is this realistic to achieve?

[Luke]

Hi,

 

I would like to make a series of children's cartoons based on religious principles. I have a very talented artist but who has no computer skills. I am a programmer with little natural artistic talent. I'm researching the feasibility right now. Can anyone provide me their opinion if I am being realistic with this and what kind of commitment I'm looking at? I have wanted to learned 3D animation for a while but have never been able to get the right software or spend enough time. I am proficient in Photoshop and Flash.

 

Thanks,

Luke

[Ganthofer]

I believe you left one important piece of information out, when do you want the finished product?

 

It is possible to do what you are contemplating. How quickly you and/or your artist learn A:M (modeling, texturing, rigging and animating) is the big unknown. Some people pick it up quickly and some slowly. Some people are good all around and some struggle with certain aspects of the process.

 

The A:M community is a great resource, so I doubt you'll be with out assistance if you ask.

 

My 2 cents

Glenn

[robcat2075]

What he said. And... start small. Try making one shot first . Find out what it takes you to model, texture and animate one shot. Then you'll have a better idea of how feasible it is.

 

A talented artist will be an asset. It's hard to imagine one today with NO computer skills. I think a committed novice will need at least a year to become comfortable with the various tasks involved.

 

A:M is an inexpensive way to give it a shot and certainly has the tools you need.

[Luke]

Thanks for both the replies. There is no set deadline for the project but I don't want it to be the only thing I do in my spare time. I guess I expect to spend a year on it but I would hope that in a year I'd already completed an episode. That's the other factor, that I want to make a full series of cartoons which I understand might be difficult. I see how much time might goes into creating a single character or stage item but my hope is that once a character is created it can be reused and easily animated. But these cartoons will require a whole caste of characters. I also guess it really depends on the level of detail I put into them. So right now I'm wondering if A:M is where I should invest my time and energy.

 

I really appreciate your feedback.

 

Thanks again,

Luke

[heyvern]

Write a pilot episode (don't produce it, write it). Then create a short trailer. Very short.

 

You are proficient with Photoshop and Flash? But you are not an artist? Hmm... You may want to get a second opinion on that.

 

You either need to find someone to do the character design and learn A:M or learn it yourself... or both.

 

What ever you do... keep it SHORT to start with. Do a simple short test "episode"... something that you could use to show around. Maybe... big maybe here... you could use it to get others interested. Use your artistic partner to draw character designs and simple story boards. You need something WRITTEN DOWN. A solid story and characters before even considering the animation.

 

It is a cut throat business and you will most likely fail. The odds are against you from the start. Most of these things fail. That's just the truth. For every "hit" there are a thousand flops. Even the hits fail (veggie tales?).

 

If you want it bad enough that shouldn't matter. It is as realistic a proposition as you want it to be. Just start small so you don't burn out.

 

If you plan to do this for the money and fame than just stop now. Start with NO expectations WHATSOEVER.

 

There have been many many many ideas like this on this very forum over the years that have never seen the light of day (some of them are mine). It can be discouraging to have what you think is a great idea and just not have the resources, the time or the energy to make it happen. Start small, do whatever it takes to just get it done before the enthusiasm fades.

 

If you do it for fun and because you believe in it first and foremost you are more likely to put that feeling into the work.

 

And lastly, I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. It just seems to make sense to me from my own experiences and from what I've observed.

 

Good lord I sound old and bitter!

 

-vern

[Luke]

This is not for profit. Although we will probably sell the DVDs it will be to a small community (compared to worldwide movie distribution). I will not personally benefit financially at all. My time contributions will all be charity. But I might pick up some valuable skills for the future. I'm not the creator of the actual story line as it is non-fiction but will probably be involved in shortening the longer written form in to a series of animations.

 

The other thing is that my ability will probably improve over time so there would probably be a noticeable quality difference between the earlier and later animations. But nothing is going to be perfect.

[Rodney]

While always a very remote possibility what I encourage people to be ready for is success.

If in the process of creating a test run or short episode you hit upon success... what then?

Success can easily take a difficult project and make it even more incredibly difficult.

Thats the nature of success.

 

If you set realistic goals and work toward them steadily but keep your eyes on the ability to expand your operations you could do quite well.

 

It sounds to me given your situation that you might want to contract out a lot of work.

Perhaps modeling and rigging and maybe even some of the animation.

 

Most people haven't yet realized it but A:M now has some pretty amazing image editing capabilities.

Once you have the Project files in hand you can do some amazing things.

If you plan carefully you could be creating episodes for years with only minor additions.

 

Design and produce a very simple project first then plan to expand from there.

With each new success lean a little farther toward the goal.

 

Consider emersing yourselve in projects like TWO to learn the process thoroughly.

Get involved with the people you'll be collaborating with in the future.

Learn the tools you'll need to use.

 

Consider what happens when those most critical to your project leave for other personal projects?

What happens when they succeed and reach their goals?

Where does success take you and your team in 5 years? in 10? in 15?

Can you chart achievable milestones along that way?

Can you deal with both failures and successes as you go?

 

All the more reason to keep things simple in the beginning.

