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Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

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Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

Our show, "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends," is on this month's cover of "Animation Magazine." There is also a multi page article about our show and with the show's creator, Craig McCracken. So happy reading. :)

The Ape

Animated Ape's picture

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

Congratulations!

To Eric, Craig, Lynn, Keith, Grey and everyone at Foster's and Boulder Media Ltd. for their two Punchinella Awards wins at the Cartoons by the Bay festival in Positano, Italy for Best Character (Blooregard Q. Kazoo) and Best Animated Series for All Audiences.

Blahdy blahdy blahdy blahdy blahady...

hey Ape,
there's a posting you might be interested in.
Fosters or flash production pipeline
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=354216

Yeah, Erik. Why would teenagers make a good show?

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Well, to unofficially answer that question, they must have looked at pictures of old Victorian mansions, because I see them in my neighborhood around here before they converted them into multi-function homes for more than one family.

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Well, for -starters-, it's never been -done- before.

*holds in giggles for dear life*

Ape,

I wanted to know if you know a guy named Andre Moore?
This is an awesome picture that he drew.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6184/986/1600/mac%20and%20blue.jpg

Flash !!

Hello everyone,

My first post here, i stumbled across this topic searching for the Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends theme!

I'm a web designer and a bit of a budding animator and when i read that Fosters is created in Flash i was blown away !!!!

I made a 37 second animation in Flasha while back for something i started and it took me 10 straight hours to do !! (if you'd like to see how i wasted 10 hours - check it out here: http://www.jam-factory.com/film/Conquisitor-Visual-WIP.mpg )

Anyways, i just wanted to give props to 'Ape' for the show, it's by far THE best thing on television (im 23 years old and all i watch is cartoons because lets face it, everything else is reality tv crap!)

Anyways, keep up the fantastic work on the funniest animated thing ive seen in along time!!!

Gav

I think you mean done WELL right?

I'm not entirely clear about what you mean Babar, but I'll give it a guess.

You always keep your frame rate at 24fps, or 30 if you want to work at that rate. For slower actions like people just walking you animate on 2's so a new drawing, or key frame in Flash, every two frames. For fast actions like fast runs or fights or walks with a panning BG you animate on one's. So a new Flash keyframe ever frame. I hope that answers you questions, if I even understood them correctly.

Aloha,
the Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

I animate at 25 frames a second which is standard uk pal. When I've sent things to the states I've had to convert to 30 frames a second - luckily After Effects does a good job of this.

I agree on the 2's and 1's thing. it's all down to the action and timing as to which you go for - and sometimes the budget.

http://fuggyfuggy.com/

The Brothers McLeod
[SIZE=2]brothersmcleod.co.uk[/SIZE]

Mah Productions
"The only limitation is the mind."
http://www.mahproductions.com

I only got to see a few blurps of Fosters on Taiwan CN.

It seems like an interesting show. I don't see it that much. I guess it takes a while to translate the show into mandarin.

Mah Productions
"The only limitation is the mind."
http://www.mahproductions.com

Overseas??

Hey Ape,
I've been meaning to ask you this but is any of Fosters done over seas? Because I looked in the credits and it said: "Overseas Animation Studio" or something like that. Is it just parts being done overseas or is some done overseas and some isn't or what?

Spoooze!

Thank you Jam Factory for the kind words, and I'm glad you like our show.

Just to let everyone know, new episodes are starting up again this friday the 11th. We kick off this month with two 11 minute episodes. One entitled "Bloo's Brothers" and the other one is "Sight for Sore Eyes." I belive it airs at 7 pm but check your local listings to make sure. There should be a new episode every Friday this month and they'll re-run episodes next month. Hope you enjoy the show.

Mahalo,
the Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

Oh boy junk email.
I never thought this would show up on this forum.

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Try it now.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6184/986/320/mac%20and%20blue.jpg

If it still doesn't work, go here and look for the picture of Bloo (SP?) and what's his name. I never can remember the kids name.
http://andremoore.blogspot.com/2005/12/122005.html

I can't read Chinese letters.

