#Hire 2D Animation Studio

[incredimateofficial]

3D and 2D Studio Services: Hire an Animation Company in India | Incredimate

When it comes to animation, you should hire the best animation company in India. Whether you want 3D animated films, game trailers, or even product animations, we are the best animators you can hire. And that’s not just it! We can also work with 2D animation, 3D modeling, website creation, metaverse development, game development, and more. So, if you are looking to hire an Animation Company in India that can work in a variety of fields and offer the best quality and prices, reach out to us.

[bellamargu]

When I said I was gonna animate Missy, THAT WAS A PROMISE. Loved studying her subtle acting and lip syncing to this line.

also RECOMMEND ME MORE 12TH DOCTOR ERA LINES TO ANIMATE.

[boxyheadbry]

A rough(ish) animation for @plottwiststudios of their character Xjena. Head over to their page for news of their game, Women of Xol! I had fun with this. I have the urge to give her an umbrella.

[cacophony-eg]

Okay so saw the trailer for Season 5 of LMK and the discord that is happening. So I did a little research and here’s some information all LMK fans should be aware of. (EDIT: new information has come forth)

Link (One of the people who worked on Monkie Kid at FlyingBark has now made a statement, I’ve rebloged the tweet for anyone who may not have access to twitter)

Looks like it’s official that Flying Bark will no longer be working on LMK.

https://issuu.com/brunico-issuu/docs/kidscreen_febmar23_lowres/s/18007818 (<- Link to article)

It looks like LEGO has given WildBrain studios the license to LMK for the next 2 seasons plus a Special.

(It has been shown to me, that I have mis interpreted the information in the Kidscreen article and I apologize for that. I was trying to find some string of answers and jumped onto the first thread of evidence I could find.

What does remain true is WildBrains credentials and to please not point your annoyance, frustration, and disappointment onto either of the animation studios, or their staff, if your goal is for better animation your best corse of action is still to push LEGO company about it)

Now first off I want to say that The Vancouver studio they are talking about is pretty good, they used to be DHX and the part of DHX that did My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, along with Carmen Sandiego, so they do know how to animate 2D pretty well but it’s all rigged 2D either done through Flash or Harmony, so doubtful we will get the kind of battle animation we got from Barks studios.

PLEASE don’t stop supporting or watching LMK that’s not going to help, it’s probably already set in stone that WildBrain will have LMK for the at least the next 2 seasons plus special, also don’t attack WildBrain that’s like complaining to a cashier about how a store is run don’t do that. Also don’t go after the show runners(ie: writers); they are the cashier supervisors; When it comes to massive properties like LEGO, they have no control over who the company hires to be cashiers.

If you're going to complain to anyone, complain to LEGO company, (the part that has control over shows, not the one that has control over lego sets). Now don’t say things like “if you keep this studio I’m gonna stop watching Monkie Kid and buying your merch” don’t do this it will only cause LEGO to drop the show, if a show doesn’t have the view numbers or the merch numbers, they’ll drop the show regardless of the praise or complains about said show.

Question Lego about their choices, request Lego for animation the same quality as the previous season, question lego how to get flybark’s animation back.(new info has come in, please read link to twitter statement or the reblog of the twitter statement)

Please reblog this, or screen shot and repost what I am saying; this is the one case where I give permission. I know a lot of fans are spinning (Me included) right now and I don’t want anyone to take out their annoyance, frustration and disappointment on the wrong people.

[eggdrawsthings]

Hi! I wanted to ask a question and I wasn’t sure if it was too personal or not so just ignore this is you’d rather not answer, but I was wondering if you went to art school or got a degree in it? I really want to start learning and maybe one day start a career in animation and wasn’t sure whether I should spend time and resources getting a degree. I know it’s going to be different for everybody and nothings a guarantee for this field but since I love your style and technical skill I was curious whether you had done that and what were your thoughts on it or if you are self-taught.

Hey anon! No worries it's all good!

Ig I should quickly go through my art journey so you can have an overall look of why I went to art school lol.

So I'm from Vietnam. I think back in 2013 I went to a small art school in Singapore (they were the only one that gave me a scholarship). My major was 3D modeling actually, but during my final year, I realized I only wanted to draw characters for animation. I could already draw decently, so I just read The Silver Way book and built a character design portfolio on my own during this time. I was lucky I got a job as a concept artist at a small animation studio there so I learned a lot from the job. I also did a lot of self-learning and took Woulter Tulp's Expressive Character class on Schoolism.

Then after 3-ish years of working, I got sick of the tiny and dying animation industry in Singapore. I wanna do sth more than just preschool shows and I was severely underpaid lmao. So I quit my job and took the MA VisDev program at AAU. It's a little more affordable cuz u can do 1 year online and the second year on-site. The reason I went to this school even tho i could just take a VisDev class online was cuz i need the visa so i can try to break into the industry in the US.

