Forum member StayGold97 scored a short interview with a former Toonami and Brand New School artist who worked on the first Saturday night incarnation of the block. He helped with designing the Clyde models, among other things. Sadly he asked us not to mention his name, so we’ll do just that. Below is the interview:

What was the design process of things like the bug-clydes? How did they go from idea to the TV?

You usually get a client brief on what they are looking for. In this case they wanted a refresh of TOM and crew. We came up with the idea that TOM goes out to different planets and scans for shows for Toonami and the Clydes would be the ones doing the dirty work for TOM. We wanted to emulate those movies with space ships or probes entering the atmosphere of planets, so we came up with a probe like Clyde. I was responsible for drawing out designs of the Clydes along with another more talented designer. My designs were more mechanical and functional like a robot built by NASA. I took the time to show how it would transform upon entry into the atmosphere. The other designer created Clydes with more character too them and looked like the final designs of the Clydes, but they lacked the functionality. The clients wanted the designs combined with the character of the bug design and the functionality of the ones I drew. I solved this by modeling the Clydes out like the second design while playing around with how they’ll fold and transform. We made two versions of the Clydes, the mini bug ones with just arms and the 4 legged ones that go down to the surface and scan for content. SARA was a little more straight forward. I drew a couple designs but they all had similarly digital make up to them. The only change was that we give her smaller breasts.

Were there ideas you were interested in trying, such as new characters, that didn’t make it to the end?

We had a lot of ideas that didn’t make it. It was mainly a budgetary and scheduling limitation that we had to scrap a lot of it. Seeing that it was 6 years ago, a lot of the companies I worked for were small boutiques and with limited infrastructure to render out CG. Brand New School was no exception, so we had to optimize and pick and choose the ideas that were doable. Originally we had designs for a complete refresh of the cockpit as well as TOM. I started modeling a new TOM that coincidentally looked very similar to the one on your site (he means NeoToonami’s TOM5, designed by thehiddenice). I wish I had the old render so I can show you. We had to scrap all that. SARA had a lot more particles around her and she wasn’t quite as solid as the final CG. The particles should have been more dynamics too, but a lot the team including me were pretty fresh out of college and that was the best we could do in that time frame. So we mainly concentrated on the new Clydes and created a new editing room for the opening and planet surface for the opening and close of Toonami. I forgot to mention that we had to deliver a Teaser Promo, Opening, Close, Bumpers, and more Promos for the Toonami refresh package. There were a lot of late nights, but I think it was slightly because of our inexperience. If I were to work on the same thing now I think it would be a lot more efficient.

What computer software did you use/would recommend?

I work in the motion graphics field so for 3D programs Maya is mainly used, and Cinema 4D comes in second. C4D may even be growing in use because they made implemented features in C4D that makes it easier to export out your renders into an After Effects scene for comp (more automated and streamlined.) This makes it easy for designers who are mainly 2D to translate their concepts into 3D faster. I started out using 3D Studio Max, but I found it hard to find work and had to learn Maya on the job. For Toonami I kind of fumbled through Maya and learned it during the project. We had to use Maya because the past Toonami was done in Maya and all the assets were in Maya. We did make later Toonami promos in 3D Studio Max. So I would recommend Maya for 3D since most mograph studios use it as well as the big movie studios. I use After Effects for compositing since most mograph places uses it, but many places uses Nuke or Fusion. Those seem to be more vfx oriented.

Did you have any interest in Toonami before you started work on it?

Actually I was a Toonami noob when I started working on Toonami. I didn’t have cable so I never really watched Cartoon Network.

What kind of advice would you give someone who wanted to have a similar career as yours?

I am considered a 3D generalist in my field. So I dabble in almost the whole process a project from design to modeling, animating, lighting and render. I composite my own work a lot of the times. If you want to be like me, I think you would have to try and learn as much as you can on the 3D program of your choice, but I suggest Maya. Learn animation basics even if you are not a character animator. It really helps on other kinds of animation because you’ll have an understanding of timing and weighting. Get some compositing knowledge as well with programs like After Effects or Nuke. If you can get some practice on a Flame machine, go for it. Flame artists make big $$$. I guess the more you know the better. Big vfx and feature film studios require you to be more specialized though as you’ll probably be required to hunker down to one role. For example if you are a modeler that is all you be doing. If you were a lighter, you would only be responsible for setting up lights in a scene and maybe setting up the renders. If that’s what you want to do then I say make a reel that really caters to that role and show your strengths in it. That’s my really general advice for you. I think new students are coming out of school way more advance than I was when I graduated. That’s a plus for you too.

