Workflow

[Rik Jurriaans]

What do you guys do first, second and third. i like to know.

Thenks

Rik

[Paul Fierlinger]

1. Pull up the chair,
2. turn on the monitors,
3. pick up the stylus.
It would take a book to finish this count -- the numbers would have to go into the hundreds...
The truth is that my work flow changes with every project. Actually every scene and every new upgrade and since I am a beta tester and we have been kept very busy these past weeks with beta upgrades (sometimes one a day) I have to change my work flow smack in the middle of a scene. This is because the main thrust of the upcoming upgrade TVP Pro 9.5 is mostly about improving our work flow.

Essentially you start with a few sketches, a storyboard (sometimes), an animatic (almost always because sometimes not) rough key drawings, cleanups, inbetweens... it's a difficult question to answer with any satisfactory degree of completeness.

Now you answer my questions to you: How far have you gotten so far? Where are you stuck?

[Rik Jurriaans]

no im just interested in other peoples workflow, because i just started you know. its just intrest

Thenks,

Rik

[Peter Wassink]

Thanks is spelled with an "a"
but unfortunately there is no such simple rule for workflow.
You have to work first and then you find out how it flows

[Paul Fierlinger]

Or you can go with the flow and find out if it works.
You draw the first picture of motion, or the beginning of the film; then you draw the last picture of the film and you are on your way, which means you have to now draw another picture for the middle of the film. If the film goes by too fast, you draw more pictures in between the other pictures until the film is done. It's really very simple and that's how you go with the flow. Now don't tell me you didn't know that.

[Boomslang]

I'll be less riddly and just give you some literature tips

Books I'd recommend for learning to understand the basic tools for animation are "Animator Survival Kit" by Richard Williams, "Character Animation Crash course" by Eric Goldberg and perhaps "Cartoon Animation by Preston Blair" (though I personally dislike that book because it is a bit too oldschool and conventional for my taste) . Try out some of the stuff in there on your own and then invent your own characters, acting and movements. These may seem cliché cartoony formulic books, but they help you getting started and ofcourse you can apply the rules to non cartoony characters.

[Rik Jurriaans]

i have the survival kit and the preston blair book, i like the survival kit a lot.
but thanks or your help.

Rik