Cartoon Doctor - www.drmussey.com

Virginia Earthquake!

2011-08-23T22:07:00.000-04:00

I guess you heard about our earthquake today.

The month before we were in Chicago, we were in San Francisco. I was disappointed that we did not get an example of one of those California tremors everyone talks about as being a routine part of life. The whole city seems constructed to withstand an earthquake, so you really don't worry about it.

Contrast that to Chicago. No offense, but that city looks like it is designed to pancake all of its layers on top of each other as soon as the Earth decides to shake a tiny bit. The fact that so much of the city has stood for so long is testimony to the fact that no earthquakes hit Chicago. In fact, every morning we got up and looked out of our hotel room, I would comment: "Wow! I sure wouldn't want to be in an earthquake in this place," noting especially the layers upon layers of roadways, all on top of one another like some crazy Dr. Seuss picture.

The epicenter for today's quake was about 30 miles from us and just a couple of miles from the North Anna Nuclear Power Plant.

I was in the office at lunch, so no patients were in our waiting room. About five years ago, we'd had a small quake when I had been standing in the exact same exam room and I knew immediately what it was because it made such a characteristic noise.

This one started just as small, but soon became very violent and was actually terrifying. I had time to run outside to see cars in our parking lot dancing around. While inside, it was so incredibly loud. Outside it was quiet, but everything was moving. It started up as a high frequency tremble like a jet arriving and then added a terrible low frequency rolling motion that was unlike anything I had ever experienced. The official line is it lasted 15 seconds, but it really lasted close to a minute because of the strange slow rolling motion. It got more subtle over time, but the cars in the parking lot seemed to bounce more as time continued.

Amazingly, nothing in our office was obviously damaged. Lots of pictures were tilted, though.

At our house, it was a bit different. Patty and Emily were in the house and Patty was convinced a jet was crashing nearby. Emily knew immediately it was an earthquake and took charge. My little study-office area took the greatest hit. All of my Disney statues and framed animation cels came crashing down on each other, leaving a lot of damage and glass.

Patty's recurring comment: "I can't believe how LOUD it all was and it went on forever."

It took about ten minutes for the local radio, which we leave on in the waiting room, to acknowledge something had happened. The announcers were as freaked out as we were.

A lot of things go through your head: "I'm okay. Oh, no! Is my family okay? Where was the epicenter? Oh, no! What if it's closer to Blacksburg where Andrew is?" Text messaging immediately became inoperative. Telephones went like in 9/11: Fast busy signals. Despite this, I got through to Andrew, who was far enough away from the epicenter and driving at the time to be unaware of the event. Those who were driving locally, closer to the action, were more aware that something was wrong, but assumed they had a flat tire or the road was unusually bumpy.

The toughest one to contact was my mother and I got a bit frantic. I could only get the answering machine. What if she had fallen? Finally, after several hours she called me back. She and my sister had been in the car and had not been aware of the quake until it came on the news.

So, anyway, that's our story. It all made me think about my recent trip to Chicago.

Just before the 1989 San Francisco quake, I had been in that city, driving on the stacked freeway that comes into the city. It was the same one that pancaked on itself in the quake, trapping so many. When we were there last month, I was distressed to see that some stacked-layered highway segments remained. It was comparatively small, but it still bugged me. It seemed so dangerous.

...Then we went to Chicago, where it feels like the whole city road system is simply layers of roads, just waiting to collapse on each other. But, they don't have earthquakes in Chicago....right?

...Kind of like we're not supposed to have earthquakes here in Virginia....

Friendeo and Andrew Mussey

2011-08-07T19:06:00.005-04:00

Andrew Mussey spent the last nine months working for a company at a new technology center in Blacksburg, Virginia, called TechPad. Specifically, he has been the lead software engineer for a new application called “Friendeo.”

The Chief Technology Officer of the United States visited TechPad this past Friday and was extremely interested in Friendeo.

The Roanoke Times covered this visit and his interest in Friendeo. TechPad's Facebook page also has photos of the visit at http://www.facebook.com/TheTechPad

A cool video about Friendeo is on Friendeo's FaceBook page: See the video

UPDATE: Robert Scoble is breaking the news about Friendeo's arrival!

The NEW Newspaper Comics: Animating the single frame

2011-03-21T20:50:00.001-04:00

The newspaper industry needs to expand.

What about the comic pages? The online experience allows full motion video.

How realistic is it for one artist to create a weekly short animated comic? By short, I mean about 15 seconds: Just enough to set up and deliver a punch-line.

This month, I am trying just that: Create two of my weekly newspaper comics….

…and also create an animated version for online.

Wouldn’t it be great to see more animated comics for an online newspaper?

CES 2011 Reports!

2010-12-26T11:21:00.002-05:00

CES 2011 is coming and our reporters are now on the scene! Get ready for gadgets, ebooks, and tablets galore!

CES is coming and so are the Tablets!

2010-12-14T06:14:00.000-05:00

Check out this CES update to see the latest tablets to appear.
Okay, maybe it is not the real thing....
The video is less than 56 seconds and was done in Toon Boom's Animate Pro.

The sad state of medical care in the U.S.

2010-08-21T19:06:00.007-04:00

Medical Mistakes

2010-08-21T19:06:00.006-04:00

YAGO Disease

2010-08-21T19:05:00.005-04:00

Calcium

2010-08-21T19:05:00.004-04:00

Finally! A Tablet PC for Toon Boom

2010-08-21T18:17:00.000-04:00

Hewlett Packard's (HP) newest Tablet PC, the "tm2" arrived this year. It is the first Tablet PC that can actually run Toon Boom animation software appropriately.

In July 2010, HP also released an updated tm2 Tablet PC with faster Intel i3 and i5 processors and an updated ATI graphics coprocessor.
Why is this Tablet PC unique and important?

1. This is the only Tablet PC with an added and switchable graphics coprocessor. This makes it more suitable for gaming (not that I am much of a gamer) and demanding graphics or video applications.

2. Most importantly, for Toon Boom fans, this is probably the only Tablet PC with sufficient horsepower to run Animate Pro and Toon Boom Studio without major compromises.

3. Amazingly, this Tablet PC is half the price of far lesser configurations from other vendors, including the Compaq/HP Business division.

The “tm2” as tested utilizes an i5 Intel U430 processor with an ATI graphics coprocessor, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5450 . It contains 6 gigs of RAM and was priced at a little over $1000.

Windows 7 Home Premium is the operating system. The tablet utilizes a Wacom digitizer.

Animate Pro installed smoothly.

Three cheers to HP for appropriately configuring the Wacom driver to allow pressure sensitivity in Toon Boom and Adobe applications "out of the box." Other vendors are rarely so considerate.

HP tends to install many programs to help you "manage" the machine. I have not decided if this is helpful or a pain.

Viewing angles and screen brightness have been criticized. I was actually pleased by the display. True, there is some issue with viewing angles in portrait mode, but I found this to be a minor issue. I was surprised at the brightness of the screen. Tablet PC’s present a harsh trade-off: Touch and pen sensitivity mandates a screen overlay of additional hardware. Also, the screen must be reinforced to prevent damage from all the direct pressure.

Perhaps the most aggravating problem that must be mentioned: The tracking pad is very difficult to use. HP keeps experimenting with redesigns and this one is not especially successful . It might be a learned taste.

The keyboard is reasonable and designed to look slightly Mac-like.

The additional ATI graphics card is extremely important. I ran Animate Pro in both Intel integrated graphics mode and enhanced ATI graphics mode. The difference was incredible. Serious drawing lag appeared in integrated graphics mode, even with the i5 processor.

Incidentally, this lag seems to be an issue of the Aero portion of Windows 7. You can dramatically improve performance by switching to "Classic" windows mode that eliminates Aero. Aero is a lot of flash that ultimately adds very little in your day to day computing experience.

Again, there was no lag with the ATI graphics in use.

So, what about the inking and drawing experience? I found screen accuracy and inking to be very enjoyable. The screen is a bit slick, but this was not a problem. The “tm2” has one of the best inking environments on a Tablet PC. I experienced no clumsiness on the edges, which is frequently a digitizer phenomenon seen in other models.

Bottom line: Animate Pro runs well on this machine. This is the best Toon Boom inking environment I have ever found on a Tablet PC.

Is this equal to a Cintiq?

Advantages to a Cintiq and desktop:

1. More screen real estate.
2. Easily accessible keyboard for using shortcuts.

Advantages to the HP tm2:

1. Portable, take it anywhere work environment.
2. Lower price. Depending on the Cintiq, the savings vary from a few hundred dollars to over a thousand dollars.
3. Power equivalent to a desktop.

Battery life was extremely good. I tend to run my laptops at full power, top graphics, "everything revved up" and I was still impressed. When configuring the laptop, the extra battery option was only $50 which makes this a no brainer even with the good battery life.

This is a good buy. I recommend it. The HP tm2 is the perfect complement to Toon Boom Animation software!

