2021 here we come!

A belated but very heartfelt happy new year to each and every one of you.

2021 has some VERY exciting plans in the works for us, and that means we can really help you in more areas of animation, rigging and all those lovely little areas around it. We’ve been heavily experimenting with natural media effects in Toon Boom, so look out for more on that this year too (as you can see a taste of in the animation below!)

I hope your year has started well and that the news isn’t getting you down. If it is, I have a 3 step plan which I can guarantee works 99% of the time (it’s free too).

1) Place all the items you receive news on in a room together
2) Shut the door on the room. Avoid at all costs
3) Have a nice drink and stare out the window at the wonders of nature

😀

Adam

N.B: That little joke there isn’t meant to be insensitive, just my nod to the mental war we’re all waging on the disasters on our screens right now. It’s exhausting, I know! There is light though, so keep the faith 🙂

Chris Voss Masterclass

So far I’m loving the Masterclass series. It’s so well produced and edited, along with really interesting speakers and subjects. You can see a commonality amongst the best of any field. Recently I’ve been listening to the fascinating stories from ex-FBI negotiator, Chris Voss. The way he talks to the camera is very interesting and I feel myself getting sucked into his conversations when I know it’s all an act! Amazing stuff. Here’s the doodle, all made in Toon Boom Harmony (as that’s the software I had open) using a combination of vector and bitmap brushes (I love the software as a sketching program too).

A sketch of the expressive and captivating Chris Voss! From his Masterclass series

Manchester animation festival talk

I’ll be talking about all things animation and Toon Boom next week at Manchester’s very own animation festival. It’s pretty impressive these days with loads of great events and screenings, so I’d encourage you to go. You can read the whats on guide here.

Here’s the info for my talk. If you’re around, please do come say hello!

Annecy Animation Festival 2019

It’s been a few weeks now but I’ve finally got a bit of time to sort my post-Annecy notes and sketches. I haven’t been for a while, this being my fourth trip. It never fails to inspire you and re-ignite your love for animation! You come away wanting to DRAW haha!

The ticketing system is a bit more high tech than when I last went…all QR code scanning and app booking. It took me a few days to get the hang of this as I seemed to have missed booking ANYTHING. Luckily I bagged an additional screening of ‘I lost my body’ (j’ai purdu mon corps) which was being produced at the last studio I worked at (Pipangai) on Réunion Island.

This film was EPIC. Exactly the kind of animation and storytelling I love to see in a feature at the moment, as it felt very fresh and engaging. It was a bit of a downer of a film. I mean, it’s French so of course it’s moody 😉 But it is beautiful in the way it was executed and blows the socks off anything else in the independent circuit right now. The first 5 minutes are sooo cool. It’s not the sort of shot choices you see in a 2D animated film (probably because of the directors background and the combining of 3D and 2D tools). Here’s a trailer:

I got my head around the ticketing eventually and saw a load of great short films (for me, these are the best bit of festivals). The range of styles and forms the storytelling takes is the big THING that inspires me. I wrote a bunch of notes along side sketches, hence why the long decode time as I’m often writing in the dark..! I met many lovely people there including old friends, which is always a big highlight. I got to chat away to many folks at Toon Boom whom I’ve never met in person, but I’ve recently completed some promo work for as part of their 25th anniversary. You can watch that below:

There’s a whole section of the Annecy festival called Mifa, which is sort of the business area. You can have meetings here, go check out companies who make software, studios who are recruiting, and so on. You’ll often get some freebies too! I did a fair amount of chatting here, so the week was quite busy all in all. I DID manage to squeeze some sketching in though. I’ve also got a collection of sketches from my half day in Geneva before I headed home, which I’ll aim to post soon. I’d like to add some colour to more of these, as the scenery was so bright and often I didn’t get time to paint on location. The storms rolled in for a few days, which meant there was a real contrast! Could’ve just spent a week there sketching and painting, never mind all the films! Here’s a gallery of sketches and many more photos (iPhone is just a bit too easy). I took a disposable black and white camera that I bought in the airport on a whim. When I get those developed, I’ll post a few! I met one of my heroes, Ronnie Del Carmen there. He as a lovely chap and I’ve been a fan of his work and comics for years. We have a lo-fi selfie, so I’ll be sure to post him one when the roll is finished 🙂

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Who moved my Penguin?

