Kays Al-Atrakchi of Sound “O” Rama composing the original score for Lesson 3.

Digital Performer music composition screen from a commercial. Music by Sound “O” Rama and production by A&S Animation, Inc.

Lesson 3 had professionally produced original music. Kays Al-Atrakchi of Sound “O” Rama wrote and composed the music using the music composing software, Digital Performer [MOTU]. We would sit down together and watch the animation while listening to his music. I made comments on the feelings I wanted to portray and where I felt the important beats were, and he also made suggestions as to what he thought would work best. He adjusted his music to rise and fall along with the action. Using Digital Performer, Kayswould lay in all the instruments, one at a time, using his piano keyboard. The software captured the music and allowed him to edit the music in any way he wanted. He then exported the music as a digital file to be edited in with the other sound effects.

The remaining chapter describes creating the sound effects and adding the music and sounds to the final edit. To learn about other topics, check out Producing Independent 2D Character Animation, published by Focal Press. It can be bought at any bookstore or online.

Producing Independent 2D Character Animation: Making and Selling a Short Film, by Mark Simon. Burlington, Massachusetts: Focal Press, 2003. 432 pages. ISBN: 0-240-80513-5.

Mark Simon founded and owns A&S Animation, Inc., an award-winning cel animation house in Florida, which develops and produces character animation for commercials, TV, training videos and the Web. He also owns Animatics & Storyboards, Inc., the largest storyboard house in the southern United States, which has provided work on more than 1,200 productions. Mark’s accomplishments include owning an award-winning advertising firm, being a syndicated cartoonist, production designer of film and TV, writing entertainment industry books and lecturing on both animation and storyboards. Winning more than 30 animation awards for his efforts, Mark has directed Timmy’s Lessons In Nature (which he sold as a TV series), My Wife Is Pregnant, numerous commercials, training videos and television series special effects.