Project Updates - Things I Either Am, or Have Been, Working On

TET, hard at Work.

I've been particularly busy lately working on various projects. Scheduling my time much better so I work on several things for just an hour or two each day. I thought I'd give you a quick run down of what I've been doing of late. Starting with JAC the Cat character...

JAC Cat,
Crazy Talk Animator 2

I haven't really advanced this enough to warrant a full post dedicated to my progress on this. However I have been working on it daily, trying to solve all the body part import issues that I outlined in my Part 4 update.

JAC Cat body Parts.

I can tell you I've pretty much resolved everything with regard to importing my DrawPlus template into CrazyTalk Animator 2. Body parts are all in the right place, none are missing or color inverted.

I'm now fixing up the various joint masks - which I've discovered don't do their job nearly as well if you use a lot of gradients in your coloring. I'll need to plan my character design better next time, possibly stick to flat color.

I'm also trying to resolve the issue of the cat's tail. I've discovered I can import the tail segments but, for the moment at least, there's no way to make sure they're showing in the correct layer order. I haven't done enough with this to know if the tail is going to work as part of the character or whether I should create a tail prop and attach it to the character once it's in the scene.

Dan.

New Animation 4 Business Promotional Videos,
Crazy Talk Animator 2 and iClone 6

Speaking of CrazyTalk Animator 2, I recently completed a short promotional video for my relaunched Premium 2D service that utilizes that software instead of GoAnimate. The video focuses on the wonderful hand drawn characters and props by Australian cartoonist, Gary Pye, who I happen to have bought a sizable chunk of his content from.

My video is a little rough around the edges and is again voiced by me (personally I don't think my voice suits Gary's Dan character but it'll do for now). I'm quite happy with the animation I did on the two main characters but my attempt at humor with Wendy's changed look falls flat - better luck next time!

As I write this I'm working on a second Animation 4 Business promotional video using iClone 6. This time to promote my all new Premium 3D service. You can see a behind the scenes image from this video below. Note it is a true behind the scenes image, being a screen shot of the unfinished set I've put together and not a frame from the actual video - which I haven't even started animating yet.

Behind the scenes screenshot of my latest promotional video.

The script for this one was written by one of my Animation 4 Business contractors, Commedus, who came up with an interesting angle to showcase a little of the 3D aesthetic.

Hoot Game Creating

Hoot

Long time readers of this blog my remember Hoot, a character by TheseStars (from GoAnimate), that I helped bring to life for her animated, anagram videos.

Currently we're developing a game featuring Hoot and his Anagrams using Scirra's Construct 2 software. I can't really show you anything as yet but we're making some really great progress with our latest work in progress game file having a fully player controlled Hoot running around the screen.

I can't even speculate on a release date but if we get it done by early next year I'll be very happy. Expect the game to be available on a mobile device near you when it comes out.

I'll also write some reviews about Construct 2 and my experiences with it in the near future 2. If you're an animator interested in creating 2D games it's certainly a great option - the basic version is quite powerful and free.

Bat Storm.

That's about everything for now. I do have other upcoming projects. I particularly hope to be working on my iClone version of Bat Storm real soon too.

Eight 2D Animation Apps For Your Phone or Tablet Mobile Device

M obile productivity apps have become so capable that they can be great alternatives to their PC/MAC equivalents or serve as great tools in their own right when you're away from your desk. While some apps simply mimic their desktop counterparts, others offer well thought out, touch-friendly interfaces that are easier and more fun to use. Every so often I check out what's available for 2D animation for Android devices, since that's what I use, that can complement my workflow with Reallusion's Cartoon Animator 5. Some may be available for Apple devices as well. Below I've listed six free (F) apps (with optional paid (P) upgrades) on the Google Play Store that you might want to explore. Some are just fun apps on their own while others may be useful as part of your workflow on bigger animation projects. Not all are exclusively animation apps and could be used on any production. JotterPad (F/P) The name JotterPad makes this sound like a notepad application but it's ...

