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Hey guys!

Sorry for the continued delays! The films are coming. We're still getting up our website, making sure everything will go smooth. I can't wait to show you how this film turned out.

If you guys are interested to see what I have been working on, I've got good news. Wanna see how my process works? Well, you're in luck. We just posted a big expose type deal on our blog. Check out Timmy's Christmas:
http://katzenjammerstudios.blogspot.com/
2008/01/timmys-christmas-aka-1-cartoon-8 -days.html

I'll be updating with more stills from new films and process stuff. Sorry I've been gone so long!

TjA: Yup, that's our process!

Triphophiptop: Some of us are still in school, some of us just graduated. We all went to a state school that happened to have the best art program in the state of California.

J1mp: That's contingent on when we can get our website up. Art is easy. HTML and all this web crap is tougher than a Californian desert cactus.

crazerfish50: Naw, he rides a sensitive horse.\

PiGPEN: Thanks for your compliments. Actually, all seven of us are either in school right, or recently graduated. Renegades? Actually, some of us are still trying to get our first entry level jobs, but even more of us are still worrying if we missed anything in our Bio 101 Lab when we were playing hookie to animate our dirty cartoons. Once we get our website up, I hope you buy our silly merchandise so we don't have to get industry jobs : ) We look up to folks like Tom Fulp and the Homestar Runner crew who are able to do it all by themselves with support of fans.

Thanks for all the enthusiasm. I'll see if I can wrassle up some animation previews for you folks!

syco218, TurkeyOnAStick: Thanks!

McJesus: There comes a time in an adults life when they love each other very much...

Another screen for you cowpokes.

HahaBears: Your wish... was... my command.

ShitOnMyShoes: Haha, big'uns. *wink*

McJesus: Whoa there whipppersnapper. You just buckle that lip! Haha.

ZekeySpaceyLizard: No, it's a guide. The center box is title safe, the next is TV safe, and the next is TV cutoff. This film is getting super extra treatment, so it's getting taken into After Effects. The guide is just used for compositing in AE.

Neonyx: Aww shucks. You're a real stand-up guy yourself.

Winned: Thanks! Buck teeth have always been an obsession of mine.

crazerfish50: Actually, the film with the pilot is finished. The film with the cowboys is 95% done. And this one is being started along with a couple of others. We're just kinda sitting on some stuff until we get our domain and website up : )

ZekeySpaceyLizard: Yeah, I use one of those cheap business document scanners (self-feeding) to scan into a program that registers my pegholes. Then I use an old program ADOBE streamline to vectorize the raster graphics. And then I'll color it, do effects in flash usually, and composite in either Flash or After Effects!

McJesus: Thanks McJesus! Yeah, he does make a point. It's good to finish what you start. But often I agree, I get tired of a project so having a couple projects keeps me refreshed when something gets to be bothersome.

Neonyx: Yup, nail on the head!

Thanks for your guys' feedback! It really keeps me juiced! Keep checking back for either more drawings or more animation previews!

Hey pals!

We've got another animation coming down the chute. This one is about Dempsey, the last dodo bird.

You can see part of the pencil test here (lemme know if you can't see it and I'll see if I can work something out):
DEMPSEY PENCIL TEST

What do you guys think?!

Progress to come.

*spur noise*

*tumble weed*

I colored, wrassled, and textured these backgrounds in Photoshop if any of yon cowboys's interested.

I'm back, guns blazing with some new backgrounds and screenshots.

Here's a screengrab! What do you guys think?

idiot-monarch: Well, we're trying to hold off on releasing the films until we get our website up and running. So the films will be done soon, but our website might take a couple weeks.

Akula: Thanks!

ZekeySpaceyLizard: Darn tootin! The director of this short is gainfully employed in the industry, while some others of the Katzenjammer crew are still in school.

Here's another layout for ya'll!

Colored! What's everyone think?!

Another pencil.

Here's that same BG cleaned up and painted in photoshop.

