I would reccomend trying out a drawing tablet if you haven't yet. Its the closest analog to digital for this type of work.
I bought a Monoproce tablet a little whole back and it has been great for these situations. Background painting is a breeze and more intuitive while character creation can come faster with the addition of multiple undo states, etc.
Some will say they aren't as good as Wacom tablets, which may be true, but I've used both this monoprice one and an intuos and can't really find much difference in daily usage.
For reference, the monoprice tablets are much cheaper, but they do have some oddities compared to wacom, like batteries in the pen, but it would be a good starting point tonseenif you like the tool.
Here's their list of tablets.
http://www.monoprice.com/Category?c_id=108&cp_id=10841
And here's the one I got.
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=108&cp_id=10841&cs_id=1084102&p_id=6814&seq=1&format=2
The hotkey buttons on that one help out a lot with things like holding down alt/control or space bar to pan around. It's all customizable through their drivers.
It has compatibility with OS X, but not sure about the super latest versions. I use it on Windows 7 just fine here.
///Greg Balint
//Art Director / Motion Graphics Designer
/321.514.4839
delRAZOR.com/
On Jan 10, 2014 8:41 AM, "Anders Sundstedt" <
sundstedt@hotmail.com> wrote:
Hi
all AE Mail list followers,
It’s
been very silent on this mail list yesterday and today so I thought I would
contribute with a new discussion.
I
am looking to find alternative, perhaps more efficient was of producing original
from scratch made artwork for my animated cartoon style videos (2D or 2.5D).
Currently,
I have 3 alternative ways (for creating 2D assets):
1.
Draw required artwork (separated if to use as layers) on paper using pen –>
Scan –> Touch up in IL –> Export .PSD to PS –> Color in PS, polish add
any textures etc. –> Save .PSD for AE –> Import to AE –> Use as a comp
or separate layers –> Animate.
2.
Draw layers using Path/Shape in PS using Pen Tool and Direct Select Tool –>
Import PS into AE. (Question: When I draw it fills the drawn path automatically,
how do I draw it all first and then fill after drawn instead?)
3.
Draw on SketchUp on iPad –> Import into Illustrator –> Export to PS –>
Animate in AE.
Now,
I don’t know which is the fastest, but I don’t think it’s option 3, as it’s a
bit limited.
I
have now shared some of my techniques for creating artwork for my animations,
including background artwork, characters and props/objects.
Please
would you suggest better/easier/more efficient or more fun ways that used in
your production (or ways I could improve any of the 3 ways listed above, that
you have experience of (I don’t use stock artwork so I am not interested in that
option).
I
would also love to know what you use for storyboarding (even if just sketchy
line drawings / stick figure). I have been using pen and paper mainly. What do
you or your clients use?
P.S.
I am looking for more freelance work in 2014 so if you are looking for an
animated web video / explainer / demo video of a more illustrative / cartoon
style, please do feel free to get in touch to discuss your project. I can do a
video from start to finish, or only artwork or animation if you
prefer).