Now back to your question. Is art school a must? No. Should you still take it? Maybe, depends on your situation. If you can afford it then hell yeah by all means. Art school is great cuz you have professors and peers to help guide you along the way so you won't get lost while trying to figure out your shit. And to have a few years just experimenting and focusing on art is a great experience. Plus you can make a lot of meaningful connections in school and it will help you a long way after you grad. But if you have to go into debt to go to art school, then don't. There are places like Schoolism, CGMA, and Warrior Art Camp where you can pick what class and from whom you wanna learn. If you are not from the US and wanna break into the industry here like me however, then yeah getting a degree is a better bet cuz you can use the student visa and OPT to hopefully get a job here (it's still very very hard tho ngl im struggling rn as we speak lmao). Also, you need a BA to work overseas so there's that too. The hard truth is studios prefer to hire locally than some rando from somewhere else and have to wait for them to relocate and shit, (unless you are exceptionally good and they'd do anything to have you, but that is super rare lol).

Even though I did go to art school, I have to say most of my skills are from self-study. It requires a lot of self-discipline but I'm pretty much obsessed with drawing and I draw everyday so it's not a problem for me. But my friend is not good at that, so she found art school/classes helped her better cuz there are deadlines and instructors to help guide her to reach her goal. So it depends on your learning style tbh.

There is this chart that can help you consider your options. Im sorry it's a very long answer, cuz yes everyone's experience is different. Feel free to drop me another ask if you still have anymore questions tho ^^

Edit: I must also add, though there are online classes and ways to self-learn animation,I do think it only truly benefit you if you know exactly what you wanna do in this industry (for example I already knew i wanna become a character designer for 2d/3D animation specifically so any books/classes i took I tailored it to fit my goal). If you are unsure what you wanna do, then maybe even a cheap animation course will do better, and then you can take extra online classes on the side.

[synergysilhouette]

Plotting out "Yaksha" (Disney movie)

If you haven't checked out my post on my original Disney era, please check it out here.

Background: Disney revives the idea for a "Jack and the Beanstalk" story, though they've no interest of making it take place in Spain like originally planned, citing the recent "Wish" film still burned in people's recent memory. Fawn Veerasuthorn (Co-director and co-screenwriter of "Wish," head of story for "Raya and the Last Dragon," and a story artist/storyboard artist/visual development artist for other recent Disney films) suggests a Thai setting, since there are many stories that revolve around Yakshas there. Though Disney is nervous about the idea due to RATLD's middling box office performance and polarized reviews on their SEA representation, Fawn points out that the former issue was COVID-related, and the latter issue can be solved by specifically focusing on Thailand. Eventually, they come around to the idea, citing how "The Princess and the Frog" was based a European tale with a fresh twist from another culture. Early on that they would gamble further by not only making the film a musical AND keeping a male lead, something they hadn't done since "Hercules" (AKA 1997). They aren't totally being risky, though; they bring over the Anderson-Lopez team, who was originally going to be used to be used for "Gigantic" (the original title for the adaptation) to write songs for it, as well as bringing in James Newton Howard in after his experience orchestrating the score for Raya. Opting to lean into potential "Avatar: The Last Airebender" parallels, Disney hires Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko as directors (and I'll be using some ATLA and TLOK pics for reference), with Matt Braly and Jared Bush creating the script. It was never established if they were going for a specific time period's influence, but the Sukhothai and Ayutthaya kingdoms were the most spoken about. Scott Watanabe does the concept art, and after a severe internal argument, they take another risk: to make it a 2D film. This is only done due to points being brought up how desires for 2D have increased (and TBATH winning "Best Animated Film" in 2024) as well as it working best in the film's favor being based on Thai art. Needless to say, Studio Ghibli plays a big influence on the art style, and the change to 2D makes production take longer to reacquaint the animation team with it, as well as getting the style they want.

Plot:

(Used this picture for visual aid; courtesy of Scott Watanabe's concept art for "Raya and the Last Dragon")

A poor family made up of a man, his wife, her father, and their two children, is blessed with another child. Unable to support him, the family falls into anguish, but his grandfather has dreams of buying and planting sugarcane seeds outside the kingdom and placing the baby there overnight, and is told that the child will be cared for. He tells the family, and the boy disappears the next day, being raised by the Yaksha in a sky kingdom above. For many years, the boy--named "Cloud"--believes he belongs there, until his adoptive mother informs him of his true heritage and guides him to the stalk from which she descended to retrieve him. As he grows, Cloud descends the beanstalk to learn more about the place he would've called home, but when a jealous giant follows him and accidentally kills the crown prince of the kingdom, the King vows revenge on the Yaksha, wanting to destroy them and conquer their plentiful kingdom in the process. Cloud, as a human, must know act as a bridge between both worlds in order to prevent an all-out war from occuring.

