Frank Thomas Pencil Test - Lady and Tramp kiss

I have posted this pencil test on my blog previously , but thought that I'd repost it to bring your attention to some of the drawings from this sequence posted recently on Michael Sporn's excellent blog . Click on the link to Michael's blog to see the drawings.

L & T drawings

Here's the pencil test:

Classic Milt Kahl pencil test

I could watch these pencil tests for hours .  (I wish Disney would release special pencil test editions on the "extras" sections of the DVD's .)  

Mowgli trying to climb the tree , animated by Milt Kahl.

From Disney's "The Jungle Book". 

(found via Alan Cook, via Victor Ens)

An old one , but a good one : The Training of a Golden Age Animator

Looking through some notes today I found a link to a couple of old posts on other people's blogs that are worth reading for any of you animation students (and worth reading for those of us who have been around the business for a while) .

The first is an article on the ASIFA Animation Archive called "The Training of a Golden Age Animator" , which came about when the director of the ASIFA Animation Archive, Steve Worth, was asking himself the question: "What sort of education did golden age animators have? "

Steve posts some examples from the life of master animator Carlo Vinci.

The essay , "The Training of a Golden Age Animator" should be read and taken to heart by all of us who would be students of the art of animation.

The second bit of wisdom I have for you was posted by Will Finn : A Letter From Ward Kimball.   

When he was in High School the young Mr. Finn wrote to Disney animator Ward Kimball for advice about getting into the animation field. Kimball's letter, written in typical iconoclastic Kimball style, is a very sage piece of advice and despite the breezy style conveys that Kimball respected and cared for young animators or wannabe animators like Will Finn (who in fact went on to become one of our finest contemporary animators) .

Here is the reply that Ward Kimball sent to Will Finn:

Kimball letter to Finn

Good reading.

SHOP TALK: Cintiq tablets and Paperless Animation

The latest issue of Steve Moore's online animation magazine FLIP! has a survey of animator's who are using Cintiq tablets for their professional and personal animation work.

Many of our students at Academy of Art University Online are animating paperlessly using Cintiqs and/or Intous tablets in our "traditional" (i.e. hand-drawn) animation classes . So this round up of professional opinions of how the workflow is changing (for better or worse) using tablet-based paperless animation is on interest.

Check out the discussion:

SHOP TALK: How Do You Like Your Cintiq ?

It's always interesting to listen to animators discussing their favorite tools (it used to be that animators would get in to long, often passionate discussions about what was the "best" pencil .)

I think my friend Rusty Mills has the most detailed answers about what it means to be a traditional animator working on a Cintiq .  Rusty emphasizes that it's not the Cintiq (or other tablets) that make something difficult to draw or to achieve a good line quality: it's the software being used and the computer that the tablet is attached to.

Rusty debunks several myths about using a Cintiq, such as:

"The Cintiq has terrible line quality."

Again it it entirely dependent on the software. Often the user doesn't know enough about a software package to alter the look of the line. I have even seen particular studios mandate bad line quality because the people in charge don't know how to use the software correctly.

If you find using a Cintiq alters your drawing style for the worse try changing some of the setting both in your software and in the tablet driver itself.

Following up on some of what Rusty talks about in that article on the "FLIP!" site here are things that I have found help to make animating with a tablet a much more enjoyable experience:

1.) Adjust the Digital Drawing Tools to your own preferences:

Also, an important point often missed by beginners to tablet based drawing is that the individual animator needs to make adjustments to the pre-set brushes and pencil tools that come with the software , be it TVPaint , Toonboom, or Flash, etc. The digital drawing tools in these programs can and should be tweaked to fit your own preferences , exactly as some animators prefer a certain type of pencil over another. (Blackwing 602 or Blaisdell Layout Pencil? Tombow or Col-Erase Tuscan Red ? ) Don't simply use the default settings on the drawing tools as they come with the software off the shelf . Play. Experiment . Try adjusting the tools until you get a "pencil" or a "pen" line that feels comfortable to draw with.

In addition to adjusting the drawing tools to fit your own preferences also be aware that some of the better animation programs such as TVP Animation (highly recommended) have custom "papers" which can be turned on in the background. The paper will give a more textured, toothy feel to the drawing , simulating the feel of drawing on a slightly rough surfaced paper.