DEVO

2010-07-31T12:18:00.000-04:00

Andrew with Mark Mothersbaugh of DEVO

Devo is coming to Richmond Friday Night!

2010-07-28T20:51:00.001-04:00

Tickets for "Devo Meet and Greet" Friday night? Check!

Camera? Check!

Money for parking? Check!

Newest Devo CD for autographing? Check!

Energy Dome? Oh, No!

5-Second Rule

2010-07-18T10:07:00.001-04:00

HP's Tablet PC: If only HP could be as reliable as a Apple...

2010-07-11T08:16:00.000-04:00

My HP tm2 Tablet PC arrived one month later than promised from HP and lasted only a matter of hours before suffering a catastrophic motherboard failure with intense heat resulting from the machine. I had heard about the terrible ratings for customer satisfaction from Hewlett Packard, but the machine is so interesting, I set aside my caution. ...Bad move....

So far, it looks like HP's bad rankings are justified.

More Cartoons

2010-05-09T20:16:00.001-04:00

Which phone?

2010-04-27T20:12:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure which phone to get.... The iPhone or...

More cartoons

2010-04-27T05:36:00.001-04:00

More cartoons

2010-04-27T05:30:00.001-04:00

Cut-out Animation

2010-01-23T11:17:00.000-05:00

I used to think “cut-out” animation was cheating. Since Animate Pro came out, I’ve become a big believer in such a system.

I’m working on an animation for a British medical company. I decided to use a cut-out technique. We’ll see how it goes.

Here are the characters in exploded cut-out view.

Here they are in assembled form.

Wish me luck.

Consider: Microsoft Tablet PC

2010-01-23T11:15:00.000-05:00

The ideal combination for Toon Boom products is at least a moderately powerful desktop and a Wacom brand tablet.

Sometimes, however, you find yourself needing to animate in places where this bulky setup is simply not possible. Enter: The Tablet PC!

My job has allowed me to use and test many brands of Tablet PC’s over the years.

Do I hesitate to issue advice on using a Tablet PC with Toon Boom software? Well….yes. …But I still love the combination!

Tablet PC’s are amazing, but can be a bit of a headache when running traditional artist programs. This includes both Toon Boom and Adobe products. “Out of the box” they can be a bit of a challenge. On the other hand, once you have a tuned and working combination, it makes a great animation tool. Let me give you some tips.

First: What is a Tablet PC?

In my job as a physician, I use a Tablet PC nonstop throughout the day. It is amazing how many patients say, “Cool! What’s that? I’ve never seen that before? Is that a Mac?”

Unfortunately, as of this writing, Tablet PC’s are not Macs, though many of us keep hoping a Mac Tablet will soon appear.

Tablet PC’s are actually a Microsoft development that was introduced in late 2002.

Bill Gates thought all laptops would soon be tablets. A special operating system was developed called Windows XP Tablet, which was Windows XP Pro with a Tablet interface added. The platform was plagued by high prices, underpowered hardware, and near total absence in physical stores. Nobody could even try them out. Only online purchases were possible.

Eight years later, the platform continues to exist, but is still a niche product.

Many universities, particularly engineering schools, are making tablets mandatory. Pen and notebooks are being replaced by tablet PC’s in the math and science lecture halls. Standard laptops are of limited usefulness when working with equations and diagrams.

Unfortunately, the arrival of “touch” to Windows 7 has spiked interest, but has also made the definition of a Tablet PC more confusing. Is a Tablet PC little more than an interface you can swish around with your fingers or is it something you use like a pen and pad of paper?

The real value of a Tablet PC is when it is used like an advanced pad and paper.

When combined with Toon Boom, the real power of animation software can be unleashed.

Why is a Tablet PC good for animation?

It is portable. You can animate anywhere. Sometimes I do my best work when I am on vacation. You can carry a whole animation studio anywhere!

Can there be problems with a Tablet PC for animation in Toon Boom? Unfortunately, yes. There are some potential glitches (okay, make that “near total deal killers”) in using a Tablet PC centered animation interface, so read carefully:

1.Processors and Graphics for Tablets tend to be on the lower powered side.

2.Anything other than a Wacom Tablet based digitizer will cause trouble. Sometimes, tablet manufacturers are not clear about their digitizers. Specifically, anything that says “HP Touch,” “passive digitizer” and current Dell Tablets can be a problem because they do not use Wacom digitizers. Look for key words “wacom” and “active touch.” If you cannot find them, run away!

3.Drivers for the Wacom Tablet do not come pre-installed, even when the digitizer is Wacom based. It is easy to install these drivers and you want to do this immediately to take advantage of pressure sensitivity. Visit www.wacom.com for the Tablet PC drivers.

If you want to use a Tablet PC with Toon Boom, you should follow these rules and hints:

1.Again, make sure the tablet has a Wacom brand digitizer. Another brand of digitizer has hit the market and it does not play well with Toon Boom’s software. The same is true with Adobe products.

2.Immediately upgrade your Intel Graphics drivers. Some computers tend to “protect you” by preventing this upgrade, but it is not too tough to get around this issue. Go to the Intel site and look up the chipset and download the driver. This is very important and will eliminate issues of crashing when you run the software. You may need to enlist your local computer geek to help you do this.

3.Let me reiterate, using the base video drivers will likely cause repeated crashes when you animate. Update the drivers and the problem resolves.

4.Be sure to check out eBay for used machines. The price premium on Tablet PC’s remains fairly outrageous. Machines from two or three years ago, however, are still excellent and are only a fraction of their original cost.

5.Key words to look for in a Tablet PC: “Active Digitizer” and “Wacom.”

6.Key words to AVOID in a Tablet PC: “Passive Digitizer”

Let us cut through this and name some specific machines:

Fujitsu is a Tablet PC maker that has been creating Tablet interfaced machines for many years. Their quality is superb. Their top models are the LifeBook T4410, T4310, T2020 and T5010. If you are looking on eBay: look for a LifeBook T4220 (which I use), and the T4210. Amazing prices can be found on eBay for the T4210, which is a decent machine. Virginia Tech’s School of Engineering specifically advises Fujitsu Tablets for its students.

HP-Compaq have a mixed bag of tablets. There are only two that I would advise, both of which are now only on eBay: the 2710p and the 2730p. These two machines are from the “business line” of HP machines, so they tend to be better built. I picked up a 2710p on eBay for $700 in June and I love it. It runs all Toon Boom products well. Beware of the “touch” series from HP because they do not use the Wacom tablet interface and you will not get pressure sensitivity in Toon Boom, Photoshop, or others.

Lenovo has a great line of tablets. The X200 is the current line and they are excellent. On eBay, look for the X60 and the X61. We have two X61’s and they are excellent. The X41 is also great, but is probably showing its age. You can pick one up for less than $300 on eBay and I would grab one of these over a NetBook anyday!

Toshiba has been slacking off a bit from their tablets. The current model is the M750. The M700 was a bit of a reliability disappointment after their strong m200 and m400. The m200 is on eBay for less than $300 and sports an ultra high resolution screen, making it ideal for animation. I bought one of these new and then picked up two from eBay last year and they are very reliable and durable. Speed in Animate and Animate Pro may be an issue, though. The M750 is also advised for Virginia Tech’s School of Engineering students.

Gateway no longer makes tablets, but you may find one of their older models on eBay. The value of the Gateways is in their higher powered graphics, even though they are now a few years old.

The Motion Computing line of machines are all “Slates,” meaning the keyboard is separate. Many artists swear by these. My own concern has been they tend to be a bit underpowered and very expensive.

That pretty much sums up the line of Tablet PC’s that I can say are usable. I have neglected Acer simply because I have no experience with this line. They appear to make capable tablets, too. I specifically do not advise the Dell line because their models use a non-Wacom digitizer.

Again, eBay is an amazing resource for affordable tablets. Specifically, the Fujitsu line seems to have the greatest eBay deals.

Ideally, the perfect animation platform is Toon Boom, a fast PC or Mac, and a Cintiq Tablet. However, an affordable portable and decent alternative is an eBay Tablet PC with Toon Boom.

By the way, I keep saying “eBay,” but I have also had great success with Google’s shopping feature.

One final note, beware of viruses. About a third of the machines I have picked up on eBay have been highly infested by very nasty viruses. Create back up disks, scan your machine, and maybe consider a Windows 7 upgrade disk purchase before you use it.

I love Tablet PC’s. I would take an older Tablet PC over a newer conventional laptop any day! When we were on the road at CES and I needed to crank out some animations, the only tool was a Tablet PC and Animate Pro. It did the job!

Now, go have FUN!

Rapid Animation

2010-01-23T11:09:00.000-05:00

How fast can you create a new animation?

Can you create a regular animation for websites on an everyday or every other day basis, using one animator?

Yes, some artists have done this, but it is really difficult and often the animation is quite crude.

Can it look like some time may have been invested in the project? In other words, can you create something that looks like it took far longer than it really took you to create? In other words, “more for less?”

