GET DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS
One of the reasons I wanted to move away from this blog is because... well, I'm blogging right now instead of working on my show! ;) Seriously though, one of the reasons was that I wasn't seeing the results I was hoping for. I wasn't seeing the indie animaton world change on the level I expected. In fact, the world of animation as whole seemed to be getting worse, with even major TV animation descending into cheap Flash cartoons.
Even though most of us here know that great quality can be achieved for next to nothing, if someone is willing to work for it, it's another story altogether to actually see it being done. To that end, I was extremely surprised to read this in the comments to my last post:
After reading your blog a year ago (A YEAR!!) I decided to do something similar - unleash the creative beast, create my 'masterpiece'. Now everyone claims they have no time or manpower or whatever to make their movie, so I decided to break it down into tiny chunks. I rendered one shot a day. One shot. Be it 2 seconds long or 20 seconds, I'd set up the scene in the evening and let it render overnight. Then the next day do it all over again. Not spending 2 weeks on a walk cycle or 8 hours modelling an ear... but just getting on with it.
That was the comment from Dave about his half hour mini-epic Merry Xmas Sick Puppy. In that comment, he goes on to say, "Yes, I know its not PIXAR quality, but hey, I dont think its complete crap either! With a bit of focus and determination its possible." He is absolutely right. That is the attitude I wish I saw more of in this industry. That is the attitude I also wish I saw more of in myself.
Working in the larger studios has done great things for me and my learning, but it also comes with a great detriment. Dealing with the constant notes and changes, multiple producers trying to push their, usually pointless, ideas starts to make one analyze things too much. Will this fly? Can this actually work? Shouldn't it be this way? Will it not sell if there's swearing? There's nothing wrong with the questions themselves. It's when the questions stop you from doing anything at all that it becomes a problem.
Over the years, I started and stopped a few projects for a number of different reasons. Some of them should never have been started at all. I was making what others wanted me to make. I was trying to make what was expected of me. I may have tried to make what I believed could sell. Basically, anything but just doing what I wanted to do. It didn't occur to me that it really was that easy. Just do what you want to do.
When I was working with TOKYOPOP I experienced a lot of the tweaking and notes, contant meetings with multiple editors, each with their own idea of how it should, everyone trying to craft the book into... I don't know, and all for what? I mean, the book did OK, but, in their own words, it wasn't "flying off the shelves." Who's to say it would not have done just as well had I went my own way and just did my thing?
Unfortunately, I let too much of that thinking seep into my own ideas of creating. This led to "analysis paralysis" as some would call it. Instead of just doing something, like Understanding Chaos, and putting it out there to see what happened, I would spend hours in my own internal "meetings" pondering the same types of things that I learned at the majors. The fact is, though, that the majors are often spending millions to make a project and must appel to the largest possible audience to even hope to make a profit. They need focus groups and testing because they have painted themselves into that corner. As indies we do not have that problem. We can literally make anything. If it doesn't fly, just move on. Not everything is going work, but we have the freedom to at least try and do that thing no one else would dare.
One thing the new site is not going to be about is tools. Let's face it. There are a hundred ways to get your show done and I certainly don't know all of them. There are dozens of great tools out there and, in the end, they all boil down to the same thing. They are just tools. These days, though, they are constantly changing and there seems to be a point upgrade every other month. They move menus out from under our noses and rearrange things to the point of having to learn all over again. Always thinking the next great tool was going to make me "good enough" to just do it has been another great hinderance.
I am done with tools. I am done talking about tools. I am done recommending tools. There's always a better tool out there. I found this out for certain yesterday when all my plans for the new site changed in a flash by someone recommending a web design tool that literall blew my mind. It's not about the tools. In fact, I was able to do what I did often because I used the existing tools in ways they were never meant to be used. I am starting to see why so many old school animators just stick with what they know.
