Just in Time for the Holidays - New Book is Now Live!

 Here it is. The Cartoon Production Resource Guide is now live!

Do you or someone you know likes to draw? Would you like to create your own cartoon characters?

Have you thought about creating your own comic book? Need help with storytelling? Into animation? Want to know the shortcuts to get better quality and to work faster? What about pro drawing tips, background creation techniques, and pose reference?

Whether you are a beginner, semi-pro, or professional artist, this book is for you. 
200 + Top Resources for students, artists, animators, and comic creators. Get it here!

If you are a musician, producer, multimedia artist, or songwriter looking for resources to help with your creations or productivity, then check out the Audio Production Resource Guide.  400 + Top Resources! Get it here!

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Is Film School Really Necessary?

How Did top Tier Directors Do It + Free Resources






Is film school really necessary? Let me preface this question with a statement. It would depend on the kind of learner you are. If you prefer being mentored and like things laid out for you, the answer is yes. If you are a self-starter with some knowledge and are ready to jump in with both feet to get hands-on, you may decide another route.

To the following directors; Quentin Tarantino, Chris Nolan, James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Akira Kurosawa, Stanley Kubrick, Wes Anderson, Roberto Rodriguez, and the Wachowskis, the answer would be no. So how did these people mentioned do it? They got behind a camera and worked hard at it until they got better, learning from their mistakes along the way.  Also, being able to dissect and analyze an existing piece of work with a supercritical eye is another key to success.

“Trying to make a film yourself with no money is the best film school you can do.” Quentin Tarantino


"You’re never going to learn something as profoundly as when it’s purely out of curiosity" Chris Nolan


“The best thing that young filmmakers can do is to get a camera and make a movie of any kind” Stanley Kubrick


“All you have to do is pick up a camera and start shooting with the intention of making a film, and your a filmmaker"  James Cameron

Not to knock film school too harshly; there are some advantages. You get to work with good equipment and receive mentoring from experienced people. If your instructors have contacts/leads in the industry, that could be an industry entry point, if you prove yourself.  But hey, film school is not cheap. The cost you would spend could pay for your own sweet gear or would cover your budget for your first 2 low budget movies. 


So what are some options?  Masterclass, Udemy, Skillshare, Indie Film Hustle.com, Lynda.com / LinkedIn Learning and others are a much cheaper alternative to the traditional film school method,  but the better option may be to create your own custom learning program at no cost. How would you do this?


The best approach would be to get a listing of curriculum/content covered by accredited top tier schools such as USC, UCLA, NYU, or Cal Arts, and use that as your personal learning guide. With this list assembled, get your own resources from the internet. There are plenty of solid YouTube videos on techniques and equipment, as well as resources like videomaker.com, and creativecow.com.

Check out 7 more educational resources (see the free PDF below).

Vet your resources carefully and note in your search if the person has actual experience, for how long, what they have done, and if their work is pro quality. If using YouTube as a resource, also check the number of views, reviews, and the likes to dislike ratio too.


Another thing to try would be to research top directors, cinematographers, lighting, audio, and other technical film people in the industry, to see if they have any interviews, tips, tricks, or tutorials where they discuss their craft. You would be amazed at some of the stuff that is out there.

Equipment / Software

Obviously, if you can afford top of the line gear and software, then the sky is the limit. However, if you are on a shoestring, you will need to watch that budget. Most vendors usually carry new and used equipment. Compare prices to see who has the most bang for the buck and compare that with the prices for renting. Do you really need that big state-of-the-art camera or will a simple DSLR do the trick? Don’t forget eBay and Craigslist as well but make sure to vet these folks as well by checking ratings and positive/negative reviews. If possible, borrow from a good friend if they have suitable gear. Also, note that the video quality from cell phones are quite good these days too. 


If Avid, Adobe Premiere or Final Cut is cost-prohibitive check out the 4 of the free open source  editing programs (see the free PDF below).