Here it is! The short film I made about basically being kind to one another, no matter where in the world you come from. It’s around 2 minutes long and you can watch below (note: this video is now playing from BoggleSox’s channel due to a streaming partnership with them).

Where does the story come from?

The story came about from watching all this news on refugees trying desperately to get away from their homeland, and the very mixed reception that people gave them. I didn’t want to make a film that was preachy or too political, as I feel like there’s enough depressing things out there already! My aim was to tell a lighter version which can be viewed by all, with a core message of kindness and empathy.

The picture pin board sequence works around the idea that circumstances affecting the movement of people are often out of their control. This is shown through the easy life of a young Westerner, with details of their affluent life scattered around the photos. The actual pictures are representative of the exotic holidays that rich tourists ‘take and tick off’ on their individual road to self affirmation. the only interaction with the world outside their bubble being a throw away, filtered photo or an ‘awareness’ post on social media. These are just fleeting moments to them, like the worldwide, disaster news they scroll through online everyday.

But I believe people are still fundamentally good! And so this is the end to the story. So be kind to one another people 🙂

One of the first sketches for the film

How was the film made?

The film was made in Toon Boom Harmony using Adobe Premier, After Effects, Audition & Photoshop for certain parts. I started the film as an exercise for rigging demos (a hand drawn character that is rigged up like a skeleton) but it evolved past that, probably because it took so long to finish! I actually believed that the Syrian refugee crisis would be ‘over’ by the time I finished and no longer in the news, but alas… The film was started in 2016 but often was put off due to work commitments and other projects. I finally came to the realisation that I needed to be brave and just finish it towards the end of 2018, when my girlfriend and I were robbed in Mauritius and I was also reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron…but that is story for a different post!

There’s an original score by Richard Hunter (it was great to work with him too..thanks Richard!) and assisting direction from Josie Cerise…saving me from moments of madness 😉

If you have any questions about the film or the process, just send them over from the contact page. I hope you enjoy it!

Beach life

I’ve been working on this short film on and off for AGES now and finally took the time to focus and get it finished. I realised that I was procrastinating, swerving off to follow other shiny ideas and generally doing the artist thing of being afraid to put myself out there, creatively. The fact is, I really enjoy telling stories and animating, it’s just I’ve kind of censored myself over the past decade. I think this is due to a number of reasons, but the commercial side of appearing perfect to fit into the next studio role is one of them. It’s hammered into you as a student and seems to be the dominating factor when producing something that is very personal.

I definitely chose a more commercially viable route when I left university and picked projects. This is not to say I didn’t enjoy the work I found from this kind of pursuit, I did! But if you’re not careful, you forget what it is YOU actually like to draw/make/do. This project was part learning curve and part ‘break the rust off the gears’ and start telling stories again. Although at points I felt like quitting as I didn’t like the story, felt the animation wasn’t up to scratch, designs were rubbish, etc (insert endless list of self depreciating thoughts here!) I reached the finish line and feel GREAT that I stuck with it. Having a film festival submission as a deadline and working with a composer for original music were good tricks that helped keep the momentum and drive the finished touches over the line and this side of the decade 😉 It’s only a short film, but it’s amazing how these things can get put on a back burner for years and yet you always feel ‘busy’.

A little GIF snippet from the film, when all seems to be going swimmingly for one character.

