Monday, April 23, 2012

KFP: Secrets of the Masters (2011) Pt. 2/4

Ox is the consummate tactician. By slowing down the action in his mind, he can hyper-analyze his opponent's fighting style, quickly identify a hidden weakness and exploit it through a counter attack. In the final version, he does all this while flying through the air rather than standing still as I have him here.






































19 comments:

  1. This is better than a comic book Toby. Looking forward to the next installment.

    Have you considered a book/ online library of your boards? Or are they property of the company they were created for?

    Leon
    Leondexter.blogspot.com

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    1. I have thought about a book, but I'm not clear on what exactly it would be -- sketchbook, instructional, story, etc. Most of the work posted here is property of DWA or Disney.

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  2. Hello Toby greetings from Brazil. I love your work and I'm loving these small plots of storyboard.
    I know this question has nothing to do with the quality of their work, but I'm curious to know what program you use to draw these storyboards digitally?
    http://liofreitas.blogspot.com.br/

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    1. Saudações para você também. I am drawing on a Wacom Cintiq 21ux, loaded with Adobe Photoshop. This the case both at DreamWorks and Disney. It seems to be the industry standard these days. Disney works on Macs; DreamWorks, PC's.

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  3. Awesome!! The film's followed it exactly! So wonderful Toby! :)

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  4. These are so awesome! I bet this pitch was fun :D

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  5. Toby these are fantastic, as is all your work. Can I possibly request a workflow tutorial in photoshop? I can't find much on the internet regarding that online, it would be great to see how you approach it as I'm trying to switch over to a completely digital workflow.

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    1. Interesting idea -- Sounds kind of involved. I'm not sure how to present that kind of info here in this blog. It could become overly technical -- but I'll give it some thought.

      One suggestion, is that you become proficient at creating "Actions" and assigning them to short-cut keys on your keyboard. I use a lot of custom-made actions in Photoshop to speed up my work flow.

      For instance, when I hit F12, [BANG!] a new story panel is created instantly with black dialogue strip, text layer, transparent drawing layer and a white bg, all at the correct ratio and dpi without my having to think about it.

      There are probably tutorials on YouTube show how to create an action in Photoshop.

      Hope that helps a little. Thanks for the suggestion, Alex.

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    2. Thanks! I never thought of the new panel for some reason, I tried it out, wonderful suggestion. I think most people, myself included, just want to see what actions you have and how you do things quickly, like camera moves, so you can focus on drawing.

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  6. Hey, i was curious but - How do you tackle cartoon backgrounds and curving otherwise straight/uniform structures? I just cant seem to grasp the thought of it. I mean, we need references for certain backgrounds and environmental but to keep it all in check, we need those base perspective rules, but in the end they sometimes render stiff and boring backgrounds.

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    1. Sometimes distortion in BG's is a stylistic choice; a cartoon convention defined be the art director. (Nightmare Before Christmas, i.e.) It's something you learn by doing. Other times the distortion might be the affectation of a lens being applied to a shot. A wide angle lens bends the horizon, distorts around the edges, creates a greater sense of depth, increasing convergence; a telephoto lens flattens the focal plane with little or no distortion, minimizing convergence, etc.

      Lenses add compression and distortion to your perspective tool box. In storyboarding a loose approximation of this is good enough. I'm usually trying to minimize bg's in my shots so as not to distract from the characters.

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  7. it's really great work. Love the line quality and textures

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  8. The boards you've shown on this blog are great. The sequence flows very spontaneously, although It probably took many passes correct? Also, are the final textures and colors done for the studio, or, for your self/exploration? Thanks in advance :)

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    1. Thanks. 2 or 3 passes if I remember correctly. The panels are toned the way I normally do if time allows. A rough pass would not necessarily have any toning, though sometimes I can't help myself.

      Color can sometimes be used to draw the audiences attention to something on screen that is important; or to help the audience distinguish between two similar looking characters. I also use color to add visual punch to special effects, like an explosion for example. Recently I was asked to add color to an entire sequence that was going to be used as presentation piece to a merchandising group, but as a rule color should be used sparingly only as needed.

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  9. I love the way you render the boards. I hope you don't mind me asking? I'd like to ask how you do it? Do you layer each character with it's own gradient pass?

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    1. As a rule characters are on a separate layer. This makes it possible to quickly select and add tone to the character only. Grey marker brushes set on "multiply" and a simulated chinamarker brush are what I use.

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  10. I remember when this was created by you- it was a pleasure having you with us. These are all Fantastic as always!

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  11. Thanks for being open to share your experience.
    Back in the paper flipping days it was like pulling teeth to learn tricks a tips from experienced artists.
    I greatly appreciate all your posts.
    Thanks again

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