I then finished it up by adding some extra effects over the transition using Toon Boom Harmony nodes. This helped to breach the gap between the two shots. To go in between them, I made an extra background with a motion blur that I painted. I made the two shots, and then merged them. The motion transition between the 2nd and 3rd shot was something I decided on last minute. I created the backgrounds with their own foregrounds and backgrounds. Using the export layout function of Storyboard Pro, I was able to get the sizing of the backgrounds that I wanted. I started by making a storyboard for the scene. To make this little system super easy, I created a base rig where it was all already built in so I don’t have to create the node structure over and over again! What was your technique for making layered backgrounds, and then creating motion transitions between them? This way you can easily give your characters that little bit extra. But their output composite is separated from the rest of the rig, which makes it possible to put them through a blending-node, or a colour-override node. Because the textures are connected to the elements I previously created, they follow the movement of the animation. I masked the 2nd node with the 1st one, and started drawing textures on the underlay-art. Each element has 2 drawing nodes: Number 1, which just shows the base element which is drawn on the first three art layers and number 2, which only shows the underlay-art. So I used the art-layers within a drawing node. I wanted to create the textures after animating, and I wanted to take advantage of the drawings I had already made within my rig. What tools did you use to achieve this look, and how did you go about using them? The characters in the scene have such subtle lighting and textures. I drew them out, and then connected them all with pegs to make the hierarchy. I used a very basic cut-out rig, but that’s because it does the job! First I made a sketch of the characters, and then I made drawing nodes for every element that I wanted to have separated. What was your process for rigging the cut out animation characters in this scene? This helped me to have the most control over the movement of the birds as they swoop into the yard. I created a separate peg for the rotating motion of the pigeons. The pigeons move from up to down, and that motion is one peg. I used pegs to differentiate the types of motion of the pigeons. How did you approach using pegs to animate these flying pigeons? The scene opens with a swooping camera motion that follows several cut-out pigeons as they fly down into a yard. Pegs allow artists to quickly move and animate a drawing or elements in a scene. Since this is a cutout scene with pegs and drawing nodes, this was definitely the feature I used the most for this project. I also find it’s great for keeping your project neat and organized. I love how intuitive it is, enabling you to connect your different nodes. In fact, I do almost everything within the node view.
What Harmony features did you most rely on to create this animation? Were there any new features that stood out to you in particular? It is super handy for when you need at least 6 stovetops to make all the different rijsttafel dishes! Grandma and Grandad sadly passed away, but we honor them by continuing to cook and eat rijsttafel together as a family. And when I later moved out, my mom gave me a rice cooker. So when I was 18, I received my own booklet of family recipes from my aunt. Traditionally, families will pass down their rijsttafel recipes from generation to generation. My grandmother brought this tradition to us in The Netherlands, from her Indonesian culture. A rijsttafel is a traditional Indonesian meal that includes lots of different dishes that are shared.
Rijsttafel literally translates to ‘rice table.’ It’s the meal that I drew in the last shot of the scene. That memory is what inspired the opening of the scene! You titled your scene Rijsttafel. And at the end of the day, we would get called inside to sit down with the family to eat. He had this little tin can with food and when he shook it, all the birds would come flying. My grandad always had pigeons in the garden, and he would feed them together with me, my sister and my cousins. It’s actually my childhood that inspired this scene! My grandmother was from Indonesia, and we used to go to her house to have these big family meals. In 10 seconds, your scene tells a story of multiple generations of family sitting down for a shared meal.
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