Joseph Nilo asked me on Facebook what the workflow of the animated series looks like. I figured the rest of the fans would like to know as well, so here is how I responded.

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I start by working with my story to flesh out my characters. I then find those willing to record the parts for me. I write the script and send it out. I do not record my parts until all the others are in as I encourage the actors to add a bit of their own personality and ad lib a bit. I don’t know exactly what I will be getting until it arrives, lol.

I then record my voices and have the still unnamed person behind SJ record as well.

I take all of the parts and bring them into Sony Vegas where I put together the show, minus music and effects. Then I go back to the script and decide what the actual shots and scenes will be, I then render the chunks of dialog in separate files to match the shots I will be creating.

I import the dialog audio into Reallusion Crazy talk which is what I use for my lip syncing. In there, I customize the lip movement and add the emotional cues that the characters will show in the animation.

I then load up Reallusion iClone, which is a desktop virtual movie studio dealing with 3d animation, and Autodesk 3ds Max. I make sure I have all the props and characters I need. Anything that I don’t have, I create in either iClone or make complete new items in 3ds Max. I also go to the web to see if there is anything I can use from iClone forums or Google Sketchup to save some time. Many people will allow use of their creations under creative commons with attribution.

I then head back into iClone with all my props, sets, and characters and create each individual shot along with the lip sync scripts from Crazy talk. If the scene is just simple dialog, I set my characters in the 3d space, take control of the cameras and make the shots. If there is action, or the need for custom movement, or even movement to show emotion, I launch the motion editor in iClone to customize each character’s movements. There I work directly with the skeleton system of the characters against the timeline.

I render each scene as an uncompressed .avi, and when finished load them all into Vegas. I then add my wipes, music, sound effects, opening and closing credits, and then render as a .mov which I load up to Podshow as both a .mov file and as an .flv. Most visual effects I create in iClone, but I have Adobe After Effects just in case.

In the near future, I am going to set up extra feeds for h.264 mpeg-4, 3gp, and possibly .wmv. I will use Media Coder, a great open source item to handle the conversions.

I know that is a bit, but doing the show is so fun, it goes by quick.

***Edit*** I did leave out one huge piece of the puzzle. Photoshop. I create all textures and graphics in Adobe Photoshop, which actually means I have a “big four” of software titles in the production of the show, not a “big three”.***Edit***

Cheers,

Eban