Gene McGuckin 2D animation reel part 1

[BeeAnimations]

Simply amazing !! Great show of talent - great to see 2D animation !!

[flowman3]

lovely

[rouncer81]

id like to know how long it takes you to make these small sections, i bet skill has a lot to do with time saving.

[Buu885]

I knew it! No wonder why the creadit song sounded familier. I heard it in the Beatle's Yellow Submarine !!! :D

[PajamaEntertainment]

wow... i really need to work harder so i can be like this someday

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks Stahs92 and IzBilly!

Sadly Traditional Animation (an American born artform) is almost totally sent over-seas.... So guess what I gotta' do? Learn CGI...

Wish me luck!

Thanks again for your wonderful comments,

Gene McGuckin

[Stahs92]

i wish i could make animations like this ;)

[IzBilly]

omg! you´r a amazing animator ^^

[HiddenLaserTrap]

Woah, now I have an inferiority complex. Amazing stuff.

[SpiderWolf76]

@HiddenLaserTrap

Thanks allot for your nice comment.

[emiful333]

how do you keep your characters the same basic size and shape while moving without them bouncing or changing as they are animated so that they look like they have a differnt shaped head in each frame?

[emiful333]

how do you keep your characters the same basic size and shape when they are mobing around...how to you keep it from bouncing around in all differnt shapes and stuff?

[SpiderWolf76]

@emiful333, what you do is make keyframes of the characers, instead of doing 'straight ahead' animation. Meaning you predict the characters movement to it's next major pose and draw it. Then you make inbetween drawings within the two poses.

Also, once you have allot of animation going on, start checking back on previous keyframes with your light table--another way to make sure the proportions are correct.

Hope that helps.

[tenhighkratos]

Fun stuff!! U are a good animator!!

Can't wait for more!!

Kangaroos are nice to draw too!!

Oh, gotta go now!!

Farewell!!

Fun stuff GENE!!! LOL

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks a bunch tenhighkratos!

I appreciate it!

Gene

[GR4C3W]

damn youre goood! :D

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks allot GR4C3W!

I appreciate your comment,

Gene

[SpiderWolf76]

Yes! It works that way! I tried it on Google and it's the first website!

I'd really appreciate it if you all would check out my Blog and make comments if you'd like. It has animation and various drawings I've done over the years.

Just type in Google: Gene McGuckin Blog

Thanks,

Gene (SpiderWolf76)

[Wynand07]

don't worry i just checked you page :) i'm of to uni to study animation in about 5 months, any tips to improve tons in that time beside life drawing classes, watching cartoons and just drawing a hel of a lot? =D also starting to read to try build my story telling ability which is just plain poor really good work again btw =)

[SpiderWolf76]

Oh sorry, about tips. It seems you have it covered. Also get allot of books on animation, like Preston Blair, The Illusion of Life, Chuck Amuck, etc. Also books that show the classic characters for you to copy--like Tom & Jerry, Looney Tunes, Tex Avery, etc.

[Wynand07]

very nice :) curious to see what your animation looks like now. good job

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks Wynand07. Yeah, now-a-days I basically just use Flash with animation. Executives don't have patience and don't want to dish out more money for the time it takes to draw-ink-scan-color.

[elfingquest]

what kind of software was used to do it????

[Wynand07]

lol good old pencil and heaps of paper =)

[SpiderWolf76]

Wynand07 is correct in the greatest sense. That's how most of the work was done. I usually used a blue pencil for the ruffs and a red for clean-up. First, I'd scan many sheets of paper of the ruff drawings into the computer. There was a program I used for pencil tests. It was called Macromedia Director. Then I'd clean it up, and do the process over again. Once approved, they go to the inking department, then a final scan. After that, the characters/props were colored in a program-Toonboom.

[SpiderWolf76]

In Toonboom, the 'Toonboomers' would color each character/character overlay/prop. Then finally put in same sequence (on the painted background) using the original clean-up pencil test file for reference. When doing the ruffs/clean-ups I'd do a quick sketch of the background to make sure everything matched up. When I was in school, I actually used a pencil test machine (with camera and a foot-pedal) for each drawing; just like the ones used before computers were invented.

[SpiderWolf76]

Then 3-D became extremely popular and took over at the first company I worked at--for 4 years. I stayed a stubborn traditionalist at the time and got a job doing layouts/keyframes for "Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes." After that was over, I had to embrace either Flash or 3-D if I wanted to keep working in the business. I chose Flash. Flash wasn't so bad when I worked on shows like "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" or "The Mr. Men Show." Many of the animation principles are the same.

[Bunechunk]

I would just like to say to you that i really apreciate you regularly checking your comments and actually replying to nearly every one of them. im still just a teen so finding good advice from people is kind of hard so its cool to get to talk to a pro. i basically just admire that someone who is accomplished would actually take time to spread there knowledge over a comment board. i just really want to thank you and tell you that its cool what youre doing.

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks allot Bunechunk. That was nice of you to say. I know I've had times in the past and present where I had to rely on my fellow animators for help. So I like to try and do the same. I remember when I first started in the business, I wasn't even 21 yet. They all called me "the new guy" at my first company. Now I'm going to be 32 this upcoming August... The years sure move quickly.

Thanks again for your comment,

Gene

[Bunechunk]

hey do you think someone who is new to animation should get good at traditional animation like this first? plus, do feel like we are losing traditional animation and everything is shifting to flash and cgi? do you think there is a future still for people who want to do this kind of animation or do you think it will all be done by computers in the future.