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Hi, Great show! I may of missed it in previous replies, but what is your job on the show? Is your name in the credits, id look out for it! And can i just ask what Tivo is where someone said they got all the episodes from????

yah gotta use the second link. saw it.

how could you forget his name! its Mac! good ol mac.

"who wouldn't want to make stuff for me? I'm awesome." -Bloo

BTW, Erik, it's "Sweet Stench of Success".

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wont let us see that link!

"who wouldn't want to make stuff for me? I'm awesome." -Bloo

stick to 25 myself. i have rendered stuff in different fps for compression and size issues and the only one that stood out blatantly was the 15fps.

i guess it depends on the quantity of animation. i did animate a limited animtion bit in 25fps and then rendered it at 15 and it looked ok. not too bad.

Yes, Spoozeroo, they do some work at Boulder Media Ltd in Ireland. It just so happens there's an office in LA they communicate with. Their web site is located at http://www.bouldermedia.tv.

Blahdy blahdy blahdy blahdy blahady...

Hi Jim and Buster, I'm glad you guys like our show. Jim, I'm not sure about our merchandizing plans. I know you can get the stuff off the website, but I'm not sure when they will hit the retail stores. Sorry, I just make the stuff move :D

As for the new season, they are currently showing the second season now. They are stagering it though, so it's a month of new shows, then repeats for a month, then new shows, and so on. This month are repeats though. I don't know when season three will start to air. Not for a while though.

Sorry Buster, don't know where you could find a pic of Bloo air guitaring. It's good to see Foster's hold the interest of highschool kids too. Enjoy.

Mahalo,
the Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

Okay, thank you :D

Spoooze!

not bad, but not really attractive

Great work Ape i must say This has even reached high school girls, and even a few of the guys i might add.

My friend Jacklyn came to school monday excited about this show and every time a new episode airs im sure to hear something about it come class.

I am greatly inspired to work harder in flash after learning that Flash is the choice of LA animators aswell as many cartoon network animators.

Currently i am working towards animation as my career, any advice you could give a young animator?

As they say on Dora The Explorer...
"De nada!"

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Thanks for the info, Eric. Can't wait for the new eps in May, I think.

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I think I was being sarcastic.

I'm an animation student that just graduated and i have to say, this show makes me glad to be an animator. It is imo the greatest cartoon(if not the greatest show) on TV right now. It's consistantly funny every episode, and Bloo, Edwardo, and Frankie are really great characters. (Bloo's my favorite) And i love the moments in the show when everybodies just frantically running around for whatever reason. I also love that the show is done in flash but still retains a traditional look to it.

They had that spring break marathon on cartoon network and i was in heaven. (i set my alarm to watch every morning)

I was wondering how you guys go about coming up with the storys and jokes for each episode. Do you guys just have a bunch of genius writers or does the whole studio contribute?

http://ben-reynolds.com
Animation and Design

Why would you animate at 25 fps then export it at 15fps? Why don't you just animate it at 15 fps and save yourself the work?

Aloha,
the Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

You know, I started to say that the monster with the horns reminded me of Monster's Inc.

Teenage Show

i love Fosters. i think its a great but i think Craig McCracken should do a show based on teenagers because i think it will make a great show. :) What Do you guys think?

Message By Echi Echi :D :) :) :cool:

Visit My new album website

My Gallery of My Characters, My Toons, My Life

So, the folks at Cartoon Network in the UK got a surprise yesterday (4/29) when they aired "My So-Called Wife". What is up with that?

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I export at 15 for mobile content

The Brothers McLeod
[SIZE=2]brothersmcleod.co.uk[/SIZE]

Just thought I'ld join just to say how great the show is. cant believe its all done on flash. Here are some other great flash animaitions. http://www.tgsnt.com/tgsnt_II/pca/

forgive me if they've already been posted.

My name is Erik Girndt, and I'm one of the 10 animators at our Burbank studio.

TiVo is a digital recording thing, so instead of taping shows to a vhs tape, it records it on a computer hard drive, so you can view it when ever you want. But the shows need to air in your area first.

