crewnerd

[crewnerd]

I made a quiz about some of my favorite animals :)

[crewnerd]

Video essay by Jellybox about what's good and bad about indie animation!

Wanted to share this in case it's helpful to anyone wanting to pursue making animation independently. It's also for fans of indie animation who may want some insight into how an indie studio works, why indie cartoons are always selling merch, why release schedules are often erratic, etc.

I also wanted to clarify the video's context, because it seems to have been somewhat misconstrued in some circles. Not long ago, WGA and SAG strikes, followed by TAG negotiations were very much in the news, shining light on the struggles the artists, writers, and actors in the Hollywood studio system are facing. In response, the words 'just go indie' have been tossed around quite a bit lately.

Gene and Sean at Jellybox approached us a few months back explaining that they were planning to make a video about the realities of running an indie studio/producing indie animation, largely in response to that 'just go indie' attitude. They were curious if we'd be willing to share our experience, including information about actual costs and the various difficulties and complications we've encountered. We said yes! We'd like for people to know what it's like. As much as it might look appealing next to the currently very broken studio system, indie has its own set of problems, and we think it's a good idea to be transparent about that because talking about problems is how you begin to address them.

Of course, while you get creative freedom and you have no shareholders to appease with indie production, the primary struggle you're always going to face is funding…and funding avenues are limited. Banks aren't eager to hand out business loans to freelance artists making cartoons, for instance. Social media algorithms reward frequent updates you can't swing with hand-drawn animated content, so you can't rely much on things like AdSense. You can't really insert sponsored ads into your animated videos without being too obtrusive. You can take on client work, but that interferes with your ability to focus on own animated project. Crowdfunds can be great for seed money, but they're also a ton of work to fulfill, and fulfillment itself will tend to eat up a considerable amount of the funds you've raised. Once your animation is produced, there is no well established way to sell the animated episode itself like there is for, say indie games sold on Steam. So, while we consider ways to try to make the terrain a bit more hospitable to indie creations, if nothing else, let this explain why productions rely a lot on merch drops!

-----------------

And hey, if you're an animation fan, consider supporting the independent productions you enjoy, whether you're tossing a few dollars their way, buying their merch, or just mentioning them to friends:

The Far-Fetched team is launching a crowdfund very soon to help them complete their pilot!

The Monkey Wrench team is killing it lately, and they deserve so much more fanfare than they've gotten!

And of course, thank you to the excellent folks at Jellybox for starting an important conversation!

[crewnerd]

Custom Botober Day 2: Disrespecting the Ancient Elder Tea

"Yeah, mom? Just checking, tea doesn't go bad right? Didn't have lipton so I tried steeping some of Granma's old stuff instead."

I like how the tea tin came out. Tried using Krita's newer (I think?) brush engine for color blending in a few spots...I'll figure it out.

[crewnerd]

Custom Botober Day 1: Time-traveling Postman

"Where are we man? Some dystopian future where everyone is the same?" "Nah fam, it's just 1950s American suburbia. I just hope we don't deliver to the wrong house."

The moment I saw the prompt I instantly thought of doing the the USPS's goofy-looking NGDV as the time-traveling device of choice.

[crewnerd]

Bot-ober drawing challenge

Been a bit since I attempted one of these. It would be poor sport to give up after making it barely a week in 2018. Felt inspired almost immediately after reading a few lines of @aiweirdness's 2023 Botober post. Finding the lists as they were, unsatisfying, I synthesized them into my own list...which I will reveal as I complete them. OooOOooo, a mystery! Enough dawdling, I have some catching up to do for the next few days!

[crewnerd]

Happy Pride Month

TRANS HUMAN RIGHTS

This double entendre has been banging around my head for ages, I just had to get it down before the clock strikes midnight and pride month ends.

A message of solidarity for now.

A dream of fantastic change for the future.

[crewnerd]

The VIM user experience does get a little quirky at night...

[crewnerd]

"Welcome" Typewriter poem. Written on a Maritsa 11 portable typewriter.

[crewnerd]

Shopping for CDs, noticed Amazon was dinging stuff as 'small businesses. Ah yes, OFFICE DEPOT, KNOWN SMALL BUSINESS. right next to mom-n-pop Walmart and Staples at the strip mall.

[crewnerd]

First I can't upload a mobile post, now I can't delete bingus. Nice job, tumblr mobile. Barely use it to post and I regret using it now.

[crewnerd]

Bingus

[crewnerd]

Optimistic graffiti

[crewnerd]

[crewnerd]

Installed OpenToonz to try out on my weak laptop, pleased with how quickly I managed to crank this sixteen frame animation out.

[crewnerd]

Album covers of the internet. Was inspired to make it while organizing my collection.

Links to the music for these covers in order (from top to bottom, left to right):

Triple-Q - It's just a Burning WAP (Pull out in the Nick of Time) [mashup] - https://youtu.be/L-nO3bE4rmY

Big Iron but the Ranger Kills Everyone [meme edit] - https://youtu.be/aVjqm3mKmag

Medic - Kritzkrieg - [parody] - https://youtu.be/VrSzlXCWekQ

Martin Walls - The Showstoppers [an entire album] - https://youtu.be/7-HevShD5OQ

[crewnerd]

bit late for 4th of july but this warrants a reblog I reckon.

[crewnerd]

Vibes.