[SpiderWolf76]

Yeah, I strongly believe that anyone getting into Flash or CGI animation should understand Traditional animation first. One kind of has to anyway, because allot of the same rules of animation apply. Sadly I don't think there's much of a future for someone who wants to work soley in traditional animaton. That's why I learned Flash. It seems most of the work I do now is in Flash. Those questions you asked (except the first) were they same I was asking back when all I did was 2-D animation.

[hogsy12]

Man I wish I was good at flash :-(

[SpiderWolf76]

As for this stuff, you don't have to be. It's all drawings, scanned in--some are colored. I did all this stuff before I knew anything about Flash.

[E99741]

nice drawing

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks E99741.

[Bunechunk]

i see youve been checking out my favorites estevan

[E99741]

yeah is that a problem or someyhing

[RayPointer]

You have obviously done a lot of work, and the result show it wit the enthusiasm displayed. There is a tendency to use too much squash and stretch, however. This makes your work over animated at times. Burt Klein had this habit many years ago, and in time he learned to tame this, putting it to the most effective use. Since this work was done seven years ago, I trust that you have found employment and have also learned how to best make use of these animation elements. Best wishes to you.

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks for your critique Ray Pointer. Yeah, it was done awhile ago. These days I've been doing animation in Flash professionally for companies like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. I do like to push things in animation but I also respect your opinion.

Extra squash and stretch my not work for some characters such as in the Disney realm. But for characters in the vain of the old Looney Tunes/Tex Avery cartoons, I think it fits nicely.

Thanks again for your comment.

[gorlaxsmod]

Supurb! I love it

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks gorfaxsmod, I appreciate it.

[caladozinho]

Awesome stuff, Great examples of some nice follow-through!

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks allot caladozinho! With your use of the term "follow-through", I can tell your animator yourself.

[makanimations]

great job, its great to see traditional animation like this, sometimes we forget the true classical way of animation and the how great it is. It was inspiring to see this.

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks makanimations! Yeah I was lucky enough to be animating traditionally for 4 years (not including school), before Flash became popular. Now-a-days all the professional work I do is done in Flash. But, I'll always remember the good ol' days.

Gene

[bakedapplepie]

awesome work.

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks!

[sahemcry]

Amazing ^^ the best real I've seen on youtube ;]

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks allot sahemrcy! It's a real honour to hear that.

Gene

[minkicat]

you impress me very! thats nothing that often happens. That style of that video. I want to have the talent too, to make something from a paper to a video-film. VERY GOOD! And so wunderful caracters. They look nice.

greetings minkicat

[SpiderWolf76]

Thank you minkicat,

If you want to do 2-D animation the classic (draw every frame) way-- you should try and get the books Preston Blair, Illusion of Life, and Chuck Amuck. Those were the books that helped me most back then. Nowadays though, I prefer working in a program called Flash, where you don't have to draw every ease-in/ease-out. It makes animating a scene go much more quickly.

[davoranimator]

I realy love this video,the movements are so beautiful.

I also animate and I hope achieve this quality om day, so thanks for this video, it really inspires me

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks davoranimator! The fact that you're inspired through my work--inspires me to continue. I almost miss animating completely traditional form. Except for tweening ease-ins and ease-outs. It can become real tedious. That's why I love flash so much now--no more trace-overs for settle movements. Thanks again for your comment.

[jarelchico]

do you draw directly on flash or do you draw on paper and then import into flash, i'd like to know, please.....

[SpiderWolf76]

Well for the older stuff that is already hand-drawn--We'd import the pencil drawings and ink them in Flash. As for the future, I'd love to one day get a syntic monitor, so I could draw and clean-up directly in Flash. All I have now is a Wacom Tablet, and that's a pain to draw characters with.

[Helgaja]

There is such (for lack of a better word) bounce in your animation, it's like watching all those really old disney shorts with mickey and pete, and even felix the cat. Such beautiful detail.I'm exceptionally envious... ;)

[SpiderWolf76]

Thank you so much Helgaja. I do only look to the old stuff when inspired to animate.

[SpiderWolf76]

Yeah, working on the Ren & Stimpy Show was a great learning experience for drawing... and Foster's was great to get back to what I'm natural at--animating. I love John K.'s Blog and hope for anyone interested in animation/cartooning to view it. Yeah, as for Disney and the money situation-that was all executive stuff, I'm not sure what when down for that. I'm not much of a business man. Anyway, that company went out of business a year after letting me go; when they tried going 3-D.

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks. All the animation (besides some of my personal stuff) was done at a CD-Rom company in Connecticut. The Disney characters were just test animations to show them we could do it. None of them were ever shown though, because my boss wanted more money than Disney was willing to give. I'd like to one day show the flash animation I did for 'Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends.'

[telene]

that's funny - your comment trio, spider :) tehe! this is lovely stuff, but i wish the levels were more balanced at times, because it's hard to see all your gorgeous work when the white of the paper is so blown out. any change we could someday see a more even-toned vid? :D

/crosses fingers in hope

[SpiderWolf76]

Thank you so much for your positive feedback. I know what you mean about the quality of the video. Sadly, it's all I have. Most of the animation was done before the millennium using old programs to put it together.

[SpiderWolf76]

Sorry about the double post... I didn't know there was a delay. I thought my post didn't go through. Of course now it's a triple post, but I felt I should explain myself. I wish there was a way for me to delete a post, but I don't see the option.

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks for your possitive comments. I hope to post my Flash Reel soon. Which is allot of the animation I did for the 4th season of "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" on Cartoon Network.

[SpiderWolf76]

Thanks for your possitive comments on my Traditional Animation Reel. Soon I'd like to post my Flash Reel. Which is the animation I did for the 4th season of "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends."

[animaticvee]

coolness

[vczdaeq]

sweeet :D

[blindhands]

pretty nice reel...

[ken24life]

Excellent!!!