This past week, I traveled to CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas. Everyone is doing their own version of reporting and I wanted to add something unique to the website we were involved in creating for our regional newspaper at fredericksburg.com

The tool: Toon Boom Animate Pro and a Tablet PC

The result is at: www.fredericksburg.com/it/ces

Twenty-four hours prior to the show, I spent about five hours on a desktop with a Cintiq creating characters, backgrounds, and cameras for the animation. Toon Boom’s products allow you to create a library or template of characters

We spent ten hours a day reviewing the show and then dashed back to our hotel to add to the site. That meant only a few hours were available to animate. I used an older Fujitsu T4220 tablet PC for the work, which did the job, though I could have used a little extra horsepower. The animations were created by ONE person, me, and I was still able to get more than enough sleep.

The videos were uploaded to YouTube to allow access from multiple sites.

All of the major Toon Boom products: Animate Pro, Animate, and Studio allow the use of templates for character creation and rapid quality animation.

C.E.S. 2010 – 3D is Everywhere!

2010-01-23T11:06:00.000-05:00

CES 2010 is all about 3D. It is everywhere! Sometimes, it feels like every vendor has simply thrown up something and called it 3D. Even the CES information kiosk monitor says 3D.

Toon Boom has dominated the 2D market. Toon Boom is not a 3D rendering program….or is it?

Toon Boom has a lot of 3D capabilities, but it has a different look. Toon Boom is not for rendering a “Toy Story” type of animation. But, the 3D effects possible in Toon Boom can create a totally different look that no one has yet appreciated.

Many may remember the Viewmaster toy that allowed you to see views in 3D. Many of the slides had characters like Bugs Bunny that were actually 2D drawings, but placed with different positioning in relation to other characters and the background objects. The view was a very interesting type of 3D cartoon. The drawings were 2D, but were positioned in a 3D world.

See where I am going with this?

Toon Boom’s animation programs, especially Animate Pro, are able to work with 3D space.

Consider creating two cameras, positioned like two eyes. It is easier than you think. Go to the Network View in Animate Pro. Just copy and past the first camera with its peg, and then add a second peg to the second camera and offset it slightly to the left. Call this “Camera-left.” Wow! You now have two video files after you have rendered so you can input these into your 3D software.

I played with this technique in the following animation. Obviously, YouTube does not do 3D, but, if it did and I could output it correctly for the particular system, parts of this scene would be in 3D!

LIVE FROM CES!

2010-01-09T11:52:00.000-05:00

We're live from CES and Andrew's reports are getting big coverage from www.fredericksburg.com and you can see the site here
http://ces.ajama.org/

CES 2010 Animated with Toon Boom

2010-01-02T23:05:00.000-05:00

We’re all excited about CES 2010 in Las Vegas this month and we have our animated team of reporters ready, thanks to Toon Boom’s Animate Pro. See if you can spot the 3-D effects in this animation…

Remembering a pioneer in PC animation software: "Autodesk Animator"

2009-12-19T18:30:00.005-05:00

Two months ago, October 2009, marks an interesting anniversary for animation: It’s been 20 years since animation software was available in any meaningful form for the PC platform.

Around October 1989, Autodesk released an extremely well written and revolutionary MS-DOS art program that worked on even an Intel 286 chip: Autodesk Animator.

Everybody hates it when old people start saying “I remember when,” but you cannot imagine the excitement I had when this software was first released. It literally made me buy my first computer: A Packard Bell 286 computer from a catalog-department store called Service Merchandise. The computer had a 40 megabyte hard-drive and 1 megabyte of RAM.

You young people need to pause for a moment and consider what I just said: My dream computer had less than 1/8000th the amount of RAM present in your pocket mp3 player. It did NOT come with a mouse, monitor, modem, network card, sound card (they actually barely existed then until SoundBlaster shook up the scene), CD-DVD-whatever drive…and so on. By the time I added the monitor and bought a mouse to install (yes, it was sold separately), the price was up to $4K in 1989 dollars.

Then I got a video card that was supposed to output to TV for another $900 (It barely worked).

Then I bought a drawing tablet from Summagraphics (later to be bought by Wacom) from a mail order company that later became CDW.

Then, I fired up my machine to make my first animation on the computer.

I don’t have the original files. This is from a videotape, made with that awful video card and recorded onto SVHS. It was actually played on the original 286 computer. See if you can guess when the computer was getting seriously strained…

It looked like crap! The sound had to be added afterwards by starting a reel-to-reel tape at the exact moment the animation started. The scene to scene transition was so horrible due to the slow graphics, you had to start and stop the VCR on each scene to primitively edit the movie. I am amazed it looked as good as it did!

Was this a step up from Super 8mm movies that I did in the pre-computer animation era? You decide. Here’s a Super 8mm clip:

My film animation, even on cruddy Super 8mm stock and with 3x4 inch drawings is so much better.

Autodesk Animator was a breakthrough product on the PC that was only somewhat successful, even when the price dropped to a third of its introductory price ($300 to $99). Unfortunately, it was confined to 320 by 200 resolution, 256 colors, and no sound. The graphics on the PC were strangled by a narrow bus, so even a fast PC (486’s were starting to appear) was not sufficient for a decent video experience.

On the other hand, it had a fascinating interface that was designed for artists and was fast and easy to use. It somehow did all of its work without crashing on virtually no memory in an operating system that hated graphics. It also shipped with a remarkable number of utilities that converted animations from other platforms, including the vastly superior Amiga (more on that in a later post).

I kept trying to create something worthwhile on the platform, but never succeeded. Here was another attempt that was never finished… for reasons that are obvious. I’m embarrassed to put this up, but here it is.

Around 1991, Autodesk came out with a second product: Animater Pro, which listed for about $800 and could do higher resolution animations. It seriously stumbled for about a year while the immature PC platform tried to speed up its video bus. By 1993, the program was stabilized and worked very well. I was able to produce a couple of animations on the platform that did not look too bad.

The program still had some problems. It did not do sound at all and there was still no decent way to export your product to video and television without a lot of expensive hardware.

In 1995, Autodesk released its final 2-D animation software: Animator Studio. It advertised the software heavily. It featured sound and an unlimited color spectrum. Unfortunately, it managed to hit the scene at an awkward time. PC’s were about to receive a revolutionary update, Windows 95, which required an urgent update for Autodesk. Clean, television friendly video output was still very difficult. Worse, the program was clumsy and simply did not run very well. It was difficult to create animations in the program. I played with the program for a long time and created nothing useful.

In 1996, output to video became possible as affordable (but still expensive) m-jpeg systems began to appear. Finally, you could output a broadcast quality signal. Unfortunately, the tools for animation were no longer receiving support from Autodesk. I did manage to create a few animations for broadcast, using Animator Pro in MS-DOS and then porting them over to Windows and adding sound. One of them got a lot of television play locally for more than a year. See if you can spot the drawing pixels…

Unfortunately, Autodesk has long departed from its attempts at 2-D animation software (though not from high quality video effects and 3-D animation software). The PC platform was poorer for Autodesk’s 2-D Animation departure.

So, let us take an “animation pause” and remember Autodesk.

Big Day Today for Disney and Toon Boom

2009-12-11T05:51:00.000-05:00

This is a big day for Disney and Toon Boom. Too many years have passed since Disney released an actual hand-drawn motion picture. Today, the studio releases "The Princess and the Frog" to rave reviews.

What's especially cool about this release is knowing the studio did the entire production on the same Toon Boom software I use to create my animations.

It looks like Disney has remained true to its long tradition of high quality drawn animation. Let's hope it does well at the box office.

End of Year Top Health Stories of 2009

2009-12-10T19:57:00.002-05:00

End of year lists: Top Health Stories of 2009 included the following:

1. Health Care Reform dominated the news with talk about "Death Panels" terrifying seniors who feared being bumped off early to make way for younger patients. It was, of course, total nonsense. The mere fact that anyone took it seriously is a sad commentary on the state of our nation.

2. In second place, H1N1 dominated the news. Patients became frantic about getting vaccines for both the regular flu and H1N1. The fact that children were at greatest risk for death from H1N1 did not deter older adults from pushing to the front of the line.

3. Breast cancer recommendations took a leap into the bizarre as women under 50 were advised against mammograms, defying all previous guidelines. Since my practice partner had her cancer caught at age 48 by a mammogram (link to story), we took particular offense at these recommendations.

4. A story that got a lot of local attention was the banning of smoking in bars. As a rabid anti-smoking fanatic, I still could not get much energy up for this one. Good grief! It's a BAR, not the YMCA!!!

5. Finally, a drug too many of us are familiar with, Coumadin, may have finally met its match. Coumadin is life saving, but a nightmare of deadly side effects. It is also labor intensive to monitor on the part of both doctors and patients. A replacement that does not require monitoring may be on the way!

The Curse of the Scrambled Cursor..... is SOLVED!

2009-12-01T21:15:00.001-05:00

Since Windows 7 arrived, Tablet PC users working in portrait mode have battled the curse of the duplicate and scrambled cursor. It was confusing, headache inducing, and annoying.

It remained through multiple beta and final revisions of Windows 7. Much to our horror, it remained in the final release.

