What Does It Cost to Make a Punksters Animated Short?

 

Someone recently commented on one of my animated comedy shorts on TikTok and asked what app I use to make my animations. It was a fair question, and I answered respectfully. But it made me wonder if the person pictured me putting these videos together with a phone app.

I wish it were that simple.

I told them that I animate in Reallusion’s iClone. I create my characters in Daz Studio, export them, and use Reallusion’s Character Creator to convert them into characters I can animate in iClone. That is the short version of the process. The longer version includes a lot of purchases, computer hardware, and time.

The characters have to come from somewhere

Daz Studio is free to download, which makes it a good place to start exploring character creation. But if you want to build a wide variety of distinct characters, you will probably end up buying content and add-ons.

That is how I get the control I want over my characters. I can change the size and position of their eyes, reshape a nose or mouth, adjust ears, and alter their bodies. Those details matter when you are trying to make a cast of characters who each have their own look and personality. Once I have created a character, I export it and bring it through Character Creator for use in iClone.

Character Creator is another purchase. Depending on the version, sale, or bundle, it can cost a few hundred dollars. Then there is iClone itself, the main animation program, which can cost several hundred more. Prices change, so I would check the current offers before buying either one.

The software includes some content, but the characters still need places to stand, things to interact with, and sometimes clothing or other assets. Props, environments, and add-ons can become an ongoing expense. I can also buy assets for Daz Studio and convert some of them for use in iClone. Each new idea has the potential to send me looking for something else I need.

Then you need a computer that can handle it

Animation also places demands on the computer. You need a capable graphics card, plenty of system memory, and storage space for the project files and assets you accumulate. My own setup uses 32GB of RAM, and I would welcome 64GB for more room to work. Reallusion’s published requirements vary by edition and feature, so anyone considering iClone should check the requirements for the version they plan to use.

After the animation is rendered, I still have to edit the video. I use CyberLink PowerDirector, and my subscription costs me over $80 a year.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten an expense or two. That tends to happen when you’ve been building a creative setup over time. The point is that the cost is more than the price of a single program.

A 30-second short can take hours

The financial cost is only part of it. When the characters and sets already exist, a 30-second comedy short can still take me a couple of hours or more to make. If the joke calls for a new set, building that set might take a few hours or even a day or two.

That time is an investment, though. Once I’ve built a set, I can use it again in future videos. The same goes for the characters. Every reusable piece gives me more possibilities for the next joke.

I understand why people are drawn to AI video tools. They may offer a less expensive and faster way to make something. My process is the one I’ve chosen because I enjoy creating the characters, building their world, and deciding how a scene plays out.

So why do I keep doing it?

If I looked only at the cost and the hours involved, especially knowing it could take years to earn much money from animation, I might ask myself the same question.

The answer is simple: I love doing it. Animation is one of my biggest interests and my main hobby. I enjoy coming up with the jokes, putting the characters into a scene, and seeing the finished short. It also feels good when people watch them and tell me they enjoyed them.

So call me crazy if you like. This is what I do.

The next time you see a short Punksters video, you’ll know a little more about what went into those few seconds on the screen.

 Bob Craypoe
Founder of Craypoe Productions® and Creator of the Punksters™ Characters  

 

Why “Jamming for Fun” Isn’t Really Fun for Some People

 Reprinted from an article originally released Dec 2, 2021 

Intro

Maybe you have been playing your instrument for years or maybe you are a beginner. Either way, if you ask a musician friend who has been out playing paid gigs, he might not be as entertained by the experience of “jamming for the fun of it” as you would, and there are plenty of reasons as to why that would be.

 Ulterior Motives

So, let’s just say that the friend in question is me. Let me explain each situation from my perspective. I have been out playing paid gigs for a while. That means that I have reached a certain level of professionalism. Maybe you would like to be in a band with me and you want the opportunity to sell yourself to me, for that purpose. Maybe you didn’t tell me that when asking me to come over.

