Animation and Video Life

KIT Scenarist Script Writing Software's Mascot, Alexander Cat. While you can write a script in any word processing app, if you're writing stories (screenplays) that feature characters and dialogue, a dedicated script writing app can save a lot of time formatting, letting you focus more on the actual story. Script writing apps are also very useful if you plan to send your screenplays out to production companies, or if you're collaborating with actors and other production people, who are used to scripts being in a particular standard format.  [Note: In case you're wondering there are reasons scripts follow a standard format and are always written in Courier (typewriter) font, including but not limited to; being easy to read by actors, plenty of space for notes, and the general rule that one page of a script (in this format) equals approximately one minute of screen time.] KIT Scenarist , in my opinion, is one of the best script writing apps out there for ease of use, simp...

Phungus & Mowld One Sheet with Creator Kilian Muster. Photo: @kilianmuster Readers of this blog will know I swear by Reallusion's Cartoon Animator as the best animation tool for teams of just one person but Moho, by Lost Marble , is easily a contender and, for many, a superior tool feature for feature. Recently Lost Marble hosted a free, behind the scenes, one hour webinar with independent animator, and one person team, Killian Muster , creator of the Moho animated TV Series Phungus & Mowld , a Sci-fi comedy influenced by shows like Rick & Morty and Family Guy .  Below is both a preview of what to expect from the series, and the good news that Moho was reacquired by it's original creators back in 2020 (definitely great news that was worth celebrating with an animation). Killian first started using Moho back in 2001 to create an animated TV commercial, and then for smaller side jobs. He had put his interest in film, storytelling, and animation on the backburner fo...

Last month I reviewed Plask , a free, browser based app that allows you to create 3D motion capture files for animation from a webcam or prerecorded video footage. At the time my hope was that Plask could be used to create 3D motion capture files for Cartoon Animator 4. Unfortunately my knowledge of how to export 3D animation motion files between applications is fairly basic and I wasn't able to figure it out. However, thanks to 3D animation enthusiast and game developer, Freedom (of the YouTube Channel Freedom Arts ), who published a tutorial on how to use Plask with iClone7 characters (in my review I wasn't able to work that out either) there is now a workflow from Plask, via Reallusion's  3DXchange , to Cartoon Animator that is relatively easy to follow and works well. Note: If you want to try this out, 3DXchange is available as a free 30 day trial download if you don't have it. Creating Your 3D Motion Capture File in Plask I'm not going to do a detailed run ...

Tiny World Effect - LunaPic. There are many different, free, graphic and photo image editors out there, I particularly recommend Krita as an all in one, free graphics tool. However if you want something online, browser based, and connected to a bunch of sites you probably use that can apply a wide range of filters, artistic, and animation effects with one click, LunaPic is well worth looking into. It's two key features, in my opinion, are: So many different effects, filters, and animations, I kept getting distracted from writing this article trying many of them out. I lost hours of time and still barely scratched the surface. There is everything from automatic background removal to templates for turning your images into motivational posters. Not to mention a good selection of animation effects too, from converting an MP4 file to an animated GIF file, through to adding animated water effects to an image.   Quite a number of the effects are one click to apply, with a single slider ...

Plask lets you motion capture full body movement with only a webcam. Companies that produce 2D and 3D animation software seem to be very focused on using motion capture right now to speed up the animation process.  Unfortunately full body motion capture equipment, while very effective, is still quite expensive for someone like me who doesn't have a budget for such equipment. So, when I heard about Plask , a free, browser based, app that can capture full body motion capture data from an imported video or webcam, it was only natural that I would want to give it a try. I was hopeful that I would be able to use it with my Reallusion apps, iClone7 or Cartoon Animator 4 , both of which support motion capture data in their workflows. Plask's creators claim their app is easy to learn, while I generally would agree, it took me a while to locate their video tutorials.  For some reason they're listed under the 'Help' section of the manual. I would highly recommend they be put...

Source Photo from Generated Photos . Ever since Reallusion introduced the G3-360 Character Head into Cartoon Animator 4 I've wanted to see if their 360 Head Creator tool could be used to create an animated head using a photo. Part of the reason I've never given this a shot, until now, is that I just assumed it would be difficult, and require a lot of photo editing to blend out the sprite edges. It turns out, creating a photographic G3-360 head is not that much more difficult than creating a cartoon head, and can be done using a single photographic image using my own G3-360 head rigging system . While this article isn't intended to be a full tutorial, I'll run through the basic steps of how I achieved my photographic G3-360 head, shown in the comparison below, of a Cartoon Animator Morph-based head on the left, and my G3-360 head on the right. Pros and Cons Cartoon Animator's morph-based head system is ideal for animating photographic faces. It uses a semi 3D wire me...

Merry Christmas from Animation and Video Life.  It's the most wonderful time of the year... well not yet. The Nightmare Before Christmas is not just the animated Tim Burton movie, it's also the nightmare of trying to make your own animated holiday messages in the week before Christmas. Animation takes time. Why didn't you start those in November?! If this sounds like your nightmare, here are five free or low(ish) cost apps to help you back to sharing the joy of the season with animation, so it truly will be the most wonderful time of the year. Cartoon Animator 4 (or iClone7 ) Reallusion Marketplace search 'Christmas'. If you're already a power user (or even know your way around it a little bit) you'll know CA4 is one of the fastest ways to make completely custom animations. The Reallusion Marketplace has a bunch of Christmas content you can utilize, just don't be too ambitious. Drop in a background, throw in a Santa character, record a short message f...