Characters:

"Cloud"--His main color is definitely blue, which references the world above that he lives in close to the sky. His nickname is a pun on his head sometimes being stuck in the clouds, as well as his easygoing and often gentle nature and the fact that he now lives in the kingdom above the clouds. He draws influences from several people (fictional or real, Thai or not) to craft a young man with a passion for peace and keeping the order between giants and humans. While he's spent most of his life in the world above, he will sometimes sneak down the sugarcane to a little village outside the human Kingdom of Khruth where he only goes by his nickname. For many years, he has befriended an elderly man, unaware that this is his grandfather. On Earth, he's known only by his nickname, with only a handful of people who know his real name, something he hardly uses (but still answers to).

Suvana--One of the princesses of Khruth, who catches Cloud napping under the mango tree outside the palace. When she discovers he is the ambassador of the Yaksha, she's surprised, having expected him to be a brutish and reckless warrior, and she is pleased to find that he is respectful, pious, and compassionate. Somewhat of a black sheep in the royal family, she often tries to find time to herself, when she can be more playful and goofy without embarrassing her family or disrupting the royal status quo. However, despite her unique personality, she's also quite clever and mysterious, being underestimated often due to being seen as incompetent.

Note: her name is taken from Suvannamaccha, a mermaid princess from the Thai version of the Ramayana.

Ngein--A mother figure to Cloud and a leader of the Yakshas who reside in the sky, she's weary of the impending war with humans, who, in their hubris, desire to conquer the sky upon hearing of even more majestic lands and priceless gems and minerals there. On top of this, one of the Yaksha's kills the crown prince in a rage, fueling the friction between both parties.

(IDK if I'd use their "Genshin Impact" designs, but it is a nice visual aid.)

Sirichai--The King of Khruth who grew up with stories of giants who housed outstanding treasure and magic in the world above. When one of his sons is killed by a Yaksha, he follows it to the sugar cane and investigates the world above, and comes to the conclusion that while above him, it is still part of his kingdom, and his craving for revenge drives him to want to dominate the giants--or slaughter them for their wealth. Either or.

Songs:

Sent to Heaven--The opening song about the dreams and hopes of commoners, it focuses on Cloud's family leaving him below a sugarcane stalk after dreaming that he will live better if they do so rather than living with them. They ponder the drawbacks of this, however, as they may never see him again.

What Else is There?--After being told that he's the child of humans when he's young, Cloud begs Ngein to show him the sugarcane that peeks above the clouds, and as the years pass, he makes his way down to the human world, learning about the life he missed, with Ngein always satisfied because he always returns and because she watches him from Yaksha statues outside of temples

Underneath--Cloud rests beneath the mango tree, contemplating how large the world beneath the clouds is, and how he isn't ready to go back home. Meanwhile, Suvana talks about who she is underneath her decorum, and is simultaneously embarrassed by how she fails to live up to royal standards and sad that it alienates herself from her siblings.

Worth the Price--Sirichai makes an impassioned speech to his army to climb the sugar cane to the land above and make the giants above subservient to them. Suvana notes that despite her father's ill intentions, he does not recognize what he's doing as wrong, truly believing that his the skies above are part of his kingdom and thus his dominion.

What Else is There? (Reprise)--When Cloud is imprisoned and Suvana must go alone to persuade the giants not to kill the incoming warriors, they ponder if their desire to live and explore was always meant to end poorly, if they were better off living the lives played out for them. But then, they realize they wouldn't have met each other, and they'd always wonder "what if?"

Only Me--Having managed to avoid war and catastrophe, Cloud and Suvana marry, and they reflect on their journeys. Despite their kind hearts, they made hasty decisions that could have hurt so many people, and as they marry, they vow to each other and both kingdoms that the ceremony was not only a marriage of people, but a marriage of worlds. (Note: if I made the lyrics, it'd be "It's NOT only me")

Lemme know what you think and if you have any questions! Obviously I don't know the inns and outs of Thai culture, but lemme know if it sounds like it could work with these ideas. I may make minor changes to this. Perhaps I'll make more posts related to the rest of my fanmade Reinvention era.

[antibagel]

Advice to aspiring 2D animators/storyboard artists/concept artists etc.:

Don't go to expensive art school

Don't work for low pay indie productions in hope of boosting your resume

Don't do cheap commissions

Don't post traced or AI art ever

Don't make animation your career

Stop telling yourself artistic skill = money

If you are in high school right now, do not go to college for animation. I'm so so serious. The animation industry is crumbling right now, and the last thing you should be doing is racking up college debt for a degree that will fail you.

