GP Animations News & Updates

Drawing Ned Zombie from Punch Card Zombies

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:09:00 +0000

I had some time tonight to play around with Toon Boom Animate some more, I've learned quite a bit about the program, but I'm still far from an expert. After I grew tired of failing at new software, I wanted to test out Camtasia Recording Studio a little more. I first got the demo disk at Flash Camp Philly last year and I used it for a presentation I gave at work, but never opened it after that.

I recorded how I drew Ned Zombie in Adobe Flash. Pretty much I just do a rough sketch then trace over that with basic shapes. I was in debate if I wanted to the cartoon to always look sketched out or if I wanted it to be more refined. Eventually I decided to do the more traditional method and have smooth lines.

New Comic

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:49:00 +0000

Posted a new comic on Punch Card Zombies' homepage. This one shows Sam's cubical at Zombeets, Inc. and also hints that he's the graphic designer of the advertising campaigns there. I haven't done too much research, but hopefully the internet isn't already saturated with web comics and cartoons about office zombies. Judging by the sudden surge of popularity of zombies, it very well might be done to death so to speak. I'm not trying to make any money off of the cartoon so I'm not really concerned, it's just a project I enjoy creating.

I got to play around with Toon Boom Animate over the weekend. It seems very similar to Flash in some aspects and very different from Flash in other aspects. I think with about a solid week of playing around with it I'd be comfortable enough to use it for animations. I may continue to make the first episode of Punch Card Zombies in Flash anyway since I already started the storyboard in instead of Toon Boom Storyboard Pro.

Flash vs. Toon Boom

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:56:00 +0000

So I was just about to get started mapping out the storyboard and animatic for the first episode of Punch Card Zombies, but first I did my daily reading of blogs and tweets that I follow in the animation/digital design realm. I started to notice a lot of blogs about how Flash is going to be phased out in the future, HTML5 is the new wave, .FLA files are going to be extinct, Toon Boom is better for animation, etc. Seemed a little disheartening since I pretty much make a living off of Adobe Flash.

Thankfully, my company is a little behind on software upgrades and our clients still demand Flash player 8 and actionScript 2.0 so we don't have a need to supply the latest and greatest technology out there. However, for my personal animation projects I was considering switching to Toon Boom to see just how much better it actually is for traditional 2D digital animation. It seems like it'd be like taking a few steps back at first since I would have to learn a whole new interface and software system, but maybe once I grew accustomed to the new layout it'd streamline the process. Does anyone have experience with Flash vs. Toon Boom and is one better than the other for certain projects?

New Punch Card Zombies Comic

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:00:00 +0000

I drew a new little comic for Punch Card Zombies, it's on the web page. Enjoy.

http://PunchCardZombies.com/

Today's Projects

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:59:00 +0000

Today I actually had some free time so I figured I'd spend it working in Photoshop and Flash. I tried find classes in the area for medical illustration and animation, but it seems that all of the local colleges want you to enroll to get a degree in order to take their courses.

I opted to just look at pictures of skulls and try drawing them in Photoshop as general practice. After I got bored of looking at human skeletons, I worked a little bit more on the drawings for Punch Card Zombies. I got most of the turn-around animation of Ned done before I had more important work that needed to get done. Right now he kind of does an Exorcist head turn as you can see on the web page. the project is coming along slowly but surely.

PunchCardZombies.com

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:26:00 +0000

Punch Card Zombies is my new upcoming web series. It's about Ned Zombie, a white collar zombie who works for Zombeet Inc., and his co-workers who also happen to be the living dead. Ned is in charge of advertising, where he tries to win over zombie customers into the realm of vegetarianism with his catch phrase "Beets are like Brains, but Better!" Unfortunately, most of the zombie population doesn't want to give up their carnivorous lifestyle, but Ned and his co-workers are determined to change the world. Check out www.PunchCardZombies.com for new updates and news about how far the series is progressing.

2010 Goals

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:33:00 +0000

I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions, but I do think it's important to make a list of goals to try to accomplish so I've compiled a list of things I would like to do in 2010, both personal and professional.

