Behind the Scenes: Dinomation

Everyone knows the world famous Nick Walks the Dinosaur animation short "Dinomation," but how do the wizards in Hollywood actual make an instant classic like that. All it takes is the will, some know how and a pinch of Disney imitation brand magic!

When animating first the artist draws a sketch of his characters:



The he uses those sketches as a starting point and make several more based on this sketch to create the illusion of movement:




Then he draws individual "cells" that will show the different parts of the movement. Here's an example of a bunch of cells layered on top of each other, you can start to see what the motion will be:




After he completes his cells, he lays out the order and pacing of the animation:



Finally he hands a mess of files over to his friend and say, "Make it look like these guys are dancing, you worthless bastard!" And two days later, Animagic is made!

Watch "Dinomation," again, for the first time in brilliant, exactly the same quality as you saw it the first time, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWoCRaX-NMw

or here:

http://nickwalksthedinosaur.blogspot.com/2009/10/dinomation.html