OT? Making your own cartoon

[Bandini]

Does anyone here know the entire process of making your own animated short? I don't mean a flipbook, and I don't mean computer animation, but the old traditional method. I want to try and make my own 2 or 3 minute cartoon but I'm having trouble finding out exactly how to go about doing it. Any advice or links would be greatly appreciated.

[Harlequin]

I would also like some information on this.

Im doing a multimedia course and getting into flash, but
after seeing the web toons on the WB site i said BLAH! :(


Harlequin

[Larry T]

If you don't opt for the Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit :p , the traditional method goes somewhat like this:

1. Get an idea and write your story.

2. Create and develop likeable and well-designed, animatable characters.

3. Storyboard your idea into movable panels and post them in sequence (comic-book style) somewhere that you can re-arrange/remove them at your discretion.

4. Re-write your ideas with any changes.

5. Re-design your characters with any changes.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 ad nauseum, until you have your concept development nearest to perfection as you can get.

7. Once you are satisfied with your cartoon so far, begin designing scene layouts, backgrounds, and full-fledged character model sheets. Sometimes modelling them from Play-doh or clay helps.

8. Record your soundtrack and any voices.

9. Create a Leica reel using your storyboard layouts/ layout sheets and perfect your timing and synchronization.

10. Amend any timing and synchro until your Leica reel works with your soundtrack. Don't be afraid to dump a lot of stuff you originally had in there. This will streamline your story and make it more effective (plus keep your audience awake).

11. You may have to re-work your soundtrack over a few times.

12. Once sound and layout line up and somewhat indicate what the cartoon will look like, you can begin animating. You use your timing on soundtrack to know how many frames each scene will take. Indicate your timing in a chart on each scene dopesheet and mark them on each animator's sheets.

13. Action sound effects can be added later, to correspond with crashes, bangs, booms, clunks, etc.

14. Shoot another reel, using pencil-test animation to line up with your active soundtrack. See how it looks and make any changes where necessary.

15. Shoot another reel once all animation has been completed and synchs up with your tracks.

When your pencil-test reel works to your liking, begin tracing animation onto cels and painting the colour. You can also create your layouts/backgrounds in final colour layouts too.

Shoot a colour test to see how it looks so far. Most likely, you will want to make some changes, because adding colour always brings out the biggest faults in your cartoon.

Curse a lot and drink lots of coffee, too. Eventually, you will make it to a finished product that you will feel confident you'll want to show somebody.

DON'T TITLE YOUR PICTURE BEFORE ITS DONE!! Nobody entitles a book before they write it, it may end up much different than you intended.

[Cool Cat]

I've recently created this:

http://robotnick.altervista.org/munnezz/rapsodia2.wmv

This cartoons is more like an animation test. And I've created many others flipbooks with differents and betters animations. What do you think about it?

[cbrubaker]

If you don't opt for the Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit :p , the traditional method goes somewhat like this:

1. Get an idea and write your story.

2. Create and develop likeable and well-designed, animatable characters.

3. Storyboard your idea into movable panels and post them in sequence (comic-book style) somewhere that you can re-arrange/remove them at your discretion.

4. Re-write your ideas with any changes.

5. Re-design your characters with any changes.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 ad nauseum, until you have your concept development nearest to perfection as you can get.

7. Once you are satisfied with your cartoon so far, begin designing scene layouts, backgrounds, and full-fledged character model sheets. Sometimes modelling them from Play-doh or clay helps.

8. Record your soundtrack and any voices.

9. Create a Leica reel using your storyboard layouts/ layout sheets and perfect your timing and synchronization.

10. Amend any timing and synchro until your Leica reel works with your soundtrack. Don't be afraid to dump a lot of stuff you originally had in there. This will streamline your story and make it more effective (plus keep your audience awake).

11. You may have to re-work your soundtrack over a few times.

12. Once sound and layout line up and somewhat indicate what the cartoon will look like, you can begin animating. You use your timing on soundtrack to know how many frames each scene will take. Indicate your timing in a chart on each scene dopesheet and mark them on each animator's sheets.

13. Action sound effects can be added later, to correspond with crashes, bangs, booms, clunks, etc.

14. Shoot another reel, using pencil-test animation to line up with your active soundtrack. See how it looks and make any changes where necessary.

15. Shoot another reel once all animation has been completed and synchs up with your tracks.

When your pencil-test reel works to your liking, begin tracing animation onto cels and painting the colour. You can also create your layouts/backgrounds in final colour layouts too.

Shoot a colour test to see how it looks so far. Most likely, you will want to make some changes, because adding colour always brings out the biggest faults in your cartoon.

Curse a lot and drink lots of coffee, too. Eventually, you will make it to a finished product that you will feel confident you'll want to show somebody.

DON'T TITLE YOUR PICTURE BEFORE ITS DONE!! Nobody entitles a book before they write it, it may end up much different than you intended.

Wow, that's a lot, and it's no doubt, an abridged version.

Step by step process of animation, traditional way, would no doubt, take up the whole how to book.

[Bandini]

Thanks for all the info. I just wish I knew how to "shoot another reel"...

[Harlequin]

Thanks for all the info. I just wish I knew how to "shoot another reel"...

Is there a good 'How to Book' ?


Harlequin

[mbaker]

I've already made some animation in Flash, and i've learned some tricks on how to make it look like a real cartoon. It depends on how good of an artist you are, and how well you use Flash. That usually means fixing up the lines in Illustrator so that they look smooth. They way you use layers in Flash gave me an idea of how studios like Hanna-Barbera, and Filmation did cartoons in their hayday, and you could also be more ambitious with Flash, as well. I still have more to learn about Flash, but that's all the advice i can offer for now.

[Leviathan]

Didn't a guy named Walter Foster write/publish a couple of books about animation.


In any case, I would much rather take a tutorial on Flash Animation as it appears to be easier.

[Sogturtle]

Wow, that's a lot, and it's no doubt, an abridged version.

Step by step process of animation, traditional way, would no doubt, take up the whole how to book.

Charles and Leviathan~

Art-booklet publisher Walter Foster DID publish several booklets on "how-to" animation. Most notably he got MGM (and Disney) cartoon great Preston Blair to come on board and "author" and illustrate. These included some classic illustrations from several of Tex Avery's cartoons (it's great seeing a sequence of "Red" turn up unexpectantly in a book!!:D ). But these really only cover the animating and timing aspects and can't be expected to touch the other areas of classic animation (writing, storyboarding, recording etc.). Vintage forgotten New York director/animator John McCrory had also reportedly authored a booklet on the subject back in the Forties.

And there are several full-fledged books that cover the subject in pretty great depth.

[Harlequin]

And there are several full-fledged books that cover the subject in pretty great depth.

Could you list one or two of the must get ones?

With regards to the Web Toons on the Looney Toons site,
although they are pretty poor, the animation is pretty cool
at times, with what you can do. Are they done is Flash?


Harlequin

[Ray Pointer]

Does anyone here know the entire process of making your own animated short? ... Any advice or links would be greatly appreciated.

Yes. That would be me, since I started making my own films in 1963, and was of the last generation trained in the old studio style where you were exposed to everything from ink and paint to photography.

Also, in addition to the classic Preston Blair books, which are useful with enligthed guidance, we produced a home instruction course in three volumes that goes into areas that are not covered in any other books on the market. THE KEN SOUTHWORTH ANIMATION INSTUCTION series can be found online.