cost hundreds of dollars on a "pro" site like 3D02. Speaking of which, who do you think is buying content off these super expensive pro sites? I asked a buddy of mine at Zoic about buying content and he said, "Hell yeah! All the time." The big guys buy content too. When you have a tight deadline on your TV show or movie and you need to flip a 2007 BMW 525, do you think they pay some guy thousands and give him months to model it? So while the "pro" artists on certain sites may sit around and bash Poser, they do plenty of content buying too, even in shows like CSI, BSG, Angel, X-men and many more.

You know what? I say let the pros talk while they spend $200 on a human model that looks no better than Victoria. Or worse, spend months to model something that doesn't come close. (Have you seen the digital stunt doubles in some recent movies?! PS3 games look better!) And if they want to say what we do isn't art, let them say it if it makes them feel better! Do you enjoy what you do? Do you love playing with the software and the content we have here? Does your art look the way you want it to look? Then who cares what anyone else has to say?

I'm going to make something cool in Poser now.

Tags: Art

I decided to remove the link to the old blog archive from the main menu and it has now been replaced by the gallery. It's not a completely new gallery. Some of the images were on the previous incarnation of this site. A few are new. The link to the blog archive has now been made into a category in this blog. In fact, I have, up until now, been unaware of just how useful blog categories can be. I was schooled by my friend Bryan when he setup his blog to chronicle his Carnival Cruise voyages, even though I introduced him to Rapid Weaver, the web design tool I use for this site!

Learning from his blog, I will begin making better use of categories in the future, including adding a FAQ category to keep a tally of questions I am often emailed. I can also organize posts based on the different projects I am doing using categories, so those who are interested in a particular item, like Anigen, will be able to jump directly to the posts dealing with that subject. I'm not yet sure how I will work it all out, but it will probably be slowly implemented over time.

So from here on out, to get to the old blog archive, click here.

Tags: Art

We've always heard about "life imitating art" by right now my thoughts turn to the matter of life getting in the way of art. I'm doing laundry right now. Lately it's become far more apparent just how much life can get in the way of the enthusiasm to really create something.

The day before yesterday I was exploring new Poser figures and morph targets and really got excited about all the new possibilities and how much better things could look. Like many success teachers mentioned, I was in the place where I couldn't wait to get up the next day and dive back into it. Ideas were flowing and I wanted to see what could really be done. I wanted to see how far I could take things. Unfortunately, when I got up the next day, I had to go grocery shopping. Well, I had to go if I wanted to eat that day anyway.

Of course that didn't stop me from eventually getting in there and playing. I mean, it was nearly lunch time when I got around to it, but after lunch I was able to get deeper into exploring. I got so deep that I really couldn't wait to get up and get back to it this morning. Of course, then I realized I had to do laundry. The building I live in doesn't offer washers and dryers in the rooms. I am not even sure washing machines existed when this place was built. There is a room on the other side of the building with washers and dryers and they are few, so one has to get in early. It's also wise to go back and check on your stuff now and again.

These are little things, I know, but they can be huge when it comes to breaking the flow and the excitement of creation. I guess the next interruption will be going to get my passport renewed. That will be worth it though. Then I can go somewhere in Asia and stay in a five star hotel like I did in China. Everything is done for me there. Life can never get in the way of art again!

Tags: life, Art

It took me years to realize just how much I overthink things. Worse still, just when I realize it and start moving down another path, I fall back into the same old ways before long. Sadly, overthinking really boils down to one thing: Worrying too much about what other people think or say instead of making what you really want to make.

PJ Foley of The Foley Folio sent me an email the other day about the Nine Inch Nails Ghosts project. In this project, Reznor says, "This music arrived unexpectedly as the result of an experiment. The rules were as follows: 10 weeks, no clear agenda, no overthinking, everything driven by impulse. Whatever happens during that time gets released as... something." When I read that, I remembered that that's how I used to do it! I used to enjoy it so much just creating in freedom, especially when I was a kid. I still did it, to a point, even up to creating Skeleton Man.

The funny thing is, I still do that sometimes. Unfortunately, I usually I create in freedom when I am testing out technology as opposed to testing out ideas. Oftentimes I go back and look at that stuff and see that it is better than what I create when I am seriously trying to make a show.

