Methamortey Original Anime!

[Sparmactro]

Hi, Im making an Anime proyect. We are just making the basics now. http://www.methamortey.frih.net You will find there some animation tests, the characters details, original OST test and sketching. The page is in spanish, but you can go this way:

Personajes = Characters
Video = Same! You must click on OVA, in the submenu to watch the animation test. XD
Soundtrack = Same! XD
Bocetos = Sketching

If you want to help us, we need backgrounds, hand made backgrounds, you can send me an email to sparmactro@hotmail.com and we will chat. :D Ç

If somebody can give me some tips to make this, would be glad!

Thx!

[SlackerDude]

cool, cool ^_^, but you also need to practice a bit more, otherwise you'll end up making something like ranma 1/2 ..... *shiver*

[Sparmactro]

Ok, no problem. What we need more, is backgrounds. We don`t know how to make them :S we tried 3d, watercolor, or photohop, but we are not very skilled like doing it for an anime,

[SlackerDude]

Well, it's not that complicated, really .. you don't need 3D rendering or Photoshop or all that hoo-ha, just practice in pencil on doing landscapes and buildings or rooms with furniture and stuff - look at the things arownd you and just copy them .. when you feel like you got better then move on drawing them from your imagination, and then cover the pencil lineart in ink .. or you could just use Photoshop or Manga Studio 3.0 to speed things up since your working on online manga, your choiche
anyway the key element is tons of practice, every day even ^_^
so ... good luck with your project^_^

[Shiroiyuki]

Well for backgrounds, you should sketch them out like SlackerDude suggested, and ink them then paint.

I've done them on illustration board before, and on canvas (when I tried acrylic), watercolor paper (for watercolor), and 135lbs paper before. It's not hard to do them by hand, you just need to know what medium you want to make the background art with and use paper/material suitable for your choice. What is difficult is getting the angle/perspective that you want. Really practice doing this--go outside and look at buildings/objects from different perspectives. Sketch out these things, really look at them and get a feel for how they appear from different angles. This is the best way to learn how to do backgrounds.

I'm not a pro at making backgrounds yet, but I suggest starting out small. Try making little thumbnail versions of what you want--practicing the techniques on little scraps/test paper before going large scale. You need to figure out perspective and scale (depending on how you wish your characters to appear next to the background. Could be an overhead shot, a low angle, an eye level background, or just a general 'setting shot' background). Anything that will be moving/changing--such as clouds, objects the characters interact with, or other things--should be drawn out separately from the background artwork (so that you can move them/change them without effecting the background artwork).

I can't read Spanish, so I am assuming you will be making 'cel art' via the computer? The style of your artwork suggests that. You could try making backgrounds with the help of whatever program you are using for coloring your characters. I use Photoshop when doing digital artwork. I have never attempted making background artwork using Photoshop, but I'm sure it works the same way as anything else.

Start out with a sketch, ink that sketch, scan in...and color. Well, that is what I do--since I don't have a tablet, and I like working with my hands (and paper and pencil/pen). Hmmm....I almost think doing it with the computer would take longer than with traditional means, but that is just because I am not a computer wiz. You might have an easier time working with this media, who knows ^_^.

You will need different background artwork for different angles/times of the day/perspectives/camera shots. I know someone who does cel artwork for animations (not anime per se), who does ONE background art piece, and uses it throughout the entire animation. This looks okay for say, Bugs Bunny, where the camera angle/perspective never changes....but for more complex animation, you really should avoid using one background for all shots.

My computer is rather slow, so I didn't even bother trying to download your animation test...meaning I don't really know what style your characters are in. I saw the picture at the top of the main sight, and it looks like the anime will be light-hearted in nature. You should make background art that meshes well with your characters. In this case, loose looking 'vague' backgrounds would probably work--meaning backgrounds that generalize buildings, trees, landscapes, etc without getting too detailed/precise. You don't want realistic backgrounds if your characters are stylized and 'loose' looking. Just the same as realistic-looking characters would appear funny next to backgrounds made for Bugs Bunny. Really try and mesh your characters with their backgrounds.

Hmmm...long winded post. Hopefully it made sense and you can get something out of it :P.