Fri 19th Aug 2011, by Meleah Maynard | productfocus
Motion comics have been evolving since they emerged as a new type of entertainment more than a decade ago and Ian Kirby has been involved since the beginning. In fact, Wikipedia calls Broken Saints, a Flash-based animated film series released in 2001 that Kirby made in his parents’ basement with a couple of friends over three years, "one of the earliest examples" of motion comics. What is a motion comic? Utilizing a variety of techniques, a motion comic takes an existing comic book property and re-imagines it as an animated film.
Armed with a combination of 2D and 3D animation, visual effects, creative editing, direction, original music and voice talent, the creative possibilities for motion comics are virtually unlimited. Kirby is proving that today with Sequence—his Vancouver-based design and animation company. Sequence still makes motion comics, but their clientele has grown to include heavy hitters like Warner Bros. and Disney (among others). Having moved beyond Flash, they now rely on Adobe After Effects for 2D animation and MAXON’s CINEMA 4D for 3D animation.
Sequence used CINEMA 4D for several key Red Riding Hood scenes. To populate the forest, tree illustrations were placed on hundreds of 2D cards in the C4D scene.
Sequence’s latest project is a prequel episode to Warner Bros. feature film Red Riding Hood. Entitled Red Riding Hood: The Tale Begins, it combines live action and advanced motion comic animation. “The line between motion comics and traditional animation is almost indistinguishable with this project,” explains Kirby, adding that the animation style was very unique. “It's a fluid painterly animation with 3D walk cycles, full lip assignment and complex particle systems.”
C4D was used in several key scenes, including a dramatic pull back through a dense forest. Painted still imagery was projected onto the 3D geometry of the cabin to give it a texture and feel that integrated seamlessly with the 2D animation. Illustrated trees were then placed on hundreds of 2D cards in the C4D scene to populate the forest. As the camera pulls back through the forest, atmospheric depth and particle systems bring the scene to life.