The Boros Animation Blog

Characters are coming to life!  Bear with me, this project turned out to be a lot bigger than I had even realized!  This thing is going to look really good when we're all finished here.  Stay tuned for more, and enjoy this sample animation! Next step will be subtle motions of the limbs while our characters are talking to make it look as though they are really feeling what they're saying.  More to come! © Smirk Studios 2019

Here's a sample of the completed lip sync for the first scene on the phone with the two main characters: This video only samples the lip sync animation and is not complete. The next step will be to move the characters around a bit and have them blink every once in a while! _____________ _____________ Need your project animated? Email me and we'll get you on the waiting list! Animation and Graphics produced at Smirk Studios for project "The Boros" using Adobe Animate. All rights reserved. More info as the project unfolds! Keep it posted here for more updates on the production of "The Boros." Art/Animation by Joshua H. Metz

Hey team!  Sorry if it seems like I'm dragging, I recently enrolled in school to hone my skills and they are requiring a lot of last minute information that I hadn't anticipated, obviously completely unrelated to this project.  Everything is in order, though!  Rest assured, this will be done soon! Here's another screenshot to keep you busy, and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to share your words with me by commenting on the post that interests you the most! Need your project animated?  Email me  and we'll get you on the waiting list! Animation and Graphics produced at  Smirk Studios  for project "The Boros" using Adobe Animate. All rights reserved. More info as the project unfolds! Keep it posted here for more updates on the production of "The Boros." Art/Animation by  Joshua H. Metz

Hey, bloggers!  Just got done talking with the producers and we're all on the same page, so we're now ready to begin animation! The first step is setting our stages with the proper audio, building the symbol packs for the mouth of each character with speaking parts, and then we're ready to begin lip sync production! This is the most engaging and important aspect of most cartoons, as it is often what people look at subconsciously when watching your character speak dialog that will ultimately drive your film.  Lip sync takes delicate work and a careful ear, matching each mouth sound with the distinctive mouth shape that is associated with it. Check back often, lots of updates coming now that animation has begun! Need your project animated?  Email me  and we'll get you on the waiting list! Animation and Graphics produced at  Smirk Studios  for project "The Boros" using Adobe Animate. All rights reserved. More info as the project unfolds! Ke

I'm in the process of arranging the scenes as we speak, so in the meantime, take a look at these beautiful character models I've built for this episode!  I spent a lot of time and effort getting each one to look as close to the original design as possible without compromising quality or motion potential, and it really shows in the over all product when your characters are built properly from the beginning.  Some animators build as they go, but I believe that you risk building characters for the moment that will all look different from each other and not be as compatible and uniform to your overall style you've chosen for your show. All the technicalities aside, these are some fine looking character models and I'm very proud of them, especially considering that they are an approximation of someone else's work... I gave them my own flare where I could, but this was more about attacking a particular look, per the request of the producers. If you like what you see,

After a much needed personal day, I'm happy to be back on track! Today we get to start placing our character models on our scene and start laying out our first pass of animation!  This is an exciting time to be lurking, so keep it right here on The Boros Animation Blog , coming to you straight from Smirk Studios ! Need your project animated?  Email me  and we'll get you on the waiting list! Animation and Graphics produced at  Smirk Studios  for project "The Boros" using Adobe Animate. All rights reserved. More info as the project unfolds! Keep it posted here for more updates on the production of "The Boros." Art/Animation by  Joshua H. Metz

Here we can see now that our main character Solomon is the correct proportion to the other characters in the episode, and so now any zooming we do with the symbols will maintain the consistent integrity throughout the different models, as opposed to distracting your eye with obvious pixelation and graphic edits that make an animation "clunky" when we obviously want something more seamless. Believe it or not, I had to resize each layer a second time for every symbol, which is what took so long. I literally got stuck all day on resizing vectors, which is why it's so important to have a good character proportion chart to work off of FIRST! I've put this in my notes for next time... Stay tuned, I've got one more character (this time I'm going to proportion the screenshot to match the approximate size of the character sheet and do it that way, I'm certain it will save me time) and then we are DONE BUILDING CHARACTERS! NEXT STEP: Story Bo

  Just so you can see what I'm going through, it's actually pretty interesting.  I have to do this for each body part, and it can be particularly difficult if your symbols have symbols within them, assuming you've designed it that way to be intentionally separate.   As you may know, resizing a vector doesn't affect the line size of our line tool (like the pencil tool, for instance), whereas resizing a symbol that has been built with vectors inside it will resize the entire symbol, which will often thin out some of the finer details of the character, often giving the character a cheap or "flash animation" look, which I personally like to avoid when I'm working on projects for someone else.   On my personal stuff, I don't mind just throwing things together, and for those projects, it's fine to have something look a little off, but not when you're trying to bring someone else's vision to life.  You can see in my Rick and Morty SPOOF  t

I figured out the quickest way possible to resize all my layers at once without compromising the line size and consistency (resizing symbols versus resizing vectors), and am almost finished with the setup.  Good morning!  Today is going to be productive, so check back throughout the day! Animation and Graphics produced at  Smirk Studios  for project "The Boros" using Adobe Animate. All rights reserved.  More info as the project unfolds!  Keep it posted here for more updates on the production of "The Boros." Art/Animation by  Joshua H. Metz

