AN INTERVIEW ABOUT TOON BOOM HARMONY WITH EMRE CAN ÜCBAŞ
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We talked with Emre Can Üçbaş, who has a certificate from Toon Boom Harmony and signed many successful projects.
Üçbaş will answer all questons about 2D production and Toon Boom.
Can you tell us a little about yourself and the projects that have been involved so far?
Hello, this is Emre Can Üçbaş. I was curious to animate or animate with an international language. I spent my childhood watching cartoons and creating my own characters. Then I turned to caricature and got degrees in many international cartoon competitions with Nezih Danyal. At the end of my high school years, when I was in a hurry about which department to study at the university, I made my choice of animation in Eskişehir with the support of my family. In 2006, I passed the talent exams and was entitled to study at the Animation Department of Anadolu University.
During the English preparatory period of my studentship, under the direction of Rıdvan Çevik and with the support of my friend Seçkin Yalın, I took the part of completely classic animation short film which is called ‘Yağmur Makamı’ with Ahmet Tabak, Emre Konyalı, Murat Tahan, Hüseyin Gülgen, Osman Altın, Remzi San, Cihan Gültaş and many talented animators. Then in 2008 again under the direction of Res. Asst. Rıdvan Çevik, I took part in the short film ‘İrfan’. During the last years of the university, Düşyeri team came to Eskişehir and in 2011 I started working at Düşyeri Cartoon and Animation Studio. Until 2016, I worked as a character designer and animator in ’RGGAYAS” and “PİSİ” projects in Düşyeri. These projects, which were all made with Toon Boom, continued for 4 seasons. In 2016, we created a freelance team called ‘Kemik’, which has not yet been incorporated, and continued for a while. Afterwards, I returned to Ankara and started working at a game company called ‘Hopes’. In this process, we have made animations on Youtube for 6-12 age group.
In 2019, I decided to continue my life as a freelance animator and worked on the Toon Boom animation series projects “İbi”, “Neşeli Dünyam”, “Tinky Minky”, “Kare” and “Maceracı Yüzgeçler”. I am currently teaching Toon Boom at Anima Okul and developing my own series, games, short film projects.
How many years have you been using Toon Boom Harmony?
I've been using Toon Boom for about 11 years. From Toon Boom Animate Pro to Harmony 16, I have experienced all Toon Boom products professionally
Why Toon Boom? What are the advantages of Toon Boom Harmony in 2D production?
Toon Boom is a very practical program where you can devote time to more character animation, solve the robotic animation called ‘hareketlendirme’ easily and take the time to think about acting animation. I didn't choose Toon Boom; Toon Boom chose me. While we were developing two very beautiful and successful projects at Düşyeri Animation Studio, we started to learn Toon Boom. When Pepee's director Emre Konyalı introduced us to Toon Boom, we have expanded these two projects with Toon Boom, which was at the beginning of the development process.
One of the main reasons I went to Toon Boom is abroad. I have witnessed a major upswing with the Canadian company Toon Boom Harmony and is currently using Toon Boom in the 2D animation studios of major film companies such as Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, Fox, SPA (Klaus), Cartoon Network and Netflix. The use of Toon Boom has spread not only to series projects, but also to feature films. This led to the opening of new Toon Boom studios, which led them to search for Toon Boom-aware animators. Nowadays Ireland, Spain, Southern and Northern Canada are in search of a great Toon Boom animators. Because you are competing with the world alone, your demo and portfolio must be intact. The reflection of the interest in Turkey is interesting.
Toon Boom is an ideal program for character animation, as in 3D animation, you can rigle a character in Toon Boom, even at certain angles. And this ensures that the type or proportions of a rigid character remain intact during the animation phase. As soon as you feel the character is distorted or for control purposes, you can instantly copy and paste the desired angle from the library to the next frame. By adding variations to a drawing you want to change easily, you can continue your animation. Another feature that distinguishes Toon Boom from other programs is the development of Toon Boom by animating animators. Many studios such as Disney, Mercury Animation Works, Pipeline Studios and Brown Bags Films have created scripts suitable for animators along with Toon Boom creators. This makes the animation more enjoyable, not only cut-out animation production, but also makes the classic animation production we call cell fun.
Why should 2D enthusiasts choose the Anima Okul Toon Boom Harmony course? What is the difference of Anima Okul Toon Boom Harmony course from other online courses and workshops?
Through the real-time course, the participants have the opportunity to talk to me one-on-one and ask their questions immediately. Apart from the opportunity of question and answer, we send the materials and videos of each course to our students at the end of each course and the participants have the chance to follow the course topics again and again. In addition, in this training, which is based on abundant practice and practice, our students can consult me directly on the points they have stuck in their studies, and they can benefit from my guidance much more healthier when creating their own 2D portfolios. This, unlike standard online courses, helps us build a much more interactive communication and organic connection with students.
Is there a message you want to give to those who want to move to 2D? What would you recommend to those who want to move or improve themselves in this area?
As you know 2D is a separate world. If you really want to do this, go ahead.
Toon Boom is a program that requires plenty of practice and drawing. If you trust your drawing and love to draw, I strongly recommend Toon Boom. If you say ‘My drawing is not bad, but I want to make a rig’ this provides or if you say, I just want to make cut-out animation’ you just have to move the prepared rig. Toon Boom characters are available on certain sites and you can buy and animate. It is already very important to choose a certain area to prepare the demo. When you send your demo to the studio you want to work in, it eliminates the confusion and the other party can better understand which area you want to work with. This makes you stand out from other job applications. Or, from character design to character rig, you can demo and present a project entirely prepared by you. I wish you all great success.