The appearance looked like:

Now, the solution has been found!

Go to Control Panel

Find "Mouse Properties"
Go to "Pointer Options"
Put a check mark in the "Display Pointer trails"
Slide the bar over to "short"
Apply the changes and then restart journal.

This problem seems to have been solved. I am a heavy Journal user and this has driven me CRAZY!!!

It’s the “Windows 7 Rant!”

2009-11-07T22:06:00.001-05:00

I’ve been listening to the non-stop computer press love affair with Windows 7. Upgrade your PC’s! Don’t be afraid! This time Microsoft has done it right!

Well, not exactly…

We have a lot of laptops in our office and home. We try to stick with major brands and configurations. A few built desktops are in our home, but mainly we have Tablet PC’s, which tend to stick to basic Intel Motherboard and Graphics configurations. Thus, you would think these would be easy to upgrade.

Guess again!

Again, these are major brands: Lenovo, HP, Toshiba, Fujitsu. These have all been best selling tablet pc’s. Microsoft should know these machines!

Here are the issues:

1. Portrait mode on a tablet PC creates a double cursor. These machines were designed to be held and used like notebooks, using the tablet feature and Windows Journal or Office One Note. It’s usable, but you often get confused by the weird double cursor. This bug appears in every tablet we have and was present from even the Beta One days of Windows 7. Unfortunately, the bug was never fixed. I’ve spent A LOT of time on this. There is no fix.

2. Higher resolution laptop monitors have a strange habit of reverting to low resolution every 15 minutes or so and every time the system powers down or hibernates. Again, you have no idea how many hours I have spent trouble shooting this and looking for some sort of menu item, registry entry, driver change, etc. to try and keep the machine in it’s native screen resolution. The machine is a Fujitus 4220 tablet with SXGA screen. Incredibly frustrating!

3. Windows 7 acts oddly with networks. Hooking to a network can be a lengthy affair. Hooking to a network printer can be terribly slow. If you are having trouble with this, I’ve found a reboot often solves the problem.

4. My tablet art programs choke with Aero, the fancy glass appearance in menus that appears in Windows 7. This is disappointing, but not a deal killer. The solution: Turn off Aero. Good luck finding the menu choice. I tried to find it in the “help” menu. Instead, I had to use Google and the Internet. Hey, Microsoft! Help us out a little bit.

I’ve just started and am barely using the new OS. Why? I’ve been too busy trying to make is function!

Are there things to like? Of course! There are features I love, but they are currently overshadowed with these very irritating problems!

I bought several copies of the upgrade version to install. It looks like I may have some copies left over because some of these machines are going back to XP Tablet.

Toon Boom Event

2009-10-30T17:49:00.004-04:00

This week, I attended the "More for Less" event in Washington, D.C., sponsored by Toon Boom, the makers of animation software.

In the 1930's, Walt Disney was not content to only create an animation studio. He wanted to form an "animation community" to foster and enhance the art of animation. His efforts resulted in some of the finest animation of all time and, of course, ultimately led to the creation of the entertainment powerhouse we know so well today.

Joan Vogelesang, CEO of Toon Boom is attempting to create and foster a similar community, using the miracle of worldwide interactive communication. Animation is experiencing global growth. Skilled animators are now in short supply as studios across the world are created and expand. Yet, technology has changed the model. Animators no longer must congregate in a central Burbank, California headquarters as in Disney's day. Today, an animation studio can be virtual and literally span the globe.

The challenge is to change the thinking of traditional animators, particularly in this country. Though we must compete in this global economy, we can still be active participants. The message of the evening: We have the tools to do "more for less."

What is unique about Toon Boom compared to other companies has been its strong support of the animation community in all areas of the world.

Supporting the animation community was emphasized Wednesday evening and the excitement of the crowd at the D.C. event was obvious. The night started with a reception for a gathering of people from all areas of life, united by the common bond of animation. Most were total strangers before the event, yet the socializing was enthusiastic as everyone shared their thoughts, plans, and project hopes.

Joan Vogelesang's opening introduction was vigorous and inspiring. No sign of economic downturn here! Animation is growing even as the economy struggles (an observation, incidentally, also noted by Disney as he contemplated his studio in the midst of the Great Depression 75 years ago).

She then turned over the stage to company CTO Francisco Del Cueto who skillfully demonstrated the high points and capabilities of Toon Boom's various software products.

Cynically, we may remind ourselves that Toon Boom is in the business of selling software. Yet, this multiple city tour by the CEO and CTO is serving a purpose far beyond a simple sales pitch. This meeting inspired a sense of community among a scattered group of Washington, D.C. animators who were looking for motivation, ideas, and help. Contacts were made and concepts were discussed. Who knows what will emerge as a result of this meeting?

I have been using Toon Boom's animation products for the past six-plus years. I pay for their software and upgrades, so I have not been bribed to say nice things. The company's attention to detail is remarkable. This is also a studio in the big leagues. They make the animation software that runs Disney. Yet, they treated a group of rag-tag artists and animators like equals. Toon Boom is an involved, socially aware and active company.

All summer long, this tour has been in place, moving across the country. Frankly, I worried as I fought traffic Wednesday from Virginia to D.C. at the height of rush hour, that I was walking into a tedious sales event. I was pleasantly surprised. This tour is a wonderful idea.

No doubt, these presentations and gatherings are an expensive project for them. Hopefully, it will be repaid by many lifetimes of goodwill as the community continues to adopt their products.

H1N1 News Conference

2009-10-15T21:22:00.003-04:00

As if to emphasize the recent bad press regarding the unreliability of "the cloud," YouTube Video has managed to become unreliable in hosting some of my animations. Here's the H1N1 update animation posted on Dailymotion:

H1N1 Update Report 01

H1N1 News Conference

2009-10-04T21:06:00.003-04:00

This is very serious. Please watch this carefully.

Website fixed

2009-10-04T21:03:00.002-04:00

After several years of patching up the same home page, it was becoming a slow-loading bloated mess. I've redone the page from scratch. I can't code direct html like Andrew, but I can fumble in Front Page and embed YouTube videos!

Healthcare Debate

2009-09-07T19:59:00.004-04:00

Okay.... Here's my input to the healthcare debate...

Save Wilderness Battlefield!

2009-07-12T20:11:00.003-04:00

The new animation to support the effort to save the Civil War Battlefield in Wilderness is finally finished.

This short little 30 second spot took a lot of animating and uses the great new features in Toon Boom's latest software: Animate Pro.

DEVO is back!

2009-06-13T10:50:00.005-04:00

All is right with the world.

Good news, America!

Everything is going to be okay again....

"DON'T SHOOT" - DEVO from DEVO Channel on Vimeo.

Studio 5 Announced

2009-05-03T18:31:00.003-04:00

Holy Cow! There’s a sudden slew of software announcements coming from Toon Boom. The latest news: Toon Boom Studio version 5 is coming.

It looks like the added features allow you to do more with imported video and rotoscoping. I’ve played with rotoscoping in the past and found the effects to be interesting.

Improved export options will be available. Frankly, Studio has always been very good at exporting video to different formats, so I’m having trouble imagining how this could be improved. It sounds like it will be more seamless in interacting with web video services.

It’s their lower end animation product, yet it does things and has an ease of use that is unmatched in more expensive programs from other companies. This is a program for professionals, regardless of how they portray it.

If you are just starting in animation, Toon Boom Studio is the place to begin your adventure. Then you can upgrade and you lose no money in the process.

Go ahead! Make the leap!

Animate Pro.... I can't wait!

2009-04-25T09:50:00.002-04:00

When Toon Boom comes out with a new animation product, I immediately use the product to create my next animation. This often feels like plunging into a cold swimming pool, such as when Solo first came out, but once you get used to the program, you really can get to know it well as you work out the kinks.

When Solo first came out, I used it to create the cell phone animation where the girl goes “blah, blah, blah” while driving. There were times that I felt I was immediately pushing the software to its limits and I certainly pushed my tablet pc to its rendering limits. When I was done, though, I really felt like I’d learned a lot of the program, though certain elements still remain a bit mysterious to me.

When Digital Pro came out, I repeated the procedure.

Just for the heck of it, I also use the lower end product, Studio, for projects when a new update comes out, just to play with the program. Studio is still an amazing piece of software for the price.

Now, I’m anxiously awaiting Animate Pro. In particular, I’m waiting for the ability to create basic three dimensional worlds, even though the style is still flat two dimensional.

The reason behind this anticipation: I’m stuck. I’m working on an animation to help with the current campaign to save the Wilderness Battlefield area from rampant development. http://www.civilwar.org/walmart08/

Walmart is moving in and I suspect more will be coming. I created a setting for the animation that takes place in a huge department store. The problem is I want to do some camera moves that can only be done if I massively recreate scenes. What I’m doing now is simply not holding together well in Digital Pro. I believe the Animate Pro tools will fix my dilemma.