All that is required is a decent PC or Mac and some well-composed cinematography.
For creative inspiration I highly recommend these 5 books as well (see the free PDF below).


Hopefully, with your newfound knowledge and gear, you can put your skills to the test and create something truly wonderful. The important thing is to keep filming, practicing learning as you go, and getting better. Soak in as many aspects as you can of the filmmaking process and don't forget to analyze really good films to see what makes them tick.



Click here for your free PDF on Film School Alternate Resources to get you up to speed.

Check out this article with even more resources:
So You're Thinking about Filmmaking?


Subscribe above so you don't miss any future posts. Share this post with your friends.

Enjoy!

2D to 3D Animation Techniques

Here is a behind the scenes, sneak peak at how Netflix Animation and SPA Studios solved the problem of how to get the 3D look on 2D hand-drawn animation. Wow! A must see.

NetFlix - Klaus: Getting 2D to Look 3D - ( video courtesy of Movies Insider)

This link describes how to merge 2D with 3D animation, and has a nice historic flashback with movies that have attempted this.

How to Merge 2D with 3D - (video courtesy of  Howard Wimshurst)


Here is a video tutorial on creating 2D animation in Blender with Grease Pencil



2D Animation in Grease Pencil - (video courtesy of  Blender Developers) 


Want more? Check out these links here:

2D to 3D Animation Software

2D to 3D Animation Software Part II


Let me know what you think about these resources. You can reach me a jon@tripleadude.com.
Better yet, subscribe and not miss any cool post.

Enjoy!

Character Types Will Make Or Break Your Story

The characters will make or break your story. Maybe you have heard this saying before.
It's true. Having the right character at the right moment in your story will keep your storytelling seamless, further engage your audience and keep them engrossed until the very end.

Conversely, having the wrong character will have your audience questioning your logic, grind your story to a full stop, and have them move on to something else. The downside is they may never give you a second chance. You've got to get it right the first time.

Here are 7 of the typical character archetypes:

A well-crafted story will use just enough character types necessary to get maximum impact with no fluff. Certain genres may rely more on certain character types than others.

A good exercise is to take your favorite movie and do an analysis to see which categories the characters fall into.

Want more tips? Check out these below:

The Secrets to Overcoming Writer's Block
Overcoming Writer's Block Part II
The Top Ten Tips When Writing for the Entertainment Medium
Types of Story and Why it Matters
The Importance of Plot and Subplot

Do you find these tips helpful? Subscribe to get the latest cool posts.
Leave me a comment if you like at jon@tripleadude.com.

Share with your friends and enjoy!

The Secrets to Overcoming Writer’s Block.

In the article, Top Ten Tips When Writing for the Entertainment Medium,
we discussed 10 sure-fire ways to get you motivated and to jumpstart a successful writing experience. I hope you found them interesting and useful. 

As promised on #8, Discover the secrets to overcome writer’s block, I could not do this topic justice in just a blurb. So here we go. 

What is writer’s block?
Have you ever sat down to write and the white screen or page makes your mind go blank. This happens to everyone more often than you think. What if I were to tell you there are at least 3 ways to overcome this problem if you find yourself in this situation. We are going to assume that you are writing a narrative with characters and situations, but the techniques below can also be modified for non-fiction categories as well.

Have you heard of the Tagline, What if or Can, and the One to Two Sentence Scenario. These are all shortcuts to get you writing immediately even if you have writer's block. Let’s start with the Tagline.

The Tagline:
Think of a catchphrase that captures the essence of your story. Usually, it expresses a theme/plot or main action in your story. You typically either see this flashed onscreen or hear it said in a movie trailer.

Some examples:

• In space, no one can hear you scream.

• Two men; a thousand bullets.

• They were 7 and they fought like 700.

• You will never go into the water again.

• You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.

• One ring to rule them all.

