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Nick DiLiberto's work is incredibly inspiring and shows you the power of discipline and long-term planning. Years ago my university featured a talk with solo tr

Nick DiLiberto's work is incredibly inspiring and shows you the power of discipline and long-term planning. Years ago my university featured a talk with solo traditional animators. It's a grueling life. You wake up, start to draw, eat, go back to drawing, sleep. Repeat for x months/years. Indie hand-drawn shorts are a popular niche in France and, to a lesser degree, in Italy. Via Curiel, 8 (10min short) required 2 years of work and more than 4000 hand-made acrylic drawings. https://vimeo.com/141520314 https://vimeo.com/141520314 Animation is not my field, but it's interesting nonetheless. "An hour of my animation is made up of about twenty small films, twenty years of work and thirtyfive-thousand drawings" – Simone Massi http://www.simonemassi.it/index.php?menuid=3 http://www.simonemassi.it/index.php?menuid=3

knodi123 10y ago
That vimeo short looks like it was exactly as grueling as he wanted it to be. I mean, he spent several seconds looking at a motionless room at, what, 5 fps? Don't get me wrong, I've spent hundreds of dollars building a third-rate home security system from scratch, and it's almost to a useable state. But it's hard because I want to do it the hard way. I could have something much, much better for less money if I was actually focused on building quality efficiently.
- H4CK3RM4N 10y ago
  On the topic of home security systems, have you watched Home Alone with localhost(https://youtu.be/zkzlc76wJ6k https://youtu.be/zkzlc76wJ6k)? It covers someone else building their own security system.
  - knodi123 10y ago
    No, but that's awesome. Thanks!
- mulmen 10y ago
  The difference is that your home security system is not an artistic expression.
  - partisan 10y ago
    Where did you draw that line?
    - mulmen 10y ago
      Where the security system has a practical use outside of existing.
      - xtian 10y ago
        That's not where artists themselves draw the line, despite the fact that it describes a large percentage of artwork.
        mulmen 10y ago
        The linked video appears to be a purely artistic expression, the comparison it to a home security system is not applicable.
        khedoros1 10y ago
        Why not? If the security system includes artistic elements, I don't see why you couldn't compare those elements to something else that's purely artistic expression. At the very least, it's valid to compare them on the level of work that goes into each, compared to the benefit that each provides (in one case, a functional security system, and in the other, a piece of entertainment).
        anigbrowl 10y ago
        If the primary purpose is utilitarian then it's not art, it's decoration. Art is its own justification. adding a little flair doesn't make you an artist.
        khedoros1 10y ago
- phaus 10y ago
  Yea, I haven't finished anything, but at various times I've played around with animation. He was using full-frame ( AKA animating the entire frame instead of just the moving pieces) for a ton of shots where its not only unnecessary, but also detrimental to image quality. For example, the bookshelf looked all fuzzy/shaky. If he just drew a single frame and cloned it enough for several seconds, the shakiness would disappear. That being said, overall I enjoyed the short film. He's got a lot of talent and dedication.
Keyframe 10y ago
It's a grueling life. You wake up, start to draw, eat, go back to drawing, sleep. Repeat for x months/years. That's exactly what it is. Animation is kind of my field. My friend and colleague is just now finishing his ~12 minute short (hand-drawn with cats (quadrupeds animation ffs)) which I've helped him with on some of the shots and co-directed it. It's now in editing and scoring. It took him around three years. Day in and day out the cycle you've described. It's a tough life, mostly battling yourself. On a semi-related note, most of the animation was drawn in Harmony on a Cintiq... yet, in final stages of animation he decided to give Krita a spin (Harmony had some issues). Looks like Krita is good enough (for him) to be used in place of Harmony for next projects. He says it's better even in most cases.
- buovjaga 10y ago
  I think the Krita folks would love to interview him for their blog.
  - Keyframe 10y ago
    I didn't even know they had a blog! He's a seasoned vet in hand-drawn animation. Now that his short is almost out, it would be a perfect opportunity.
- jomkr 10y ago
  Reminds me of the grind a professional poker player goes through. Every day, wake up, play poker for 10-15 hours, study for ~5 hours, sleep. There's a reason they call it the grind, and why there are very few overall winning players, despite plenty of smart individuals playing.
  - taway_1212 10y ago
    My friend is a poker pro, and his life is nowhere like this. I'd say he plays maybe 100-120 hours per month. He's been a pro for 10 years now. His cost of living are low though (about $1500 per month).
    - 10y ago
christofosho 10y ago
I was excited to watch the first, but it gave me a bit of motion sickness. I'm sad because it looked nice.