Trent Reznor goes on to say, "We began improvising and let the music decide the direction. Eyes were closed, hands played instruments and it began. Within a matter of days it became clear we were on to something, and a lot of material began appearing." That's what I really want. To let my art decide the direction. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying this path or method is for everyone, and I'm really not even recommending it. It's just something I miss. This isn't the only answer to overthinking, not by a long shot.

Overthinking can be overcome by getting your boards done and sticking to them, no matter how many other ideas you come up with. If you've been working on your project for years and the boards aren't done, you're probably overthinking. If you're a scriptwriting type and your script isn't done, ask yourself if you're overthinking. If you're working on your art and find yourself messing with individual pixels, you just might be overthinking. According to my spell checker, overthinking isn't even a word, so there's no excuse for doing it!

There are many ways out of the overthinking trap, and they all usually involve doing something, sometimes anything. Do a little side project to clear the mind and regain focus. Do something unrelated the project for a while. The bottom line is that if you're overthinking, you are more than likely talking yourself out of making the project you really want to make.

Tags: life, Art

I am just about back in business, with everything up and running after my major computer crash experience. Of course, it will never be the same, but moving forward, one would expect things will be better! I've learned some things in getting back up to speed, things about following the trend. I am talking about a technological trend here. Software is always updating and some newer "better" version of something is always coming out, but does that mean it is the best thing for your project? We as indie creators don't necessarily benefit from using the same tools the studios use, no matter how good they may seem.

Rebuilding from scratch I saw a lot of flaws in where I had taken my system and my production pipeline. We've all heard the term "bloatware". There are some major software packages many of use that are guilty of that. They keep piling things on, adding new code and features when they should be rewriting and the program just bogs down over the years. Well, that's what I had done to my system. I had all this power and didn't see that it was stifling. When I first got the system, what was one of the first things I did? It was ANIGEN. Production was smooth and simple, using mostly tools that came with the system. I could create in freedom. If I had an idea, I could just do it.

I am coming back simple now. Recreating my system has allowed me to organize things in such a way that nothing can stand in the way of an idea. I could imagine something and see on screen results in a matter of hours, with sound and music even! I am now getting back into posting on my blog regularly and have a lot of topics I want to discuss about the state of the industry and where we as independent creators can go from here. I also have some new animation under way and there will be a few surprises coming up pretty soon.

One of things I am wondering about, for those who are working on their own projects, if anyone is struggling to just see results, what is the one thing you think is keeping you from getting into a "just do it" mode? I have learned from much experience that oftentimes the main thing holding me back is me. My own thinking about a project or worry about what a project should be instead of truly doing what I love. Looking around at what everyone else is doing, what Hollywood is doing, or what the Japanese are doing, concerning myself with what's "popular" or "could sell". There's no such thing as should in nature.

It should be fun! If it isn't, ask yourself, are you truly doing your project or are you doing someone else's?

Tags: life, Art

Warner Bros. and the creators of Superman Doomsday are at it again with Justice League: The New Frontier, an upcoming animated movie debuting February 26th on DVD and HD formats. This time it looks like they are raising the bar in every way. In this 1950's era origin story of the Justice League, it seems they are really pushing American animation to the limits of how serious and mature a show can be. It's still a show about superheroes in tights and yet it seems this one will play more real than many TV dramas.

The list of names in the voice cast alone makes it clear that they are not playing games with this movie, nor are they casting it aside as a "cartoon" and spending no time and effort on it. With well known screen actors voicing the main characters, they sound better than I could have ever hoped to see animation in english sound in my lifetime.

I was extremely impressed with Superman Doomsday and the level of writing that went into the characters and relationships in that tale. This time they have a much larger canvas to play with and because of the time period, they've opened the door to dealing with some serious issues which still need addressing today. These serious issues are not dealt with as one might expect of a cartoon. In this show, people die and there is blood.

While Beowulf, at the box office, may have done little to help advance the cause of more mature animation, Warner Brothers and D.C. seem to be showing that there is a market for it and that they are glad to make the content to serve that market. I hope this is yet another taste of greater things to come.