Well I hope that helps and didn’t drag on too much. Good luck with your Toonami project and school.

I must say that was a really good and informative interview. I especially loved the advice question and answer. Thank you StayGold97 for conducting the interview and thank you [insert name here] for taking the time out to answer some questions!

Also, if you’re new to NeoToonami, be sure to join the forums! When the front page is not being updated, rest assured there is something going on in the forums! Join the forums! Forums, forums, forums!

-Zipper

A week ago I attended Florida Supercon with some friends. It was my first time attending a convention and it was certainly an interesting experience. From the huge hall filled with vendors and anime, sc-fi, and geek merchandise to the video games and panels with members of the industry, to meeting and talking to my fellow con goers it was all worth the drive and sore feet by the end of the day. So if there’s a convention going on somewhere near you, I highly recommend you gather up your friends, bring a camera and some spare change, and check it out. Click the picture the picture above for a glimpse (including a blurry pic of Dana Snyder) into my experience and visit Florida Supercon’s website for more pictures and information.

-omni

Peace, Omni

1) All posts in the blog section, EXCEPT THIS ONE, will be closed to comments.
2) If you have any suggestions about how to better moderate comments, please post them as a comment under this article. We are particularly interested in using a system similar to Youtube where users must sign in to post comments or MacRumors.com where all posts are automatically made into a forum thread.
3) The About NeoToonami page will remain open to comments and be devoted to public feedback and discussion.

Please understand that we are taking these steps in order to improve the site while preserving our audience’s right to free speech, and welcome any input that can help us reach this goal.

-Zipper

It may be small milestone, but that’s still a lot of people keeping up with us! Just 5,000 more until we overtake CN! Stay tuned!

Well the script went over better than I expected, so now the review has moved into the recording phase and is in the hands our voice actors and audio engineers/editors. There’s really no telling how long this step will take so stay tuned.

In the meantime, stop by the forums and check out the latest concepts for SARA and the interior of the new, post any questions or feedback you may have, and gets some insight from the people working to bring this project to life.

Keep the faith and your eyes peeled,
Omni

-omni

According to a Toonzone report from Nickelodeon’s 2010 Upfront, DragonBall Kai (to be known in the US as DragonBall Z Kai), the recent re-edit of popular former Toonami series DragonBall Z, is scheduled to premiere on the Nicktoons network in May of 2010. This comes as a surprise to many as the DragonBall franchise’s best-known home is Cartoon Network. Perhaps this shouldn’t come as a surprise, however, as Cartoon Network is a constantly changing brand over the last several years, and anime has not been much of a part in it. First was Naruto packing its bags and moving its next installment, Shippuden, over to Disney XD. Now one of the most popular anime of all time moves to rival network Nicktoons. The landscape has certainly changed.

As for information about DragonBall Kai itself; Kai is a re-edit of the DragonBall Z TV series that cuts out most of the “filler” and follows more closely to the original manga source. The picture has been remastered, some frames have been re-colored and fixed (such has the strange colors Vegeta had when he was first introduced in the series), and some content has been edited (no more bare Goku or Gohan if you know what I mean; some violence and blood has also been edited). The series has new music, and the original Japanese cast (well, most of them anyway) have returned to re-record their lines. So overall Kai is a new DBZ experience for modern fans or fans who did not like the filler of the original show. As for the US dub of Kai, most of the US cast is also returning, aside from the voice of Gohan who will be re-cast.

American DVD and Blu-ray releases are also scheduled for May 2010.

-Zipper

Recently it was brought to our attention (the administrators of the site), that we aren’t doing as much as we could to let people know what’s going on with the project behind the scenes and recruiting new help. With that in mind, we have started a new thread in the forums dedicated to keeping everyone up-to-date with the different aspects of the project.

Whether you’re about whether that new character model is finished, or you want to find out who to talk to about putting your skills to work for the project, all the info on what’s going on under the hood can be found here: http://www.neotoonami.com/forums/index.php?topic=72.msg624.

Keep creating, and we’ll see you on the forums.
-omnivarious