Nothing to be alarmed about, but I am dealing with a little extra tedious work with this character model in getting it to properly size to the height proportions that are appropriate. The solution is simple but tedious, so I'm going to take a break and come back in a little bit to continue!  More updates soon! Animation and Graphics produced at  Smirk Studios  for project "The Boros" using Adobe Animate. All rights reserved.  More info as the project unfolds!  Keep it posted here for more updates on the production of "The Boros." Art/Animation by  Joshua H. Metz

I'm almost done building one of the 2 main characters, who (appropriately) have more intricate character models with slightly more detail (and take a little longer to get just right for a few reasons*, ask in the comments to know more). Check out Solomon in all his glory: More to come, sit tight!  More updates TONIGHT! Animation and Graphics produced at  Smirk Studios  for project "The Boros" using Adobe Animate. All rights reserved.  More info as the project unfolds!  Keep it posted here for more updates on the production of "The Boros." Art/Animation by  Joshua H. Metz

More updates to this project are coming soon!  I am sorry about the wait, there were a few technical issues I ran into regarding Movie Clip/Graphic symbols within Adobe Animate, but I'm happy to report that I'm BACK ON TRACK! Please enjoy this Rick and Morty parody I recently released while you wait! Serious updates later today, please be patient! Animation and Graphics produced at  Smirk Studios  for project "The Boros" using Adobe Animate. All rights reserved.  More info as the project unfolds!  Keep it posted here for more updates on the production of "The Boros." Art/Animation by  Joshua H. Metz

Alright!  This lot of characters has been completed, less some minor edits that I will do as needed. The next step is finding screenshots for the main characters to build new models of.  Animation samples will be coming soon, stay "TOONED!" Animation and Graphics produced at  Smirk Studios  for project "The Boros" using Adobe Animate. All rights reserved.  More info as the project unfolds!  Keep it posted here for more updates on the production of "The Boros." Art/Animation by  Joshua H. Metz

Hey, gang!  It's Joshua, just checking in with everyone. I'm nearing completion of the character builds (whew!), and will be creating an animatic sequence representing where the characters will be and how they will move for this episode.  Characters should be completed tonight, less minor adjustments and detailing that will be applied between animatic sequences when the time is right. Keep checking back in!  Pretty soon there will be a lot of stuff to go over, so sit tight!  Looking forward to bringing you more quality content, right here at Smirk Studios ! Animation and Graphics produced at  Smirk Studios  for project "The Boros" using Adobe Animate. All rights reserved.  More info as the project unfolds!  Keep it posted here for more updates on the production of "The Boros." Art/Animation by  Joshua H. Metz

Here's a current screenshot... I finished another character! Animation and Graphics produced at  Smirk Studios  for project "The Boros" using Adobe Animate. All rights reserved.  More info as the project unfolds!  Keep it posted here for more updates on the production of "The Boros." Art/Animation by  Joshua H. Metz

Technical difficulties have been worked out, and today we're BACK ON TRACK with The Boros Animation Blog!  Thank you for your patience! Today, I will be aiming to finish all the character builds.  I've now listened to the audio for this episode, and it's really good stuff!  Stay tuned for animated samples later in the week, right here at Smirk Studios! Animation and Graphics produced at  Smirk Studios  for project "The Boros" using Adobe Animate. All rights reserved.  More info as the project unfolds!  Keep it posted here for more updates on the production of "The Boros." Art/Animation by  Joshua H. Metz

The Boros Animation Project Blog is temporarily on hold until further notice.  Be sure to stay up on Smirk Studios by heading to the OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE (click here)  and clicking the LIKE button!  Here is a screenshot from an upcoming production featuring Rick Sanchez from Rick and Morty! Great content like this and MORE over at the Facebook page!  Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to the Smirk Studios YOUTUBE CHANNEL (click here)  for original full-length cartoons and more! Animation by  Smirk Studios  for project "The Boros" using Adobe Animate. All rights reserved.  More info as the project unfolds!  Keep it posted here for more updates on the production of "The Boros." Art/Animation by  Joshua H. Metz Rick and Morty are owned by Cartoon Network and Adult Swim as far as I know, don't bother trying to sue, I don't have any money.  Created by Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland

I've now completed 2 of 8 character dolls for this coming episode!  As I build, I gain a momentum, and each character is built faster than the previous one.  I will likely finish another before I go to bed tonight!  Here's the screenshots of my progress: Animation by  Smirk Studios  for project "The Boros" using Adobe Animate. All rights reserved.  More info as the project unfolds!  Keep it posted here for more updates on the production of "The Boros." Art/Animation by  Joshua H. Metz

We've completed our first character!  Vector tracing, while an effective way to bring an existing figure to life in your animation, can be VERY TEDIOUS!  Luckily, I'm a professional. Progress Screen Shots: Creating the head of any character doll can be very trying, because this is where people will be looking the most when watching your character move and talk.  Many different layers, even though they look so simple!  If the head needs to blink, an animator has to be able to do that independently from the mouth and eye-brow layers, unless they want to work twice as hard and redraw the face for every movement... Luckily, that's not what we're doing here today, but I actually do enjoy some frame-by-frame motions, as well! The torso links everything together, and therefore deserves it's own layer, as well. This is where most characters show you their personality, either through apparel or maybe some sort of subliminal idea, i.e. maybe instead of a tie, thi

Animation by Smirk Studios for project "The Boros" using Adobe Animate. All rights reserved.  More info as the project unfolds!  Keep it posted here for more updates on the production of "The Boros." Art/Animation by Joshua H. Metz

This is a blog for the progress on "The Boros," an animated series to air online soon!  Stay tuned for progress and screenshots of the production of this great cartoon.