Say hi, Mimi! - Making of

[@sitkinator]

I love how almost all the tools you used for this project are either completely free or have a one time payment. Goes to show far the barrier has gone down in terms of being able to create anything you want, whether it's for KZbin, a school project, or possibly even a whole movie!

[@teamok1025]

One step closer for making an high budget show with smol balance

[@avokka]

I will definitely dedicate a part of my life to making free tools. I admire the guy who made the tf2trifecta so much

[@Zliarx]

I'd say Davinci is a decent software and potentially could be the best free editing software out there, it's just it probably takes time to understand it compared to other editing softwares like adobe AE, adobe premiere and final cut pro. And despite it being free while also having it's own premium version available to be bought anytime it's one of those rare softwares/brands that would be worthwhile in the end once you get used to it and potentially be better than the other editing softwares.

[@pantommy]

​@@avokkaan open source future is the only future we should live in.

[@ProsecutorValentine]

Blender has been blessing for me back in the days while making mods for a game, there's a lot of documentation around that help anyone willing to get into it. Bless Blender.

[@KayneAung]

Damn no wonder why it looks so good man. I’m both determined yet EVEN more scared to learn animation lmao.

[@ThatGrayCartoonPony]

Do it little by little, step by step. What you see here is 10 years of experience in Gmod/Flash, 6 years in Maya, 3 years in a professional setting with 1 on high quality feature films. Don't set the bar too high at the beginning. Practice small stuff with time and be patient. If you truly love animating your skill will improve through experimentation and by seeking advices. 👍

[@KayneAung]

@@ThatGrayCartoonPony Damn,thanks mate. Gotta works hard for what we love 💪. I'm kind of praticing with 2D currently kekw.

[@BVK.]

​@@ThatGrayCartoonPony10 years... 😢

[@ThatGrayCartoonPony]

@@BVK. Time flies faster than you think. 😏

[@pabloolavarria-y2k]

@@ThatGrayCartoonPony as a kind of mlp movie combined with htf but without its acts of blood obviously but what do you say and if you want to know what it should be about just reply to me and also if you are interested

[@DOM_Studio]

This is one of the best tf2 animations I've seen, Nice job!

[@wobmaster]

stop making cringe

[@computingcapybara]

@@wobmasterI was gonna say your cringe… THEN I clicked on the channel and I see where you’re coming from here…

[@rikup1ku3]

ew

[@osarikuansari5941]

Ew a cringe youtuber responds? My brain is abt to erupt bruh

[@bigpedro360]

Respectfully, you have to rethink your content ideas. I refuse to believe you wouldn't use your skills for anything else better

[@axelmationz]

The 2D-drawn anime expressions look incredibly better than the one we have currently. Please make more of Mimi in this style, this was incredible!

[@OverratedPenguin]

The Shark teeth are cute and make her more dangerous and I like her eyes with the TF2 logo in it But your opinion the regular face model is just better in my opinion than the 2D face However I will not lie the 2D face could work well with some other characters

[@A_MoronicBlobb]

Reminds me of “so I’m a spider so what”

[@franciscs1604]

Agreed.

[@Pain_train_wielder]

@@OverratedPenguin2d drawn expressions, but more accurate to the premade model’s face would be SUPER good

[@kutiekandise]

the process of your animations is always so admirable

[@brandondog1390]

yes

[@Holyshiet46]

@@Hog_rider45 ...what?

[@atk8758]

​@@Hog_rider45what

[@ColonelFanzipantzen]

Greatly appreciate you showing how you made this, as an SFMer who wants to try moving over to blender at some point in the future this is really helpful! Just gotta say though, you adding facial deformation to accurately portray the mouth from a different angle at 2:25 is by far my favourite detail.

[@DylanoRevs]

I can already tell the amount of effort you took for that Mimi video. You made her look even more cuter than all the videos out there just by replacing her face with 2D expressions. I would love to see more of those ❤️

[@JohnLasseter-ct5in]

More animators have done this. This isn't new

[@glogervr]

@@JohnLasseter-ct5inGive an example

[@JohnLasseter-ct5in]

@@glogervr bully busters is one from the top of my head

[@gigachad9826]

@@JohnLasseter-ct5in Still, this is very good! No need for useless negativity or information for that matter.

