Types of Independent Animation projects you should consider

[@binkyboy448]

One indie animation group I've been following, Glitch Productions, got their start doing Super Mario 64 shitpost comedy videos on KZbin for six years, some of which got tens of millions of views. Then they used their Mario series to promote a whole season of their first original show, Meta Runner, which got its funding from grants and out-of-pocket money. It paid off, and the show got a complete run with two additional seasons. Now they've started collaborating with other indie creators and hiring more experienced animators, which has given us Murder Drones, one of the biggest indie cartoons on KZbin, with more shows to come. And they release all of it for free.

[@AaronGeo]

And The Amazing Digital Circus

[@princessthyemis]

WHOAAAA!

[@game4us_Splatuber]

Its an absolutely crazy thing that happened and im so happy for them and glad that they got to this point.

[@El_tortugoDEV]

Yeah im a big fan of they im even making a series inspired in digital circus (and will hace many references to nowdays internet)

[@toymaster1431]

Seeing indie animation take off in this day and age restores my faith in entertainment.

[@extra_ram_noodles]

I can't believe Killer Bean hadn't been mentioned a single time 😔

[@grumpysourdough]

thats preposterous 😢

[@jacksonvm740]

Prolly cuz it wasn’t 2d. Cg is a completely different world

[@Komatsutoriko]

Sad times we live in where killer bean is not appreciated 😔

[@imaniislander755]

What sacrilege!!!!

[@AlexHfilmss]

​@@jacksonvm740digital circus coughing in the corner

[@NightspeakerR]

0:01 INTRO - Independent Animation Projects 2:26 Small Tests/Micro Projects 3:33 Storyboards and Animatic Reels 4:58 Casual Shorts and Skits (The hahah funny moments-) 6:22 Short "Features" Polishes Short Films 7:45 Full Pilots/Feature Films 8:57 Thoughts and Advice to Independent Animation Projects

[@Amelia_PC]

I've always loved animation and have tried my hand at it here and there. But, man, the one thing that keeps me away from pursuing it as a career is the amount of time required for a single piece. As a veteran comic book artist, I chose comics because I can work on them solo and tell longer stories. But animations? I freakin' love them, but I just can't imagine spending weeks on a one-minute animation O__O To all my animator buddies out there, I really respect your tenacity. (I checked out Cloudrise Pictures, and I'm incredibly impressed that everything was made by one person. Seriously, it's mind-blowingly cool!) And your channel is amazing!

[@caroodraws]

I wanna join the indie movement! Thanks for being one of the only youtubers I've found who talks about indie projects in a realistic way and how to manage them. Means alot!

[@JMarcosArt]

I mostly do short skits of my characters, but last year, I managed to release an "official" episode 1 as a 6 minute short. It was a great experience, but the amount of work was monumental. I plan to make episode 2 eventually, but I think I'll stick to short skits again for a while :)

[@KaitlynInSpace]

Coming from an animator in college working on my own independent project, I always love your videos dividing into indie animation. Your videos have helped me so much with my own project along with so many other people! Keep up the great work!

[@Noirlax]

Thanks for going through the different types of projects. I've been trying to get Ep 1 of my project for over 10 years now. I made some footage and also two related short films to help with the main project. Storyboards and animatics make sense for me for the entire series but I struggle to find the right balance between them being too rough and the desire to make a complete test out of them.

[@JackieAckiLewis]

I've worked with Akiel Guzman before, and he's absolutely fantastic. Love that you gave him a shoutout!

[@urcryptidisinanothercastle]

5:32 I was doodling James + Vixy McCloud just as you namedrop A Fox in Space o.O

[@TICSTUDIOSLLC]

I’ve been wanting to say for a long time that there are Several great independent animators who do full on webseries that are now forever in the shadow of something huge like Lackadaisy. Indie projects that get a ton of creative talent is awesome but there are many of us who are working either by ourselves or with a handful of people. Usually when I find a great animated show or sometimes feature film the views or subscribers hardly ever go above 1K whilst an endless sea of 6 second meme videos get into the hundreds of thousands of views. (I had one of my own and I was so frustrated by the difference I took the silly meme video down). An indie animated project can have a budget but it really annoys me that the smalled to no budget productions get almost no attention. I’ve been doing indie snimation since 2020 and I can tell you from experience that it’s a community and we tend to all bump into each other.

