Smiley Face Titles

The track is loud be warned.

I found the original files for "Smiley Face" on an external drive deep in the closet. This is how they look in Flash reduced to about 20% of their original size. (Guess I should have put a stop button on it too.) I'm pleased that the color looks as intended, because on the dvd it looks awful. It looks really awful. It looks so awful I could only look at it one time and then put it deep in the closet. The movie went straight to DVD. Greg Araki was very nice to work for. They wanted the timing that fast-- it wasn't my decision.

This was the last animation job I did, and it was in 2007. Mothers, don't send your kids to art school!

Not that Dumm

Do they think I live in India? Last week I was contacted by Wiley Publishers to tech edit the latest version of Flash for Dummies. I've tech edited the last two editions.

"... I wondered if you would be interested in tech reviewing this book? The payment for this job is $750. I estimate that I will need a tech reviewer available starting when the
beta is available and continuing for four months (or so) after that."

Each chapter takes four hours to a full day to properly edit and test all the examples. Typically there are 20 chapters. Do the math.

Wiley is the biggest publisher in the world according to a financial report Jon read.

This was my reply:

"...Thanks for the inquiry. I love tech editing, and have edited the last two or three versions of "Flash for Dummies". I'm really quick on the turnaround.

However, the money is so low, it works out to less than minimum wage. I'd be willing to do it for $1200. So let me know if that's agreeable- otherwise I'll have to turn it down.

In the past, when Macromedia produced Flash, the software would remain permanently on your computer so that was a perk, but with Adobe there are built in time fixes that cause the software to expire, and then you have to buy a copy..."

Anyway, they told me they couldn't pay any more and would look for another tech editor. geez!

About six years ago I did a lot of tech editing for a company called friends of ed, which was a very hot publisher of tech books at the time. The writers were actually good. But they overextended themselves with titles and went belly up owing many writers and tech editors LOTS of money. I lost about $1200, others much more. The company has resurfaced, publishing again, claims it bears no relation to the old company and its debts.

Watching the Nerv-o-Meter

Yesterday was our anniversary and I got these gorgeous roses delivered. eeks. tanks!

On Thursday I'm flying to Gainesville for a comics conference, and the nervometer is definitely kicking in. I'm scheduled for a 1 1/2 hour talk. Phoebe Gloeckner will also be there. I loved her "Diary of a Teenage Girl." I also remember her mother. There's a lot of sex talk on the menu at this conference. Good thing I just made "Whinsey on the Phone." I haven't done a presentation since before Dinah was born I think.

Here's a close up from a large etching I did in college. The symbolism is now so clear to me, but at the time a mystery image. Etchings were such a kick, sticking the needle in the thin layer above the plate, everything reversed. Anachronism times ten. Hey are those spotted Chows pulling the egg? (I studied Medieval Art in college-- great backup in life, yeah, but yeah.)



Taking my dear tablet computer along to Florida, just crossing my fingers that it plays the dvds-- otherwise I'll be rambling about, uh, panoramic eggs or something.

Here's a full version of the etching. It's large.


Although I never thought of symbols while creating it, I see it as dealing with my father's death- the egg, the Lincoln like figure, (he looked like Lincoln), the Packard heading towards the egg. My old house is off in far right, and in distance that castle maybe represented Germany, where I was going to spend my junior year. Not sure about the deer, maybe it's the Bambi lost parent thing, and a figure in the distant mountains was related to some saint, Eustace? who saw Jesus in the horns of a stag. If you study medieval art you have to also study Biblical stories because there's so much symbolism.

Incredible Shrinking Cartoon Budgets

Aka: I may have no business sense but I ain't this dumb.

A very nice person contacted me about doing some two minute animated songs for a commercial tv show. Total creative freedom and total buyout of any characters created. The budget was so darn low it took my breath away, and I said no thanks.

The graph above is not adjusted for inflation. It shows how the price paid for a minute of animation has dropped from $60,000 to $2,000. If you broke that to an hourly you'd be wishing you had that McDonald's job!

The figures represent commercials at Snazelle Films in the 1970's, Ruthless People main titles in the 80's, typical Sesame Street budget in the 90's, a movie title I did a year ago, and the current offer. Admittedly there are no cels involved, but there's still ideas and work to do!

email trouble- trying something else

If I were paranoid I'd be convinced that my foaming at the mouth pitbull former web design client had sabotaged my Eudora email. But I think it's coincidence. Eudora's pretty boring, anyway. So I've downloaded Thunderbird, and my first email is from Sally G- hi!

My first email program (client) was Magic Cap, and I found a screenshot of it, weirdly set to my birthday:



I loved this program. You clicked on each item to work on that. It looked better on the computer. There's a history of the program with more screenshots here.

It5 had different rooms you could travel to, and everything was clickable and more or less functional.

I barely knew how to use my computer when I bought this software. I didn't know each email came with an annoying song and advertisement, but the bigger problem was that the email had some basic big problems and ultimately didn't work, and customer support was saying, "sorry."

While looking for Magic Cap images, I found this silly image from a wonderful blog that deals with Popular Mechanix magazine. Now here's another blog where I can absolutely lose myself.
I always regretted not collecting Popular Mechanix.