[@JohnLasseter-ct5in]

@@gigachad9826 Not useless. OP and the uploader acts like this is new. Especially in the original video. Which is simply not true.

[@MQhelper]

As a design student currently undergoing 3D animation lessons, this is quite an eye opener for what is possible! Experimenting like this really shows that creativity has no bounds when it comes to animation. I admire your passion, it's really inspiring!

[@Vantainium]

This man actually managed to make Mimi sentry cute. Props to you man!

[@jamesverner9132]

She was always cute

[@LordVader1094]

​@@jamesverner9132Agreed! People just started using her in cringe ways

[@ninjireal]

fdym? She was always cute

[@Vantainium]

Fair enough. I agree.

[@RealNeonPlayz]

​@@LordVader1094fr

[@Plazom1.0]

It was very nice and fun to see behind the scenes. Indeed, this animation is well done and deserves respect for how much was invested in it!

[@MonsterMasterFightingLucario]

Mimi is a top notch addition to the TF2 community. She’s a star in most of our hearts.

[@gmattonline6068]

ever since i was inspired by Alan Becker with his stickfigure animations, ive always wanted to animate. This video literally starstruck me, im both scared and determined to do something like this now!

[@ThatGrayCartoonPony]

Do it little by little, step by step. What you see here is 10 years of experience in Gmod/Flash, 6 years in Maya, 3 years in a professional setting with 1 on high quality feature films. Don't set the bar too high at the beginning. Practice small stuff with time and be patient. If you truly love animating your skill will improve through experimentation and by seeking advices. 👍

[@PlanetSnowman2]

3:37 I just realized her eye is the TF2 logo, Nice! :o

[@MikeGen0]

Love watching your process and results! Keep it up dude! :D

[@remo2118]

Okay now this is some good backstage video to learn. I will try to learn blender and make animations like you buddy.

[@mr1spamification]

I like that you reveal the like and dislike ratio as of a certain date, it allows me to compare from what I see on my end with the return dislikes addon, and I've noticed the dislikes you report are slightly higher than what I see months later on my end, which means anytime I see a heavy dislike ratio on a video via the addon, the dislikes are actually *even worse.* Good data to have, I appreciate it.

[@inferno3345]

Yo this is NUTS

[@Pandajosh8]

Fr

[@insane7718]

Wallnuts

[@xVelvetri]

Heh. Nuts and bolts.

[@Pandajosh8]

@@insane7718 💀

[@inferno3345]

@@xVelvetrihehehehhe

[@benb.8550]

Love your style of blended animation with 3D renders. It adds a lot of character and comedy to these shorts!

[@SirPembertonS.Crevalius]

Seeing stuff like this just makes me appreciate blender so much. So much you can do with it. :D Very neat little BTS! The hard work and effort paid off ^w^

[@average-art3222]

Agree, really shows how much passion these animators put into such amazing work like this, such a shame some of these amazing artists weren't shown much more appreciations as much or so on. I'm grateful for such amazing animations like this one here.

[@M4N14C4L]

Not you again

[@Vpro501]

if this took 18 days, then damn i appreciate all animators work! it takes time and effort and work to do these stuff!

[@joop2005j]

it took 18 days

[@Vpro501]

@@joop2005j oh right

[@CoreRealm]

No wonder whythe animation feels so fluid

[@himovich_him]

00:49 fire heater dawg

[@NichoMania2]

I'm really glad you made this. I saw your comment about hoping this style takes over as a method for animating Mimi, and I absolutely agree, I would love that!... But then I thought to myself 'I don't know if people will know *how* to do that exactly...' 😅besides just general 'use the Grease Pencil' sorta hints.. especially if it wants to spread like a fad of sorts, the same way Mimi herself did. Definitely going to give this a look over though, maybe even use it as a tutorial to teach myself some stuff. Thanks for all the wonderful animations as always! 👍

[@Anomidae]

good stuff! Love the way you block btw, I feel like even for the first block you did a great job at picking the right poses and factoring in the keep-alive at an early stage (I really wish I was better at this myself) Very good attention to detail, so high level. Love it

[@Ted00thps]

This makes me appreciate how animations are made in blender alot more, let alone your animations. I think it was also genius doing the whole thing in front of a camera before rigging to get the idea how the scene plays out Huge props, would love to see more

[@reconab12]

I always enjoy watching your content, even if it only comes once every blue moon. Watching the Mimi video was an absolute treat and absolutely adorable. I also loved seeing the subtle "easter eggs" you put in and the little details you added. For example, the chairs stacked behind Mimi after she runs off-screen and how the lights on her change intensity depending on her mood. Keep up the amazing work!