[@kayduncan7579]

as someone who wants to make an animated series ever since I was a kid This helped a lot with motivation. Even the thought of starting even the small projects I had planned seemed massive since I'm planning on animating on Procreate Dreams and Blender as someone who has mostly done traditional art my whole life and only recently started to use procreate. I had plans of using the characters for smaller projects before working on the pilot to build a following. Hearing someone else say this has built my motivation greatly.

[@mix-up9003]

Thanks for mentioning Cloudrise Pictures, it is a nice artist stuff to discover, I am really enjoying his work so far. Could you show feature other artists who you think would deserve more attention their way?

[@sweatyearth7458]

I am diving headfirst into making a 3d animated web series. All by myself....

[@theyellowbeanieYT]

I would like to do my own indie animated series. Doing a few gags/ or tests with a 1-5 minute episode would be good. And to expand the story further I think making a few tie in comics/ comic strips would be beneficial to expand the story without putting in too much work.

[@Ender-Eye2000]

I want the big studios to have more respect to the animation and stories people want to tell, and not cancel it when it gets big and say it didn’t, or some other bs. I respect indie so much. And I want to do that for big companies or studios.

[@CelluloidHoax]

I actually have thought about, if I wanted to make a movie or a longer video, I’d cut it down into shorter bits and put them together afterwards.

[@Ender-Eye2000]

I’ve loved animation ever since I can remember

[@studioheartbreak]

love this!

[@yezzzsir]

Great ideas here! I'm going via the start small route myself.

[@tridek1949]

Aww man, this video is JUST what I needed. Thanks!

[@pedrosaabedra5653]

I actually want to make a action kids show about 6 heroes, the pilot would be about team first time meeting each other, its also a pilot movie not many indie animation do.

[@Hawtttsoup]

EARLY! I love your style of animation I try to incorporate that with my style, yours is just so smooth with you know. Thank you for this video I’m learning a lot every time I watch you.

[@CushionSapp]

Nothing really to say, but I enjoyed this video. Thanks for making and sharing it.

[@thegamingteen44mc5]

You should also mention indie animated movies, like one someone made with a similar title to your short film

[@Diisycorner]

Thank you so much for this video 💖

[@jerartist127]

Thanks I'm working on a pilot for my web series I have managed to find some great vo talent but all the animation is on me it's a lot of work

[@izafrenija]

never seen so actual artickle for me) I wish to make my own projects, but main job never let me work a lot for social media and get fun base. No I have no job and no fun base lol

[@blueberry-milk_]

7:03 NOT US 👀🙈😳 We got a lot of lore though 😿

[@fedfire2645]

fresh ahh comment (i cant afford prayer hands emoji)

[@StarlightLancer01]

Hi, Toniko! I was wondering if you teach animation? I would love to learn but going to college is expensive and paying for courses online seems risky. Do you teach animation to others? Or have any legitimate resources you could share to learn on our own?

[@JJstudio-fd4fp]

He has a course in his description

[@StarlightLancer01]

​@@JJstudio-fd4fpOh, wow. That's how you know I don't read descriptions 😅 Thanks!

[@Xenderman]

@@StarlightLancer01 he also has hundreds of videos about learning animation on this very youtube channel if you're broke, though when i get a job im gonna support him

[@StarlightLancer01]

@@Xenderman Yeah, I found his channel one day before I made this comment and most of the videos I saw were discussing workflow and why animation job application are a joke. Wasn't sure if he taught, thanks!

[@Xenderman]

@@StarlightLancer01 yeah no problem! His most helpful videos are ones that are less popular, sadly. I would watch his 2 about having a shorthand animation style, the one about breakdowns, and the one about inbetweening.

[@TeddHazard]

Great stuff bud!