So, my next animation will use Animate Pro. I keep anxiously checking my email for its release. In the meantime, I’m using Storyboard Pro to create newspaper cartoons. Hopefully, I can create enough of them to give me time to dedicate to the animation.

Hmmm…. Maybe I should check my email-box again. Toon Boom might have something for me…..

EMR... We're all DOOMED!

2009-04-13T21:22:00.002-04:00

A somewhat modified version of the Electronic Medical Records animation.

Animate Pro announced! HOO HA!!!

2009-03-30T20:16:00.006-04:00

Great news for animators! Toon Boom has announced a new program to update "Digital Pro."

It's called "Animate Pro."

The coolest part of this program will be the ability to manipulate drawings in a 3-D space.

Several of my animations featured cars driving with the background moving from front to back. This simulation of a 3-D camera was actually a real pain in the neck with the current available programs. True, there is a limited 3-D capability in both "Digital Pro" and "Toon Boom Studio," but there are serious limits on the camera moves. On some of my animations, there are strange artifacts that start to appear with the cars on the road that I tried to conceal with character placement.

The 3-D camera will be very helpful in adding drama to limited animation. Yes, limited animation is wimpy, but when you are a lone animator and want to crank out a commercial spot quickly, you can maximize your quality by dramatic zooms or subtle perspective shifts.

"Animate Pro" will be a top end product for serious animators. The current upgrade prices seem very reasonable to me, though.

Check it out at http://www.toonboom.com/

Intuit Quick Books is trying to kill me

2009-03-19T20:18:00.007-04:00

Intuit software makes Quickbooks Pro, the standard for company accounting. It's pretty much a mandatory piece of software that must be updated regularly. We started the company with the 2002 version, updated in 2005, and were advised to update to the current 2009 by our bookkeeper

I've dreaded this moment.

To put it simply, Quickbooks updates its software for one major reason: It wants to turn your company files into an incompatible format that will require everyone in your management: bookkeepers, accountants, etc. to also update the software. This keeps everyone paying an annual ransom of $100 to $200 per year per machine installed.

Quickbooks also demands that you physically call the company to activate the product. You cannot use that new fangled internet thing. First, you wait on hold because all operators are busy. Then, you must try to spell “Mussey,Sarber, & Associates, P.C.” to some poor underpaid guy in a third-world cubicle and hope he doesn't mistake your “s” for an “f.” Then he gives a sales pitch, which he mercifully cut short when I let it be known my agitation level was sky high because the software appeared to be scrambling our company books.

Anyway, attempts to resume our company's entire lifetime numbers began to result in all sorts of messages: “The files must be updated and converted and the process will ONLY take 30 minutes or so.” Then: “The company files appear to be in a corrupt form. Do you want to recover?”

I want to scream: “NO, YOU FLIPPING MORON! I'LL JUST DECLARE BANKRUPTCY NOW AND LET THE COURTS FIGURE IT ALL OUT!!! OF COURSE I WANT MY DAMN RECORDS RECOVERED!!!!”

So, I click yes and the machine chugs along, advertising in the sidebar about other features they want to sell me for hundreds of bucks more than the annual ransom fees.

The books have been “recovered.” I am temporarily reassured... until I try to back up our files. “The files are corrupt. Do you want to recover?”

When I hit this error message five times in a row, a cold sweat begins to drip on my forehead as I start to hyperventilate. I try to find help on the Intuit forums. It turns out this nightmare is a special “feature” in the 2009 version that requires careful review of the “qbwin.log” file to decipher.

This is, of course, easy if you programmed the program yourself and you don't make the mistake of thinking the “qbwin.log” file is in the main program directory. No! It's scattered somewhere else. It turns out that opening the “qbwin.log” file located in the Quicken program directory actually gives you the 2005 file!

Silly me.

A special help page on the Intuit knowledge base helps you find the particular “qbwin.log” file that is in use now. It's “easy” to access it! You go to the “about” screen, hit F3, then hit F4, then hit alt-F5, face North and bang your head on the spacebar. It actually works!

Thank goodness Intuit provides such “intuitive” menus! Just send me the damn paycheck and I'll write the 2010 version myself!!!

Amazingly, going through all the equal signs and hieroglyphics, I find the line that I think points to the verification error. The message is a strange “identification” error. Intuit's help-page asks me to copy and paste the error message into their Intuit “error help” search site and assures me the answer will become obvious. I paste the piece of error text: It comes up with zero. Intuit has no idea what the error message means. I'm screwed.

I scan the Intuit customer support forums some more and find a slew of angry messages from customers who are having this identical problem even after MONTHS of trouble-shooting, tech support phone time, email exchanges with Intuit, reinstalls, etc. When you try and call Intuit's third-world based support site, all you get is an unhelpful request to reinstall the program and try again. This takes 30-plus minutes per install and never works, based on the angry customer complaints.

The stakes here are not trivial. This is the entire accounting history of my medical practice here! When it gets scrambled, I might as well bring my own handcuffs to the IRS audit.

Anyway, I figured out a "work-around" for the error. I simply turned OFF "backup verification."

Maybe this is how AIG's downfall started.

I can hardly wait for “Electronic Medical Records.”

The Amiga Computer: After all these years we still miss it!

2009-02-15T12:34:00.002-05:00

This is a magnificent animation by Amiga Animator Eric Schwartz that tries to describe the incredible fondness many animators and video specialists held for the Amiga Computer in the late 1980s and early 1990s. If you never had an Amiga, you would never understand it....

Animation Software

2008-11-20T17:03:00.004-05:00

I frequently get this question: “How did you create those animations and how can I make them, too?”

In the old days of animated movies, drawings were transferred to clear sheets of acetate and each individual picture was painted. It was tedious and labor intensive. Movie film can be very unforgiving. Once you start clicking the movie camera, there is little room for error. When I first became serious about making animated movies in the 1970s and 1980s, this was the only option.

Now, thanks to the miracle of digital motion pictures, anyone on a budget can create big screen quality 2D animation movies. 2D animation refers to the type seen in such movies as “Snow White” or “The Simpsons,” rather than the 3D style of “Toy Story.”
Many companies have software for creating 2D animation and the price varies considerably. After trying many packages, I came to love the Toon Boom product line of animation software (http://www.toonboom.com/) for both the Mac and PC. They have a variety of animation software to fit all levels of animation expertise.

For those easily intimidated and new to the craft, “Flip Boom” is very affordable and enjoyable for both children and adults. Even a five year old can master the “Flip Boom” interface. Yet, its kid-friendly interface disguises a program of remarkable power. The program costs about $40 and can be a Holiday gift for the aspiring artist in the family. You may find the program to be more addictive than any video game.

For teens and above who decide to get more serious, the sophisticated program: “Toon Boom Studio” is the software I recommend. A very capable entry level version is available for about $100. If you want to press further, you can upgrade to the full version, allowing more features and complexity, for another $250. Both versions are remarkably full featured and are literally the only software you need to create a complete animated cartoon with sound.

“Toon Boom Studio” is the product I used for the majority of my animated 30-second safe driving spots. All components of the creation, including sound and lip-synch, are covered. For serious animators, “Studio” is the product of choice. Almost all of the original programming on television’s Cartoon stations could be easily created in “Studio.”

Toon Boom also makes a high level professional product at a much higher price tag called “Digital Pro.” “Digital Pro” allows those extra touches that tend to differentiate a big budget motion picture from a “made for television” animation. “Digital Pro” is designed for the serious animator who is already very comfortable with “Studio.” “Digital Pro” allows the creation of subtle character shading, shadowing, and blur effects as well as complex character design for use in big projects. Most of my current work is now done in “Digital Pro.”

There are many other companies selling animation software, but these are the programs which seem to be the most usable.

Don’t forget to get a drawing tablet. Wacom is the industry standard and the only one I recommend. The smaller versions can be found for less than $100.

Tablet PC's are also a wonderful option for drawing. HP now has an excellent model that can be found at most of the big chain electronic and office supply stores. Many colleges are now encouraging their students to get tablet PC’s for taking notes.

The gift of animation is a unique and relatively affordable holiday idea. When you have finished your creation, be sure to share it on You Tube. My own current animations can be freely viewed at http://www.drmussey.com/.

More of my newspaper cartoons

2008-11-13T18:48:00.001-05:00

Newspaper cartoons

2008-11-13T18:38:00.001-05:00

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401K Financial Crisis Animation on YouTube

2008-10-23T21:03:00.000-04:00

THE LATEST ANIMATION

2008-10-21T07:22:00.005-04:00

Here's the latest animation. Today's topic:
The Financial Crisis

http://www.drmussey.com/output19.html

Click on the above link to view the animation. Requires Flash.

Toon Boom Studio 4.5 Arrives

2008-09-20T11:35:00.009-04:00

The latest version of Toon Boom Studio has been released (version 4.5). It is a hundred dollar upgrade from previous versions and I have to admit I was a bit skeptical before plunking down my money. Previous updates have given some performance enhancements, but have also been a bit more challenging to older hardware. Frankly, I thought version 3.0 represented an amazingly mature product and it still ran very well on less than stellar hardware. Version 4.0 has also been excellent. What more could I possibly need? Well, I took the plunge this week.

