Introducing the ground-breaking book - Making Indie Anime: Secrets of the Pros Revealed

Think of your favorite anime or cartoon.  Have you ever wondered, “How do they do that?” or “I wonder if I could do that?”  In his ground-breaking book, Making Indie Anime: Secrets of the Pros Revealed, Frank Freeman takes an in-depth look at just how Anime and American animation is made.  He speaks to the reader in a do it yourself how-to style.  He refers to the reader as an independent animator or indie animator.  The book shows the step by step process of how the animation production pipeline works from start to finish and explains all the details inbetween.
What will be learned?

• Readers are introduced to anime and the animation style of cel shading.
• He discuses why one would pursue indie anime and introduces the reader to successful indie anime projects.  There is also a spotlight on leading voices in the indie anime industry.
• Next, he gets into how animation is made and starts to define its steps.
• A large part of this book has been devoted to storytelling which includes scriptwriting, Character development, planning, setting up scenes, the software used to write scripts, storyboard theory, setting up shots, creating anime worlds and making the Animatic.
• Then, an overview of the tools of the trade from pencils, pens, and ruler to advanced graphic software like Photoshop, Lightwave, Anime Studio Pro, Google Sketchup, eon-Vue, City Engine, Adobe After Effects and more.
• Drawing and coloring is discussed and the principles of composition are featured as well as how to plan a drawing, how to design a character, color models, model sheets, creating backgrounds and matte paintings, as well as lighting and atmosphere.
• Modern modeling and which modeler to use can be a difficult subject.  He uses Lightwave to break down the key elements of modeling, morph targets and rigging with bones.
• He shows common processes of animating in 3D applications.
• Cel shading and rendering is defined.  He breaks down the difference between cel shaders and the Node Editor.  He discusses what a cel render is by testing the Node Editor’s output.
• The book then moves on to post production covering sound and voice-over, music, special effects, and finalizing the film.
• In the final chapter called Marketing and Distribution, the reader is introduced to modern marketing concepts in a Web 2.0 Internet world.  He shows how to get the word out with topics like web hosting, squeeze pages, web galleries, web stores, keyword search tools, social media, blogging, and Facebook.  Next, he moves on to concepts of building traffic with topics of using concept art, creating a movie trailer, list building, email marketing, article marketing, creating popular threads on forums, Google Adwords, search engine optimization, and writing a successful press release.
• The final section covers delivery and distribution options.  He defines retail distribution which is the most common method of distributing your product and its pitfalls.  Later, he introduces new popular indie methods of distribution like print on demand and digital downloads.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in how anime is made and for someone who may be interested in making animations themselves.  Frank Freeman’s step by step approach to introducing sometimes complex concepts is a bonus to anyone’s reading enjoyment and learning experience.  It shows readers just how to produce anime, how to bring characters and scenes to life, how to market a film with little or no capital, and finally, how to successfully distribute your film.

Frank Freeman is a freelance artist, trainer and CEO of Artistic Gurus, Inc. a training company that focuses on how-to videos in the 2D, 3D, Traditional Arts, Comics, Anime and Manga fields. http://www.artisticgurus.com/ or http://www.rentartvideos.com/

Hope is Fading – Orphan Sunday : AnimationHope is Fading – Orphan Sunday : Animation

This is such a great video!  Not only do I have a heart for the orphan but I just love the way this animated short was made.  This powerful three minute video promo for Orphan Sunday shares the story of a young girl waiting in an orphanage, hoping someone will come and choose her.  This was a very creative way to promote a cause.

Allan Rosenow’s artistic direction adds drama to the already heart-breaking subject. In a post, he states that he used Toon Boom Animate for the animations, he painted the backgrounds in Corel Painter, the camera moves and lighting were done in Adobe After Effects and he recorded the music in Logic Express.
Frank Freeman is a freelance artist, trainer and CEO of Artistic Gurus, Inc. a rental company that focuses on how-to videos in the 2D, 3D, Traditional Arts, Comics, and Manga fields. Rent today from http://www.artisticgurus.com/ or visit the Artistic Gurus Blog at http://www.rentartvideos.com/

Now, Artists Can Rent Art How-to Videos at a Fraction of the Retail Cost

New Colorado company rents training videos on cutting edge technologies in the creative arts fields of 3D, animation, directing, FX, drawing, painting, comics, Anime, and Manga. Creative programs like Maya, Photoshop, Lightwave, 3D Studio Max, and Modo are advancing in the arts and animation industries by enabling professional and amateur artists the ability to create professional quality compositions. Artistic Gurus gives artists the opportunity to learn from leading professionals in the art and animation fields for a fraction of the retail cost.

Greeley, CO (PRWEB) November 23, 2010

Artistic Gurus, Inc. is the largest rental service for artistic software and traditional arts training videos. It was recently started to fill a need for fast, low-priced and reliable training for creative individuals. Artistic Gurus has an industry focus on the creative fields of drawing, painting, sculpting, graphic arts, digital imaging and animation. Customers can rent art videos to further their knowledge or supplement formal education.

In today’s world, software continues to advance and change at ever-increasing rates in the art fields. Artistic Gurus provides a solution to help the creative individual achieve success by staying in the know with the cutting-edge artistic software applications. Customers can rent art videos for training in various categories such as 3D Digital Art, 2D Digital Art, FX, Storytelling, drawing, painting, sculpting, graphic arts, Comics, Anime, and Manga. Each training video is produced by industry professionals. Customers will find some of the most popular trainings on software like Photoshop, Maya, 3D Studio Max, Lightwave 3D, and Modo at a fraction of the retail cost. Customers will have access to industry leading concepts in the Comic Book, Storyboarding, Digital FX, Film, and Character Animation trades. The training resources found here can supplement or complement formal training.

From seasoned professional artists to Indies or hobbyists, Artistic Gurus offers a wide variety of art training videos at every level of educational need. “I started Artistic Gurus as a low-cost, time-efficient solution for artists to rent art videos and learn what they want when they want it”, says Frank Freeman, CEO of Artistic Gurus, Inc. “As an artist, I’ve used many of these videos myself and value them as a very powerful means of learning complicated subjects.” “Our goal is that this business will assist others in the evolution of their artistic abilities.”

Artistic Gurus, Inc. founded in 2010 and based in Greeley, Colorado is the number one source of hard to find and easy to rent artistic demonstration videos. They provide a vast selection of traditional art videos, 2D videos like Photoshop, and 3D videos that teach Maya, Lightwave, Modo, and 3D Studio Max concepts to Creative individuals. Videos can be rented in one week increments. You can then decide to continue to rent or go to the vendor to purchase the video for further use and reference.

"I have a passion for art and where new artistically inspired software applications can take us"

For more information, please visit http://www.artisticgurus.com/ or contact Artistic Gurus, Inc., Frank Freeman (company founder) at (888) 572-5580 or email to ArtisticGurus (at) yahoo (dot) com

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