[@skovoridka]

Thx for advice ✨

[@El_tortugoDEV]

Im currently making an animated series pixel art but idk if it will be good like these

[@OctopiAreCool]

Great Video! It was really helpful to hear your thoughts, I do have a question. Do you have links to where we can view some of the animatics you put in the background of the video? The one with bear looked very intriging to me.

[@wynton921]

I’m buying a rokoko suit and getting into MOCAP

[@TICSTUDIOSLLC]

I want to give a shoutout to some of my favorite Indie Animators real quick- World Empire BlackArro Cartoons Jim Lujan Stars and Beyond Brypsi High Petey and Pile Lug and Nit Shitty Booze Reviews The Cosmic Highway The Minute Hour The Slouch Show

[@zarastorm4981]

Do you have a video on how to develop a creative team For animation?

[@daltondyer2984]

do you have advise for thoughs who want to use animation to tell there story, but only know how to write? (me lol)

[@GreayWorks]

Mine that’s the one people should con😊

[@BigTexasTony]

Should I make the 12-minutes animation? Is that a smaller project?

[@TonikoPantoja]

too big

[@YoYoFan3.0]

Need short videos 💛😃👍

[@redsprites5216]

TONIKOOOOOOO🎉🎉🎉❤

[@aboudaymane8195]

💯💯

[@ZeroZoneZZ]

In regards to not getting a well deserved amount of viewers and fans, why aren’t you mentioning the flawless benefit of working on a fan project of an existing IP to quickly accumulate an audience and then work on your original stuff so you don’t have to start from scratch?

[@luispheonix]

Please make a video on how we can combine AI in the workflow of 2d animation it will be very helpful if you do beacuse after all we are going to do that eventually ❤

[@RedGallardo]

I'd stick with series of 4-panel strips. Animation is way too demanding for the effect you get. You work a week for a 5 second clip of a character turning and saying "yes". And you rival with Disney, Dreamworks, Universal and... heck, even Cartoon Saloon. You could convey way more as a solo artist with graphic novels. Making a full length movie is noble but... it would take you a lifetime and it better be something you'd give your 40 years to. You'd have to start when young and by the time you finish you may get way more skilled and see all the flaws and think maybe it was a dumb idea. You'll have different values in life, different level of criticism. You'd say "What was I thinking?! Making a movie about 4 kids looking for crystals that, combined, give limitless power?! And fighting an evil dark lord for them? That's childish! What's the message?! What's the emotion it leaves behind? Its impact is less than of 1 Sponge Bob episode!" From the look of it, I'm sure your animation is badass. But... in general, I'd not recommend people to dive into grand projects like animation so easily. Can't refund life...

[@RedGallardo]

@@caverncloud9478 What's the purpose of yours? Do you think animation is easy? Yes or no? Do you think everyone who likes cartoons should be encouraged to dedicate life to animation regardless of its complexity? Yes or no? Do you think no one would ever destroy their life by choosing the path that would take 100-fold effort for the same results? Yes or no? Do you honestly think we're all equal and anyone could do what Toniko does? I wouldn't say anything if it was a video about professional career as a studio animator. But this video is about indie animation. It's about people who decide to create animation alone. Do you actually think the decision of making animated movies alone is not extremely risky, potentially burning a person out and harming more than helping? Yes or no? And yes, I do not understand why would anyone going solo choose animation over illustration as a career. Animation is like rocket launching. Anything worthy is done by 100s of people. The small stuff is a joke. And Toniko combines many skills and advantages of his life and sacrifices a lot for what he's doing. That's absolutely not for everyone. That's the meaning of my comment. Warning is the purpose. Thanks for your input.

