Toonboom releases Harmony 12

Harmony 12Today in addition to the new tiered buying model for Harmony, Toonboom released Harmony 12 which looks to have some pretty cool features, such as more bitmap brush options,  faster rendering times and a new Light Shading feature allowing you to auto add shadows from various perspectives. Below is a video walk through highlighting the newest features.

You can find out more about Toonboom Harmony at Toonboom’s website.

Toonboom updates Harmony and Storyboard Pro to include subscription pricing

Harmony-subscription

Big news today in the world of animation as Toonboom has just released a new subscription model for both their Harmony suite AND their very popular Storyboard Pro software to reflect the new Cloud business model like Adobe and Autodesk have done in the last two years.

Now you can pay annually, monthly, or buy a perpetual license which is more or less buying it outright without a subscription.

For Harmony, $15 a month will get you the Essentials version which seems to be fairly robust except for the one Art layer limit and no 3d capabilities. The Advanced version gets you a number of other features including four Art layers as well as the ability to see 3d models placed in a scene by a Premium version but not access or edit them. Premium of course has all the bells and whistles that full blown Harmony has.
To see a list of different features of the various versions of Harmony available head over the the Toonboom site for more info.

Word is Toonboom will be phasing out Toonboom Studio and Toonboom Animate in October of this year.

Storyboard Pro subscription
As for Storyboard Pro, you now have the option to do a subscription which will cost you $38 per month. This in and of itself is a huge boon for storyboard artists seeking to use the software since the standalone version will set you back $950 and most freelancers can’t afford that cost easily.

 

To see more about Toonboom’s new Storyboard Pro pricing head over to their site.

Now if we could just get Wacom to do a Cloud model! 😉

 

 

 

Welton Santos

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Welton Santos  I am 2D Animator , character designer, background artist and Illustrator.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I worked as a bricklayer, waiter, office boy… They were all tough jobs that nearly drove me mad. But in the end, I think I learned something from each one of them.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
That’s hard — but I really enjoyed working on the pilot episodes of ‘Popota’ and ‘Cheese Gang’ TV series. I think everybody did a terrific job and I’m really proud to be part of the animation team.

How did you become interested in animation?
As a child I already like animation, before entering the animation I did many tests of comics, but never went .. haha Some publishers were up interested more do not know what happened was not right, oh one day God took pity on me and Continue reading

Sherm Cohen

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Sherm Cohen and I’m currently the storyboard supervisor for Disney’s Fish Hooks.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had  before getting into animation?
The craziest job I ever had before getting into the animation business was working as a psychiatric aide at a mental hospital. When I first got hired, I thought it picked me because I was a promising student in my psychology classes — but it turns out they hired me because I’m a pretty big dude, and one of the key job responsibilities was being able to tackle and restrain mental patients! I got a really grim view of the inner workings of the mental health insurance schemes, but I didn’t end up quitting that job until after I received a concussion from one of the patients in the isolation tank.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re  proud to have been a part of?
Of all the projects I’ve worked on in my cartooning career, I’m most proud of the work I was able to take part in when I was on SpongeBob SquarePants. It just makes me so happy when I can see that the cartoons that I wrote and drew have become favorites and bright spots in the lives of so many people all over the world. A few years ago, I was standing in line at the DMV when I noticed one of the office workers cubicles in the deep background; it was completely decked out with SpongeBob posters and cards and drawings and toys… and I decide it was really neat that somebody who was working in a dreary government bureaucracy, we have brightened our day by surrounding themselves with a cartoon that I worked on. I’m also enjoying the heck out of my current job on Fish Hooks. The show is pure cartoon fun and the crew is wonderful to work with. And it’s extra-special experience because Continue reading

Storyboards from 15 of Your Favorite Films

spartacusStoryboards from the film Spartacus

FlavorWire has a cool post up showing storyboard examples of 15 classic movies such as Spartacus (above), Taxi Driver, Star Wars, Jaws and many others.
From the Site:

Hitchcock was one of the first studio directors to rely heavily on storyboards in production of his films. He would map out his distinctive set pieces using storyboards — those cool drawings that show exactly what will be in the frame, and any movements the camera might make — and would then create them on set, often shot for shot. Hitchock wasn’t the first to do it, but he was an enthusiastic and consistent early adopter, and the filmmakers who followed with an eye for sharp camerawork (from Scorsese and Spielberg to the Coens and Nolan) frequently do the same. With storyboards on our mind lately thanks to their use in both the opening sequence and the climax of Argo, we decided to put together a gallery of some of our favorite storyboards from iconic movies. (Special thanks to the folks behind the “Drawing Board” column of the DGA Quarterly, where we found several of the storyboards to follow.)

You can read the entire post and see the storyboards here.

Raquel Omana

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Raquel Omana. I am now a freelance artist.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I was Interior Designer.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Most popular old Saturday morning cartoons, Teenage mutant Ninja Turtles, Scooby Doo, My Little Pony and many more; First educational games that started the Sony Play Station; film features, Anastasia and Titan AE.

How did you become interested in animation?
It was more alluring to me at the time.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m originally from the Philippines. At that time, Continue reading