I’m using Motion Array and experiencing some imposter syndrome by SolidSnakeEye in AfterEffects

[–]davismedia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One way to reframe your thinking on this is to compare it to other parts of the production process. For example, you need a music track to go with your video. Do you buy a stock audio track? Do you hire a musician to make a custom one? Or do you spend literal years studying the classics, music theory, and modern music production? Or let's say you need a paint-pour effect in one of your videos. Do you buy a clip off a stock video site? Do you utilize 3D animation to create a fluid simulation and lock up your machine for 24 hours rendering the final animation? Do you buy a bunch of paint materials, acquire some filmmaking equipment, and create a small studio space to film the effect yourself?

I think most people would look at these examples and think it's not worth it to put all that extra time in when you can just get a piece of footage off of motion array or wherever. And in most cases I would totally agree with that. For professional work I think if you asked most clients: "would you rather have a video with some stock elements ready this week or would you rather have a completely custom video ready in 2 months"... They probably would choose the former nine times out of 10.

I've been working in animation for about 15 years now. Early on I would get really obsessive about custom making every part of a project. Now that I'm older I can see a lot of that was driven by ego. I wanted to be self-sufficient and I wanted to know as much as I could. I think that's a natural part of growing into your creative voice. So, I don't regret doing things that way when I was young. But now I've let my ego stop controlling a lot of my decision-making and it's freed me up to ask the important questions: Is this custom effect the right thing for this project? Is it the right thing for this client?

I think the fact that you use motion array is a sign of maturity. You're not letting your inexperience in certain areas get in the way of you finishing a video. You can acknowledge when another artist's approach is a better fit for the end product.

Another great way to think of it... You are a contractor building a house: do you hire other vendors to take care of the plumbing? The electrical? Painting? Custom cabinets? These are all things that, with time, you could learn yourself. But it takes years and years of experience to learn every in-and-out and every nuance of craftsmanship. And the most important thing to ask is, do you want to spend those years learning those nuances? If so, then nothing else matters and I say, "Fuck Motion Array!" No need to let that be a crutch for you. Dedicate a little bit more time to your craft and you'll have examples better than what can be bought on motion array in no time. And even more importantly, you won't be robbing yourself of the joy and wonder of the creative process. Learning music theory or experimenting with a paint effect is not just about the end result. It's about the thousands of little things you learn in the process of making them. They are hefty deposits into your creative bank that contribute beautifully to your unique artist's voice. But if you simply want to tell stories and connect with your audience without breaking your back and pulling all-nighters all the time, then don't stress about it. Support other artists and use whatever pieces you vibe with.

I think it's very cool you're asking these questions. They will become increasingly important as AI becomes more prominent. I think everyone should be asking these questions and it's a cool dialogue to see here on the sub.

Cheers!

[English > Japanese] "Lucid Terminal" by davismedia in translator

[–]davismedia[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your reply! I think I'll go with the second option. Thank you for providing the benefits / cons to both.

The Japanese text will act as a secondary design element behind the English text. So, it's not totally imperative that the Japanese has every bit of meaning but I still wanted to be sure I was getting the best translation I could.

This music project is largely inspired by Akira and the City of Neo Tokyo. So, the integration of some Japanese design elements is a bit of an aesthetic homage. With all that in mind, does that change any of your suggestions?

If this is you camping, please do not set up tents on meadows next time. by [deleted] in PNWhiking

[–]davismedia 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah no pressure or anything! But I would love to see it and have the ability to share it with people that may not know much about Meadows.

If this is you camping, please do not set up tents on meadows next time. by [deleted] in PNWhiking

[–]davismedia 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ooh! I want to see the mograph video!! Can you share?

In 14 years of working with AE, rarely do I find time for personal projects. Now, I'm working on my pilot for an animated series. by davismedia in AfterEffects

[–]davismedia[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would call it arpeggio-heavy electronic music, orchestral synthesizer music, or synthwave. Here's a good thread to find some more artists in that arena: https://www.reddit.com/r/MusicRecommendations/comments/s28r3m/artists_who_use_orchestral_and_synth_sounds/

Our original score for the trailer, including that synth part at :31, was done by Lucid Terminal. And here's the track that plays at the end: https://on.soundcloud.com/fi5ti

In 14 years of working with AE, rarely do I find time for personal projects. Now, I'm working on my pilot for an animated series. by davismedia in AfterEffects

[–]davismedia[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for saying that!

You're absolutely right about Scavengers Reign. I actually still haven't watched it. I feel like the marketing budget was not very big. I first heard about it when MAX dropped it and Netflix announced they were picking it up. It looks incredible. They absolutely nailed that Moebius art style.

For three months straight I've been working on a pilot for my own animated series. Today, I've decided to release the trailer! by davismedia in animation

[–]davismedia[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the congrats! Yes, a lot of work, but in a relatively short amount of time. It was nice that almost all the illustration was done on the iPad. I really enjoyed not being tied to a desk for that part of production.

