With reference to my last post, GoAnimate now allows you to download a hi-res video of the animations you create on their site. They have also added a bunch of other cool features... I will have to go back and play when I have some time.
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Sunday, 12 July 2009
Go Animate!
When I was a young lad, I was fascinated by animation. I used to make little 'flip-book' animations and I was always drawing. I even made a couple of full-length comics (or should I say 'graphic novels' if I want to sound serious about it!).
Anyway, I recently started thinking about trying my hand at come digital animation. I've played with 3D animation software before but never really looked at the 2D side of things. I found some info at http://www.calicomonkey.com/blog/free-cartoon-animation-software.php and downloaded the 3 suggested apps. They each have their pros and cons - perhaps I'll review them at some stage. I also downloaded the free learning edition of Toon Boom Animate. It's great but it watermarks anything you render, and the full version is a couple of hundred bucks. I found a great video tutorial (http://cartoonsmartblog.wordpress.com/2009/02/06/free-toon-boom-animate-lesson-on-hierarchical-character-rigging/) that demonstrates drawing, rigging and animating a character from scratch. Very interesting and even useful as a backgrounder if you're not going to use Animate.
Finally, after some fairly technical slog, I decided to try a more 'instant gratification' approach and have some fun with the Go!Animate Animation Studio. It's very easy to use and amazingly powerful. My only complaint is that the site seems to get progressively slower when working on a long animation. Still, this is what I produced over the weekend:
I thoroughly enjoyed putting it together. And although Go!Animate isn't a fully-fledged animation app, it certainly exposes the user to several concepts and techniques that are fundamental to the animation process.
Anyway, I recently started thinking about trying my hand at come digital animation. I've played with 3D animation software before but never really looked at the 2D side of things. I found some info at http://www.calicomonkey.com/blog/free-cartoon-animation-software.php and downloaded the 3 suggested apps. They each have their pros and cons - perhaps I'll review them at some stage. I also downloaded the free learning edition of Toon Boom Animate. It's great but it watermarks anything you render, and the full version is a couple of hundred bucks. I found a great video tutorial (http://cartoonsmartblog.wordpress.com/2009/02/06/free-toon-boom-animate-lesson-on-hierarchical-character-rigging/) that demonstrates drawing, rigging and animating a character from scratch. Very interesting and even useful as a backgrounder if you're not going to use Animate.
Finally, after some fairly technical slog, I decided to try a more 'instant gratification' approach and have some fun with the Go!Animate Animation Studio. It's very easy to use and amazingly powerful. My only complaint is that the site seems to get progressively slower when working on a long animation. Still, this is what I produced over the weekend:
I thoroughly enjoyed putting it together. And although Go!Animate isn't a fully-fledged animation app, it certainly exposes the user to several concepts and techniques that are fundamental to the animation process.
Sunday, 12 April 2009
Bass appreciation: Come Together - The Beatles
This bass line stands out as one of the most instantly recognisable and song-defining of all time, and is probably my favourite from both a player and a listener's perspective. The song was released in 1969 as the opening track of Abbey Road, with Paul McCartney adding this awesome groove to John Lennon's composition.
Come Together has been covered by many artists including Aerosmith, Soundgarden and Michael Jackson. For something a bit different, check out this version by Bobby McFerrin and Robin Williams (the actor/comedian) produced by Sir George Martin for his Beatles collection, In My Life.
Come Together has been covered by many artists including Aerosmith, Soundgarden and Michael Jackson. For something a bit different, check out this version by Bobby McFerrin and Robin Williams (the actor/comedian) produced by Sir George Martin for his Beatles collection, In My Life.
Friday, 10 April 2009
Too many bassists?
While watching Spinal Tap, I was interested to see that one of their (all rather amusing) songs featured the two guitarists on bass, as well as the regular bassist playing an impressive double-neck bass. It emerged that the song is called Big Bottom, which is fitting (although the lyrics have little to do with the lower frequency ranges).
While searching for the video, I found this discussion of bands with many bassists. Co-incidentally, one of the guys I work with recently hooked up with a band he used to play for - he plays upright (double) bass. He was slightly surprised to discover that they now have another guy on electric bass... He's not quite sure how it's going to work out, but he's running with it. For now they each take a turn.
It did get me thinking about how an acoustic and electric bass would go together in the same song. I'm not completely convinced that the whole would be greater than the sum of the parts. I need to think about it a bit more, so I'll save that discussion for another day.
While searching for the video, I found this discussion of bands with many bassists. Co-incidentally, one of the guys I work with recently hooked up with a band he used to play for - he plays upright (double) bass. He was slightly surprised to discover that they now have another guy on electric bass... He's not quite sure how it's going to work out, but he's running with it. For now they each take a turn.
It did get me thinking about how an acoustic and electric bass would go together in the same song. I'm not completely convinced that the whole would be greater than the sum of the parts. I need to think about it a bit more, so I'll save that discussion for another day.
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