Tianaman, ThePhrozenPhoenix, ExtraTim: Thanks!

Henry-nougat: Mmmm, topping!

elmicah: What'n tarnation are you gettin at?

McJesus: Booya.

theinsanething: Ain't that the truth. If you like Tom and Jerry, check out animator Preston Blair's book. Here's a link: http://www.animationarchive.org/2006/05/
media-preston-blairs-animation-first.htm l

majkas: Aww, shucks. Thanks!

I'm gonna be posting some background stuff today. Here's the initial pencil on paper drawing.

Delta-ForceZero19, Piclownjews, JunkyCow: Aw, shucks. I reckon I'm blushin.

McJesus: Slow as a tumbleweed. Progress might be faster than you expect without sacrificing any quality. I'm darned sure you won't be disappointed.

test-object: Chairs have legs!

Dilarus: Wooo!

Kajenx: I was drinkin Sasparilla all night. It might just be that.

PrinceFlea: I tip my hat to you, sir, for knowin' yer histery. You'ra mighty fine folk.

theinsanething: Well, I do declare. I think this'n here animated picture is gonna be silent. Like Tom and Jerry cartoons, where the animation does the talkin, pardner.

InSaneTK: I promise, it'll be promising.

Hopefully I can get some more artwork up tomorry for you cow-wrastlers.

Then finally, I do the same for reflected light on the front. What's important is that these highlights should help to really wrap around the form. When I have them roughed in, I usually select the highlights and hit smooth a couple times just to make sure they look clean.

I'm a big fan of classical lighting, and I hope to exploit more techniques like this. Of course, this is just a frame of the scene, but you get the general principle of how I pull stuff like this off.

Highlights are on a separate layer. I find the color I want, and then set the layer to a low opacity. As with all the highlights, they will be flickering so the amount of opacity range you have really depends on the scene.

Throw down the character. If you have a dramatic scene and you want these highlights to pop, your character is gonna have to be what professionals call low key (or a low value). It's important not to just take the character and pull the value down, or just take the colors and darken them. It's important that the colors preserve their proper relationships, so that might mean dropping saturations or pumping them up a bit. I dropped the saturation of the pilots helmet and lips because they would've been far too saturated, and pumped up his arms because yellow gets really desaturated at low values. Anyway, I'll do a more labored post later about colors, but it's still important to try to think about these things.

EkkieButt, PopeofDope: Thanks!

More progress. This time, I'm adding highlights to my work. Start with the background, poorly executed in Photoshop because you just learned about textures.

And the diabolical villain! What do you guys think?!

Hey pencil-slingers, I got a little more for you. Here's the character cleaned up a little bit.

Dookiemaister: Thanks! Surely you can't be too cartoony, partner!

ZekeySpaceyLizard, ChillyCheese, mynamewontfitin: Thanks!

Lennaerd: I reckon that this'll turn into one of them thar' cartoon pictures, but a comic strip just isn't a bad idea either!

I reckon this'n here's a galdam electro-puter drawer'n.

Dah gum, y'all! Here's more development art for another short film being produced by us. Here's some drawings on paper of our goofy protagonist, Yokem! What do ya'lls be thankin?

Bird-Man: Hey! It's good to see you again! I appreciated the fan art a while ago. Send me a message or something if you want me to check out some more of your art. I'd love to see it.

TheAutocrat: Thanks! Yeah, Ren and Stimpy is coincidentally a resurrection of the 40's style of animation done by Bob Clampett. If you love Ren and Stimpy, look up some Clampett cartoons. You'll love 'em!

Also, I just wanted to plug another animator that's doing some great work. If you're looking forward to my stuff, David Gemmil is doing similar things. He just released a cartoon, here:

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/39 5463

UGHHHH!

Make your own poop joke caption for this one.

StoneColdSoul: Thanks!

I'm compositing the characters into the BG's now. Masking stuff off that needs to be masked and whatnot. Then I go back and will do effects, reflected light, etc.

What does everything think?