Now let’s just say that I was never interested in being in a band situation with you and thought I had made that clear to you. It could be for any number of reasons, not just your skill level. But in any case, I’m not interested and once I discover what your ulterior motive is, I will be annoyed.You Start Playing Songs You Think Your Friend “Should Learn”

Everybody has their own taste in music and the same is true of musicians. Now you want to start playing some songs on your stereo you think I should learn. One or two might be one thing but do one after another and watch my reactions. Does it look like I am getting annoyed now? Maybe I didn’t come over to learn new material. Maybe I just came over thinking that you might just want to learn a few things from me.

If I have been out playing paid gigs for a while, there probably is a big repertoire I must keep up on. And if I don’t keep up on them by practicing them, I will forget them. I probably went through a lot of effort to learn those songs and I probably must continue to put in a lot of effort to stay up on them. The last thing I need to do is learn songs I don’t really want to learn.

I only really make the effort to learn a new song if it falls under certain criteria. It must be a song I would want to add to my repertoire, or it has a technique of some kind I would like to learn or become more proficient at. As far as learning a song I would want to add to my repertoire, it must be something I could sing as well as play guitar to, since I primarily play out as an acoustic solo act.So don’t go playing songs for me to learn, one after another, let me just teach you something new. It would be a win/win situation for the both of us. You get to learn something new, and I have the satisfaction of having helped you to learn it. To me, that is fun and a lot of people who are just starting to take up a musical instrument enjoy learning new things too.

Multiple People Getting in the Way

Okay, it turns out that there are a few more people present than I had anticipated seeing when you invited me over. Maybe I’ll shrug it off at first. But when that one other guy who is your friend starts banging on the drums, not having a clue as to what he is doing, while I am trying to show you the chord progression on the song we are jamming on, he is starting to become quite the nuisance. A real source of irritation. Not fun. Not fun at all. I am now becoming annoyed.

Not only is that guy banging on the drums a nuisance, but his wife and kids are there, and the kids are playing with my expensive musical equipment, but the parents don’t have either the sense or the decency to tell them not to touch it. Sure, just let your kid knock over one of my guitars onto the floor. What’s a few more dents, scratches and nicks? After all, it’s all for the sake of fun.Oh, it turns out it was a party and it’s a free-for-all on all the instruments. Everybody who wants to, will decide they can just walk on up, grab an instrument without asking the owner of the said instrument and start to bang on it, making nothing but noise. And the people who are doing it are drunk and you have to worry about them ruining your equipment. Sounds like a lot of fun, doesn’t it?

Another thing that I fun is a drunken idiot taking it upon himself to get up on the mic start screaming a song well above his vocal range, sounding like hell at high volumes.

Not Enough Room for the People Jamming

I was expecting only a few people, but a bunch of people show up. Some guy shows up with a drum set, some guy shows up with his bass and a big bass amp and cabinet.d then a so-called, self-described “singer” shows up with a large PA system. The really sad part is that it is all crammed into one small room in your house.

The drummer is not an experienced one and he hammers on the drums at high volume levels. Then, to keep up with his volume level, everyone else cranks their amp. Being in a small room, this makes for a very annoyingly loud situation. Also, it is quite cramped. A crash cymbal is right next to my head, practically a few inches from my left ear. Then I try to play a song and the out-of-time drummer hits it out of time throwing off my playing. Yeah, lots of fun jamming just for the fun of it. 

 

o me, a worst-case scenario would be an occasion where all these things or any combination of these things were to take place. I mention these various scenarios only because I have experienced them myself. On some occasions, I did experience a combination of the annoyances I have just described.

The Host is Responsible for the Whole Thing

Ultimately, you as the host are responsible for the whole thing. When you invite a bunch of people over that have hyper kids and you know the parents don’t keep after them, you need to tell the parents to watch their kids, so they don’t just go up and start touching someone’s equipment. You also need to tell that one drunken jerk to get off the mic so that someone with singing ability can get back on the mic.