Tags: DVD, movies, Art

That strange visitor I speak of is none other than Superman, strange visitor from another planet. What I mean by hope is what I saw in the direct to DVD movie Superman Doomsday an animated film based on The Death of Superman story arc from the comic series many years ago. The hope that this movie brings to American animation is that is shows that there is potential for well done, more mature animated content, and that American creators can do it as well as any foreign studios. Being 2D, the grunt work of animation is, of course, done overseas, this time in Korea, but I'm talking here about good character development, dialogue and awesome voice acting.

The movie brings back memories of the theatrically released Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, which proved that more serious and dark animation for older audiences can find viewers that crave it. You will note in the credits some names associated with that film are also present on Superman Doomsday. This movie also shows that there are still areas where animation shines, able to present things that, even in our CG effects laden world, would be impossible or far too expensive to do in a live action film. This has more city destruction than Armageddon, bigger military battles than Transformers and more super action that Superman Returns. It would cost over half a billion to attempt such a feat in live action. This is a movie made for animation and it was made well.

Still, with all the amazing visuals and explosions, they find the time to give the characters real lives. It's nothing like those cartoons where the characters have no life or thought outside of their current mission. Characters drink, break down and cry, sever relationships, basically do real human things. The voice cast features Adam Baldwin, Ann Heche, James Marsters and Ray Wise among others, like anime notable John DiMaggio. The actors play the characters very real in some scenes and make them very believable.

I could go on about this, but needless to say I was very impressed. I can only hope this leads to more such productions, not just from Warner Animation, but other studios as well. I also hope it leads to such quality being put into animation of all genres in the future.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I expect great things in 2008! How about you?

Tags: DVD, movies, Art

I wanted to keep this blog updated more than I have been lately. I wanted to show some kind of inside view of the life of a content creator. The last episode took a lot longer than I expected but the result was definitely worth it for me. I am very happy with it. I'm not, however, constantly plodding away at creating art and music for the show all day.

Of course, there are plenty of time when I am not creating at all, but I found that there are also times when I have the urge to create, but not necessarily for the show. I just have ideas that need to get on screen. This issue isn't just because of ideas though. It also has to do with time.

You see, I love to draw. I love to create images. There was a time where, because I was working on a show, I felt I always had to be working on that show. Sometimes, though, it can be late at night, and I have maybe an hour before I go to bed, and I want to draw. I often would find something else to do because it wouldn't advance the show. I now see this as a mistake.

Sometimes I jut had an urge to draw something that had nothing to do with the show. I used to put that out of my mind too. Lately though, I realize it is better to draw it, even if it serves no purpose. Well, there's no such thing as a drawing that serves no purpose. All drawing will at least improve my skill and be a matter of learning. So now, when I feel like drawing, even if it is completely unrelated to the episode at hand, I do it.

This can apply to animation as well, though it may be prudent to be a bit more careful here. I did animate a couple scenes which are not used in the second episode. They weren't really meant for it. They were more "to see if I could" type scenes. Then again, I also wrote music that is not used. Music is the thing I get to spend the least amount time on though, and since I have never really pulled out my new keyboard and wrote real music in Garage Band until this episode, there was some need to just explore and play. I can say that I will definitely be writing more serious score material for future episodes. There's so much ground the explore there.

The point of all this, though, was to say that from now on, when I create such images or even music not for the show, I will post them here on this blog. This is a part of the life of a creator.

On an unrelated note, I am currently listening to the score for Transformers, which is by Steve Jablonsky. I learned of this composer by his amazing musical work on the Katsuhiro Otomo film Steam Boy. Steve Jablonsky is, I believe, one of the Media Ventures guys, a group of film composers who work for, and sound a lot like, Hans Zimmer. This group includes NIck Glennie-Smith (The Rock), Harry Gregson Williams (Metal Gear Solid 2), Trevor Rabin (Con Air), John Powell, Klaus Badelt, Mark Macina and probably a few others I am forgetting. I knew them all well before I ever heard of Steve Jablonsky, and when I heard the score for Steam Boy, Steve Jablonsky quickly became my favorite of the group. After hearing Transformers, though, I really believe he is the best of the bunch.

Anyway, I will try to write here more often from now on. I will come back soon to fill you in a couple of interesting things that happened while working on episode 2.

Tags: Drawing, Art