Create a new animated web cartoon

Eat less meat products that come from large corporations that abuse animals

Eat more locally grown produce

Spend less money on unnecessary gadgets and products

Support more causes and charities I believe in

Finally buy a new car and retire my 92 Toyota Paseo

Travel more

Learn more about actionScript 3.0 and the latest software in my field

Try to see my friends and family from PA more

Those are just a few things I can think of, hopefully I'll be able to accomplish most if not all of them this year.

Wacom Cintiq 21ux

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:14:00 +0000

Last week I received the Wacom Cintiq 21ux at work to aid in the creation of all of the custom animations and illustrations our clients have been requesting as of lately. I'm very privledged to work for a company that is willing to invest so much into their employees' hardware and software needs. After getting a week or so to get used to it I've decided to compare it against the 12wx Cintiq I use for personal use.

The only big difference is the size. In case you're wondering, the 21 in 21ux and 12 in 12wx are related to the number of inches the screens measure diagonally. The w in 12wx simply means that it's widescreen format. The 21ux is pretty massive and requires a decent amoutn of desk space. Here it is in relation to the size of a red delicious apple (it was the only thing I had in my hand at the time).

Having the extra space is a huge advantage. On the 12wx, I usually can't fit all of my windows for Photoshop and Flash on one screen and usually end up dragging them to a second or third monitor, however with the 21ux, no additional monitors are necessary. The drawing surface is large enough for even the most detailed drawings. One small advantage the 21ux has over the 12wx is that it connects with one fat cord that contains the power, USB and DVI plug. The 12wx has a DVI plug that goes into a box that stems into DVI, power and USB cords. Kind of a hassle having a little block box laying around, but I supposed to save the extra $1000 most people will deal with it.

Personally, I would say if you can afford the $1900-$2000 you should definitely pick up the 21ux over the 12wx, the size difference alone compensate for the extra cash. Not to say the 12wx isn't a great piece of technology, drawing directly on the screen is a huge advantage over most tablet in the market right now.

Adobe Certified Associate of Flash

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:46:00 +0000

Yesterday I finally decided to take my certification of exam to become an associate of Adobe Flash.

However, to get to this point it was quite the ordeal. Not because I had to learn the software, I've been using it for six versions now so I wasn't worried about that, but because testing centers in my area are scarce. In fact, there's one in all of northwest Georgia apparently.

Since the exam is work-related my company allowed me to schedule it on my lunch break and to reserve a conference room. The day of the exam, the test center called me and said they're going to let me take it when I get to my home PC and that I can log-in from there. Later that night, I paid for the exam, installed all the plug-ins and tried to take the exam. After about three hours of errors, tech support and back and forth on telephone calls I decided to try it another day. Finally, the next day I was able to go to a learning center in Atlanta to take the exam on a computer, which I'm pretty sure is at least a decade old and ran very slowly, but at least I finally got to take the exam.

To become Adobe Certified was more of a personal goal to show that not only have I been using Flash for 8 years and am qualified for my position, but just as proof that I know it well enough for Adobe to recognize it. Maybe in the future I'll try the Adobe Certified Expert exam, but for now I'm just happy to finally have this exam completed.

Flash Camp Philadelphia is Around the Corner

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:52:00 +0000

Flash Camp Philadelphia is coming up on November 8th and ironically I had to move to Georgia to be able to attend this year. When I lived in Pennsylvania, I'm very confident that none of my former employers would care enough about improving my knowledge of Flash enough to send me to any conferences. However, MC Strategies here in Atlanta, is a big advocate in supporting their employees work-related interests and is sending me to Philly for 3 days at no expense to me.

I first found out about Flash Camp Philadelphia from a Google search of Flash conferences in 2009. Upon researching the event I was immediately intrigued. A gathering of everyone who has an interest in Flash and its recent developments all in one centralized location. Sounds great.

A look at the scheduled lineup of speakers looks very promising as well. A Flash enthusiast or professional is sure to find a speaker that will perk his or her interests at every time frame. Personally, I'm excited to see what the camp will have to offer and if it's as good as it looks like it's going to be, I'll be sure to sign up for next year's event as well.

