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Showing posts from August, 2017

Creating a G3 Monkey Character for CrazyTalk Animator 3 (Part 2)

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Reddy the Color Monkey A CTA3, G3 Custom Character. Last post , I wasn't sure I'd get this far so soon, but, as it turns out, creating a CrazyTalk Animator 3, G3 character is a much easier and relatively more enjoyable task than creating the previous G2 Characters. In just under two weeks I've completed Reddy, the Color Monkey, my very first, fully Rigged G3 Character By fully rigged I mean he has all the sprites needed for a full range of facial expressions and hand positions. He also has an extra foot sprite so you can position his feet either facing forward or sideways. Additionally, his tail is a separate G3 spine character that you link to his hip bone. This means that his tail can be fully articulated and animated using key frames or spine motions. Currently he has a few issues to fix that are only noticeable once you start moving him around (hence the reason for not showing him animated just yet) but these are minor, mostly cosmetic problems. Overall, from start to t

Course Review: The Rogue Animator - Learn How to Create Animation from Idea to Finished Animated Short

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The Rogue Animator . Premium Training by 2D Animation 101. 2D Animation 101's Premium Video Course, The Rogue Animator , aspires to teach you how to create your own 2D animated short in ten days. To do this, course instructor, Mark Diaz, takes you through his entire process of creating one of his animated shorts, then, helps you through the same process using your own idea for a production. The course is targeted at beginner to intermediate animators (or anyone struggling to achieve an efficient work flow), who are generally one person teams, looking to get their own ideas into the world through video sites like YouTube. About the Course In the introduction video Mark explains exactly how much time you'll need to set aside each day to complete the course in ten days. He also understands that not everyone will have that much time to spare so offers some alternative, longer timeline examples. The key point being, that you need to take the time to watch the videos and apply the co

Creating a G3 Monkey Character for CrazyTalk Animator 3

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This sketch only took about 10-15 minutes. Using a symmetrical ruler meant I only had to draw the left side of the image.  Last post I mentioned my intention to develop an animation series based around my color monkey characters. Recognizing that just saying something won't make it happen, today I started work on actually drawing and rigging the color monkey characters themselves. It's definitely a task that comes with some trepidation and a definite sense of déjà vu as I've been here before . A few years back I attempted to rig this same character in CrazyTalk Animator 2 as a G2 character. It was a lot of work that I ended up being overwhelmed by. This time I'm rigging the character in CrazyTalk Animator 3 as a G3 character. It's less work but still not a complete cakewalk. Unlike multi-angle G2 characters, G3 characters are only single angle. In theory you could draw and rig one from scratch inside a day (including all the additional hand and face sprites) Anyway