Super Stud expressions

I want to do something different with the character expressions on this production. I want the animators to have as much freedom as possible with the expressions. I don't want them to be constrained by being "on model." As long as the head shape stays the same, the characters features, eyes, and mouths can stray far from the model. One of the issues I have with programs like flash and harmony, is that the animators rely way to much on the library. So on this production there will be no standard lip sync in the library. Each expression will require the animators to do a new lip sync and use specific acting.

Expression test

Another little test to see how the character looks popping in and out of different facial expressions. It is not inbetweened fully yet, a lot of it is on 3's. That will not be the case for the real animation, but for the test, 3's are ok. In the next character I animate, I will make it a medium shot and include arm and hand gestures.

Scar Man expressions

I will animate him going from one expression to the next, like I did with Toilet Puck's expressions.

new SCAR MAN run cycle

POW!

MAJOR PECS vs. THE EVIL BRAIN TEASER

POW!!

SCAR MAN vs. METAL HEAD

POW!!!!

SUPER STUD vs. PEE BRAIN

PEE BRAIN rotation

He's hunch backed, bow legged and double jointed.

SUPER STUD rotation

I removed the sperm shaped lock of hair that he had before. It was a bad design choice, it didn't look appealing, it was clunky and ugly. It was also overkill, there is already a sperm in the middle of his chest crest and another one on the back of his cape.

SCAR MAN rotation

I had to tweek his head in order for the rotation to work. In the earlier design he did not have a straight horizontal line at the bottom of his chin. That line was angled before, it was impossible to rotate it properly. Looks pretty good now.

Test Animation

The goal with this test was to establish the style of the animation of the show. I did not want it to look too much like the mechanical, puppet animation that seems to be the norm these days. It works for some shows, not for all, definitely not for this one. The inbetweens are not perfect, but I would rather have those imperfect inbetweens than perfect, mechanical lifeless movement done automatically by a computer program. I did use a lot of flash tweens, but I also animated some of it in the traditional way...traditional, but digital. The result is a good compromise of rigged puppet animation and a more traditional look. Here's the test animation!! ENJOY!!

happy colors

The Bg changes to this triumphant glow when Toilet Puck recovers and picks up his clip. I have one or 2 more expressions to animate in the test animation. It is up to over 30 seconds long.

another new TP expression

This is a key pose before he bends over to grab his clip that he dropped.

new TP expression

I had to add this new expression in the test animation, to better transition to the next expression. I am up to 19 seconds of test animation. It looks good so far, for flash animation. I'll post it as soon as it's done.

seeing red

I am working on some test animation of TOILET PUCK. Basically, I took the expressions from a couple posts below and used them as key poses. I want to see how Toilet Puck would change from one expression to the next. The test animation is being done in MACROMEDIA FLASH. We will use TOON BOOM HARMONY once Toilet Puck goes into production. This is a screenshot of an angry pose, I made the entire BG change to that angry red just for this pose, then it changes back to a shot of the floor of the washroom.

white rapper

I felt the character of THE UNINTELLIGIBLE HUNK was way too much like the INCREDIBLE HULK. He is a spoof of the hulk of course, but he needed an interesting twist, not just a cartoony version of the hulk. So I made him into a white rapper type of character, with blond Eminem hair and bling around his neck. He is going to talk like a rapper, which is unintelligible anyway, so the name still fits. So now the articulate scientist turns into an unintelligible green rapper.

new expressions

I made a few different arm positions and moved his "clip" in various positions.

flyer back

very simple on the back of the flyer; a description of the show, a single image of Toilet Puck, some contact info, the show's logo which is only a mock logo. I have not begun working on the real logo yet.

flyer front

The idea was to make it look like a comic book. I would have wanted to add a few more things to it, and make it look old and worn out, but I did not have time to do all that. I think it gets the point across as it is, it does look like a comic cover, and it represents the show properly. As of right this moment the flyer is being paraded around in France at MIPCOM, one of the biggest mutlimedia and licensing conventions in the world. I think I will work on this flyer some more, so that by the time the KIDS SCREEN SUMMIT happens in February, I will have the exact look and feel of an old retro comic that I was going for.

Toilet Puck Expressions

Just experimenting with some expressions. I just copied and pasted his body for now. I will eventually change his body, arms and hands to better suit the expressions. I also plan on doing more expressions for him. I want to really push it as far as I can. I want him to have the same range of expressions as Sponge Bob Square Pants, really wild and extreme. Most series I have worked on were really lacking in character expressions, with directors, producers, and supervisors all afraid to be "off model." Which is ridiculous and wrong. It's not being off model at all, it's acting, it's pushing, it's exaggerating. I worked on a show called "My Goldfish Is Evil" and the main characters were horribly designed, they couldn't even rotate properly. They looked like completely different characters in their profile. And the expressions were non existent. They had no range of emotion, no acting, no personality. They were designed with triangle eyes, very bad, and impossible to get expressions out of without being "off model." Goldfish was one of the worse shows for expressions. One of the best that I worked on was "PIG CITY" All the characters in the show were anthropomorphic pigs, but they great expressions.