[@green_boot6042]

ANIMATION IS SO HARD! PEOPLE WHO DO THESE KINDS OF THINGS FOR A LIVING DESERVE MORE CREDIT AND RESPECT!!

[@11TheWatcher11]

The animations is so clean and well made I love how much care you put in a short animation video

[@TheEngieTF2]

A faceless Mimi Sentry reminded me of those "faceless" portraits where it lacks the eyes and mouth, with only their eyebrows and nose are drawn

[@ZackSBruh]

You reminded me of the style of characters where only the giant eyebrow and the mustach replace the eyes and the mouth

[@Crashsune]

What an amazing and inspiring animation process!! Thank you so much for sharing this and breaking it down!!!

[@MaverickHunterDaniel]

Excellent work again, Gray. Love seeing your Behind The Scenes of this and you've certainly came along way from just Gmod and Sony Vegas! Also the self reference you used was rather hilarious I must say.

[@xdbean95]

I truly appreciate every single animation that you have done. I am glad that you are still able to do animations for the community even though you have a job now. Thank you.

[@robin_the_owl]

"this thing aint on autopilot son!"

[@Ghostly_scarf]

I love how some parts you had to do a lot of remodeling (replacing the face, the lights, rigging the hair), and then breaking down the animation, from key frames, low fps, then more in between s, rough sketches of the face, etc. This was so COOL

[@Anaidon]

I love those Making of episodes! Gives us so might insight on how all of this is made!

[@tommys1689]

I absolutely love this! It’s really nice to see into your process, and it’s amazing at how you were able to do this in just 15 days! All of that work to make what’s definitely the best Mimi sentry animation on KZbin! I’d love to see more, both of Mimi and of your process making it! Thank you so much for this!

[@WAtheAnum]

it is actually nice to see how much work behind a small video actually takes. a lot people think " its just a small video" but never ever thought about how much work IS actually behind it. srsly to say even IF it was a small video, the making of shows pretty well how much work it really takes to make such stuff. im impressed and say good job again ^^

[@Legion3000]

Neat choice using the DMCV track. I love this video, too! Really cool to see how you did it! Man, looking back on since watching Engineer Likes Trains, your work is stellar AF. Keep on improving dude!

[@somecateyelink]

it was really fun to see your journey in the TF2B discord and some bits here. You are absolutely amazing!

[@TheBigTopaz]

The 2D Eyes are the best part of this version of Mimi, so much more emotion is shown with them than any other version of Mimi

[@DarkTree]

how much you care about every little detail and the exact processes for all your work really shines through in everything you make

[@NikoZguri]

this is how Mimi SHOULD be portrayed in ALL fan animations. this was perfect! the amount of work, effort and dedication put into making this video is incredible! you're a legit a talent, and you deserve all of the recognition you can get :)

[@ArcRay20]

"And yes, its as easy as drawing from the camera view" damn, thats how really handy.

[@WilliamDurge]

I've watched this little channel grow for quite some time now. good to see it still going :)

[@DeNooz8558]

Yeah, I love this channel, he uploads 1 or 2 videos every year because he is really busy, but you can tell that he does it with love and tons of quality.

[@Noobicus_]

Constantly rewatching this keeps reminding myself how i need to switch from sfm to blender LMAO, great work love it!!

[@NavillusStudio]

I have been holding off learning grease pencil, but this makes me want to learn. It looks so good! What method did you use to mask the face since grease pencil stays on top of CG?

