Update

3 months later, and my world has changed.

Learning Flash stopped being as high a priority for me as I became swamped with other work.  Then, the company I work for was acquired, and our business model changed, so... yeah... not so much on the Flash bandwagon any more.  I still have my own personal copy, and will probably delve into it more later on.  I mean, Lenny the Line does need to be properly resurrected at some point. 

But in the meantime...
I am beginning to prepare myself mentally to begin work on my long awaited animated short.  Last year at this time, I managed to get Princess Superstar (aka Concetta Kirschner) to create a little ditty for me to animate the short to.  I had originally been thinking that I would be learning Flash to make the short  with.  But frankly, the ditty Concetta made is so bad ass, that as soon as I heard it I knew in my gut I needed to break out the full bore 3D skills.

The changes at work have me motivated to get back into 3D animation.  It has been about 3 years since I sat down in earnest and cranked out any animation beyond simple icons or little things.  So... yeah, revving up the motivation machine. 

Need:
HDMI switcher so I can use my old computer with Maya on it
Replacement cable for my headphones ordered so that I can swim in awesome music whilst I work.
aaaaand about 1,000 other little things that will allow me to procrastinate before I get rolling.

Lenny's First Pass

Well... here is Lenny's first pass!  It looks worlds better this small, and with this crappy resolution.

How I got here:

• Scanned in Lenny's hand drawn animation from way back in the day.
• Converted the scans to 2bit black and white.
• Imported the 2bit images into Flash, and converted BMPS to Vector.
• Cleaned up the verts.
• Applied the original dope sheet frame orders and timing.

There is so much work to be done to get him where I want him.  There are shape tweens to be added, animation to be improved, more bounce and settles to be added, line quality to be improved...

All that being said... VICTORY!  For progress has been made, and learning is in process!

Beginnings

Ah... early pencil tests!
This is not only the first rough of the curtain opening for Lenny's show, it is also a test of posting video on the blog.  So many options, upload things here, upload them to Google, upload them to YouTube, upload to Vimeo?  I can't let my lack of knowledge stop me!  Blllaaaaagh!

There is much popping and imperfection in this curtain.  This was only a test.  :)

Vector Outlines Made "EASY"

or "From Photoshop and Back Again, an Artist's Tale."

Yes, oh so very, very easy. *sigh*

So, today I was presented with a simple task.  Give some renders of 3D characters graphic cartoony outlines for some fancy splashy portraits.  Sounds simple enough.  But, being me, I wanted to have these outlines be awesome (meaning look professional) and more importantly, to have them be flexible in the long term for easier iteration... meaning, I wanted to do vector outlines.

But the original art is in Photoshop.  Unnngh!  Vector outlines in Photoshop?  Alright, let's learn how to dominate this bitch!  I started with making a path of where I wanted the outlines, then tried variations of the "Stroke Outline" option of the path.  I tried it with the "Simulate Pressure" option, no, the thick to thin is all wrong.  I tried it without and felt I didn't have enough control to get the professional looking results I wanted.  Also, by only drawing the outlines as a path, I couldn't be 100% positive that the outlines were going to look exactly how I wanted them without committing to the rasterized "Stroked Outline" This would lead to too much wasted time going back and forth to tweak and perfect.  Screw that.

OK... on to Illustrator.  I bring the raster image of the character in, draw the outlines, and make them all pretty pretty.  But when I try to bring it into Photoshop, there are all sorts of horrid results.  Solid black fill, or inconsistent lines, just, yucky.  The outlines drawn in Illustrator *could* be brought into Photoshop as a path. (gag)   I do some research, and get all excited because it seemed like the solution had been found - Object > Path > Outline Stroke!!!  No.  The outlines have become needle thin.  This won't do.  I just want to "Convert Lines to Fill" like in Flash.

OK... on to Flash.  I bring the vector outlines from Illustrator into Flash, and "Convert Lines to Fill"  This looks promising!  The outlines now have vector lines on both sides!  This is great!  Oh, but there is no copy/paste allowed from Flash to Photoshop.  Illustrator must act as a middle man.

What followed were many more attempts and fails, and more headbanging into a brick wall than I care to document here.  Suffice to say, I finally nailed down a pipeline that will allow me to get the results I want quickly, and will allow the final vector art to reside within Photoshop allowing other artists to edit them. (Not everyone can be all decked out with Illustrator and Flash after all!)

Ze Pipeline!

1. Open rasterized Image in Photoshop 
2. Copy/Paste image into Illustrator
3. Draw cartoony outlines
4. Select all outlines 
5. Copy/Paste outlines into Flash
6. Select all
7. Modify > Break Apart
8. Select All
9. Modify > Shape > Convert Lines to Fills
10. Select All
11. Modify > Combine Objects > Union
12. Export as AI file
13. Open new AI file in Illustrator
14. Select All
15. Object > Path > Outline Stroke
16. Select All
17. Copy Paste into Photoshop
18. ZOMG FAILSTAR!

I would not be at all surprised to have someone tell me that this method is insanely silly, and that there is a way easier way to accomplish the same thing.  Bring it!  Please!

Update:

Well...
Leave it to my husband to prove me wrong in 10 seconds flat!

Ze New IMPROVED Pipeline!

1. Open rasterized Image in Photoshop 
2. Copy/Paste image into Illustrator
3. Draw cartoony outlines
4. Select all outlines
5. Object > Flatten Transparency > Set ppi to 72 (screen resolution)
6. Copy/Paste into Photoshop
7. ZOMG MY HUSBAND IS A ROCKSTAR!

Hey look Ma!  I'm learnin!  I'M LEARNIN!

The Resurrection of Lenny the Line

I have, up to this point, been having a pleasant and leisurely time of learning Flash and its idiosyncrasies.  The starting plan is simple: resurrect Lenny the Line. 

Starting with the salvaged drawings of Lenny's original incarnation, I have been diligently working on learning the nuanced art of vector manipulation.  Or more accurately, honing the hand eye coordination that is required to maneuver the seemingly moody and inconsistent collision detection of the vector manipulator handles.

Now that I have reached the halfway point of tightening up Lenny's animation graphics, I find myself troubled about the inconsistency of his line weight.  It is one of those fun points where there are two clear paths, and neither of them is all that appealing at the moment.

Option A: Continue with the cleaning process I have been doing thus far, chalking up any quality issues as an acceptable learning curve, but be that much closer to getting a little of that desperately needed sense of accomplishment.

Option B: Research and experiment with different methods of getting consistent line weights, which would mean starting over, which could potentially mean a higher quality end result.

Option B really seems like the logical choice in the long run, but damn I need some accomplishment mojo.  I have been doing commercial art for 11 years now, and haven't expended much energy on my personal work for basically as long as that.

OR... just to keep myself motivated, perhaps I shall embrace the unmentioned Option C: do both.  I believe I shall go ahead with cleaning the drawings, accept that the line art is going to boil as if it were forged in a volcano, get it up and running, then go back and learn how to transform those lines into the stoic thick to thins I hold in my minds eye.

Obligatory Introductory Post

Hello world!
My name is Tamara Knoss, and I have had some serious plans for my art for a long, long time.  I have been preparing to construct and unleash the Grubby Virtue brand unto the world nearly my whole life, and visible progress is finally being made!

One of the steps I am currently in the process of is learning Flash.  With Flash, I plan to make some of the animated shorts that have long been just scribbles on yellowing sheets of paper deep in my filing cabinet.

As I begin to gather momentum, I am finding it harder to keep it all under wraps, and thus this blog hath been borned.  The idealistic hope is that this blog shall help motivate me, and give me a place to share the journey.

Thanks for stopping by!