Friday, August 19, 2011

L4Draw Presents "Project_Gouken"

UPDATE:

TV
NoLife
The folks at NoLife (A French VideoGame Channel) featured the short at the end of their latest show..... pretty cool! You can see the episode by clicking on the link, and Gouken comes in at 9.40 (beforehand is Nelson Boles' latest short, which if you haven't seen yet, you should check it out!)

Websites
Catsuka.com
Gameblog.fr
Shoryuken.com
HitCombo.com
EventHubs.com
ColdHardFlash.com
Arteyanimacion.es
Deculture.es
Awesome-Robo.com

Thanks guys! :')

Youtube Honors
#41 – Most Discussed (This Month) – Film & Animation – France
#10 – Top Favorited (This Month) – Film & Animation – France
#11 – Top Rated (This Month) – Film & Animation – France
#37 – Most Viewed (This Month) – Film & Animation – France
_______________

Bet you thought it would never be finished, didn't you? ;)



Well first off, a MASSIVE "Thank You" to Mr Matt Timms who's work ethic and approach to the project was fantastic, and who's FX animation not only came out amazing but was also extremely appreciated. It was a pleasure working with you and I look forward to when we may work together again :) (He hasn't seen the final product yet so I hope he likes how it turned out! Surprise! :D)
And I'd also like to point out that I was lucky to get Matt involved when I did, as he's just landed a new gig as an FX animator for Cartoon Network! So Congratulations to him!



The actual project kind of went through a few stylistic changes.... I was originally thinking of having something based around 'paper and texture', but it was also kind of a shortcut from having to do colour and backgrounds, and I felt it was really coming across as such - it seemed lack luster. So I regrouped, bit the bullet and finally forced myself to work on colour and digital painting.....
I made the noob mistake of making my colours too dark and de-saturated :S .... (PLEASE UP THE BRIGHTNESS ON YOUR MONITORS!).... and I won't be doing anymore backgrounds again anytime soon!!








But hey - this was the point of the project! For me, it was all about the learning experience - trying stuff out in animation, getting more used to Flash, painting backgrounds for the first time, being able to look at After Effects and say, "You don't scare me!"...
all things which should hopefully put me in good stead for the next year...

And the sound effects(!) Man that was A LOT of work! :D But super fun and satisfying at the same time to add all these tiny sounds like clothes rustles, landings & impacts etc.... It just gave it a lil' extra umpfff....

Anyways! I hope you enjoy each and every of the 13 seconds - Don't blink please :P

This will be my last post before I start at Gobelins.... and probably the last for a while..... sooo I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you who stop by this blog and leave your two cents worth... It's been a pleasure sharing my work with you and I will OF COURSE continue to check up on you all ;)

And so as always...
'Till the Next,
L

p.s Two posts in one day! How lucky are you! :D
So I think tomorrow I can have a well deserved day off.... good thing too.... considering it's my birthday ;)

51 comments:

chang said...

aaaaawesome, out of everything (and so much is going on!), my favourite moment is the follow through on the beard :)

"TORI CAT" said...

WOW!!!!!!!!
WOW!!!!!
WOW!!!!!!!!!!
Now, lets make Faveldaos 2 Please!!!!
Watch out Gobelins!!! WD is about!!!
(Can't wait to see this with non blurry vision)
Happy Birthday!!
Sorry i can't be there to share it with you!
Incredible work!!
All the best for your exciting year ahead! :)

Frankie Swan said...

oh my god, oh my god, oh my, oh my god, oh my god, oh god OMG!!!

arrrhhh!!!!

dude!!!!!!

Frankie Swan said...

ok through my excitement i never took the time to read your post. last post for a while?please don't stop completely as your work is constant inspiration fuel for me. but what a post!!!
yes to keep checking up on us! i promise i will continue my quest to improve!

i shall sacrifice a hundred goats in honor of your work.

Simon Webb said...

Dear god, that was absolutely amazing! Brilliant animation, almost hard to believe that most of that was done by only one person. Seriously some inspirational work there!

Matt Timms said...

DUDE!! This has turned out so awesome!!!

Was a pleasure working with you too, just let me know when the next one is starting! lol

This has made my sunday!