[@RedGallardo]

@@caverncloud9478 Criticism isn't hate. You need to learn the difference. Indie game makers can make a good game in 1 year. Ask Flash game devs. You can't make a decent animation in 1 year. If you're so good you can make 5 frames a day non stop for a full year it's 1825 frames a year. 76 seconds. I dare you, make 2 min animation that would earn you 12 months of salaries. If you don't burn out by the end of it, I'll agree that personally YOU had a right to not see any purpose in my comment. But I guarantee you'll never create anything worthy if you're that ignorant about the subject. You could spend time on strips and actually get somewhere. Or have your time wasted. I explained my point. You need better arguments than "anyone can do anything if they dream hard enough". That's princess unicorn BS. Get real. Life isn't your fantasy. You know that, you know I'm right. You're just being pointlessly stubborn about fairytale "believe in yourself" nonsense. Take math, calculate everything animation takes and you'll see what you can and what you cannot do. No matter how hard you wish for it. And I'm sure you don't even wish that hard. You'd give up half-way. Toniko has dedication and skill few people would have. he has opportunities few people would ever see. Not even 0.1% of people on Earth would have what it takes to follow in his footsteps. But you have my blessing to go and try. You deserve everything you'll get after making this decision.

[@takahashierik]

I get your point, and I do agree that if someone just has a story they really want to tell regardless of medium they should probably stick to writing a book or a comic first. But I think all kinds of animation are great, and when I find a short film I like I'll probably watch it more than once and share with more people. I also disagree that someone making an independent animation is competing with Disney or other big studios, since that's not what I'm expecting from an indie. What I like about indie projects is seeing something that could only be made from the unique sensibilities of one artist or a small team, even if it looks low budget. And though comics and animation have things in common, you can do things in animation that you can't do in comics, like telling a story without dialogue only through visual storytelling, unique movement, acting choices and music, and vice-versa, there are things that comics as a medium can do better than animation. Anyway, my point is that there is a value to making an animated project over other mediums if someone is willing to take the challenge. And like Toniko said, animated projects can have different kinds of complexity. I've seen great animations that have minimal movement or stick figure characters and still be impactful

[@RedGallardo]

@@takahashierik It must be one genius story to get away with stick figures at 4 fps. For contrary, I can use Pixie and Brutus as a good example of a comic that works as animation perfectly. But it IS a comic. Animating everything would be way too tedious. You make "media" sound as if it was a choice between a pencil and an ink. But it's not equal, it's rather like choosing between making 10 seconds of 1 animation vs making 40 comic strips. Isn't it way more effective to tell a good story via 40 times more content? You can still use graphic to convey a message without words. Plus animation requires way more aspects and knowledge like dynamics, timing, physics etc. It's not different skills, it's same skills plus many more. And if an artist fails to complete a story as a graphic novel, it may be a bad idea to dive even deeper. It's like failing to run 100 m sprint and deciding to go for 200 km marathon. That makes no sense. It's even more difficult, not an alternative. As for Disney and Dreamworks, I mean there are TONS of animations. Anime, shows of all kinds... I mean making an animation is not in vacuum, people still have to choose to watch a newbie's show or watch, say, Naruto, Gravity Falls, Sponge Bob or Simpsons. Of course they'd choose something more professional. Because it's all good, even better than what a single person could create. And life is not infinite, we need to choose what to spend our 40 years on. I do support the idea of making indie animations. I LOVE the short movies that win awards. But I have to mention that animation is extremely precise and needs huge focus while comic strips are very general and flexible and don't require a whole life dedication. Driving a car is common, driving a crane is too specific and may not be needed. Especially as an independent crane worker. You gotta admit an indie crane job would be a very long shot that may not pay off and leave the man broke. Going art is a risk, going animation is almost insane. It's very difficult and unforgiving. That's why few people do that alone. In a studio you're backed up, you can get help, you can fail and make less and still earn your salary. Indie is a leap of faith.

[@naniyotaka]

@@caverncloud9478 He isn’t hateful… He is right, lots of story ideas don’t worth it. People are free to use animation as their main story telling device but they shouldn’t think animation is the only way they can tell a story because comic books and graphic novels are way better when it comes to one person projects or simply one-shots.

[@newoutletanimation]

The whole thing where everyone wants to pretend anime or weird furry crap is good, has to go. All of that trash needs to be stopped and people need to be original for once..