In my opinion….the reason why toon boom is useful and prevalent due to it includes significant amount of functions that can make complicated animations. In other words, it’s a quite challenging software to learn, but it's worth it!

I draw each frame by myself and next time I want to rig my other character and make walking cycle animation!!

it's a complicated mood. In this project, time will be my enemy if I didn't organize my time in right way.

Therefore, I counted my SFX , BG and Layout in very detail.For example, my BG in the final film includes 18 pieces. SFX has 33 in total...

Then, I plan to draw 6 BG each month, and go through to making flim process in May.

Hope I could finish it successfully!

And I want to make similar dynamic style in my scene one ( The clown walking and pulling the big circus camp) But I still thinking about its Key pose.

Memoir of a snail makes me laugh,cry as well as motivate my heart. The team took over 130000 photos in the animation and made 7000 puppets. It's incredible!! I can feel their passion of animation, and I have more energy to make my final film!

In addition, When we watching the film, the sounds in not loud enough, so I had to listen really carefully, act like taking IELTS english listening test...

Today I only spent four hours to accomplish Cookie's walking cycle!

The only challenge is that I can't use peg, curve bone smoothly...

Cause I thought my original storyboard of this clip is too normal.

I changed the angle of the scene because I think this angle could train my skill of drawing perspective, furthermore, it could improve the visual tension.

However the light I adjust always not fit to my concept art enough. So I finally render a right perspective image and redraw it in procreate.

It's complicated and tiring but I think if my puppet works, I can save a lot of time to make animation

1. I tried clear alignment guides but not work.

2. I checked the Guide and symmetry but there is empty, means this weird blue line isn't guide line.

3. Then I asked Nick, he said maybe the problem is due to the node view. So I delete some pegs... finally when I removed " head_peg" , the line was disappeared!! Although we don't know why... but the problem has solved... It took me almost two hours...

   ------

   I told to Nick that I'm worried because if I always met this kind of issue and spent a long time to figure out the problem , I couldn't finish my final film on time and keep the quality...

But Nick said that means I learn new thing in the software, cause he doesn't know why this issue happened in my animation. So I'm the only one know what is that blue line! I really love his positive thinking ^^ Thank you Nick!

Some are hand-painted and some are framed.

Texture, shadow and wheel running are done in AE Finally, edited and composition were completed in AE.

Total production time is ten days

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Actually I drew other wave cycle animation on the last week, but I redraw it today.

The inspiration is from a news in Taiwan, a celebrity was guilty of purchasing sexual exploitation films of underage teenagers, and he preserve 2259 of films, it's a really horrible amount!

I read the verdict, the youngest victims only 11 years old.

I can't stand this issue is not only he is a celebrity,he is just one of a customer in this criminal market. But there are thousands of potential customers.

Each "customer" supports a violent, exploitative system that ruins countless young lives. And every viewer, downloader, or purchaser is a link in that chain.

If we don’t break the demand, children will continue to be hurt.

Then I took the ref myself.

That's why I need to make sure everything is fine then proceed to next step! HAHA!

I have successfully recorded all dialogue!

I browse their official website and noticed that they have handled multiple student projects. Therefore I contacted the composer, we discussed a lot and finally cooperate with him.

This is our first time meeting, he found the music references from French movie "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain" , what a coincidence!! I also refer to many French animation but I never tell him!!

He said that because when he saw my animatic, art boook... he imagine French music...!

At that moment, I think I found a really professional sound artist!

https://www.jeffdeng.com/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIlWLNleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHdPD5c_BwtIYgJnQaLffvHe_LMKBHBcs9mLbq_m7IETsTdoe7FA5Uj-Gtw_aem_vKTQdBnNOhzrH2SLhp3Y_g

This scene is really challenging, because I need to convey the nostalgic and steady atmosphere.

I spent a lot of time balancing colors and lighting to create that warm, slightly surreal circus vibe.

Therefore, I searched on the internet, and I found that some illustrators said I need to change the color display which from Display P3 to sRGB IEC61966-2.1, then the laptop could read the accurate color.