Alexander G. Ward said...

Sick, Sick, Siiiiiiiiiiiiick!!!

Ben Ho said...

Mate! That just blew my mind! You guys rocked so HARD!!!!!!! Im thoroughly impressed! I heard you're off to Gobelins soon. Double the congrats!

L Rossi said...

@Chang
:D
My favourite bit is at the very end when the 'L4' symbol makes the light punch sound.... And I'm not joking!

@Tori
Thanks TC!! Errrr... I think Banjo should come first :P

@Frankie
Ah thanks dude :)
But yo!? Only a hundred??
....
I can't promise anything...
But know this.... I will always be watching over you, like a cheesy-action-movie-face-in-the-clouds :P

@Simon
Aww thanks Simon, that's really kind. Well, it took long enough :D

@Matt
DUDE! :)
Glad you approve! Left a copy in the 'box' for you. And pressie is on the way!
But REEEEEALLY??!!!? It made only your Sunday??? Not even week or month or year or life???? ;)

@Alex
Cheers dude! And was meant to say, thanks for hooking me up with JJ! :)

@Ben
Thank you sir :) Hope you're keeping well!

Matt Timms said...

Man this made my last few months awesome!

MJ said...

That was exciting!! There was so much power and energy, really nice work L Rossi. Good luck at Gobelins, hava swell b-day and don't take too long to post again. Would love to see what you get up to in France :)

Kristian said...

Ooooooeeeeeeee! This hurts. It's so good. Deftly done. Expertly executed. Things I love as follows
The amazing, dynamic composition
The fluid and solid animation
The Direction, which kept me excited throughout.
A triumph my friend. You are a true renaissance man.

libra bear said...

I Dont know what to say, this is stupidly good. Really inspirational as well. complete, solid, great action, colours,bg, well done man. Im really pumped from this. Need to get my lazy ass in gear.

I hope you sent it to Sean....

libra bear said...

Oh, and er.... happy birthday?

libra bear said...

Dude, I cant stop watching it :)

L Rossi said...

@Matt
D'awwwww :)

@Meredith
Thanks so much :)
And thanks for the good wishes!

@Kristian
Merci Monsieur!!
So flattered as always by your praise (which I feel I never completely deserve!) :')

@Wes
lol
Dude it means a lot to me that you like it!
Though I don't have any problem trying to stop watching it :D ....
I can't really look at it anymore with fresh eyes.....
And got your txt - Good to know you got my back! ;) Get busy! :D
Will send it to Sean now!!!

littlebookbuilders said...

Errrr........dude, i'm lost for words......You must be extremely proud. it was so fucking sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I might leave another comment once i've calmed down

Frankie Swan said...

do you have any idea of how hard it is to acquire just one goat in london?!!
this is truly awe-inspiring. when u start making big budget films can u hire me as ur intern??
are you on Vimeo?? u shuld set up over there as well, more people NEED to see your work!
cheesy cloud face in the sky?mufasa stylee? yes please sir! evry time i make a new post i expect you to appear like so:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdg6WU_aqWE&feature=player_embedded

... so is Akuma dead??or is there another installment of genius in the future?

messytimbo said...

Hahahaha Dude your game is to tight at the moment. Smashing it beyond believe. And the greatest part is that it motivating people. Your truly inspiring me and tons other people from what i can see.

Amazing job man!!

Anonymous said...

I work as a game artist/animator for a small indie company. Flash is the main tool. I want to try to make an "anime" inspired animation and never thought it possible until I saw your work. I noticed that you worked primarily in flash. Was this difficult? I always have a hard time with the brush tool and hate the fact that it does not scale with the canvas as you zoom in or out. Also, I don't understand your process reel. I think you colored everything in Flash? And then created several different compositions (color, shadow, etc.) then merged the layers in after effects? BTW how did you get someone in the field to do the effects? WOW! And what did he use to create them? Flash also?

L Rossi said...

@Frankie
I'm sure you can find more goats somewhere.... if you want to be my intern... make it 250 ;)
Originally, Akuma teleported out and surprised Gouken from behind and the fight continued....
....and volcanoes erupted and every other Street Fighter Character came along in a Royal Rumble-esque brawl... then they all sang Hakuna Matata at the end.... "cough"

@Tim
Aww thanks man, that means a lot! :') Thanks for your support!