After several days with 4.5, here are some initial conclusions:

1. This upgrade does not make your older tablet pc unusable. There are a number of adjustments available which make this upgrade faster on older tablets. That’s a big deal, because tablet pc’s are still not cheap.

2. This upgrade is the most “tablet pc compatible” version encountered. Best of all, it works very well in portrait mode on a tablet, which was previously a terrible weakness in prior versions.

3. The ability to import video files is an incredible improvement and adds an animation tool that may not be apparent in the Toon Boom description: It allows rotoscoping, meaning you can trace video motion to create a more realistic animation or at least learn more about the motion of different people and items. One of my frustrations has been to animate a person walking towards the camera. I’ve been playing with rotoscoping to create crude rough drafts that can be redone with my characters. I like this feature a lot. This represents a serious update and makes the upgrade price well worthwhile.

4. I find the Toon Boom line of software a bit interesting. I am also an enthusiastic user of Digital Pro and use this high end product from Toon Boom for most of my animations. Yet, Studio, at a tiny fraction of the price, offers features that are not available in the high end product. Specifically, the ability to do titles and import video are now serious advantages. Actually, importing video into Digital Pro is possible, but Studio’s interface for this is much more user friendly.

5. There are a lot of enhancements that I have not yet tried. The software is full featured and very nicely priced for new users. The many features are placed in such a way as to keep the product usable. At no time do I ever feel overwhelmed by “feature overload,” which can be a big problem in many art programs.

6. You will never find a better bargain for such a full featured animation product.

The software is Toon Boom Studio 4.5. If you want to animate, start at http://www.toonboom.com/.

Don't forget to check out www.drmussey.com

2008-08-03T17:43:00.002-04:00

www.drmussey.com

2008-08-03T17:41:00.001-04:00

2008-08-03T17:40:00.004-04:00

2008-08-03T17:40:00.003-04:00

2008-08-03T17:40:00.001-04:00

2008-08-03T17:39:00.004-04:00

2008-08-03T17:39:00.003-04:00

2008-08-03T17:39:00.001-04:00

2008-08-03T17:38:00.003-04:00

2008-08-03T17:38:00.001-04:00

2008-08-03T17:37:00.002-04:00

2008-08-03T17:37:00.001-04:00

2008-08-03T17:36:00.002-04:00

I hear this often...

2008-08-03T17:36:00.001-04:00

2008-08-03T17:35:00.002-04:00

Another day in the office....

2008-08-03T17:35:00.001-04:00

Medicare patients cannot find doctors....

2008-08-03T17:34:00.000-04:00

Diabetes patients needed?

2008-08-03T17:33:00.000-04:00

Saving money in the practice....

2008-08-03T17:31:00.001-04:00

I thought about trying this....

Vytorin and Zetia are in "Damage Control Mode"

2008-04-13T22:04:00.002-04:00

The makers of Zetia and Vytorin are showering medical offices with overnight mailings, rep visits, company supervisor visits, free lunches, and whatever else they can do to try and keep doctors prescribing these drugs as much as possible. Patients, meanwhile, are very concerned and they have a point: Shouldn’t the medical community prove a drug actually helps real live humans before giving it to massive numbers of patients? Zetia has been out for almost six years now! Where is the outcomes data?

The coming crisis

2008-01-07T19:27:00.000-05:00

This video gives a fabulous explanation behind the catastrophe that will soon hit the economy in 2008

Global Warming - The original two minute animation

2007-10-12T21:52:00.001-04:00

Embrace Global Warming! New Global Warming Animations!

2007-09-23T17:31:00.000-04:00

2007-09-23T17:26:00.000-04:00

Paying attention....

2007-09-23T17:25:00.000-04:00

The New Receptionist

2007-09-23T14:16:00.000-04:00

Stupid Computers – Part One

2007-09-23T07:58:00.000-04:00

For the past several years, my family has used Rhapsody’s music service. We love it.

For the past six months, my version has urged me to update my Rhapsody software. I HATE doing this. If you are happy with the current product, why update?

Finally, this past month, the software announced that, like it or not, it was going to update my software.

Swell!

So, I waited while Rhapsody went through its activities. After about three minutes, it announced it was getting ready to start. Then, it crashed. Attempts to restart the software failed. I even uninstalled it and tried to download the new install version. It only crashed, again.

How grand! I’m paying for a service that now refuses to function.

Attempts to get tech support were incredible wastes of time. After two hours, I finally found an obscure website article that discussed the problem and advised renaming a hidden folder on my hard drive.

Success!

Here is my gripe. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about PC’s and their various glitches and repairs. I am fairly certain I could tear apart and reassemble my PC in the dark with my eyes closed. Most of my friends bring their PC’s to me for repair or trouble-shooting.

Everyone should be computerized, we are told. The government wants my medical office to abandon all paper charts, schedules, pencils, and pens to use sleek new medical computers, electronic medical records, and fancy software.

Yet, here is software which tries to be an elaborate equivalent of my old cassette stereo and it is still so primitive and inept that it takes a relative computer geek two hours to solve a stupid software mistake!

Do you think 80% of your friends would even know where to start when trying to find a “hidden system folder” with a certain name and then deleting the entire folder or renaming it?

Stay tuned for more reasons why computers are NOT the answer to everything and why electronic medical records are still not ready for prime time!

Embrace Global Warming!

2007-09-20T13:53:00.000-04:00

The latest animation is finished. This time, we're solving the problem of global warming.

Cut Out Animation in Toon Boom Digital Pro

2007-09-05T06:12:00.000-04:00

Wow! I feel like a real doof! I have never given much thought to cut-out animation.

Digital Pro spends a great deal of effort on the topic. After watching the Quick Start Videos with the software, I now understand the enthusiasm.

Then, I went back and watched Cartoon Network with my daughter. Never before had I noticed how much animation was “cut out” style. No wonder they can slap those shows together so fast!

When I get this figured out, I could create a whole half hour show myself in just a short period of time!

Heck! Maybe I could become a single person animation cable channel!

Toon Boom Digital Pro Report - Part 2

2007-08-30T20:38:00.000-04:00

I am extremely impressed with the quality of documentation for Digital Pro.

In general, the greatest flaw in animation programs, both 2D and 3D is usually with the documentation. Many years ago, I read an article about writing great animation software, particularly 3D software, and it stated the prevailing attitude of the time:

The programmers spend many intensive hours writing high quality software. Once they finish and have it ready to release to market, somebody says, “Maybe we should put together a manual.” So, the crew breaks out a case of beer and scribbles together a manual the night before the software’s release.

Anyone who used those early programs could easily believe this scenario.

Toon Boom’s documentation, however, is extremely good. Their documentation has represented a major advantage for users. Studio’s documentation, in particular, has really excelled in the past few years.

Solo’s documentation, however, often left out significant areas of explanation. To some extent, I appreciated the gaps, since the two manuals were rather lengthy, even with the gaps. So, even though I complained about the gaps, part of me appreciated that the documentation could become overwhelming if Toon Boom covered every possible topic.

Unfortunately, as I became more comfortable with the program (Solo), I felt that I was missing a lot of the program’s potential.

Digital Pro has greatly expanded the documentation. To keep things reasonable, there is a “basic” guide and then a more intensive guide. There are also hours of video instruction provided.

Clearly, this is a huge improvement with the upgrade. I generally find the documentation to be very readable, even when I am not running the program in front of me.

This is exactly what you need when encountering such a program. It is also what you would expect and should demand with such a high level product. I am thankful Toon Boom has made this investment.

Digital Pro Report - Part 1

2007-08-30T05:38:00.001-04:00

My copy of Toon Boom’s Digital Pro, the high end animation software for individual users and small animation companies arrived yesterday. I am a very familiar and heavy user of Solo, the first version of the software, and was extremely anxious to start using the new program.

The software installs fairly easily. There is an activation process and a dongle, which is expected for software of this caliber. Thankfully, the software can be installed on more than one machine and it does not tie itself to the machine’s hardware. The only catch: To run a copy of the software, you need to move the dongle to the machine in use. Compared to software like Adobe Premiere, this is much more user friendly and allows you to move from machine to machine in your setup without being treated like a software pirate. For me, this allows me to animate on my Tablet PC, but compile and do fancy effects, color correction, etc. on my big desktop without going blind using the small screen on my portable PC.

The software’s interface is significantly improved from Solo. Solo had a tremendous amount of versatility, but Digital Pro seems to have improved further. The program is easy to customize to your particular style and machine.

I encountered no issues of lag or drawing problems using an older Toshiba m200 Tablet PC or a desktop AMD two year old machine with a Wacom tablet.

My first impression on firing up the software is one of extreme awe with a touch of intimidation. I am very comfortable in Solo, though there are program areas in Solo, such as automatic in-betweening and inverse kinematics that I have only briefly attempted. I feel comfortable immediately grabbing my Wacom pen and animating in Digital Pro.

