Producing Independent 2D Character Animation

Mark Simon founded and owns A&S Animation, Inc., an award-winning cel animation house in Florida and Animatics & Storyboards, Inc., the largest storyboard house in the southern United States, which has provided work on over 1,200 productions. Mark's accomplishments range from being the owner of an award-winning advertising firm, to a syndicated cartoonist, production designer of film, TV, and animations and writing entertainment industry books and lecturing. Having won over 30 animation awards for his efforts, Mark has directed TIMMY'S LESSONS IN NATURE, MY WIFE IS PREGNANT, A MESSAGE FROM GOD, and SUBURBAN CINDERELLA, numerous commercials, training videos and television series special effects. Mark also teaches at the DAVE School (Digital Animation and Visual Effects) located at Universal Studios Orlando. A&S Animation develops and produces animation for commercials, TV, training videos and the web. The A&S team has produced award-winning shorts and commercials, shows for Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, and designed sets and special effects on live-action feature films. Prior to its release, A&S has participated in the development of DigiCel Flipbook Pro, the fastest growing digital ink & paint software in the industry. Mark's animation and storyboarding articles have appeared in various industry magazines and he's the author of STORYBOARDS: MOTION IN ART, 2nd Edition, published by Focal Press. Visit the authors website at www.FunnyToons.tv

FOREWORD by Linda Simensky of Cartoon Network; PREFACE; ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; BEFORE WE GET STARTED; Frame Rate; Time vs. Footage; DPI vs. Pixels; Scenes; File Organization; Tricks of the Trade; Supplies, Hardware, and Software; Production Crew; PRE-PRODUCTION; The In-House Pitch; Character Design; Story and Storyboards; Budget; Crewing Up; Revised Storyboards; Layouts; PRODUCTION; Directing Dialogue; Audio Recording and Editing; Animatics; Animation Breakdowns, Slugging, or Timing; Audio Breakdowns; Assigning Production Work; Key Animation; Rotoscoping; Effects Animation; Pencil Tests; Enhanced Animatics; Backgrounds; Inbetweens; Clean-Ups; Scanning; Digital Ink and Paint; Composite and Export of Individual Layers; Camera Moves and Special Effects; Final Image Composite; POST-PRODUCTION; Title Cards; Credits; Editing; Music and Sound Design; Final Composite with Audio and Output to Tape or Film; WHAT NEXT? Copyright; Festivals; Online; Pitching to a Studio, Network, or Distributor; Portfolio Piece; INTERVIEWS; Craig McCracken; Bill Plympton; Craig "Spike" Decker; Linda Simensky; Rachelle Lewis; Tom Sito; David Fine and Alison Snowden