Animation Tools and Tricks-Fleischer Studios' Patented Setback Camera

Tools. They're the most important for any animation production.

but the most important to me as well as being the one tool that predates computer generated backgrounds is Fleischer Studios SETBACK CAMERA.

This is the tool Fleischer studios used back in the 1930s when they needed a sense of depth in their cartoons.

Like it or not but having only cels on top of a background is not gonna be enough. They're just flat drawings layered over a background art piece but what if you have foreground objects on front of your BG, either behind or in front of your characters? Well the use of cel layers just aren't gonna cut it. 

I mean it could but you'll need a way to capture depth as well since things in real-life move in parallax from one depth field to another. And that's where the Fleischer camera comes into play.

Before Ub Iwerks sold his multiplane camera patent to studios, other people were experimenting with adding depth to their cartoons. Fleischer was no exception. They made a system that let them layer more cels to create the believable feel of depth.

Not only that but it also let them use 3d models in their animations as well. 

The skull is a dead giveaway that it's a 3d model... made of clay... or is it a real skull?

When I say 3d models, I don't mean cg since computers in the 1930s were still vacuum tubed based and only available to mathematicians and scientists. 

The 3D models were actually literal models made from plastic, clay, etc. Think of them as miniatures.

The use of 3D models meant that you have all the perspective you need, something that the multiplane camera unfortunately doesn't have since the drawings are still flat.

Unfortunately, the setback camera wasn't sold to others. Either because Fleischer didn't want to sell the patent or it's the way the setback camera was setup to begin with.

You may notice that the setback camera is constructed horizontally. 

                

Well, many artist at the time weren't willing to invest a lot of money on a camera setup that requires the artwork to be layered horizontally. 

Instead, they invested in Ub Iwerks' multiplane camera setup.

No this is not Disney's invention. He bought the system from Ub Iwerks 

My guess the industry preferred Iwerks' Camera system because it allowed them to have a sense of depth while at the same time, allowed the artwork to be photographed downward just as we intended.

By the 1980's this system was seldom used due to costs. An animator as well several artist attempt to do computer animation with 2D Characters.

While this was a technological achievement, the higher ups didn't think so. 

Now we have the computing power to combine CG Backgrounds in our animations using tools such as TOON BOOM HARMONY.

 

For those curious about what cartoons did Fleischer studios use the setback camera, here's a link to the a Vimeo Video that shows all the examples of what cartoons used the setback camera:

https://vimeo.com/315171501

Update as of February 3 2024:
I've since upgraded my own computer space. When I did these earlier blogposts in the beginning of 2023, I was still using my MSI Laptop but I now use my custom built PC for all my posts.

Animation Paints - My preferred 2D Animation software of choice.

In this first installment of animation paints, I'm gonna get into the nuts and bolts of color theory and why it's important in the realm of both cartoons and anime.

And no, I will not show you my collection of acrylic paints despite the name. Animation Paints is just a label for my color theory posts but I will showcase some of my own cels made during my free time.

This industry doesn't use actual acrylic paints for animation anymore. Now it's all done on the computer through a series of algorithms, hexadecimal color codes, etc. 

This depends on the software you use. Whether it be Toonboom, Adobe Animate, Rectas, Moho, Toonz, or any other animation package you install in your computer.

For me, I primarily use Toonboom Harmony as my 2D animation software. To me, it's the most versatile of all 2D animation software you can have. It's practically an industry standard for cartoons out there.

This here is my 2D animation work environment. 

Not pictured is my second screen: A WACOM ONE pen display. 

Anyhow, why I prefer harmony over the software and what's it got to do with animation paints? 

Like I said, it's the most versatile. Below is an image over the versatility of color.

As you can see here, unlike other software where the colored area needs to have the paint bucket reapplied to said area, Toonboom's color system is more or less a palette based system. Parts of your drawing, or cel is tied to a given color palette in the software. And since that color is tied to that palette, you can change said color by manipulating the value on the palette wheel without using the bucket.  Therefore, you don't need to redo a scene, or apply that paint bucket again when management decides to enforce a color change. The versatility is there in Toon Boom's color palette system. 