[@ThatGrayCartoonPony]

I had to render the 3D models and Grease Pencil in 2 different ViewLayers, and separate the materials from Mimi's limbs and side hair bands while adding an AOV output in order to make a masking system that will hide the GP elements behind specific parts at specific moments. This masking system is what you can see a glimpse of at 3:35 in the compositing node tree, with the black and white parts in the Viewer Node. You should normally be able to achieve the same result with cryptomattes instead of AOVs (it's definitely something I need to try in the future). But yeah, I needed to create a sheet that specifies what limb is in front/behind the face at specific times (right hand, left hand, right hair band, left hair band) in order to make it work, with occasional trial and error.

[@veryasianfailure]

Love seeing my favorite KZbinr in action! Keep up the good work your content is amazing dude/dudette!

[@Atri4]

Love to see a peek at the effort that goes into your stuff, love your work man!

[@draquaza70]

I still have yet to use the graph editor I really gotta learn, also great work!

[@atreyubrown1036]

0:19 is one of the funniest shit you've ever seen. its so fucking funny, that it can make you wheeze very hard.

[@Dracnoss]

Oh I am so glad that I subbed to you. Going behind the scenes to see the process of your phenomenal animations is incredible!

[@kalebadvent]

Even without the facial expressions added on I can feel the emotions in the animation. Job well done!

[@JCGames-4]

this is incredible! I'm really excited to see what you're cooking up next!

[@wisgarus]

I've been using my own body and movements for reference but for some reason recording myself hasn't occurred to me. I will definitely be trying that from now on, thanks for the idea!

[@ThatGrayCartoonPony]

Remember when recording yourself to not think about the action itself and be in character (feelings, back though, personality, context). One of my animation supervisors had a great saying: “You’re not animating a character that drinks from a glass of water. You’re animating a character who’s thirsty”. If you have issues with acting, ask a friend for help. ;)

[@wisgarus]

@@ThatGrayCartoonPony I more or less had that in mind already, but that saying really clears it up for me somehow. Thanks for the good advice.

[@speakertitan360]

Its so cool how much stuff you can do in blender, I really like the animation!

[@SinicropeStudios]

Sincerely, your expertise is immaculately illustrious! The produced products of animation are invariably inspiring and show legendary prowess!

[@andrewb4999]

The fact that you actually made the 2D facial features on the model itself in line with the camera view and didn’t just animated them over the finished 3D animation is hella impressive.

[@TheHomeOfWillis]

You have so much talent when it comes to animation and it amazes me so much! You are such an inspiration for starting animators! And I can not wait to see what project you make next!

[@badandbest]

I love behind the scenes videos. The mix of 2d and 3d animation turned out great. It feels so natural for this character.

[@Toed7780]

I appreciate the video, I actually learned some things *and that splines and graph editing is always going to be inevitable lol*

[@obviouscadillac9493]

Damn, always looking up to your animations, and videos like this are just precious. It's like spending time with your favourite teacher, receiving his memes and experience...

[@LeonardzTheHuman]

You have really done a well job, man. All the effort was worth it! I still need to learn to use Blender properly some of these days so this helps me to keep that idea in my mind.

[@hydroponicgard]

I'm a big fan of blender behind the scenes, generally seeing what UNHOLY POWERS this software wields just makes me more excited to dwell deeper into my own projects, thank you for posting this, TGCP

[@Spunow]

I like the idea of Mimi being a flustered shy daughter of the Engineer.

[@GalaxyStar-z2c]

Dang, that sure is a lot of hard work. Once I get into animation. I will problably go through the same process. Great work Pony!

[@Reds_Guy]

Man that so cool ever seen! but your animation on mimi so cute lol :D

[@taste5728]

I love that you just keep the "HO PUTAIN" audio from spy even when showing the editing

[@hoopdedo274]

Great animation and glad to see you had fun with the grease pencil I can’t wait to see more

[@CLAYTERRACOTTA]

What kind of animator uploads at 3am? TGCP: Oh boy! 3am!

[@lollmaoon]

bro is jack of trades in animating, literally. so in art too.