In the early days of the Amiga Computer, when you bought a piece of software, you bought it because it did exactly what you wanted it to do and that was it. There was no thought of upgrades. Often times, the next "version" was a totally new program, based on the original, and had a completely different name. "Silver" became "Turbo Silver" which became "Imagine". They were as much as two years apart. Granted, the technology was new to everyone. Things like phong shading and texture maps didn't exist in the first 3D programs so the next version had to be completely different. Still, the paradigm was the same for many 2D paint programs. They would make it and just move on. One of the few companies doing upgrades like we have today was the makers of "Deluxe Paint". That was EA. You know, they make those Madden Football games that are the same thing every year.
Tools are a big part of why I don't want to do this anymore. I use a Mac now. The blogging tools I have here don't support the Mac very well. Everything you see, the images, the bold text, the color changes and formatting, the Youtube embeds, I have to manually type in the HTML code to make that happen. As is the case with all tools, there's always a better way to do things. The tools I'll be using on the new site are WYSIWYG, very powerful and actually fun to use. I will have more control.
There will be a blog on the new site. I can't say for certain what it will be about or how often it will be updated though. It will probably be about the life of the indie animator. Can one even make a good living at this? Where does the artist go and what things do they do when not animating? Well, that's just one idea. I don't honestly know what it will be for sure. That isn't the focus of the new site. The new site is about creating a world.
Websites like Homestarrunner and Megatokyo have created their own little world and been quite successful at it. It took time to build their empires, but the fruits of their labor are clear today. The world I am creating isn't exactly like that, though from the web standpoint it may be handled similarly. The world I am creating is more akin to the world Tolkien created, in which most of his stories place, or the mystical Jiang Hu world created by Chinese Wuxia novelists of centuries past. It is a complete world like the Hyperborean Age of Robert E. Howard. It also has its history like the world Lucas created for Star Wars.
That is what the new site is really about. Of course, I am starting small. I intend to let time do its work. Like Dave, the creator of Merry Xmas Sick Puppy, even one shot per day will add up to something great given enough time.
Even though most of us here know that great quality can be achieved for next to nothing, if someone is willing to work for it, it's another story altogether to actually see it being done. To that end, I was extremely surprised to read this in the comments to my last post:
After reading your blog a year ago (A YEAR!!) I decided to do something similar - unleash the creative beast, create my 'masterpiece'. Now everyone claims they have no time or manpower or whatever to make their movie, so I decided to break it down into tiny chunks. I rendered one shot a day. One shot. Be it 2 seconds long or 20 seconds, I'd set up the scene in the evening and let it render overnight. Then the next day do it all over again. Not spending 2 weeks on a walk cycle or 8 hours modelling an ear... but just getting on with it.
That was the comment from Dave about his half hour mini-epic Merry Xmas Sick Puppy. In that comment, he goes on to say, "Yes, I know its not PIXAR quality, but hey, I dont think its complete crap either! With a bit of focus and determination its possible." He is absolutely right. That is the attitude I wish I saw more of in this industry. That is the attitude I also wish I saw more of in myself.
Working in the larger studios has done great things for me and my learning, but it also comes with a great detriment. Dealing with the constant notes and changes, multiple producers trying to push their, usually pointless, ideas starts to make one analyze things too much. Will this fly? Can this actually work? Shouldn't it be this way? Will it not sell if there's swearing? There's nothing wrong with the questions themselves. It's when the questions stop you from doing anything at all that it becomes a problem.
Over the years, I started and stopped a few projects for a number of different reasons. Some of them should never have been started at all. I was making what others wanted me to make. I was trying to make what was expected of me. I may have tried to make what I believed could sell. Basically, anything but just doing what I wanted to do. It didn't occur to me that it really was that easy. Just do what you want to do.
When I was working with TOKYOPOP I experienced a lot of the tweaking and notes, contant meetings with multiple editors, each with their own idea of how it should, everyone trying to craft the book into... I don't know, and all for what? I mean, the book did OK, but, in their own words, it wasn't "flying off the shelves." Who's to say it would not have done just as well had I went my own way and just did my thing?
Unfortunately, I let too much of that thinking seep into my own ideas of creating. This led to "analysis paralysis" as some would call it. Instead of just doing something, like Understanding Chaos, and putting it out there to see what happened, I would spend hours in my own internal "meetings" pondering the same types of things that I learned at the majors. The fact is, though, that the majors are often spending millions to make a project and must appel to the largest possible audience to even hope to make a profit. They need focus groups and testing because they have painted themselves into that corner. As indies we do not have that problem. We can literally make anything. If it doesn't fly, just move on. Not everything is going work, but we have the freedom to at least try and do that thing no one else would dare.