Blog Action Day: Climate Change

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:34:00 +0000

Today is Blog Action Day. For those of you who don't know, Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. This year's discussion is Climate Change.

You always hear people talk about climate change, but how does it actually affect you directly? Honestly, besides the fact that I've been using sunscreen more often each summer, I haven't noticed too much of a difference. Regardless, I still try to do my part by recycling whenever possible, car pooling or using mass transit, saving electricity and the like because it's been embedded into my head that it's the right thing to do. No reason to kill off the planet prematurely if I don't have to.

I was curious to see some direct affects it will have on us that we'll notice in our everyday lives so I did some research. Here are some things that I found:

Warmer temperatures are killing off relatives of potato and peanut plants - I will not be happy when I go to a restaurant and won't be able to order french fries or potato salad. This cannot stand.

Higher temperatures create dry spells and stagnant pools of water that produce more mosquitoes and at the same time kill off creatures that eat mosquitoes - I can't even play frisbee or washers in my yard now without coming back inside looking like I have a strange case of chicken pox. Not looking forward to more mosquitoes at all.

Higher CO2 levels cause poison ivy to grow bigger and more resilient - Again with something that causes itching and skin irritation, fantastic. I spent most of my childhood covered in poison ivy from playing outside. Stay out of the woods.

Gray Whales, Emperor Penguins, Frogs, Arctic Foxes, Koala Bears, and Walruses are dying from raised CO2 levels and warmer temperatures - What did they ever do to you? I am the walrus.

The Pine Bark Beetle, which used to be held in check by colder temperatures is now running rampant and killing off forests - Guess we'll all have fake Christmas trees in the future. Hope this doesn't happen in my dad's lifetime because he's the Clark Griswold of Christmas trees.

Ash trees are dying - Personally, this won't affect me too much, but I know a lot of people won't be happy. Ash trees are what are used to make all wooden baseball bats so unless we make a change or start using metal bats, baseball could be in trouble. I suppose they could use pine instead, but those are dying as well.

Au Revoir Pinot Noir - Pinot is made from thin skinned grapes that thrive in colder climates. Temperature changes have started to cause these grapes to bake on their vines.

Those are just a few direct changes I found in my research, I imagine there's probably a few thousand more. Just something to think about before you drive alone to work in your H2 or order take out in styrofoam containers.

Source: Center for American Progress

Reed Elsevier & MC Strategies Partner with Earthwatch

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:06:00 +0000

MC Strategies (owned by Reed Elsevier), who I do Flash development work for, has partnered with Earthwatch to raise awareness about the destruction of rain forests. Employees are encouraged to create movies 30 seconds or less showing support for the cause.

Here is my submission of support.

http://www.GPAnimations.com/rainforest.html

GP Animations Goes Green

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:35:00 +0000

The webspace company I use to host http://www.gpanimations.com/ has converted to 100% Wind energy to power their offices and servers. By doing this they have prevented the release of 2,660 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year. That figure is equivalent to planting approximately 2,390 acres of trees, not driving 6.1 million miles or removing 510 cars from the road. Not a small feat by any means.

If you would also like to use a web hosting company who is environmentally conscience, visit http://www.dot5hosting.com/dot5hosting/hosting.bml and sign up today.

Photo Hunter Game

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:05:00 +0000

Things started getting busy again so the cartoon has been put on hold, which I figured it would eventually. I did have some free time to goof around with my camera and Flash though so I started making a photo hunt style game. The interface still needs to be revamped and more photos added, but it's something to goof around with.

http://www.gpanimations.com/photohunter.html

Storyboard Update

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:49:00 +0000

Finally got some free time to work on the storyboard of the new cartoon. At this rate I should be done in late 2090 so tell your great-grandchildren to watch my cartoon. Figure I'll keep posting updates here so all 2 of my blog readers can see the step-by-step process of completing an animated short film from start to finish.

Alderwood Manor Crest

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:05:00 +0000

Everyone knows that to reach baller status you better live in a big house and it better have it's own crest. Here's Alderwood Manor's new crest drawn by moi.

