User Stories

Fernando Leal

How long have you been using Anime Studio?
I started using Anime Studio three years ago. A director friend of mine bought it for me.

What software did you use before Anime Studio?
I used Freehand and Photoshop to draw and animate in After Effects. I studied Maya for a couple of years, so I was into 3D as well before Anime Studio.

I still use Freehand for drawing vectors, but now I draw a lot using with Anime Studio. I still do backgrounds with Photoshop and I do the animation with Anime Studio. I do the compositing and post in After Effects and edit with Final Cut.

Do you listen to music while you create your art?
I love music when I work. It takes me places. Especially since I don't really plan my work. I have an overall idea of what I want to create, but I leave a lot to improv and music helps me creating images and sets the mood. I love post punk stuff like The Cure, Sisters of Mercy or Wire, but I listen to a wide range of styles depending on my mood at the time being. I also love Marillion, Radiohead, Interpol and Black Angels.

What was your first experience with Anime Studio?
I was blown away with its simplicity and wide range of tools. My first impression was that Anime Studio should be much more expensive for what it had to offer.

The first project I worked on with Anime was a video I did for the rock band Marillion. I won a first place prize for the video, but those were my early days with the software. I look at it now and there are parts I don't really like. It has been a huge learning curve for me with Anime. I'm getting better at it after a few years.

What was your inspiration for Don't Give It Up?
When I was back at college I did a Valentine's Day poster with a big tattooed heart with the legend "How much pain do these tattooed images of yours inflict in this heart." A couple of years ago I started writing a story about a cupid that created tattoos in lover's hearts for a short film but never really finished it. When I listened to Deep River Running's song, everything made perfect sense. The cupid story was to be told.

What work are you most proud of using Anime Studio?
Don't Give It Up is my masterpiece to this day and Anime Studio proved to be a very versatile and powerful ally in achieving this.

What is one of your favorite features of Anime Studio?
It has to be the bones.

Can you give an example of how Anime Studio made a project go smoothly?
Well I'm not sure 'smooth' would be the word, but I can certainly tell you that it helps a lot when facing deadlines. You see, the thing with Anime Studio is that it can be as fast or slow as you need it to be. That I've learned. Sometimes fast is not the best because beautiful things happen within the small details. But you can achieve great things in a fast and simple manner as well.

Where can we see more of your work?
You can see my work on my blog and Vimeo.