Take a moment, relax your mind, and think of some interesting taglines. Here is what I came up with:

• Mind over dark matter.

• The ultimate warrior has met his match.

• Man versus machine in the afterlife.

• A one-way ticket to nowhere.

What If or Can:
Take a statement and use “what if” or “can” in front. This creates another unique variation on the tagline. You may find some of the examples very familiar.

Examples:

• What if an asteroid 30 miles long hit the earth?

• What if a gun had a soul?

• What if machines became smarter than man?

• Can a young boy with psychic powers save the earth from destruction?

• Can an ogre find the love of his dreams when rescuing a beautiful princess?

• Can a Kung-fu master defeat a steel-plated android?

• What if you could travel at the speed of thought?

• What if you could live forever?

• They say we only use 10% of our brain capacity. What if you had instant access to the other 90%

The One-Two Sentence Scenario:
Can you encapsulate your idea in one to two sentences? With most good ideas you can. This is the main element that drives your story. You might recognize some of these examples.

Examples:

• An average boy must defeat the jock at the sports competition to win the girl of his dreams.

• A man accidentally acquires the power of a spider

• A teen race car driver must face-off with an evil millionaire in the race of death.

• Insects outwit humans in a battle for survival.

• A computer virus saves the world from destruction.

• A celestial phenomenon makes a man super smart.

Now that you have a start point for your idea, what is next? You will need to flesh out the concept with more info. A good story requires who, what, when where, how, and why. A fiction narrative requires a beginning, middle, and end (3 act structure), a hero and villain, the inciting incident/conflict that gets the story in motion, and some kind of resolution that causes the hero to change.

Below is an example of a worksheet breakdown using the What-if or Can approach. It was complete in the classroom by students in under an hour.
Asks the right questions, then find the answers. Flesh out the rest.

What if there is life on Mars?

What type of life?
A micro-organism. It’s deadly to humans and spreads rapidly.

When is the story taking place?
In the future.

Type of genre?
Science Fiction / Horror.

Setting?
A space station orbiting Mars.

What are the characters?
A brilliant scientist (hero)
His female assistant (possible love interest)
An evil general (villain)
A team of covert –ops

The military has discovered a micro-organism on Mars that, if injected into a human host gives you super strength and telekinetic powers. The downside is that it destroys the host within three months. A brilliant scientist uncovers the plot thanks to help from his assistant.

Conflict: They must outwit the evil general and his team of covert-ops who have been injected with the organism.

Resolution: Do they win or lose?
They win.

How?
The scientist creates an anti-virus serum.

What change does the hero go through?
The scientist who was pro-military has a change of heart when the evil general infects his assistant. The assistant who was envious of the scientist's mental prowess must rely on his intelligence and her own wits to stay alive.

At this point, it is just a matter of getting the sequence of events in the right order for maximum impact. Hopefully, these techniques will help you create some unique ideas of your own. For non-fiction creators, you could generate ideas from your life, the experience of others, articles /news topics, or historic events using the same techniques.

Please respond to this post if you have some tips that we have missed or had feedback you would like to share. We would love to hear from you. If you liked this, stay tuned for more to come.

Want more tips? Check out these below
Overcoming Writer's Block Part II
The Top Ten Tips When Writing for the Entertainment Medium
Types of Story and Why it Matters
Character Types Will Make Or Break Your Story
The Importance of Plot and Subplot

Enjoy!

Top Ten Tips When Writing for the Entertainment Medium

If you happened to have read Content Creation & Ownership: Keys to the Entertainment Kingdom, you now know the following: The reasons why entertainment companies are consolidating and buying up what they can, and the importance of content creation and ownership.

With the COVID pandemic in the mix, these companies have consolidated even further and switched to streaming platforms to make up for losses in closed movie theaters and other venues. The irony is that the playing field has somewhat leveled between all the players. The size of the company is no longer much of a concern as to how interesting and popular your content is.