TOOLS
One thing the new site is not going to be about is tools. Let's face it. There are a hundred ways to get your show done and I certainly don't know all of them. There are dozens of great tools out there and, in the end, they all boil down to the same thing. They are just tools. These days, though, they are constantly changing and there seems to be a point upgrade every other month. They move menus out from under our noses and rearrange things to the point of having to learn all over again. Always thinking the next great tool was going to make me "good enough" to just do it has been another great hinderance.
I am done with tools. I am done talking about tools. I am done recommending tools. There's always a better tool out there. I found this out for certain yesterday when all my plans for the new site changed in a flash by someone recommending a web design tool that literall blew my mind. It's not about the tools. In fact, I was able to do what I did often because I used the existing tools in ways they were never meant to be used. I am starting to see why so many old school animators just stick with what they know.
In the early days of the Amiga Computer, when you bought a piece of software, you bought it because it did exactly what you wanted it to do and that was it. There was no thought of upgrades. Often times, the next "version" was a totally new program, based on the original, and had a completely different name. "Silver" became "Turbo Silver" which became "Imagine". They were as much as two years apart. Granted, the technology was new to everyone. Things like phong shading and texture maps didn't exist in the first 3D programs so the next version had to be completely different. Still, the paradigm was the same for many 2D paint programs. They would make it and just move on. One of the few companies doing upgrades like we have today was the makers of "Deluxe Paint". That was EA. You know, they make those Madden Football games that are the same thing every year.
Tools are a big part of why I don't want to do this anymore. I use a Mac now. The blogging tools I have here don't support the Mac very well. Everything you see, the images, the bold text, the color changes and formatting, the Youtube embeds, I have to manually type in the HTML code to make that happen. As is the case with all tools, there's always a better way to do things. The tools I'll be using on the new site are WYSIWYG, very powerful and actually fun to use. I will have more control.
There will be a blog on the new site. I can't say for certain what it will be about or how often it will be updated though. It will probably be about the life of the indie animator. Can one even make a good living at this? Where does the artist go and what things do they do when not animating? Well, that's just one idea. I don't honestly know what it will be for sure. That isn't the focus of the new site. The new site is about creating a world.
CREATING A WORLD
Websites like Homestarrunner and Megatokyo have created their own little world and been quite successful at it. It took time to build their empires, but the fruits of their labor are clear today. The world I am creating isn't exactly like that, though from the web standpoint it may be handled similarly. The world I am creating is more akin to the world Tolkien created, in which most of his stories place, or the mystical Jiang Hu world created by Chinese Wuxia novelists of centuries past. It is a complete world like the Hyperborean Age of Robert E. Howard. It also has its history like the world Lucas created for Star Wars.
That is what the new site is really about. Of course, I am starting small. I intend to let time do its work. Like Dave, the creator of Merry Xmas Sick Puppy, even one shot per day will add up to something great given enough time.
6 Comments:
So you are not going to share what this great web design tool is? ;)
I thought Macs were supposed to have great support for building web sites etc.? Is Blogger the problem or it it something else? I have been considering getting a Mac (for other reasons) and I was hoping that cool web design stuff was one of the bonuses. Is that not the case?
I think you are right that the tools don't matter in the bigger scheme of things, but it certainly helps when someone discovers something useful and shares it. Please don't forget that.
BTW I liked those clips but the womans eyes are a little off in the first one (which you probably already knew but...:)).
It sounds like you've found your focus, Terrence. I agree with your position on tools; they matter a bit, but not nearly as much as what you do with them.
Hey Terrance, thanks for the namecheck! I’m glad to see you’re gaining momentum on the programme you actually want to make - I really do believe that focus and determination are the most important ‘tools’ anyone needs. Remember – keep moving!
Of course there will always be better tools to do the job, and that’s always going to be the case, but you have to draw the line somewhere. I know 3D Max quite well and Im pretty average at modeling and animating – but I know enough in each area to be able to create myself a solution when a problem arises without having to drop everything and learn something new.