For example here is a rough character sketch I did in TVP Animation with my own custom pencil tools . Most people looking at this sketch would have no idea that it wasn't drawn on paper:

(click image to see it larger)



2.) Project Resolution Size:

Another thing that many people overlook is that screen resolution of the project does matter : if your original file is low-res. like 640 x 480 you will not have nearly the same amount of control and subtly of line as working at full 2K Film Resolution 2048 x 1556 . Many people like to work at HD "wide-screen" resolution 1920 x 1080. Trying to get subtle line quality at 640 x 480 is like drawing on the back of a napkin or on a Post-It note compared to working on a large canvas or a large piece of high-grade bond paper. Sometimes I will work at lower resolutions if I'm just blocking in rough sketches that I know are not going to be any larger, the same as I will sometimes do a rough storyboard using Post-It notes , but if the line quality counts then use a larger resolution .

Then when you export your finished animation for uploading to a website you can reduce the size (say 2048 x 1556 output to 640 x 480 ) so the file sizes aren't unmanageable , but the original resolution should be as high as your computer can reasonably handle (this can become an issue if you don't have enough memory or your CPU is not fast enough ; as always a faster computer with more memory will run better. If your animation software runs sluggishly at high resolutions then it's time to upgrade ) .

3.) Wacom Pen Nibs:

Finally, be aware of the different types of stylus nibs that Wacom makes . The standard hard plastic nib that comes with the pen stylus can tend to be a bit slippery and hard to control as it skates across the surface of the tablet. Some people solve this by putting a thin piece of tracing paper vellum or a frosted (matte surface) piece of acetate over the tablet's surface to give the surface of the the tablet a bit of "grain" so the pen tip isn't quite so slippery. But another option that I prefer (especially for sketching rough animation drawings) is to use the Wacom "Felt Tip" nibs. These fiberous nibs feel more like drawing with a real pencil and are not as slippery as the standard plastic nib. For digital clean-up or "inking" I will sometimes use the Wacom "Stroke Nibs" which are like the standard plastic tip nibs, but they have a little spring in them which gives them a more flexible, springy feeling when laying down a line.

Here's another example of a "traditional" looking drawing done with a Cintiq tablet using the TVP Animation software:

(click image to view larger)


This is by Academy of Art Online instructor Mark Chong. Here's a screen capture time lapse movie of Mark drawing this in TVP:



Here's another video I found on YouTube showing the process of animating a traditional style animation scene (this time using Flash) in a paperless environment on the Cintiq tablet.

"Song of the Sea" - Tomm Moore

Tomm Moore, the director of the recently released animated feature film "The Secret of Kells" , is at work on a new film called ""Song of the Sea" .

On his production blog Tomm Moore mentioned that they are using TVP Animation to animate the film paperlessly.

Here's the first teaser trailer:

"Elemental Magic" hand-drawn effects by Joseph Gilland

See ? I said in my previous post that we're experiencing an embarrassment of riches in the amount of quality animation material being published these days : yet another great, must have book coming soon .

Elemental Magic: The Classical Art of Hand-Drawn Special Effects Animation by Joe Gilland

Michel Gagné (himself one of the top special effects animators in the world) gives the book a glowing review on his website:

Michel Gagné review of Joe Gilland's "Elemental Magic"

Create stunning animated effects such as fiery blazes, rippling water, and magical transformations either hand-drawn or digitally. Animation veteran Joseph Gilland breaks down the world of special effects animation with clear step-by-step diagrams and explanations on how to create the amazing and compelling images you see on the big screen. The author covers the tradtional hand-drawn technique while showing you how to apply the philosophy, theory, and techniques to your digital animation projects as well.


(image from Elemental Magic , Copyright © by Joseph Gilland)

Apply the theory behind effects animation to your traditional and digital animation projects.
Written by animated effects guru, Joseph Gilland, who has worked on such feature films as Lilo & Stitch,
Brother Bear, Pochahontas, Tarzan, and Mulan.

Publication Date: March 06, 2009


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By the way, this is a good time to mention again that The Academy of Art Online offers a fantastic course in traditional special effects animation, ANM 261 Introduction to Effects Animation, written and taught by Kathleen Quaife who is also one of the top traditional effects animators in the industry. (and I have it on good authority that Kathleen is also putting the finishing touches on her own book about Special Effects Animation ! The more the better ; in character animation we have both the Richard Williams book and Eric Goldberg's book , along with Frank & Ollie's "bible" The Illusion of Life, Tony White's books, and of course good old Preston Blair ... now after many years the effects animators are filling a much needed niche )

"Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes" by Walt Stanchfield

It seems there is a plethora of animation riches being published these days.

Another set of books to add to your MUST HAVE list is "Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes" Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Walt Stanchfield , edited by Don Hahn.

