New character

[slowtiger]

This one is the star of my new film (which still needs sound) and will also be the star of some more, I hope. The broad lines and simple design make it fast and easy to animate. (HDTV 1920, line thickness 7,5)

http://slowtiger.de/examples/walkm4.html

[Paul Fierlinger]

That's the kind of thinking I have subscribed to all my working life: design anything I do to fit the circumstances of my current situation, such as necessary speed of delivery, or restricted budget, or film stock I had available to me etc. Speaking of the last point, I wonder how many of you are aware of the reason Soviet era films from the Eastern block were so often designed in hews of brown -- miserable film stock and miserable lab chemicals was the main reason. Our films invariably came out streaky and flickered a lot because of these two handicaps so many of us made films with flickering and streaky stories.

My only issue with your style here is the thickness and perfection of the lines, which scream "FLASH!!!". How would thinner and TVP like lines slow you down? Is it because you wouldn't be able to use the fill bucket as easily? What if you painted the colors with oval shaped brushes that would be allowed to go outside or too much inside of the outlines? Just something that perhaps better suggests "hand made".

[slowtiger]

Completely different project:
http://slowtiger.de/examples/tram.html

This is done in the "more TVP style" I like to maintain for the long movie. Still needs to get a bit looslier, but it's OK. A tram driver going postal, that's the scene.

The other character isn't perfect at all. If you watch it frame by frame, you'll see the wiggly lines. But it will eventually be done in Anime Studio, completely with vectors ...

[malcooning]

Completely different project:
http://slowtiger.de/examples/tram.html

This is done in the "more TVP style" I like to maintain for the long movie. Still needs to get a bit looslier, but it's OK. A tram driver going postal, that's the scene.

This is one is more lively, naturally.
but there's one important thing missing. the most notable gesture involving tying a band around the head, is to hold the band with both hands straight (or under, if the head is bent forward) in front of the forehead. It is a natural way of leveling the band in the right place, and traditionally (in Japan) it is a pint of presentation of the gesture. I think it is an important thing to add. and even if you think it is unnecessary, still, the hand that is not holding the band magically finds the end of the band behind the head, and this makes the wrapping a bit too quick - unless you intended to make it exactly like this.

[slowtiger]

Yes, I wanted it to be quick because it's only a minor character visible for just two shots. But your input makes me think, I didn't know that detail. So much for adapting adaptations of clichés of foreign traditions!

[Paul Fierlinger]

You are grappling with two components; you want to capture close to realism body language and you want to do that in the most economical fashion. What spoils this clever effect is that you waste precious frames on a cycle which comes off as looking as if the man is scratching his chin and a tie pops up in his hand -- a tie that was never there; the man is a slight-of-hand magician.

To depict an abbreviation of everyday small gestures, to pull this off in the shortest amount of time, you cannot waste precious time with cycles; every frame of the gesture has to fulfill a new role. My suggestion is to avoid cycles as much as possible.

Then there is the question of proportions between character and objects. You are after a semi-realistic look but the man is either a monster or the tram is in a children's park. I grapple with this all the time and the problem lies in the way many of us color our backgrounds at the very end, when all the characters get colored as well.

I have finally resolved to deal with this issue by coloring my backgrounds right away with a three or four tone color scheme, using the simplest of pale colors so as not to get in the way of drawing but enough to clearly bring out the shapes of masses that makeup backgrounds. Once I see the layout in terms of several large shapes I have a better visual understanding of how my characters must fit in -- far better than when the background was merely a mesh of many intersecting lines, forming nothing more than decorative and meaningless abstractions.

[slowtiger]

The driver will be reduced (if the Union doesn't intervent) or the car will be enlarged - whatever. The cycle will stay. Anything else will or will not be changed once the scene gets into context, I especially like to alter the last expression. Right now my only goal is to create mileage to get an impression of the whole thing.

That's one very tempting thing in TVP: because it's so fast, I like to colour a scene even if it isn't really finished animation. Judge this as a pencil test with colours.

Did you know that there's a children's railway park here in Berlin? It's a very old institution, they run several kilometers of tracks and are even connected to a regular station. All drivers, conductors, and other personnel are staffed by children (who don't get pait for that).

[Paul Fierlinger]

Well, I like your TVP style drawing and think you are on the right track... speaking of which:

Animator Kai Pindal has a child size railway track and terminal behind his house, in Toronto, which he built all by himself and children from all over come for rides. He once told me that when Americans and Europeans visit him, they always ask their same, individual questions; Americans ask, "How much did this cost you?" and Europeans ask, "Is this allowed?"

[slowtiger]

he he. I would just ask "does it work?" and "may I try it?" ...

[Paul Fierlinger]

It always works and anyone can try it and will get a certificate from Kai that the holder of this paper has mastered the skill of driving a tram in a circle; after all, he is European himself (Danish).

[Sierra Rose]

I have finally resolved to deal with this issue by coloring my backgrounds right away with a three or four tone color scheme, using the simplest of pale colors so as not to get in the way of drawing but enough to clearly bring out the shapes of masses that makeup backgrounds. Once I see the layout in terms of several large shapes I have a better visual understanding of how my characters must fit in -- far better than when the background was merely a mesh of many intersecting lines, forming nothing more than decorative and meaningless abstractions.

I agree and have been painting my BG's some for the same reasons. I also stop and paint my characters for a few frames so I understand what a difference that will make while I am still drawing. Otherwise I get some unpleasant surprises later.

I'm having cataract surgery this week and everyone tells me I will see colors very differently. Probably have to repaint everything. groan.

[Paul Fierlinger]

I also stop and paint my characters for a few frames so I understand what a difference that will make while I am still drawing. Otherwise I get some unpleasant surprises later.

This, in a way, is an interesting outcome of paperless animation. When drawing first on paper it would have been difficult to stop once in awhile to trace a few drawings onto cels, paint them, wait for the paint to dry etc..

But I also don't remember having this problem with proportions as often back then as I have now. I wonder why.

About your colors, my guess is that you'll find them too bright -- like old women who aren't aware of putting too much bright paint on their faces. At least you'll get to master the color changer and can pass the knowledge on to the rest of us who never "got it".

[Sierra Rose]

It's helpful to put the BG layer on lower opacity so the painting doesn't distract from drawing.

When my computer died in May and I also went to TVP from Mirage, I started a project that I thought was going to be quick and small on my less powerful internet computer while I waited for my new one. It is a CU of a baby making faces. It is for my 1 year old grandson in Italy. I thought it would keep me practicing and lessen my frustration with losing access to my work during that time.

As it turns out, it has become a very absorbing project, baby proportions being very different from children's and animating a face CU is quite demanding I find. That's one reason I related so well to your student's "wasp" film...the CU face.

I am most interested in what the skin coloring will seem to me when I have my "new eyes". My husband just went through this in June and July and is amazed at the difference in colors. Lucky, my film is mostly that one color.

[slowtiger]

http://slowtiger.de/examples/tram.html with an updated version. Note to self: get better with using photographs. Do the main perspective construction on paper first. Don't use gradients for sky. Colours need to be balanced.

[Sierra Rose]

Yeah, I think it's better now. I like it.