Here are some things that you can do:

Use your creative skills for jobs outside of the entertainment industry

Work on personal projects

Do not feel like you have to spend your time marketing yourself on social media if you don't enjoy it

Collaborate with other artists on projects you actually want to work on

Widen your creative influences

Try new mediums

Keep private sketchbooks/journals

Allow yourself to flow through periods of creative highs and art block

Even if you 'make it' in the animation industry. It is highly likely you will get laid off, be overworked, or underpaid. Most likely all three.

I've been laid off by two studios, underpaid by all of my animation jobs with exception of two, and I'll name them so no one thinks I am accusing them. One was a small short film called Emaho where I got to set my own rates and pick my workload. And the other is Wild Card, which was commission based and priced by me. I have had three animation studio jobs, and all of them have either not paid me or paid me very little.

The last studio job made me finally quit the industry. It was the largest most prestigious studio I had ever worked for. And, with exception of the studio that paid me nothing as I was an intern, this studio paid me the worst wages of any job I've had. I had calculated my pay, and it was less than minimum wage in my state. The studio had hired me promising part time hours, but would often leave me without work for days. The managers were hard to reach. I had little to no contact with the other animators working at the studio. But it was my first and only credit in an animated show, so that's something.

This expierience has been echoed by my animator friends and coworkers. It is not a sustainable industry. It profits off of worker exploitation. Don't feed it with your time, money, and creativity.

[katlyntheartist]

I think the Mario movie would definitely benefit from having a tie-in show due to the potential for worldbuilding, which would be a first for Illumination because I don't think they've ever made a series based on any of their movies

(I'm gonna lump these two together since they both have the same kind of question.) An Illumination Mario movie cartoon sounds great on paper. But it depends on how it's executed.

Buckle up, this is gonna be a looong post:

A Mario movie cartoon would give us the time needed to flesh out the characters and worlds a lot more than the movie did. We could have time for more bonding moments between Mario and Luigi, we could get to see more of the Mario family, Bowser's minions could do some comedic moments and we could learn more about Bowser and the other Mario villains, we can explore the Mushroom Kingdom and other kingdoms and worlds from the games, and so on and so forth.

But it depends on what kind of story Illumination would do. Would it be more like Wander over Yonder- a comedic episodic adventure that slowly builds up to an overarching story in later seasons? Would it be like Infinity Train- an mystery/ adventure that slowly reveals more about its world with each episode and takes the time to flesh out and explore characters mindset, personalities, and motivations? Or would it be like CocoMellon- a lazy, mindless, cash grab timewaster that parents can put on to keep their kids quiet. It really would depend on who Illumination would hire to direct and write the show. Someone with a passion for Mario and wants to tell a good story, or someone who only cares about profit and turning the show into nothing but a boring easter egg factory for fans.

Another deciding factor would be if Illumination would do this in 2D or 3D. Now I believe that 2D would work best for Mario. Illumination can do 2D animation well as seen in the Minions 2 movie end credits and even in the Mario movie concept art.

With a proper budget and the right creative team, a Mario movie cartoon is possible! But maybe Nintendo would be hesitant to do one because of how the 90's Super Show cartoons were. For as nostalgic as they are, no one can deny that all three of those cartoons had a laundry list of problems, as well as a budget of seven dollars and a chicken sandwich.

But I'm imagining Illumination hiring the Flying Bark Studios creative team. You know, the guys who made Rottmnt and Lego Monkie Kid!

Imagine a Mario movie cartoon done in that gorgeous art style and with the same fluid and well choreographed fight scenes as those shows. I'm already drooling at the thought, it would be so amazing!!

But knowing Illumination, they would probably do it in 3D. Now, 3D can look good in kids cartoons. 2012 TMNT, My Dad the Bounty Hunter, and Maya and the Three are proof that it can be done well and even with a cinematic quality with Maya's case. But 95% of 3D kids cartoons aren't given a proper budget and are mostly shameless cash grabs mostly made by greedy corporations trying to wring as much money from parents as they can like with Megamind Rules, Coco Mellon, SpongeBob Camp Coral, etc.

So like I said, it depends on Illuminations motivations (which would probably mostly be just money), if it's done in 2D or 3D, and the passion and love that whoever directs and writes the cartoon has for Mario and the franchise.

[artsekey]

I'm not super into Lackadaisy, but I am super into animation, and...

How are they planning to finance an entire season with just 1,000,000?

(Everything below assumes that they're aiming for episodes that are comparable to the pilot & that they plan on fully financing the season with solely the donations on Backerkit. It's likely they have additional financing through merchandising, the pilot, and/or Iron Circus's other projects, but since that information is not available, I'll go off of what I know. Additionally, production management and budgeting are extremely project dependent, so the "averages" listed below may be far off what the PM on Lackadaisy's got quoted.)