After I tried , it works perfectly！

Therefore, I want to draw a new one, but I knew I don't have time to do the pre-production, and my friend told me that I could adjust the brightness and blur the BG.

And the outcome is quite nice! I'm grateful to her!!

In addition, the background is " Gradient Ramp" , I tried light green plus dark green, but it not fit to the vibe of the scene, so I changed to blue tone, and it is what I want!

After effect is really helpful and I save a lot of time...!!! I will depend on this software during making the final film!

The tutorial film： https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM_ZyO-BRkY&t=918s

Layout is an important part of pre-production, because it gives me time to organize the frame, dynamics, camera movement, and more.

By planning carefully at this stage, I can reduce the amount of changes needed later in the actual production of the film.

I think it’ sounds good so I did that, and I also think it’s might be useful to my composer, so I also send the scene list to him.

Ting Hua and Jia Run are my actress, they're really excellent!! I also act to evil voice in Ting Hua's film !

I want to make the voice as an devil, so I borrow the jacket and covered on Ting Hua, let her act as a horrible devil without face.

It's interesting and they're really excellent.

In addition, because Billie has a long lines, but I wish she can speak fluently, so I said "you can speak yourself no need to read each word on the script. Let the emotion out but it must be consistent with the original meaning of the lines"

And she did it ! Anyway, They're brilliant!

But when I drew in adobe illustrator, the LOGO is always very rigid and mechanical.

But it's an animation of lively vibe.

Therefore, I use turbulent displace to made the LOGO more curves and smoothness. And adjust the scale to convey squash and stretch effects.

This is my first time to use AE to assist me to make a LOGO. AE is a quite useful software!

---

I forgot to open the scene to 1920*1080.

But I want to export the flle from 4K video, so I use " sharp " , "unsharp mask " to fix the resolution in After effect.

It's really helpful.

Therefore, even I have 12 second animation, It only took 1 hour in painting !!!

This tool give me confidence to complete the final film before deadline.

Hope everything goes smoothly with me.

I really want to complete the final film on time, so I will do my best to stick to the schedule!!

How clever software is it !!!

Actually I didn't want to freelance the short film work before, because I want to focus on my own project.

But I think the work experience is really important, and I can learn how to manage my time and make a perfect balance through this work.

In conclusion, it's tough and challenging but I learn a lot!

．One for position

．One for scale

At first, I thought separating the functions would give me better control.

But I noticed that if I move the pivot point of the scale peg, the motion path (arc) of the animation will be messed up!

I didn’t understand why, so I spent some time figuring it out.

Then I found that...it always happens based on the scale pivot point, and when that pivot moves, it shifts the whole object's position, which ruins the arc and makes the motion look unnatural.

After surfing online, I learned that pegs have a parent-child relationship.

If I put the scale peg as a parents (outer peg) and move its pivot, the inner position peg will be affected.

The solution:

1.Put the Position peg on the outside

2.Put the Scale peg on the inside, and don’t move its pivot

Then, the animation arc stays clean and smooth !!!

Hope I can finish the lively character dynamic, I'll do my best! This is my favorite scene!

So I used " turbulent displace" at first.

However, if the animation of turbulence too much, I can't keep the focus on the characters, so I need the other VFX to enhance the livliness.

And using light instead of motion to add life is such a smart move, especially when I want the BG to feel more magical and breathing.

So I choose CC light sweep which I learn from youtube

Finally, I composited everything together in After Effects.

Through this scene, I learned a lot of techniques, such as using the Close Gap Tool, CC Light Sweep, rigging animation, and adjusting timing and pacing.

I now understand that to efficiently complete a short film, the key is to use the tools more wisely.

Besides, I'm glad that I took a lot of time to design the key pose during making animatic on the first semester. So I can make animation more directly instead of tinking key pose.

In conclusion, I'm still learning and improving!

I can open the tool of "close the gap" , then, I don't need to open this tool in each frame,

I can click " apply to all drawings ", in that case , I can painting directly !!

And we have five members in the animation team, I serve as PM , and I made a weekly process, scene list , file management and tracking the progress.

This is my first time work in a professional team! I'm really excited !