Your summary of the way big business works is depressingly accurate. Everyone and their brother will have an opinion of how something should look, and your product will get bent and bashed beyond recognition… the end result being far LESS spectacular than your first (and usually best) pass at it.
Im reminded of a MONSTERS INC documentary from a few years back. It had one shot of the one eyed green guy talking to a woman in a booth. And this lone animator was there who had spend months animating this seconds-long sequence. I couldn’t believe it. MONTHS! Not building any of it. Not texturing. Not lighting. Just animating. Then after much to-and-fro-ing it moved on to ‘lighting’ for someone else to make it look nice. Months… for mere seconds of screentime. Now Ive got a lot of time for the quality output of PIXAR, but THAT? That is ridiculous. And it is the very antithesis of what I’m trying to achieve.
The upside of working on your own independent animation is that there’s no-one else to stick their nose in, to make unnecessary tweaks… change for the sake of change. The downside of course is that unless you’re really focused you can easily be derailed with thoughts of ‘maybe I can do that better’
I try to avoid this with my animations by NEVER returning to a shot unless its REALLY BAD. Yes I do have some standards, but the way I figure is this: Watch a film or tv show, look how its edited… average shot time hardly ever rises over 5 or 6 seconds, and way lower if its action. So if theres something wrong in the shot you got to ask yourself would anyone else really notice it…?… coz it’ll be offscreen in 5 seconds anyway. So I never re-render a shot unless someones arm is flipping out, or something serious has happened.
Shoot. Move on. Keep moving.
Always keep moving.
There are WYSWYG editors that work well on the Mac platform. Forget about platform, there are online tools and editors. Either way it does not matter, yeah they're just tools.
BTW, the best tools . .. pencil and paper. They can always be scanned, edited and composited to create an excellent animated piece.
As an independent, you're never going to have enough time to complete your project so one day, 1 to 20 or so frames a day, or every other day works well enough.
One thing this blog has helped put in my head is that completing a project is way better than constantly tweaking a project, second guessing your workflow and re-evaluating your tools. There will always be a better way to complete your project. Your audience will more than likely not care. They will be amazed by the final project, maybe ask how did you do it, telling themselves that they can also do it too, BUT most NEVER do.
That's what makes you the creator, special.
Note:
Matt Groening drawing skills will probably never land him a job with Disney. That never stopped him from plugging away at this cartoon Life in Hell. Forget naysayers.
alexs: Don't forget that every new Mac comes with iLife 08 which includes a great web design tool. The other program I mentioned is RapidWeaver. Blogger was the problem for me.
sick puppy: You are so right about "keep moving". It is essential for the indie. I used to be very good at "leaving well enough alone". I am getting back to that now.
In my show I tend to lean toward a slower pace with very long takes like a Stephen Soderberg or Brian De Palma movie, but I also stick to "anime rules", as that is my goal in the end, so I try to stay conciouc of what someone will really see or care about. If I was going to tweak a shot, I would rather come back after it's all said and done rather than let it hold up progress. "Keep moving" is right.
Vee: Even with a Mirage Nomad, I still cannot draw as good as with pencil and paper. The Nomad is as close as I have felt to pencil and paper, but it's still not there. I would love to have my show be 100% hand drawn, but I am not quite fast enough to reach my sereies goals there.
You are right about doing X amount every day or every other day. Paul Fierlinger is currently doing a feature film and I think he simply does 10 seconds every day. I would love to one day relax enough to just plug away at a film like that.
Hi
I've been a silent visitor to this site for about 3 years now. I've found youre blog informative and inspiring, when I saw Understanding Chaos for the first time it proved to me that one person can make their own film and do it well. Since then I spent some time picking up the skills needed to make a start, then decided that I might aswell learn the skills needed by actually doing it, by finding sollutions to the obstacles that arrise while creating our own work. So I got on with it. Im currently a year into it and still keeping the fires of enthusiasm going.
Just wanted to let you know your work on the blog is appreciated and I wish you all the best in your future endeavours...
Thankyou
Chris
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home