User Stories

Adam Proctor

Second Language (2008)

Animation always seemed a closed door to me as a career in the early 1990's, but as the digital revolution surged forward I started using some of the emerging tools.
I had been experimenting with Flash but found it's scope somewhat limiting. Then in 2002 I stumbled across a little program called 'Moho' - an early incarnation of Anime Studio. I was intrigued by the ability to animate with bones and the use of depth & camera animation that Moho allowed. The interface and work flow were all new to me, but after persevering into the small hours with various experiments, I could see more and more creative possibilities opening up for me.

The first major project I undertook was a short film for my local education authority.
I made 'Second Language' (above) by modeling characters in Anime Studio based on the real children I interviewed.
The basic backgrounds were made in Photoshop, but everything else was done in Anime Studio. The ability to create and animate distinct, multi-layered characters and then import them into the master scene was far more than I expected from a budget-priced piece of software.

Now I'm working as a freelance animator and filmmaker, I use Anime Studio chiefly for character animation. I tend to create my backgrounds in Photoshop and assemble the lot in After Effects.

The Lotte Reiniger inspired 'an underwater tale' was made using this method. It was originally an advert for a waterfront shopping mall in Edinburgh, but I released a longer, non-commercial version as I had to fit in so many store logos into the original. Given the tight time and budget, Anime Studio was perfectly suited to emulate shadow puppet style animation.

an underwater tale... (2009)

I continue to rely on Anime Studio for character animation. I find it so flexible that I can usually figure out a way to get it to behave and do what I want - if not then a quick scout around the friendly forum will usually see me right. Nine years since first discovering Anime Studio, it still remains at the heart of my creative process.

Recent work

Found: factorycraft - seismic (2011)