Scribble Kibble is a show about animation.
You want to watch something awesome?
Let’s watch something awesome.
Go here.
Once again proving that animations made in order to graduate from college are the best.
Really.
Watching this is like watching the inner workings of an artist’s mind.
Maybe you know what I’m talking about - how you can hear a piece of music and, even if
you’ve never heard the music before, create a story-based animated video in your head
as the song unfolds.
Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this.
Spirit Chaser is made by Karl “pajackinthebox” in TVPaint.
I can’t promise the backgrounds and the editing are the same program because other
artists did those parts, but the animation itself is TVPaint.
What gives it away are the textured lines scattered throughout the characters.
Instead of pure solid colors with no outlines, textured lines define parts you wouldn’t
otherwise see, like the arm, mouth, and fingers.
Now, you can make lines that look like this in other animation programs, but it’s far
easier to do in TVPaint.
I find the choice to use solid lines for the eyes interesting - actually so interesting
that I went and asked for the story.
Karl says that in some of the original character designs he used the textured lines the same
way you see here, except also on the eyes.
But… the eyes didn’t pop very much.
He tried the solid lines and viola, the eyes stand out a lot better.
Eyes are very expressive parts of characters, so most of the time in animation you want
to make sure they stand out instead of just blending into the colors and lines around
them.
Take some time to appreciate all of the work that goes into animating these lightning paths
in a way that makes it look natural.
Effects animation is a bit different from character animation.
In order to do it well you need both a good sense of how nature moves AND a taste for
invention.
A lot of invention goes into effects.
It’s easy to look up pictures of foxes.
Good luck finding a real world reference for an electric smoke explosion.
Uuurgh, I just love everything about this animation.
It has the rising action, the point of downfall, and then the redemption.
Woo!
Everything you need for a nice clean story arc.
What’s amazing is animator Karl also made the music and the music is dang good.
I wouldn’t have expected it to be made by the same person.
The nice thing about this is the song is made for the animation without the extra step of
explaining to a musician what needs to happen.
Musicians make music for animations all the time with awesome results, but there’s always
going to be that slight disconnect between the vision the animator has and how the musician
interprets that vision.
Or vice versa.
Spirit Chaser is a pure combination of animation and music.
That’s why you feel such a strong connection between the two when you watch it.
The sound design is also really nice.
Those are the sound effects and the noises you hear that fill the white space.
And that’s by Ryan Meadows.
I enjoy pointing out the different crew members it takes to make an animation.
While I’m on that subject if you check the thank you section you’ll notice video game
characters like Jak and Daxter, Spyro, Master Chief, hahaha.
Spirit Chaser does feel like it could be a video game.
Main character, companion character, nemesis.
I’d play it if it were a game.
Alright, that’s a wrap.
If you liked the music from the animation, there’s a link to a brand new set of music
tracks by Karl below.
So what about you?
Are you ready to fight your inner demons?
Oh, you were just waiting for me to say something about this part, weren’t you.
Bad.
Go home!