[EDIT: It’s been brought to my attention that the episodes are 10-12 minutes long, which means it’s MUCH more doable than I was expecting! They budgeted for a lean (but doable!!!) production. Thank you to those who clarified! I’ll leave this post as-is for those interested, but read it knowing they’re considering roughly half the time I used to calculate everything below!]

Quick preface as to why I wanted to talk about this and Why I Feel I May Have Valuable Things To Say: I'm an indie filmmaker and professor of animation, production management, and VFX. I'm not trying to call out the company or the production because-- and I cannot say this enough-- I truly do not know what's happening on the back end. Every production is wildly different. Their original goal was 125,000, with 45% going to animation-- that includes rough, cleanup, & color. That means that for a ~27 minute animated episode, they've got $56,250. If we collect all facets of production together-- story, layout, animation, compositing, and editing-- we wind up with a grand total of $82,500. Even if we estimate at the lowest average production cost of $8,000 a minute, this budget would account for ~11 minutes of animation.

An animator's average hourly rate is ~$36. With the outlined budget, the Lackadaisy production would be able to afford ~1562 hours of animator manpower. Let's assume (for the sake of this discussion) they'll split that over at least four animators, leaving us with about 10 weeks of full-time work (~390 hrs per person) for four people.

Now this may seem like a lot of time, but as far as I can tell, the pilot was largely animated frame-by-frame without the use of 2D rigging. This means every frame needs to go through roughs, then cleanup, then color, then composite. Every frame you see on-screen has been worked over at least four times-- six if you count layout and story. Ten weeks is simply not enough time to finish 27 minutes of 2D animation.

Now, I know what you might be thinking; Artsekey, they never said their production period was ten weeks! And you're right! However, that's how much production time they can afford. Whether it's split over 20 weeks or a year, they only have enough money to pay their animators for 1562 hours of labor.... if they're paying them a competitive hourly wage. To be completely clear, I am not insinuating that they're low-balling their animators; there're a dozen unknown factors that play into this, such as:

The level of animator they're hiring (an apprentice animator may make ~$17-$23 an hour whereas an experienced pro may make ~$43-$45.)

Whether they're actually hiring animators as opposed to contracting animators (I assume their model is likely relying on the latter based on the fact that I'm seeing a lot of animators that worked on 1-3 shots). They may be doing single-sum deliverable based contracts rather than hourly.

The use of tools like EBsynth (which is listed among the programs they're using) and smart frame management (which they're definitely doing!). This can, if used properly, cut down on the number of in-betweens animators need to get done.

The amount of money the studio is planning to re-invest on their end. The goal on backerkit may just account for the additional funds the studio needs to enter production, meaning their budget may be far larger than what's listed. However, if this were the case, I'd hope they'd disclose it! If I were considering backing the project, knowing that the studio was going to be buying in would increase my faith in the fundraiser.

Obviously, the team loves animation. It shows through in the pilot, and I think that it's clear in their mission statement that they stand against the exploitation of animators. But... I also know that indie production is like trying to wring water out of a log. I'd personally like a more comprehensive breakdown of their expenditures not because I think there's anything suspicious happening behind the scenes, but because as someone who teaches production management for animation and who has an interest in indie production specifically, I'm wondering what choices they're making to stretch their funds.

And what about sound?

While I'm not an expert in audio design, I do live with a professional voice actress/audio engineer, and she had a few thoughts I'd like to share.

At their original goal, roughly ~12500 was set aside for:

Sound Design

Music Composition

Voice Acting

Now, I can only refer to my own experiences as an indie filmmaker regarding price, but the rate I received-- from friends-- for sound design was roughly ~325 per minute, and this was a very, very good deal for what I personally needed. The audio engineer can be responsible for collecting and/or recording foley, or the sound effects you hear in film. This can be expensive and time consuming. They're also responsible for editing all the foley, music, and voice acting together in a way that feels seamless. If we were going off the rate I was given (which was very reasonable given the amount of work that needed to be done), ~27 minutes of full foley, complex sound design, and mixing would run about ~8,000. This number could fluctuate significantly depending on whether they need the sound designers to create the foley, get some ADR in, or just mix the audio, but let's assume that Lackadaisy has a pre-existing foley library and that the price falls in a lower range of ~5,000.

Music's a complete wild-card. In my experience, most composers charge per-minute, and most of the indie composers I've worked with were at a rate of ~$100 per minute of music. That'll land at a nice $2,700.

