GoAnimate March Madness and Type a Video

GoAnimate introduced its new 'Type a Video' Quick Templates with their March Madness Competition themed around the game of Basketball. The criteria was simple. Make an animation using the March Madness template and make it relevant to the theme. The best judged entry would win.

I actually made four separate entries using four of the five available backdrops for the template. Each of my animations told a small part of the same story about the leagues top player, Larry Throwgood. Rather than embed four separate animations I've used Youtube's online video editor to compile all the animations into one short video. Each scene transition is the start of a new part of the story.

None of my entries won the competition (or even placed) but I wouldn't have like to be a judge on this one. Since the only real involvement a user has after they've chosen their set and characters is the script, that's really all the judges could judge. Click here to view the winning animation by Chaostoon.

Since the competition GoAnimate has expanded it's Type a Video, Quick Templates (which are a direct compeditive response to Xtranormal's online Movie Maker) to six different themes including; Talking Picz, Arrrrrrr! (Pirate theme), Lil' Petz World, Slices of Daily Life, Office Gossipers and Basketball World.

Here's a sample of Office Gossipers in a humorous animation I made below.

Whoopee Cushions for Third World Countries. by etourist

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

All of these animations I made with just a notion of an idea for the script then I started to add more to see where the idea went. This is really what the Type a Video Quick Templates are good for. They're the kind of thing where, if you have a little bit of time to spare, you can explore a script idea and end up with a fairly reasonably constructed video at the end. A really fun way to spend your time and to make something easy just because you were bored.

There are a few problems though that more experienced GoAnimators, used to making their animations from scratch, will find frustrating. Watch the following animation which I created using the Quick Template, Slice of Daily Life...

Obama Flies Air Force 1 by etourist

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Notice that, in this animation, the pilot never once looks at Obama as he's speaking. Obama isn't even holding the controls of the plane and neither character has much expression on their face. Also the camera framing is passable but it could be better.

You can't actually go in an edit an animation made with the Quick Templates so I've recreated all the characters and backgrounds from scratch (including the nice soft focus backgrounds that are only available in the Quick Template videos) and made the animation (below) how I might have made it if the templates allowed for a little more tinkering with character placement, camera framing and character expressions.

Obama Flies Air Force 1 - TET Edit by etourist

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

I think you'll agree that, although this also has its problems, it's a vast improvement on the Quick Template version. Having said that though, having too many settings on the quick templates would kind of defeat the purpose of making a really quick, fun animation.

The real limitation with the templates is that all the animations created by different users tend to look identical, using the same camera shots, characters, backgrounds etc.

Already I've found myself being disappointed when someone on GoAnimate asks me to watch their videos and I see a bunch of Quick Template animations. Which is a little unfair because the templates are all about writing an original script. A good script is a good script even if it's animated with a template.

Overall I think the templates are a good introduction for new GoAnimators but hopefully the templates limitations will encourage new members to move on to making their GoAnimations from scratch.

Comments

Inochi2D - Free Open Source 2D VTuber Avatar Rigging and Puppeteering Software (Part 1)

Inochi2D Creator - Free Open Source VTuber Software. If you've been looking for a way to live perform as a 2D cartoon avatar on camera, whether it be for a live stream or for pre-recorded content like educational videos, then VTuber software is a low cost (or even no cost) option worth looking into. In my previous post, How to Become a VTuber - 2D and 3D Software for Creating and Controlling Your Avatar , I took a brief look at the relatively new but completely free and open source Inochi2D which I thought showed great potential for my own needs of creating a live performance character rig for my own TET Avatar that I use for all my promotional materials. While it is possible to live perform my character using Cartoon Animator itself, Reallusion's MotionLive2D capture system isn't great - with lip sync in particular. More importantly though, I can't exactly teach people how to use Cartoon Animator if I'm using Cartoon Animator to control my Avatar. What is Inochi2D

Dollars Mocap: Full Body Webcam Motion Capture (Including Hands and Fingers) For iClone and Cartoon Animator

Even though I should be further away from the camera Dollars Mocap MONO still does a good job of tracking my arms, hands and fingers. Ever since I wrote my series on becoming a VTuber , discovering it was possible to do full body motion capture, including hands and fingers, with just software and a webcam, I've been on the look out for any motion capture software that can bring that functionality to Cartoon Animator. Dollars Mocap is a low cost motion capture application with a free trial that I learned about through the YouTube Channel Digital Puppets and their test video . It can record full body, upper body, arms and hands, and facial mocap from a live video source or pre-recorded video. Investigating further, I discovered not only does Dollars Mocap have a free iClone7, iClone8 character profile file download (look for it at the bottom of the main program download page), so you can use the saved motions with iClone8, they've also got a demo video for how to convert your

