As a newcomer to the 2D Marketplace, Loopie Animate has leapt on the scene and mad a big splash with new animation loops that can be used as motion backgrounds for 2D animations.
Adding more and more practical animated packs at a rapid pace, Loopie Animate sat down with Reallusion to discuss the idea behind this innovative content and what plans are being made for the future.
Q: Greetings and welcome to the 2D Marketplace. Having been a Cartoon Animator user for a while, but only recently becoming a developer for CTA, can you tell us about yourself and your background?
From a young age I always loved to draw, but had never ventured into animation. My journey with Cartoon Animator started almost 2 years ago in December 2020, initially to create simple animated educational resources – as I am a ESL teacher.
Recently I have made the transition to create animated scenes and props for Cartoon Animator users. Teaching myself techniques to use animated scenes within Cartoon Animator, it all started when I wanted to speed up my workflow, to see how one of my characters would appear in a scene without using the export or pipeline feature to After Effects. To my surprise I successfully had a working animated scene in Cartoon Animator after a few hours. At this moment I thought to myself that other cartoon animator and iClone users could benefit from this. The great thing about this is that the user still has the option to export the scene as a video file to edit in their video editor of choice if they prefer.
Q: You discovered you were able to create videos of animated loops and then import them into Cartoon Animator to use as motion backgrounds. Why did you choose Cartoon Animator for your 2D Animation content?
It is the ease of use, unlike other software packages I have tried, secondly it is great value for money, not subscription based. Plus it is packed full of high quality characters, assets and features to create a professional product. Another reason I chose to use Cartoon Animator is the amount of readily available body and face motions you have access to. I needed a fast workflow, so to manually keyframe each character was not conducive to my workflow. Cartoon Animator gives the automated option, or the option to customize, which appealed to me.
“It is the ease of use, unlike other software packages I have tried, secondly it is great value for money, not subscription based. Plus it is packed full of high quality characters, assets and features to create a professional product. Another reason I chose to use Cartoon Animator is the amount of readily available body and face motions you have access to. “
Loopie Animate – Cartoon Animator users
Q: Do you have a particular style or design that you prefer working with?
I like to create both cartoon and realistic style scene settings, whether that be a summer, winter, city, or space scene. My content tends to lean to motion based scenes. I think there are a lot of animated characters out there, but there is a lack of animated backgrounds for these characters. Growing up with 80’s cartoons and retro video games there was a great deal of motion which kept my eyes peeled. That has inspired me somewhat to come up with what I create. Motion is the key, it gives the viewer/user an immersive experience.
Q: You have produced a lot of content in such a short time, so you must be having fun. Is the process of creating your content enjoyable and easy?
I find the process of creating characters for Cartoon Animator very smooth. I love the fact that Photopea and After Effects are linked to Cartoon Animator, because without these it would be very time-consuming. The pipeline allows you to go back and forth to edit, and change colours very smoothly. I always like to add expressions to my characters and using the facial puppet tool for customization is fairly a quick process, as Cartoon Animator has a large range of facial emotions to choose from.
I would say once you have become familiar with the Cartoon Animator user interface, it is really simple to use. For me I learn what I need to know for that particular project, so there is no pressure in knowing every feature.
“I would say once you have become familiar with the Cartoon Animator user interface, it is really simple to use. For me I learn what I need to know for that particular project, so there is no pressure in knowing every feature.”
Loopie Animate – Cartoon Animator users
Q: What features of Cartoon Animator do you make the most use of when creating your content? And what are some of your favourite CTA features and tools?
The ability to easily apply a vast range of motions to any character, is one of the main features which beats other cartoon animator packages. Collect clip is also a great feature, because you can build your own set of motions and apply them to other characters… saving heaps of time.
Morph head feature is also a great tool. If time is not on your side you can quickly set up an animated face without the need to draw individual facial features.
Being able to instantly apply 3D animations onto 2D characters, depending on the angle of the character is a practical tool to. This is advanced stuff for 2D animators which I have not seen featured with any other 2D software package. That’s not all! I also added my own motion capture data to my characters using a free mocap software. Although I had to do a lot of cleaning up to get a decent loop, it was worth the time and effort, and once again it shows Cartoon Animator’s capabilities.
And finally I can’t forget the audio sync feature which gives me the ability to create stories, adverts, shorts, and even edit the phonemes to convey a seamless piece.
Q: Now that you have become a content developer for the 2D Marketplace, what advice would you have for other artists and animators who are considering the marketplace for their art?
My advice for potential Reallusion developers is to make sure their product is of high quality, and ask yourself “is it content which I would use”? Can it speed up the animator’s workflow? Is it something original, well it should be, because you are in the field of creation.
If you haven’t already, then join the Cartoon Animator Facebook groups, display your work, pose questions to 2D Community Manager Garry Pye, and other helpful guys and girls in the group who are sure to give you good and honest feedback.
Q: So what can we expect to see from you in the future?
I plan to upload more 2D/3D animated scenes from different angles with additional props to the 2D Marketplace, to give animators an opportunity to create cartoons within Cartoon Animator.
As well as that, I am excited to use the new vector animation tools in CTA5. I admit starting out, a lot of my characters were raster based and therefore not good for close ups, so the vector element is a game changer for those zoom in shots or explainer videos. I have animated vector elements in other software suites, but Cartoon Animator 5 has added spring and bounce which in turn will add to the dynamism and potentially speed up my workflow.
Q: How have you found your time working with Cartoon Animator and learning to use all the tools and features?
I can honestly say that the learning curve for me was quick. Oh yes, I made loads of mistakes at the beginning but that quickly showed what not to do. Also I find that there is a great deal of tutorials on YouTube to assist me should I run into any difficulties. And that fact there is a 2D Marketplace full of ready made assets if I don’t have time to create an asset.
Q: You always seem to be working on something new and exciting. What projects have you most recently been working on?
I have recently started a YouTube channel promoting Physical Education for schools, mainly using Cartoon Animator to produce the bulk of the content. I am very happy with the results and will continue to push the boundaries of Cartoon Animator in this genre.
I have also set up a page for any user who wishes to purchase the scenes in MOV and MP4 formats.
Follow Loopie Animate:
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@loopieanimate/videos
https://youtu.be/pBBb6PLFQjA
2D Marketplace:
https://marketplace.reallusion.com/cartoon-animator/search/loopie
Website:
https://bit.ly/3WxJ05G
YouTube CTA ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWye5uz5EWM
