and of course everyone signs out, thats my luck
Well, with the Ratchet and Clank Movie done, Kevin Munroe moves on to the Sly Movie http://instagram.com/p/0RKlAnIZek/
I would play PlayStation All-Stars, but I only own the Vita version, and it runs like crap.
If you play LBP3 on PS4, I would be happy to join you in that game, though. I am desperate to play this game online more, seeing as how the matchmaking is complete rubbish now.
Sigh… So I guess they are going with the 2007's TMNT-like artstyle after all… Seriously, we reached the day when Ratchet & Clank started to look less realistic than Sly! Why? The cartoonish comic book artstyle was a part of series' charm, a part of what defined it, this looks like they are trying to fit it into the Marel Cinematic Universe! I understand the expensive (well made) 2D animation is out of their reach, but they could at least mix classic cartoon and CGI styles like The Incredibles, Hotel Transylvania or the upcoming Popeye movie. While the Ratchet movie sticks as close to the series as possible (maybe even too close), Sly seems to be going as far from the source material as possible. And I don't understand why - if it ain't broke, why fix it?
I really still find it shocking that 2D animated films are more expensive/difficult to produce than 3D CGI films.
Although I don't pretend to know the ins and outs of these processes, I would have thought by now that 2D animation technology would be easier to work with!?
I really still find it shocking that 3D CGI films are more expensive/difficult to produce than 2D animated films.
Didn't you mean the opposite?
Sly seems to be going as far from the source material as possible. And I don't understand why - if it ain't broke, why fix it?
You'd think, after all the feedback, they'd alter a few things. I thought teasers served to provoke feedback on your current state.
Yes I do mean it the other way around, just wait a second while I fix that through the power of editing!
2D Television cartoon animator here. I've worked on several shows including Wander Over Yonder, Kick Buttowski, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, etc.. Now, television animation is an entirely different beast than feature, of course. We have a lot more to do in a lot less time (in terms of footage, or "minutes of animation" if you will). We also have different programs to facilitate this.
That being said, an aspect of 2D FEATURE animation that nobody else has mentioned, and I feel is the main reason why 2D films aren't being produced, is that it is extremely difficult and work intensive.
You might immediately jump to the conclusion that 3D is more difficult and costs more, but that simply is not the case anymore. It is becoming a sort of "lost art" in some ways. There are tons of amazing animators that can draw extremely well out there, but many either work in TV, or learn 3D animation in Maya and move on to feature studios.
Animating a 3D feature is still extremely difficult, but with the right knowledge and the right rigs, you can achieve better results much faster than drawing frame by frame 2D. 3D is also easier to colorize, light, and revise.
Almost any animator out there will tell you that they would LOVE to work on a 2D feature. It'd be a dream. But unfortunately the big studios have moved away from that, and the budget+pipeline just aren't there anymore.
This may not be my place to poke around in due to me having no knowledge or skills when it comes to any sort of graphical art or animation. But can't they find shortcuts in 2D animation? Doing it frame-by-frame sounds annoying, and I'm pretty sure we have quite a few TV shows that are able to create 2D TV animations using later technology, given just how much better shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park are now compared to how they once were. (Well they are better in terms of animation and visuals, but not in any other department 
)
I am pretty sure that at least Family Guy and Futurama are/were using 3D tech to make their 2D visuals anyway. Maybe that doesn't change how hard it is to create those sorts of graphics, or maybe those animators just can't be found working with 2D artstyles at all in the film industry? (as mentioned in that quote) I don't know these things.
South Park is actually animated in Maya. But South Park has very simplistic animations.
One Family Guy episode takes 9 months to make (according to the internet). That includes writing, table reading, storyboarding, animatics, sending it overseas for color etc. Then you have a 25 minute episode. I'm a 3D Artsit intern so I kinda know how things work now. Lighting, sound, models, particles… everything can be bought. Why model a fridge? Every fridge is the same. You might as well buy an entire kitchen for $5 and update the textures a bit. Guerilla askes one Asian dude to make 50 character models for $30 (dumb example, but it happens). Coloring and texturing is made incredibly easy nowadays as well. With Quixel dDo. I had to model a satellite wreckage last week. So we add some different kinds of metal, some plastic and glass. Oh, and a layer of sand dust. Done. Took me an entire… 15-20 minutes?
I'm not saying 3D is easy and I ought to admit I didn't expect 2D to be more complex. But I think I can understand. 3D animation is made very ''simple'' for both product owners and artists these days.
Ratchet & Clank movie sticks closely to the first game, but with several deviations, like the appearance of Space Rangers. Well, I don't really mind about that.
One good example of a movie which deviates far away from what it's based on but done well is The Adventures of Tintin. I've read the original comic, and the movie deviates very much from the comic, but still maintains the main idea of the story, making it an enjoyable movie. So, I guess Rainmaker should learn from this if they plan to make a sequel to Ratchet & Clank movie.
Okay I see. But the Family Guy thing doesn't sound right, because how can one episode take 9 months, when every year they put out roughly 20 episodes? There may very well be different teams working on different episodes, but for the episodes to take 9 months to create must mean that there are like 15 teams working on different Family Guy episodes at any one time!
EDIT:
Ratchet & Clank movie sticks closely to the first game, but with several deviations, like the appearance of Space Rangers. Well, I don't really mind about that.
One good example of a movie which deviates far away from what it's based on but done well is The Adventures of Tintin. I've read the original comic, and the movie deviates very much from the comic, but still maintains the main idea of the story, making it an enjoyable movie. So, I guess Rainmaker should learn from this if they plan to make a sequel to Ratchet & Clank movie.
That is interesting, but we (probably) get the picture by now. I think that everyone (who cares about Sly) is just a bit upset about what Rainmaker are about to move onto now… the Sly movie!
I'm not a big fan of Sly, but between the announce of the Sly film (with the trailer) and now, I have played all of the games, and somewhat enjoyed them. I do agree on the movie looking really quite off too, and while I would have liked for a more 2D style, I am willing to just go with the flow and watch the film.
The rumored Jak film, however, will not get the same easy pass as this Sly one. Sure this Sly film can completely deviate from the games and I'll probably still enjoy it because I was never a huge Sly fan, but if they screw up Jak and Daxter!!!
It's a good thing they seem to have done Ratchet & Clank really well, because I'd be even more outraged if they screwed up our very favorite heroes.
We don't even know if Rainmaker is doing the Jak movie. It could as well be a straight-to-DVD film made by the same people who brought us the Heavenly Sword movie (which was financed by FFS as well).
Yes, you raise a good point. Now that I think about it, it is likely that the Jak movie (If there is one) will go straight to DVD/Blu-Ray. However, if it really gets a proper game tie-in-thingamajig, it might just be worthy of theaters? I don't know. Either way, I hope that the series will return, and I hope it makes a grand return too!