Prome AI Sketch Render Tool - Your Tradigital Clean Up and Colorist Artist for Character and Background Design

Random character head, Biro sketches drawn by TET (left). Render by PromeAI (right) using Prome's Sketch Render tool set to 'Comon:Cartoon, Render Mode: Outline'. W hile I don't do New Year Resolutions, one of my plans for the year ahead is to do more of my own art. Specifically character design drawn in an actual, physical sketchbook. To that end, I have been spending the last half hour of most days drawing a page or two of random biro sketches in my sketchbook and posting the pages to my Instagram account (this link will take you to one of my posts). These sketches are mostly practicing my skills because I don't really draw regularly anymore. Here is a tip, if you do this kind of sketching, and push yourself to keep doing it, you will see many drawings that could be taken further, even if you don't have anything they're suited for just at the moment. Which is where my second favorite AI Image Tool (after Leonardo.ai ) PromeAI comes into play. PromeAI

Moho 14 Released - Still the Best 2D Animation Software for Indy Animators on a Budget

Moho 14 Released. Regular readers know I am a Reallusion, Cartoon Animator advocate through and through. Hands down I would recommend Cartoon Animator 5 first over Lost Marble's Moho 14 to anyone who is just starting in 2D animation, is a team of one, or just needs to animate as quickly as possible. However, feature for feature, Moho is, arguably, the best 2D animation software for the rest of us who can't justify a Toon Boom Harmony , or Adobe Creative Cloud subscription (and even with their applications Moho is very competitive on features). You can get started with Moho Debut for just USD$59.99 which is a cut down version of Moho Pro but it still has the most essential features needed for 2D animation. While Moho Pro is a whopping USD$399.99 (Cartoon Animator, which only has one version, is just USD$149.00) upgrades to new version numbers come down to a quarter of the price at USD$99.00. Even though Reallusion just released features like Motion Pilot Puppet Animation and

Wonder Unit Storyboarder - Free Storyboarding Software for People Who Can (or Can't) Draw

Wonder Unit Storyboarder. As an independent and solo animator I'm always tempted to try and skip storyboarding my animated shorts because they're usually only single scene sketch comedy type jokes. As a result I have many unfinished projects that kind of petered out due to having no clear finishing line. Storyboarding your productions, no matter how small, gives you a step by step guide of every shot that needs to be completed (no planning shots as you animate). It also allows you to create an animatic that gives you a rough preview of the finished production. In short, you shouldn't skip storyboards as they, generally, increase the chance of the project being completed. Disclaimer - I'm Not a Fan of Storyboarder Upfront, Wonder Unit's Storyboarder is not my preferred storyboarding software. However it's completely free, has a number of very compelling featu

Start Your 2D Animation Side Hustle - Sell Your Cartoon Animator Characters, Props, Scenes, and Motion Files in the Reallusion 2D/3D Marketplace

Have you thought about starting a side hustle selling your original Cartoon Animator assets in the Reallusion 2D/3D Marketplace ? In this article, the first in a series on selling in the marketplace, I'll give you an overview of what's involved, why you should give it some thought, and whether you can earn enough to quit your day job (or at least have a worthwhile side hustle). If you're an artist with any kind of drawing skills, and you're creating your own original characters, props, scenes, and even motion files for your Cartoon Animator projects, then setting up your own store in the Reallusion Marketplace should be a no brainer. You're making content already, it doesn't cost you anything to set up, and Reallusion only takes a 30% commission from each item sold. (If you think that's a lot, I'll address that further down). Don't be put off if you think your art skills aren't up to professional standards. There are plenty of artists with naïve

The Ultimate Independent Animator's App and Resource List 2019-2023 - Animation and Video Life

Image created with Cartoon Animator 4. Being an independent animator is not like a studio animation job. There's so much more to do that is indirectly related to the actual task of animating. Over the years I've sought out many apps, tools, and services that can help me achieve that one single task, expressing myself through animation. Below is my Ultimate Independent Animator's Resource List for 2019-2022. It started out as a list of free or low cost apps that could help you in every stage of producing either 2D or 3D animation, and then just kind of grew from there. You may not have been looking for a Time Management App as much as you needed something to get you started in 3D animation but when those commissioned projects start coming in you'll have a head start on maximizing your time. All the apps and services on this list had to meet two main criteria: They had to be useful and relevant to an Indy Animator/artist. The base app/service had to be US$

Animation and Video Life

Search This Blog