 

Think big! But keep it real.

[largento]

There is someone on the boards who is doing this, Ian Harrowell. He's in Australia. He's worked as an animator/director/supervisor for Disney, so obviously he's not an average joe. He's making a series of half hour episodes that mix bible stories with contemporary life lessons. I can't remember where I found the address for the production's website or I'd pass it on. It's really impressive and can give you an very good idea of what is possible with A:M.

 

Even with a small staff and all of the talent and experience Ian has (here's Ian's IMDB listing: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0366032 ), it's a tremendous amount of work.

 

My advice would be to think of the simplest way that your goal can be achieved. Make the character designs very simple and easy to achieve. And LOVE doing it. You're looking at a big investment in your time first learning all the steps in the process and then actually doing them... all with no monetary reward.

 

I'm working on what I think is going to be a 6 minute film and I'm fully expecting it to take over a year. (Working on it in my free time.) Having never done one before, I'm hoping I'm wrong and it takes less than that, but I'm prepared for it to be even longer. Which is to say, WANT to do this and be willing to invest the TIME it takes to do it and you'll succeed.

[zandoriastudios]

I think that buying A:M, learning to model,rig,animate and also produce a finished 1/2 hour piece in 1 year is very unrealistic.

I think possibly you would be able to START production in a year...but plan on spending your first year preparing the skills and assets that you need.

[Luke]

You all have given me a lot to think about. I started watching the video tutorials. I will watch them all through and proceed from there slowly. I will probably end up buying A:M anyway to try and play with it some.

 

These animations will be made for elementary school age children. I know this demograph is exposed to a lot of high budget animation but I'm not trying to complete with them. Most of these kids will be watching it because their parents bought it and sat them down in front of the TV. So the best quality is not the most important factor. But it should all flow together and the story plot needs to be understood because they will have moral lessons in them and stuff.

 

So, as far as finding animators... I guess there are plenty reading this forum, what kind of costs might I be looking at?

Our budget would be limited and won't be able to afford to the best in the industry. Would I pay per character? About how much? I'm assuming they would be a lot faster than me so it might boil down to an hourly rate and I'm probably getting into specifics here. Maybe I should open a new thread describing our project in detail and soliciting bids. But I don't want to get ahead of myself as I don't have a set budget right now.

 

Thanks again,

Luke

[goodguy20k]

Dude, welcome from a fellow animator and studio owner wannabe. (We also share some story ideas. )

 

Just had to comment on your "So the best quality is not the most important factor." Don't do that! You can write up the best story and render it in the worst way, and it'll come off ok. You can write up the worst story and render it out the best way possible, and it'll come off awful. But if you push both, requiring a good story and good rendering, you'll do well.

 

I guess that's my tip: Push. Learn, and slowly (as you don't have much choice ), but keep pushing to raise the bar. It's that push that will bring your story across the best way possible.

 

Good luck, man. We'll all need a bit of it.

 

As to the animators part... Depending on what's needed, when, and how much, I think you'll get a lot of people jumping at you. (Out pay Martin, and I'll jump the TWO boat! (KIDDING Martin!) ) Most people pay per character for modeling (which is often based on hours, but can be based off of complexity (same difference). ), and then pay hourly for animation, and hourly for most others. Find yourself a budget and then talk to some strategic people about best payout method.

[Luke]

Here's what I'm planning on doing. I will try and learn A:M myself as it will no doubt be a useful skill. Do I need to buy the A:M Paint too? Are there any other absolute necessities in terms of add-ins?

 

I don't want to take advantage of animators by presenting it like I'm going to have some big budget and be able to hire animators for significant amounts work. I will work on getting a first episode written down. I'll try and have it be one requiring few characters.

 

Heres what I know of the story plot for those of you that are interested. The stories take place in Tibet in the twelfth century or so. They are based on the accounts of a Tibetan Buddhist master. The initiative is being done by a Tibetan Buddhist temple in Toronto, Canada with myself as the project lead. Although they are supposed to be non-fiction the stories have large amounts of super human aspects in them. The main character is a young boy (aged 5?) who has advanced spiritual accomplishment such as flying and what not. The original text is written in Tibetan so some of it will be slow with translation and story selection. The target community is parents and families who are Buddhist. Profit is not the objective here but some kind of forum for teaching Buddhist children principles on being kind to others in a skillful way. There will be two versions produced, one in Tibetan and the other in English.

 

But of course, none of this is concrete. Still just in the exploratory stage. But I do sincerely appreciate all the advice and input from all of you.

[phatso]

Should you put your investment in A:M? Where else! Any of the others that are simple enough to master quickly are limited, and the ones that aren't limited are tough to learn. Also most of them are expensive.

 

Can you finish an episode in a year? Maybe. Cartoon style simplifies things. The real payoff comes after you get over the hump: with A:M's reuseable poses and motions, you'll be flying.

 

What other programs do you need? Probably none. You already have enough 2D capability to bring in texture maps and such, but will you need even that if this is going to be cartoon style?

 

Will it sell? If you have an artistic bent and like to create images, the things you'll achieve will give sufficient psychic rewards whether the product sells or not.