So the question to all you creatives out there is this. How does this impact you? Well, if you love to write, know how to tell compelling stories with interesting characters, and have knowledge of genre’s and what is acceptable, you are well on your way to writing for the entertainment medium. Bear in mind, you can write and sell to a third party or if you are technically savvy, you can also write and produce for yourself.

How many times have you watched a movie / TV show, read a book or comic, and predicted the outcome way before the end? Was that piece of entertainment satisfying and well written? Was it just a poor rehash of the same old thing? Do you think you could have done a better job? Could you have come up with a better story, with more interesting and engaging characters and situations? If you answered yes to the last three questions, you have the motivation to proceed.

Below is a list of top ten tips when writing for the entertainment medium. I preface this list with the following statements. Writing is an art that takes practice and dedication. The more writing you do, the better you become, and the easier it gets. Put in the time and you will see the rewards.

1. Know your niche/genre.
   What genre are you writing for? Is there a subgenre that might appeal more to you? What are the story conventions/rules for this subject matter? If you don’t know you are doomed to fail

2. Read/watch good work and analyze it.
   Who are the top people creating in that genre? What techniques do they employ? Can you incorporate these techniques with your story?

3. Write every chance you get.
   Take what you learn and practice, practice, practice! Keep what is working and edit or rework what is not. A quick tip: if an incident in your story is not providing either critical information, action, or motivational backstory, take it out. Storytelling is always about forward motion.

4. Know how to conceptualize visually.
   Storytelling not only has the literary component but has a visual component as well. It doesn’t hurt to learn a little about visual composition and camera angles. Some writers see the story visually in their heads; in terms of shots like a screenplay. If that is the case, the conversion of your story to a visual medium will be made much easier if you write with that intent. Tell the story by actions of the character.

5. Get feedback (especially from your target audience).
   Once you have a section done get feedback from people into that genre. Post a sneak peek and see what happens. Ask for comments and suggestions. If the feedback is mostly good, you are golden. If not, and you trust the source, revamp, or fix what is wrong.

6. Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone.
   We all tend to default to what we think we know as a safety factor. However, you never know what might trigger your next big idea. Expose yourself to things outside your comfort zone and you will build interesting pathways to new ideas and points of view.

7. Try genre bashing.
   One thing smart creators can do is this. If a genre seems worn and dated, selectively incorporate a second genre and see what happens. An example would be Game of Thrones. We have all read and seen stories similar to Lord of the Rings, where powerful, corrupt, and evil factions set out to overrun humanity and dragons persist. But, what if we were to take the zombie apocalypse and throw it into the mix? Boom. White Walkers! Sound familiar, Game of Thrones fans?

8. Discover the secrets to overcome writer’s block.
   Tips #6 and 7 are a good start. Have you heard of the Tagline, What if or Can, and the One to Two Sentence Scenario. More on this here.

9. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel just improve upon it.
   Take what you know, and what works and do it better. Add your spin or a personal touch to it.

10. Do background research on the top people to see what they went through.
    Not can you also learn by analyzing what the best in the field do, but it is also a good idea to see what they went through to become the best. By reading interviews or background info on these top people, there might be life lessons you can incorporate into your life journey that will improve the learning curve to your success.

I hope you find these tips helpful. Please respond to this post if you have some tips that we have missed or had feedback you would like to share.

Want more? Please check out these articles: 
The Secrets to Overcoming Writer's Block
Overcoming Writer's Block Part II
Character types Will Make Or Break Your Story
Types of Story and Why it Matters
The Importance of Plot and Subplot

Stay tuned for more to come.

Enjoy.

Free Orchestral Instruments for Music Creation & Scoring

Most of us musicians are always on the look out for good sounding orchestral libraries. Even better if they are free. I came across the links here that sound awesome. Check them out:

Free Orchestral VST Libraries (Top List) - Video sound comparison by Mikael Baggstrom

1 - Labs by Spitfire Audio

2- The Free Orchestra by Project Sam

3 - Layers by Orchestral Tools


What sounds like your favorite from the list? 
Shoot me a comment and tell me what you think.