I have to say a massive THANK YOU to my new fiancée (we are engaged as of 3 days ago!) for her continued support and guidance. She often saw clarity when I was considering my life choices and made some BRILLIANT creative calls when I just couldn’t choose. Thank you Josie x

The film will be out very soon! Just a couple of days 🙂

Buzzing Bee Garden

Here’s a fun bit of watercolour sketchbook doodling that became the plan for a 2D animated multi-plane scene. I created an enhanced version for my new course one animating in Toon Boom Harmony, covering 3D space, 2D animation loops, cameras and special effects. I love English summertime and watching a bee hum through the rich garden scene is one of my favourite kind of moments 🙂 So I thought I’d have a go at re-creating something similar in the famed 2D animation software.

The watercolour was REALLY great fun to do…lots of just noodling about with shapes, composition and ideas from memories of my relatives’ gardens last summer. So here it is! I’ll post an update of the animated version when the course is underway at the end of February 😉

And a word on the Toon Boom Trainer courses. The first course for 2019: Animation in Toon Boom Harmony has completely sold out! I’m very happy to see every place filled and excited to train up all this potential bunch of Toon Boomers! There’s so much you can do in the software and it’s improving all the time. An awesome creative evolution is underway!

Black ink sketch with watercolour over the top. Some exaggerated colour choices 😀

Snow storm animation

Here’s a sample of a snow storm animation I’ve put together in Toon Boom Harmony. I’m using particle effects so it’s all composited in the software. It’s a simple scene and there is A LOT you can do with the node library and effects modules. There’s many I’d like to explore to their full potential…see what they can do! Toon Boom is crying out for a special effects and compositing book or guide (hint hint watch this space). For now, enjoy the snow gif. It’s funny creating these when it is ACTUALLY snowing outside 😛

New year, new animation course

At January 24, 2019
By Adam
In animation, business, Training, videos
0

It’s finally out into the wild…my brand new online course Animation in Toon Boom Harmony 16 is open for sign ups!

Many, many hours of planning, research and preparation have gone into this, so I hope it’s useful to lots of people. It will be run through my online training business, Toon Boom Trainer and takes place over 5 weeks, part time.

It’s packed with all the great features of the previous courses: HD video lessons, easy-to-follow exercises, handy worksheets, 7 day a week support and our one-to-one, live tutorials. And the killer feature? A FREE copy of Toon Boom Harmony Premium for every participant!

Here’s a short video explaining all, filmed and edited by yours truly whilst trying to keep warm in this chilly English winter! If anyone is looking to improve their character animation skills whilst learning this fantastic software package, or even just want to read more (full curriculum on the website), head to toonboomtrainer.com

Toon Boom Camp London

Last weekend I was down in London for another sunny few days of Toon Boom’s Career Camps series. It’s two days of seminars and workshops on all aspects of the software, allowing those who are interested to get some hands-on experience before making the switch.

I was there taking the cut-out animation sessions (the same as I did in Dublin). We had a big group! And it was warm. Very warm. So hats off to all those who attended and managed to keep their concentration instead of running to the nearest lido 🙂

It’s always really inspiring to go to these events. The talks by Adam Shaw of Blue Zoo and Will Studd of Aardman were a huge motivator, giving a solid grounding to why everyone was there (in the long run!) Personally I’m excited to get back into training development again and working on more animation projects in the near future, especially in Toon Boom!

London on the rise

London has some really brilliant plans for Toon Boom Harmony and it’s integration into the studios down there. That, along with the great work going on in Bristol is helping bring the ‘long form production king’ to the South! Let us not forget the mighty Manchester, with its very own Brown Bag Films where I used to work. Those guys have been doing amazing stuff with Harmony since 2015. I think they were the first U.K studio to adopt the software on such a large scale. When I joined they were around 40 people there, now they’re heading towards 140…immense! So with all these places gradually expanding and increasing their knowledge level and talent pool, I have high hopes for a ‘platinum age’ of animation in the U.K. And yes, all these inverted commas are me trying to coin phrases before they’re a thing! Maybe one day I’ll be noted as the first to use the phrase in some publication. Oh the fame!

Toon Boom Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

Oh and for those who took my class and would like my personal Harmony shortcuts sheet, you can download the PDF here: https://www.toonboomtrainer.com/resources/shortcuts.pdf