[@zod1acgd]

your animations are so worth it to watch no matter how long it is. its so high quality

[@biggierocc1935]

The Grease Pencil stuff was by far the most interesting part to me, since I've never tried it yet, but seeing how easily it can be integrated with 3D stuff was pretty cool

[@bearmazing12]

How tf does someone make an animation in 16 DAYS okay you are hella talented and I cannot wait to see what things you come up with

[@godslayer9000]

I woke up like 10 minutes ago and my first thought was how the hell did you make that hair look so good. Lo and behold your video pops up first thing in the home screen. I would have never imagined everything was hand made, but at the same time it makes the most sense. That hair looked more real than reality. I also love your acting skills, if you showed me the two videos without context, I would have said that you were copying mimi's movements!

[@dracobellator1164]

its nice to see this every once in a while from a fellow artist, to see how their work flow goes and what they do to get a project going. nicely done.

[@survivor163]

If there is a 2d face rig like this one then all Mimi SFM animations will feel more... natural and expressive.

[@tomasacevedocruces3585]

"Say hi, Mimi!" It is one of my favorite animations and seeing the process of how it was created makes it even more special ❤️

[@toyfreddygaming]

any time an animated face is drawn onto a 3d character is just such a pleasure to my eyes. it is pure sweet sweet candy for them, and the way you implemented it on mimi is flawless............ i don't understand any of what you are doing except some really basic stuff, but i really see the effort you went throught to make this as clean (and cartoony!!!!) as possible!!!! greatest of jobs! good

[@ObbyFeathersnoot]

1:56 me when cereal

[@JPGR00]

Videos like these always makes me appreciate animators even more, looks like a lot of damn work. Makes the end result look even more stunning.

[@taureon_]

3:03 EXTEND-O-LEG

[@GamingBlueNOOB]

I am slowly learning blender to be able to make characters and possibly anims, and this video amazes me, but also scares me because of me potentially setting a high bar for someone like me. But! Determined either way. Good stuff Gray!

[@ThatGrayCartoonPony]

Do it little by little, step by step. What you see here is 10 years of experience in Gmod/Flash, 6 years in Maya, 3 years in a professional setting with 1 on high quality feature films. Don't set the bar too high at the beginning. Practice small stuff with time and be patient. If you truly love animating your skill will improve through experimentation and by seeking advices. 👍

[@GamingBlueNOOB]

@@ThatGrayCartoonPony I will keep that on my mind, ty!

[@terratoilet2]

Thanks for such a cute animation!!

[@matsoudo5980]

I was sure that you done something to the face rig as I notice the extra jaw movement which make the "stop" even more expressive and intense ! And seeing all the details to create this pearl is really interesting ...

[@LOEKASH]

I love how the making of is longer than the video itself

[@The_Navagator_Trace_Rifle]

I didnt even realize you made this because its not cursed

[@battles_varied_animator]

The MOMENT I saw that you used Blender instead of SFM I went "Ooooooh, He used Grease Pencil for the faces, definitely".There aren't enough words to describe just how powerful and helpful grease pencil is. It's a shocker that more people don't know about it's potential.

[@Ender_Fox1616]

I still can't believe that he did his animation in 4 minutes. Blender looks so easy

[@zaten-p]

i love that blender is able to do all of this stuff for free, especially with grease pencil.

[@bcn1gh7h4wk]

1:40 _Euler vs Quaternion rant_ me: _chuckles in Engineer_

[@T29Heavy]

I Always appreciate the little drawings that appear on the side like the one seen in the end credits

[@RujiTheRockBoi]

ohhhhhh I thought this is all animated in Gmod and adoby drawings. but this is better! Good job man, this is amazing! :D

[@H.I.T.A.M99]

Damn, your animation progressed from a funny shitpost animation to an actual high quality disney tier animation.

[@datankz2498]

holy crap I was saying how well made this is, the amount of care this went through is INSANE! Excellent work :D

[@Hervoo]

You're the best animator there is! Your work always have so much details put into it!

[@altedhmarsperez4231]

I love this Man, And I could see the Process, And I love that you made the faces by drawing, That's something Btw it is nice Mate

[@superYurilicious]

Gotta love when people uses acted references to animate

[@ImpyWorm]

It's always so helpful to see a creator's workflow! Big thank you for sharing!

[@thegamingvampire5858]

If i had a mimi avatar in vrchat with the expressiveness of mimi in your video i would never take that thing off