More on Project SAM - Video by Guy Michelmore

More on Layers - Video by Alex Moukala


If you have some money to burn for an orchestral library check out this list here:
World Best Orchestral VST Libraries


Want more info like this?
Check out The Audio Production Resource Guide available on Amazon

Subscribe now to our blog and don't miss future posts like this.

Types of Story & Why it Matters.

Storytelling for entertainment is all about the escape from our everyday world and experiencing a different point of view which is something new and exciting. These techniques translate to books, movies, comics, the web, and more. This is an art-form we are really needing these days. So how do we begin?

Story Types

When teaching idea creation in a storytelling class a very important topic we discuss right off the bat is story types. One of the first things to determine is the kind of story you are writing. Why? The story type will dictate the structure. How many kinds of stories are there? If you were to give this a number what would you say? Maybe 5, 7, or 12 kinds of story? What if we were to remove genre out of the equation? What then? Believe it or not, there are really only two kinds of story and it is a throwback to the ancient Greeks: Comedy and Tragedy (which we normally recast as drama). Regardless of story genre, including fiction/non-fiction, whatever we write will be either funny or serious. The reason why this is important is that the structure for these two types is totally different.

Comedy

Comedy plays out the worst in human nature for laughs. Take any sitcom and you will see that they set up a premise at the very beginning of the story, and based on the character archetype and relationships, they have a string of gags that play out based on that premise. Usually, a character says or does something, and a chain of events (gags) ensue based on that initial incident. Check out popular long-running shows like Big Bang Theory, Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens, and Two and a Half Men and you can see this in action. Short sketch comedy like Saturday Night Live works this way too. Drama however is a totally different animal.

Drama

In a drama, we have what is known as 3 act structure. You must have a beginning, middle, and end. We also call this the setup, confrontation, and resolution.

Act I: Setup

The setup involves the introduction of the characters, their story world, and some kind of "inciting incident,” typically a conflict that propels us into the second act. It’s usually the first 20-30 minutes of a film.

Act II: Confrontation or Build

The middle of your story should raise the stakes, you want the audience to keep

watching. This is the main chunk of the story and often leads us to the worst possible

thing that can happen to the character.

Act III: Resolution or Payoff

And the end should bring some kind of catharsis or resolution, (regardless if the ending

is happy or sad)  

You usually have a protagonist (hero) and an antagonist (villain) who square off by the end of act II with an outcome or resolution in act III. There is in most cases, an obstacle that the hero must overcome, and a point of no return (plot point) at the end of act I and act II, that forces the hero to take action. Storytelling is about forward motion. Another important point is that unlike your villain, a hero goes through some type of change and is different by the end of the story. Syd Field covers this extensively in his book, “ Screenplay, the Foundations of Screenwriting", which is a must-read! Knowledge about the typical character types and the importance of subplot is key to getting maximum impact from your storytelling. 


Thinking Outside The Box

If you follow the structure you can succeed in just about any genre. Note that even in a non-fiction environment, like a DIY or self-improvement story, you can successfully use a 3 act structure and still have it work. How about using the comedic structure for your next top ten list or reasons why you should or shouldn't do something. Game developers; think of the obstacles and rising conflicts in your act structure as goals, mission or quests for your player (which happens to be the main character). If you are not using structure properly in the case of these two types of storytelling there is a good chance your story will fail.

Did you like this article? Leave a comment for me at jon@tripleadude.com.
Check these out as well:

Secrets to Overcoming Writer's Block
Overcoming Writer's Block Part II
Top Ten Tips When Writing for the Entertainment Medium
Character Types Will Make Or Break your Story
The Importance of Plot and Subplot
   
Want more? Subscribe now and stay in the loop for great posts.