However, I accidentally delete a brush tool, but I don't know how to reset, the most important is that the brush I deleted is our " clean-up brush"

So I have to find it back!!!!

Then, I searched the solution on TV paint community, and I found out that I just need to open the start up Panel.

SOP:

edit- preference- start - Open the Start-Up Panel

So I can reset the brush which was missed.

And I noticed that …. “ This ‘key frame’ was from an ending pose photo! “

So I can’t draw the dancing pose!!!’

In that case, I focused on pom dancing … especially the follow through, stretching and squashing, as well as timing and pacing… made this clip more lively and fit for the key pose:)

In this project, we apply the flexible work exchange strategy. For example, if I completed my task, then I can help other member's work or proceed to the next scene. We didn't allocate the task and stick to the list, because all of us are freelancers and we have our own job in the life!

I feel very happy because I attach great importance to this final film. Seeing such a dedicated composer makes me more confident that this animation will be very exciting!

But in order to ensure that the progress of the program production would not be delayed, I had a temporary meeting with the client and then contacted the assistant director. We decided that the assistant director would take over the directing work.

Then, we met with other members to adjust the post-production work mode and production schedule.

I think this is a very challenging working experience. In addition, I hope the director recovers soon.

Btw, sometimes it get really messy when use two software, because I clicked the shortcut from toon boom harmony in TV paint this morning.

music is made from my composer. I love this clip so much!

I downloaded the video and imported it into TV paint, did a simple motion analysis one by one, and drew the key frame in Harmony.

I think as long as the character’s movement feels natural and conveys the underwater atmosphere, the scene won’t feel unbalanced.

I plan to improve the water effects later when I have more free time—such as hand-drawn water flow or bubbles. But for now, I need to prioritize finishing the whole animation before the deadline, so I can’t spend too much time on just one scene.

After studying in the UK for seven months, I’ve not only focused on my academic work—but for the first time in a long while, I’ve had space to slow down and listen to myself.

Back in Taiwan, I was always outputting, but rarely inputting. I was constantly chasing what a 26-year-old “should” be doing—without ever asking myself, what do I actually enjoy? What truly suits me?

Coming to the UK was a turning point. While studying animation and working on my final project, I finally had time to explore what I really wanted—not just as a student or professional, but as a person.

I read, I reflected, I asked hard questions.
And slowly, I found clarity. I love animation. But I don’t love concept development.

I enjoy the process of executing animation—working on second keyframes, doing clean-up. I find real joy in that flow.
But I don’t feel excited about storyboarding or character design. Those parts feel more like a burden than a passion.

Recently, I worked on a freelance animation project where I served as both an animator and the project’s production manager.

During that experience, I paid close attention to how each role made me feel. And I realized something important:
Production management gave me a deeper sense of fulfillment.

I loved organizing the timeline, collaborating with teammates, solving problems, and ensuring the project stayed on track. It wasn't just about finishing a task—it was about helping everyone move forward together.

That meant more to me than designing characters or writing scripts ever did. If I choose to pursue animation purely as a technical artist, I know I may hit a ceiling—I might become a senior second key animator, but not more. I simply don’t have the drive to push into creative leadership, because that’s not where my passion lies.

But as a production manager, I see more possibilities—within the animation industry and beyond. Whether it’s animated films, television programs, or other creative projects, I’ve realized that I’m at my best when I’m helping a team turn ideas into finished work.

I’m someone who loves the craft of animation—but even more, I love seeing projects go from vision to reality.

I thrive in roles where I can bring structure, support collaboration, and push the team toward completion.

Realizing this has been the most important growth I've experienced since coming to the UK. I'm no longer trying to become what I should be. I'm finally becoming who I'm meant to be.

This is personal project, it's still need some help though, especially in some part which we're not very skilled at.

For example, I'm not good at storyboard, and she usually give me some suggestions. She's not get used to organize schedule, so I assist her to arrange her working days.

I noticed that the movement is quite stiff…

So it’s necessary to make some joint offsets and arc.

By the way, I am so exhausted these days…. but in order to complete the final film, I have to stick to the schedule. Therefore, I’m trying to reduce my other works and keep more spare time to recharge myself…

One of our team members—an undergraduate student who’s responsible for post-production—wasn’t able to meet the expected quality.