Go to Don Hahn's website to see a "trailer" for the book where Don speaks about the material contained in these two volumes:

http://www.donhahn.com/

These weekly handouts from Walt Stanchfield are something that those of us who worked at Disney in the 80's and 90's treasure. Now they are being shared with the whole world . (actually they've been "shared" quite a bit by being copied, scanned , and passed around from hand to hand or from website to website , but this is the first time that ALL of Walt's notes have been formally compiled into two handy volumes . 800 pages of material ! )

The press release from Don Hahn says:

"I am so pleased to announce that for the first time ever, we have assembled all of Walt Stanchfield’s amazing handout notes and lectures into a two volume collection titled, DRAWN TO LIFE - 20 GOLDEN YEARS OF DISNEY MASTER CLASSES. Walt was an animator, trainer, mentor and coach for decades at Disney and helped breathe life into the new golden age of animation with his teachings. He influenced such talented artists as Tim Burton, Brad Bird, John Musker, Glen Keane, Andreas Deja and John Lasseter.

To me, DRAWN TO LIFE is one the strongest primers on animation ever written. The material spares no detail on the craft of animation, but also digs deep into the artistic roots of animation. It is a publication that has been anticipated for many years by every artist and student that Walt ever came in contact with. It has been a labor of love for me and I am so proud that Walt’s teachings will live on in these two volumes."

Pre-orders are being taken now. Official publishing date is March 27.



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"On Timing" talk by Dick Huemer , Disney animator

Hans Perk has pulled another magical relic from animation's past out of his magic hat:

A c.1936 lecture given at the Disney Studio by animator Dick Huemer on Timing. Read it here ---

Dick Huemer lecture on Timing .

This stuff is gold. Read it . Then read it again. Apply. Repeat.

Actually I need to correct myself : I said it was a "relic" from animation's past, but that gives the impression that it's just a piece of history ... but as Hans Perk points out :

"I feel I need to point out that the things discussed here still hold true today, also in computer animation. A principle is a principle, whatever the medium. If we do not learn about the successes and failures of yesterday, how can we be sure we make the right decisions today? Don't mistake these documents for "funny old stuff." If you are employed in the animation business, know that they are part of the groundwork of what pays your salary today!"

This is the real stuff , friends. While you're there make sure you bookmark Hans' blog A-Film L.A. and check out the other Disney lectures and material he has posted on his blog.

Two relevant documents which relate to the Dick Huemer talk on Timing are the scene drafts for the short films "Mickey's Polo Game" and "Alpine Climbers" :

Mickey's Polo Game scene draft

Alpine Climbers scene draft

A scene draft was (is) a studio document prepared to show which animator was assigned to what scenes and the scene
lengths in terms of scene length footage (35mm motion picture footage) . A draft is made for each short or feature film .

Mickey Mouse - Mickey'S Polo Team
Uploaded by Lupus-novus

"It's the Cat" by Mark Kausler

**NOTE: this film is unfortunately no longer available for download from the MyToons website as MyToons abruptly shut down recently.

The full pencil test of "It's the Cat" is still posted on Mark Kausler's site, so be sure to check that out .  Hopefully Mark will find a new home on the web for "It's the Cat" soon.






Good news , cartoon lovers : Mark Kausler's great short cartoon "It's The Cat" is once again available for download online on MyToons. (it was available on Cartoon Brew's short-lived "Cartoon Brew Films" last year , but now Cartoon Brew Films is no more.)

This film was a labor of love for Mark and his producer Greg Ford. It's all hand-drawn, hand-inked and painted on cels (that's right cels , not digital ink & paint) .

They're making another one called "There Must Be Another Cat" which Mark tells me is finished in pencil test, but is still being inked and painted as funds become available .

Help support independent animators like Mark Kausler and buy "It's the Cat" on Mark's MyToons page for the mere pittance of $1.99.   (as of 4/7/09 - NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE due to the abrupt shutdown of MyToons. )

Here's a short preview of the title sequence:



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UPDATE: Mark Kausler has posted a very illuminating answer to a question about how he approached animating to the music on his film "It's The Cat" . Check it out:

Mark Kausler on Animating to Music .



All images from "It's The Cat" copyright ©Mark Kausler.

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UPDATE #2 : Mark has posted the complete pencil test for "It's the Cat" on his site: It's the Cat Pencil Test --Click HERE --

I love watching pencil test animation . It's fun to compare the rough version to the finished film. View the pencil test and then buy the film on MyToons (only $1.99) .