Now where my friend got particularly heated was the rate for the voice actors. As a voice actress herself, she was floored that the budget for voice was so low-- particularly because the project's pilot pulled industry voices like ProZD. Obviously, the price for voice can vary wildly based on how many lines an actor has, their experience as a voice actor, their personal terms, ect. The cast for the pilot included 11 credited actors. I can't assume their rates or whether they charge a fee to even get in the booth (my roomate charges $100 flat at the start of a session), but if my other estimates are in the right ballpark, their goal budget accounts for roughly ~500 per VA (and it's extremely unlikely that it's divided equally for obvious (and logical) reasons). Honestly, for a full episode of animation, that's... about average. But average in the voice-acting community doesn't necessarily mean good. Voice actors are notoriously underpaid, and-- as previously mentioned-- bigger names with more lines are going to be taking in more of that pay-pool.

And, of course, the Production Managers.

I'm not going to speak on this for too long, but the original budget held 8750 for the admin team. I assume admin includes their PMs, director, and leads (if they have enough specialization to need leads). Assuming it's just one PM and one director, they're pulling in ~4375 a person. For the duration of the project. There's no way that prepro, production, and post would take less than 8 months. Of everyone involved in a production, these roles are on-board from start to end, and it's simply not enough! PM's are absolutely critical to success!

Not to mention the editor!

In animation, the editor is the director's right-hand man, and is working to edit the storyboards, reels, scratch music, and the final cut. This role is also on the production from pre-to-post, and their original budget allows for.... $2,500. What? If I go extremely low on the hourly for the editor, you maybe get one part-time weeks' worth of work for several edits of a 27 minute episode. With most everything else I've talked about, I've mentioned there's a lot of wiggle room because of all the factors I simply don't know, but in no universe is $2,500 enough for this editing job. (Even at the current budget of 1,000,000, $4,000 an episode is super low.)

But, hey! They've got more money now!

Of course, all of these concerns go out the window when you consider that the team's already raised a whopping $953,000 (as of 7/31/23) with the fundraiser only up for five days... right?

Well... It certainly alleviates some of the strain, but their stretch goals were scope increases! This means that once they reach their 1,000,000 stretch goal, they're adding on four additional ~27 minute episodes. This increases the budget-per-episode to 200,000 (yay!), but that still leaves the project with about $7,400 to spend per-minute... which, in the world of animation, isn't much!

All in all, I think that the original goal of 125,000 -- if there was going to be minimal investment from the company-- was completely insufficient, and it would have been irresponsible to try to produce a 27 minute long pilot with that budget. At the same time, I imagine the PM/Admin team could reasonably expect a strong outpouring of support from the fans based on past success and low-balled the original goal. Now that they're near 1,000,000, I think- and hope - they'll be able to swing it.

If anyone has any insight into the production of the pilot (either because you worked on it or know someone who does), please feel free to add context to this post! Again, I am not trying to call out Iron Circus. I'm fascinated by indie production and have been following the successes and failures of crowdfunded animation since it started picking up, and while the goal for Lackadaisy raised some concerns for me up-front, I think they're making strategic choices based on hard data (that we the public are not privvy to). They've already done it once, so they should be able to do it again!

[teatreejammer]

Wildworks at salt lake comic con, sept. 5th 2013

“Smart Bomb Interactive (SBI) brought a team of six people from their production to demonstrate and explain the process of creating a character in a video game.

The process is explained using a little jargon as possible, but remained as educational as possible.

For the sake of the presentation the team used the character Sir Gilbert from the National Geographic game “Animal Jam.”

The process starts off with a writer and artist creating the initial concept. Adam Hunter and Taylor Maw explained how they started off by making small sketches of tigers before deciding on a concept of James Earl Jones, the voice of Mufasa from The Lion King.

Maw further explained how the character goes through revisions on what’s practical or not before ending the image to the 3D artist, in this case Dave Hilden.

Hilden shows the process and uses the 2D drawings as reference before sending the model to Mac McCann for rigging.

McCann makes a joke about how rigging, a term for giving 3D models a skeleton, is also a nautical term and says that rigging “probably has something to do with boats.”

McCann provided more humor by showing that the skeleton is needed or else the model would warp rather than bend, showing Sir Gilbert be distorted by stretching him out.

Nathan Riddle and Steve Fox explained the next steps which were animation and clean up.

The SBI team then allowed audience members to ask questions.

Questions involved working with Snoopy for “Snoopy Flying Ace” and why they use 3D models for sprite creation.

The most notable question and response was if they looked for a degree or portfolio when hiring. The reponse was that they laughed at applicants who brought in a bad portfolio, or no portfolio, but exclaimed the fact that they had a degree. They look for a great portfolio, or even just potential in a portfolio and artist.

Overall this was a great and informative panel from local game studio Smart Bomb Interactive.”

source: https://www.globeslcc.com/2013/09/08/smart-bomb-brings-characters-to-life/

plus this thing is the only thing i can find on it, (unless there is an unlabeled recording of the panel on youtube, unlikely)

[38sr]

#industryQs

Hello!

