Animation at DVinfo.net

Michael Estepp · September 10th, 2003, 07:15 PM

Hello folks!
I have a great project coming up soon. It involves a lot of "South Park" like animation. Can anyone who knows tell me the procedure for shooting something like that?

Thanks
Michael Estepp

Keith Loh · September 10th, 2003, 07:22 PM

You know they don't do it by hand any more. They use Maya (3D animation but in 2D).

But if you are doing it like they did originally, you need a tabletop set up with a camera that can do frame by frame. Actually, you don't even need a video camera. You could do it with a digital still camera.

Glenn Chan · September 10th, 2003, 07:52 PM

Stop Motion Pro is a great program for stop motion work. It works with DV and USB cameras I believe. I only got to try the demo but from what I saw it was excellent. This is if you want to do it the stop motion way (manually moving construction paper around, frame by frame).

Or you could animate moving construction paper on the computer.

Julian Luttrell · September 11th, 2003, 04:13 AM

Software's the way to do it - trying to precisely control your camera position and movement of paper/card/celophane is a nightmare.

There are quite a lot of tools around that let you paint and animate cel layers to create moire or less South Park styles. The following are worth a look:

Androme Creatoon - about £250, www.creatoon.com;
Digicel Flipbook - about £370, www.digicelinc.com;
Lost Marble Moho - about £60, www.lostmarble.com.

All the others I know of are in the £5000-£10000 range!

Regards,

Julian

K. Forman · September 11th, 2003, 04:51 AM

I would go somewhere in between paper and single frame photography and completely computor generated.

Create your characters, sets, etc. out of paper. Then scan them into your PC, so that you have all of the basic characters and their different sides, poses, etc. The mouths with different phonetics will be seperate, like when the South Park kids made a Christmas cartoon... "Two frames of the oooo mouuth. Three frames of the..."

Then you can use photoshop and layer the scenes, complete with drop shadows. Export frames into Premiere's timeline, and you have animation.

Michael Estepp · September 11th, 2003, 09:23 AM

Is there any reason I can't use my current software, Vegas and After Effects? I also have access to maya, but don't have much practice on it.

Michael Estepp

Michael Wisniewski · September 11th, 2003, 09:51 AM

Hey, that's a good idea! Do the visuals in After Effects and add the sound in Vegas. I've been studying After Effects for the past month, the 3D and animation features look perfect for that.

If you haven't already, check out the Tutorials at Adobe.com (you might have to register)

Here's some interesting links:

Intro to 3D example - very South Park like.

Here's another to get that the parallax effect for background mountains and forests.

Animation Tutorials at Adobe.com

Stephen Schleicher · September 11th, 2003, 10:16 AM

Go over to my site and look at how I did my South Park Stephen character. Wrote a tutorial on how you could do the mouth animation in After Effects.

September 10th, 2003, 07:15 PM	#1
Michael Estepp Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 95	Animation Hello folks! I have a great project coming up soon. It involves a lot of "South Park" like animation. Can anyone who knows tell me the procedure for shooting something like that? Thanks Michael Estepp

September 10th, 2003, 07:22 PM	#2
Keith Loh Air China Pilot Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Posts: 2,389	You know they don't do it by hand any more. They use Maya (3D animation but in 2D). But if you are doing it like they did originally, you need a tabletop set up with a camera that can do frame by frame. Actually, you don't even need a video camera. You could do it with a digital still camera. __________________ -- Visit http://www.KeithLoh.com \| stuff about living in Vancouver \| My Flickr photo gallery

September 11th, 2003, 04:13 AM	#4
Julian Luttrell Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Cambridge, UK Posts: 164	Cel animation Software's the way to do it - trying to precisely control your camera position and movement of paper/card/celophane is a nightmare. There are quite a lot of tools around that let you paint and animate cel layers to create moire or less South Park styles. The following are worth a look: Androme Creatoon - about £250, www.creatoon.com; Digicel Flipbook - about £370, www.digicelinc.com; Lost Marble Moho - about £60, www.lostmarble.com. All the others I know of are in the £5000-£10000 range! Regards, Julian

September 11th, 2003, 09:23 AM	#6
Michael Estepp Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 95	RE Is there any reason I can't use my current software, Vegas and After Effects? I also have access to maya, but don't have much practice on it. Michael Estepp

September 11th, 2003, 09:51 AM	#7
Michael Wisniewski Wrangler Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Makati, Metro Manila Posts: 2,706 Images: 32	Hey, that's a good idea! Do the visuals in After Effects and add the sound in Vegas. I've been studying After Effects for the past month, the 3D and animation features look perfect for that. If you haven't already, check out the Tutorials at Adobe.com (you might have to register) Here's some interesting links: Intro to 3D example - very South Park like. Here's another to get that the parallax effect for background mountains and forests. Animation Tutorials at Adobe.com __________________ "Ultimately, the most extraordinary thing, in a frame, is a human being." - Martin Scorsese

September 10th, 2003, 07:52 PM	#3
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	Stop Motion Pro is a great program for stop motion work. It works with DV and USB cameras I believe. I only got to try the demo but from what I saw it was excellent. This is if you want to do it the stop motion way (manually moving construction paper around, frame by frame). Or you could animate moving construction paper on the computer.

September 11th, 2003, 04:51 AM	#5
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	I would go somewhere in between paper and single frame photography and completely computor generated. Create your characters, sets, etc. out of paper. Then scan them into your PC, so that you have all of the basic characters and their different sides, poses, etc. The mouths with different phonetics will be seperate, like when the South Park kids made a Christmas cartoon... "Two frames of the oooo mouuth. Three frames of the..." Then you can use photoshop and layer the scenes, complete with drop shadows. Export frames into Premiere's timeline, and you have animation.

September 11th, 2003, 10:16 AM	#8
Stephen Schleicher Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Hays, KS Posts: 188	Go over to my site and look at how I did my South Park Stephen character. Wrote a tutorial on how you could do the mouth animation in After Effects. __________________ Stephen Schleicher www.stephenschleicher.com