His understanding of animation is still developing, and his technical execution lacked polish. As the director put it, “it still looks more like a student exercise.”

After discussing it in a meeting with the director, assistant director, and myself, we gathered specific points that needed to be revised.

During the team call, the director gave rather direct feedback to the student.

To soften the atmosphere, the assistant director and I shared stories about how harsh and straightforward the director used to be with us, hoping to reassure the student that it’s not personal—just part of the learning process.

From my point of view, a second-year student still has a lot of room to grow, and this situation doesn’t mean he’s bad—it just means he’s still learning.

That said, his current pace of growth might not be fast enough to meet client demands within the limited timeline.

I really hope this project doesn’t discourage him too much. Instead, I hope it becomes an experience he can eventually absorb and grow from.

After we shared our own “tough training stories,” the assistant director casually said to the student,
“So you guys are lucky now!”
(implying that the director today is much gentler than before).

While I know it was meant as a joke, I personally believe that stress and difficulty shouldn't be compared.

Saying “you’re lucky” in this context can unintentionally dismiss someone’s current struggle—

as if to say, “It’s not that bad, we had it worse.”

If it were me, I’d rephrase it to something more supportive, like:

“The director is much more gentle now, so don’t stress too much. If anything’s unclear or you feel stuck, feel free to ask in the group chat—we’ve got your back!”

This kind of message still acknowledges the past, but more importantly, it respects how someone feels now—and encourages them to speak up without fear.

It’s true—the student is a beginner, and I’m sure after being asked to revise several times, he already knows that.
But I feel it’s better to focus our feedback on the work, rather than the person’s level.

If it were me, I’d say:

“The motion and timing here still need refinement. As it stands, we can’t deliver this version to the client just yet.”

That way, the comment becomes about what needs to change—not about who’s not good enough.

It’s a subtle but important difference that can protect a teammate’s confidence while still holding creative standards.

This is just a small reflection I had today in my role as a producer.

I’m still learning how to balance the need for quality with the need to help team members grow.

I want to create a working space where people can grow through pressure—not be hurt by it.

If we can offer even a little more kindness in our words, and set clearer, more human boundaries in our communication,
then maybe we can help each other grow at our own pace—one project at a time.

For example, the small robot Cookie has a very boxy shape. When I was making his run cycle, I ran into some challenges. I had checked every frame carefully, but the movement still felt stiff. In the end, I decided to add an arc to his eyes, and that made the whole motion look much more natural.

Also, to make the two robots feel more like friends, I added a little detail—Lucy, the big robot, looks at Cookie and smiles. It makes the scene feel much warmer.

And I know that I have to add different "write node" and connect to each layer, after I click " render write nodes" I can receive all layers in the folders!

Then, I open a new composition which named "texture" and make a on 3 loop in the new comp.

Next, I click the " enable time remapping" and add a new key, then wrote the loop out express. Finally, the texture loop animation accomplish!!!!!

I can't describe too much detail cause I already written a lot in the previous posts!

But the only thing I want to say is that personal project is quite stressed, even I felt exhausted, I still need to stick to the schedule.

In that case, I started leaning " Stress Adaptation " myself.

I think it's an important thing that Masters student need to learn, especially international student !! ( just kidding :)

I experimented with several methods to blend the characters into the environment. First, I used Color Balance to adjust the characters’ color temperature and saturation.

Then, I added a rim light to create a soft blue edge light on them. It’s subtle because the scene is mainly lit by natural light, without strong light sources.

Since Color Balance alone wasn’t enough to create smooth color transitions, I also used the Curves effect to fine-tune the tones.

For the background, I duplicated the original layer and applied a Gaussian Blur, then set the duplicate to Screen mode on top of everything. This helped soften the overall image and unify the characters and background.

Although this shot doesn’t have much character movement, I used a "line boil" technique to prevent the scene from feeling static.

To keep the background alive, I also added a Noise effect, making the whole scene feel more organic and dynamic.