This is also handy if you need to help your characters stand out from the background.

Beebe Bluff agrees that Toon Boom is good for color theory

I'll get into more of animation paints as soon as I get more insight, as well as fight off my writers block.

Acting 101 - Acting in Animation

I once touched this subject back when I had my blog on my WIX site but since the move, I've been meaning to go back and touch on this subject in a more subjective type of manner.

Acting, it's the most important tool in movies, cartoons, video games, etc. But you have to start somewhere or another. The image above is part of an acting class which is the starting ground for people in the acting field. 

However, when I see acting represented in classes like this, my brain interprets as actual acting reserved for Live-Action movies. For acting in animation, it's different story. Acting in cartoons vary but 75% of the time they aren't the same as live-action. 

Cookie from Atlantis demonstrates the unrealism in cartoon acting and he's getting paid in lettuce for it.

The trouble is, we we're desensitized in thinking all acting is like that which is not true. I know some animators out there that say that the acting you see in cartoons and anime are not representative of either reality or live-action films. For example, you don't see anybody holding the stock I don't know pose in real life like you see in so many cartoons out there.

This pose has become too overused in the past 50 years and counting.

Anyway, I tend to prefer animation acting that's more or less tied to live action acting. And no, I don't mean rotoscope but actual live-action acting.

Live action acting is far more nuanced than your standard cartoon acting. Why is that? Because it's naturally tied to your body movements, your muscle structure, your emotions, everything. 

Very few animators get this. I've seen claims where people say they take inspiration from Live action via reference but when I see that reference, I see people acting if they were in a cartoon.

"Look Ma, I'm a cartoon character."

It's effective, but I only recommend this for body mechanics exercises. You want live-action acting in your animations, study the live action films, the acting principles, and the acting teachers said actors studied under. There's a reason acting classes have ice breakers, to understand the techniques you're learning from.

There's this book on Sanford Meisner that I read back in art school and I think it's a very good read. 

For those aspiring animators out there, instead of making your drawings or 3D rigs act like they're in a Disney movie, study the techniques from Meisner himself. Watch those live-action movies and get a sense of how different the acting is from those movies vs. animation or anime. 

So how to get this book? Go to your local bookstore, Goodwill, or even buy a copy from Amazon.

To those who want it digital, buying a PDF isn't hard.

I'll get into more about acting in the future but until then, keep your drawings and rigs tied to acting techniques from the great masterminds of acting like Sanford Meisner.

Inspirations 01-Life in hell

The man behind the yellow toned, overbite, bug eyes, round teeth... you get what I'm talking about. 

That's Matt Groening. Creator of the Simpsons, Futurama, and Disenchantment.

But before he made all those shows, he made a comic series. It was called Life in Hell.

What's the hell part? Los Angeles. I don't get why Matt Groening hated L.A back in the 1970s but that's the beauty of satire. Without satire, how can we lead a happy life and shield ourselves from the negative.

The strip is no longer printed (It ended it's run on newspapers in 2012) but despite that, it's left a lasting impression on artist such as myself. 

And to think this all started with a cynical rabbit...

A one eared rabbit...

And two bulbous nosed men who dress like Charlie Brown.

The satire was everywhere in this underground comic. I think the best part of newspaper comics in general is that the subject matter changes depending on the publication. 

That's the same format used for other comics such as THE FAR SIDE and GARFIELD.

I wish I had more to show and I do but they're buried in an external hard drive somewhere.

So to end this post, I'm gonna show you something that is sort of dissimilar to the comics above:

Sort of the same formatting as with Life in Hell but this is actually a comic created by me... way back in 2016. The Draw a Dog title was based off a joke my art teacher made in high school.

The Maverick Blog's new home

 Blogs. People have them, animators have them, it's perfect.

I had a blog in Wix but storage within that and job search got in the way of my Wix site so I'm moving my blog to Blogger. I think that way, I'm more organized and I have space concerns. If possible.

As usual, my topics will be based on animation, vocal performances, Maya rigs, FK/IK switches on CG characters, film history, and my own show MARYLANDIA. I'll keep on updating the blog as things trickle around.