For your course, are there any additional courses you feel should be taken alongside what you offer in yours?

For animation/drawing, programs to be used, or to get hired?

Id love a list! I currently have a Bachelors in GameArt and would like to get into 2D animation for my career.

Thank you!

Hello!

Hmmm, I can't really think of any since I made the class with the intent of it being more of all the knowledge can be applied to any software you need. But if I had to say one probably Toniko Pantoja's videos would be a good additional since that's where I learned how to animate in the first place haha.

As for programs the following goes: Storyboarding - Toon Boom Storyboard Pro (TV), Photoshop (Feature Film)

Animation: Toon Boom Harmony (American TV), Clip Studio Paint (Japan), TVPaint (American and Japan), Adobe Flash/Animate (America and Japan)

There are professionals who use Procreate but as of right now studios haven't adapted it yet since I don't think there's a Desktop version. So they primarily use Adobe and Toon Boom programs. But recently American studios have been using Clip Studio for designs, layouts and animation slowly.

[satoshi-mochida]

Monolith Soft 1st Production team hiring for new RPG directed by Tetsuya Takahashi - Gematsu

Monolith Soft‘s 1st Production team, the studio behind the Xenoblade Chronicles series, is hiring for a new RPG directed by Tetsuya Takahashi, the company announced.

In a message on the hiring website, Takahashi said that while he could not go into further details, the new RPG is taking on more new challenges compared to previous Monolith Soft titles.

Open positions for the new RPG include a 2D artwork staff designer, 3D CG character designer, 3D CG map designer, development environment engineer, field level designer, assistant director, in-game animator, and an effects designer.

[motziedapul]

Would anyone be interested in a lesson on how to get jobs in the 2D animation industry?

I'm not the greatest animator on Earth, but I'm a seasoned animation professional, and I've NEVER been rejected for an animation job.

I've been hired by 5 studios in my 7+years working.

I ask because I feel as though a lot of younger animators don't understand the skills OUTSIDE of animation that are required to get a job, or do well in an interview, or showcase your most marketable skills.

I know animators better than me who needed my help with getting hired.

[luminlunii]

I would gladly share this AU! I already have with a few other people, but I don't think I'll ever write it. It's just for funzies while I'm on break from another fanfic. First, what this big AU is about. Long story short, humans found a way to bring 2D animated characters to life, but through very questionable means like science and making deals with a demonic entity in 2023. While, humans got greedy and didn't want to keep their end of the deal. Which was giving the Entity at least one of the 2D animated characters for him to raise as his child. They stopped doing this at the third, Entity punished them for this, by making the cartoons/anime characters sick with this life sentence ink disease and wiping their memories of them for it, leaving their names of course. The government got scared when people and characters started asking why this was happening as they slowly gained their memories back, so they made a medicine specifically for characters to forget who they are, and where they came from until they could figure out what to do, which was almost never. Although, they had the medicine, it wasn't fullproof and good humans talk. So, they kidnapped characters (Those they weren't experimented on to find a cure or corrupted means) and made them into assassins to take out creators of these characters if they could not be bribed to keep quiet, the animators that were involved, or anyone else that wouldn’t stop questioning things. Eventually, they weeded out the humans that would talk, time went on and the future generations didn’t know anything. Or if they do, they don’t quite understand it. The government also erased/destroyed anything resembling a character. Disneylands, Disneyworlds, resorts, anime studios, all left to be abandoned and anyone on the premises would be killed. They did this because that couldn’t have people finding out they practically used dark magick and science involving human sacrifices of sorts to bring characters to life and it backfired. That would be too much of an uproar.

Second, (Sorry this is long! Feel free to skim!) This was encouraged a rebellion organization called T.O.T.O. ran by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (The mascot before Mickey Mouse.) and Mickey Mouse. They're trying to get the bottom of the truth. Rocky was with Zib the entire time of his memory loss. While both had been recruited for the cause at the very beginnings of rebellion, Oswald was more interested in Rocky. This is because Rocky heard about the rebellions suspicions on the medicine and was like, "Why don't I test it!" on a whim. And sure enough, he saw old memories from his original world. You see, when Rocky saw these things, he didn't keep quiet and was very chaotic about it, which is why Oswald recruited him. To help the organization make noise about the cause. However, it being the first time for the organization to put face out there, they didn't realize the dangers completely. Oswald grew careless and it resulted in the Incident of Nebraska. Where the government got the jump on them on their first rally, hosted by yours truly, Rocky. Half were killed while the others were taken. Rocky was taken. He was experimented on like the rest at first, but after some research on Rocky. The experimentation facilities saw the same things Oswald saw him, but in a bad way. They turned him into an assassin because they figure they could put his chaotic nature to use, just like the first one and the many other in Rocky's situation after him. The first was Husker from Hazbin Hotel. The assassins are scattered all across the globe by multiple countries.