To achieve this atmosphere, I applied several detailed post-production techniques:

• Color Matching: I used Color Balance and Curves in After Effects to adjust the characters’ color temperature and contrast to match the cool-toned background. I also changed the line art color in Toon Boom to a dark blue-gray, helping the characters blend more naturally into the scene.

• Rim Light: A soft blue rim light was added around the characters to simulate ambient night lighting and give the scene more depth.

• Texture Consistency: I tested different Noise values (from 5 to 20) and finally set the character layer to 3 and the background to 20, ensuring visual consistency without overwhelming the image.

• Layer Mode Testing: I compared Overlay, Screen, and a mix of both. In the end, I chose Screen for its gentle color blending.

• Vignette Adjustment: I initially tried using a vignette to draw focus, but it created too much contrast and broke the calm mood—so I removed it.

In total, I exported 10 versions and carefully compared versions 7, 8, and 10.
I selected Version 10 (Final) because it best reflects the storytelling goal: a soft, restrained visual that doesn't disrupt the quiet emotion of the moment.

This week is my final exam week. I was very busy, so for two days, I didn’t reply in the group chat or check the team’s progress like I usually do.

When I woke up, it was already evening in Taiwan. The director had asked the animator about the progress in the morning. She didn’t mention me, but I felt nervous. I thought, “Does she think I’m not responsible? Did I make her do my job? Did I let the team down?”

I was worried and feeling bad, because this is my first time working as a PM. I really want to do a good job. But now the director did something that I was supposed to do.

While I was still feeling anxious, I realized something:

"Instead of feeling guilty, I should just solve the problem."

So I checked the progress, thanked the director for helping, then I took over the task. I organized the files, reminded the animator about the format, checked the delivery time, and told the team I will upload the file tomorrow.

During this process, I suddenly understood something important:

"In the workplace, people don’t need your guilt."

They need your support.

I was not failing my job. I didn’t delay the schedule or disappear. I just stepped away for a short time, then came back at the right moment, finished the work, and helped the team stay on track.

In a team, saying sorry is not as important as taking action.

If you can return and take responsibility, that’s what really matters.

I still care if others feel disappointed in me.
But now I know—
" Instead of feeling anxious to show I’m here.”
it is better to stay calm and “support the team when needed.”

I worked with a BA student on her short film. I helped her as a background artist and supported her in the pre-production process. We also exchanged skills — she taught me how to use Toon Boom Harmony, and I helped her design scenes and colours.

At the same time, I joined a freelance project from PTS Taiwan. I worked as a project manager for the opening animation of a new TV show. This was my first time working as a PM.

Besides planning the schedule and talking with the team, I also did some second key animation, inbetweening, clean-up and painting. I learned a lot and tried my best to grow my soft skills. The best part was making two new animator friends from the industry.

I feel I learned so much this semester. Not only did I improve my skills in After Effects and Toon Boom Harmony, I also grew as a person.

Most importantly, I had a lot of self-growth. I started to understand what I really want to do, what I am good at, and what my potential is. I finally gave myself time to rest and grow, not only to work hard and give everything out.

This is the best gift I could give to my 26-year-old self.

In short, I feel that I have ended this semester with a very beautiful period.

So...I hope I could find a job before graduate!

Although I haven't started sending out resumes, I think managing LinkedIn well will be helpful for my future career development.

Technical Process
Since the scene has limited motion, post-production plays a key role. I used Adobe After Effects to adjust the visuals and create the right atmosphere, including:

• Color Adjustment: Adjusted color temperature and brightness to reflect the characters’ emotional states.

• Atmosphere Building: Added subtle lighting changes and soft focus effects to give more depth and prevent the static scene from feeling flat.

To make the transition smoother and keep the emotional flow, the scene ends with a fade-out effect, allowing the emotions to naturally ease into the next scene.

The production took a total of five days, because I had already planned the key frames during the Production Design class in the first semester.

Also, I used techniques I had studied last semester, such as texture loop animation and the gradient coloring tool in Toon Boom Harmony, which helped speed up the production process.

explore the human who suffer from pain, fears and panic.

Then I thought about ‘ If I were those characters, how would I react about in that moment? ‘

Finally, I acted it out myself, filmed the performance, and then used it as reference to draw the key frames.