On Drawing in Flash

Your only hope for good line quality drawing in Flash is if you set the zoom at 400%. With the pencil tool the line adjusts for the zoom, but unfortunately with the brush tool you need to choose a different size brush if you're at a different zoom level. There's a setting for automatic smoothing- I keep it at 20 at present time because I'm on a non smooth jag, no pun intended!

Here are a few tips you may not have followed:



You can select the drawing and turn on the outlines button, in order to draw it better. Try drawing a brush drawing with the pencil.



Notice above the gray layer outline square shows an outline now, not a solid.



So I draw over it on a separate layer, keeping the outline layer locked so I don't accidentally draw into that and annoy myself.



wow look how smooth that pencil line looks compared to the old wobbly brush. Another thing nice about the pencil line is it makes fill easier, especially when you want to make changes.

Now we're going to try to get thick and thin elegance. You'll be better at this than I am.

Highlight the pencil drawing and then go to Modify> Shape>Convert Line to Fills. Maybe it's like this in Illustrator but I could never figure out that program.





Then you can drag out sections of the line to your thick thin desire. People who do this a lot get really good at it, but for me it slows the animation process down too much, and since most of what I'm doing now ends up on youtube, they don't notice stuff like elegant lines there.

ANEEta, your CHIN is quite LOVELY!

Hell's Donut House

Hot as the inside of Hell's Donut House around here. Actaually I got this email today, "You are Hell's Donut House's newest contact!" People pick a lot of weird screen names, but I thought that one was one of the best. I haven't had a chance to do anything more about it, aside from this cheery little picture I grabbed and goofed on. Looking forward to making contact with the new , uh, friend of donuts. This friend comes from flickr-- I need to put more pictures up I guess.

There must have been some posting about my youtube channel somewhere today, because I must have gotten more than twenty new subscribers, a ton of comments, and sold four dvds. None of the screen names of the subscribers could compare to Hell's Donut House.

I've been working on a website for my sheep herding instructor, and am deep in the realm of Flash code.

a counting piece I did for Sesame Street

Aside from awesomely talented and mysterious Linda Davick, my biggest fans are the Sesame Street twenty somethings, who asked me if I'd done this piece.

You can't imagine how devoted to Sesame Street they are. There are forums where they talk about it. (think about it...)

I liked the design at the time, but not the music and voiceovers, so I never saved a copy. When I saw this youtube piece I was amazed by how bad the reproduction looks, and how image quality doesn't seem to matter to the youtube crowd, who are amazed that I am one of them... Dinah never was-- she never liked to watch tv when she was little.

I animated this as Color-Ade cutouts. Color-Ade was the coolest paper, silkscreened with an intensity of color that made it a sensual treat to work with. I looked in the closet for the storyboard today, but I'd tossed it. It would have been fun to contrast the intense colors of the design with the post laundry look of the youtube.

Searchers 2.0 website (beta)

I've been code consumed the last couple of days trying to pull together this site for Alex Cox's movie, Searchers 2.0, which Jon produced. I would like to get the video on a streaming server, but it seems to be too pricey, so I'm using a progressive download. Let me know if it chokes up when you look at it. Alex is on a dial up connection, so he's probably still waiting for the loading screen to finish up!

If you click on the video, the guy in the backseat, Ed Pansullo, reminds me of Quasi. This site is fancier than what I usually do, whew.

String Devils Beta Site

I didn't use this garish cow image, but if you have a chance, please beta test the site I've just done for The String Devils, and tell me what you think. Thanks!

Cowboy Sundae

We had the bestest time today.

Girl above is an example of fashion surprises at the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival. Since no cameras are allowed, I have to work from memory. This overweight but stylish gal caught my eye in spite of my tattoo phobia. She was wearing a strapless red and white polka dot dress with tattooed bows on the backs of her legs. Talk about accessories (that trail you for a lifetime.) On her back was a brand new dish plate size floral tattoo, and her hair was two tone, blonde and raspberry with a double Anita roll in front. Harlequin glasses and a friend not quite as outstanding completed the look. (you thought I'd draw the friend too?)

Otherwise the main fashion dos were cowboy hats, big buckles, big bellies, big arms. It was 103 yesterday, but today was cooler. I began to realize that the people in really fancy period Western dress were paid to do so.

We were delighted by David Bourne
who plays classic saloon piano with verve and education, a treat. He knew Pete Clute, who was the piano player at Earthquake Magoon's, where I spent a few months as cocktail waitress long, long ago. (1971!!)His specialty is tunes from before Ragtime. He started his career at Knott's Berry Farm, and has published a book about it. I'm interested in the early days of the KB Farm myself, but that's another story.

Best for Last: The String Devils played before a huge audience who were all on their feet cheering at the end. I spoke to Whit Smith, before the show and am going to build a web site for them. yay hooray, happy day for me.

Smiley Face Premieres at Sundance 2007

I had SO much fun designing and animating the main titles for Gregg Araki's "Smiley Face", which premiered over the weekend at Sundance Festival in Park City.

Got Work? Yes!

Shh- I'm doing animated movie titles for a very funny comedy. I'm not supposed to reveal the specifics, so don't ask! I'm doing it all myself in Flash, exporting through After Effects. Those two applications are dynamite. This is a very far out piece and the director is a delight to work with.

Nuff said. Every morning I walk Molly twice around Lake Balboa, at sunrise. The abundance of bird life is thrilling, and constantly changing. I'm headed there right now. I get up early!