Aloha,
the Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

Actually I'm not to sure how they came up with the Foster's mansion fosterslover. It is based off of old Victorian houses like BlooJim said, but I don't know if it's based off of any one house in particular. Craig McCracken who created the show, along with our show's art director, Mike Moon, as well as others came with the whole look of our show, character design, backgrounds, color stuff like that. I'm just responsible making the characters act and move.

Which brings me to the second question from Spoooze! Yes about half of the episodes are animated by Boulder Media in Ireland. The preproduction work is done here at the Burbank Studio and is then sent to Boulder for animation, pretty much the same way all american TV animation has been done since the 70's.

Aloha,
the Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

Hi acetate, congratulations on graduating. That's awesome. I take it by your name you're a 3D animator?

I'm really glad you like our show, and thanks for all the complements. As for how we come up with the stories... genius writers. We have a writing staff that write all the scripts and gags first. Some stuff is added or deleted in the storyboard phase. We actually had a big story-brainstorming session a while back where everyone on the staff was invited to toss out ideas for up coming shows. They weren't very detailed, just little ideas, or senarios or even just titles. It was a really fun experience. For the most part though, the writers write, the animators animate and the blue bird sings in the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room. :D

I hope that helps you out some. I'm glad you like Bloo, he's my favorite character to animate, and I work with him a lot.

Aloha,
the Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

IMHO, that'd be a longshot.

Blahdy blahdy blahdy blahdy blahady...

Why would you animate at 25 fps then export it at 15fps? Why don't you just animate it at 15 fps and save yourself the work?

Aloha,
the Ape

:p

maybe i wasnt clear. its meant for cinematic broadcast and tv. but i compressed it down to distribute on handhelds and over the web and it worked at 15fps.

I dare say he's becoming the star of the show if he wasn't before. He's got the Daffy Duck charm: I am a self-centered arse but I'm not an evil villain; I am simply totally invested in my own model of the world, a world in which my behavior is considered appropriate. So not really an anti-hero...his personality is too strong. Maybe an anti-villain? lol Somewhere inbetween? If you ever meet the voice actor, he really impresses me; do me a favor and shake his hand for me vicariously...

Ahhhhhhh. Gotcha.

Mahalo,
the Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

Awesome lil show you've got there, Ape... :D ... Congrats!

Good 'ol creative 2D is hard to find now-a-days. Keep it alive, brutha.

*Rubs paddles together*.... CLEAR!!... *PZZzzz!*

KA-POW!!

Hi Blink, like Skinny said, I'm no longer on "Foster's." I'm now at Renegade Animation animating on "Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi," but my friends on Foster's say they're still humming along on seasons three and four.

As for the differences, Renegade has a heavier production schedual so we have a higher quota to get done. Also Puffy is writen in seven minute episodes instead of 22 minutes so I'm sometimes animating on two episodes a week.

Aloha,
the Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

im not sure if this is inappropriate to ask but how does it differ in terms of approach? i.e. the way the two approach the work?

Why would teenagers make a great show echi?

Aloha,
the Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

I didn't think of the Daffy Duck thing Scattered. Thats really cool, I love Daffy. A lot of people like Bloo because he basicaly is Mac's Id, and Mac is the superego. Bloo does and says the first thing that comes to his mind. Everything is about him. He is everything that Mac isn't. Confident, outspoken, overbearing and selfish. And who doesn't want to be those things, or at least some of them. I'm not really any of those things, well except for maybe being selfish, but I get to be those things everytime I animate him, so I try to have as much fun with it as possible. Most of the time I block in the key poses with him, then step back and push those poses even further. The way I figure, the reserved me is doing the first version, then I push to pose past what I'm comfortable with and that gives Bloo his over the topness. Any way, rambling.

Aloha,
the Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

sweet geebus

i simply cannot believe that this thread is still going. :eek:

Not all that different Skinny. The pipeline and process if basicly the same. The only bigish difference is that on "Foster's" all the animation was directed by Craig McCracken, and Animation Director Craig Kellman. The new animation Director is now Lauren Faust. Where as on "Puffy," the storyboarders are the directors of their own episodes, so we have about four different directors with slightly different styles. Then the overall head honcho Darrell Van Citters has the final say on how it all looks so that the look doesn't stray to much from episode to episode.

Aloha,
the Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

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