Please check out our previous post on:  Keys to the Entertainment Kingdom

Video Editing and Compositing Online Course

Videomaker website is offering a course on advanced video editing for members.

The full overview link is here. Membership is as low as 2.50 a month.

Two sections of the course are free to non members: The Art of Editing, and Compositing. Click on these and check them out.

Check out some more cool free stuff here:
Free Stuff for the Holidays VI

Best wishes and enjoy!

3 Things to Help You Stay Positive

Here are 3 things that you can do to help stay positive.


1. Take a breath and give thanks!

If you and the family are ok, practice safe social distancing and be thankful.

2. Be connected and show courtesy and empathy!

Social distancing is just physical distancing. A phone call, skype or facetime can make all the difference to someone who may feel or be alone. See how friends an family are doing.  Get what you need from the store but don't horde. Be polite and respectful. We are all in this together. How we treat each other will determine if we can make it through this crisis.

3. Be creative & think outside the box!
 
Use this time constructively to look within. Where do you see yourself moving forward? Where would you like to be? What would you like to do? This may be the perfect time to reinvent yourself or work on your personal development journey. Make a to-do list like this..


- Work on improving on your art skills and transition to using an electronic drawing tablet. Update the art portfolio.

- Get a handle on that piece of software you always wanted to use but had no time to explore. Check out using open source software instead of spending money on the subscriptionware.

- Looking into online classes to bone up on your skill set. Note that if you don't need credits for college, classes can be free.

- Organize your current computer. Update the old desktop / laptop. Set up a space for working remotely. Clear out the clutter of the things you don't need to maximize your space.

- Start writing that story you had on the backburner. Design the comic book idea you never got around to.

-  Analyze your favorite films and try creating your own. Do character designs / storyboards for that film project you always wanted to do.

- Do sound design experimentation with VST synths and effects plugin's

- Listen to some new music to get inspiration. Open up that DAW and create some cool new music.  Record some tracks and post to Soundcloud. Is this the start of an album concept? 


The sky is the limit. Be creative, be safe and remember that this is a new chapter unfolding in your life journey. Stay positive, create and see where it takes you. Best  wishes.


Here are some resources to get you started - 

Drawing and Character Design:

Being a Better Artist ,  Artistic Inspiration Links Part I  &  Part II,

Top 30 Drawing Tutorials,  Clean Line Art Techniques,

Bucci Character Design I,   Bucci Character Design II,
Character Design Drawing Tips,  Our Pinterest Page



Online Courses / Programming:

Students - Studio Code.org,  Khan Academy

Adults - Free Course Listings,   Coursera,   EDX.org


Tech & Business Resources



Storyboard & Storytelling:

Visual Composition & Storyboarding,  Pixar's 22 rules of Storytelling,

Ridley Scott on Storyboarding,  Visual Development Tips From Sony Pictures Animation,

Storytelling and Productivity Mind Hacks



Comic Creation:

Comic Creation Resources Part I,   Part II,   Part III,

Disney's Comic Art Tips



Filmmaking:

85 Movies Filmmakers Need to Know,  Videomaker Short Filmmaking Course (free),

Brad Bird Cinematography Techniques



Software:

Animation, art and film editing software (free)


Music creation / Audio:

Audio Resources,  10 Tips for Writing Better Music

Top Comic Creation Resources Part III

We had so much more info that we had to do a round three on this.

Backgrounds

Thanks to the internet, sites like Google Images and Pinterest, make finding references for backgrounds quite easy. Type what you are looking for and you have it in an instant. The one cool tool you may not have heard of using is Google SketchUp.






Google SketchUp allows you to extrude shapes like walls and also bring in 3d models from their library, which you can then position and view from any angle. You can create an interior or exterior environment and position the POV and use that as your background reference; in essence, you have your own custom virtual background creator! You can do a virtual walkthroughs if you like as well too.