There is obvious power and extreme depth in this program. I have a feeling that it will be many months to get into the more powerful tools of the program. On the one hand, I feel I can create a finished product in this program with ease, thanks to my prior knowledge of Solo. On the other hand, I am very aware that this is a serious-serious upgrade.

Digital Pro has dramatically improved the implementation of “texture pens” to provide a bit-mapped type of drawing flavor to this vector-based program. These were difficult to accomplish in Solo, but are very easy to use in Digital Pro. They will prove useful in the future. There is no hardware drag using these tools.

If you are a new animator, not yet familiar with any animation software, I would advise starting with Toon Boom Studio 4 and getting familiar with that program. The learning curve is still significant with that program, but much easier to traverse. The program is also way less of a financial commitment compared to Digital Pro.

Once you get familiar with Studio and are happy with the tools and want to “take the next step,” you are ready for Digital Pro. The interfaces are very similar and your learning curve will be far more reasonable.

I am currently working on an animation and will simply load my Solo files into Digital Pro and go from there. This is a way to force my learning of the new program.

I will report more as things move along.

Global Warming Animation

2007-08-26T15:11:00.001-04:00

I’m working on a new animation that will be a bit longer than my usual 30-second PSA. This one is about global warming and I’m working on a real tight deadline. I’m using Solo, exclusively. This time, I’m taking all the short-cuts typical of limited TV animation and using Solo’s template feature to its maximum. This is new for me. I’m hoping it looks okay. I will not be posting “in progress” animations because of the template nature. I am using only my own templates, but I have never reused animation like this to such an extent. We’ll see.

Greetings of the Season

2007-08-25T06:42:00.001-04:00

Prognosis

2007-08-25T06:41:00.002-04:00

A new diet

2007-08-25T06:41:00.001-04:00

Vaccines are out of control!

2007-08-25T06:40:00.002-04:00

Center of Excellence

2007-08-25T06:40:00.001-04:00

Your Heart

2007-08-25T06:37:00.001-04:00

The Receptionist

2007-08-25T06:36:00.000-04:00

Global Warming

2007-08-25T06:31:00.000-04:00

Digital Pro/Solo Animation Software: Why upgrade?

2007-08-24T06:04:00.000-04:00

I’m working on an animation project currently in Toon Boom’s Solo. Many have asked the question: “Why Solo?”

Toon Boom makes many types and levels of animation software. Their main consumer product is called Studio. Studio is priced far below such software as Flash and other art products.

Studio is an extremely capable animation software product. Virtually everything you see on cable’s Cartoon Network can be done in Studio and can be done easily.

Meanwhile, Toon Boom also makes Solo, a dramatically more expensive software product that is similar to its “super-expensive” software used by “the big guys” in animation who make feature length theater motion pictures.

The price difference between Solo (now being renamed Digital Pro) and Studio makes many wonder: “What the heck do I get for all the extra money?”

In other words, why animate in Solo? Why am I doing my current animation in Solo?

Solo really cranks up the software capabilities. Do you need all of these capabilities? My answer: No, but I need some of them and they are so valuable that the software is worth the price for me.

For one thing, the scene planning tools are even more sophisticated than in Studio.

Currently, I am constructing a scene of many different objects. The sizes of the scene components needed to be adjusted dramatically. Solo has a Network view that allows me to shrink whole groups in a coordinated manner, but allows me to also work with drawings in a larger form. Could I do this in Studio? Yes, but it can more challenging when done to the extent that I need for this scene.

Special effects can be done directly in the software. Studio is becoming more versatile with each release. Yet, so is Solo/Digital Pro. With great ease, I can blur backgrounds and add shadows, creating a dramatically improved result. Can I do this in Studio with help from photo editing programs? Yes, but it’s definitely more difficult. With great ease, in Solo, you can shade characters and do special effects.

I used to believe that the advanced animation effects that became routine in more expensive commercials and feature animations after 1990 were due to vast teams of animators laboring long hours. Now that I see a professional product like Solo, I know this is no longer the case. The advances in software allow animators to cheat.

That's okay! I'm not above taking some short-cuts!

Currently, I am working on a quick animation with a severe time limit for a due date. As such, this is not exactly Disney quality animation. But… Solo is letting me cheat, allowing me to add some extra touches that will partially hide the fact that the animation is very limited.

Solo adds tremendous versatility to your animations. Does it add the difference in upgrade price from Studio to Solo? Well, for me it does. You must remember, when dealing with professional grade software, the steps get more expensive.

Think about the difference between a consumer HDTV camcorder and a “near professional” HDTV camcorder. The price difference STARTS at ten or twenty thousand dollars! Does that mean you cannot make a professional level production with a consumer HDTV camcorder? With proper tender loving care and sweat, I bet you can make a production with the entry level consumer HDTV camcorder that is impossible to distinguish from the product of the very expensive camcorder. Will you do it as consistently or easily? Definitely not. Thus, the professionals opt for the high end expensive product if their budget permits.

The same is true with production quality animation software. You can easily create professional grade animation with Studio. However, those special touches and effects that are so easily done in Solo will make your animation immediately stand out as something….well… more professional.

Fortunately, the price difference between Studio and Solo/Digital Pro is not tens of thousands of dollars, though it was, for similar capabilities, just a few years ago.

When Solo was released, it brought Disney-grade production software down to the availability of the smaller animators. Yes, it is expensive, but not nearly what it used to cost.

Have you jumped into Toon Boom software, yet? Don’t start with Solo/Digital Pro. Start with Studio. The price is reasonable and you’ll have more capabilities than you may ever need for years to come.

If, however, you find yourself wanting to add some features and feel you have maximized your potential in Studio, then it is time to upgrade to Digital Pro.

Software Dongles

2007-08-22T21:16:00.000-04:00

There has been some criticism of Toon Boom’s decision to use software dongles for Storyboard Pro and Digital Pro (originally known as Solo).

For those of you unfamiliar with Software dongles, a dongle is a small piece of hardware which plugs into the computer to enable the software to run. Typically, it is a small USB plug which unlocks the software.

Note that Toon Boom’s main consumer product, Toon Boom Studio, does not have a dongle. It simply uses a serial number to unlock the software, but there is no “activation” such as software like Windows Vista.

I am normally not a fan of dongles, but for software in the price range of Storyboard and Solo/Digital Pro, I take the dongle as a necessary evil.

In defense of the dongle, let me make these points:

1. Animation software at the level and cost of Storyboard Pro and Solo\Digital Pro has a relatively small user base and is expensive to create. These are professional level products. Specialized software is always expensive.

2. Studio, an amazingly capable and complete software package, comes with no dongle. It also has an amazing price, given its capabilities. Despite its amazingly low price, it is also heavily pirated. The frequent updates on this product place the pirate users at a a disadvantage, but I would be highly distressed if my livelihood depended only on this product. I know the arguments of pirate users simply trying out software that they would never buy, but in this case, I believe Toon Boom is losing sales to the pirates. Each copy’s serial code allows Toon Boom to track the original offender, but the legal hoops needed to prosecute the initial pirate are overwhelming.

3. Another option is to tie the software to the hardware, sort of like Adobe Premiere. The problems with this are multiple:

a. I use my animation software on multiple machines. Obviously, I don’t do this all at the same time. I draw on my Tablet PC. I tend to organize and paint my animations on my desktop PC with its massive screen. When I’m traveling light, I use a tiny Fujitsu tablet PC with an 8 inch screen to draw animations. Using a dongle is simple. I simply move the dongle from machine to machine. This complies with the software agreement, since removing the dongle effectively uninstalls the software from the machine.

b. If I had to work with a set-up like Adobe Premiere, I could never do this. I would need to buy at least three separate copies of the software, even though I am just one user, using one version at a time. The activation process would require a lengthy tech support call the moment I uninstalled the software from one machine to move it to another machine. Plus, the total uninstall and then install process is very time and hassle intensive.

c. I am also frequently changing my main PC’s hardware. A few months back, my hard-drive became too small, so I backed it up to an image, installed a new drive, and then installed the image. Much to my distress, several copies of my various programs were inactivated because I changed my machine’s configuration. Talk about substantial delays! Again, with a dongle, this is not a problem.

4. In essence, these pieces of software, which require complex activation schemes, also have a physical dongle: Certain components of your machine. Admittedly, these components are tough to lose and if you lose them, your hassle is not $250. It is simply hassle on the phone.

5. The other makers of high level animation software also have dongles. Toon Boom is not alone. For instance, Mirage (now TVPaint) also has a dongle.

6. EVERY piece of software that I use with a retail price approaching $1k or more has a dongle, using either a physical device or components of the machine, via complex activation schemes. Have you installed Microsoft Office lately?

My criticism of dongles:

1. For a laptop, dongles are a pain. They stick out and invite damage to the machine and the dongle.

2. The risk of loss makes me very paranoid.

3. The size of the Toon Boom dongles are tiny, meaning they are easy to lose. However, they do have the capabilities of being attached to a string or key-chain, such as with a typical flash memory drive. I have gone so far as to attach my dongles to such a string and add an attached old copy of my driver’s license. This makes it very difficult to lose the dongle.

