Urgent: how to create an animated short film most time-efficiently?

[crimson_shape]

hi

im not sure if this is the right place to post this, but ill do it anyway. :)

so ... i want to create an animated short film for a school project, but ... how?

the main problem is time. i need to have 3-7 min until mid december, and based on my calculations this will be close to impossible.
i calculated that i will need 5 frames per second, and if im really really fast (i need to draw one frame in 2 minutes!) i can finish in 33 hours. which i barely have.



my questions are:

1. are my calculations realistic? do i need 5 fps at all? is it likely to finish one frame in 2 minutes?

2. what is the best way to tackle this? im thinking of painting the frames in photoshop, the frames are projected onto the wall and my friend shoots them with a photocamera, because saving the frames on the computer would take ages (relatively)

3. anything in particular i have to pay attention to? ( i cant screw up - no time!)

4. any good sites that can help me? i wasnt able to find anything useful.


im desperately in need of advice! any input is hugely appreciated. oh, and time is running out! im really sitting on burning coals here. :O

[Irishdrunk]

I see you have a predicament.

Check out these forums, and maybe you'll find your answers: http://conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=150

[RyerOrdStar]

AfterEffects.

[Farvus]

Maybe some cut-out animation? (or mixed hand drawn and cut-out)

[TASmith]

stop motion is one way to go, but another is just to make it simple. Try something abstract. I saw a great animation of just three balls rolling around - it was a beautiful metaphor for family, and very successful.

[crimson_shape]

I see you have a predicament.

Check out these forums, and maybe you'll find your answers: http://conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=150

oops, didnt see that forum. i was really in a hurry (so stupid). thanks for the link, i will repost my thread there.


RyerOrdStar - uh ... care to elaborate?

Farvus - what is 'cut-out animation'?

TASmith - yes, i was already thinking of making it as simple as possible focusing on the colours and shapes rather than realism.

[Farvus]

what is 'cut-out animation'?


http://lmgtfy.com/?q=cut-out+animation :P

[J Wilson]

A project with a short deadline is almost never the best time to pick up a brand new skill.

That said, there's really no way for anyone here to predict how long this should take you, as you didn't give even a bare bones concept of what you are doing. One person walking and talking? Two armies clashing, with dozens of individual characters? BIG difference.

You also didn't say what software you may have, or are willing to get. There are animation packages that make it very easy do simple animation in a short time. For example, check out Toon Boom (http://www.toonboom.com/main/), which let's you essentially build and rig a 2d character and animate it's parts.

[crimson_shape]

farvus - haha, you had me there! ^^

J Wilson - yes you are right. of course. actually, its more like an emergency. its not like i have many options left.

well, as for the concept, i am working on the storyboard at the moment. the movie is an abstract interpretation of the term "internet", so its not too hard to realize i think. i want to emphasize on the colours and dynamic flow, thats why i'll need smooth color transitions, which most free programs dont support, as far as i know.

im thinking of painting the frames in photoshop, the frames are projected onto the wall and my friend shoots them with a photocamera, because saving the frames on the computer would take ages (relatively)
i still dont know how to create a video file, so thats a problem.

well and i actually have a little bit of experience with animation. i made a flicker book once. :P

[Mike Frank]

How is shooting each frame with a photo camera any different than saving the frames?

Do you mean to say that your friend has a video camera?

If you can save out the frames from PS there are some free or low-cost programs you can use to cycle through them and play it back.

[RyerOrdStar]

AfterEffects is a program that you can use to make very fast animations, since it does the in-between frames itself. So you just cut things out in Photoshop and animate them in AfterEffects. Now, you haven't said what your budget is or what programs you have, what programs you have access to, etc.

[TASmith]

The 3 Balls animation I was talking about was watercolor on xerox - all mounted on black construction paper. Very simple, with very many frames painted (about six tall stacks covering a full table), and no storyboarding - you don't have time to storyboard! Pick some shapes and start animating now!

[PieterV]

Minimal cut out style animation. Think among the lines of South Park, perhaps ever more simple. Don't bite of more then you can chew! Make everything reusable.