Moho Forum

I was asked to do some animated "music videos" for an educational project a while back. I decided to use Moho. They liked the results so much, they paid me more than I asked for. Seriously. Thank you, Lost Marble!

These are two segments, minus the music (to conserve size). I made the background with Corel Painter and composited with AfterEffects.

Sorry the quality isn't so hot.

http://www.restlesspixels.com/PetsBird.mov - 2 Mb

http://www.restlesspixels.com/PetsCat.mov - 800 Kb

If anyone has trouble viewing these, please let me know.

Wow! These backgrounds are really beautiful - the tree and grass. And the choice of blue plaid for her dress really works as well.

I am especially impressed with the cat's head turn. It's so simple to do, and yet it works so well. Thanks for a shot of inspiration.

Thanks for the kind words.

The background was done in Painter. I used the image hose to spray grass and leaves.

The head turn is a simple trick that I figured out when doing cut-out animation for a class project. If you take the head and simply flip it, it looks jarring and wrong. However, if you start the head moving in the direction of the turn for a few frames before you flip it, then continue the move for another few frames after you've flipped it, you can fool the eye into thinking that the head is actually turning. It's the same thing when the cat jumps up in the air and flips around. Because the flip happens in the middle of a movement you don't notice the lack of in-between drawings.

if you start the head moving in the direction of the turn for a few frames before you flip it, then continue the move for another few frames after you've flipped it, you can fool the eye into thinking that the head is actually turning.

Wow. So simple, and so effective. You use it to great effect. It's funny how much of animation is like a magician drawing your attention away with an exagerrated movement while the other hand performs the real trick.

Thanks for sharing this.

Those really are great. As said above, the animation on the head turns is terrific. What a great tip.

Is painter an expensive product? The results are fantastic.

Congratulations.

Banterfield wrote: Is painter an expensive product?

Clocks in at $299 at Corels online store. See corel.com for more.

It's usually the artist and not the software that makes good artwork though

if you want a nice lightweight (and free) program to do acrylic-like paintings you should check out artRage

http://www.ambientdesign.com/artrage.html

its great for people with a graphics tablet/tablet pc users.

I like this over painter because you have a huge canvas to work with, not heaps of panels like painter.
and it does acrylic blending abit better than painter.. and its FREE.

of course it doesnt REALLY compete with painter as its more of a fun sketching tool... (check out Alias Sketchbook Pro for speedy, realistic pencil drawing, similar interface to artrage)

sometimes working with limitations can force you to be more creative and intuitive.

Thanks for the link. I'll give Art Rage a spin.

Congrats again on the great work, Mark.

Looks like a great program and you can't beat the price. I'm on a Mac, though.

Painter is extremely versatile once you get used to all the tools. It also has some animation capabilities which are very primitive, but okay for doing basic drawn animation.

I love the clips, Mark, especially the cat one. The movement is lovely, and the backgrounds are delightful.

Talking of painting software, check out project dogwaffle, its superb, and there is a free version to try.

link: http://www.squirreldome.com/cyberop.htm

Roy

Wow!! Thanks for that Art Rage link! That is the most authentic feeling paint program I've used. The paint brush really reminds of my acryllic painting days. Looks and feels like the real thing.

no worries =)

An alternativto paniner is a program called "Dogwafle" or "Project Dogwaffle". I can't rememer the site address, but just hit google for it.

I haven't used it much, but the brushes are awesome and is a cheaper than corel painter.

i just relaized a post 2 above mine said the same thing. Well, that's what u get when u'r still on the net at 6 in the morning..