"OpenToonz" - Free Software for 2D Animation

OpenToonz Software

2D animation can be done in a variety of different software packages.  One interesting option is the "OpenToonz" Software, free software for the production of 2D animation.

Based on the software "Toonz", developed by Digital Video S.p.A. in Italy,  OpenToonz has been customized by Studio Ghibli, and used for the creation of its films for many years.  Dwango has launched the OpenToonz project in cooperation with Digital Video and Studio Ghibli. 

Alex Williams 2D Animation Reel

Recently I've been digging around online to find HD copies of some of the best shots I have done on various 2D animated feature films over the years (my existing 2D animation demo reels were of doubtful quality, with low resolution images). Above is a selection of my best work on films from "Roger Rabbit" in the 80s and 90s all the way through "Thief and The Cobbler", "Iron Giant" and "Sinbad" (my last 2d feature) in the early 2000s.  Edit by Miguel Teixeira, music by Pixabay.  All in full HD. 

What I Learned on "The Iron Giant"

"He's a giant robot Dean; it's a little...undignified"

In 1998, I had the privilege of working as an animator on The Iron Giant at Warner Bros. Feature Animation, under the direction of Brad Bird.  Working on Brad Bird's "The Iron Giant" was one of the best experiences of my career in animation.  

We had just come off "Quest For Camelot", a movie which had suffered from low morale - and which did not perform well at the box office.  

After Quest, Everyone at Warner Bros was excited for Brad's Iron Giant - and the team was confident it would be a hit. After all, with a strong story, a great director and a great animation team - what could possibly go wrong? 

Smear Frame Animation Tutorial in Maya

In this brief tutorial we show how to animate a "Smear Frame". Smear Frames simulate motion blur in super-snappy animation, in the style of the old Tex Avery or Chuck Jones cartoons.

But how do you do a Smear Frame in 3D animation, using Maya character rigs? Watch our free tutorial to find out.

Why Animators Should Work on Multiple Shots

Recently a student at Animation Apprentice was getting stuck on one of the weekly exercises, and I suggested that he work on a different shot. At first he resisted - he didn't want to give up on the shot he was working on.  

But I explained that lots of animators like to work on multiple shots at once - it helps to be able to rest your eyes, and come back fresh to a shot after working on something else for a while. 

Using AI to Colour 2D Animation with Cadmium App

Cadmium App

Artificial intelligence continues to offer new ways to speed up the animation pipeline and turboboost the productivity of animators. 

One new breakthrough comes from the Cadmium App, a new tool which automates the process of colouring 2D animation.

Cadmium is a creative tool for hand drawn animation. Using machine intelligence, animators can now colour their entire animation sequence from just a few keyframes.

James Baxter Animation Webinar at YouTube

On 30 June at I hosted a live animation webinar with legendary Disney and DreamWorks animator James Baxter.  James began his animation career on Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and has since worked on dozens of animated films, designing and supervising many memorable characters.  In this two hour webinar, James demonstrates how to take a traditional 2D animation scene from start to finish.

Is 2D Animation Making a Comeback?

Is 2D Animation Making a Comeback? It's a question I get asked a great deal. It seems that in recent years the answer to the question is - at last - "yes".  2D Animation is booming all around the world, with studios such as Blue Zoo animation in London setting up a whole new 2D Animation division, using Toomboom Harmony for their pipeline. Nonetheless, in the end, it's all about getting the right skills. To be a successful animator, you need to learn how to animate.

Animating "Ruber" on "Quest For Camelot"

One of my YouTube subscribers recently asked me to talk about what it was like animating "Ruber" on "Quest For Camelot".  I worked on "Ruber" on "Quest" back in the late 1990s, when the animation industry was booming, and there was a lot of optimism about the future of 2D animation. "Quest" was a great experience for me; I got to be a lead animator on the villain, which was a big role, and a really fun one to do. Plus, I got to work with Gary Oldman, and I was even invited to draw him delivering the lines in the recording booth - drawings which I was later able to use for key poses in the scenes I animated.

"Molesworth" Teaser by Uli Meyer

MOLESWORTH_TEASER_TRAILER from Uli Meyer on Vimeo.

Something to cheer up any animator in these dark times is the new teaser/trailer by Uli Meyer for his feature film "Molesworth", based on the original books by author Geoffrey Villans, and memorably illustrated by cartoon genius Ronald Searle. It's a beautiful example of what can still be done with 2D animation, bringing to life the wit of the original books and the brilliance of Searle's illustrations. What animator wouldn't want to animate at least one shot on the movie?

