IF you wanted to make an animated series that looks good but without all the render time then look no further than real time.
If you have checked out UE4 you know what I’m talking about.
I know there are a ton of people out there who love anime and have so many stories in their minds ready to be told. I’m sure the dream is to go to Japan, find a company they can submit to and have their stuff made into anime.
They wish they could make their own but lack the actual talent to do so. Plus no money. This concept is also the same if you are trying to make a comic or manga. It is still a challenge for the person who can’t draw. So what can you do?
Collab? Nope folks won’t really collab with you. I know. I tried. So what can you do?
Well you may have to spend some money but maybe not as much as you think.
Brian Haberlin showed a really cool way to make comics. I posted here earlier about it using Poser.
This is a great way to make a comic/manga without knowing necessarily how to draw.
But what if you don’t want to use the standard Poser characters? Hire someone to model and rig the characters for you. Now I know it costs money for this but the cool thing is this. You can find modelers out there who will work with you. Start simple and work your way up.
Sketchfab is a great place to find some modelers.
I’m doing a search right now for my newest characters and my current comic.
I love 2d work very much. I love it even more when both 3d is used to bring an extra upgrade in quality. The other day I was checking out Mike Inel’s work. I found this little video where Mike uses a type of mocap, rotoscoping and then tracing over the 3d work. I’ll let you check out the process here below.
I noticed Otaking using a similiar process. I think this helps take his 2d to the next level.
This should help you in your endeavors especially if you are not the best artist. You could easily use Poser characters and trace over them in a 2d package. Daz is free and you could do the same thing. Go for it. Make your own anime today.
I don’t have time. Time is a precious commodity that is not always in great supply. It takes Pixar 4 years from start to finish to make 1 animated feature film. That is with 100s of people working on the project. That is a daunting task.
Needless to say that is a great big hurdle.
But one that we can face and leap through with a little time management.
The trick to overcoming the challenge of time in your animation process is conserving your time and not wasting it. We all have the same amount of time, rich or poor. Although money does buy time. But there are other things that buy your time.
One day a few of my friends and I decided to calculate the amount of time we spent on certain non essential activities, IE watching TV, Video games, sports, browsing, etc. We calculated 40+ hours almost on a given week doing all these things that quickly added up.
Here is a little research I found online.
In the US
5 hours per day watching TV
3 hours a day online
5-7 on video games
That is 140 hours a month, 1680 a year.
1680×4 years = 9 full months of your life.
Creating or consuming? It is up to you.
Kind of gives you a reality check don’t it? I find myself in this predicament all the time but if you want to make your anime you will have to spend that time creating.
I loved Gurren Lagann and then when they announced Kill La Kill I was really excited. I was not disappointed. I loved this show.
I’m sure we all have our favorite shows and they inspire each of us to create something. Watching these great shows is not enough. If you are like me being a spectator is not enough. You want to CREATE!
Now I know some of you happen to have this idea of moving to Japan and going to work for an anime company. The chances of that are next to NIL! Not impossible but very, very improbable. I think you have a better bet creating something yourself than becoming a big time producer in the Japanese Anime market.
But…I want to MAKE ANIME. I want to create ANIMATION. I have stories to tell.
Well you don’t have to move to Japan to tell those stories. You can start making anime today.
If you are reading this website the chances are you want to make anime. Well I’m here to tell you that you can. Here you’ll find tips, case studies, tutorials, words of wisdom and inspiration. You will be able to watch the process from more established artists and be able to follow along as I create an animated series using many of these methods.
So stay tuned there is a lot coming down the pipe.