Mark is also selling the original , one-of-a-kind hand inked & painted CELS from the film. These are not the fake "gallery cels" that many places sell to collectors , these are the actual production cels that passed under the camera and are on screen when viewing the film. If you buy a cel you also get the original pencil drawing and he's throwing in a DVD of the film with each purchase : It's the Cat - Original Hand-Inked Cels -- Click HERE --

"Dear Anna Olson" by Dean Kalman Lennert

"Dear Anna Olson" is a hand-drawn animated film being made by Dean Kalman Lennert .

Check out the links to Dean's site for more info. about how he's making this independent 15-minute short film and to see screen grabs and clips.

Here are a couple of things about the film posted on YouTube :






A few quotes from people who have seen the work in progress:

"There are typical animated films and then there are animated films that help define exactly what sets this medium apart from live-action film.

Dean Lennert's 'DEAR ANNA OLSON' is one such film, which upon completion, is sure to remind all about the elegance and power of hand-drawn animation when it is in the hands of a modern master such as Lennert."
-David B. Levy , Animation Director and Author of "Your Career in Animation: How to Survive and Thrive"

"Dean Lennert's subtle animation and narrative skills are on full display in 'DEAR ANNA OLSON' . This sensitive and emotional story, skillfully told through detailed and expressive moving drawings, is a work-in-progress deserving of your support"
-John Canemaker,   Academy Award winning animator/director and author of many
influential books on animation history.

This looks like a film worth keeping an eye on. 

The Art of Storyboarding

With your host, Eric Goldberg :

"Coyote & The Tortoise" by Fat Cat Animation

**NOTE: this film is unfortunately no longer available for download from the MyToons website as MyToons abruptly shut down recently.

Short film from Fat Cat Animation in Phoenix, Arizona. Directed by Len Simon.

"Anniversary" by Ghostbot Studio

The Ghostbot Studio (you've seen their ads for E-surance) has released a short film called "Anniversary" . Only 1 minute , but shows what you can do to economically tell a short story in a minute.

Embedded player should work ok in Firefox. Doesn't seem to be working in Safari for some reason. If the embedded player below does not work , try this direct link:

http://www.cartoonmojo.com/view_video.php?viewkey=20d2abefe558796b9958

Audi Animated spot - Passion Pictures

Audi spot animated at Passion Pictures, London.

Willard Mullin - Animated Line-of-Action

Sherm Cohen has posted a series of links to various pieces by the great sports cartoonist Willard Mullin on his Cartoon Snap! blog.

This reminded me of  some scans I have of Mullin's work which have always seemed to me to indicate that had he wanted to Willard Mullin could have been a great animator.

These are excellent to study for cartooning in general, but animation in particular. This is what I'm always harping on when I tell my students to "push the pose , push the line-of-action"  in animation. 

(click on the images to see them larger)

Mark Chong's TEN-MINUTE DRAWING TUTORIALS

One of the amazing artists I've met through the TVPaint User Forum is Toronto-based conceptual artist and teacher , Mark Chong. Mark has a real passion for teaching (specifically teaching Online , utilizing video tutorials) and I am very happy that he is now teaching for the Academy of Art Animation Dept. Online. (he's also going to be building a new course on visual development and concept art , ANM 475 - Inspirational Art for Animation . During the Spring '09 semester at AAU Mark will be teaching ANM 611 Visual Elements of Story and ANM 633 Character Design and Drawing for Animators online.

Mark has generously posted some wonderful FREE tutorials on his blog TEN-MINUTE DRAWING TECHNIQUES (but if you benefit from Mark's tutorials then drop a few dollars in his tip jar now and then, folks !)

Click on the link to go to view the tutorials.

Here's a sample of Mark's work (drawn in TVP Animation) :

R.O. Blechman's "Simple Gifts" - Prologue

Prologue to R.O. Blechman's animated television special "Simple Gifts" . This prologue piece is designed by Maurice Sendak, animated by Ed Smith , with watercolor by Sara Calogero. Music by Arnold Black. The entire special was directed by R.O. Blechman. The quality on this clip is not the greatest since it is from an old VHS tape recording of the show. As far as I know PBS has not aired this again in recent times. It's a beautiful Christmas special that really should be released on DVD.

Richard O'Connor has posted an original drawing from this sequence on his blog :

Original Art from "Simple Gifts" click HERE

O'Connor relates this about animator Ed Smith:

Once I asked Ed Smith (who animates in ink) what he does when he makes a mistake.

His response: "I'll let you know when that happens."

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Tateh's Flipbook, from Milos Forman's "Ragtime"