@Joel
Hey thanks for coming by and for your question!
So I animated a rough and tie down in Flash (as it was rough, the brush thing didn't bother me), then I exported the tie down as a PNG sequence and imported this into photoshop as a video layer. This way I could clean it up without having to use the Flash brush!
Then I saved all the images and imported them back into Flash, and as you said, I then saved a PNG sequence for Clean, Colour, Shadow etc (PNG sequences retain Alpha) and put them all together in After Effects.
Matt and myself have known each other for a while, and I proposed the project to him and he liked the idea of trying something new, so he said yeah! And yes, he did it all in Flash. I'm sure he would be happy to answer any of your questions on that side of things! Check out his blog...
Thanks again and all the best!
L

Anonymous said...

L you are awesome! Thank you for giving me some of your wisdom! I will put it to good use.

Joel

tiffannysketchbook said...

omg that was cooool!! I love how you perfectly matched the SF style of animation. You're so talented. Soo glad I found your blog.

Dana said...

That looks freaking GREAT dude! And congrats on goin' to Gobelins, obviously a place for the baddest of asses.
Sorry I haven't checked out your past posts, for some reason your updates don't show up on my dashboard D:

In any case, awesome awesome awesome!!! I loved every second of it! And thank you for posting that process video too xD It was very informative.

L Rossi said...

@LittleBookBuilders
Ahhh! So sorry I missed you out of my last reply! :S
Thanks for your comment! Glad you liked it :)

@Joel
No worries!

@Tiffany
Feeling's mutual ;)

@Dana
Yeah, USUALLY a place for the baddest of asses... but for some reason they let me in this year! X)
Oh, and thank you by the way! ;)
P.S I look forward to seeing how your project comes along this year!
All the best for that!

Mark Tompkins said...

Looks great Mr Rossi! looking forward to seeing more!

Gustavo Vargas said...

Hello! great animation!

i just downloaded your animation in HD :P, and learned a loooot watching it, you're the master keyframer.

I make animation too, so i know that 13 seconds is really lots of work

thank you!

ps.if you want to check out some of the stuff we do here, check: www.oneperu.com

Sjan Weijers said...

this is just Awesome!

Anonymous said...

Saw your video a few days ago and I found your blog through a friend of mine (Dana) and I must say that you've got some very impressive things going on here!

I aspire to become an animator one day, so seeing awesome talent like you through the web is always a joy for me. :)

Keep up the good work, I will be following.

L Rossi said...

@Mark
Hey Mark! Thank you!
I hope things at MPC (and in general!) are going well!?
Say hey to Abby :)

@Gustavo
Hi! And thank you! (Though I'm not sure you should be telling me that you downloaded my film :D but I guess it's flattering ;))
I had a look at your company and you have lots of great stuff - and so varied too! So many different mediums! So keep up the good work!

@Sjan
Merci!

@CJ
Hey there! Cheers - that's very kind of you :)
All the best with you're animator journey!

Jim said...

Ah man, this is hectic.
Both you guys have done an awesome job!
Gouken ftw!

Tyanim said...

Did you post in on the Street fighter France Forum ?

Santiago Montiel said...

Wow! C'est beaauuu!
Je viens de voir le projet sur catsuka avec le petit teaser, j'adore. Vivement la suite!
Bon courage!

Mapie Demessant said...

Youhou Laurent !
On s'est vu aujourd'hui mais c'était pour te souhaiter un joyeux anniversaire en retard (again. Et t'es trop fort bonhomme !

L Rossi said...

@Jim
Hey man! Thanks :)
Hope you're keeping well!

@Thiery
No - I didn't know there was one until you just said.... will have a look ;)

@Santiago
Merci beaucoup!
J'etais super content de voire que notre 'petit' film etait sur Catsuka! :D
(Grace de ca, je pensais, "peut etre ce n'etait pas trop mal finalement!")

