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Behind the Zombies with Guy Collins

added on October 10, 2012
19,137 views

Hi guys!

 

I thought I'd give you a little glimpse into what it takes to make an episode of Raised by Zombies. Every animator has a different process - here's a peak into mine:

 

 

The Animation

 

 

Any character animation begins with a guide; A basic skeleton of simple shapes. Using the  guides, I'm able to draw out the main keyframes, and from there it's just a matter of filling in the in-between frames until I get a smooth motion.

 

 



 



The Locations

During the series I've been modelling the locations in 3D. Flash cartoons can tend to look a bit flat, and I now understand why; Simple camera angles are easy to draw, odd angles are hard. Perspective is a pain. Using 3D, I can plan my shots the way you would in real life, I move the camera around, fiddle with the zoom, until I like the look of the shot. These garishly coloured renders serve as my guide for sketching out the backgrounds.




 

The Girl

"Raised By Zombies" takes place over many years, a chronicle of a little girl as she grows up in a zombie-ravaged city. Each episode requires a slight character redesign.



That's just a little bit of what it takes to make a full episode of Raised by Zombies! If you found these ramblings interesting, check out my "Making Of" videos. Each one shows my screen as I work, many, many hours condensed to a watchable 10 minutes!