Independent Animator Improves Animation Productivity
A Toon Boom Animation & Wacom User Story
Professional Animators Need to Develop Animations Quickly
As a professional artist with extensive experience in 2D animation, James Bradrick has enjoyed great success in all
aspects of animation from film to video game production. As an independent illustrator and animator specializing in
character animation, James needs to develop animations quickly since well drawn animation is always very labor intensive.
The Key is to Streamline Resource Intensive Animation Processes
- The key for any animator is to develop high quality animations fast. High-performing animation studios from a wide
range of multimedia sectors are not able to easily streamline resource intensive processes for developing animations.
Many animation systems used to create and develop animations are costly and inefficient, often requiring additional tools
and resources to complete a production.
Best In Class Animation Solutions for Design and Production
In building a business, James Bradrick understands the importance of adopting the right tools and technology for
animation design and production. For developing animations, James adopted Toon Boom Studio, a leading animation software
solution for professional animators, hobbyists and schools. The software product is based on Emmy® award winning technology
and offers users a complete solution for developing high quality animations for all types of applications, including film,
television, video, web, games, mobile devices and training applications. The software is available in Microsoft Windows
and Apple’s Mac OS X platforms.
- “The most cost-effective solution for developing high quality animations quickly is Toon Boom Studio,” said James. “My
favorite features are the camera-oriented staging functions that include three viewpoint options—top, side and camera. As
a way of arranging and manipulating artwork I think this is way superior to other applications, and it’s easy to make
incremental adjustments. As an animator who draws, I also like the onionskin functions and the rotating drawing disk
feature with its instant response and vector image technology that improves versatility and reuse of assets.”
- James also uses a Wacom 12x12 Intuos 2 tablet (model XD-1212-U). “As an animator and graphic artist whose work is
drawing based, I naturally find the pencil-like Wacom stylus to be a very good tool for use with applications like
Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and Toon Boom Studio,” said James. “I still use the mouse frequently in other applications,
but when I do it is a Wacom 3-button mouse. It gives me PC style convenience even in applications like Maya which have a lot
of right-click and center-click functions. With the Wacom tablet, stylus and 3-button mouse, I have the best of both worlds.”
James Bradrick Improves Animation Productivity
- James trained himself on Toon Boom Studio and learned a lot about the animation production process. “I can develop all
types of animations, from the most economical limited animation to full character animation,” said James. “With Toon Boom
Studio, new users can easily learn how to scan, import or draw characters, apply animation and sound, and export to other
applications.”
“A few years ago, I was supervising animator for a video called NFL Backyard Basics, in which we combined live action of
NFL football stars with cartoons,” said James. “It was a hurry-up project with a limited budget, but I put together a good
team with great equipment and brought it in on time and under budget”.
- “I am proud of the quality of my work. As an animator I am completely self-taught but feel a great affinity for the old
studio cartoons of the 40’s and have tried to learn as much as possible about traditional techniques and working methods.
With Toon Boom Studio, I experience productivity gains and I expect that curve to continue. The software application has
some unique features that are very strong. It also shortcuts a lot of the drudge work and actually makes it possible for
one person to do it all. I recommend it to anyone wanting to create animation with the accent on drawing.”
For more information visit James Bradrick Animation and Illustration at www.bradrick.com
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