New Cartoon Finally in Progress

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:04:00 +0000

Well, it's been over 2 years since I completed Life, my last animated short, so I figured it's time to get back into again. I recently read Crafting a Cartoon by Joe Murray, creator of Rocko's Modern Life and Camp Lazlo and it's really inspired me to get back into cartooning. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about cartoons, voice acting, TV networks or anyone who's just a fan of the shows.

I'm thinking this time if I'm going to invest my free time into making another cartoon I would like to do it right. Full backgrounds with texture, NTSC color pallete for future DVD transfer, special effects in After Effects and all done in thousands of keyframes. Might take me a couple years to complete, but that's fine I'm not doing this to make money or enter film festivals, it's purely a labor of love.

Right now the title I have the files saved under is "Vacation" but that's more than likely going to change especially since there's a famous and hilarious movie by the same title. Here's the first rough sketch I've done so far of the main character, who will probably change as well:

I'll keep posting updates on here as things progress.

Open House at the LearnShop

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Thu, 14 May 2009 01:32:00 +0000

With a failing economy and the average American feeling the pinch on their wallets, it's becoming more difficult for high school graduates to justify the high cost of college tuition. Once a student decides to make the investment in a college education, he or she has a great chance of changing majors at least once, which can be costly if it means additional time in school.

The LearnShop in Atlanta, Georgia is helping students of all ages discover new programs available without the tuition costs. For $49.99 a month, the LearnShop offers students unlimited access to all of their workshops, which can range anywhere from arts, languages, sciences, and writing. Here the students will receive a learning experience from professionals in their field in a nontraditional classroom environment. All workshops are personal with small class sizes to insure each student gets the attention they deserve.

The LearnShop will be hosting an open house at the Museum of Design Atlanta on Friday, June 12th from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. at 285 Peachtree Center Avenue, Atlanta, GA where prospective students can meet with the instructors in person to find out more information on the workshops available. People of all ages are welcome to attend to inquire about the great classes the LearnShop has to offer.

Wacom Cintiq 12wx

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:28:00 +0000

Today I'm going to review the Wacom Cintiq 12wx graphic tablet I use to do photo editing and Flash illustrations. This tablet is my third Wacom tablet I've owned. I started my Wacom adventures with the Graphire, which is now called the Bamboo that I had purchased in 2005. Being a left-handed designer, drawing with a tablet instead of a mouse was a dramatic advantage, but the Graphire was too small and the drawing surface was too slick. This was the tablet I used to create After College: Episode 1. Then I upgraded to the Wacom Intuos 6x11, which I bought off of eBay. The drawing surface is much more natural and the size increase was a huge help. This was the tablet I used to create cartoons just as America 2027 and Life. In early 2008, I saw an ad for the Wacom 12wx and quickly ordered one because I always wanted a Cintiq, but couldn't afford the larger models that were only availabe at the time.

Drawing directly on the screen of the Cintiq is probably the second most natural feeling besides drawing on a piece of paper. The response is instantaneous, pen is comfortable and the on-screen colors are vibrant. And with just about all Wacom tablets, there are programmable buttons on the tablet itself and on the pen, which allow unlimited customization for each piece of software that you use. Pressure sensitivity is most helpful in photo-editing software such as Photoshop, but Adobe/Macromedia Flash actually has a special brush tool option that appears just for Wacom tablets, which utilizes the pressure sensitive options. The only drawback to the Cinitiq 12wx is the price tag, while although cheaper ($1000 USD) than its bigger brother ($2000 USD), is still a lot for the average enthusiast to shell out.

Overall, I would say if you're serious about graphic design, computer animation, 3D modeling, or photo editing and aren't ready to shell out $2000 for the 21" Cintiq 12UX, I would defintely recommend giving the 12wx a try. You'll be happy you did.

Created with the 12wx:

Sweaty Bagels Coming Soon to GP Animations

noreply@blogger.com (GP Animations) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:08:00 +0000

Hey guys, I recently acquired the domain www.SweatyBagels.com. It's going to be a new Flash-animated series I want to start working on within the next few months, so keep an eye out for updates on here as well on the website.