Shipping Shows 101: Part One of Many
Ivan the Unbearable is shipped!
Observe the greatness of Eric Cookmeyer and Jack Kinman as they tape up the box of “Ivan” materials headed for its 12 week stint in Korea to be animated.
Adam Henry, creator of “Krunch and the Kid”, is busy putting the finishing touches on his work before all of the assets for “Krunch” get shipped in a similar big box. “I am working on poses for Krunch that aren’t already in the model pack, and getting ready to ship. But first–to the CHECKER!“.
When we get ready to ship a show to the studio that will animate it, we put together a big box of materials so that this studio will have exactly what they need to get the job done. Part of what is in that box is a model pack. The model pack includes a turnaround sheet detailing what the main characters will look like from front, back, and side angles. It also gives front and back angles for minor characters, key poses that the characters will strike in the cartoon, as well as a mouth chart for each character that demonstrates what they look like when they speak. Below is a rough mouth chart for the character of Yaki from “Yaki and Yumi” below.
In addition to drawing some extra character poses, Adam Henry was also awaiting feedback on his exposure sheets from the checker. As I explained in a previous blog entry, exposure sheets are the blue print that the animators use to animate the entire short. Before anything goes to them, a checker must make sure that all of the information on the sheets is timed properly, and that everything on those sheets is exactly how we want the finished product to look. Sometimes, a scene will be included on a storyboard but forgotten on the exposure sheets. A good checker will find those mistakes. No detail can slip through the cracks!
And speaking of details…
Jerry Beck couldn’t resist hanging some lovely pictures of Hornswiggle. “I makes me look like I’m working!”
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On October 20th, 2005 at 12:00 am
“Moobeard” was first to be shipped out - but no press?? Kyle’s mom wants to know
On October 20th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Sorry “MooBeard!”. I just started doing a more day-by-day informational blog, so that’s why “Ivan” was the first to be mentioned. I will be sure to keep posting MooBeard progress in the upcoming weeks.
On October 20th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Thanks Melissa! Kyle’s MooBeard is away but not forgotten!!
On October 21st, 2005 at 12:00 am
Hi Melissa!
You’re blog has been on fire as of late. Such a nice fly-on-the-wall reporting of the goings on inside of Frederator. Neat to see everything preparing for shipment. As an animation director of over 80 half-hours of TV animation done with an in-house crew in After Effects and Flash (Blue’s Clues and Pinky Dinky Doo), I’m curious if y’all have any digitally made shorts going on. I know those animators in Korea do a super job, but there is something grand about an animation director working and collaborating with animators in the flesh…. and you get to stop those jobs from going over seas. Any thoughts?
On October 21st, 2005 at 12:00 am
Hey Dave! Thanks for the nice comment on my recent posts. And to answer your question, yes, we are going digital on some of our shorts. We have three Flash shorts right now waiting to start production, and who knows how many more. We also have a 3D show that is being produced in the good ole US of A.
On October 21st, 2005 at 12:00 am
Hopefully, we’ll be doing our short digitally… if we get a green light. We’re also working on a simpler pitch with just two characters. (our first pitch of our first short had 13 characters!)Maybe that will be the one that get’s made… we’ll have to wait and see.
If we get to do a short, it won’t be in Flash though, it’ll be full 3D. That’s one whole extra “D”! I think there is at least one other short being developed in 3D right now as well.
On October 21st, 2005 at 12:00 am
Looking forward to seeing what you come up with Floyd! It was great seeing you at the Ottawa Film Festival.
On October 21st, 2005 at 12:00 am
Oh, it’s a good one. We’ve teamed up with Jessica “I Like Pandas” Borutski who is doing some character design for us. While we were up in Canada, she also introduced us to Poutine. If you haven’t ever had any, get some as soon as you can. It’s great!