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

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OpenArt Versus Dzine: AI Consistent Character Training Compared

TET2d Avatar Image created with Dzine . R egular readers of Animation and Video Life will be familiar with my alter ego, 2D avatar character, TET, who is both the face of The Lazy Animator Cartoon Animator Tutorials, and is currently part of my Resident Dragon joke cartoon series. It is my goal to use him as an animated avatar for both my Lazy Animator video courses and my Cartoon Animator tutorials that you'll find on my @AnimLife YouTube channel . Unfortunately I don't have the time to animate him for every single project. Even with Cartoon Animator's time-saving workflow I wouldn't be able to produce animated content quick enough. Which is why advances in AI animation is something that is increasingly more interesting to me each day. Consistent Characters Before we get there I have to overcome one of the biggest hurdles in AI I've come across... reproducing my art style consistently. I don't want an approximation of my characters, I want my characters looki...

Create 2D Animated Characters with 3D Character Creator Tools and Artistic Filters

3D CC3 TET Character, based on my Oppa Doll Avatar, used as the base for a 2D CA4 character. One of my favorite things to do is to create characters with any type of Avatar/Character creator app. In fact the first test I usually try with these tools is, can I make an avatar of me (or at least my The Extraordinary Tourist persona). Previously I've used 2D character creators like Oppa Doll as a source of artwork for some characters I've made for Reallusion's Cartoon Animator 4 animation studio but 2D character creators are limited to... well 2D. 3D Character Creators While you may think 3D character creators have no place in creating characters for 2D animation there are quite a number of advantages including: No drawing skills required. Render characters in any style. Use an art filter or even hand trace into line art. Need to animate the character in a specific pose or angle? Render out an image of the character in the required angle and animate it in 2D. Quicker to crea...

Creating an AI Digital Avatar and Voice Clone of Myself with Free and Low Cost AI Tools

O ver the years I've looked at various ways of creating and animating a digital avatar, from simply creating a character for Cartoon Animator and voicing and animating it myself, to creating a live motion capture ready Vtuber avatar puppeted and voiced by me in real-time. In the last year or so, making photographic images talk, using AI and AI voice cloning has really progressed. To the point where I wondered if I could create a photographic AI avatar of myself, complete with my cloned voice, that I might use on some of my videos? Creating My Avatar: Artflow To create my avatar image, as far as I'm concerned, Artflow.ai is the best value AI site for creating consistent digital characters (or 'actors' as Artflow calls them). That's pretty much their entire focus. Artflow's actor model training user interface. You get your first actor for free, 100 free credits per month (which equates to 100 still images per month - get an additional 50 credits if you sign...

Artbreeder - Using AI created Character and Background Content in your Animations

A selection of User/AI generated images from Artbreeder. If you're looking for an endless supply of 2D character and background images for your animations then Artbreeder , an online Artificial Intelligence (AI) that generates image mash-ups you can tweak as much as you like, could be the ultimate content library. What is Artbreeder? Artbreeder is free to use though there are various paid plans, that give you additional features, such as higher resolution download images or more settings to play with. All images created on the site are Public Domain (CC0 License) and can be used in commercial projects. Using Artbreeder's online app you can generate head shot portraits, full body characters, landscapes, and other scenes simply by choosing two or more existing images to mash together then, using a series of sliders, to select which traits from each image you wish to lean toward in the final image. Photo Comparison - Top is my original uploaded photo. Bottom is Artbreeder's ap...

Can a Solo Animator Make an Animated Feature Film or TV Series?

Series Creation Tip: If this is your first attempt at a series start small with two to four main characters and two or three sets that you can reuse each episode. My new series in development, Resident Dragon has four characters and is set in a suburban home. Recently I was asked if a solo animator could make a feature film? The short answer is 'YES'. Logically, with enough time, you can achieve anything. The very next question I was asked is how long do I think it would take and could it be done within a year? My initial answer was, it depends on the skill of the creator, noting that a Disney feature film takes a minimum of (I'm only guesstimating here) three to five years, based on when a movie is announced to when it actually gets released, with thousands of people working on it. Which implies that a single person trying to do the same thing may take the best part of a lifetime to make just one animated feature film. However is this really the case? Let's be clear, ...

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