Sunday, December 20, 2009

Mail Bag!


This week's email is from my buddy Raul Aguirre, Jr- creator, animator, artist, voice over guy, you name it. Raul is one talented dude and I thank him for his email.

Raul writes:

Where do you see yourself as an animation artist 5 years from now? I'm asking because as we all know the studio system is choking big time in the idea department and is about to go the way of the dodo. How many more cartoons can they make where a cute little thing does cute little things and then learns a lesson?, It seems that the only folks making animation that is different and interesting are the independents such as yourself., I guess what I'm saying is, what kind of long term planning should an indy animator start doing now in the face of the imminent demise of the large studios?


Five years from now? I would hope that my DVD sales are booming and I'm putting out really high quality movies. I joke about being the Ghetto Disney, but really- that would be the ultimate. I'd love to have a stable of characters and movies under my belt. I'm also really inspired to keep growing my "cult" audience. True blue followers of the cartoons. TV would be nice too. I think I could do something different with that medium. Something interesting. It would be great to finally get some serious compensation, too. I'm working on making that a reality...slowly, but surely. Five years from now I hope to still be inspired and having a good time with making my cartoons the way I envision them.

Long term planning for indie animators? That one is easy. Be self sustaining..at all costs. Get yourself into a position where no matter what- you can continue to create your output. Bottom line. Never be at the mercy of others 100% of the time. Keep a little fire for yourself somehow.
Now THAT's entertainment! Thanks for your email Raul!

Check out Raul's cool stuff HERE!




Smart Alec Hero Heights development scene. from Raul Aguirre Jr. on Vimeo.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think the studios are here to stay. We will see.
Jim you have all the tooks to be a success. You writing is great. Always a place for someone with good ideas.
If you lack something, like Final Cut Pro,or whatever (you might need) to go to the "pro" level of production, don't wait. Do it. Invest in yourself. It's a sound investment. Don't limp along with programs that only kinda sorta do what you need. A professoinal editing suite is in your future.

Jim Lujan said...

I used to use Final Cut Pro. Its great stuff. I'm messing with iMovie now, might pick up FCP in the future. By the way- No shoes, No Shirt, No Service and Come to Daddy were both done in After effects and edited in FCP. So, I've dabbled in different methods. Will again in the future, too!

Luis said...

I too think the studio system is here to stay. There is still an audience out there for cute things learning lessons. The studios might not necessarily be located in this country though.

As for where you want to be Jim. I hope you succeed. Your walking the hardest road of all. BUT with the coming of new tech such as the tablets that are meant to be used to read books and magazines, you might just have the perfect product for those. Keep an eye out.

Jim Lujan said...

God bless the big studios....they do really cool things....not always, but even the beloved indie creators strike out sometimes, too! I think there is room in the pool for everyone. I think variety is key. Technology does bring a new element to the game.

Anonymous said...

Cool. I am glad to hear that you are using the movie making apps. That is the way to go. They are a pain to master but once you do..you have the complete bag of tricks.
That way you can output to a multitude of formats and make long form movies, without trying to build complete films in Flash. Which is very limited.
I understand Kevin Cross, is using a g-4 Mac. I had one of those and a g-5. I know once you are a MAC person, it's hard to switch. However, I think he should consider a $900 Windows machine. It would present to him SPEED and all the stuff he needs to progress.
I was a MAC guy for 10 years. But the reality is there is no real reason to stay on MAC and it's 3x the cost for a machine of similar speed and performance. Also Kevin is smart. He potentially could build a computer for $600 that would blow off anyones socks. I built my last 2 computers (windows) and they rock. and I was a MAC snob. A tool is a tool. Once you load photoshop, it's all the same. Kevin will benefit greatly from a modern computer. I am tempted to build him one and send it..but he might be a MAC only artist. When I heard he is on a G-4 I was in disbelief. Maybe there is a way to get him a new machine.

Anonymous said...

Originally Mac was the only machine that could do postscript font printing and use real colorspace. With the advent of fonts and colorspace being correct on a Windows machine, and Indesign subplanting Quark, there is no actual reason to USE A mac (as there once was). Artists can use a MAC or a Windows machine and get the same result and preserve the same color space and fonts.
A windows machine is much cheaper, and as powerful as any mac. A processor is a processor. A G-4 is about 1/50th the speed of being the slowest processsor in the last 3 years. It is time to switch machines if you are trapped on a G-4. For $50 a month anyone can have a state of the art windows machine. Make payments to Best Buy. The difference in speed between a G-4 or a G-5 compared to the modern computers is like a horse vs a car. His work time will speed up like crazy. Switching to windows is no deal at all..and a smart move. Macs are for rich people.