Maybe you shouldn’t invite a load of people over either. Or at least let your jamming for fun buddy know you are going to have a lot of people over and that it’s not going to be just the two of you. Try to look at things from the other guy’s point of view and really think as to whether it might actually be more fun than a nuisance.Summary

I realize that, to some, I might be coming off as either a Primadonna or a snob. But when you have had a guitar knocked over by someone, resulting in a serious dent or have some guy crank a song, “you should learn”, full blast through a speaker five inches from your head or have their kids play with your equipment without being told by the parents to stop, you might feel differently. But at least now you know why jamming for the fun of it may not really be that fun or fun at all for some people.

Bob Craypoe
Founder of Craypoe Productions® and Creator of the Punksters™ Characters

 

  

 

The On-the-Spot Venue Audition

 

My Experiences

When I first went out to play as a solo acoustic performer, I had to go out and score some gigs. I had already had the benefit of some experience in playing out live because I had been in full bands before and have also been part of a music duo as well. I had even done a lot of open mics where I had played solo.

Since I sing and play acoustic guitar, I can pretty much play anywhere without the reliance upon a sound system. So if I am asked to perform right there on the spot, I can, as long as I have my trusty guitar in my car. So I went out shopping for gigs. I would have a demo CD with me, business cards and my guitar in the car.

I had stopped one day at a bar during the day and went in to ask about the possibility of playing there as an acoustic solo act. I asked who did the bookings and the guy tending the bar said that he did. That was great because, often, the person that actually handles the bookings might not be there. Then the guy asked me if I had my guitar in my car and I said that I did. Then he told me that if I went out and got it, he would give me a listen. Well, I went out and got it.After I got my guitar out of my car, I came back in, took it out of the case and started singing and playing right there at the bar. There were a couple of customers there and they had made some requests and I played them. The bartender booked me for a gig and told me that if it worked out, he would book me for some more. It went well and I ended up getting a lot more gigs there.

I had done this at a few other establishments as well. It really expedited the process of finding places to play. Each time I just went out, got my guitar out of the car, sat at the bar and played and sang. Each time I was given that opportunity, I was able to score a gig. After scoring those initial gigs, they were satisfied to the point where they booked me for some more. So just a few on-the-spot auditions actually led to a good number of paying gigs.

Don’t Be Shy

Look, if you want to be out there playing, you just can’t be shy about it at all. Shyness gets you nowhere. If you have a problem performing in front of people, do open mics to get some experience playing in front of an audience. It will help you to be more relaxed when trying the approach I just mentioned.I do mostly solo performances myself and so when it comes to doing a quick audition, it’s going to be just me anyway. That leaves me with no excuses if someone asks me to play right there on the spot. If you hesitate when they ask you to go out and get your guitar so that you could play right then and there, they will have reservations about hiring you. They want to see some level of confidence on your part. Just think if you were someone that handles the bookings for an establishment. What would you think if you asked a guy to do an audition right there on the spot and he was hesitant? You’d think there might be something wrong with the guy or that he was inexperienced.

Have a Good Idea What to Play

The first thing I thought, when asked to play, was what songs I was going to play. It’s good to do something that shows your abilities but you could easily pull off without a high likelihood of making a mistake. You will probably do at least a few songs, so make sure they are not all by the same artist. Show that you can do a variety. That’s what I would do each time I got the opportunity.

Another thing that could work to your benefit is knowing what the person who is doing the booking likes. For example, I knew the one owner of an establishment really liked the Beatles. He had pictures of them on the walls all over the place. So I started out with a Beatles song. Then he asked if I knew more songs from them and I played them. I got the gig. If you can find out in advance what kind of music is generally played at an establishment, you might want to learn some of it and use it for audition purposes. You could go there one night and see what songs get played on the jukebox. That will tell you the kind of music the regulars like.

