TV Commercial with Anime Studio Pro

[Brent Lowrie]

Hi all

Just wanted to show you the latest commercial I did using Anime Studio Pro for Capital Dental Group in Southern California. It was all done in AS with the exception of the rays around the sun. I hope it brings a smile. It's definitely on the corny side but the client was thrilled so it's all good. Cheers!

http://www.anomalyanimation.com/media/H ... _Spot.html

[JimmyC]

Great job. It is really a "cheesy little tune", but your animation is spot on!
Corny is Kewl

[AmigaMan]

I like it! Quite liked the ditty too so what does that say about me!?

[Brent Lowrie]

Thanks guys, I had nothing to do with the jingle but I think the visuals compliment the cutsey mood of it. Cheers!

[Genete]

Hi Brent!

I like so much your spot animation. So cool!
I wonder why didn't you do the sun rays also with Anime Studio.
If you don't mind, I've taken a screen shot of your movie and made a "clone" of the sun using only AS tools. The color is not a perfect copy (by the way your color selection is quite good!) and I don't know if the sun face have same shading effects but I think that the rays have been achieved.
Is there any special reason for that?
Best
-G

The anme file and the tracing image http://www.darthfurby.com/genete/Other/BLSun.zip
ORIGINAL IMAGE FROM BRENT LOWRIE

CLONE OF ORIGINAL MADE ALL WITH ANIME STUDIO

[sour_jax]

WOW Excellent Job

[Brent Lowrie]

Genete and Sourjax (love the name)...

Thanks for the kind words guys!

Genete, I tried to get the effect I wanted for the rays in AS but I am fairly new to the masking tools and so tried to just use gradients. I couldn't get the gradients to fade to zero alpha, just wouldn't work for me. I didn't think about using the soft edge as again, I am just not familiar enough with the toolset. Thanks for taking the time to demonstrate a better way to do it. I will definitely use it in the future.

The colours are much more vibrant in the web version. Converting to NTSC-safe pallete really de-saturated it. I hope it brightens up on the tube.

One of my blessings as a freelance animator is also a curse. I am very busy meeting deadlines and have so little time to play and experiment or even read through the forums to learn from the more experienced among us. I tend to fall back on techniques I know in a pinch.

I now know to just post a question here in the future. Once again, Thanks!

[Genete]

I couldn't get the gradients to fade to zero alpha, just wouldn't work for me

It is not you! simply current AS gradient couldn't address to zero alpha. But soft edge, shaded (shadow only) and halo (halo only) cam do it.

I didn't think about using the soft edge as again, I am just not familiar enough with the toolset

lol! I couldn't imagine what can you do if you were familiar enough to the toolset!

You're WELCOME!

-G

[p6r]

Very nice work to Brent and Genete...

6R

[oferhod]

congratulations!
Very nice job.

[Phillysteak]

A real beauty eh!! As they'd say in you neck of the woods. Real smooth and fluid! It really flowed together well.

[Mohlar]

As a newbie to AS, it's good to see just what quality of animation is possible - very motivating.

[Brent Lowrie]

Thanks everybody for the kind words. I am currently working on another music video completey done in ASPro so far, although I will hopefully be adding some special effects in compositing. It's a ways away from completion but I will post some stills in another thread. Cheers!

[Phatthumb]

Hey I just wanted to say that it was a good toon. Yes it was chessy but it was good, LOL. I was interested in becoming a freelance animator. How did you get into doing it and where do I start, LOL.

[Brent Lowrie]

Hey Phatthumb

Thanks for the kind words. Glad you liked it.

As far as becoming a professional freelance animator, here are my opinions on the subject. Are you an animator now? That is, have you taken any formal training or self-study? Have you produced anything professionally yet? Are you willing to make a major investment of both time and money?

First thing is to produce a good portfolio that demonstrates your ability as an animator or animation artist. Be very critical of your own work and seek the opinions of other "professionals".

Next, learn the art of self-promotion and invest in a domain and a good, professional website. Freelancers live and die by their self-promotion so if you have a cheap looking, poorly functioning website it will reflect directly on you as a professional. Use your own name and no freeby web hosting with long awkward URLs.

Pay for legitimate licenses for all the software you use. Developing the cool software we use as professionals isn't cheap. Someone needs to pay for it and I hate to compete with thieves. Working professionally on pirated software is like running an automotive shop with stolen equipment. That really pisses us pros off. I only sub-contract to artists who can prove they have legit licenses.

Participate in professional industry websites and forums to get your stuff seen and your name known. Websites like indiegamer.com are great for generating leads. Join professional organizations and get active in them.

I could go on and on but that should get you started. Finally though, there are no shortcuts. Hard work and tenacity are the only things besides raw talent that will get yo there. Best of luck to you. Cheers!