Alex Williams Animation Demo Reel

Recently a producer I've been working with asked me to cut a new demo reel - a single reel showcasing a selection of the best work I have done over the years.  Since I've been in the business so long, cutting an animation demo reel feels a bit like watching my life flash before my eyes. In my case, I started animating in the mid 1980s, so watching clips from older films like "Rollercoaster Rabbit" (1989) brings back a lot of great memories.  The best part is recalling some of the great projects I've been lucky enough to work on - such as The Lion King, The Iron Giant, and the Harry Potter series.

Ross Anderson Pulls a Rabbit out of a Hat

Canadian author and animation historian Ross Anderson is putting the finishing touches on his forthcoming book - Pulling a Rabbit Out of a Hat - The Story Behind the Making of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. 

Ross's book aims to be the definitive story of the ground-breaking film which I, along with with many others, was lucky enough to have worked on back in the late 1980s.

Almost everyone who worked on the film now knows Ross - his many recent visits to London included trips to the pubs where we used to drink after hours, and Ross interviewed many, many people who worked on the film to tell the story as accurately as possible.

Anna Laura Zielinska Animator at King Bee

Congratulations to Anna Zielinska, one of our online MA students, who has recently landed an animation internship with King Bee animation, based at the historic Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, just outside of London.

King Bee have worked on many animation projects, including music videos and TV series. They use Maya, Flash and Photoshop to do much of their work. To see the King Bee reel, watch the video below.

ASIFA Hollywood Helps Rescue Thief Artwork

Some good news at last for Richard Williams' lost masterpiece - The Thief and The Cobbler.  LA animation chapter ASIFA-Hollywood has donated the not-insignificant sum of $20,000 to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to assist with the curation and documentation of a big chunk of the movie's original production artwork.

Master Animator Glen Keane Introduces Nephtali

Ever wondered what master animator Glen Keane has been up to since he left Disney back in 2012? "Nephtali" is what. In this beautiful short film combining live action with animation, Glen shows why he is regarded as one of the best animators alive. I was lucky enough to have worked with him on Pocahontas back in 1994, and the animation notes he distributed for newbies like me are still among the most valuable training materials I use in the classroom today.  In this film, Glen shows us why traditional 2D animation still matters.

The Purpose of Storyboarding - by Eric Goldberg

This short film about storyboarding is presented by the awesomely talented Eric Goldberg, an animator who moves seamlessly between animation, storyboarding, and directing. And why not? All these skills are complementary, and all involve the telling of stories in a visual medium. I was lucky enough to work as an animator on "Looney Tunes, Back in Action", and was directed by Eric, who taught me a lot about comic timing and just how much an animator can get away with in terms of fast transitions from one pose to another. Eric is the author of the excellent book "Character Animation - a Crash Course", and there are few better people in our industry to learn from.

How to Animate Lipsync

Above is an excellent video on how to animate lipsync, showing how to break things down into easy sections so as to make sure that your work starts off simple and gradually grows in complexity as you layer in the detail. At its simplest, good lipsync is just about opening and closing the mouth on the vowels, and closing it on the consonants. But, developing a system to keep it simple and at the same time get a sophisticated result, is all part of mastering the art and craft of animation.

Cutting Edge Technology - In 1976

Lyon Lamb Video Animation System - a Revolution

Recently Disney producer Don Hahn posted a nostalgic piece at the Disney FaceBook Group about some cutting edge technology from 1976: the then brand-new Lyon Lamb Video Animation System. It was an astonishing development - you could shoot your animation and see a pencil test immediately instead of sending it off to the rostrum camera dept to be filmed, and then having to wait for the developed film to come back the next day. Nowadays all animators take real-time playback for granted. Until the Lyon Lamb, the only real-time playback was in the imagination of the animator. So, how did the animators do it? How could they possibly know in advance how their work would come out?

BBC Uses Animation to Teach Philosophy

The BBC has done a series of a short animated films to illustrate the History of Ideas, a courageous and bold way of trying to make philosophy accessible to a broad audience. The idea is to use cartoons to make relatively complex ideas easier to understand.  Here at Animation Apprentice we applaud this innovative use of animation to bring tricky ideas to a wider audience. Animation used to be a tiny cottage industry, but now it's everywhere, a universal medium growing in popularity and used in many different media.

What Makes a Great Animator? Director and Animator Mike Nguyen Offers a Personal View

Korean Goshawk - animation by Mike Nguyen

Mike Nguyen is a veteran animator who has worked on many classic Hollywood feature films such as "Beauty and The Beast" and "Space Jam".  He was a lead animator on Brad Bird's classic "The Iron Giant" and also on "Osmosis Jones", and has been working for a number of years on his own independent animated feature film  "My Little World".  We asked him to talk about what makes a great animator.