Yes, Oswald is looking for Rocky as is Zib. Zib is mad a Oswald because it appears he's not looking for him. So, Zib is looking for him on his own. However, the truth is. Oswald hired Mordecai to track Rocky down, but doesn't want to get Zib involved to be more careful about what they do.

All of which I just read is absolutely nuts. I had to walk away from my computer several times trying to comprehend this massive wall of text that was thrown at me. I was screaming how batshit insane this concept is. My brain is imploding.

My final response

What the fuck.

[weremagnus]

Ok, several questions bc you have my dream job lol:

1. How did you get into the video game industry as a concept artist?

1a. Was it hard?

1b. What kind of degree did you need to work with the company ur currently employed with?

2. Is it hard being a full time artist?

Hi! Thanks for asking these questions. I'll do my best to answer based on my experiences.

1. How did you get into the video game industry as a concept artist?

I spent a year after graduation from college taking on any work that came my way. All really low budget stuff, a real hodgepodge of things: some of it was games, some of it was like... logos for local businesses. In that year I also took a trip to Burbank to attend the CTN Animation Expo (there's another one called Lightbox now) and I brought my college portfolio with me to show recruiters. I ended up meeting some folks who worked at a studio that interested me and they passed my name along to their recruitment department.

I do want to note: I didn't start as a concept artist. My first position involved concept art, but was primarily creating 2D game assets. As I kept working I was given opportunities that eventually earned a concept artist role.

1a. Was it hard?

At times it felt really difficult. Between jobs during that post-grad year, I was online researching what studios were out there and sending my portfolio to any hiring email I could find. Here are some of the places I was looking (originally I thought I'd get into the animation industry)

ANW

Canadian Animation Resources

These are newer resources that I know of since then:

Game dev jobs

Canadian Game Devs Discord

I often felt discouraged and out of my depth. I had no idea how to get in, and it could feel hopeless when I'd never get any worthwhile responses. It took a lot of patience, perseverance and determination to keep at it.

1b. What kind of degree did you need to work with the company ur currently employed with?

I have a bachelor's degree of Visual Communication and Design with a character design specialization. I don't think I needed it to get hired, but it certainly helped. I think it helped most in getting hired for a position that was slightly above entry-level.

I've been part of the hiring process and I can confidently say that while post-secondary education credentials are great to see on a resume, they've never been the deciding factor. I've seen more importance assigned to a portfolio with strong fundamentals, examples of work that prove an artist can match the project they're applying for, and that they interview well.

2. Is it hard being a full time artist?

It can be challenging, especially when you're starting out, but I don't think that's exclusive to the art profession. My biggest challenges were lifestyle changes when I was suddenly no longer a teenager/student but now an employee who has to be accountable to others and be good at managing their time.

Challenges specific to the career: you'll have to learn how to be willing and open about having your work critiqued, by both peers and superiors (art director, professors, etc). You'll have to disconnect yourself from the work you create on the job otherwise you risk taking every piece of feedback personally.

There are many days where you have no will to draw or design, but you have to do it anyway because it's your job. And there's no secret to getting through those days: you just force yourself.

There are also days, sometimes weeks, where you have to work on an assignment that doesn't interest you at all, but you're responsible for getting the work done.

[pinksilvace]

Generative AI can most capably produce 2D images that managers in cost-squeezed studios might consider “good enough,” a term AI-watching creative workers now use as shorthand for the kind of AI output that’s not a threat to replacing great art, but is a threat to their livelihoods. Some clients care more about cost than quality, after all. Tasks like 3D animation and programming are, for now at least, much harder to automate in full. Games have, to varying degrees, used automation for years. They rely heavily on “AI” programs that control enemies, environments, and nonplayer characters. That’s not what people are talking about when they discuss AI now. In 2024, they’re typically talking about generative AI produced by large language models (LLMs), and the related systems that have been unleashed by the latest boom. A recent report from the consulting firm CVL Economics, commissioned by entertainment industry trade groups, found the gaming industry already relegated tasks to generative AI more than its peers in TV, film, or music. According to its survey of 300 CEOs, executives, and managers, nearly 90 percent of video game companies had already implemented generative AI programs. Gaming, CVL found, “relies heavily, more so than the other entertainment industries, on GenAI to carry out tasks like generating storyboards, character designs, renders, and animations. In fact, by some estimates GenAI may contribute to more than half of the game development process in the next five to 10 years.”

Support indie developers and studios who value their employees. Game developers are paid while they are developing games; once a game is released, all profits go to the studios, who often lay off swaths of employees hired for only specific projects. Boycotting games affects companies and executives, first and foremost, and NOT devs. They'll pay attention to where the money goes.