Well, I finally got around to watching the
Anime: Concept to Reality DVD. Overall, it's definitely worth a look, but keep in mind that much of the content regarding how ArtFX created the animation elements in both
Understanding Chaos and
Shadow Skin is centered almost exclusively in 3D. Outside of the animated content, there is a good deal of information on how he did the majority of the soundtracks, voices and overall planning that would still be relevent to items like moho/AS. In any case though, he definitely deserves whatever bragging rights he holds on his creations to date.
On a personal level, I'm glad I picked up the DVD, simply because it resolved numerous issues I've been trying to work around on trying to achieve both an anime-styled look in 3D, while still retaining the "human factor" within the animation flow itself.
In the meanwhile, I am curious as to how far back ArtFX's formal training in animation and multimedia goes, as well as what ultimately got him interested enough in anime to pursue the goal of becoming a one-man anime studio capable of producing near-commercial quality animation right out of the home. The reason I bring this up is that his background bears an almost uncanny similarity to my own, barring a few key differences along the way...
First off, while my formal training in animation and multimedia didn't begin until 1995, I was originally introduced to 3D animation as far back 1992, when the high school I was attending at the time purchased a software package called Infini-D. After having a few months to play around with it, I finally got of my first modern computer since the Apple II and bought a copy of Infini-D to run at home.
About a year and a half later, I had gotten to know the software to the point that the school itself regarded me as their foremost expert on it. Eventually, they offered me an opportunity to actually
teach a class on 3D animation. It was the first time I had ever taught another person how to do anything, let alone my own classmates. Little did I realize just how much of a role this would eventually play in my life later on...
Moving ahead to my senior year, I had gotten word that a new college specializing in 3D animation was opening a few hours away from my home, and was accepting applications for enrollment. However, it would require extensive funding from the government to cover the costs, due to my disabilities. In order to obtain this funding, I had to prove the money would not be wasted, and do so in a span of only a few weeks. Luckily, the teaching job I accepted earlier from the school ultimately became the deciding factor, and eventually secured the funding, as well as my acceptance into the school itself.
Between the ending weeks of high school and the beginning of my college years, I had the usual foolish hopes of eventually doing 3D animation work for top class companies like Pixar. That would soon change during the first few weeks of college, as I quickly learned first-hand just how cut-throat the industry can be at that level. However, despite that somewhat humbling experience, I drudged through the next several months and eventually got to know a man by the name of Stan Bissenger (a head of the SIGGRAPH midwest chapter at the time), who I later learned actually had ties to people at Pixar as high up as John Lassiter and Pete Docter (whom I eventually had the honor of meeting shortly after
Toy Story came out in theaters).
Following the one-time meeting with Pixar's best and brightest staff members (and having the chance to pick their minds), I pretty much came to terms that the whole "Pixar" thing would probably never happen in my lifetime and moved on to the next best thing... setting up an animation studio of my own. However, several obstacles over the next few years would ultimately prevent this goal... right up to today.
Shortly after receiving my associates degree in '97, I returned home and almost immediately developed a very serious form of sleep apnea that almost killed me. By the time I was treated for it, I had a blood/oxygen level lower than that of a cadaver and lost a good deal of my mental capabilities for some time to follow. Things later took a turn for the worse a few months later, when a head-on collision with a drunk driver left me with an undiscovered broken neck that slowly started to paralyze me from the neck-down. While the neck was eventually repaired, the damage caused by it rendered 3/4ths of my body unusable, with the exception of my right hand. Needless to say, the whole animation studio idea was now the furthest thing from my mind.
During the time spent recovering from all that, I began to shift my focus away from creating animation to observing the animation industry itself and tracking the popular trends within it. (Which I still do today.) However, I wasn't formally introduced anime until Cartoon Network launched it's "Toonami" programming block, which carried items like Sailor Moon, Robotech, Thundercats and Dragonball Z in its line-up. From there, I became curious about other titles, eventually raiding a local video store that was going out of business of every anime tape they had in stock... a little over 200 titles across a wide range of genres. Before long, the tapes were traded out for DVDs... the dvds were soon accompanied by their graphic novel counterparts... and so on...
Having accepted my new vice, I began thinking of my previously abandoned dream of starting my own animation studio. Soon afterward, I had new hardware, up-to-date 3D software, Flash, Photoshop and a few other goodies stocked up. The only thing left to do was hands-on research. And with that, I began stocking up on numerous books, such as the various "How To Draw..." titles, books related to modeling the human form in 3D using modern methods and titles on how to create traditional 2D animation, like the all-important "Animator's Survival Kit".
Between all the equipment, software and books, I soon began to realize the speed benefits of 3D animation over traditional 2D animation, while acknowledging the flexibility benefits of 2D animation over 3D animation. Eventually, I decided my best chances were to try merging the two methods together. And, I've been at it ever since.
When it comes to trying to create convincing 3D cel-shaded anime-style characters, most of my ideas seem to be sound. (As ArtFX's own work shows.) However, my methods have been way off the mark for what I've been trying to accomplish.
In the meanwhile, I've been using Moho/AS to gain a better understanding of traditional 2D animation methods and, eventually, figure out the few missing pieces of the puzzle needed to make the 3D cel-shading approach a much more viable option to work with.
At any rate, now that I've finally found proof that one person alone
can efficiently and effectively create convincing, almost-commercial quality anime right out of their home, it has definitely encouraged me to continue working on this stuff. I may never reach ArtFX's level of success in my lifetime, but at least I now know it's realistically possible to achieve it.
If that isn't inspiring, I don't know what else is!