Traditional Animation Questions

[boundless]

I have some questions for anyone who's done traditional animation work.

• How do you figure out lip syncing? Are X-Sheets the way to go? Any tips on using them? Any templates?
• What do you use for testing your shots? I've used a digital cam + software setup back at school for testing a flipbook exercise, but I'm not sure what software was used. Any recommendations?
• How do you cut out the characters so they can be placed over the background art? I plan on coloring the characters traditionally, so I can't just take the outline and fill it in with an image editor.
• What software do you use to put it all together? Could I do something as simple as importing a sequence of images into iMovie? I won't be needing any special effects. The whole process can be pretty old school.

Adobe software and anything $600+ is out of my budget right now, so please keep that in mind. As for tools, I have a lightbox, a scanner, and a camera.

And any other advice/tips would be greatly appreciated.

[tyokio]

1. X sheets would be used in that situation but I haven't a clue how to use one, one of the things my "helpful" university missed out on.

2. For capturing frames I use a video camera connected to a capture card which feeds the image into the computer and I use a program called MonkeyJam because it allows you to preview what you've shot, captures on 2s or more if required (default on 1s) can capture multiple images at the same time and merge them to smooth out noise on the image, can capture images at a press of a button, can have multiple layers, the live feed has settings which can change the brightness/contrast/whiteness which can help make the lines stand out more and the images can be saved as jpgs/pngs so they can be taken into other software. The cost? nothing! its completely free c: the only thing it doesn't do is allow you to color frames in the program which Digicel Flipbook can do, but that costs a fair amount.

3. I wouldn't recommend using images from a camera for this part, cameras are really for testing if a movement works rather then as a final result. Scanning, (even though it takes much longer and requires a peg bar that will fit in the scanner) will produce a more exact and cleaner result of the frames which will make it easier to cut out or select all the white areas to isolate the lines. Alternatively you could import your roughs and draw over them if you have access to a tablet. Adobe Photoshop is one software which makes this process easier but there are cheaper software than could do the same thing, GIMP is a free photoshop clone which would do the trick, it is slightly trickier to use though.

4. This is the trickier part for me because I've always used programs like flash and premier to finalize my movie but both are pretty expensive, I'm not really familiar with any of the cheaper alternatives for that part of the process but I'm confident that they exist out there. If iMovie can import images in order and export the final result as a movie file (avi,mov,mp4 etc etc) then I imagine that would be fine.

hope this helps : D

[boundless]

Thanks for the help!

Scanning, (even though it takes much longer and requires a peg bar that will fit in the scanner) will produce a more exact and cleaner result of the frames which will make it easier to cut out or select all the white areas to isolate the lines.

Haha I completely forgot about the "magic wand" tool in Photoshop (and whatever it is in Gimp). I can just use that to remove the white space.

Alternatively you could import your roughs and draw over them if you have access to a tablet. Adobe Photoshop is one software which makes this process easier but there are cheaper software than could do the same thing, GIMP is a free photoshop clone which would do the trick, it is slightly trickier to use though.

I don't want to ink or color it on my PC. Everything is going to be done traditionally except for the audio and editing.

[Anghenfil]

How to use X-sheets:

1.  Look at an X-sheet that's filled out as an example.  Animators use them as a guide for when dialogue phonemes are hit, how long they're held, and what phoneme shape is used.  You can also make notes about particularly strong phonemes, or which point is the most emphasized in the dialogue.  Animators often put doodles and notes about acting in here too.

2.  Find a clean sheet that you like, or make your own in Word/Excel.  I prefer ones that have marks every second (24 frames).

3.  Put the sound clip you want to use into a program that can scrub frame-by-frame, such as Flash, After Effects, Vegas Video.  Make sure it's demarcating at the proper frame rate.  Go through frame-by-frame, listen to it, and mark your exposure sheet accordingly.

Now you don't need the sound clip in front of you to sync your animation.  Follow your X-sheet and if you've done it correctly, your dialogue will be synced when you scan it in.

[boundless]

Awesome, thanks.

Now I'm wondering what would be the best way to color everything. I don't want to use watercolors at the moment because it's too inconsistent for animation and I'm working on something with a bit of realism. I was thinking acrylics because they dry somewhat quickly. But then I would probably need better paper than 8.5x11 printer paper. I don't know if markers would be a good idea because I want to blend some colors and paint would work better. Any ideas?

EDIT: I saw a pamphlet at the store that said acrylics are more versatile and can be used on paper that's rated at least 90lb. So I got a nice set of acrylics for 50% off and a sketchbook of "mixed media" paper which is rated at 98lb. and thin/cheap enough to animate with.

[Anghenfil]

Personally, I don't think you should be scared off having the color being inconsistent in each frame.  It can be an interesting style choice and make it look more painterly.

Choose whichever medium pulls you. 

[boundless]

I saw that video and I've also seen this one (they use software so it isn't so inconsistent) which has some great style to it. I meant that it was too inconsistent for the project I'm working on, but I definitely want to try it sometime.