knodi123 10y ago

That vimeo short looks like it was exactly as grueling as he wanted it to be. I mean, he spent several seconds looking at a motionless room at, what, 5 fps? Don't get me wrong, I've spent hundreds of dollars building a third-rate home security system from scratch, and it's almost to a useable state. But it's hard because I want to do it the hard way. I could have something much, much better for less money if I was actually focused on building quality efficiently.

H4CK3RM4N 10y ago
On the topic of home security systems, have you watched Home Alone with localhost(https://youtu.be/zkzlc76wJ6k https://youtu.be/zkzlc76wJ6k)? It covers someone else building their own security system.
- knodi123 10y ago
  No, but that's awesome. Thanks!
mulmen 10y ago
The difference is that your home security system is not an artistic expression.
- partisan 10y ago
  Where did you draw that line?
  - mulmen 10y ago
    Where the security system has a practical use outside of existing.
    - xtian 10y ago
      That's not where artists themselves draw the line, despite the fact that it describes a large percentage of artwork.
      - mulmen 10y ago
        The linked video appears to be a purely artistic expression, the comparison it to a home security system is not applicable.
        khedoros1 10y ago
        Why not? If the security system includes artistic elements, I don't see why you couldn't compare those elements to something else that's purely artistic expression. At the very least, it's valid to compare them on the level of work that goes into each, compared to the benefit that each provides (in one case, a functional security system, and in the other, a piece of entertainment).
        anigbrowl 10y ago
        If the primary purpose is utilitarian then it's not art, it's decoration. Art is its own justification. adding a little flair doesn't make you an artist.
        khedoros1 10y ago
phaus 10y ago
Yea, I haven't finished anything, but at various times I've played around with animation. He was using full-frame ( AKA animating the entire frame instead of just the moving pieces) for a ton of shots where its not only unnecessary, but also detrimental to image quality. For example, the bookshelf looked all fuzzy/shaky. If he just drew a single frame and cloned it enough for several seconds, the shakiness would disappear. That being said, overall I enjoyed the short film. He's got a lot of talent and dedication.

Keyframe 10y ago

It's a grueling life. You wake up, start to draw, eat, go back to drawing, sleep. Repeat for x months/years. That's exactly what it is. Animation is kind of my field. My friend and colleague is just now finishing his ~12 minute short (hand-drawn with cats (quadrupeds animation ffs)) which I've helped him with on some of the shots and co-directed it. It's now in editing and scoring. It took him around three years. Day in and day out the cycle you've described. It's a tough life, mostly battling yourself. On a semi-related note, most of the animation was drawn in Harmony on a Cintiq... yet, in final stages of animation he decided to give Krita a spin (Harmony had some issues). Looks like Krita is good enough (for him) to be used in place of Harmony for next projects. He says it's better even in most cases.

buovjaga 10y ago
I think the Krita folks would love to interview him for their blog.
- Keyframe 10y ago
  I didn't even know they had a blog! He's a seasoned vet in hand-drawn animation. Now that his short is almost out, it would be a perfect opportunity.
jomkr 10y ago
Reminds me of the grind a professional poker player goes through. Every day, wake up, play poker for 10-15 hours, study for ~5 hours, sleep. There's a reason they call it the grind, and why there are very few overall winning players, despite plenty of smart individuals playing.
- taway_1212 10y ago
  My friend is a poker pro, and his life is nowhere like this. I'd say he plays maybe 100-120 hours per month. He's been a pro for 10 years now. His cost of living are low though (about $1500 per month).
  - 10y ago

christofosho 10y ago

I was excited to watch the first, but it gave me a bit of motion sickness. I'm sad because it looked nice.