Being prepared also means that you may just want to make sure that you have decent strings on your guitar. Old strings that are hard to tune won’t work to your benefit. Have a new set on the guitar and make sure they are well stretched and ready to go. You should really want to make the best first impression that you possibly can.

Always Try to Be Polite

I would always go into the establishment and order a drink and sit at the bar for a few minutes before I would approach the subject of playing at the establishment. If there was a conversation going on, I would try to take part in it. I would try to get myself at ease with the people at the bar because that always made it easier to approach the subject of playing there. Also, it helps them to be at ease with you and would make them more inclined to give you that break. After all, who wants to give a break to someone they think is a jerk? So politeness matters.

If they don’t ask you if you have a guitar with you, don’t be afraid to mention it. Just don’t be too pushy. They may say that they are too busy at the time. So ask them when would be a good time. If you are too pushy, you could blow your chances of getting a gig there. If they request a certain song that you don’t know, apologize and say that you don’t know it but try to offer an alternative that you think would be as close a substitute as you can. Never tell them that you don’t do a certain band’s songs because you hate their music. You may offend the person asking you to play one of their songs.

Being polite is even helpful if they don’t decide to give you a gig right away. They may say that they are booked solid for the next couple of months and to give them a call in a month or so. If they say that, be sure to call in a month because they might forget you. Remember, there are a lot more musicians than there are establishments to play at. There will always be someone that you will be competing against for gigs. That’s why you don’t want to pull an attitude if they don’t book you right away. Don’t burn any bridges.Getting Booked Again

Okay, so maybe you scored that first gig at an establishment. You most likely will want to return. So make sure that you act professionally when you do that first gig. That’s how you will get more. Don’t go thinking that since you are doing one gig there, you are a shoe-in to get more. It doesn’t quite work that way. You have to provide a positive experience for the people at the establishment. Don’t take it for granted that they will ask you back again.

So Give It a Try

What are you waiting for? Give it a try and see how it works for you. Between using open mics as an audition and just going around wnd doing on-the-spot aucitions, I scored more gigs than by handing out my demo CD. In fact, there were only a few places that I had gone to that asked for a demo instead of me doing a live audition. So maybe you should give it a try.

© 2021 Bob Craypoe 

 

Reliability Versus Talent

 Reprinted from an article originally released Dec 2, 2021  

 

Late For The Show

As a musician who has been in a number of band situations throughout the years, I have met my share of fellow musicians. Some were blessed with a considerable amount of talent and natural ability and others, well, maybe not so much. I have also known some musicians who would work hard as well as some that did not work so hard. Regardless as to where anyone stands regarding any of those qualities, much really comes down to reliability in the end.

Knowing the Songs

In a band situation, everyone has to know the songs. You can’t just have four members of a five person band know the song while having the fifth person there screwing up because he doesn’t know the songs. One of the biggest problems regarding reliability as far as a band goes is making sure that everyone in the band knows the songs. You need a lot of material to be able to go out and make money playing steady gigs. The longer it takes for you to get that repertoire together, the longer it takes for you to get out and make money.

Now, I’m not saying that money is everything but if I had a choice between playing paid gigs or playing for nothing, I’d take the money every time, unless it’s for charity of course. But you can’t make a living playing solely for free. To play anywhere for money, you usually need two to four hours of music. There is no getting around that. So any excuses that someone may have as to why they did not learn the songs they were supposed to learn really does nothing to get around that fact.

I have seen some excellent musicians who played great, had great technique and were quite talented but they just did not know a lot of songs. They spent most of their time strictly working on technique. It’s great to push yourself and try to broaden your horizons but you have to know a lot of songs. That’s all there is to it. So when someone says they are going to learn the songs that the band has decided to perform, they need to learn them. Talent really is no substitute for knowing the material.

Basically, if a band wants to play out, they need to decide what songs they want to do. There should be some compromising in the decision process. For example, I may agree to play some songs that I don’t necessarily like that much in exchange for being able to play some of the songs that I like. Not everyone in the band is going to like the same type of songs. So that’s where compromise comes into play.