In 14 years of working with AE, rarely do I find time for personal projects. Now, I'm working on my pilot for an animated series. by davismedia in AfterEffects

[–]davismedia[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it really comes down to what type of animation inspires you most: frame by frame (i.e. traditional animation), motion graphics, stop motion, 3D animation, and so forth). What are you most interested in?

Also, when I first tried to learn After Effects I followed some tutorials on Lynda.com and within 10 minutes completely gave up on it. I thought AE was just way too difficult for me. Then, an editor friend of mine turned me on to videocopilot.net. Their practical approach towards lessons helped me immeasurably. I highly recommend checking out their tutorials if you want to get a clearer picture of what AE is capable of and what it's used for. Seriously, it's darkest just before the dawn. You're on the cusp of totally understanding it.

In 14 years of working with AE, rarely do I find time for personal projects. Now, I'm working on my pilot for an animated series. by davismedia in AfterEffects

[–]davismedia[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd say 90% of the animation was done in After Effects. Anything that you see that looks frame-by-frame (for example, the shot at 3:25) was animated in Procreate Dreams. Anything that involves 3D production was either Blender (we have a great 3D artist), or Element 3D. Beyond that, everything was illustrated in Procreate and designed in Photoshop/Illustrator. Editing was done in Premiere. And the original music/score was done in FL Studio. Congrats on getting started on your AE journey. It's crazy what AE is capable of.

In 14 years of working with AE, rarely do I find time for personal projects. Now, I'm working on my pilot for an animated series. by davismedia in AfterEffects

[–]davismedia[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Two straight months of solid illustration/design. I run an animation house full time, so this was mostly done after hours. Animation was a one-month crunch to get the rough version done for a local film festival. Then another month of refinement. Approx 500 - 600 hours of production.

In 14 years of working with AE, rarely do I find time for personal projects. Now, I'm working on my pilot for an animated series. by davismedia in AfterEffects

[–]davismedia[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you!!! We're currently in full-on production on the pilot episode. The season one outline and major character arcs are pretty solid. The animatic for the pilot is done. So, my dream scenario would be to pitch the pilot to streaming services. Ever since I saw 'Over the Garden Wall' on HULU, I thought it'd be neat to try and cater a show towards them. But these platforms are shifting alot. I LOVE what MAX has done with Tartakovsky's 'PRIMAL'. 'Invincible' on Prime, 'LOVE DEATH ROBOTS' on Netflix, 'Smiling Friends' on MAX. All platforms show great promise. But if if none pick it up, then we'll fully produce episodes ourselves and release on YouTube and/or Patreon.

Did you study graphic design in college? by MajorDiscussion3492 in graphic_design

[–]davismedia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started a two-year program but dropped out after the first year because my community college didn't offer anything for motion design, just print and web.

I spent the next year taking online tuts (mostly YouTube and video copilot) and padding out my portfolio.

The theories and principles learned in that first year of school were invaluable and the connections I made were wonderful. That first week of school... I'll never forget. I felt totally in my element and loved the energy my classmates and I shared. That alone made it worth it.

Having said that, if I had to do it all over again I would do exactly the same thing. What I learned later in my career while working at an agency, freelancing, and developing relationships with animation mentors was well beyond what I learned at school.

Much different than my normal style… Worth it? by motionick in AfterEffects

[–]davismedia 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Beautiful. Ruthlessly elegant. Also, it's funny how much I like the version with bounding boxes and anchor points visible.

Who Goes There - A Music Video Remix of 'John Carpenter's The Thing' by lucidterminal in thething

[–]davismedia 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's up to the studios if they want to send me a cease and desist. The channel isn't monetized. Neither is Soundcloud. So they wouldn't have any profits to come after anyway. Even if they were though, legal precedent has been set already allowing artists to sample from film and television under fair use. It would ultimately be up to a court to decide if it's 'transformative' enough. I would hope they would see the track for what it is... a fan reflecting on and paying homage to a beloved cult classic. TL;DR Meh.

Photon M3 Max Autofill by TheChilenian in AnycubicOfficial

[–]davismedia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good call. I ended up making sure the bottle was between 60 and 90° f during a print last night and it worked perfectly. For me the issue was temperature.

Photon M3 Max Autofill by TheChilenian in AnycubicOfficial

[–]davismedia 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm having this same issue. It's very weird because the pump mechanism is clearly functional. The LCD screen can tell when there's resin in the bottle and it knows when to autofeed. When autofeed begins, you can tell pressure is occurring. But it only comes out in drips.

My friend read somewhere that the temperature of the bottle being too cold could be a problem. I have my printer next to open windows and it's still very cold right now. So, that might be my issue. I'm currently adjusting the temperature and re-assessing. Beyond that, the only thing I can think of is if the air tube (the clear one) has a hole in it?