@Mapie
MAPIE! :)
Hey, je suis content de voire que tu es dans le monde de blogger (je viens de voire ton blog - c'est toi qui es trop fort!)
Merci pour tous....et ne t'inquiet pas!! ;)
A tres bientot!

Tyler Stott said...

great blog!

Frankie Swan said...

wow i knew youd get on catsuka!looks like your awesomeness is getting the recognition it deserves!

i just realized what month were in!u start soon dont ya?
just wanna say a big GOOD LUCK to u!!!and an even bigger THANK YOU for all your help and inspiration!
i cant wait to see the magic you conjure up with. its gonna be awesome!

L Rossi said...

@Tyler
Thank You :)

@Frankie
:D Dunno about 'awesomeness', but it's nice none the less!
I got asked if a French VideoGmae TV show could air it *.*, so I'll put up a link at that point!
...
I started on Wednesday - probably in my next post I'll mention about the craziness that my life has been this last month.... but for now I'll just say it's a great feeling to finally be at Gobelins :')
Thanks again Dude!

Frankie Swan said...

ah no way that wicked!well done man.being aired on tv as well!

good luck at Gobelins cant wait for your next post.
i wanna try make it to your grad show.

Helen Ström said...

GREAT Laurent!!
Don't know how you can do it, even though I saw you work on!! he he

Michael Plummer said...

This is fucking amazing! Dude... you're going places.

J Lou said...

Like whoaaaaaaa!! DUDE I had to watch it like 3456498234 times! I didn't blink every time LOL!! AMAZING, but I cried because I wanted to see more :P I understand because you're totally showing your skills here, I gotta show this to my bf now... HIGH FIVE Laurent! Congrats to the Laurent-Matt duo! And I can't believe this will be your last post in a while (cries more)!!

J Lou said...

OMG, I was thinking about it while typing already, but just clicked "publish comment" without saying belated HAPPEE BIRTHDAY \( ^-^)/ from San Fran! Sigh I failed =_= I'm sure you had a great one :D Wait, so this means your bday is a day after mine (18th)! lol high five again! XD

L Rossi said...

**Hey folks! New link up for a French TV show that did a mini featurette!**

@Frankie
Awesome - I'll show you round the animation department ;)

@Helen
Thanks! You could do it too, easy :P

@Mick
Hey man! Thank you!!
Man it's been a while.... I hope all is well with you :)

@jLou
HIGH FIVE! :D
Thanks!
Ah, so it's because of YOU the Youtube view count is so high ;)
Happy Belated Birthday to you too then fellow Leo :)

"TORI CAT" said...

Whaaaaaa!!!! :D
Rock on!!!
Thats WICKED!!!
Your on TV now!! Woo hoo!!
Watch out world, the big dog has landad!! :P
Congrats!! Congrats! Congrats!!
:)

Nadya Mira said...

Salut Laurent, je suis la russe de la premiere annee, tu as demande mon blog - voila! First one is http://nadyamira.blogspot.com/ Second is http://nadya-mira.tumblr.com/

Ying-Hsuan Chen said...

super impressive stuff!!! can't move my eyes away from it the whole time i watched it! and thank you for sharing your progress:)
and congratulation!

Francis said...

Mind... completely blown.

This is so awesome. I feel like I've been imagining sequences like this for as long as I can remember... and you just animated it.
So inspirational and loving the WiP/composing montage!

I cannot wait to see more, all the best man.

L Rossi said...

@Tori
lol thanks!

@Nadya
Awesome work you've got there!

@Jennifer
Thanks for the kind words - and it means even more after having seen your blog! I think you're the one with the super impressive stuff!! ;)

@Francis
Ah cheers man :')
All the best to you in your final year too!!!
Have fun!

"TORI CAT" said...

Hey!!

Just seen you have 49 comments on this post.... i thought i'd help you out and make it an impressive 50!! coz Gouken certainly deserves 50 comments coz he rocks!!! :P

Thanks for your message the other day, I'll write back to you ASAP this week. Hopefully, we'll try and catch up next weekend :)

Lets see if Gouken can make it to 100 comments now! hee hee! :D

Chow for now!
TC

L Rossi said...

@Tori
FIFTY!
Because of this monumental occasion, I think I will post something next weekend... :)