If you have one member of the band that is not willing to compromise and learn some songs that he might not necessarily be too enthusiastic about, he has no right to expect others to be willing to compromise. It’s a two way street. One old trick some people like to play is to not learn the songs they don’t like and hope that after a while, the rest of the band will decide to drop the song. But no matter what the reason behind someone not learning the songs, in the end, there really aren’t a lot of acceptable excuses. In the end, they are just not being reliable. Everyone needs to be reliable regarding learning the songs they are expected to because it really comes down to having enough songs to be able to play out.

Showing Up On Time

Another reliability related issue besides learning the songs you are expected to learn is showing up on time. That means showing up to rehearsals on time. Or maybe even showing up at all. Then, of course, you need to show up at the gigs on time as well. That great guitar player without a drivers license could be a bit of a burden. Arrangements may have to be made to pick the guy up and drop him off before and after gigs and rehearsals.

But even if everyone had their drivers license, some people just can’t seen to ever be on time. They will show up late to practices and gigs as well. Unfortunately, venue owners expect you to be there, set up and ready to play by a certain time and that is usually agreed upon prior to the gig. It doesn’t matter if four out of five band members are there and ready to go. You have to start at the agreed upon time and if that one missing band member is not there and you are not able to start without him, You have a problem.

I understand that there may, on occasion, be an emergency that may prevent someone from being able to be somewhere on time. Emergencies are one thing but someone being habitually late is another. I have had to deal with people in the past that were late all of the time to both rehearsals and gigs. The bottom line is that you just can’t tolerate that sort of thing.

I have had to put up with tardiness from one very good musician. He was great at learning all of the songs he needed to learn. He was great at playing his instrument and a great harmony vocalist as well. His only real problem was showing up on time. He was constantly late for practices. He would show up at the last minute for gigs. Sometimes he would call to say he would be a half hour late for a band practice. The half hour would pass and he still would not have arrived. Then he might call again and apologize for not being there yet but that he was on his way. We would have to wait another fifteen minutes to a half hour longer. There were a number of times where he was from an hour to an hour and a half late. Eventually, we had to get rid of him. Very talented guy. Totally unreliable though.Tough Decisions

Life is full of tough decisions and knowing when to get rid of a band member can be one of them. But most of the time, the reason for getting rid of someone has to do with unreliability. Sure, there are many other reasons but, in my experience, most of the time it had to do with a person’s unreliability. What often made the decision as to whether or not to get rid of someone so difficult was the fact that the person was a talented musician. So that often increases the overall reluctance.

So what you really have to think about in the end is whether or not you will be able to meet your goals in a reasonable span of time. Your first goal as a band should be to get enough material together to play paid gigs. The second goal should be to be out there actually booking and playing those gigs. Is this person going to facilitate that or be an impediment to that? If they are going to be an impediment to those things, then it doesn’t matter how much talent they have. So when the choice comes down to talent or reliability, you should probably lean more towards reliability.

Tough Decisions

Life is full of tough decisions and knowing when to get rid of a band member can be one of them. But most of the time, the reason for getting rid of someone has to do with unreliability. Sure, there are many other reasons but, in my experience, most of the time it had to do with a person’s unreliability. What often made the decision as to whether or not to get rid of someone so difficult was the fact that the person was a talented musician. So that often increases the overall reluctance.

So what you really have to think about in the end is whether or not you will be able to meet your goals in a reasonable span of time. Your first goal as a band should be to get enough material together to play paid gigs. The second goal should be to be out there actually booking and playing those gigs. Is this person going to facilitate that or be an impediment to that? If they are going to be an impediment to those things, then it doesn’t matter how much talent they have. So when the choice comes down to talent or reliability, you should probably lean more towards reliability.

Bob Craypoe

Founder of Craypoe Productions® and Creator of the Punksters™ Characters