Doodlez - Studio Blog

MoonWalk

Tue, 27 May 2008

I’ve just animated a goony walk-cycle that I am REALLY not happy with.

The walk is supposed to be goony – to a point. It is a one-shot gag character (who happens to be shaped like a moon) Because he is never really defined as a character, it was a nice opportunity to do a really odd and idiosyncratic walk, but instead the animation is currently coming off as somewhat unnatural and weird.

Back to the drawing board, I suppose.

Doodlez on Facebook

Tue, 20 May 2008

We just launched a Doodlez Page on Facebook. It's a great place to discuss the show and meet others Doodlez fans. Also, there are some exclusive storyboards there for you guys to check out. Have a look and let us know what you think. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Doodlez/6052009173?ref=ts

Hamster Wheel

Tue, 13 May 2008

In the first scene in the new short that we’re animating, Dood gets spun (by Hand, natch) in a hamster wheel. At first he tries to keep up with the rotation, but it soon becomes too much for him, and he ends up knocked around inside the whirling wheel.

Because we work in Flash, a lot of the animation that we do is simplified through the use of ‘Symbols.’ This means that rather than draw something fresh on every frame, we are moving around a single drawing. This makes the work simpler, and eliminates some of the need for clean-up.

A scene like this one, in which Dood is bounced around so much, really doesn’t have the option of symbol-use, because the motion is so erratic and there is so much tumbling going on. As a result, the majority of animation in this scene will be freshly drawn. The clean-up will be a lot more intensive than if we had been able to use Symbols, but the animation will be a lot more fun - both more fun to watch AND more fun to animate.

Belly Full of Water

Tue, 6 May 2008

Let it just be stated here, once and for all: Dood, running, with a belly full of water, makes me laugh every time.

What Happened to the eCards?

Mon, 5 May 2008

We had some issues with our mail server so we took down the eCards for a bit. If you had sent a card, it will still be available. We should have them back up again in the next few weeks. Thanks for the support.

Welcome to the Doodlez Blog

Wed, 23 April 2008

Hello!

Here on the Doodlez Blog we will do our best to document the process as we create new animation starring everyone’s favorite squareheaded doodle: Dood.

We are already in motion on a few shorts, so you’re joining the program already in progress, but not to worry, you’ll catch up easily enough.

Today, I’m reviewing the last scene of cleaned-up animation for a short entitled Gag Me, in which Dood goes trick-or-treating, and eats, perhaps a BIT too much candy.

Mr. Troy Little, who wears many hats at Trapeze Animation, did clean-up duty on the scene (and actually, the entire episode). The clean-up looks great, but I’m not all that happy with the bounces on the some bits of candy that fall to the ground. This, of course, is an animation problem, and so the fault for the somewhat mechanical bouncing lands squarely back on my own doorstep.

I suspect Troy somehow engineered this in an effort to make me look bad in my first Doodlez blog posting. Crafty Troy. He comes out smelling like a rose with no clean-up revisions, while I’ve got egg on my face. Ah well, all I can do is sit down and apply myself to fixing it. Troy appears to have won this round.