Snapai
04-10-2009, 07:59 AM
Hi folks. Question for those of you with studio experience.
I've never been in an animation studio, not even via college. And I was wondering, what's a "day in the life" at a studio, like?
This seems to be a point glossed over by most animation books, tutorials, anecdotes. What's the environment like? What's the workflow? I hear stories about the storyboard reviews, or showing the dailies, or whatever, but only about how they relate to animation. When are they called? Is it everyone in there at the end or beginning of the day watching the latest story reel, or does each team go over their latest footage independently with the director?
Are studios usually huge rooms with lots of desks around the walls? Long rooms with cubicles? Individual rooms? Do most studios have a rigid dress code....or a really casual one?
How exactly does the work flow between the animators, assistants, inbetweeners, and cleanup artists? I know the animators do a set of keys, and anything else they think is necessary for anyone else who touches the scene to get the motion or 'life' right, and at some point it's tightened up to almost final linework, and then a set of cleanup drawings that can be (digitally, now) inked and painted is created. But most books seem to describe it like you throw all these artists into a pot, shake it up, and pour out finished animation.
I realise that methods may vary studio-to-studio, production-to-production, artist-to-artist, or even based on the needs of the shot, and I'm not looking to hear the Grand Ultimate Right Way To Do It, I just wanna hear more about the process of people working together on animated films!
Please, share your stories! :)
I've never been in an animation studio, not even via college. And I was wondering, what's a "day in the life" at a studio, like?
This seems to be a point glossed over by most animation books, tutorials, anecdotes. What's the environment like? What's the workflow? I hear stories about the storyboard reviews, or showing the dailies, or whatever, but only about how they relate to animation. When are they called? Is it everyone in there at the end or beginning of the day watching the latest story reel, or does each team go over their latest footage independently with the director?
Are studios usually huge rooms with lots of desks around the walls? Long rooms with cubicles? Individual rooms? Do most studios have a rigid dress code....or a really casual one?
How exactly does the work flow between the animators, assistants, inbetweeners, and cleanup artists? I know the animators do a set of keys, and anything else they think is necessary for anyone else who touches the scene to get the motion or 'life' right, and at some point it's tightened up to almost final linework, and then a set of cleanup drawings that can be (digitally, now) inked and painted is created. But most books seem to describe it like you throw all these artists into a pot, shake it up, and pour out finished animation.
I realise that methods may vary studio-to-studio, production-to-production, artist-to-artist, or even based on the needs of the shot, and I'm not looking to hear the Grand Ultimate Right Way To Do It, I just wanna hear more about the process of people working together on animated films!
Please, share your stories! :)