4. If every software manufacturer demanded dongles, computing would become a major pain. Toon Boom recognizes this and limits the dongles to software that costs close to $1k or more.

In the end, as a business person, I accept that the dongle is inevitable with such a high level program. Frankly, now that I’ve paid a significant amount of money to buy the program, I get very angry at the thought that pirates might distribute such a program. Even a few lost sales of Solo or Storyboard Pro translate into many, many dollars.

Since, it is in my best interest for Toon Boom to be a very successful company, I put up the dongle.

Toon Boom Studio 4 rated a "BUY!"

2007-08-17T23:07:00.000-04:00

Toon Boom Studio 4 will soon be available for sale. I had a chance to review a copy of the software this week and am extremely pleased.

My priorities in working with animation software are:

1. Will I be able to learn the software in a reasonable time frame?

2. Can I make a professional grade production using the software?

3. Is the software something that is usable creatively? Is there a creative flow to the software? This is difficult to measure, but when you find it, you know it.

4. Is the documentation good? Is it REALLY good?

5. Are there tutorials? Are they also really good?

6. Features are nice, but I don’t want to drown in a sea of endless features. Other artistic programs often add so many features they make the program unusable.

7. Is the software technically solid? Crashing software only makes me insane.

My conclusions about Toon Boom Studio 4:

1. The software is very logically laid out for conventional 2-D animation. If you are used to working with old fashioned animation and are fans of techniques describes in classic animation texts, you will find Studio is very well organized.

2. The upgrade continues to improve the interface.

3. You can make anything from a web production in Flash format to Film or HDTV quality animation output. You can also output the full spectrum of production from the same project with a few clicks to simply change settings.

4.I find the software provides the best environment for creating animation. The workflow is very conducive to productivity. Amazingly, the upgrade has improved the workflow further.

5. The documentation is incredibly good. In fact, Toon Boom’s documentation with Studio is the best I have ever seen with an animation program. Manuals are sold separately, but a “pdf” file of documentation accompanies the software. I would advise printing out sections on a color laser printer for study. The quality of writing and artwork in the documentation is excellent.

6. The tutorials are very good and give you a fast of the program. Later tutorials give a deeper knowledge of the program. All are very doable.

7. I did not yet investigate the latest features of the program. My biggest concern is always: “How usable is this program?” I did not drown in the added features, so nothing about the upgrade has harmed overall usability. On the contrary, it is even better.

8. The program is solid. On my older Tablet PC, I needed to tweak some settings, but it worked very well.

9. The price point for this program is very generous. No other program of this quality is priced so affordably. This is better than the “professional grade” products of other companies. For anyone interested in animation, this program is a “no-brainer.”

10. Toon Boom is on top of this program and constantly working to provide improvements.

Bottom line:

I am very excited and pleased with this product. I would rate it as an extremely strong “Buy.”

It's Here!

2007-08-06T23:47:00.000-04:00

Toon Boom has announced a new high-end animating product!

Check it out at

http://www.toonboom.com/

Cartoon in this week's Free Lance Star: Terrorist doctors

2007-07-08T09:16:00.001-04:00

The latest animation: Thoughts on its production

2007-07-08T08:20:00.000-04:00

Another animation has, finally, been completed. Often, this serves as a useful time to step back and reflect on what went right and wrong, as well as the tools used to complete the job.

The project had sharp limitations: Less than 30-seconds, factual accuracy, and convey the message in a memorable manner.

As usual, I completed the soundtrack first. Soundtrack editing programs are all fairly generic. You simply need to be able to layer the sounds in a somewhat reversible manner.

Typically, this comprises all of the “planning” or “storyboarding” that I need for a project. I got stuck, however, at trying to time a lot of the events in the animation. I also was baffled at creating a rapid transition midway through the animation that would take the viewer from land to water.

About this time, I had invested in Toon Boom’s Storyboard Pro. There is a cheaper version now available, also. I was very uncertain about my investment in the first few weeks of this program’s ownership. The program, however, is more handy and helpful than you might think. Also, features such as onion skinning, which are not present in the cheaper version, are hugely helpful in the Pro version.

Anyway, I decided to create a formal storyboard for the project. The entire process barely took an hour. The program’s learning curve is not steep and the short videos teach you almost every aspect of the program. When I was finished with my storyboard, I immediately knew how the animation should flow. The process seemed so brief, obvious, and easy, that I could easily underestimate the value of the critical storyboarding process and the program.

I do about 95% of my animation in Toon Boom’s Solo. This project was no exception and the program proved very useful. Could I have done the same project in Toon Boom’s Studio program? Since I did not use a lot of special effects, which make Solo so valuable, theoretically, Studio would have sufficed. Later, however, Solo’s NETWORK view proved absolutely critical when the animation became extremely complex.

Many of Solo’s features were not used in this animation. I did not use a lot of shading to create the shadows typically seen in feature animation films. I did use a texture pen, but this often suffers from a serious technical problem where the program slows to a crawl. The texture pen was used to show the approaching algae. In retrospect, I could have just used a standard pen with a reduced alpha channel.

I had hoped to create a fancy animation for the algae in the old Painter program, now owned by Corel, which allows bit-mapped animation with paint-like pens. After many hours of experimentation, I just did not like the effect and could see no advantage over simply using the vector brushes in Solo.

The final scene with the fish was fairly complex and involved lots of individually moving elements. Solo’s network view was helpful, but not indispensable at that point.

After a client review of the working animation, several criticisms came up. I needed to add dialog to improve the factual accuracy of the message. This was going to be tough to accomplish in 30-seconds, but I quickly solved that issue and was able to cram in the extra dialog.

The real problem involved the needed changes in the intricately timed and complex scene with all of the fish that move independently. I needed to somehow preserve their sequencing as a reference, yet create a new adjusted sequencing to accommodate the dialog timing changes and the new motions for the dialog.

Interestingly, no additional drawing was necessary because I had all of the raw work accomplished. This was simply a sequencing problem for each individual element. I decided to duplicate elements, saving the old element sequences for reference, simply disconnecting them from the final animation in the complex Network view of Solo.

Now, the value of Solo versus Studio became obvious. Theoretically, I could have done this work in Studio, but the complexity would have killed me and I would have needed many, many more hours and hair-pulling to finish the project.

The animation was rendered in final form in Solo and the only need for an additional program was to simply burn a DVD for distribution.

For me, the investment in Solo has been wonderful. Yes, it is expensive, but I really have found it to be indispensable.

The River Animation is finished!

2007-07-07T22:47:00.000-04:00

Here it is! This animation was created totally in ToonBoom SOLO.

Andrew Mussey's Trebuchet Video:

2007-06-28T17:37:00.001-04:00

Trebuchet by Andrew Mussey

2007-06-28T08:19:00.000-04:00

Andrew Mussey has a video and a companion story prominently featured in the June 28 Free Lance Star and Fredericksburg.com!

The story is at:

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/062007/06282007/295550

The video will be in a later link.

Toon Boom's Storyboard Pro gets a glowing review

2007-06-26T05:29:00.000-04:00

Congratulations on the great review for Storyboard Pro in Animation World Magazine! The review is available at http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=3320&page=1

Since I purchased Storyboard Pro, I find more cartoon/animation ideas are being recorded and hashed out, usually VERY quickly, rather than getting lost in a scrap pile of paper or, worse, simply lost from memory! The software is very well designed to encourage development of ideas from a rough stage to an actual viable animation project. Even though storyboarding is critical to an animation, it is the one step I least enjoyed prior to this software.

I now also use the software exclusively for my regular newspaper comics.

"Just a few changes..."

2007-06-23T16:15:00.000-04:00

You’ve finished the animation. Proudly, you show it for final approval. You’re confident it’s great. Then it comes back: “Uh, we just need a few changes.”

In the world of filmed animation, those words would likely have provoked violence.

Fortunately, those days are behind us. Now, you can be much more flexible.

The process of tweaking an animation with a rigid thirty second limit usually involves tweaking the entire sequence. Sound tracks must be either redone or modified to make longer or shorter… usually shorter. You clip out small silent spots. You electronically speed up the sound without changing the pitch, being careful not to destroy its natural quality. Finally, you have a soundtrack that meets the necessary demands.

Now, you have to fix the pictures. The sound sync is now totally wrong. The camera moves to the wrong spots. ..And, you have some more drawing to do.

I’m learning all sorts of tricks in Toon Boom’s Solo animation software to carefully modify the animation without totally redoing it all. It’s easier than you think, though not without careful effort and thought.

Solo has an ability to duplicate character drawings, change the sequences before eliminating the original sequence, and then automatically synching the words to the mouth positions (which is only a rough guide, but incredibly helpful).

Certainly, the process is very different than film!

Work in progress

2007-06-01T07:23:00.000-04:00

Click to the following page to see work on the current animation:

http://www.drmussey.com/projects_under_construction3.htm