Freddie Williams II explained the SketchUp process in In the book “ The DC Guide to Drawing Comics Digitally”.  A neat tidbit; Google Sketch up has both free and pay versions. Get it here: https://www.sketchup.com/ and give it a try.



Below are some YouTube links that take you through the process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ3tTAwPKrs
SketchUp for Comics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHrCFd3uBwo
Making Comic Book Backgrounds in SketchUp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwdEogxg9HI
SketchUp for Comic Set-Up






Character and Pose Reference - Top 5

Character and pose reference can also be found on Google and Pinterest but for some more precise offerings try these go-to sites. Note that these sites feature the nude body for anatomic drawing purposes.

          

https://fineart.sk/ - features photo reference for comic artist,  examples from Andrew Loomis, environmental textures and more.



https://line-of-action.com/ - figure drawing, animals, hand &feet, faces and expressions, scenes and environmentals

http://reference.sketchdaily.net/en - full body, body part, animal, structure and vegetation. You can choose time interval if you want to do drawing drills.

                  




         

https://www.quickposes.com/en - a similar site for timed drills using photo reference or stylistic reference

http://www.characterdesigns.com/ - photo reference nude and non nude, costume and people /event reference.

Speed Comicking

Did not know that this was a thing. Ryan Estrada wrote a great article on speed comicking, and goes through all the phases from writing to finish. His techniques/hacks actually will get you to create much faster and includes suggestions on software.  A definite must see!

https://medium.com/artist-advice/speed-comicking-c4ef2eb4c29b

Digital Inking Tips

Clean Line Art Techniques - The guys from Bam Animation show clean line art techniques. A must see for people using Wacom like drawing tablets.

Perspective Grids

Creating and using Perspective Grids   - YouTube  tutorial on perspective grids and compositional tips from the Bam Animation guys.


Printable Paper. Net - Free printable perspective grids in PDF format

Lettering

Todd Klien’s site -  Covers the basics for hand lettering, logo design, and balloon placement.
Select your topic on the right side.

Lettering do’s and don’ts - This link from ComicCraft shows you the classic do's and don'ts.

Font Creation – Are you brave enough to create your own fonts?  Then tackle this link.

Lettering terminology - This sites covers anything you need to know about lettering terminology.

Legal and Business

The Creators Resources has all kinds of good business info like page rates, copyright , contracts, portfolio tips and more.



Creators Resource Guide to Kickstarter - A how-to on getting a buzz going on Kickstarter.

Ballontales Full Process - Making a comic book from start to finish; the Astro City comic process.

Want more resources? Get a copy
of our book here.

Cartoon Production Resource Guide

200 Top Resources for Artists and Comic Creators

Related Posts:

Top Comic Creation Resources Part II,     Top Comic Creation Resources Part I,

30 Top Drawing Tutorials,     Apps for Artists,  Virtual Manikin - 6 Apps for Artists, 

Character Design Links,   5 Steps to Character Design




What have we missed?

Reply to jon@tripleadude.com.
Enjoy and subscribe for more great posts.


And coming soon: Writing for Entertainment.

Best wishes

Oscar Win - Best Animated Short: Hair Love & Richard Williams in Memoriam

Former NFL wide receiver, Matt Cherry won an Oscar last night for his animated short film, "Hair Love". Cherry wrote and directed the short which centers around an African American Father attempting to style his young daughter's hair for the first time. Check out the entertaining and poignant short here.


Back in 2016, Cherry put out a call for artists, claiming he had an idea for an "Oscar Worthy short film". Cherry created a Kickstarter campaign to get started, which had an initail goal of $75,000 and went on to raise over $300,000 -- the most ever for a short film project on the fundraising site. In March of 2019, Sony Pictures acquired the short film and released it a year later.
Way to go Matt !!

Also in memoriam, Richard Williams, animator extraordinaire, was mentioned at the Oscars as well. He will be greatly missed. Here is a clip looking back at his process.